"He who humbles himself will be exalted"

"He who humbles himself will be exalted” (Matt. 23:12).  To understand such a teaching, we look first to He who spoke the words - to Christ.  Our Lord humbled himself, took the form of a slave and became obedient unto death - death on a Cross.  This is the Master we follow and the model for our life.  This virtue is exalting, Hesychios tells us, because it destroys all those things that are evil and hated by God.  Humility strips us of all self-will and so all pride in ourselves and deeds.  Even after endless struggle, it leads us to say, “We are worthless servants, we have only done our duty” (Luke 17:10).  Humility acknowledges that all is grace; that all that we do comes from God’s hand.  It is the extreme and perfect humility of Christ that destroys all sin and when it is found in our hearts it strips away all that is contrary to God and his will.

Yet, surprisingly, Hesychios tells us that it is barely to be found among the ascetics (Philokalia, Vol 1, 173).  One may have a partial embrace of the ascetic life and so produce many virtues, but stop there.  Virtue itself can be sought as a possession, used to adorn oneself and exalt oneself in the one’s own eyes and the eyes of others. Humility only comes through great labor and is perfected only through suffering and trial; through self-emptying.  It is what most conforms us to the Lord and its opposite, pride, makes us most like Satan and unclean in the eyes of God:

“Scripture refers to the devil as ‘unclean‘ because from the beginning he rejected humility and espoused arrogance.  As a result he is called an unclean spirit throughout the Scriptures.  For what bodily uncleanness could one who is completely without body, fleshless and weightless, bring about in himself so as to be called unclean as a result? Clearly he was called unclean because of his arrogance, defiling himself thus after having been a pure and radiant angel.  ‘Everyone that is arrogant is unclean before the Lord‘ (Prov. 16:5), for it is written that the first sin was arrogance . . .”(Philokalia, Vol 1, 173).

How is it, then, that this gift of humility is to be acquired?  First, by recognizing that it is indeed a gift.  We are made humble by the mercy of God.  What we can do involves mostly acknowledging the truth about ourselves and our lowliness.  Hesychios writes:

“[We] can recollect the sins we have committed in word, action, and thought; and there are many other things which, reviewed in contemplation, contribute to our humility.  True humility is also brought about by meditating daily on the achievements of our brethren, by extolling their natural superiorities and by comparing our gifts with theirs.  When the intellect sees in this way how worthless we are and how far we fall short of the perfection of our brethren, we will regard ourselves as dust and ashes, and not as men but as some kind of cur, more defective in every respect and lower than all men on earth” (Philokalia, Vol. 1, 173-174).

While Hesychios’ words are terse and while we must be able to distinguish between the kind of mourning for sin that true humility produces and that leads to greater dependence upon God and the self-contempt that leads to depression and unholy sorrow, the counsel here is necessary given the pernicious nature of our pride and of the Devil’s temptations.  It is humility and the ascetic discipline of watchfulness that free a man from his sins and cut out the passions of his soul.  The fruit of this, Hesychios tells us, is purity of heart.  Those who have purified their hearts of all pride and the passions will see God and the greater the purity the “more they will see” (Philokalia, Vol 1, 175).

"Strike the Serpent on the Head": The Philokalia on Recognizing and Resisting Temptation

With constant vigilance and unceasing prayer, the Fathers sought above all to free themselves from the ascendancy of the passions.  The practice of such vigilance allowed them to recognize evil before being tempted to commit it.  Thus, Heyschios along with many others (St. Mark the Ascetic, St. John of Sinai, Evagrius, etc.) gives a “minute description of the progression of evil, and lays bare the technique or the mechanism of temptation.”  Straightforward as it is, Hesychios’ description needs very little commentary and his model, while differing in some small degree, is essentially the same as that of Evagrius.  

Hesychios begins by reminding us that temptation comes to us through our thoughts, their attachment to our imagination, and subsequent development:

“Just as it is impossible for fire and water to pass through the same pipe together, so it is impossible for sin to enter the heart without first knocking at its door in the form of a fantasy provoked by the devil” (Philokalia, Vol. I, 170).  

