Hesychasm, a contemplative prayer of rest, has its roots in the desert fathers and mothers as well as the Eastern Orthodox tradition. Bishop Kallistos Ware, drawing from John Climacus (AD 525-606) writes:
“The hesychast, in the true sense of the word, is not someone who has journeyed outwardly into the desert, but someone who has embarked upon the journey inwards into his own heart; not someone who cuts himself off physically from others, shutting the door of his cell, but someone who ‘returns into himself,’ shutting the door of his mind.”[1]
The Eastern Orthodox teachers of hesychasm suggest using the Jesus Prayer as a way to enter into contemplation: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” You might also choose the “replacement therapy” of Centering Prayer, selecting a word or short phrase to return to whenever you are distracted. Repeat each word slowly, softly, and flowing from one to the next. Gradually, with practice, the repetitive rhythm of the words moves into long periods of continuous, uninterrupted prayer.
The hesychast “is called to become conscious of the actual presence of Jesus in the interior of his own being, a presence given full and existential reality by the life of the sacraments.”[2]
“The hesychast ceases from his own activity, not in order to be idle, but in order to enter into the activity of God. His silence is not vacant and negative–a blank pause between words, a short rest before resuming speech–but intensely positive: an attitude of alert attention, of vigilance, and above all of listening.”[3]
“The principal thing is to stand with the mind in the heart before God, and to go on standing before [God] unceasingly day and night, until the end of life.”[4]
~Richard Rohr, “Fathers of the Eastern Church”, Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditation
References
[1] Bishop Kallistos Ware, The Inner Kingdom, Vol. 1 of the Collected Works (St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press: 2004), 93.
[2] John Meyendorff, St. Gregory Palamas and Orthodox Spirituality (St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press: 1974), 33.
[3] Ware, The Inner Kingdom, 97.
[4] Igumen Chariton of Valamo, comp., Bishop Kallistos Ware, ed., The Art of Prayer: An Orthodox Anthology (Faber: 1997), 63.
