Hesychasm

Oversimplified

• Hesychasm (from Greek hēsychia, "stillness") is the Orthodox tradition of inner silence and unceasing prayer through which one is united to God and beholds His uncreated light.
• Its heart is the Jesus Prayer — "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner" — repeated until it descends from the lips into the heart.

Summary

Hesychasm is the contemplative tradition of the Orthodox Church that seeks hēsychia — a deep stillness of mind and heart in which the intellect (nous) is gathered, guarded from distracting thoughts, and united to God in ceaseless prayer. It is described at length in the Philokalia, the great collection of ascetic and mystical writings.[^1] Its most famous vehicle is the Jesus Prayer. Defended theologically by St. Gregory Palamas, hesychasm holds that the pure in heart genuinely behold God — not His unknowable essence, but His uncreated energies, the same divine light that shone on Mount Tabor. Cross-link St. Gregory Palamas, Essence Energies, Theosis, Nous.

The Jesus Prayer and the guarding of the heart

Hesychast practice centers on the Jesus Prayer, repeated with attention and often synchronized with the breath, until prayer becomes unceasing and "self-acting" in the heart. Alongside it stands nēpsis — watchfulness — the sober guarding of the mind against intrusive thoughts (logismoi). The goal is not emptiness but the union of nous and heart, so that the whole person prays. Cross-link Nous, Prayer, Prelest.

"Isn't this just mysticism — feelings mistaken for God?"

Uncreated light, not private experience. The charge assumes the hesychast is chasing subjective sensation. The tradition guards against exactly that: it names counterfeit spiritual experience prelest (spiritual delusion) and treats humility and obedience as the test of any vision. When St. Gregory Palamas defended the hesychasts against Barlaam, the question was precisely whether what they beheld was created or uncreated. Palamas answered that the essence–energies distinction makes real vision of God possible: the saints truly see the uncreated Taboric light, God Himself in His energies, without comprehending His essence.[^2] This is not emotionalism but participation in God. Cross-link St. Gregory Palamas, Essence Energies, Prelest.

[^1]: The Philokalia — the collection of ascetic and mystical writings. [^2]: St. Gregory Palamas, The Triads.