The Jesus Prayer is unexpectedly deep and powerful!! Even for someone like me, who doubted this!
I know only a teensy bit about hesychasm, or about Eastern Orthodox mysticism generally, but I am inspired to write this to share the beauty that it's provided for me, and to provide the perspective of someone who is outside the tradition and for whom its benefits are unexpected, so as to inspire others who are unaware of it or are hesitant to give themselves to it.
(For anyone unfamiliar with the Jesus Prayer, it's a prayer that comes from Eastern Orthodox mysticism, and it goes, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." There are other variants, but the same basic formula. The continuous repetition of this prayer is part of hesychasm, a mystical practice aimed at spiritual transformation.)
I say it's "unexpectedly powerful" because the idea of endlessly repeating "have mercy on me, a sinner" would not have seemed to me particularly healthy or conducive to mystical closeness with God, lol. And it also would have seemed overly self-centered, and not love-centered. I like to speak spontaneously and freely to God and express love endlessly, not petitions.
I first read about it in an old book my dad gave me, an anthology of mysticism (by F.C. Happold). And seeing it contextualized in mystical practice and used for the ultimate aim of theosis, that made me deeply curious (though still unsure that it would offer me anything). So I tried it... And tried it more, off and on... And it is deep and powerful!!
I've discovered, through my humble, ignorant attempts at hesychasm, that there are inexhaustible depths to every word of the prayer, and the meaning is not what I initially assumed.
"Have mercy on me" doesn't mean what I thought it did. This isn't merely asking for forgiveness to get into heaven, or for relief in this world. The mercy we should ask for is the mercy of being transformed in Christ and united with Him! The mercy of being made more loving and Christ-like, the mercy of giving ourselves in love and service, the mercy of having our spiritual illnesses eased and cured, and the mercy of having our eyes opened to the Truth beyond description! It's a mystical transformation, so that all things are changed and shine with the light of God, even in this life!
"A sinner" doesn't mean what I thought it did. Being a sinner is being God's beloved---but humbly! Being a sinner isn't being distant from God, it isn't being lower than you are. It's being exactly what you are, and being loved nonetheless, and being a place where God resides nonetheless. And recognizing it, and stating it, is giving yourself to God and to agape, and as part of this dedicating yourself to mending what is amiss, but lovingly! And it is offering yourself to God so that His grace may lovingly mend you!
And I discover more of who Christ is! I won't even begin to go into this—holy holy holy, my Beloved!! It is so easy for our conceptions of Christ to become horribly inadequate and plodding; so in hesychasm, the name of the Lord and His titles can and should be stripped of meager conceptions! These words become a cloud of unknowing through which to love the un-pin-down-able God!
The whole thing is unexpectedly a deeply loving and relational act, a practice of being held in love and giving in love, while stripping yourself of complacency so as to give and receive yet more. And it is such a lovely, gorgeous way to return your mind to God again and again, to be accepted back as the prodigal child again and again, to become transformed again and again, and to slowly learn to quiet and subdue that which is poisonous for your soul.
This is just my humble take. And all of these words are inadequate to express the truth. Again, I am deeply ignorant about all of this, so anyone who knows more about hesychasm, please comment and share what you know and useful resources for learning more! I just hope to inspire some people who might otherwise find this prayer off-putting or uninspiring.
Much love and many blessings to all of you! 🤍