On Watchfulness and the Guarding of the Heart

A collection of methods for hesychast prayer, including the famous psychosomatic technique of descending with the mind into the heart. Nikiphoros the Monk gathers and transmits practical instructions from the hesychast tradition, making this text one of the most explicit guides to the physical dimension of prayer in the Philokalia. The text became a reference point in the hesychast controversy. Important for understanding the concrete, embodied character of the prayer tradition, though best read with guidance.