The Book of Mystical Chapters: Meditations on the Soul's Ascent, from the Desert Fathers and Other Early Christian Contemplatives (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781590300077)

The early Christian monks of Egypt, Syria, and Palestine were the spiritual heroes of their age--fleeing the security of civilization for the desert, where they sought God in lives of prayer, contemplation, and radical simplicity. This book is a portable collection of their teachings, and those of their contemplative contemporaries, ranging from the fourth through the eleventh centuries. It is arranged to the traditional model of three ascending "books" Praktikos (practice), Theoretikos (theory), and Gnosis (knowledge). Each book consists of 100 "sentences"--aphorisms or thoughts. Each sentence is intended to be read and meditated upon for an entire day--just as the monks themselves might have done as they went about their work.

Author: John Anthony McGuckin
ISBN-10: 1590300076
ISBN-13: 9781590300077
Publisher: Shambhala
Language: English
Published: 07/08/2003
Pages: 224
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.58lbs
Size: 8.38h x 5.47w x 0.61d