Κεφ. ΛΒ'
The Superiority of Spiritual Knowledge
Spiritual knowledge acts as a safeguard against vainglory, while ascetic discipline serves as the necessary path for those still seeking that divine insight.
Once someone has tasted knowledge and begun to enjoy the delight it brings, he’ll no longer be persuaded by the demon of vainglory, even when it offers him every pleasure in the world. For what could it promise him that is greater than spiritual contemplation? But as long as we haven’t yet tasted knowledge, let’s devote ourselves eagerly to the ascetic life, showing God that our purpose is to do everything for the sake of knowing him.
Read the original Latin
Ὁ γνώσεως ἐφαψάμενος καὶ τὴν ἀπ' αὐτῆς καρπούμενος ἡδονὴν οὐκέτι τῷ τῆς κενοδοξίας πεισθήσεται δαίμονι, πάσας αὐτῷ τὰς ἡδονὰς τοῦ κόσμου προσάγοντι· τί γὰρ ἂν καὶ ὑπόσχοιτο μεῖζον πνευματικῆς θεωρίας; Ἐν ὅσῳ δέ ἐσμεν γνώσεως ἄγευστοι, τὴν πρακτικὴν προθύμως κατεργαζώμεθα, τὸν σκοπὸν ἡμῶν δεικνύντες Θεῷ ὅτι πάντα πράττομεν τῆς αὐτοῦ γνώσεως ἕνεκεν.
The Praktikos companion
A daily portion of stillness
Chosen Portion delivers one short contemplative reading and a guided moment of silence each day — the ascent, one step at a time.
Chosen Portion is the paced doorway into this collection: it portions the dense mystical treatises into one daily reading plus guided silence, exactly as the 14-day plan teaches.
- Daily bite-sized excerpts from the contemplative classics, never a wall of text
- A built-in timed stillness practice that grows from 2 minutes to 10
- Gentle progression through the tradition — the app remembers where you are on the ascent