Evagrius wrote two treatises concerned primarily with the earliest stages of monastic training, the Foundations and Eulogios. This first text takes as its central theme the practice of stillness or hesychia.1 As Evagrius uses the term, hesychia refers to both the exterior and interior stillness that the monk must continually cultivate, for it can so easily be disrupted or lost. Both in his choice of physical space and in his regulation of his own interior space, the monk seeks for the state of perfect tranquillity that will allow him to devote himself single-mindedly to the practice of contemplation. For Evagrius, being a monk and living in true hesychia are virtually the same thing. The text of the Foundations therefore is devoted to a discussion of the necessary conditions for the cultivation of stillness and the hazards to be avoided in preserving it.
The first prerequisite is to withdraw from society in order to take up the solitary life (i—3).2 This involves the renunciation of marriage with its attendant worries and distractions. Through an allegorical reading of a citation from Jeremiah (16: 1—4), Evagrius aligns the Pauline anxieties and cares of the world suffered by the married (i Cor. 7: 32—4) with the thoughts and desires of the flesh. Anyone who remains bound to these cannot attain eternal life. The monk therefore abstains from marriage, renounces the thoughts and desires of the flesh, and leaves behind all material concerns of this world. Evagrius here associates the practice of monastic hesychia with the long-established tradition of ascetic virginity.
Even the biblical verses he cites have an established history in this context.3 Secondly, the monk must adopt a style of life that is simple and free of all unnecessary distractions. This means a plain and frugal diet, even taking into account the obligations of hospitality (3). Possessions and physical comforts must be reduced to the essentials required for basic subsistence (4—5). Almsgiving is not an excuse for the accumulation of wealth.
Clothing is to be kept to the minimum necessary, with any surplus to be given to others in need. Servants should be considered an unnecessary distraction and a possible source of scandal in the case of a serving-boy.
Thirdly, the monk should exercise great caution in his human relationships. To preserve stillness, the monk will choose to live alone or only with like-minded brothers, avoiding any associations with people who are material-minded and involved in business affairs. Family bonds present their own dangers. Meetings with relatives should be avoided, and the monk needs to free himself from any preoccupation with his affection or worry for parents and relatives (5). Taking careful stock of his circumstances the monk must decide whether or not they are conducive to stillness and, if not, he should accept voluntary exile. The city is a dangerous place and is to be shunned as offering nothing of value to the monk's way of life. The remoteness of the desert is presented as the ideal location for the cultivation of stillness (6). But there too the monk needs to be careful about frequent encounters with the brothers, and he must choose friends carefully, spiritual friends who will aid him in his progress. Invitations to eat with a brother may be accepted on occasion, but the monk should never be away from his cell for long (7—8). Manual labour is an essential practice in the monastic life, undertaken so that the monk will not be a burden to anyone and may have some surplus to assist others in need. In thus eschewing laziness, the monk averts the danger of acedia and overcomes desires. But at some point the monk must sell the produce of his manual labour, thus involving him in the commerce of the nearby villages or towns. In the course of selling his produce or buying necessities, the monk might get caught up in the haggling over prices and the disputes that might follow. It was considered preferable to have someone else go to market on the monk's behalf (8).
Finally, Evagrius turns his attention to the ascetic exercises that will establish stillness in the monk's heart. Above all the monk must cultivate an interior attitude of compunction through meditation on death, judge-ment, heaven and hell, calling to mind the good things that lie in store for the just and the punishments that will be meted out to sinners (9). Fasting is recommended as a central ascetic practice that will purify the soul and drive away the demons, but fasting may be relaxed in giving or receiving hospitality or in the case of sickness (i o). Prayer should be offered always •with an attitude of vigilance and humility, remembering that the demons will make every effort to render prayer ineffectual (ii).
There is very little in this short introductory pamphlet on the monastic life that can be recognized as teaching specific to Evagrius. The astute reader might perhaps recognize the reference to 'the kingdom of heaven and the righteousness of God' at the end of Foundations 4 as a veiled allusion to the practical and the gnostic life, for Evagrius himself offers that interpretation in Prayer 39.4 The seven references in the treatise to the importance of being free from all attachments to 'materiality' of any kind5 may suggest the Evagrian concern that the ascetic progressively divest himself, insofar as possible, of all material attachments in order that he might attain impassibility and prepare himself for pure or immaterial prayer.6 Apart from these well-concealed references to his teaching, Evagrius presents in this treatise the common teaching of the desert tradition. This same teaching would again enter the written record within the next century in the first collections of Apophthegmata Patrum7
1 See the discussion of hesychia and Foundations in A. Guillaumont, 'Les fondements de la
vie monastique selon Evagre le Pontique', Annuaire du College de France, 78 (1977—8), 467—77;
'Un philosophe au desert: Evagre le Pontique', Revue de I'Histoire des Religions, 181 (1972),
29—56 [Origines 12: 185—212].
2 The numbers in brackets refer to the sections of the text.
3 i Cor.7 in particular was a well-known locus classicus for patristic writers wishing to argue the merits of celibacy. See Elizabeth A. Clark, Reading Renunciation: Asceticism and Scripture in Early Christianity (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1999), 106—7, 259~329-
4 'In your prayer seek only righteousness and the kingdom, that is, virtue and knowledge, and all the rest "will be added unto you" (Matt. 6: 33).'
5 Foundations 2.125365—As a soldier of Christ the monk must be 'freed from matter and from anxieties'; 2. 1253610, 'He has abandoned all material concerns of the world';3. 125307—He is told to 'stand free of material concerns and the passions, beyond all desire'; 5. 1256010—ii5yA5. He is to avoid living "with people "who are 'material-minded' and should either live alone or 'with brothers who are free of material concerns'. The one who chooses to live '"with material-minded people' risks, among other things, 'madness over material things'.
6 Prayer 66, 'Approach the Immaterial immaterially and you will attain understanding';119, 'Blessed is the mind which becomes immaterial and free from all things during the time of prayer'; 145, 'One still entangled in sins and occasions of anger, "who shamelessly dares to aspire to the knowledge of more divine things or who even embarks on immaterial prayer, let him receive the rebuke of the Apostle.'
7 See e.g. the teaching on hesychia in the Apophthegmata Patrum, Alphabetical Collection, (...)
Evagrius of Pontus
The Greek Ascetic Corpus
Translation, Introduction, and Commentary by
ROBERT E. SINKEWICZ
No comments:
Post a Comment