Tag: theosis

BECOMING A TREE OF LIFE: Nikitas Stithatos

Philokalia, vol. 4, On the Inner Nature of Things and on the Purification of the Intellect:

Nikitas Stithatos paints a lyrical image of the state of theosis, that is, union with God:

“When you have reached this state, you enter the peace of the Spirit that transcends every dauntless intellect (cf.Phil. 4 : 7) and through love you are united to God.”

Getting there, however, is not a linear path.

Pride for your spiritual achievements, for example, often creeps in, disrupting contemplation. The tranquility you achieved is shaken as you slip back into wanting to control, draw conclusions and make presumptions on your own. Such self-centered state of mind prevents you from seeing the inner nature of all things through God’s eyes.

Stithatos makes clear that nothing remains static in this process of spiritual ascendance, including the role of the penitent.

“God does not want us always to be humiliated by the passions and to be hunted down by them like hares, making Him alone our rock and refuge (cf. Ps. 1 04 : 1 8);”

God, then, wants us to be in a cooperative relationship with him.

Accordingly, simply resisting the passions is not enough for salvation. Nikitas Stithatos’s emphasis is on the transformation of passions into virtuous energies (rather than their mere annihilation).

To better illustrate this point, he brings up the metaphor of a deer eating snakes (don’t look for scientific evidence here).

“But He wants us to run as deer on the high mountains of His commandments (cf. Ps. 1 04 : 1 8. LXX), thirsting for the life creating waters of the Spirit ( cf. Ps. 42 : 1 ). For, they say, it is the deer’s nature to eat snakes; but by virtue of the heat they generate through being always on the move, they strangely transform the snakes’ poison into musk and it does them no harm. In a similar manner, when passion-imbued thoughts invade our mind, we should bring them into subjection through our ardent pursuit of God’s commandments and the power of the Spirit, and so transform them into the fragrant and salutary practice of virtue. In this way we can take every thought captive and make it obey Christ ( cf. 2 Cor. 1 o : 5).”

The spiritual application follows the deer analogy:

The Process of Transformation given by Stithatos

  • Invasion of Thoughts: “Passion-imbued thoughts” will inevitably enter the mind [1]. The goal is not necessarily to avoid these thoughts entirely, but to actively confront them.
  • Active Subjection: Through “ardent pursuit of God’s commandments and the power of the Spirit,” the negative thoughts are engaged and brought “into subjection” [1].
  • Spiritual Alchemy: The “poison” of the passion is not just neutralized; it is “transformed them into the fragrant and salutary practice of virtue” [1]. The energy of the passion, when channeled correctly through spiritual discipline, becomes something positive and holy (musk).

Free will, then, is not passive but has agency of its own to discern,  edit, re-direct and transform.

This “dynamic path” is a key feature of the broader Eastern Orthodox concept of theosis, which involves a synergistic process of human effort and divine grace.

The state of passivity or action, surface or depth depends on the level of engagement we have with God.

Simply disciplining the body is not sufficient for achieving theosis. It is literal and one-dimensional. Yet, “we are meant for more than we can literally imagine,” writes Stithatos. Remaining on the surface–Christians in name only– means that we are simply treading water and we will experience no progress:

“A person who keeps turning round and round on the same spot and does not want to make any spiritual progress is like a mule that walks round and round a well-head operating a water-wheel.”

Becoming one with God in every way is not achieved simply by adhering to technical details.

In the book, Everywhere Present, by Stephen Freeman, the central metaphor is the contrast between a “two-storey” and a “one-storey” universe. The “two-storey” view, which Freeman argues is the prevailing mindset in secular society, relegates God and all spiritual matters to an unreachable “upstairs” realm. This effectively banishes God from everyday existence, making faith a distant, theoretical concept. The “one-storey universe,” in contrast, recognizes that God is “everywhere present and filling all things” in the here and now.

This metaphor bears similarity to Stithatos’ contrast between passivity and total engagement, running in circles and ascending upwards.

Freeman’s book advocates for a faith that changes how one perceives and interacts with the entire world and sees God’s presence in all things.  

