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> Dostoevsky had himself adopted an attitude of ‘gentle and total resignation’ that brought him – like Molinos and Schopenhauer before him. As can be gleaned f

> Dostoevsky had himself adopted an attitude of ‘gentle and total resignation’ that brought him – like Molinos and Schopenhauer before him. As can be gleaned from the ending of Crime and Punishment, Dostoevsky's version of quietism comes from Christianity, but not from Miguel de Molinos. It is hesychasm, and it would have been nice for the article to do a more thorough dive into the roots of this practice in Christianity – and I mean all Christianity, not solely the Catholic church where it was demonized, but the other side of Christianity where it was adopted as a core tenet. I'm referring to Eastern Orthodox, which would have simply been "Christianity" to Dostoevsky. Hesychasm was a sort of ritual prayer to retire "inward" and away from all the senses in order to achieve a more direct union with God, often by using a word or a mantra to concentrate and free the mind. This practice was characterized as "magic" or "mysticism" by Western Christianity [1], as was alluded to in the article. In any case, it dates from Gregory Palamas in the 13th-14th century, ahead of Molinos' 17th. Interestingly, there is a lot of argument about whether hesychasm is quietism, even though quietism is the translation of the term hesychasm – my guess is because nowadays the Catholic church is trying to be more friendly with the practices of the Orthodox, recognizing them as fellow Christians, but trying to avoid contradicting its previous word. [2] 1 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palamism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palamism 2 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palamism#Confusion_with_Quietism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palamism#Confusion_with_Quieti...

Mediterraneo10 6y ago
Catholic acceptance of hesychasm is not new but dates from the rise of the Uniate churches. In exchange for the Greek Catholics recognizing the Pope, Rome accepted all those traditions in spite of whatever contradictions they might have posed to Roman Catholic dogma.
chrisweekly 6y ago
> "Hesychasm was a sort of ritual prayer to retire "inward" and away from all the senses in order to achieve a more direct union with God, often by using a word or a mantra to concentrate and free the mind." This precisely describes several variations of meditation style pre-dating Christ, let alone 13th-century Christians.
- spijdar 6y ago
  Hence it being demonized by one half of Christianity, I imagine. Accusations of syncretism and heresy and magic and mysticism and other things that make/made the Catholic (and Catholic off-shoots e.g. protestantism) side of Christianity uneasy.
foobarian 6y ago
This is confusing to me, because it seems very similar to repeated Catholic prayer. Isn't the effect similar?
kcartlidge 6y ago
FYI - for a gentle introduction to hesychasm, I'd strongly recommend "The Way of a Pilgrim". Eastern Orthodox, and simply written (in terms of understanding it). For a more involved approach try the "Philokalia" - but be prepared for heavy reading, and make sure you are getting the right book as the title has been used for other works.

Mediterraneo10 6y ago

Catholic acceptance of hesychasm is not new but dates from the rise of the Uniate churches. In exchange for the Greek Catholics recognizing the Pope, Rome accepted all those traditions in spite of whatever contradictions they might have posed to Roman Catholic dogma.

chrisweekly 6y ago

> "Hesychasm was a sort of ritual prayer to retire "inward" and away from all the senses in order to achieve a more direct union with God, often by using a word or a mantra to concentrate and free the mind." This precisely describes several variations of meditation style pre-dating Christ, let alone 13th-century Christians.

spijdar 6y ago
Hence it being demonized by one half of Christianity, I imagine. Accusations of syncretism and heresy and magic and mysticism and other things that make/made the Catholic (and Catholic off-shoots e.g. protestantism) side of Christianity uneasy.

foobarian 6y ago

This is confusing to me, because it seems very similar to repeated Catholic prayer. Isn't the effect similar?

kcartlidge 6y ago

FYI - for a gentle introduction to hesychasm, I'd strongly recommend "The Way of a Pilgrim". Eastern Orthodox, and simply written (in terms of understanding it). For a more involved approach try the "Philokalia" - but be prepared for heavy reading, and make sure you are getting the right book as the title has been used for other works.