The Way of the Ascetics: The Ancient Tradition of Discipline and Inner Growth by Colliander, Tito (1989) Paperback

by Tito Colliander

Way of the Ascetics is a rich, compact introduction for modern readers to the Eastern Christian spiritual tradition that has been an inspiration to millions for centuries. These compassionate and insightful reflections on self-control and inner peace are meant to lead the readers to fuller union with God. The author makes a generous selection of succinct yet profound extracts from the spiritual Fathers and provides an illuminating commentary and practical applications for daily devotion. He tempers austerity with common sense, warmth, and even humor, as he urges us on our journey toward God. Written for lay persons living fully in the world as much as for clergy, Way of the Ascetics is an excellent resource for daily meditation, authentic spiritual guidance, and a revitalized religious life.

Genres: Christianity, Religion, Spirituality, Nonfiction, Faith, Philosophy, Christian

Paperback

First published January 1, 1952

Reviews

[Leo and Suz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book... wow! The chapters are extremely brief, but pack the force of a spiritual freight train. Outside of the Orthodox paradigm, I'd have no idea really how to process -- or even accept -- what I just read, but as a catechumen on the eve of reception into the Church, I see clearly that I am not even close to being a Christian, and I must spend the rest of my life conforming to this genuine asceticism of heart.

[Carole Habib · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the definition of amazing. It dives so deep into your inner self. Deep for self reflection and spirituality. It’s a must! Some might read it and think it is “too intense level of spirituality”, but I think it is good for one to always aim for better. So yes maybe some things are “too intense”, for example more monastic level, but you take and leave what you want. Basically use your judgement. But kind of book you have to read VERY slowly. One or two chapters MAX per day so you can reflect on it and meditate. It is the kind of book you could read with your bible everyday, and start it over and over again. I just love it

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spirituality for the ages. Finnish Eastern Orthodox author but I feel anyone can get something out of this book.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our secular society recommends Hinduism or Buddhism for spiritual growth. What has been lost to Western Christianity is the huge amount of Christian literature on this subject.
This is a concise book, almost poetic in its beauty. Good to read during Lent, or in times of spiritual conflict.
spiritual growth

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this when I was in high school and it has stuck with me since. I believe lack of appreciation for asceticism is one of the biggest voids today.

Nov 18, 2008: Great practical wisdom to be read over and over.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful, brief book on practice and discipline in the spiritual life from an Eastern Orthodox writer. The book often refences Eastern church fathers, but very little of its theology will pose difficulties for Christians from other backgrounds. I found that the book reminded me much of The Imitation of Christ and of Thomas Merton.

[Matthew Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great, well-written introduction to Asceticism and the Monastic Fathers in particular, but Christian Spirituality in general. And it is short. You can't beat that. The writing is simple and beautiful. I reread it as often as I can. The first and last chapters are worth the price of the book.

[Zaina · Rating 5 out of 5]

One I never tire of.

[Lauri Baird · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book to ready annually to properly prepare for discipline of your soul and to continually grown in Christ.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple and clear, Colliander proffers the experience of the Orthodox Church together with the fathers in this concise book about the inner life of the Christian. Asceticism is not a practice that applies only to monks; asceticism is the practice whereby we put to death our selfish-will in order to offer ourselves to Christ.

This is a must read; a must re-read.

[Ian Colle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short, but rewarding work. Great Lenten study, as each chapter is only 2-5 pages (perfect for a daily reading), but full of weighty challenges.

[Jonathan Lincoln · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a magnificent book for laymen searching for a greater connection to God and a lesser connection to the world.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

great book. very concise, and written with the layman in mind. much better than the snoozer that is most older Orthodox books on spirituality.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

So so so excellent. I wish everyone could carry this book in their pocket to pull out and read a shirt chapter each time they want to pull out their smartphone.

Let the reader be discerning, as with any RCC or EO book, your conscience could be bound by something non scriptural. This keeps me from rating a full 5 stars.

