Volume II of The Psychological Basis of Mental Prayer in the Heart
Information on Publisher, Copyright and ISBN, Volume II
I Treatise on the Practical Life – Text
II Treatise on the Practical Life – Commentary
Digression: The Evagrian Doctrine of Contemplation
Chapters 39 -- 43
Appendix 2: The Kephalaia Gnostica (Text)
Timios Prodromos
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Antirrheticus Frankenberg, W. 1912. De octo vitiosis cogitationibus (antirrheticus magnus) addit 14578. (Concerning the eight vicious thoughts (the Great Antirrheticus). Addit. 14578.) This is Frankenberg’s retro-translation of the Antirrheticus into ancient Greek from the Syriac of the manuscript. In Frankenberg (see entry), Volume II, pp. 472–545.
Brenton The Septuagint with Apocrypha: Greek and English. Translated by Sir Lancelot C. L. Brenton. 1851. London, England: Samuel Bagster & Sons. Eighth reprint by Zondervan, 1980. Grand Rapids, MI, USA 49506: Zondervan Publishing House of the Zondervan Corporation.
Cassian C Jean Cassien. Conférences (Conferences). Introduction, texte latin, traduction et notes par Dom E. Pichery. In Sources chrétiennes, Nos 42, 54, 64. 1955, 1958, 1959. Paris, France: Les Éditions du Cerf. For an English translation, see: The Conferences Of John Cassian. Translation and notes by Edgar C. S. Gibson. A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, Second Series, Volume 11. New York, 1894.
To be found at the Web address:
http://www.osb.org/lectio/cassian/conf/index.html.
Cassian I Jean Cassien. Institutions Cénobitiques (Cœnobitical Institutions). Texte latin revu. Introduction, traduction et notes par Jean-Claude Guy, s.j. In Sources chrétiennes, No 109. 1965. Paris, France: Les Éditions du Cerf. For an English translation, see: The Conferences Of John Cassian. Translation and notes by Edgar C. S. Gibson. A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, Second Series, Volume 11. New York, 1894.
To be found at the Web address:
http://www.osb.org/lectio/cassian/inst/index.html.
Chitty Chitty, Derwas. The Desert a City. An Introduction to the Study of Egyptian and Palestinian Monasticism under the Christian Empire. 1977. Crestwood, NY, USA: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press.
Chr–Matt E A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of The Christian Church. [First Series.] Edited by Philip Schaff, etc. Volume X. St John Chrysostom: Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew. Oxford Edition: 1843–1851. American Edition: 1888, Allegheny, PA, USA. This volume contains Victorian English translations, from the originals, of the homilies noted, as adapted by the American editors. Reprinted 1978. Grand Rapids, MI, USA: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
Chr–Matt G St John Chrysostom. Hupomnema eis to kata Matthaion Euaggelion (Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew). In the original Greek with facing translation into Modern Greek. In Hellenes Pateres tes Ekklesias, Volumes 36, 38, 42 and 39 (Volumes 9, 10, 11 and 12 of the sub-series of the collected works of St John Chrysostom). 1978–1979. Thessalonika, Greece: Paterikai Ekdoseis ‘Gregorios ho Palamas’.
Chr–Rom G St John Chrysostom. Hupomnema eis ten pros Romaious Epistole (Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans). In the original Greek with facing translation into Modern Greek. In Hellenes Pateres tes Ekklesias, Volumes 71 and 75 (Volumes 16B and 17 of the sub-series of the collected works of St John Chrysostom). 1984 and 1985. Thessalonika, Greece: Paterikai Ekdoseis ‘Gregorios ho Palamas’.
Damascus St John of
Diadochos Diadoche de Photicé (Diadochos of Photike). Œuvres spirituelles (Spiritual Works). Introduction, texte critique, traduction et notes de Édouard des Places, s.j. (Introduction, critical text, translation and notes by Édouard des Places, SJ). 1966. In Sources chrétiennes, No 5 ter. Paris, France: Les Éditions du Cerf.
Dysinger Dysinger, Luke, OSB. 2005. Psalmody and Prayer in the Writings of Evagrius Ponticus. In Oxford Theological Monographs. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Early Kadloubovsky, E. and G. E. H. Palmer. 1954. Early Fathers from the Philokalia. Together with some writings of St Abba Dorotheus, St Isaac the Syrian and St Gregory Palamas. Selected and translated from the Russian text Dobrotolubiye. London, UK: Faber and Faber Limited.
