The Art of Prayer is the title of one of the most wonderful books on Christian spirituality that there is. In fact, in the eyes of this blogger it is a sine qua non of the Christian spiritual life, though there are for sure some that would disagree. Among modern writings there are only a few others that deserve such accolades–among them would be: Merton’s The Inner Experience, and Andre Louf’s Teach Us to Pray–two very different works but of exceptional importance. Speaking of Merton, The Art of Prayer was in his hermitage and constantly at his side during the 1960s, the last years of his life. His copy was heavily underlined and referred to in his notes. What we will do here and in future postings is simply comment on some passages.
The modern English edition comes with a helpful introduction by Kallistos Ware, an English scholar who became eventually an Orthodox monk, and who later became a bishop. The original work is a masterpiece of Russian Orthodox spirituality. Basically it is a compilation of various spiritual sources by Igumen Chariton, that is Abbot Chariton of the great Russian monastery of Valamo. Amazingly enough this was compiled and published during the terrribly repressive years of the Stalinist regime–and Valamo was still a thriving monastery. The actual material that Chariton puts together ranges from ancient Greek and Slavic sources to the majority being from Theophan the Recluse, one of the greatest Russian spiritual figures of the 19th Century. In a sense it is a kind of “Reader’s Digest” of Russian Hesychasm, but of course it is much more than a “digest”–one can go very far just being guided by that work. In the absence of someone who could guide you in the living tradition, this book will do more than adequately.
The Introduction announces the main theme, the main concern of this book with its very first words: “What is prayer?” A very big question. The reality of prayer ranges from simple words and sentiments addressed to God to what this tradition calls “unceasing prayer of the heart.” The goal of this collection, and the goal of the Russian Hesychast tradition is precisely to lead one to that unceasing prayer of the heart even as one might begin with simple oral prayer. It also always assumes liturgical prayer as a kind of constant background of the inner journey. Now the focal point of this prayer journey as it were is the Jesus Prayer, and it is amazing in its simplicity and power. And Ware is quite correct in showing the scriptural roots of this prayer. But before we get to that, there is the important point of the intended audience of this book. Certainly The Art of Prayer originated in monastic circles and is primarily meant for monks, but it is also offered to all who seek continual inner prayer. And in the Russian Hesychast tradition, and maybe in not all other traditions, this reality is available to all people, whether they are officially monks or not. Recall that Dostoevsky’s Fr. Zosima says that monks are not some special kind of people but only what all Christians should be. In fact a person in any condition or situation, even one who is crippled or paralyzed and helpless on a bed, can practice this prayer and achieve the highest realizations.
Now for some terminology clarification–or maybe we should say a certain caution about mixing up terminology. Even within this very tradition of Russian Hesychasm there are different terms: “inner prayer,” “continual prayer,” “prayer of the heart,” “unceasing prayer of the heart,” etc. These all seem to point to the same reality, more or less. Among the Western Christian traditions you get terms like: silent prayer, mental prayer, contemplation (and this term is also used by Theophan), active contemplation, passive contemplation, infused contemplation, meditation, etc. Now these seem to have their own distinct and different meanings with some overlap. And from the great Asian traditions there is the import of the term “meditation” with a whole new meaning of its own. And even here there are some significant differences among the various Asian traditions. The best thing to do is not to confuse or conflate these terms. They all do not point to or refer to the same reality–although they may all have some very positive contribution to make to a spiritual life. Let each term be taken in the context of its own tradition, and leave it at that. For our purposes here we will simply focus on this “unceasing prayer of the heart” (and we will use the other equivalent phrases that this tradition uses). The one thing we can say is that this “prayer of the heart” is not the same as any kind of meditation–it is not about awareness per se, concentration, consciousness, etc. It is more about a Presence, which slowly becomes the total reality of one’s existence: “I live now not I, but Christ lives in me.” (St. Paul).
