A Beginner's Introduction to the Philokalia, 2016

by Anthony M. Coniaris

An extremely concise entry-level introduction to the ancient mystical spirituality of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, rooted in the Scriptures and the oral teachings and practices passed down from the Holy Apostles of Christ. The Philokalia is a highly-influential anthology of key texts of 30 Holy Fathers and Mothers of the Orthodox Church from the 4th to the 15th centuries, compliled by two saints and published in Athens in 1777. Only four of the five volumes of the massive Greek original have yet been published in English. Many of these texts originated as talks prepared by abbots of monasteries for an audience of seasoned monks who were quite advanced in the ascetic life, though some texts are suitable for beginners. Thus the average modern reader needs a guide like this book to point out the basics, lest the beginner attempt to comprehend and put into practice passages for which he or she is not ready, leading to discouragement and even spiritual harm. This book focuses on twenty basic themes from the Philokalia, such as watchfulness (nepsis), thoughts (logismoi), spiritual discipline (ascesis), the heart, the intellect (nous), inner stillness (hesychia), the passions, deification (theosis), discernment (diakrisis), spiritual synergy, and of course, the Jesus Prayer. The author, Fr. Anthony Coniaris, is a priest of Greek Orthodox Archiocese of America, and the author of many books for lay people. Those desiring (and ready for) a much lengthier and deeper approach to the Philokalia should consult his earlier book, The Bible of Orthodox Spirituality.

Genres: Christian, Religion, Spirituality

147 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Thomas Parrillo · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Summery” of the Philokalia

I have not read the Philokalia itself, and I will not for spiritual growth until my Spiritual Father allows. However, I found this book helpful in simply understanding a basic wide spread Eastern understanding of the Faith—as a Latin Rite Catholic.

[RAI · Rating 5 out of 5]

O lucrare monumentală scrisă impecabil despre Filocalia și despre Rugăciunea lui Iisus.
Recomand tuturor teologilor, și nu numai!!

[Patrick Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a VERY basic and ground-level place to start before reading the four-volume Philokalia or reading other works on Eastern Orthodox Spirituality. In this book, Anthony Coniaris introduces the basic themes of the Philokalia to help you get a basic vocabulary and understanding before you move into deeper works on Orthodox Spirituality. In this book, he covers the themes of: Nepsis (attentiveness, watchfulness, inner attention); Hegemonikon (the Helsman of the Soul); Logismoi (thoughts); Ascesis (Training or discipline); Theosis; The Passions; The Gift of Tears; Hesychia (inner stillness); The Jesus Prayer; The Heart; Diakrisis (discernment); Apatheia (dispassion); Spiritual Synergy; Mnimi Theou (remembering God); The Inner Closet; The inner Flame; Purity of Heart; The Nous (the intellect); Descending with the Mind into the Heart through the Jesus Prayer and, finally, St. Nicodemus' invitation to read the Philokalia. I liked it because it is an entry level, basic approach that assumes the reader has no prior understanding of these topics. It explains them in simple, easy to understand ways and prepares the reader to be able to understand deeper works on Eastern Orthodox spiritual practices. One thing to be aware of, this is not a novel nor does it read like a nicely flowing book but, rather, it reads like an introductory text-book to teach someone the basics so be prepared to read it more as a basic text-book than a flowing novel or even flowing non-fiction work. If you want to start to delve into Eastern Orthodox spirituality, this is a very good and basic level to start at. Here is the first page on the topic, Nepsis: "One of the major emphases of the Philokalia is inner watchfulness. The authors whose works are included in the Philokalia are often called the Wakeful or Neptic Fathers because of the great emphasis they place on inner wakefulness and alertness. The Greek word "nepsis" means vigilance, alertness. Nepsis means to be completely present to where we are, just as a mother is completely present to the least sound of her baby in the crib, even as she talks on the phone or vacuums the rug. "The glory of God is a human who is fully alive", said St. Ireneaus. "Fully alive" means fully awake, alert, vigilant and attentive to God. "What is required," counsels St. Theophan the Recluse, "is constant aliveness to God - an aliveness present when you talk, read, watch or examine something.".... that is the first page (yes, the pages are small and I even actually went onto the top of the second page!). If you want an introductory level course on the major themes of Eastern Orthodox spirituality, this book is for you.

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great introduction to the Philokalia, which is a collection of writings by church Fathers starting from around 400AD. These writings emphasize the transformation of the heart toward love. The claim is that we see things not as they are, but as we are.

[Angela Carlson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good, quick intro to the Philokalia. It's nice to have on hand, a bit like Cliff's Notes for the concepts presented in the Philokalia.