Ekklesiasten Évagre le Pontique. Scholies a l’Ecclésiaste (Scholia on Ecclesiastes). Édition princeps du texte grec,… par Paul Géhin. 1993. In Sources chrétiennes, No 397. Paris, France: Les Éditions du Cerf.
Euchologion Euchologion to Mega (The Great Priest’s Book of Prayers). Spoude kai epistasia Spuridonos Zerbou Hieromonachou (Edited by Spyridon Zerbos, Hieromonk). 4e Ekdosis. 1992. Athens, Greece: Ekdotikos Oikos ‘Aster’ Al. & E. Papademetriou.
Frankenberg Frankenberg, W. 1912. Evagrius Ponticus (Abhandlungen der Königlichen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, Philol.-hist. Klasse, Neue Folge, Bd. XII, 2). Berlin, Germany.
Gnostic G Évagre Le Pontique. Le Gnostic ou A celui qui est devenu digne de la science (The Gnostic or To Him Who Has Become Worthy of Gnosis). Édition critique des fragments grecs. Traduction intégrale établie au moyen des versions syriaques et arménienne. Commentaire et tables. (Critical Edition of the Greek Fragments. Complete translation established by means of the Syriac and Armenian versions. Commentary and Tables.) Antoine Guillaumont and Claire Guillaumont. In Sources Chrétiennes, No 356. Paris, France: Les Éditions du Cerf.
Golitzin Hieromonk Alexander (Golitzin). 1994. Et Introibo Ad Altare Dei. The Mystagogy of Dionysius Areopagita, With Special Reference To Its Predecessors In The Eastern Christian Tradition. In Analecta Blatadon, 59. Thessalonika, Greece: Patriarchikon Idruma Paterikon Meleton.
Guillaumont Guillaumont, Antoine. 1962. Les ‘Képhalaia Gnostica’ d’ Évagre le Pontique. Paris, France: Éditions du Seuil.
Harmless Harmless, William, S.J., and Fitzgerald, Raymond R., S.J. ‘The Sapphire Light of the Mind. The Skemmata of Evagrius Ponticus.’ 2001. In Theological Studies 62 (2001). Pp. 498–529.
Hausherr Hausherr, I., s.j. 1960. Leçons d’un contemplatif. Le Traité de l’Oraison d’Évagre le Pontique. Paris, France: Beauchesne et ses Fils.
Isaiah Tou Osiou Patros Hemon Abba Hesaia (St Abba Isaiah). Logoi KQ’ (Twenty-Nine Homilies). Edited by Augoustinou, Monachou. 1911. Jerusalem: no publisher. Reprinted: 1962. Volo, Greece: ‘Hagioreitikes Bibliothekes’, S. N. Schoina.
Isaac St Isaac the Syrian. The Ascetical Homilies of St Isaac the Syrian. Translated by the Holy Transfiguration Monastery. 1984. Boston, MA, USA: Holy Transfiguration Monastery.
Joseph E Elder Joseph. 1999. Elder Joseph the Hesychast. Struggles, Experiences, Teachings. Translated from Modern Greek by Elizabeth Theokritoff. Mount Athos, Greece: Great and Holy Monastery of Vatopedi.
Joseph G Gerontas Iosiph Vatopedinou. 2001. O Gerontas Iosiph O Hesuchastes. Bios – Didaskalia – ‘O dekaphonos salpingx’. 5th Edition. In Psuchophele Vatopedina, Volume I. Aghion Oros, Greece: Hiera Megiste Mone Vatopediou.
Ladder E St John Climacus. The Ladder of Divine Ascent. (Translation of Archim. Lazarus Moore.) Revised Edition. 1978. Boston, MA, USA: Holy Transfiguration Monastery.
Ladder G Ioannou tou Sinaitou. Klimax (Ladder). Eisagoge, keimenon, metaphrasis, scholia, pinakes hupo Archim. Ignatios (Introduction, text, translation, notes, tables by Archimandrite Ignatios). Third Edition. 1986. Oropos Attikes, Greece: Ekdoseis Hieras Mones Tou Parakletou.
Letters E Elder Joseph the Hesychast. 1998. Monastic Wisdom. The Letters of Elder Joseph the Hesychast. No translator given. Florence, AZ, USA: St Anthony’s Greek Orthodox Monastery.
