Difference btw Hesychasm and Latin centring/contemplation prayer

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Future_Prodigy

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Is there a connection? It seems like the goals are the same? Or am i reading the information incorrectly
 
Never heard of “centering” in Latin spirituality. What is that? Isn’t that a New Age thing?

Blessings
 
Future_Prodigy said:
Is there a connection? It seems like the goals are the same? Or am i reading the information incorrectly
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I think that the spirituality of Basil Pennington and Thomas Merton is somewhat like that of hesychasm. Basil Pennington spent a while on mount Athos and wrote a book about it.
 
mardukm said:
Never heard of “centering” in Latin spirituality. What is that? Isn’t that a New Age thing?

Blessings
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It is a New Age thing, and certainly not accepted as a legitimate form of prayer by the Church. I believe there are several documents written against this practice.
 
jimmy said:
I think that the spirituality of Basil Pennington and Thomas Merton is somewhat like that of hesychasm. Basil Pennington spent a while on mount Athos and wrote a book about it.
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I’m sure brother Ghosty will give his (name removed by moderator)ut here. I think the spirituality of the Latin mystics, aside from the penitential aspects and bodily postures, were very much similar to the hesychasts.

Blessings,
Marduk
 
Caesar said:
It is a New Age thing, and certainly not accepted as a legitimate form of prayer by the Church. I believe there are several documents written against this practice.
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I thought so. I did research after I read your response, and found out that St. Theresa of Avila warned against it, as did HH Pope John Paul II of thrice-blessed memory, as well as HH Pope Benedict.

But having read the Catholic articles which describe centering as opposed to genuine Catholicis, I would like to know if Easterns think it is similar to hesychasm, and why or why not.

Blessings,
Marduk
 
I am not aware of either JPII or Pope Benedict specifically
warning against Centering Prayer rather than New Age
practices in general. I would be glad if someone could
come up with some specific references to such statements.
This is of concern to me because a person close to me has
been involved with a Centering Prayer group for some time.
I do not see that it is doing any harm.

I have read various articles pro- and con- and am wary of the
practice but not in a position to come to any conclusions.
I have not come across any statements one way or the other
from anyone in authority in the Church.

Edmac
 
mardukm said:
I’m sure brother Ghosty will give his (name removed by moderator)ut here. I think the spirituality of the Latin mystics, aside from the penitential aspects and bodily postures, were very much similar to the hesychasts.

Blessings,
Marduk
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You know me too well, brother. 😛

I don’t know the first thing about “centering prayer”, but I do know a bit about Hesychastic prayer. Hesychasm can refer generally to what Latins call contemplative prayer, or prayer with the intention of direct communion with God. In this general sense there is no “technique” involved other than a holy life and a strong prayer life, and of course the desire for union with God. This is the same as the Latin “contemplative prayer”, where a person stills themselves and makes themselves present to God, allowing God to work directly in them. This is written about most accessibly by St. Theresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross, both Latin contemplative mystics and Doctors of the Church.

Hesychasm can also refer to the specific physical and psychological prayer techniques of the hesychasts, which includes a form of breathing and body posture, and these techniques have typically been ill-regarded in the West for a number of reasons. The main reason they’ve been ill-regarded is that contemplative prayer in the West is not viewed as something you can physically direct yourself into, but rather it’s purely a spiritual gift from God. Attempts to use physical methods are viewed as a “mind game” at best, or as a way to cause physical reactions that can be confused for spiritual experiences, or even as invitations for demons to encourage such misconceptions at worst.

I’m personally VERY skeptical of the techniques of hesychasm simply because I used almost identical ones when I was an atheist in order to experience the “lights” that the Hesychasts refer to as the “Divine Light”. I didn’t pray the Jesus Prayer, of course, but rather simply counted backwards from ten while breathing in rhythm and holding my head on my chest. I didn’t even KNOW about Hesychasm at the time, but rather learned this technique from a New Age/Hindu friend, and I liked the cheap light show I got from using it. Astronauts also have the same experience when being shot into space, as the g-forces interfere with the blood-flow in the brain in much the same way as the physical technique of hesychast prayer would cause.

So, ironically, I agree with Barlaam’s assertion that the light that Palamas saw was not God, but I disagree with his theological arguments why that would be the case (namely that God can’t unite directly with humans in such a way). I agree with Palamas’ theological defense of Hesychasm, while disagreeing that the light he and his fellow monks were seeing was God, both because I don’t believe God is an eternal light show, and also because it is the common experience of pagan mystics who use nearly identical methods for nearly identical results (it’s even called the “Divine Light” in Hinduism, and if you do a search for that term on Google you’ll find as many Hindu references to it as Catholic/Orthodox ones).

This isn’t to say that the Hesychasts don’t experience a real union with God, but rather that what they describe as that experience, namely the light, is not necessarily that experience IMO.

As for centering prayer, does anyone have any links to what exactly it is? If it’s a “New Age” thing it wouldn’t surprise me if it involves similar physical components as what I learned about as an atheist.

Peace and God bless!
 
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