Script: English Publisher: Brotherhood of SS Peter & Paul, Hong Kong Date: July 2010 Format/Pages: Softcover/135 pp ISBN: 9789881889553 Availability: in stock Price: $12.99 USD (89 RMB; 101 HKD)
The author delves into the fundamental meaning and traditions of Eastern Orthodoxy. He begins by defining the meaning of the word orthodoxy, and goes on to describe the central importance of the intimate, personal relationship between man and God.the goal of religious tradition being to preserve and transmit this "experiential" experience; in this the Eastern tradition differs from the Western emphasis on the importance of doctrine. Prof. Horujy traces the history of the church, from when the apostles had direct contact with Christ, to the martyrs who in their terrible deaths during the times of persecution shared His death, and beyond to the adoption of Christianity as a sanctioned state religion.
The author refers to the concept of conciliarity in Russian religious tradition and goes on to consider the substance of Hesychasm after comparing with the mystical and ascetic traditions of Zen, Tantric Buddhism, Taoism and other religions, defining their differences from Orthodox spirituality. Prof. Horujy describes Hesychasm as a tradition in spiritual practice, the means by which man strives on a holistic level with every facet of his spiritual, energetic, intellectual and bodily being to pass through various stages as he ascends a ladder of intense and focused self-transformation: in this his goal is direct personal communion with God in union with Christ.
Professor Sergey Horujy (born 1941) is a researcher of Eastern Orthodoxy (the orthodox spirituality/ascetism), an expert in Religious philosophy and philosophical anthropology as well as a theoretical physicist, a mathematician, and a translator of James Joyce's novel "Ulysses" into Russian. Mr Khoruzhiy is a graduate of the Department of Physics of Moscow University, holding a PhD in Physics and Mathematics and currently is a member of Russian Academy of Sciences.
Recommended book for introducing Russian Orthodox spirituality within the university classroom context.