I first heard of the desert father Evagrius Ponticus when I read a book by church historian Roberta Bondi, where she wrote this electrifying sentence, “Evagrius Ponticus taught a highly disciplined kind of “imageless prayer” or “pure prayer” that was very similar to Zen meditation.” 1
When I read those words, I had been engaged for about a decade with the practice of silent, meditative prayer as taught to me through Shalem, a Christian contemplative ministry. But I was also very much interested in Buddhism in general, and Zen in particular, thanks to my engagement with counterculture writers like Alan Watts or Ram Dass. Intuitively, it seemed to me that contemplative prayer and zazen were similar practices: after all, silence is silence is silence.
What I lacked was any sense of historical perspective that could help me to see the underlying spiritual unity beneath and between these two religious practices. Evagrius Ponticus (346-399) provided me with a 4th-century bridge to that unity.
When I turned to the ancient writer himself, I was not disappointed. Many of his writings have been preserved as short, aphoristic sayings, similar to what one might expect from a desert elder. His most spiritually accessible writings have been preserved in two works, Praktikos — which could be translated into English as “The Practical Life (of Contemplation)” — and the Chapters on Prayer. These have been published in a combined volume by Cistercian Publications.
Like so much of the literature from the early Christian desert monks, some of it seems harsh or even dualistic — overly concerned with self-denial or moral purification. But that’s typical for the writing of his time.
Nevertheless, when he gets down to the business of offering advice on prayer, his words quickly become luminous.
Stand guard over your spirit, keeping it free of concepts at the time of prayer so that it may remain in its own deep calm. — Evagrius Ponticus, Chapters on Prayer 2
We do not “stand guard” over our spirit like a prison warden watching an inmate; we keep watch like a faithful sentinel tasked with protecting our heart while it settles into its “deep calm” held lovingly in the arms of God. Concepts — distracting or disturbing thoughts or images — may not necessarily be bad, but during the time of contemplation they need to be kept away from the tender vulnerability of the soul’s silent center. To stand guard like this is to set gentle boundaries as an act of love: love for the divine, of course, but also a most appropriate and healthy self-love.
Roberta C. Bondi, To Pray and to Love: Conversations On Prayer With The Early Church (Fortress Press). Kindle Edition, location 258.
Evagrius Ponticus, The Praktikos & Chapters on Prayer (Cistercian Publications, 1981), p. 66.