Letters G Gerontas Iosiph. 1985. Ekphraseis Monachikes Empeirias. 3e Ekdosis. Aghion Oros, Greece: Ekdoseis Hieras Mones Philotheou.
Mark Marc le moine (St Mark the Ascetic). Traités (Treatises). Introduction, texte critique, traduction, notes et index par Georges-Matthieu de Durand, o.p. (Introduction, critical text, translation, notes and index by Georges-Matthieu de Durand, OP). 1999, 2000. In Sources chrétiennes, Nos 445, 455. Paris, France: Les Éditions du Cerf.
Melania 1 Frankenberg, W. 1912. Palin tou Hagiou Evagriou epistole pros Melanian. (Again of St Evagrius, Letter to Melania.) This is Frankenberg’s retro-translation of Part 1 of the Letter to Melania into ancient Greek from the Syriac of the manuscript. In Frankenberg (see entry), Volume II, pp. 612–19.
Melania 2 Vitestam, Gösta. Seconde partie du traité, qui passe sous le nom de “La grande lettre d’Évagre le Pontique à Mélanie l’ancienne”. Publiée et traduite d’après le manuscrit du British Museum Add. 17192. (Second part of the treatise which passes under the name of ‘The Great Letter of Evagrius Ponticus to Melanie the Elder’. Published and translated according to the manuscript of the British Museum Add. 17192.) Scripta Minora 3, 1963–1964. Lund, Sweden: Regiae societatis humaniorum litterarum lundensis.
Melania E Parmentier, Martin. Evagrius of Pontus’ “Letter to Melania” I and II. (Part I is an English translation of the complete Letter; Part II is a commentary.) In Bijdragen, tijdschrift voor filosofie en theologie 46 (1985), pp. 2–38.
Migne Migne, J. P. Patrologia Graeca.
Muyldermans Muyldermans, J. Evagriana (pp. 37–68) and Note Additionnelle A: Evagriana (pp. 369–83). Le Muséon 44, 1931. Offprint: Evagriana, Extrait de la revue Le Muséon, t. XLIV, augmenté de: nouveaux fragments grecs inédits. 1931. Paris, France: Paul Geuthner.
NT He Kaine Diatheke. Kata ten ekdosin tou Oikoumenikou Patriarcheiou. 1968. Athens, Greece: Apostolike Diakonia tes Ekklesias tes Hellados.
O’Laughlin O’Laughlin, Michael Wallace. Origenism in the Desert. Anthropology and Integration in Evagrius Ponticus. 1987. Unpublished D. Th. thesis at Harvard Divinity School. Cambridge, MA, USA: Harvard University.
OTT G Évagre le Pontique. Sur Les Pensées (On the Thoughts). Édition du texte grec. Paul Géhin, Claire Guillaumont and Antoine Guillaumont. 1998. In Sources chrétiennes, No 438. Paris, France: Les Éditions du Cerf.
Paisios Life †Hieromonachos Isaak (Hieromonk Isaac). 2004. Bios Gerontos Païsiou tou Hagioreitou (Life of Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain). Metamorphosis, Chalkidiki, Greece: Hieron Hesychasterion ‘Hagios Ioannes ho Prodromos’.
Palamas Palamas, St Gregory. Huper ton Hieros Hesuchazonton (In Defence of Those Keeping Stillness in a Holy Manner). Original text. Introduction and text as established by P. K. Chrestou. In Suggramata tou Gregoriou tou Palama, Volume I. 1962. Thessalonika, Greece. No publisher.
Palladius Palladius, Bishop of Helenopolis. E Pros Lauson Historia, E Legomene Lausaïke Historia (The History for Lausos, The So-Called Lausiac History). Original text from Migne (extended version) edited and with facing translation into Modern Greek. No translator given. Under the editorship of E. G. Meretakes. In Philokalia ton Neptikon kai Asketikon, Volume VI. 1996. Thessalonika, Greece: Ekdotikos Oikos Eleutheriou Meretake ‘To Buzantion’ and Paterikai Ekdoseis ‘Gregorios ho Palamas’.
