on Watchfulness and Holiness 10

Much water makes up the sea. But extreme watchfulness and the Prayer of Jesus Christ, undistracted by thoughts, are the necessary basis for inner vigilance and unfathomable stillness of soul, for the deeps of secret and singular contemplation, for the humility that knows and assesses, for rectitude and love. This watchfulness and this prayer must be intense, concentrated, and unremitting.

St Hesychios the Priest, On Watchfulness and Holiness, Vol. 1 pg. 164

Minor Arcana: Jack of Cups (Labyrinth Tarot)

Luis Royo

how difficult it is to do this without thinking. there are so many things that come to mind as i do my devotion. are the boys ok? did i set the dishwasher? is there laundry to be folded? does deb want some company? or, more seriously, am i sincere in this? why do i feel like i'm talking to a brick wall? do i sound silly?
questions and worries plague me. i must find the answer to still my self.

the Prayer of Jesus Christ is so simple and so full.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of GOD, have mercy on me, a sinner.

on Watchfulness and Holiness 09

If you are an adept, initiated into the mysteries and standing before God at dawn (cf. Ps. 5: 3 - In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.), you will divine the meaning of my words. Otherwise be watchful and you will discover it.

St Hesychios the Priest, On Watchfulness and Holiness, Vol. 1 pg. 164

Major Arcana: High Priestess (Labyrinth Tarot)

Luis Royo

 well, i am certainly no adept. so i must watch and pray, and discover the meaning of the words of St Hesychios.

a repost from elsewhere 04 - the Oriental Orthodox Order in the West

Equanimity

Mindfulness practice provides the foundation for love to become a true spiritual path. The ability to concentrate allows us to focus our minds even in times of emotional stress, and equanimity refines our ability to remain a friendly audience to any and all experiences. Equanimity can itself be known as love because it is the matter-of-fact, gentle acceptance of things just as they are. I often teach that relational love equals equanimity plus knowledge of the beloved. Equanimity allows us to relax and keep open, and concentration refines our ability to pay attention to our beloved's words, needs, feelings and gestures, and to remember them. Together, equanimity and concentration are the necessary supports for any communication or listening skills we attempt to bring to conflict resolution; without mindfulness our skills fall apart when we are triggered into habitual reactive patterns.

~Polly Young-Eisendrath

the Works of Dionysius the Areopagite - On Divine Names - Chapter 01 - Section 8

8. Moreover, the sacred writers proclaim not only such titles as these (titles drawn from universal or from particular providences or providential activities), but sometimes they have gained their images from certain heavenly visions (which in the holy precincts or elsewhere have illuminated the Initiates or the Prophets), and, ascribing to the super-luminous nameless Goodness titles drawn from all manner of acts and functions, have clothed It in human (fiery or amber) shapes or forms, and have spoken of Its Eyes, and Ears, and Hair, and Face, and Hands, and Wings, and Feathers, and Arms, and Back Parts, and Feet; and fashioned such mystical conceptions as its Crown, and Throne, and Cup, and Mixing Bowl, etc., concerning which things we will attempt to speak when we treat of Symbolical Divinity. At present, collecting from the Scriptures what concerns the matter in hand, and employing as our canon the rule we have described, and guiding our search thereby, let us proceed to an exposition of God’s Intelligible Names; and as the Hierarchical Law directs us in all study of Divinity, let us approach these godlike contemplations (for such indeed they are) with our hearts predisposed unto the vision of God, and let us bring holy ears to the exposition of God’s holy Names, implanting holy Truths in holy instruments according to the Divine command, and withholding these things from the mockery and laughter of the uninitiate, or, rather, seeking to redeem those wicked men (if any such there be) from their enmity towards God. Thou, therefore, O good Timothy, must guard these truths according to the holy Ordinance, nor must thou utter or divulge the heavenly mysteries unto the uninitiate. And for myself I pray God grant me worthily to declare the beneficent and manifold Names of the Unutterable and Nameless Godhead, and that He do not take away the word of Truth out of my mouth.

Dionysius the Areopagite: On the Divine Names and the Mystical Theology. by C.E. Rolt Christian Classics Ethereal Library

the Works of Dionysius the Areopagite - On Divine Names - Chapter 01 - Section 7

7. Thus, then, the Universal and Transcendent Cause must both be nameless and also possess the names of all things in order that It may truly be an universal Dominion, the Centre of creation on which all things depend, as on their Cause and Origin and Goal; and that, according to the Scriptures, It may be all in all, and may be truly called the Creator of the world, originating and perfecting and maintaining all things; their Defence and Dwelling, and the Attractive Force that draws them: and all this in one single, ceaseless, and transcendent act. For the Nameless Goodness is not only the cause of cohesion or life or perfection in such wise as to derive Its Name from this or that providential activity alone; nay, rather does It contain all things beforehand within Itself, after a simple and uncircumscribed manner through the perfect excellence of Its one and all-creative Providence, and thus we draw from the whole creation Its appropriate praises and Its Names.

Dionysius the Areopagite: On the Divine Names and the Mystical Theology. by C.E. Rolt Christian Classics Ethereal Library