Knowing this, we must be ever on guard for the first sign and provocation to sin and ceaselessly invoke the Lord through the Jesus prayer.  If we give ourselves over to the provocation, then comes our “coupling with it, or the mingling of our thoughts with those of the wicked demons.  Third, comes our assent to the provocation, with both sets of intermingling thoughts contriving how to commit the sin in practice.  Fourth comes the concrete actions - that is, the sin itself” (Ibid., 170).  

Once the provocation is engaged, that is, once the serpent gets his head in the door, the battle is most assuredly lost and the unholy mingling of our own thoughts with those of the demons draws us quickly down the path to full consent.  

Paul Evdokimov, in his work “Struggle with God”, describes this movement in greater detail:

“The first movement of ‘contamination’ comes from a representation, image, idea, desire crossing our mind; something very fleeting that arises abruptly and solicits our attention.  From the subconscious the appeal rises to consciousness and makes an effort to be kept there.  This is not yet sin, far from it, but it is the presence of a suggestion.  It is in this first moment that the immediate reaction of the attention on the watch is decisive.  The temptation is going to go away or it is going to remain.  Spiritual writers make use of an image that was familiar in the desert: ‘Strike the serpent on the head’ before he enters the cell.  If the whole serpent enters, the struggle will be much more laborious.  

If the attention does not react, the following phase passes to pleasure.  A willing attention to the tempting solicitation causes a certain pleasure, becoming an equivocal attitude that is already cooperating.  St. Ephrem speaks of the ‘pleasant conversation’ of the soul with a persistent suggestion.

An enjoyment by anticipation, imaginary at the moment, marks the third stage.  A tacit agreement, an unavowed consent, orients one toward an accomplishment judged posssible, for it is passionately desirable.  In principle, the decision has indeed been taken; in the effective coveting of the object, the sin has been committed mentally.  This is judgment of the Gospel on the impure look in which adultery has already been pre-consummated.

The fourth stage effectively consummates the act.  It forms the beginning of a passion, of a thirst henceforth unquenchable.  When it has become a habit, the passion neutralizes every resistance.  The person disintegrates in the avowal of his powerlessness; he is bewitched and tends toward his implacable end . . .”(149)

We are often oblivious to this progression described by Hesychios and Evdokimov because of our lack of internal vigilance and prayer.  We heedlessly expose ourselves and our senses, especially in the West, to a whole host of images, ideas, and practices that make us vulnerable and easy prey to such attacks. We speak of “falling” into sin, but more often than not we jump into it with both feet and willingly.  To obtain such vigilance, to cut off all such temptations at the moment of provocation, will require a diligence and discipline not often seen in our culture, even among those with strong religious sensibilities.  We hear the Lord say in the gospel, “the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force”.  And likewise, we hear him tell us, “if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off; if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out”.  But we rarely take our Lord at His word.  In these cases, to be sure, our Lord isn’t counseling violence toward anyone or encouraging self mutilation.  But he speaks of the willingness we must have, at times, to do violence to ourselves in the sense that we cut out of our lives those things that make us vulnerable to the provocation to sin, especially when we have repeatedly given ourselves over to the sin so that it has become a passion - an habitual response over which we have very little control.  This is the sacrifice that few in our day seem willing or have the courage to make.  

The Heart of Philokalic Spirituality: The Jesus Prayer

As we continue our reading of “On Watchfulness and Holiness”, Hesychios emphasizes the importance of prayer to Jesus in the spiritual battle; in particular, the Jesus Prayer.  

“You will not find a greater help than Jesus in all your life, for He alone, as God, knows the deceitful ways of the demons, their subtlety and their guile.”  

The Jesus prayer is at the heart of philokalic spirituality for the simple reason that Jesus must be there.  It is through Him alone that we are redeemed and it through his presence alone that we can overcome the temptations of the demons and be healed of our passions.  And so, Hesychios exhorts us: 

“Let your soul . . . trust in Christ, let it call on Him and never fear; for it fights, not alone, but with the aid of a mighty King, Jesus Christ, Creator of all that is, both bodiless and embodied, visible and invisible.”  

