166 actas del ii congreso internacional de literatura mística Table 1 (continued) Statement Source The ultimate goal of spiritual ascendancy and mystical experience in Eastern Orthodoxy is then the purification of the ‘heart’ through contemplative prayer and the uprooting of passions and the renewal and enlightenment of the darkened nous, in order that it might return to God, and behold the uncreated Light, activating the intoxication of the spirit and ecstasy of the mind. Telepneff & Chrysostomos, 1990; Varvatsoulias, 1996; Vlachos, 1991; 1992; 1993; 1994; 1997; 2000 The purgative stage involves kenosis, or the emptying of the self, and ultimately, ‘dying to self ’[;] [i]t is the purification from sin, sensuality, and the self-centric ego and will; it is separation from the world and movement toward the eternal reality of God, which precedes illumination. Vlachos, 1992; Zacharias, 2006; 2008 These steps and experiences are accomplished through obedience to a gerontas, or a spiritual director, which is a charism of eldership and the extenuation of prophesy. Zacharias, 2006 The transition from the purgative phase to the illuminative phase occurs when virtues offset vices, and the grace of God begins to bear fruit within the heart of the aspirant in terms of the acquisition of virtue. Clendenin, 1994; 1995; Vlachos, 1992 [The mystic] is illumined and luminous through theoria, which is the noetic vision of God. Clendenin, 1994; 1995 This vision is the vehicle through which spiritual knowledge is attained, and is related to the inner essences, or principles, of created beings. Vorpatrny, 2001 Theoria is the illumination of the nous and is accompanied by the experiences of gnosis and diakrisis, or ‘discernment’, which refers to the spiritual gift to discern inner states. Nikodemos & Makarios, 1983; Vorpatrny, 2001 Theoria completes the purification of the nous by Divine grace, which consumes the ‘heart’ like fire, noetically reveals the true self, or ‘eye of the heart’ to the aspirant, and effectuates the birth of the Logos within the nous. Chrysostomos, 2000a; 2000b; 2007; Chrysostomos & Akakios, 1986; Vlachos, 1991; 1992; 1993
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