The Evagrian Ascetical System

Volume II Table of Contents

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Information on Publisher, Copyright and ISBN, Volume II Introduction I Treatise on the Practical Life – Text TPL (Text) -- 1 TPL (Text) -- 2 TPL (Text) -- 3 TPL (Text) -- 4 TPL (Text) -- 5 TPL (Text) -- 6 TPL (Text) -- 7 TPL (Text) -- 8 TPL (Text) -- 8.1 TPL (Text) -- 9 TPL (Text) -- 10 II Treatise on the Practical Life – Commentary TPL (Commentary) -- 1 TPL (Commentary) -- 2 TPL (

Bibliography

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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

Skemmata -- 2

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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

Skemmata -- 1

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Appendix 3: The Skemmata (Text) Text: Cod. Paris. Graec. 913J. MuyldermansEvagriana (pp. 37–68)and Note Additionnelle A: Evagriana (pp. 369–83)Text: pp. 374–80Le Muséon 44 (1931)Offprint: Evagriana, Extrait de la revue Le Muséon, t. XLIV, augmenté de: nouveaux fragments grecs inéditsParis, France: Paul Geuthner (1931) The Skemmata 1 The Christ, in that he is

KGN -- VIb

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46 The lyre is the praktike soul which is plucked by the commandments of Christ. 47 The judgement of God will make whoever will have followed Joshua, to enter into the Promised land [cf. Num. 32, 1–5; Josh. 1, 14–15], in giving him a spiritual body and a world appropriate to him; but he will install those who on account of the abundance of their possessions will not be able to obtain it,[1] 2 ‘That which is knowable of God’ [Rom. 1, 19] is in those who are first by their genesis, and that which is not knowable of him is in his Christ. 3 That which is knowable of the Christ is in

KGN -- IIIb

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46 The judgement of the angels is the gnosis concerning the illnesses of the soul, which makes those who have been wounded ascend to health. 47 The change happening ‘in the blink of an eye’ [1 Cor. 15, 52] is unique which will overtake each one according to his degree by consequence of the judgement and which will establish the body of each according to the degree of his order. Indeed, that

KGN -- IIIa

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Third Century 1 The Father alone knows the Christ, and the Son alone the Father [cf. Matt. 11, 27], the latter as unique in the Unity and the former as Monad and Unity. 2 The Christ is he who alone has in himself the Unity and has received the judgement of the logikoi. 3 The Unity is it which now is known only by the Christ, (and is)† it of which the gnosis is essential. 4 It

KGN -- IIb

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46 The separable art of the artisan contains his work and the wisdom of God contains all. And just as he who in word[1] separates the art of the artisan from (the artisan)† breaks his work, so he who in his thought separates the wisdom of God from him destroys all. 47 The Trinity is not placed with the contemplation of sensibles and of

KGN -- IIa

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Second Century 1 The mirror of the goodness of God, of his power and of his wisdom, is those things which in the beginning, have from nothing become something. 2 In the second natural contemplation we see the ‘greatly various wisdom’ [Eph. 3, 10] of Christ, that of which he made use to create the worlds; but in the gnosis which concerns the logikoi, we have been instructed on the

KGN -- Ib

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46 All that which is in potentiality in the bodies is naturally in them also in act; they are connatural with those from which they came forth. But the nous is free of form and of matter. 47 There is nothing which might be in power in the soul and which could be able to leave it in act and exist separately; indeed, that (i.e. the soul)† is naturally made to be in the bodies. 48 All

KGN -- Ia

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Appendix 2: The Kephalaia Gnostica (Text) Translator’s Note We have translated the Kephalaia Gnostica of Evagrius Pontikos into English from the French translation of M. Antoine Guillaumont, who translated from the Syriac version intégrale (S2), established by M. Guillaumont, which is, presumably, the authentic Syriac translation of the lost Greek original. The reader should refer to the

