Breathing in Greek Philokalia

[lojong1]

 Can anyone here post a Greek copy or translation of a
 section of the greek Philokalia by Nicephorus the Solitary (died c. AD1340) on breathing
 prayer?
 A note in the English version (p.32 of 'Writings from the Philokalia on Prayer
 of the Heart') states that the russian (and therefore the English) contains only an "abbreviated paraphrase
 because the original instruction applies to a method of breathing which is now
 expounded differently."
It is that unabbreviated, unparaphrased instruction that I'd like to read.

[Alexander]

It is interesting you ask that here, as I have read all the Philokalia which has been translated into English. I can't find Nicephorus the Solitary though. His writing might be in fifth volume which is still only in Greek/Russian; unless Nicephorus is Nikiphoros the Monk, in which case I can give you his text "On Watchfulness and the Guarding of the Heart" - but looking at it I think it's more about mindfulness (or in Orthodox lanaguage, "nepsis") than it is about breathing/pranayama.

[Jhanananda]

Welcome lojong1 to the Fruit of the Contemplative Life forum, and thank-you for posting something on Orthodoxy Christianity.  I would like to see more on Orthodoxy Christianity, because I do not know much about it, but I am sure they have their own rich tradition of mystics.  It looks like Nicephorus and Nikiphoros might be the same individual with different pronunciations.

Nicephorus the Solitary short bibliographic note from Dobrotoli︠u︡bie edited by E. Kadloubovsky, G.E.H. Palmer

Nikiphoros the Monk (also called Nikiphoros the Hesychast) was a 13th century monk and spiritual writer of the Eastern Orthodox Church. According to Gregory Palamas,[1] Nikiphoros was originally Roman Catholic but travelled to the Byzantine Empire where he converted to the Eastern Orthodox faith and became a monk at Mount Athos. Like Theoleptos of Philadelphia, Nikiphoros was a strong opponent of the union of the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches which was agreed to at the Council of Lyons in 1274. Because of this, he was imprisoned and later wrote an account of his ordeal.[2] The main theme of Nikiphoros’ spiritual writings in the Philokalia is ‘nepsis’ (Greek νήψις) which is usually translated as watchfulness or vigilance.[3] For those inexperienced in prayer and spiritual self-control, the mind tends to wander and lapse into imagination. Nikiphoros described a method of breathing while praying to concentrate the mind within the heart in order to practice watchfulness.[4]

The use of the term ‘nepsis’ in the Philokalia suggest to me the way mindfulness is used in Western Buddhism, for being mindfully self-aware, as well as how they/we attend to the meditation object.  In that case, then the equivalent Pali term would be 'sati.'

Here is a Quote by Nicephorus the Solitary on breathing, breath, heart, mind, and presence

You know that our breathing is the inhaling and exhaling of air.  The organ that serves for this is the lungs that lie round the heart, so that the air passing through them thereby envelops the heart.  Thus breathing is a natural way to the heart.  And so, having collected your mind within you, lead it into the channel of breathing through which air reaches the heart and, together with this inhaled air, force your mind to descend into the heart and to remain there.

Here is another useful link to the philosophical poems & quotes of Nicephorus the Solitary

[lojong1]

Thanks for looking gents.
This is the same author from volume V. The link to text at google books is from the same book I have here (which also contains writings from five other authors in book V), but has only the abbreviated paraphrase: "You know that our breathing [...] and to remain there. [...]."

Algorincz, it sounds like you do have a different translation of the same piece. The breathing bit would be a subsection of "on Watchfulness" titled 'By Nicephorus himself', right after 'From St. Simeon'.
If it was translated from the Russian, I expect the material would be the same.

I'm going to look me up some biblical nepsis while we wait for the Greeks to come and help us out.

[Jhanananda]

There are at least two other ways to track down the Greek version of all five volumes of the Philokalia.

1) Locate the nearest Greek Orthodox Church.
2) Go to the nearest library and search the electronic catalog for the volume you need, then request that it be

The four volumes can be downloaded clicking this link Philokalia – the "complete" set of volumes.  Why is the four volume set called the "complete" set of volumes if there is a 5th volume?

[Alexander]

http://i.imgur.com/tgZPJA7.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/QERaBXd.jpg

[Jhanananda]

What follows is the text of the scanned pages that links to were posted by aglorincz above. If Nikiphoros the Monk is the same as Nicephorus the Solitary, and the Philokalia that has been provided for us in translation (link up-thread), then I believe we should conclude that there is no missing 5th volume, unless there is evidence to the contrary.

