“The person needs solitude as much as, if not more than, relationships to develop and blossom. This is borne out by the experience of hesychast spirituality, which grew up in the Christian East as the ultimate means of self-development. The term “hesychia” means calm, isolation, and solitude…Hesychia is a way of life that requires solitude, outer silence, and inner calm. These three things are indispensable for spiritual life, especially in one of its essential activities: concentrated attentive and vigilant prayer.” (Jean-Claude Larchet)
“The Scriptures tell us, “Be still and know that I am God.” But these words are read by a culture that knows almost nothing about true stillness (hesychia) and ceaselessly engages in activities to prevent its possibility. Stillness of this sort includes the silencing of the passions and emotions as well as discursive reasoning. It then becomes possible to be aware and to know wordlessly with a depth and stability that are the very bedrock of the spiritual life.” (Father Stephen Freeman)
“The Philokalia defines hesychia as, “a state of inner tranquility or mental quietude and concentration which arises in conjunction with, and is deepened by, the practice of pure prayer and the guarding of the heart and intellect. Not simply silence, but an attitude of listening to God and of openness towards Him.” This kind of listening prayer is hesychastic because it requires a silencing of the mind. To achieve silence: Metropolitan Kallistos Ware says that “this is of all things is the hardest and the most decisive in the art of prayer. Silence is not merely negative – a pause between words, a temporary cessation of speech – but, properly understood, it is highly positive: an attitude of attentive alertness of vigilance, and above all listening. The hesychast, the person who has attained hesychia, inner stillness or silence, is par excellence, the one who listens. He listens to the voice of prayer in his own heart, and he understands that this voice is not his own but that of Another speaking within him.” (Rev. Fr. Apostolos Georgiafentis)
“When the early monastic Fathers and Mothers struggled to be “spiritual athletes” through ascesis [spiritual practice or struggle], one of the telltale signs that they were making progress was peace in their hearts or inner stillness. Our modern world desperately seeks after this hesychia [stillness], as the Fathers called it. People move from a big city to a small town to “slow down” their pace of life. Someone might take medicine to reduce the anxiety or stress levels. The problem is that true hesychia comes from within. No external change or medicine will do what the Sacramental life in communion with prayer, fasting and almsgiving will.” (Abouna Justin Rose)
“To be realistic, it is not easy. Even in monasteries, not so many monks find the true hesychastic way. Yet even in the world, some people do find hesychastic prayer. Above all, however, we need to surrender to the will of God in all things and make it a purpose to render thanksgiving to God more and more worthily. This creates a certain freedom, for surrendering to the will of God in every situation God helps us to rise above the difficulties. Thanksgiving and surrendering to the will of God constitutes the preparation for entering the peace and freedom of hesychia.” (Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou)
“When all the pain and misery of this world is considered, there is often one attitude at the heart of it all: a lack of contentment. “Generations of Americans were raised on the “American Dream.” Many of us were taught from childhood that we could be and do anything we wanted. We were told to expect and even demand as much, stopping at nothing to “achieve our dreams.” We seek endlessly for the perfect spouse…career…car… house. And when we are soon bored with all of that, we seek after something new. Instead of pursuing after solace or stillness (ἡσυχία or “hesychia”), we are led to desire more.” (Gabe Martini)
“Let the remembrance of Jesus be with your every breath. Then indeed you will appreciate the value of stillness…The body has two important contributions to contemplative practice: the body’s physical stillness and the breath itself. The stillness of the body facilitates the stilling of the discursive mind. Most of us spend most of our time with our attention riveted to the video going on in our heads.…there is an ancient Christian awareness that physical stillness facilitates interior stillness.” (St. John Climacus, Martin Laird)
“The deeper we delve into the prayer word, the less we use it as a shield from afflictive thoughts. Rather we meet the thoughts with stillness instead of commentary. We let the thoughts simply be, but without chasing them and whipping up commentaries on them.” (Martin Laird)
“And then you will see that you can pray in every single situation in the world, that there is no situation which can prevent you from praying. What can prevent you from praying is that you allow yourself to be in the storm, or you allow the storm to come inside you instead of raging around you. You may remember the story in the Gospel of the storm on the Sea of Galilee: Christ asleep in the boat and the storm raging around…they [Disciples] lose heart, and the storm that was outside comes inside—the storm is within them too. Anguish, death no longer simply circle round, they come inside. And then they turn to Christ and do what we very often do with God: we look at God in time of stress and tragedy, and we are indignant that He is so peaceful….This is exactly what we feel about God so often. How dare He be blissful, how dare He be so comfortable when I am in trouble? Christ reacts, He gets up and says ‘Men of little faith!‘ and brushing them aside, He turns towards the storm and, projecting His inner stillness, His harmony and peace on the storm He says, ‘Be still, be quiet‘ and everything is quiet again.” (Metropolitan Anthony Bloom)
“We are not all meant to be the same. Not all of us are meant for “great things”—as perceived by the world’s eyes—or the sort of success promised by the American Dream. We are unique individuals, and God has placed us when and where we are for a purpose beyond our comprehension. But in this uncertainty, we can still find a quietude of heart—we can “be still” and know God (Ps. 45:11 LXX)—if we direct our thoughts, prayers, and intentions in a proper and spiritual manner. We must learn to accept our lot in life, learn to accept with patience all things presented to us, and learn to find contentment in circumstances beyond our control. We need not always look for the next, best thing. The grass is almost never greener. In my own life, my greatest regrets, failures, and sins have all resulted from envy. These actions have all arisen from an unholy desire, a lack of contentment and stillness in my heart. But we should seek that higher calling, that promised Sabbath rest (Heb. 4:11). Even as there is chaos and insanity all around us, we can find an inner peace beyond human understanding (Phil. 4:7). And in this peace, we meet God.” (Gabe Martini)
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