Walking on the Waves: An Everyday Guide To Nepsis: Volume 1

by His Grace Bishop Emilianos of Meloa

"If I could give you a gift, the most precious thing I could ever give you is the knowledge of how to ignore your thoughts."
His Grace Bishop Emilianos of Meloa - Sydney, australia, 2020

In the uncertainty of 2020, as the world stood still in lockdown amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, a small yet powerful flame flickered to life. This flame, a beacon of hope and enlightenment, soon grew into a wildfire, setting ablaze the hearts and minds of many. This flame represents the “Nepsis'' talk series by His Grace Bishop Emilianos of Meloa, who, to ensure the Orthodox community had some form of spiritual guidance during this challenging time, began translating and interpreting the teachings of his Elder, Elder Aimilianos of Simonopetra, from the book Λόγος Περί Νήψεως- Ερµηνεία στον Άγιο Ησύχιο. The goal was to equip the everyday person with the knowledge of how to practice nepsis in the context of their daily life. These talks, transcribed in the following pages, brought much-needed light and wisdom to many.

This series delves into the spiritual practice of nepsis, as articulated by Saint Hesychios in the Philokalia and expounded upon by Elder Aimilianos in Discourse on Interpretation of Saint Hesychios, currently only available in Greek. Translated as "watchfulness" or "vigilance," nepsis refers to the guarding of the mind and heart against harmful thoughts, temptations and distractions. It is the heightened state of spiritual alertness and unwavering attentiveness to our thoughts, actions and inner disposition.

Walking on the Waves presents Bishop Emilianos' translations of his Elder's book alongside his own interpretations. In the pages that follow, quotation marks are used to distinguish the Greek to English translations of Elder Aimilianos’ teachings from the explanations offered by Bishop Emilianos. It is noted that this is only indicative and may not always be exact. Bishop Emilianos’ deep understanding and absorption of his Elder’s spirit can at times make it difficult to distinguish between where Elder Aimilianos’ voice ends and Bishop Emilianos’ begins.

While Gerondas Aimilianos' talks focused on imparting nepsis to monastics, Bishop Emilianos invites us all—monastics and laypeople alike—to embrace this practice of spiritual attentiveness. His goal is not to turn laypeople into monastics, but to help those living in the world to focus on God and rid themselves of everyday anxiety, wasted time, indecisiveness and confusion. It’s to bring nepsis to the everyday person who is called daily to walk on the waves of this life.

Our earthly and heavenly existence hinge on our success, but to begin, we must lay the necessary mastering our thoughts.

120 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 12, 2024

Reviews

[Monique Mathiesen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had the pleasure of meeting His Grace Bishop Emilianos last year and he was just bursting with grace. Reading his words filled my soul with that same love, comfort, and clarity that I felt when he did a Q&A at our parish. Truly a gift of a book. May God help us live it out.

[Katerina · Rating 5 out of 5]

A concise and practical guide on achieving what often feels impossible when it comes to practicing one's faith — finding and maintaining a state of inner peace. It's not suddenly made easy, but the advice is workable and realistic. It's also a novel (for me) approach to self-improvement; moving the focus away from trying to become something or someone, and instead encouraging the reader to focus only on keeping one's heart gentle and attentive, so that Grace might enter it and do the hard work on the individual's behalf. A useful and uplifting book for anyone, but especially Orthodox Christians.

[Jodi Patel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very practical and clear. And now to practice!