It is with utmost humility and trust that we call upon Christ as both the publican and blind man did in the gospel: “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.”  And when we do this, we likewise seek to fulfill the biblical command to “pray without ceasing.”  There is much to be said about this important prayer and we will come back to it repeatedly in future posts.  However, Hesychios begins by telling us that the more we pray it, the more we call upon the name of Jesus, the greater our joy becomes and the more pliable our hearts become in order that they might once again be shaped and formed in accord with His will:  

“The more the rain falls on the earth, the softer it makes it; similarly, Christ’s holy name gladdens the earth of our heart the more we call upon it.” 

We find this echoed in the experiences of the Russian peasant in the spiritual classic “The Way of the Pilgrim” as he immersed himself more and more fully in the practice of the Jesus Prayer.  He came to know the transforming joy and power of the name of Jesus and came to understand what it means to have the Kingdom of God within you:

“When I prayed in my heart, everything around me seemed delightful and marvelous.  The trees, the grass, the birds, the air, the light seemed to be telling me that they existed for man’s sake, that they witnessed to the love of God for man, that all things prayed to God and sang his praise. . .The invocation of the Name of Jesus gladdened my way.  Everybody was kind to me.  If anyone harms me I have only to think, ‘How sweet is the Prayer of Jesus!’ and the injury and the anger alike pass away and I forget it all. . . Sometimes there was such a bubbling up in my heart and a lightness, a freedom, a joy so great that I was transformed and felt in ecstasy.  Sometimes I felt a burning love for Jesus Christ and for the whole divine creation.  Sometimes my tears flowed all on their own in thanksgiving to the Lord who had mercy on me, such a hardened sinner.  Sometimes the sweet warmth of my heart spilled over into all my being, and I felt the presence of the Lord with great emotion.  Sometimes, I felt a powerful and deep joy invoking the name of Jesus Christ, and I understood the meaning of his saying, ‘The Kingdom of God is within you’”(from the Way of the Pilgrim).  

There is both power and presence in the name of Jesus, “the name that is above every name.”  According to Anthony Coniaris, “the name of Jesus alone can fulfill the whole need of the one who prays when it is prayed with faith and with a life that is lived in obedience to Christ” (“Philokalia: the Bible of Orthodox Spirituality, 45).  

It is for these reasons that Hesychios states so firmly: 

“Those who lack experience should know that it is only through the unceasing watchfulness of our intellect (nous) and the constant invocation of Jesus Christ, . . that we, coarse and cloddish in mind and body as we are, can overcome our bodiless and invisible enemies . . .” (Philokalia, Vol 1, 169)

Through the constant invocation of Jesus Christ, Christ is present in the heart and so we are both strengthened and changed.  Perhaps nowhere is this captured more beautifully than in the words of St. John Chrysostom where we are told that through the Jesus Prayer we find both victory in our spiritual battle and unity with our God:

“I implore you, brethren, never to break or despise the rule of this prayer: A Christian when he eats, drinks, walks, sits, travels or does any other thing must continually cry: ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.‘  So that the name of the Lord Jesus descending into the depths of the heart, should subdue the serpent ruling over the inner pastures and bring life and salvation to the soul.  He should always live with the name of the Lord Jesus, so that the heart swallows the Lord and the Lord the heart, and the two become one.  And again: do not estrange your heart from God, but abide in Him, and always guard your heart by remembering our Lord Jesus Christ, until the name of the Lord becomes rooted in the heart and it ceases to think anything else.”

One contemporary writer, Fr Theophanes from Kafsokalyvia, Holy Mount Athos, captures the beauty and power of this constant invocation similarly in his work “The Psychological Basis of Mental Prayer in the Heart.”  Fr. Theophanes tells us that we can think of the Jesus Prayer iconographically:

“We might compare this repetitive play to a verbal icon which renders charismatically present him who is portrayed.  This is the mental representation explained in the language of the theology of icons.  Just as demonic mental representations pollute and disorient the person, so the mental representation of the name of Jesus together with all the mental representations which are introduced by the formula being used make joyous and gladden the heart. This has much to do with the person of Jesus. His name is his icon in the intellect of the person praying the Jesus Prayer. His name warms the soul by making Jesus himself present in the soul of the person praying, in the same way that an icon makes him present in that person’s home.”