What I appreciate the most about the book is his weaving of the Desert Fathers seamlessly into his pretty prose. Unfortunately however, this will also mean you’ll need to seek out the quote source through deep googling.

This book brought about great peace for me on my faith journey, and I recommend anyone interested in Eastern spirituality to give it a try. Western spirituality didn’t necessarily click with me growing up, and so I’m glad the East (though rich with the Platonic ideas we appreciate in the West) developed in this way.

My favorite image in the last few months has been: the heart as inner garden where the Kingdom of God resides. Pull weeds, build strong walls, make a bench for you and Jesus to sit at together, etc.

What a place to return too even in the evils of “2:30 feeling.”

[Anna Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

One to read again and again.

[Emily W. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommend!

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! It is definitely a lot to digest, though the chapters are short. It is one I will revisit every few years, I think.

[mRizk · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is stunning. It called my attention to things I didn’t realize I needed to pay attention to. It spoke to me as me, and it must be taken that way to be effective and to not cause discouragement or despondency. Truly a beautiful piece.

[Timothy Nichols · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this one slowly, or not at all. There are gems throughout, and bear traps for the unwary, too. It's a good little summary of the ascetic view of the Christian life, with all the brilliance and pitfalls of that way of living. Masterfully done; follow it at your great spiritual peril.
The sticky points are the ascetic failure to be grateful for physical pleasures given by God, stemming in turn from a failure to apply Trinitarian metaphysics thoroughly enough. Experiencing plurality and tension between spirit and body, the ascetic attempts to resolve the tension in favor of the spirit at the expense of the body -- an expression of an unwitting practical unitarianism. But ultimate reality is both one and many, and the tension is healthy so long as the whole operation is submitted to Christ -- Himself a human body now and forever.

[Lindsey Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book hurt a little bit. It stung to step outside of myself and acknowledge the superficialities floating on life's surface. I'm familiar with ascetic living, but this book offered beautiful origins and took my understanding to a deeper level. I was lured in by large declarations of asceticism and stayed for the intricate guidelines for actual practice. I'll never incorporate a pure ascetic lifestyle - I mean, c'mon, here I am on the internet! - but I will certainly take pieces of this book with me. I was especially moved by the chapters on mental accomplishments, material things and inner warfare. This is a great book to pick up and start reading from any page (and even jump around), as all the covered topics flow so well together.

[Joshua · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, now that I've read the whole thing straight through, I can skip around arbitrarily at my leisure.

But I don't think asceticism as described here is the best idea for people with obsessive/compulsive tendencies, or whatever. Or maybe that's an excuse and reading this is no more difficult for me than for anyone else in our society.

I always find it weird that people put all this emphasis on asceticism, mortifying the passions, getting rid of everything unnecessary…and then they dress up the books encouraging such with fancy typefaces and cover designs. And they use icons. I just don't get it. Somehow it's "spirit-led" and not legalistic, but I can't see how.

(Sat 29 Jan 2022 05:47:38 AM CST)

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most formative books of my life. I am continually reading it - with each ending I start once more at the beginning. Perhaps the title makes it seem unapproachable or irrelevant for those of us not living a monastic life, but in fact this is a book about the Christian life which is ascetic by nature. There are so many layers of wisdom packed into these few chapters; I'm not sure I'll ever uncover them all.

[Christian Deysson · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful antidote against the contemporary wellness craze! This book is brief, the chapters are short, but the text is extremely powerful. The text has been written in Finland in the mid-twentieth century, but today it stands as an apodictic and radically contrarian manifest against the soft and sticky preachings of postmodern 'Zeitgeist', a healthy breeze of cold, fresh air in the musty, lukewarm atmosphere of our time.

[Andrew Corrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

You can't help but feel a bit inadequate when reading this. As a Christian, it's the sort of stuff you know you should be doing - turn the TV off, try some prayerful reflection in silence - but always fall short. Nonetheless, Colliander highlights a way through the froth and bubble of the world around us.

