Praktikos

The Praktikos is a guide to ascetic life written by the early Christian monk Evagrius Ponticus. It was originally written in Greek, but also has Syriac and Armenian versions. This work is the best preserved of all the Evagrian writings due to the relatively large number of manuscripts and wide distribution (Bamberger 1972:lix-lx).

The Praktikos consists of 100 chapters. Of the 100 chapters of the Praktikos, demons are mentioned in 67 of them.

Outline

Below is an outline of the 100 chapters of the Praktikos.

• Introductory letter to Anatolius
• [1-5] Prologue
• [6-14] The eight kinds of evil thought (logismoi)
  • [7] Gluttony
  • [8] Impurity (lust; sexual immorality)
  • [9] Avarice
  • [10] Sadness
  • [11] Anger
  • [12] Acedia ("noonday demon"; sloth)
  • [13] Vainglory
  • [14] Pride
• [15-39] Against the eight passionate thoughts (logismoi)
• [40-56] Instructions
• [57-62] The state bordering on apatheia
• [63-90] On the signs of apatheia
• [91-100] Apophthegmata: Sayings of the holy monks
• Epilogue to Anatolius

See also

• Hesychasm

References

• Bamberger, John Eudes, trans. 1972. Evagrius Ponticus: The Praktikos. Chapters on Prayer. Kalamazoo, Michigan: Cistercian Publications.
• Meyendorff, John. 1974. St. Gregory Palamas and orthodox spirituality. Crestwood, New York: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press.

Further reading

• Bamberger, John Eudes, trans. 1972. Evagrius Ponticus: The Praktikos. Chapters on Prayer. Kalamazoo, Michigan: Cistercian Publications.
• Evagrius Ponticus, Praktikos & On Prayer. Oxford: Faculty of Theology, 1987.
• Sinkewicz, Robert E., trans. 2003. Evagrius Ponticus, The Greek Ascetic Corpus Oxford: Oxford University Press.

External links

• The Praktikos online, with Greek text (Translation by Luke Dysinger, O.S.B.)