Such thoughts make it clear that the Fathers and Hesychios are not simply describing a Christian kind of “mantra” in the Jesus Prayer but a great deal more; for while indeed such a prayer repeatedly places certain representations before the intellect and soul, it does so in the context of the faith and life of a Christian and the one invoked is God from God and Light from Light, true God from true God.  Such an invocation brings about not only the deepest healing but through it we are transformed, as St. Paul says, from glory to glory until the two hearts become one; where the estrangement of sin passes away and only an abiding love remains.

Be Angry, but Do Not Sin: Hesychios on Spiritual Warfare and the Incensive Power of the Soul

Along with the humility, perfect attentiveness, and prayer, Hesychios discusses the importance of the “power of rebuttal” in spiritual warfare.  In a previous post, I began to touch upon the importance of hatred of sin or one’s sinful thoughts for progress in spiritual life and as an essential aspect of a true and abiding love of God.  Love of God and for that which is holy will lead us to hate sin or sinful thoughts and seek to set them aside as soon as they become evident to us.  

This view, it may be helpful to know, arises out of a specific anthropology; an understanding of the powers of the human soul (the appetitive, intelligent, and incensive powers) based upon the tripartite division formulated by Plato in Book IV of his “Republic” and accepted by the Greek Christian Fathers.  According to the glossary of the English translation of the Philokalia, the Appetitive aspect (epithymikon) is the soul’s desiring power, the Intelligent aspect or power (logistikon) is the ruling aspect of the intellect or its operative faculty and the Incensive power (thymikon), which often manifests itself as wrath or anger, but which can be more generally defined as the force provoking vehement feelings. The three aspects can be used positively, that is, in accordance with nature and as created by God, or negatively, that is, in a way contrary to nature and leading to sin. For instance, the Incensive Power can be used positively to repel demonic attacks or to intensify desire for God; but it can also, when not controlled, lead to self-indulgent, disruptive thought and action..." (Vol I, p. 358).  

It is the incensive power of the soul that experiences extreme emotions.  Thus, it can be positive or negative. The positive use of the incensive power is to repel evil thoughts or rebuke demonic attacks; that is, the power of rebuttal.  To put it another way, we use the incensive power correctly when – and only when – we are angry at the things that anger God.  However, having said this, the writers of the Philokalia are clear and consistent in stating that the incensive power was given to us as a defense against sin. 

Here are two very good examples: Using the example of temptations to unchastity, Evagrios writes, “Our incensive power is also a good defence against this demon. When it is directed against evil thoughts of this kind, such power fills the demon with fear and destroys his designs. And this is the meaning of the statement: ‘Be angry, and do not sin’ (Ps. 4:4)” (On Discrimination, section 15, p. 47).  To “be angry and not sin” is to be angry at sin, beginning within oneself. This is why St. Isaiah the Solitary could write, “Without anger a man cannot attain purity: he has to feel angry with all that is sown in him by the enemy.” (On Guarding the Intellect, section 1, p. 22)

The Fathers understand St. Paul well who wrote: "We wrestle not with flesh and blood..."  The enemies whom we are to hate are not our fellow men, but the demonic and unnatural thoughts which attack our day-to-day lives.  To these, the Fathers often applied the words of psalm 137: “O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is he who repays you for what you have done to us-he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.”  The "children of Babylon" are the actions born of hatred, of cowardice, of greed and lust, and all the ugly and unnatural thoughts one might have. We are to guard (nepsis) the heart and mind and with the sword of the incensive power drive our unnatural thoughts and temptations away.  

Often we enter into the battle unarmed and Hesychios tells us that without prayer “we have no weapon to fight with.  By this prayer I mean the prayer which is ever active in the inner shrine of the soul, and which by invoking Christ scourges and sears our secret enemy.”  We must not be timid or passive in our response.  Again, Hesychios writes: “The glance of your intellect should be quick and keen, able to perceive the invading demons.  When you perceive one, you should at once rebut it, crushing it like the head of a serpent.  At the same time, call imploringly to Christ, and you will experience God’s unseen help” (Philokalia, Vol. 1, p 165).

Trusting in Christ, humble, prayerful, and having silenced our hearts, we must ever be on the watch for the enemy.  Hesychios provides the following image: “If you wish to engage in spiritual warfare, let that little animal, the spider, always be your example of stillness of heart; otherwise you will not be as still inn your intellect as you should be.  The spider hunts small flies; but you will continually slay ‘the children of Babylon’ if during your struggle you are as still in your soul as is the spider; and in the course of this slaughter you will be blessed by the Holy Spirit” (166).

