Breathing in prayer - conflicting reports

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MarcusAndreas

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I’ve seen some sources that say you should absolutely never use rhythmic breathing in prayer unless specifically directed by a spiritual father, and others that say it’s perfectly fine to do it.

Who’s right?
 
Context? Are you speaking of meditative practices, perhaps?
 
MarcusAndreas said:
I’ve seen some sources that say you should absolutely never use rhythmic breathing in prayer unless specifically directed by a spiritual father, and others that say it’s perfectly fine to do it.

Who’s right?
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Are you praying the Jesus Prayer?
 
MarcusAndreas said:
I’ve seen some sources that say you should absolutely never use rhythmic breathing in prayer unless specifically directed by a spiritual father, and others that say it’s perfectly fine to do it.

Who’s right?
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You can meditate and contemplate, but not as though you become God, rather we become Christlike. See this from CDW (1989) for details:

vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19891015_meditazione-cristiana_en.html
 
MarcusAndreas said:
No, since most of the sources I’ve read have said that should only be practiced with guidance from a spiritual father, which I don’t have.
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Marcus it is perfectly fine to pray the Jesus prayer even without a spiritual father, but to pray the Jesus prayer employing the breathing techniques without a spiritual father would be unwise.
 
ciero said:
Marcus it is perfectly fine to pray the Jesus prayer even without a spiritual father, but to pray the Jesus prayer employing the breathing techniques without a spiritual father would be unwise.
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Seriously? :rolleyes: I’m sorry, but come on…
 
Why is it unwise to use breathing techniques while praying the Jesus prayer? Am I missing something?
 
Thoughtfulone said:
Why is it unwise to use breathing techniques while praying the Jesus prayer? Am I missing something?
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ALL of the hesycastic fathers recommend not using the breathing techniques while praying the Jesus prayer unless you are closely supervised by a spiritual father who knows what he is doing. There is to much of a chance of opening yourself up to demonic influences.
 
Thoughtfulone said:
Why is it unwise to use breathing techniques while praying the Jesus prayer?
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Why not ask that question to begin with? 🤷
Thoughtfulone said:
Am I missing something?
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There’s nothing wrong with praying the Jesus Prayer. The danger lies in attempting to attain inner prayer of the heart without the guidance of someone who has experience with interior prayer. The danger lies in prelest, or spiritual delusion, and in possible demonic influence. There are many examples from the fathers of individuals who fell into delusion and under the influence of demons. That is why the guidance of someone experienced is so important. They can see things in you that you don’t see in yourself and can point out pitfalls along the way.
 
ciero said:
ALL of the hesycastic fathers recommend not using the breathing techniques while praying the Jesus prayer unless you are closely supervised by a spiritual father who knows what he is doing. There is to much of a chance of opening yourself up to demonic influences.
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Can you provide some resources that explain that thinking? It makes no sense that a prayer to Jesus would attract demons. I’ve often heard the Jesus prayer is prayed with the breath. In fact a goal for some is to repeat this prayer so often that it eventually becomes as automatic as breathing and is continuallly repeated in the mind/
 
momor said:
Can you provide some resources that explain that thinking? It makes no sense that a prayer to Jesus would attract demons. I’ve often heard the Jesus prayer is prayed with the breath. In fact a goal for some is to repeat this prayer so often that it eventually becomes as automatic as breathing and is continuallly repeated in the mind/
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Anytime we make an attempt to pray to God it infuriates the demons and they do anything they can to distract us.
 
MarcusAndreas said:
I’ve seen some sources that say you should absolutely never use rhythmic breathing in prayer unless specifically directed by a spiritual father, and others that say it’s perfectly fine to do it.

Who’s right?
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as opposed to what other kind of breathing? isn’t most people’s breathing rhythmic most of the time?
 
puzzleannie said:
as opposed to what other kind of breathing? isn’t most people’s breathing rhythmic most of the time?
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He means breathing in rhythm with the words of the prayer.

Breathe in - Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God…

Breathe out - Have mercy on me, the sinner.

Repeat thousands of times.
 
I fail to see how breathing in rhythm with the words of the prayer can attract demonic influences. The statement has been made several times but I would love to understand how or why this would be so if it were possible. I’m not challenging but would seriously like to know.

The reason I ask is because I have prayed Abba… Father… Abba… Father… along with rythmic breathing. The technique was suggested to a group of men at a vocations retreat by the novice director of a Monastery.
josephdaniel29 said:
Anytime we make an attempt to pray to God it infuriates the demons and they do anything they can to distract us.
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Should we not pray? Kneel? Turn our palms up?

Again, not challenging but wondering how rhythmic breathing opens one up to demonic influences wheras normal breathing does not or does to a lesser degree.

-Tim-
 
momor said:
Can you provide some resources that explain that thinking? It makes no sense that a prayer to Jesus would attract demons. I’ve often heard the Jesus prayer is prayed with the breath. In fact a goal for some is to repeat this prayer so often that it eventually becomes as automatic as breathing and is continuallly repeated in the mind/
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Lets start with the Philokalia.
 
josephdaniel29 said:
Anytime we make an attempt to pray to God it infuriates the demons and they do anything they can to distract us.
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Indeed. I’ve heard it said that when the bell rings in the morning at the monastery to wake up the monks, it wakes up the devils, too.

It’s a reality of life, not just for monastics but for the rest of us as well.
 
josephdaniel29 said:
He means breathing in rhythm with the words of the prayer.

Breathe in - Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God…

Breathe out - Have mercy on me, the sinner.

Repeat thousands of times.
Click to expand...
This can cause unexpected self-hypnosis, which can make one susceptible to outside influences. I could see how this could be dangerous.
 
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