Peri Archon Origen. Peri Archon. As: Origen, On First Principles, Being Koetschau’s Text of the De Principiis Translated into English, Together with an Introduction and Notes by G. W. Butterworth. Originally published 1936: London, UK: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (S.P.C.K.). Harper Torchback edition published 1966: New York, NY, USA: Harper and Row, Publishers, Incorporated. Harper Torchback edition reprinted 1973: Gloucester, MA, USA: Peter Smith.
Philokalia D Philokalia ton Hieron Neptikon (Philokalia of the Holy Fathers of Sobriety). Translated into Modern (Demotic) Greek by Anthony G. Galites. Five Volumes. 1984–1988. Thessalonika, Greece: Ekdoseis To Periboli tes Panaghias.
Philokalia E The Philokalia. The Complete Text compiled by St Nikodemos of the Holy Mountain and St Makarios of Corinth. Translated from the Greek and edited by G. E. H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard and Kallistos Ware with the assistance of others. Five Volumes. 1979–. London, UK: Faber and Faber.
Philokalia F Philocalie des pères neptiques (Philokalia of the Fathers of Sobriety). Introduction par Olivier Clément. Notices, et traduction de Jacques Touraille. Two Volumes. 1995. No place: Desclée de Brouwer, J.-C. Lattès.
Philokalia G Philokalia ton Hieron Neptikon (Philokalia of the Holy Fathers of Sobriety). Ancient Greek text. Fifth Edition. 1982–. Athens, Greece: Ekdotikos Oikos ‘Aster’. Al. & E. Papademetriou.
Plato Platonis Opera (Plato, Works). Recognovit brevique adnotatione critica instruxit Ioannes Burnet (Edited and provided with brief critical notes by John Burnet). In four volumes. First published 1900. Impression of 1973. In Oxford Classical Texts. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press.
Plotinus Plotin (Plotinus). Ennéades (The Enneads). Texte établi et traduit par Émile Bréhier (Text established and translated by Émile Bréhier). Troisième tirage (Third printing). In six volumes: 1960–1963. In Collection Budé des universités de France. Paris, France: Société d’édition ‘Les belles lettres’.
PO 28, 1 Guillaumont, Antoine. 1958. Les Six Centuries des “Kephalaia Gnostica” d’Évagre le Pontique. Édition critique de la version syriaque commune et édition d’une nouvelle version syriaque, intégrale, avec une double traduction française. In Patrologia Orientalis, Tome XXVIII – Fascicule 1. Paris, France: Firmin-Didot et Cie.
Porphyrios E Wounded by Love. The Life and the Wisdom of Elder Porphyrios. 2005. English translation by John Raffan of Bios kai Logoi (see Porphyrios G). Limni, Evia, Greece: Denise Harvey (Publisher).
Porphyrios G Gerontos Porphyriou Kausokalybitou (Elder Porphyrios [Baïraktares] of [the Athonite Skete of] Kausokalybia). Bios kai logoi (Life and discourses). B’ Ekdosis (2nd Edition), 2003. Chania, Crete, Greece: Hiera Mone Chrysopeges (Holy Monastery of Chrysopege).
Proverbs Évagre le Pontique. Scholies aux Proverbes (Scholia on Proverbs). Introduction, texte critique, traduction,… par Paul Géhin (Introduction, critical text, translation,… by Paul Géhin. 1987. In Sources chrétiennes, No 340. Paris, France: Les Éditions du Cerf.
Robinson Robinson, N. F. Monasticism in the Orthodox Churches. Being an Introduction to the Study of Modern Hellenic and Slavonic Monachism and the Orthodox Profession Rites, etc. 1916. London, UK: Cope and Fenwick and Milwaukee, WN, USA: Young Churchman Company. Reprinted 1964. New York, NY, USA: American Review of Eastern Orthodoxy.
RSV The Holy Bible. Containing The Old and New Testaments. Revised Standard Version. Old Testament: Revised 1946–1952. New Testament: Second Edition, 1971. London, UK: Oxford University Press.
Sinkewicz Evagrius of Pontus. The Greek Ascetic Corpus. Translation, Introduction, and Commentary by Robert E. Sinkewicz. 2003. In the series Oxford Early Christian Studies. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
SO 30 Guillaumont, Antoine. 1979. Aux origines du monachisme chrétien, Pour une phénoménologie du monachisme (To the Origins of Christian Monasticism, For A Phenomenology of Monasticism). In Spiritualité orientale et vie monastique, No 30. Bégrolles en Mauges (Maine & Loire), France: Abbaye de Bellefontaine.
