/christian/ - Christian Discussion and Fellowship

>>563519

I'll read this book today (I do basic forms of meditation already, during the Holy Rosary and on my own after prayer/reading), as there should be nothing wrong with meditation, though some Christians seem scared of it. Not sure why.

>what is hesychasm

Try St. Gregory Palamas the Theologian. He wrote a lot about it and basically defended it from Barlaam

Hesychasm should be practiced under the supervision of your Spiritual Father. Do not attempt to do it without this supervision

Even I'm relatively new to it. My spiritual father has given me the basics and told me all I need to know about its history (which is imperative knowledge) and how to practice it properly

>>563656

Another disclaimer I forgot about:

DO NOT PRACTICE HESYCHASTIC PRAYER IF YOU ARE NOT ORTHODOX

I'm not saying this to put hesychasts in a special cool club that no one else can get into, but rather to protect you. This practice can prove to be very dangerous

>>563660

Do you have some exemple to provide ? I'm interested in knowing how dangerous it is. Don't worry I won't try it, I'm not even baptized yet.

>>563660

Sounds very pagan/wicca in its description. "Don't do this because it might be dangerous … oooooh spooooooky" kind of thing isn't Christian. You sure you're not just LARPing with that flag, smiley?

>>563687

What a ridiculous thing to say. He's not just making this up – hesychasm is always talked about in carefully framed terms because it's very easy to fall into prelest unless you have proper support. Just because your tradition doesn't acknowledge the danger of prelest doesn't mean you can just call things pagan willy-nilly.

>>563687

I've done a quick research, it's an orthodox practice. But there doesn't seem to be anything pagan in it.

>>563681

In hesychastic prayer, you repeat the Jesus Prayer with a certain technique to achieve "inner stillness". You sit a certain way and breathe a certain way in order to achieve this. I will not outline how it effects the prayer, or how to sit and breathe in that "certain way", as asking your spiritual father would be best. However, it is very easy to repeat the prayer in a hollow and meaningless manner. It is also very easy to execute the technique incorrectly. This is believed to be very harmful to the spirit.

Unfortunately, I have no examples, but if you look at how carefully hesychasm is spoken of, it's easy to infer that taking this lightly is a dangerous game

>>563687

I'm not kidding or falseflagging. This is an actual thing within Orthodoxy that effects prayer

t.Philokalia

http://www.pravmir.com/article_545.html

yes, see hesychasm

but no to mental images

>>563687

brainlet detected

>>563692

>>563694

>>563699

Alrighty. Thanks for the answers. It just sounds strange to me.

>>563716

>questioning = brainlet

Ok, edgekid.

>>563727

not edge, you really should do your own research from various sources both affirming and denying a position on a given topic before asking it here, since we are all dumbasses (myself included) and this is mainly a sinposting board (see: baptists). ideally you would developed a broad understanding on the question then visit the most experienced person you know (spiritual father, or pastor perhaps) and get their opinion. really, this is the best choice especially with questions of eternal life. God bless

>>563699

Something is bothering me,

in "55 maxims for a Christian Life" there is this :

>5. Repeat a short prayer when your mind is not occupied.

http://holycrossoca.org/newslet/0907.html

Is it dangerous ? It seems somewhat similar hesychasm.

>>564013

Hesychasm is to repeat a short prayer constantly, even when your mind is occupied. This is quite different from repeating a short prayer once in a while whenever you're not busy thinking about something else.

I think that the whole list there can definitely be applied by all Christians, Orthodox or not…

>>564020

Ok thanks !

>>563660

>prayer is dangerous

Just become Baptist and get saved, then you do not have to worry about "dangerous" prayers. I swear Catholics and Orthodox over complicate everything.

>>564084

the truth comes out, how easy being a baptist must be

Is this the same as contemplative prayer?

>>564434

no

I've had both succesful and weird results from Hesychasm (I'm a protestant but I've practiced it). I can confirm it feels weird when it goes wrong. I have a suspicion if you keep doing it too long the 'wrong way' you could turn into a soy boy or something. At least it feels like that. Anyone with similar experiences?

>>564636

Guy who first mentioned hesychasm here

Out of curiosity, how long were you praying for?

Also, that's very interesting. I've never heard of folks outside the Orthodox Church having success without falling into prelest.

>>563519

This is what got me into Catholicism actually.

I was raised Muslim but I've always been into mysticism. The Cloud of Unknowing is pure genius.

Check out The Desert Fathers, Theresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross and Thomas Merton while you're at it!

Is it possible for a Catholic to be into mysticism like orthodoxes ? How can one practice ?

>>564742

No I wasn't talking specifically about Hesychasm !

>>564690

>without falling into prelest

he already said he's protestant

>>564746

please talk to a priest lad

>>564748

Understandable

>>564636

Prots have Jacob Bohme.

Look up "the supersensual life" here

http://www.jacobboehmeonline.com/

>>563537

>that flag

>holy rosary

hmmm