[Kenneth E. Hines · Rating 5 out of 5]

Colliander faithfully passes on the tradition on the spirituality of the Holy Fathers of the Orthodox Faith. As a novelist (and theologian influenced heavily by Dostoyevsky), his writing is concise and vivid. Each chapter is at most four short pages - bite sized, really - and worthy of prayerful reflection. I read one or two every day. I have benefited tremendously from it.

[Dionysi Krinas · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great little book of spiritual advice that one will keep going back to to re read again and again. If you don't know much about Orthodox spirituality this will give you a taste and if you know plenty this will teach you even more.

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, encouraging, blunt, and inspiring. Written for lay Christians of the Orthodox tradition or for those who wish to be more contemplative in their prayer life.

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is some difficulty in writing a review of this book. As a reviewer, one is taking some position of authority over the book as a judge, and yet that would be inappropriate with this book like many other books that have a strong air of spirituality. We should approach as students not as reviewers.

That said, you should sit with this book and take many of its themes and excerpts to prayer. I found many passages were like a smack on the head in terms of how serious it takes the Christian spiritual life compared to how much I still have to learn to detach from the world.

Five things I appreciated/learned:

1. We must die to ourselves every single day, not merely during penitential seasons in the Church's calendar. Colliander calls this "self-persecution" (p. 14), and rightfully so. Be moderate in your fasting and mortification, but do not baby your flesh and coddle it. Chief among that which we must persecute is our self-will, and we do this by obedience to every single person within right reason.

2. Alongside our fasting, keep your head down and be inconspicuous. Do not let others know about your fasting or almsgiving or prayers when it is not necessary for them to know. "You are working for the Invisible One; let your work be invisible" (p. 25).

3. Pay attention to your venial faults and sins, the 'minor' things. This is incredibly important for perfecting self-persecution and dying to self and especially relevant for those who feel 'stuck' in their practice of virtue and eradication of vice. As Colliander says, "Make an onslaught on your self-pity" (p. 18).

4. Your standard is not to be less sinful than your neighbor -- operating like that makes you prideful. Your one and only standard is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Meditate on how far you are from this standard and grow in humility, repeating the Jesus Prayer, "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner."

5. Not only should you discipline your body but your mind as well by keeping it fixed as often as possible on Christ's mercy on you, a sinner. The preeminent method for this 'watchfulness of mind' is the Jesus Prayer whereby you remember the mercy the Lord has had on you and ask him for his continued mercy as you go about denying yourself and taking up the cross.

[James Williamson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was given this book several years ago by a dear friend and have finally gotten around to reading it. It came at just the right time for me. It's a collection of meditations from church fathers old and new, stretching back to Anthony, the friend and mentor of Athanasius.

Way of the Ascetics gives helpful words of counsel on selflessness and learning self denial, compassion for others, battling with materialism and other topics. Several later chapters of the book are focused on the discipline and practice of a life of prayer, and these are particularly valuable pages for the reader. It is a very short book, but not intended to be a quick read. The 2-5 page chapters give a person plenty to chew on in the quiet hours of the morning before the day starts.

Also, just a word to my Protestant friends who would instantly be worried by the term "Ascetics" and may notice that this is an Eastern Orthodox work: the writings here are on core spiritual disciplines that all of us need to grow in, and several of the writers are amongst the great thinkers and writers shared by the whole Christian church, including John Chrysostom. Don't be afraid! Just read and try to learn how better to walk with God from experienced fellow Christians.

Definitely a worthwhile book and well recommended.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Stripped of all knowledge, lacking in every good thought or deed, without memory from the past or wish for the future, as useless as a worn-out rag, unfeeling as a stone in the path, corroded as a worm-eaten mushroom in the woods, mortal as a fish on the shore and grieved to tears over this wretched plight of yours, thus you will stand in prayer before the Almighty, your Judge and Creator and Father, your Saviour and Master, the Spirit of Truth and Giver of Life; and like the Prodigal Son you will stammer out of the depths of your impotency: Father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”