Stewart Stewart, Columba. 2001. ‘Imageless Prayer and the Theological Vision of Evagrius Ponticus’. In Journal of Early Christian Studies, 9:2, pp. 173–204. Baltimore, MD, USA: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
Stromateis Clement of Alexandria. Stromateis. In Migne, Volumes 8 and 9. Books I, II and V have been published in critical editions in Sources chrétiennes, Nos 30 bis, 38 bis, 278 and 279. Paris, France: Les Éditions du Cerf. An English translation of the Stromateis can be found in the Ante-Nicene Christian Library (Edinburgh, 1882 and 1884).
TPL G Évagre Le Pontique. Traité pratique ou Le moine (Practical Treatise or The Monk). Tome I. Introduction. Tome II. Édition critique du texte grec… Antoine Guillaumont et Claire Guillaumont. 1971. In Sources chrétiennes, Nos 170 & 171. Paris, France: Les Éditions du Cerf.
Zoe E Palaia Diatheke Kata Tous Ebdomekonta (The Old Testament According to the Seventy—the Septuagint). Seventh Edition, 1973. Athens, Greece: Adelphotes Theologon He ‘Zoe’ (Brotherhood of Theologians, ‘Zoe’).
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31 Hades is a lightless place filled with eternal darkness and gloom.
32 The gnostic (gnostikos) is a hired man receiving his wage on the same day.
33 The man living the practical life (praktikos) is a hireling awaiting his wage.
34 The mind (nous) is a temple of the Holy Trinity.
35 That mind (nous) is embodied which is a seer of all the Ages.
36 That mind is unclean which tarries with reprehensible passion among those things which are sensible.
37 Desire (epithumia) is a power of the soul which makes wrath (orge) to disappear.
38 The man accomplished in the practical life (praktikos) is he who leads his life piously and justly in the world which is constituted in the intellect (dianoia).
39 The man accomplished in contemplation (theoretikos) is he who forms the sensible world in his intellect (dianoia) only for the sake of its gnosis.
40 Of the thoughts, some occur to us as [if we were] animals, while others occur to us as [if we were] men. And those that occur to us as [if we were] animals are those thoughts which are from desire (epithumia) and anger (thumos). Those that occur to us as [if we were] men, however, are those thoughts which are from sorrow and vainglory and pride. But, since they are mixed, those [thoughts] which are from accidie occur to us both as [if we were] animals and as [if we were] men.[1]
41 Of the thoughts, some lead while others follow. And those thoughts lead which are from the <desire (epithumia)>,[2] whereas those thoughts follow which are from the temper (thumos).
42 Of those thoughts which lead, some again go before whereas others follow. And those go before, then, which are from gluttony, whereas those follow which are from fornication.
43 Of those thoughts which follow the first thoughts, some lead whereas others follow. And those lead which are from sorrow (lupe), whereas those follow which are from wrath (orge), if indeed, according to the proverb, ‘A sorrowful word stirs up wraths.’ [Cf. Prov. 15, 1.]
44 Of the thoughts, some are without material; others are of little material; while others are of much material. And without material, then, are those which are from the first pride; of little material, those which are from fornication; while of much material are those which are from vainglory.
45 Of the thoughts, some cause damage from time; others from consent; others from sin in act. And those which cause damage solely from time: the natural thoughts. From time and from sin in act: the thoughts which are contrary to nature, the demonic thought and the thought from an evil intention.
46 To the good thought, two thoughts lie opposed: the demonic thought and the thought from an evil intention. To the evil thought, three thoughts lie opposed: the thought from nature, the thought from an upright intention and the thought from an angel.[3]
47 Of the thoughts some have their materials from without; the thoughts of fornication, however, have their materials from the body.
48 Of the thoughts, some are given birth from the soul when it is set in motion; others, however, come to occur from without, by the agency of the demons.
49 Of the unclean thoughts, some show God to be unjust; others show him to be a regarder of persons; others show him to be weak; and others show him to be merciless. Those which show God to be unjust are the thoughts which arise from fornication and vainglory; those which show him to be a regarder of persons are the thoughts which occur from the second pride; those which show him to be weak are those from the first pride; and those which show him to be merciless are the rest.
