In practice, it bears some superficial resemblances to prayer or meditation in other Eastern religions. For example, it may involve specific body postures, and be accompanied by very deliberate breathing patterns. It involves acquiring an inner stillness, ignoring the physical senses. The hesychasts interpret Christ's injunction in the Gospel of Matthew to "go into your closet to pray", to mean that they should ignore sensory input and withdraw inwards to pray. It often includes many repetitions of the Jesus Prayer, "Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."
wikipedia.org dumped 2003-03-17 with terodump