Abstract
The spirituality of "hesychasm" that arose in the 14th century on Mt. Athos, the center of Orthodox-monastic spirituality, consists of the repetition of the "Jesus-prayer" with a particular psycho-physical method and theories for defending the significance as well as legitimacy of contemplating the "Light of God." The recitation of the "Jesus-prayer" while in a bending posture, together with a particular method of respiration, came into being in the context of the Byzantine-monastic tradition in which one pursued silence. The theoretical aspect of the spirituality, on the other hand, is very typical of Eastern Christianity in the contemplation of God's Light that was reinterpreted with the biblical term "Tabor Light." It involves the notion of "energeia" (work, activity), if one word could be chosen to designate this feature, and this notion functions as an explanation of the legitimacy and meaning of the experience of God's Light. Therefore, the theory of hesychasm is characterized by a dynamic-concrete idea of "working" and "action" rather than by an abstract idea of "immanence" or "essence." We could describe hesychastic spirituality as "a spirituality of energeia-dynamism."
