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The Philokalia is a collection of texts written between the fourth and the fifteenth centuries by spiritual masters of the Orthodox Christian tradition. It was compiled in the eighteenth century by two Greek monks, St Nikodimos of the Holy Mountain of Athos (1749-1809) and St Makarios of Corinth (1731-1805), and was first published at Venice in 1782.
From the Introduction of the 1977 translation by G.E.H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard & Archimandrite Kallistos Ware - four volumes. Love of the Beautiful is what Philokalia means.
Quote:
If you find yourself hating your fellow men and resist this hatred, and you see that it grows weak and withdraws, do not rejoice in your heart; for this withdrawal is a trick of the evil spirits. They are preparing a second attack worse than the first; they have left their troops behind the city and ordered them to remain there. If you go out to attack them, they will flee before you in weakness. But if your heart is then elated because you have driven them away, and you leave the city, some of them will attack you from the rear while the rest will stand their ground in front of you; and your wretched soul will be caught between them with no means of escape.
The city is prayer. Resistance is rebuttal through Christ Jesus. The foundation is incensive power.
Let us stand firm in the fear of God, rigorously practicing the virtues and not giving our conscience cause to stumble. In the fear of God let us keep our attention fixed within ourselves, until our conscience achieves its freedom. Then there will be a union between it and us, and thereafter it will be our guardian, showing us each thing that we must uproot. But if we do not obey our
conscience, it will abandon us and we shall fall into the hands of our enemies, who will never let us go. This is what our Lord taught us when He said: ‘Come to an agreement with your adversary quickly while you are with him in the road, lest he hand you over to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer and you are cast into prison (Matt. 5:25). The conscience is called an ‘adversary’ because it opposes us when we wish to carry out the desires of our flesh; and if we do not listen to our conscience, it delivers us into the hands of our enemies.
Although the mystic path within Christianity is not popular, I sometimes think that mystics like those cited in the Philokalia are the leaven needed to keep the Life of the Spirit coursing through the Church. I do hope these selections will encourage some Christians to deepen their prayer and meditative life.
Here is a little more from the Introduction to volume one:
Quote:
What first determined the choice of texts made by St Nikodimos and St Makarios, and gives them their cohesion? ‘Philokalia’ itself means love of the beautiful, the exalted, the excellent, understood as the transcendent source of life and the revelation of Truth. It is through such love that, as the subtitle of the original edition puts it, 'the intellect is purified, illumined and made perfect'. The texts were collected with a view to this purification, illumination and perfection. They show the way to awaken and develop attention and consciousness, to attain that state of watchfulness which is the hallmark of sanctity. They describe the conditions most effective for learning what their authors call the art of arts and the science of sciences, a learning which is not a matter of information or agility of mind but of a radical change of will and heart leading man towards the highest possibilities open to him, shaping and nourishing the unseen part of his being, and helping him to spiritual fulfillment and union with God. The Philokalia is an itinerary through the labyrinth of time, a silent way of love and gnosis through the deserts and emptinesses of life, especially of modem life, a vivifying and fadeless presence. It is an active force revealing a spiritual path and inducing man to follow it. It is a summons to him to overcome his ignorance, to uncover the knowledge that lies within, to rid himself of illusion, and to be receptive to the grace of the Holy Spirit who teaches all things and brings all things to remembrance.
It wasn't sarcasm, but inappropriate musing I will grant. I kind of like the idea of this thread. You won't find anyone here any more supportive of the mystic tradition, especially Christian.
From the Introduction of the 1977 translation by G.E.H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard & Archimandrite Kallistos Ware - four volumes. Love of the Beautiful is what Philokalia means.
St Isaiah the Solitary (5th c)
the greek have always worshipped beauty in all forms. it was their pre - christian religion also. worship of what they define as " beauty" and "sophistry" aka "intellectualism ",,,,,, translation illusions of "postive thinking" and" whiny" and "political correctness " all slurred into a goop that destroyed their nation over and over , by making the people very confused
extremely hopeless and very soft and effeminate .
Could not be much more off topic. Consider reading more closely - this work is a Christian mystic compilation.
it appears to be but more of the old greek religion to me .. with a little Jesus ( or "holy spirit " , just meaning really of any spirituality ) slapped on it to give it some validity.
but that is what it looks like to me.
I do not find it at all beautiful.
superficial probably. mystic and new age kind of spirituality and without the power or authority from on high to heal the heart .
sorry but I don't think I will recommend this to anyone I love .
God prefers that Christians do not hate their enemies , but pray blessing from God over them , which is children of God are called to do .....Hearing from God comes the very first ideas that believers get in understanding from the Living God , ...........THEN all the ideas of question and unbelief and reasoning out the ideas come after from the adversary spirit not of God spirits every time ........
God prefers that Christians do not hate their enemies , but pray blessing from God over them , which is children of God are called to do .....Hearing from God comes the very first ideas that believers get in understanding from the Living God , ...........THEN all the ideas of question and unbelief and reasoning out the ideas come after from the adversary spirit not of God spirits every time ........
do let us know if you find anything of value and anything of power over real sin , that binds up the broken hearted and sets the captive free....that isn't in his word already . because that is the only Proof God is in it. " these things follow those who believe they will............" proof is only that pudding.
because so far I found nothing that compares to his word that isn't a waste of our time that could be better spent in his word and in prayer and in service to others . just fyi.. it looks like intellectualism and spiritualism to me. and this kind of combination of greek type thought and ideas.. has proven is quiet ancient and has proven quite destructive to all parts of society and did end the greeks societies over and over..
Last edited by n..Xuipa; 08-05-2017 at 05:15 PM..
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