Now from the standpoint of The Art of Prayer and the Russian Hesychast tradition, the unceasing prayer of the heart is found most quickly and most surely through the use of what is called, the Jesus Prayer–this latter is sometime also referred to as the Prayer of the Name, and here we come very close to our Sufi friends. In fact, within the hesychast tradition the two seem to be almost the same thing. The writings are not all consistent about this, and in some cases it seems one can arrive at unceasing prayer of the heart by other means. Kallistos Ware:
In theory the Jesus Prayer is but one of many
possible ways for attaining inner prayer; but
in practice it has acquired such influence and
popularity in the Orthodox Church that it has
almost come to be identified with inner prayer
as such. In one spiritual authority after another
the Jesus Prayer is specially recommended as a
‘quick way’ to unceasing prayer, as the best and
easiest means for concentrating the attention and
establishing the mind in the heart.
Whatever be the case, our book and the Russian Hesychast tradition focuses on the Jesus Prayer. This is a prayer of utmost simplicity and seeming superficiality. In English it is only 10 words: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me (and there are variant wordings). In Greek and Russian the prayer is only 7 words long–first on the lips, then silently in the mind, finally “in the heart.” And finally the prayer never ceases in the heart, and then one is far beyond any words. Some people have likened the Jesus Prayer to a Christian mantra, but that is a mistake. Yes, it has some of those characteristics, and it may produce some effects like a mantra (as Ware implies above), but in its essence it is something different–just like prayer and meditation are different things but may overlap in both effect and significance for any given person. More about all this as we go through the book.
As a final point for this posting, the scriptural roots of the Jesus Prayer as a route to inner prayer are very significant. This stands in contrast to a kind of psychological or philosophical approach to prayer–albeit these may be valuable in their own right but they are different. The foundations of the Jesus Prayer can be traced out in three directions. First there is this whole thing about “the name.” In the Old Testament the name of God was itself considered sacred. It somehow carried the very mystery of God and so it was not to be pronounced out loud. The Name was seen as an extension of the Personhood of God, and as a revelation of His being in Mystery and Power: “I am Who I am.” The Sufis and Islamic mysticism also have these same roots and a very similar mysticism pertaining to the Name of God. Now from the Christian perspective, when we get to the New Testament, the name of Jesus picks all that up with the additions of “familiarity” and “closeness.” Jesus in his humanity is the fullest and highest expression, manifestation of the Mystery of God. But also he is very human with a very human name: Jesus. Thus in this name we have both the awesome infinite mystery of God and the unspeakable closeness of God to humanity combined in one. Much more could be said about this, but one can see the theological richness of just the invocation of the Name.
Then there are two moments in the Gospels that are important foundational places for this prayer. The first is the cry of the blind man (Luke 18:38): “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” The second is the prayer of the Publican (or tax collector): “God, be merciful to me a sinner” (Luke 18:13). The Jesus Prayer absorbs both of these moments and seeks to place the pray-er in the shoes as it were of both of these people. In the first instance there is the situation of ultimate blindness and of a realization that there is only One who can remove that blindness. The blindness that keeps us from seeing our own condition and from beholding the Mystery of God and being totally aborbed into it. The second instance brings before us one of Jesus’s most powerful illustrations–the difference between the Pharisee and the Publican–two different pray-ers, two very different ways of praying. First of all, the Pharisee posits himself as some isolated entity who is “unlike” “that sinner”–the Pharisee keeps an account of “his goodness”–this so-called goodness is the doing of his religious ego, and the Pharisee is totally locked inside that. The Jesus Prayer, on the other hand, takes up the attitude and state of heart of the Publican. It simply knows the universal need for God’s healing mercy in the human condition. Here we may note that some people either find this prayer too negative in spirit or if not that they kind of drive themselves into a depressive darkness by constantly invoking that they are “sinners.” A bit of understanding and guidance here helps a lot, and we will touch on this as we go along through the book. Suffice it to say for now that the path to inner prayer through the Jesus Prayer leads one into a boundless compassion and a sense of oneness with all people with the realization that we all are immersed in this sea of illusion and delusion which the Buddhists call maya, this illusion of a separate isolated self which then feels a need for self-assertion, self-protection, self-polishing, self-grasping, etc. There is the usual way of feeling superior to others–through better education, through wealth, through all kinds of external means; but the most insideous separation and most illusory one is the one where we see ourselves as “religiously better” than other folk. The Jesus Prayer deconstructs all that and opens our heart to our common predicament and then leads us into the light of the true reality: endless and boundless communion–and ultimately this also includes all animals and all creation–as the great saints have always recognized.