Top products from r/Asceticism
We found 10 product mentions on r/Asceticism. We ranked the 10 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
1. The Nag Hammadi Scriptures: The Revised and Updated Translation of Sacred Gnostic Texts Complete in One Volume
Sentiment score: -1
Number of reviews: 1
Nag Hammadi Scriptures The Revised and Updated Translation of Sacred Gnostic Texts Complete in One Volume
2. Asceticism and Anthropology in Irenaeus and Clement (Oxford Early Christian Studies)
Sentiment score: 0
Number of reviews: 1
Used Book in Good Condition
3. The Asketikon of St Basil the Great (Oxford Early Christian Studies)
Sentiment score: 0
Number of reviews: 1
5. The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise
Sentiment score: 0
Number of reviews: 1
The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise
6. The Marathon Monks of Mount Hiei
Sentiment score: 0
Number of reviews: 1
Ships from Vermont
7. The Desert Mothers: Spiritual Practices from the Women of the Wilderness
Sentiment score: 1
Number of reviews: 1
I am moved by the stories of the Desert Mothers and Fathers. The common themes are solitude, silence, and prayer. Meditation can take us into the interior world of deep silence where we can indeed commune with the divine. Silence and prayer are supports for this.
There are some great wikipedia pages about them as groups and then also pages on individidual ascetics/saints linked at the bottom.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_Mothers
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_Fathers
There are some excellent books on the individual saints as well as their practices and sayings. Here are some that I value:
https://www.amazon.com/Desert-Mothers-Spiritual-Practices-Wilderness-ebook/dp/B00C122V7U/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1503763502&sr=8-2&keywords=desert+mothers
https://www.amazon.com/Forgotten-Desert-Mothers-Sayings-Christian-ebook/dp/B00DRE2BIA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1503763502&sr=8-1&keywords=desert+mothers
https://www.amazon.com/Praying-Desert-Mothers-Mary-Forman/dp/0814615228/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1503763502&sr=8-9&keywords=desert+mothers
https://www.amazon.com/Way-Heart-Spirituality-Fathers-Mothers-ebook/dp/B01GCBUP64/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1503763502&sr=8-11&keywords=desert+mothers
Neither of these are from the tradition I'm interested in, but I find them useful and thought provoking.
You might enjoy the writings of Thomas Merton, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FOANDMI/
or this blog: https://citydesert.wordpress.com/
I am reminded of this book that recently came out by a Catholic cardinal, which may be of interest: https://www.amazon.com/Power-Silence-Against-Dictatorship-Noise/dp/1621641910
You'll find certain guides to silence from various mystical writers, but I couldn't tell you any specific treatises off the top of my head. You could peruse here, though: http://www.hermitary.com/
Finally, though it's somewhat unrelated, I can't help but link these things, which are quite intriguing and affecting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_Silence
I learned about Basil of Caesarea from this blog, Christian Communism, from /r/RadicalChristianity's sidebar.
One's of Basil of Caesarea's texts which may interest you is his Asketikon, which took some time to find and is very expensive.
I'd suggest Asceticism and Anthropology in Irenaeus and Clement (Oxford Early Christian Studies) by John Behr. He's an Orthodox scholar and theologian. The book is a bit pricey, but you should be able to get it through inter-library loans. Or, what I did, get a community card at a university near you. If you're in Michigan, MSU has one and you can check up to 25 books out.
On a library website that you can search by the Library of Congress call number, you can type in BV5023 .B44 2000 and get titles similar to the book I suggested.
How about this one? - The marathon monks of Mount Hiei.