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COMMENT On Modern Life No.1 Liberty, Equality, Fraternity
STARTSI The 'elders' of the Inner Tradition 
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THE ELDERS The Hermit's Message The Western Version Christian Fourth Way Lost Christianity Saints are made
PRAXIS NOW
 A glimpse of one of Praxis' new video talks. These articles give brief glimpses into the thinking of Praxis Research Institute. |
Inner Christianity Glimpse of Truth Different knowledge Darkness of the psyche
Inner states
Consciousness retold Speaking of God Seeking Self Inner Identity Civilising Knowledge
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11. Abstract: Towards a Christian psychotherapy for the West Today, the Orthodox church speaks of its own ‘Orthodox Psychotherapy.’ (Cf. the book of that name by Hierotheos Vlachos, Metropolitan of Nafpachos.) This idea properly expresses the early idea of the church and describes in some detail the basic methods used in Orthodox monasticism. However, investigations among Western individuals, (and including some Westernised individuals in Eastern Christendom,) suggest that a fairly lengthy preparation is necessary before most people possess sufficient piety to carry out the practises recommended. The therapeutic use of Christian self-knowledge, its links and differences in relation to 'Orthodox Psychotherapy' Starting nearly two thousand years ago, the mystical fathers of the early church developed their own special form of psychological knowledge. Saint Gregory Palamas, writing about this more than a millennium after it first began to be used, primarily to prepare people for a spiritual life, still described this knowledge in Saint Paul's term as the 'Philosophy of God,' just as it had been defined more than 1200 years before. (Ref:) In essence, this psychological knowledge has the same origin as what is now sometimes known as Esoteric Christianity, and more recently as Christian Psychotherapy. Attempts to describe any of these things in a purely intellectual way always break down: they cannot be made to fit into ordinary modern thought, because the emphasis or balance underlying people's habits of mind in those days was essentially different from how we think today. This apparent lack was in fact why, within its own milieu, the method succeeded. Yet in certain important ways this different kind of psychology was and is surprising like modern science. It was based on observation ... to be more exact, on self-observation or a kind of scientific introspection. Practising this carefully, intelligently, and at length, leads to the formation of disciplines which enabled its practitioners to verify their observations, and these in turn led to the emergence of definite criteria, the rules of which can still be applied today, and its own consensus, albeit one that was not centred on discursive intellect, as it would be if developed under the influence of modern thought. |
PRAXIS PAST 
praxis web 4 ARCHIVES including most of the text articles from praxis Web 4. Main texts are listed with simple descriptions under CONTENTS and more fully under ABSTRACTS |
* CONTENTS * ABSTRACTS A New Vision The Ark A Different Christianity Philosophers of God St. Gregory Palamas Cross-fertilisation Abstraction & attention Lost Doctrines Lost Christian truths The Royal Road Inner language History of Christianity Christian Therapy The First Millennium Christian Psychology Different kind of mind One thing needful Emotional Education Magnetisation to God Eastern Church spirituality God's drill Threshold of prayer Ora et Labora Research Report Mystical History Cultural Evolution Esoteric Christianity The Barbarian Within Spiritual crisis of the West
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