Gnostic -- 2

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26 The time of explanation is not the same as the time of discussion. It is also necessary to reprimand those who prematurely make objections. That, indeed, is the habit of heretics and disputers. [French] 27 Do not speak of God [i.e. theologize] incautiously, and never define the Divine. For definitions are of things which are composite. [Greek]

Gnostic -- 1

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Appendix 1: The Gnostic (Text) Text: Évagre le PontiqueLe Gnostic ou A celui qui est devenu digne de la scienceÉdition critique des fragments grecs…Antoine Guillaumont et Claire Guillaumont1989Sources chrétiennes, No 356Les Éditions du CerfParis, France. The Gnostic or Towards Him Who Has Been Found Worthy of Gnosis 1 Men of praktike will comprehend words (

OTT (Text) -- 15

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40 The mind would not be able to see the place of God in itself not having become higher than all 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

OTT (Text) -- 14

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38 Christ raises the rational nature put to death by vice through the contemplation of all the Ages. The Father of Christ raises the soul which dies the death of Christ through the gnosis of himself, and this is what is said by the Apostle, the ‘If we die together with Christ, we believe we will also live with him.’ [Rom. 6, 8.] 39 When the mind, having unclothed itself of the old man,

OTT (Text) -- 13

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34 Since there also occur successions of demons—the first during the war having grown weak and not being able to set in motion the passion which is dear to it—having observed these things closely, we find them to be thus: When the thoughts of a certain passion are rare for a long time and there suddenly occurs a boiling and movement of this passion, although we have given no cause at all

OTT (Text) -- 12

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30 Of the unclean thoughts, some are seen in the road of virtue, and some next to the road. And as many as prevent the commandments of God from being kept—these sojourn next to the road. As many, again, as do not persuade us not to keep the commandments, but suggest that they be kept in such a way as to appear to men—all of these are seen in the road, since they corrupt our goal or the manner

OTT (Text) -- 10

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26 If one of the anchorites should wish to receive the gnosis of discernment from the Lord, let him first willingly work those commandments which are in his hands, omitting nothing, and thus, during the time of prayer, ‘let him ask’ gnosis ‘from the Lord who gives to all generously and without reproach, and let him ask doubting nothing,’ neither tossed by the waves of faithlessness, ‘and it will

OTT (Text) -- 11

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27 Thus those who live the life of solitude during the day are tempted by demons and fall into various thoughts; at night, again, in their sleep they battle with winged asps, are encircled by carnivorous beasts, are engirdled by serpents and are thrown headlong from high mountains. It also occurs that, having been awoken, they are again encircled by the very same beasts and they see the cell

OTT (Text) -- 9

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24 The demons do not all tempt us at once, nor do they cast thoughts into us at the same time, on account of the fact that it is not the nature of the mind to accept the mental representations of two sensible objects during the same period of time. For we said in Chapter 17 that an unclean thought does not occur to us without a sensible object. Even if our mind, being extremely quick in its

OTT (Text) -- 8

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22 All the unclean thoughts which persist in us on account of the passions lead the mind down to ‘ruin and destruction’ [1 Tim. 6, 9]. For just as the mental representation of bread persists in him who is hungry because of the hunger and the mental representation of water in him who is thirsty because of the thirst, thus the mental representations of money and possessions persist because of

OTT (Text) -- 7

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18 Of the unclean demons, some tempt the man as man and others agitate him as irrational animal. And the first, when they approach, cast into us mental representations of vainglory or pride or envy or condemnation, which very things affect none of the irrational animals. The second, when they draw near, set anger or desire in motion contrary to nature. For these very passions are common to us

OTT (Text) -- 6

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17 The Lord bestowed on man the mental representations of this Age as sheep of a sort to the good shepherd. For he says: ‘He likewise gave the Age into his heart,’ [Eccl. 3, 11] yoking temper and the desiring part to him to help him so that, on the one hand, through temper he drive away the mental representations of the wolves, and, on the other hand, through the desiring part, he cherish the

