Contents

• Introduction
• The Encounter
  • Atheism
  • Faith
  • Dimensions of the Spiritual Life
  • The Dangers of Ignorance and the Ascetic Art
  • Essential Elements of the Spiritual Life
  • The Nature or Essence of the Spiritual Life
  • The Different Ages of the Spiritual Life
  
  
• The Obstacle and The Struggle
  • Negations of Evil and Affirmations of Good
  • Three Aspects of Evil and the Evil One
  • Hell and the Infernal Dimension of the World
    • Iconography
  • The Suffering of Men
  • Message of Pentecost
  • The Fathers of the Desert
  • Monasticism Interiorized
    • The Transmission of Witness
    • The Universal Character of Spiritual Monasticism
    • The Three Temptations, the Lord's Three Answers, and the Three Monastic Vows
    • The Vow of Poverty in the Interior Monasticism of the Laity
    • The Vow of Chastity
    • The Vow of Obedience
    • Christian Liberty and Monastic Freedom
  • The Human Being
  • The Ascesis of the Spiritual Life
  • The Ascetic Effort
  • Progression of the Spiritual Life
  • The Passions and the Technique of Temptation
  
  
• The Charisms of the Spiritual Life and the Mystic Ascension
  • Evolution of the Spiritual Life in the East and in the West
  • Passage from the Old Testament to the New
  • Charisms of the Spiritual Life
    • Spirit of Discernment, Impassibility, Silence, Vigilance, Repentance and Humility
    • The Charism of ``Joyful Dying''
    • Prayer
      • The State of Prayer
      • The Degrees of Prayer
      • The Forms of Prayer
      • The Prayer of Jesus
      • Liturgical Prayer
      • Liturgical Prayer, the Rule of All Prayer
      • Difficulties and Obstacles
  • Lectio Divina: Reading the Bible
  • Universal Priesthood of the Laity in the Eastern Tradition
  • The Mystic Ascent