Stithatos’ path to theosis is similarly a transformative process by which a veil is lifted, and we can suddenly see the world around us with new eyes. We are able to discern God’s presence under the surface of even the most insignificant things and, hence, comprehend their true essence.

But true devotion of soul attained through the spiritual knowledge of created things and of their immortal essences is as a tree of life within the spiritual activity of the intellect

A RADICAL REDEFINITION OF SELF IN GOD

Nikitas Stithatos

Philokalia, vol. 4, On the Inner Nature of Things and on the
Purification of the Intellect:
One Hundred Texts

What does Stithatos mean by knowledge of oneself? How is it achieved?

For Socrates knowledge of oneself is a rational examination of strengths, weaknesses, values and limitations.

Stithatos, however, peels away all the known assets of selfhood. You are NOT your innate strengths and weaknesses, profession or life choices, he tells us. External circumstances beyond your control—praise, wealth, misfortune, or social status—have no bearing on your true self.

So, what remains of us then? How can there be “self” outside our values, actions, thoughts, successes and failures?

I struggled with my understanding of self in this passage. I kept waiting for a clear definition of what constitutes the authentic core of myself and how to find it.   

Instead, Stithatos offers a radical redefinition of self and our knowledge of it.  He shows that true self can only be experienced and not described.  Since we are made in the image of God, it is only through union with Him that we know ourselves.

Without uniting ourselves to God, we are locked in our ego-centric perception of the world, and we are unable to fully give of ourselves to Him and our fellow human beings.

Surely, we have all experienced the demon of distraction, even in things and situations we deeply value.  We catch ourselves missing entire chunks of conversation, important moments in our children’s lives, portions of liturgical services or even the beauty of the surrounding landscape because of our all-consuming thoughts and self-centered preoccupations —from reviewing the shopping list and feeling guilty for relaxing instead of pursuing a “productive”  task, to mentally preparing for a forthcoming interview or worrying about the future.

For Stithatos, self-knowledge is not a solitary mental effort of introspection, but a spiritual pilgrimage away from the limited self and toward a true union with God.

Shedding preoccupation with ourselves, we can now see the world anew through God’s perception and decipher the true essence of things all around us—their purpose, nature and role in creation. 

Once the Bridegroom has led the soul into the sanctuary of His hidden mysteries, He will initiate it with wisdom into the contemplation of the inner essences of created things.

By seeing the interconnectedness of all things and their divine purpose, we come to understand who we are in relation to God and His creation.

To see the inner essence of all things around us and know ourselves requires humility.

Nothing so inspires the soul with longing for God and love for one’s fellow beings as humility, compunction and pure prayer. …But until you come to know yourself through humility and spiritual knowledge your life is one of toil and sweat.

Stithatos’ writing has detailed for us a spiritual path that moves beyond rational knowledge and physical perception toward a direct, personal experience of union with God. Instead of arriving at a definition or logical conclusions he gives us a glimpse into a life in union with God.

  1. Purification of the intellect which allows the soul’s “eye” to be unveiled. Free from passions and distractions, you can access a deeper, spiritual kind of knowledge and experience inner peace.

With true knowledge of yourself, “…you cannot be constrained by sensory attachment to things. You are not distracted by any of the delectations of this life…”

2. Transition from knowledge to mystical experience

If you remain in a state of humility and keep your heart open

…you will be filled with a strange, unspeakable intoxication – the intoxication of compunction – and will enter into the depths of humility. Rapt out of yourself, you take no account of food, drink or clothing beyond the minimum needed; for you are as one who has experienced the blessed change that comes from ‘the right hand of the Most High’

3. Love. You can now experience and give pure love. We no longer see people as objects to impress or control and judge them on the basis of human-made categories. You see God’s presence and purpose in all people.

You do no “regard some people as holy and others as unholy; but just as God makes the rain fall and the sun shine equally on the just and on the unjust, on the evil and on the good (cf. Matt. t; : 4t;), so you irradiate love and diffuse its rays to all men.”’’’

In essence, Stithatos offers a profound redefinition of self. It argues that true identity is not a worldly achievement but a divine endowment that can only be uncovered through a spiritual journey toward union with God, leading to a profound and altered perception of yourself and reality.