OTT (Text) -- 5

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14 Alone of the thoughts, the thought of vainglory has much material and encompasses almost the whole inhabited world and it secretly opens the door to all the demons, just as someone who has become the wicked betrayer of a city. For that reason, it greatly abases the mind of him who is living the life of solitude, filling him with many words and objects and causing the ruin of his prayers,

OTT (Text) -- 4

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12 All the demons teach the soul to be a lover of pleasure; only the demon of sorrow, then, does not condescend to practise this, but corrupts even the thoughts of those [pleasures)] which have come into our mind, intercepting and drying up every pleasure of the soul through sorrow, if, indeed: ‘The bones of a sorrowful man become dry.’ [Prov. 17, 22.] And if this demon wars moderately, it

OTT (Text) -- 3

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9 There is a demon called the ‘wanderer’, appearing to the brothers especially about the time of dawn. This very demon leads the mind about from city to city and from town to town and from house to house, the mind making supposedly mere encounters and meeting certain acquaintances and speaking at greater length and corrupting its own familiar condition on account of those who meet [it] and bit

OTT (Text) -- 2

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6 Concerning that we ought not to take care on account of clothing or food, I think it is superfluous to write since the Lord himself, in the Gospels, has forbidden it: ‘Therefore do not take care in your soul what you shall eat or what you shall drink or with what you shall be clothed.’ [Matt. 6, 25; 6, 31.] For this is without disguise a thing of the pagans and of the unbelievers, those

OTT (Commentary) -- 15

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OTT (Text) -- 1

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III On the Thoughts (Text) Text: Évagre le PontiqueSur Les PenséesÉdition du texte grec…Paul Géhin, Claire Guillaumont et Antoine Guillaumont1998Sources chrétiennes, No 438Les Éditions du CerfParis, France. On the Thoughts 1 Of the demons which are opposed to the practical life, the first during the war to engage in battle are those which are entrusted with the

Digression -- 5

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We now turn to some chapters from the Kephalaia Gnostica which deal with the virtues of the gnostic, he who in the Evagrian system has attained to dispassion (apatheia) and entered into natural contemplation. Just as the star which is hidden by the interposition of another is higher than it, so he who is more humble than another will find himself, in the world to come, more elevated than he (

OTT (Commentary) -- 14

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Commentary on OTT Chapters 38 to 43 38 Christ raises the rational nature put to death by vice through the contemplation of all the Ages. In KG V, 25, Evagrius says this: ‘The resurrection of the mind (nous) is the passage from ignorance to true gnosis.’ The ‘contemplation of all the Ages’ is the contemplation of all the worlds that we have seen in the preceding Digression to be an

Digression -- 3

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Let us now turn to the first natural contemplation, the contemplation of the bodiless powers or angels. Among the objects of material gnosis, some are first and others second. The first are corruptible in potentiality, and the second are corruptible in potentiality and in act (II, 33). We do not know what this means. We take the first objects, however, to be the angelic powers and, possibly

Digression -- 2

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Let us now turn to the remaining transformations, those that correspond to the second natural contemplation, the first natural contemplation and the contemplation of the Holy Trinity. We will go through the transformations one by one, but let us first present some of Evagrius’ more general comments on contemplation. The principal contemplations are five, under which every contemplation is

Digression -- 1

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Digression: The Evagrian Doctrine of Contemplation Although the transformations are numerous, we have received the gnosis of four only: the first, the second, the last and that which precedes it. The first is, as it is said, the passage from vice to virtue; the second is that from dispassion to the second natural contemplation; the third is the passage from the latter to the gnosis that

OTT (Commentary) -- 13

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34 Since there also occur successions of demons— The argument of Evagrius in this chapter is this: As he has stated in TPL 72, when we struggle with the demon—an objectively existent evil mind (nous) without a body that approaches us to excite the particular passion that corresponds to its type—we are afflicted but, struggling against the thoughts sown by the demon, we afflict the demon in