However, as noted above, while the writers of the Philokalia and Hesychios urge us on in the battle and encourage us to be zealous, they present us with one very important caveat.  Although the incensive aspect of our soul is God-given in order to repel demonic attacks and to intensify our desire for God and His will, if not controlled and transformed by grace and ascetic practices, it can easily lead to self-indulgent and destructive thoughts and actions.  And so, Hesychios tells us: “The incensive power by nature is prone to be destructive.  If it is turned against demonic thoughts it destroys them; but if it is roused against people it then destroys good thoughts that are in us.  In other words, the incensive power, although given as a weapon or a bow against evil thoughts, can be turned the other way and used to destroy good thoughts as well, for it destroys whatever it is directed against” (167).  

We are to be “incensed”  - enraged and infuriated toward all within us that is contrary to love and goodness and fearlessly and swiftly wield the sword against all unholy thoughts.  But in the process we must avoid the temptation to raise this sword against another - the fruit of which is only malice and violence.  Hesychios describes the danger with utmost clarity: “I have seen a spirited dog destroying equally both wolves and sheep” (167).  

Hate: The Road to Abiding Love

This may seem like an unusual title but what it suggest is absolutely essential to the spiritual life.  As I have continued my meditation on Hesychios’ treastise on “Watchfulness and Holiness”, the following paragraph jumped out at me: “This watchfulness and this Prayer (Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner) must be intense, concentrated and unremitting.  It is written: ‘Not everyone who says to Me: “Lord, Lord” shall enter the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of My Father’.  The will of the Father is indicated in the words: ‘You who love the Lord, hate evil’ (Ps. 97:10).  Hence we should both pray the Prayer of Jesus Christ and hate our evil thoughts.  In this way we do God’s will” (Philokalia, Vol. 1, p. 164).  

We are to hate evil - hate our evil thoughts.  Hate is word people are terribly uncomfortable with these days.  But, while we are to despise no man and treat all with charity, we are to desire the Kingdom and the will of God above all things.  We are called to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength.  That is, our love for God must be complete.  

But in reality our hearts our divided and we are pulled away from God by our sinful passions and desires.  Far from abandoning ourselves to God’s will, we are willful individuals - often slaves to our wants and needs.  We are tempted not only to pursue that which is clearly evil or sinful but to cling to the things of this world, even those things that are good, and to make them our god(s).  In doing so, unfortunately, we can make even good things evil in our preference for them above God and his commandments: Hence the staggering words of Christ: "If any one comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple."  Indeed, one might even argue that such things can become the greatest source of temptation for us precisely because they tend to have the deepest hold upon our affections.  In the spiritual battle, knowing our own weaknesses and the ways we are tempted, we must have a clear and unambiguous contempt for anything that could pull us away from God and the path of holiness.  

This is what we are often unwilling to do.  Rather than setting up a sentry in our hearts, we enter into an uneasy alliance with our sinful tendencies either through rationalizing certain behaviors or because our consciences have become so coarsened that we can no longer recognize that which is sinful or evil.  Our hearts grow hard and insensitive to the One who has given all in love for us.  The words of the Bridegroom leave us unmoved or are drowned out by the seductive voices of this world and their empty promises. 

Only when we have a hatred for that which is evil and for our evil thoughts will we be fully engaged in the spiritual battle.   Only then will we become truly vigilant in guarding our hearts and pray with that concentrated intensity of which Hesychios and the other Fathers speak.

What to do with 50,000 Thoughts Per Day: Hesychios on Watchfulness and Holiness

As noted in my previous post, I have begun rereading the works of the Philokalia, starting with those suggested by the starets who directed the Russian Pilgrim in “The Way of Pilgrim” and more recently by Kallistos Ware.  I have decided to start with Hesychios’ writing on “Watchfulness and Holiness” simply because it captures most directly the recent themes from the Philokalia that I have be considering.  St. Nikodimos praises him for his teaching on watchfulness, inner attentiveness and guarding the heart.  The translators of the Philokalia note that while initially it was thought that the author was Hesychios of Jerusalem who lived in the first half of the fifth century, it is now generally believed that he was Hesychios of Sinai who probably lived in the eighth or ninth century. 