50 Of the thoughts some occur to us as [if we were] monks while others occur to us as [if we were] seculars.
51 Pleasure follows every thought with the exception of the thoughts of sorrow.
52 Of the thoughts some have the fantasies before their own gnoses, whereas others have the gnoses first.
53 The first of all the thoughts is the thought of self-love (philautia), after which the eight.[4]
54 Of the thoughts, some are from demand[5] whereas others are from the common war.
55 Of the thoughts, some give a form to (morphousi) the intellect (dianoia) whereas others do not give a form to it. And those which give a form to the intellect are as many as are from sight. But those which do not give a form to the intellect are as many as occur to us from the remaining senses.
56 Of the thoughts, some are according to nature, whereas others are contrary to nature. And contrary to nature are as many as are from desire (epithumia) and anger (thumos). But according to nature are as many as are from father or mother or wife or children.
57 Alone among the thoughts, the thoughts of vainglory and pride occur after the defeat of the remaining thoughts.
58 A common property of all thoughts is that they are damaging from time.[6]
59 Of the passions which are set in motion, some are set in motion from the memory, some from the senses and some from the demons.
60 All the unclean thoughts bind the mind (nous) either from desire (epithumia) or from anger (thumos) or from sorrow (lupe).
61 Alone among the thoughts, the thoughts of sorrow are destructive of all the [other] thoughts.
62 Of the mental representations (noemata), those which are from the senses are five, while those which are from the memory are ten, of which five are clean—if one should act well—and five are unclean—if one should comport oneself evilly. Those mental representations (noemata) which are from the angels are five spiritual ones, whereas those which are from the demons are five. Of these [sc. the thoughts which are from the senses], those which are from the sight are five: from a good or evil memory, from an angel, from sight, from demons. Of these, two are evil—those which are from an evil memory and those which are from demons imitating the sight—and three are clean. Those mental representations (noemata) that are without image are twenty-eight.
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[1] Cf. On the Thoughts, Chapter 18.
[2] Following Harmless p. 527.
[3] Cf. On the Thoughts, Chapter 31.
[4] These are the eight most general thoughts discussed above all in the Treatise on the Practical Life.
[5] Evidently in the sense that the Devil demanded from God permission to tempt Job (cf. Job 1, 9–12; etc.). These would be extraordinary temptations, as opposed to the ‘common war’.
[6] Codex Barberini Gr. 515 (see fn. 22), has this same chapter as Chapter 46, but without the final phrase ‘from time’. That could well be a truncation.
Timios Prodromos
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Text:
Cod. Paris. Graec. 913
J. Muyldermans
Evagriana (pp. 37–68)
and Note Additionnelle A: Evagriana (pp. 369–83)
Text: pp. 374–80
Le Muséon 44 (1931)
Offprint: Evagriana, Extrait de la revue Le Muséon, t. XLIV, augmenté de: nouveaux fragments grecs inédits
1 The Christ, in that he is the Christ, has the gnosis which is essential; in that he is the Creator, the reasons (logoi) of the Ages; in that he is bodiless, again the reasons (logoi) of the bodiless [powers].[1]
2 If anyone should wish to see the condition of the mind (nous), let him deprive himself of all mental representations (noemata), and then he will see the mind (nous) similar to sapphire or to the colour of Heaven [cf. Exod. 24, 9–11]. To do this without dispassion (apatheia) is one of those things which are impossible. For there is a need of God who works together and who breathes upon the mind (nous) the light which is related [to God].[2]
3 Dispassion (apatheia) is a tranquil condition of a reasonable soul, which condition is constituted from meekness and chastity.[3]
4 The condition of the mind (nous) is an intelligible height similar to the colour of Heaven, to which [mind (nous)] the light of the Holy Trinity also comes during the time of prayer.[4]
5 The Christ is a reasonable nature having in himself that which is signified by the dove that alighted upon him [cf. Matt. 3, 16].[5]
6 The censer is the pure mind (nous) not touching a sensible thing during the time of prayer. In respect of virtue, we will be one on the eighth day; in respect of gnosis, however, we will be one on the last day.
7 The impassioned mental representation (noema) of a sensible thing is the reprehensible kiss of the mind (nous), for which very reason the Saviour also says to his disciples: ‘Greet no one along the way of virtue.’ [Cf. Luke 10, 4.]
8 The temper (thumos) is a power of the soul destructive of thoughts.
9 Dog-like is the contemplative mind (nous theoretikos)[6] chasing away all the impassioned thoughts by means of the movement of the temper (thumos).