OTT (Commentary) -- 12

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OTT (Commentary) -- 11

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27 Thus those who live the life of solitude during the day are tempted by demons and fall into various thoughts; at night, again, in their sleep they battle with winged asps, are encircled by carnivorous beasts, are engirdled by serpents and are thrown headlong from high mountains. The reader should reread TPL 54–6, with our own commentary, before beginning. In the commentary on TPL 54–6,

OTT (Commentary) -- 10

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26 If one of the anchorites should wish to receive the gnosis of discernment ‘The gnosis of discernment’: This is an unusual phrase. We have learned what gnosis is: it is the result on the mind (nous) of, or the intuitive knowledge received by the mind (nous) from, the natural contemplation of the reasons (logoi) of existent things; later, the natural contemplation of the bodiless powers,

OTT (Commentary) -- 9

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24 The demons do not all tempt us at once, nor do they cast thoughts into us at the same time, on account of the fact that it is not the nature of the mind to accept the mental representations of two sensible objects during the same period of time. What Evagrius is going to say is that two demons are unable to sow mental representations—each demon its own mental representation—simultaneously.

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OTT (Commentary) -- 7

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OTT (Commentary) -- 6

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17 The Lord bestowed on man the mental representations of this Age There is a hint here of Evagrius’ cosmological system; we will provide an Orthodox interpretation. In creating man as a being with a material body and an intelligible soul, and in placing him on the face of the earth, the Lord God placed man in an ontological context: the earth with its plants, birds, animals, sky, sun and

OTT (Commentary) -- 5

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14 Alone of the thoughts, the thought of vainglory has much material and encompasses almost the whole inhabited world and it secretly opens the door to all the demons, just as someone who has become the wicked betrayer of a city. For that reason, it greatly abases the mind of him who is living the life of solitude, filling him Although the syntax seems to suggest that this ‘him’ refers to the

OTT (Commentary) -- 4

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12 All the demons teach the soul to be a lover of pleasure; only the demon of sorrow, then, does not condescend to practise this, but corrupts even the thoughts of those [pleasures] which have come into our mind, intercepting and drying up every pleasure of the soul through sorrow, if, indeed: ‘The bones of a sorrowful man become dry.’ [Prov. 17, 22.] And if this demon wars moderately, it makes

OTT (Commentary) -- 3

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OTT (Commentary) -- 2

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OTT (Commentary) -- 1

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IV On the Thoughts (Commentary) On the Thoughts Chapters 1 to 37 1 Of the demons which are opposed to the practical life, the first during the war to engage in battle are those which are entrusted with the appetites of gluttony, those which suggest avarice to us and those which call us out to the glory of men. All the others march behind these, receiving, in their turn, those who

Digression -- 4

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We can now turn to the fourth and last transformation, that from the first natural contemplation to the contemplation of the Holy Trinity, Theology. If among the things which are tasted, there is none of them which might be sweeter than honey and the honeycomb, and if the gnosis of God might be said to be superior to these things (cf. Ps. 18, 10), it is evident that there is nothing at all

TPL (Commentary) -- 10

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Sayings of the Holy Monks We have already covered much of the material that is presented here. 91 It is necessary to cross-question the ways of the monks who have travelled before [us] correctly and to accomplish [our own labours] in accordance with those ways. There are many things that one can find both said and done well by them. Among which things, this also one of them says: ‘The

TPL (Commentary) -- 9

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Practical Principles 71 Demonic songs set in motion our desiring part and cast the soul into shameful imaginations. This is clear. The passions can be set in motion by the senses, and this setting in motion can be quite complex: the demonic song contains rhythm, melody, words, gesture and movement. It is interesting that Evagrius says that these songs cast the soul into shameful

TPL (Commentary) -- 8.1

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On the Signs of Dispassion 63 When the soul begins to make the prayers without distraction, then the whole war is constituted night and day round the irascible part. 64 A sure sign of dispassion is a mind that has begun to see its own light and which remains still in regard to the apparitions which occur during sleep and

TPL (Text) -- 8

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On the Condition Which Approaches Dispassion 57 There are two peaceful conditions of the soul, the one given forth from the natural seeds, the other, however, coming to pass on account of the withdrawal of the demons. And humility with compunction, tears, limitless yearning after the Divine and measureless zeal towards the work [of monasticism, ascesis, etc.] follow upon the first.