From Nikiphoros Himself
And if the Most High is not your refuge you will not lay up His love in your heart.
Most if not all of those who attain this greatest of gifts do so chiefly through being taught. To be sure, a few without being taught receive it directly from God through the ardor of their endeavor and the fervor of their faith; but what is rare does not constitute the norm. That is why we should search for an unerring guide, so that under his instruction we may learn how to deal with the shortcomings and exaggerations suggested to us by the devil whenever we deviate left or right from the axis of attentiveness. Since such a guide will himself have been tested through what he has suffered, he will be able to make these things clear to us and will unambiguously disclose the spiritual path to us so that we can follow it easily. If you have no such guide you must diligently search for one. If, however, no guide is to be found, you must renounce worldly attachments, call on God with a contrite spirit and with tears, and do what I tell you.

You know that what we breathe is air. When we exhale it, it is for the heart's sake, for the heart is the source of life and warmth for the body. The heart draws towards itself the air inhaled when breathing, so that by discharging some of its heat when the air is exhaled it may maintain an even temperature. The cause of this process or, rather, its agent, are the lungs. The Creator has made these capable of expanding and contracting, like bellows, so that they can easily draw in and expel their contents. Thus, by taking in coolness and expelling heat through breathing, the heart performs unobstructed the function for which it was created, that of maintaining life.

Seat yourself, then, concentrate your intellect, and lead it into the respiratory passage through which your breath passes into your heart. Put pressure on your intellect and compel it to descend with your inhaled breath into your heart. Once it has entered there, what follows will be neither dismal nor glum. Just as a man, after being far away from home, on his return is overjoyed at being with his wife and children again, so the intellect, once it is united with the soul, is filled with indescribable delight.

Therefore, brother, train your intellect not to leave your heart quickly, for at first it is strongly disinclined to remain constrained and circumscribed in this way. But once it becomes accustomed to remaining there, it can no longer bear to be outside the heart. For the kingdom of heaven is within us (cf. Luke 17:21); and when the intellect concentrates its attention in the heart and through pure prayer searches there for the kingdom of heaven, all external things become abominable and hateful to it. If, then, after your first attempts you enter through your intellect into the abode of the heart in the way that I have explained, give thanks and glory to God, and exult in Him. Continually persevere in this practice and it will teach you what you do not know.

Moreover, when your intellect is firmly established in your heart, it must not remain there silent and idle; it should constantly repeat and meditate on the prayer, 'Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me', and should never stop doing this. For this prayer protects the intellect from distraction, renders it impregnable to diabolic attacks, and
everyday increases its love and desire for God.

If, however, in spite of all your efforts you are not able to enter the realms of the heart in the way I have enjoined, do what I now tell you and with God's help you will find what you seek. You know that everyone's discursive faculty is centered in his breast; for when our lips are silent we speak and deliberate and formulate prayers, psalms and other things in our breast. Banish, then, all thoughts from this faculty - and you can do this if you want to - and in their place put the prayer, 'Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me', and compel it to repeat this prayer ceaselessly. If you continue to do this for some time, it will assuredly open for you the entrance to your heart in the way we have explained, and as we ourselves know from experience.

Then, along with the attentiveness you have so wished for, the whole choir of the virtues - love, joy, peace and the others (cf. Gal. 5:22) - will come to you. Through the virtues all your petitions will be answered in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit be glory, power, honor and worship now and always and throughout the ages. Amen.

I wish to point out, that while prayers and mantras, have been an aid to contemplatives as far back has history, and even the archaeological record, goes it is my finding that once you can still your mind, and keep it so, then do not bother with prayers, mantras, meditation aids or techniques, but just abide in that silence ever vigilant for the charisms that will indeed arise.  And, when those charisms arise know that that is the Christ within that the Christian mystics of the past spoke of; and it is one and the same as the Yoga, of the yogis in samadhi.

Link to the original Greek Philokalia

Another Link to the original Greek Philokalia

Yet, another Link to the original Greek Philokalia

[Frederica Mathewes-Green]

I just ran across this and wanted to say that there is a 5th volume of the
> Philokalia but it has never been published in English. Metropolitan Kallistos
> Ware, who was one of the translators of the 4 previous volumes, is working on
> this translation now. Just an FYI.

[Jhanananda]

I just ran across this and wanted to say that there is a 5th volume of the
> Philokalia but it has never been published in English. Metropolitan Kallistos
> Ware, who was one of the translators of the 4 previous volumes, is working on
> this translation now. Just an FYI.

Thank-you Frederica, I keep reading references to it.  I would like to know where it is, so that we can all examine it.