10 Dog-like is the practical mind (nous praktikos)[7] barking at all the unjust thoughts.
11 Discipline (paideia) is the denial of impiety and of worldly desires.
12 Fear is the betrayal of the helps by the thoughts.[8]
13 The demonic thought is an image (eikon) of the sensible man, constituted in the intellect (dianoia), with which the mind (nous), set in motion in an impassioned way, says or does something lawlessly in secret towards the image (eidolon) which steals into the mind in succession to the first.[9]
14 The anchorite is he who piously and justly dwells in the world which is constituted in the intellect.
15 That man (anthropos) is accomplished in the practical life (praktikos)[10] who rightly uses those things given by God.
16 That mind (nous) is accomplished in the practical life (praktikos)[11] which ever receives dispassionately the mental representations (noemata) of this world.
17 There are four ways by means of which the mind (nous) receives mental representations (noemata). And the first way, then, is by means of the eyes. The second, by means of the hearing. The third, by means of the memory. And the fourth, by means of the bodily constitution. And by means of the eyes, then, the mind (nous) only receives mental representations (noemata) which give a form to (morphounta) [the mind]. By means of the hearing, however, mental representations (noemata) which both give a form to (morphounta) [the mind] and do not give a form to (me morphounta) [the mind], so as to signify the word (logos) and things both sensible and contemplative (theoreta). The memory and the bodily constitution follow the hearing, for each gives a form to the mind (nous) and does not give a form to the mind (nous), imitating the hearing.
18 In the [sensible] bodies, then, there is both coessentiality (homoousiotes) and hetero-essentiality (heteroousiotes); in the bodiless powers, however, only coessentiality (homoousiotes). In the [natural] gnoses, then, there is hetero-essentiality (heteroousiotes), for no one of the [natural] contemplations is the same,
19 Since the mind (nous) receives thoughts from the five senses, one must observe from which senses the thoughts become rather the worse. It is clear, then, that these are the thoughts from the hearing, if also, indeed, ‘A sorrowful word agitates the heart of man,’ according to the proverb [cf. Prov. 12, 25.]
20 The mind (nous) which is in the practical life (praktike) is in the mental representations (noemata) of this world. The mind (nous) which is in [natural] gnosis sojourns in [natural] contemplation. When the mind (nous) comes to be in a state of prayer, it is in an imageless [state], which very thing is called the place of God. The mind (nous) will therefore see the coessentiality (homoousiotes) and the hetero-essentiality (heteroousiotes) in the [sensible] bodies, the [hetero-essentiality] which is in the [natural] contemplations (theoremata), and the [coessentiality] which is in God, which very thing [sc. hetero-essentiality], concerning God, is clearly among those things which are impossible, the essential gnosis being <immaterial (aülos)>[18] and there being no variation at all in regard to essential gnosis.[19]
21 Of the temptations, some are pleasures while others are sorrows. The latter bring forth bodily pains to men.
22 The mind (nous) at one time passes from a mental representation (noema) to other mental representations (noemata), at another time from a contemplation (theorema) to other contemplations (theoremata), and at another time from a contemplation (theorema) to mental representations (noemata). There is also the time when it even passes from the imageless condition to mental representations (noemata) or contemplations (theoremata) and again runs back from these to the imageless condition. This occurs to the mind (nous) during the time of prayer.
23 The mind would not be able to see the place of God in itself not having become higher than all mental representations which are in [sensible] objects. It will not become higher, however, if it does not unclothe itself of the passions, which are what, by means of the mental representations, bind it together with the sensible objects. And the passions it will lay aside by means of the virtues; the mere thoughts, then, by means of spiritual contemplation; and this [i.e. spiritual contemplation], again, when, during the time of prayer, <that>
24 The demonic thoughts make the left eye of the soul quite blind, the one giving its attention to the contemplations of things which have come to be.[21]
25 We have clearly learned from the holy David what is the place of God. For he says: ‘His place has come to be in peace, and his dwelling place in Zion.’ [Ps. 75, 2.] The place of God, then, is a reasonable soul; the dwelling place, however, is a mind (nous) in the form of light which has denied worldly desires and which has been taught to regard the reasons (logoi) of the soul.[22]
26 Prayer is a condition of the mind (nous) which is destructive of every earthly mental representation (noema).
27 Prayer is a condition of the mind (nous) occurring only from the light of the Holy Trinity.
28 Entreaty (deesis) is the conversation, with supplication (ikesia), of the mind (nous) with God containing [a request for] help or a request for good things.