TPL (Text) -- 7

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On Those Things Which Occur During Sleep 54 When, in the imaginations that occur during sleep, the demons battling against the desiring part themselves show, and we run towards, meetings with acquaintances and banquets of relatives and choruses of women and as many other things as result in pleasures, then in this particular part of the soul we are ill and the passion has strength. When,

TPL (Text) -- 6

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Counsels 40 It is not possible at all times to maintain the usual rule and it is necessary to pay attention to the season and to make an attempt to keep the possible commandments, as much as is possible, of course. For the demons themselves are not ignorant of the seasons and other such things. Whence, setting themselves in motion against us, on the one hand they impede what it is possible

TPL (Text) -- 5

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On the Passions 34 Of those things we have impassioned memories, of those same things we first accepted the objects with passion. And as many objects, again, as we accept with passion, of those objects we will have impassioned memories. Whence, he who has conquered the demons who are acting despises what is done by them. For the immaterial war is more bitter than the war realized in

TPL (Text) -- 4

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Against the Eight Thoughts 15 Reading, vigil and prayer stop a wandering mind. Hunger, toil and the anchoretic life wither inflamed desire. Chanting of the psalms, long-suffering and mercy put a stop to temper aroused. —And these things done at the appropriate times and in the appropriate measures. For the excessive and inopportune are for a little time only; and those things which last

TPL (Text) -- 3

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On the Eight Thoughts 6 The most general thoughts are eight in all, in which is contained every thought. First, the thought of gluttony; and, after it, the thought of fornication; third, that of avarice; fourth, that of sorrow; fifth, that of anger; sixth, that of accidie; seventh, that of vainglory; eighth, that of pride. Whether all these thoughts trouble the soul or do not trouble the

TPL (Text) -- 2

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Treatise on the Practical Life By the Same 100 Chapters 1 Christianity is the dogma of our Saviour Christ composed of practical, natural and theological parts. 2 The Kingdom of the Heavens is dispassion of soul with true gnosis of existent things. 3 The Kingdom of God is gnosis of the Holy Trinity coextensive with the constitution of the mind and exceeding its

TPL (Text) -- 1

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I Treatise on the Practical Life (Text) Text:Évagre Le PontiqueTraité pratique ou Le moine(Tome II)Édition critique du texte grec…Antoine Guillaumont et Claire Guillaumont1971Sources chrétiennes, No 171Les Éditions du CerfParis, France. By Evagrius the Monk Since, most beloved brother Anatolios, you have recently written from the Holy Mountain to me, staying in Skete,

Introduction

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Introduction In this volume, we address the ascetical system of Evagrius Pontikos. This volume forms a sequel to Volume I of this study, The Orthodox Doctrine of the Person. There, in Volume I, we addressed the elements of Orthodox anthropology and psychology that were necessary to be understood as a presupposition of the study of the psychological basis of mental prayer in the heart. In

Information on Publisher, Copyright and ISBN, Volume II

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The Psychological Basis of Mental Prayer in the HeartVolume II: The Evagrian Ascetical SystemFr Theophanes (Constantine) Published by:Timios ProdromosHieron Kellion ArchangelonKavsokalyviaGR 63087 DAPHNEAghion Oros – Mount AthosChalkidikiGREECE Website: (under construction) Email: timiosdotprodromos at gmaildotcom ISBN: Set: 960-88933-0-5