The Nous Seeing its Own Light According to Evagrius Ponticus

Abstract

Abstract Evagrius of Pontus (345–399 AD) presents in his spiritual doctrine the concept of “pure prayer,” that is, prayer not only devoid of any contact with material things but also divorced from any concrete image in the νοῦς (i. e., the mind/intellect). Upon reaching this state of deep purification, the νοῦς sees during such a prayer the light of God and also perceives himself as radiant. Evagrius specifies that the νοῦς sees itself in the colour of the sapphire or in sky-blue, or even as a star. Scholars have been asking for a long time whether, for Evagrius, this light originated within the mind itself, or came from God. It seems that monk of Pontus joins these two lights together, although considering them always as separate. The light of νοῦς itself is but a reflection of the divine light, in the same way like the moon reflects the light of the sun. Even if the νοῦς is not the source of its own light, nevertheless its light is real. In a time of deep spiritual union with God, His light illuminates the human νοῦς and turns it into radiance.