29 A vow (euche) is the voluntary promise of good things.
30 Intercession (enteuxis) is an entreaty (paraklesis) brought forth to God by a greater one concerning the salvation of others.
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[1] Cf. Anathemas 6, 7 and 8 of the Fifth Ecumenical Synod (see Chapter III of Volume I).
[2] Cf. On the Thoughts, Chapters 2, 39 and 40.
[3] Cf. Treatise on the Practical Life, Chapters 56 and 60.
[4] Cf. On the Thoughts, Chapter 39.
[5] Cf. Anathemas 6, 7 and 8 of the Fifth Ecumenical Synod (see Chapter III of Volume I). Cf. also KG IV, 27 and the discussion of that passage in Section 1 of Chapter III, Volume I.
[6] I.e. the mind (nous) which has passed from the practical life (praktike) to the contemplative life of natural contemplation on a more or less permanent basis.
[7] I.e. the mind (nous) engaged in the practical life (praktike).
[8] This chapter can be construed in two ways: either the demonic thoughts betray the helps; or the helps provided by the good thoughts are betrayed by fear. Possibly the first interpretation is the more Evagrian.
[9] Cf. On the Thoughts, Chapter 25.
[10] ‘Praktikos’ means ‘accomplished in the practical life, praktike’.
[11] ‘Praktikos’ means ‘accomplished in the practical life, praktike’.
[12] Emending for sense from the ‘which indeed’ of the manuscript.
[13] Cf. KG VI, 72.
[14] For this reading of ‘in the Trinity’ as referring to contemplation of the Trinity and not to the ontology of the Trinity, compare the use in KG I, 65 of ‘in the Unity’.
[15] Cf. KG IV, 87: ‘Every contemplation appears with an underlying object, with the exception of the Holy Trinity.’
[16] In his Physics, Aristotle uses the phrase ‘to ti en einai’ to convey the same idea as Evagrius does with the phrase ‘to ti einai’. We wonder if there is a connection.
[17] This chapter seems to be a very dense summary of the Evagrian doctrine of contemplation, discussed by us in the Digression and in the Commentary on Chapters 38–43 of On the Thoughts. See also Section 1, Chapter III, of Volume I and the chapters of the Kephalaia Gnostica referenced in fn. 19.
[18] We propose an emendation here from ‘obscure (adulos)’ to ‘immaterial (aülos)’. As can be seen, the difference is a matter of one letter; this could very be a matter of a copyist’s error. The reading of the text does not make much sense in context, nor is it very consistent with Evagrius’ sense elsewhere, whereas the proposed reading is consistent with Evagrius’ doctrine generally.
[19] For the sense of the last sentence, cf. KG IV, 87, KG III 80, KG V, 62, KG V, 63, KG II, 47 and KG III, 27.
[20] For this emendation, cf. On the Thoughts, Chapter 40. The ending of that chapter indicates that the final sentence of this chapter of the Skemmata has been truncated and should read as shown. The ‘spiritual contemplation’ is natural contemplation, a lower stage than the mystical union of Theology conveyed by ‘the light that works in relief the place which is of God’; hence, it too needs to be divested so that the ascetic can attain to the mystical union of Theology.
[21] Cf. On the Thoughts, Chapter 42.
[22] Codex Barberini Gr. 515 (see Muyldermans), a manuscript which in many ways parallels the manuscript being used here, has this same chapter as part of Chapter 12, but with the exception that instead of ‘which has been taught to regard the reasons (logoi) of the soul’ it has ‘which has been taught to regard the reasons (logoi) of the earth’. Some interpreters prefer the reading ‘the reasons (logoi) of the earth’, construing it as ‘the reasons (logoi) of (the things on) the earth’. In the case of the reading ‘the reasons (logoi) of the soul’, what would be referred to is the contemplation of the reasons (logoi) of the reasonable beings, which Evagrius states in the Kephalaia Gnostica to be the last stage before Theology, mystical union with the Trinity. In the case of the reading ‘the reasons (logoi) of (the things on) the earth', what would be referred to is second natural contemplation.
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