Hesychios emphasizes the pure, comprehensive, and ennobling character of this virtue, while also seeking to teach his readers how to acquire and perfect it.   Watchfulness, as Heschyios defines it is “a spiritual method which, if sedulously practiced over a long period of time, completely frees us with God’s help from impassioned thoughts, impassioned words and evil actions.  It leads, in so far as this is possible, to a sure knowledge of the inapprehensible God, and helps us to penetrate the divine and hidden mysteries.  It enables us to fulfill every divine commandment in the Old and New Testaments and bestows upon us every blessing of the age to come.  It is, in the true sense, purity of heart, a state blessed by Christ when He says: ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God’ . . .”  It . . . “is a way embracing every virtue, every commandment.  It is the heart’s stillness. . . unbroken by any thought.  In this stillness the heart breathes and invokes, endlessly and without ceasing, only Jesus Christ who is the Son of God and Himself God.”  

This inner struggle, while hidden from others, is constant and includes “halting every thought at the entrance of the heart.”  As St. Paul exhorts, we are to take every thought captive.  We are to seek to put on the mind of Christ and have the mind of Christ but this comes only by grace and with great struggle to maintain such continuity in one’s attention.  But the fruit of this conscientious practice is inner stability and this inner stability “produces a natural intensification of watchfulness; and this intensification gradually and in due measure gives contemplative insight into spiritual warfare.”  

These are simply the rudimentary elements of watchfulness and Hesychios has much more to say about its practice, in particular the place and importance of the Jesus Prayer (“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner”).  However, what struck me the most in the initial pages of Hesychios‘ treatise was his comment that the blessed state and fruit of the practice of watchfulness, purity of heart, is rare.  He, of course, was speaking of its rarity among monks, but one, I fear, could perhaps speak of its near non-existence today among Christians.  

The importance of what Hesychios speaks of in these pages of the Philokalia not only escapes many in our generation but the whole idea of controlling one’s thoughts, of scrutinizing one’s ideas is often dismissed in gross caricature as neurotic - a form of repression or simply a manifestation of scrupulosity.  There are such things of course, yet in our day indiscriminate freedom of thoughts and ideas, regardless of their content, meaning or their moral value, is the norm embraced personally and socially.  The truth of the power of our thoughts and their formative influence often evades us.  One Christian blogger, by all standards very thoughtful and virtuous, with humorous honesty captures this while describing the purpose of his blog as follows: “so that no thought of mine, no matter how stupid, should ever go unpublished again!”  Likewise, when asked why he posted some particular thought online, one man responded with similar honesty and good humor: “Just a random neuron firing.”  

Yet, the author of the book of Proverbs tells us, “As a man thinks in his heart, so he is,” and our Lord similarly reminds us, “Out of the heart the mouth speaks” and warns us, “But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”  Thoughts, ideas, images (however they might come to mind) are not to be made light of or believed to be inconsequential.  We must not fail to recognize where, in the spiritual life, the battle is fought.  Anthony Coniaris in his book “Confronting and Controlling Thoughts” stated that “research at the University of Minnesota has revealed that the average human being has about 4000 distinct thoughts in a sixteen hour day.”  More recent studies may modify this number (I have seen estimates from anywhere between 12,000 and 50,000) but “this means that over a life span of seventy years a person has a total of about one hundred million thoughts” (36).  We are thinking beings, but the Fathers remind us that perhaps the majority of these thoughts (often habitual) are negative due to our fallen state and that the mind is a battlefield.  “All battles are lost or won first in the internal dialogue of the mind.  As John Milton wrote: “The mind is its own place and in itself can make a heaven of hell, and hell out of heaven.”  

There is a great deal more to be said about this, for what is being discussed is not simply the power of positive thinking - a psychological method for successful living or for overcoming negative core thoughts and beliefs that lead to destructive behavior or to depression and anxiety.  As we will see through the writings of Hesychios and others it is something that is only done with and through God and by His grace and involves an intense, concentrated and unremitting ascetic struggle to the end of one’s life. . . .  Its goal is not self-mastery but the knowledge and apprehension of God that comes only through purity of heart.