Yesterday there was a passage in a 3SAT program
about the life of monks
which extremely intrigued me.

3 SAT Zurück zur Demut - Die Zisterzienser
Te Deum - Himmel auf Erden
Zurück zur Demut vor Gott und zurück zur Armut war die Devise der Zisterzienser. Das streng geregelte Leben, ihre Arbeitsteilung und ihr Fleiß erwiesen sich als äußerst effizient. Ihre Klöster waren wie moderne Betriebe organisiert. Sie waren wirtschaftlich und in der Forschung erfolgreich. Strenge und Einfachheit beeinflusste auch die Maßstäbe für ihr ästhetisches Empfinden. Ihre Vorstellungen von Baukunst haben die gesamte europäische Architektur beeinflusst.


I try to capture the intriguing passage from the 3 SAT video

Like a virus in many a monk's life: Akedia... it leads to grumbling like "the bread is bad", also to curiosity and "gossip in the corridor", to Abstumpfung (induration, act or process of becoming rigid or hard; callousness, lack of feeling ) and finally to malicia, doing evil for evil's sake.


I try to learn more from the Internet

akedia
Akedia (in Latin, accidie) is literally fatigue or exhaustion, but in technical usage refers to the spiritual and physical lethargy which can plague those pursuing the eremetic life. The reference in Psalm 90 (91 MT) to the "demon of noonday" is traditionally identified as akedia. It can take the form of listlessness, dispersion of thoughts, or being inattentively immersed in useless activity.

Akedia Or The Demon of Boredom
The lack of motivation, mental asphyxiation and exhaustion lead to a state that is in fact a spiritual illness. See how you can fight it. Sloth, apathy, boredom. They have been in fashion up to these days. The Greeks used to call it Akedia, or the demon of boredom. It referred to a great decrease of attention, a lack of interest. So it is a feeling close to despair and discouragement, when the sufferer of this "disease" feels like doing nothing at all.

According to the Christian tradition, the first one to speak about akedia or apathy was Origen. He thus spoke of the temptation of Jesus in the desert. He defined akedia as lack of focus, of vigil, drowsiness and dizziness. Then Evagrious referred to the most significant temptations that a monk has to fight against and conquer. He mentioned eight passions, among which he included apathy. It is seen as a demon who invades the believer, blinding the eyes of his heart and weakening his spirit and mind, bringing him close to depressive thoughts. The sufferer of akedia thus loses his joy of living, the joy of salvation, or any feeling that made his life full of hope and happiness.

Inspired by Psalm 91, Evagrious chose to define this demon as the "midday demon", as he usually appears in the middle of the day, when the weather is particularly hot, especially in the desert, and when the person who fasts loses his desire to continue such sacred ritual.

Apathy can be defined as a sort of "obscure evil", which makes the victim unable to keep living in solitary places, in silence, no longer in a state of deep calmness and peace. That person may experience feelings of spiritual emptiness and disgust, having a cynical attitude towards other people and life in general. He longs for liberation from this oppressive inner state of imprisonment.

It is in fact a spiritual illness, when the human soul gets disoriented and in denial of all accomplishments that person has made throughout his earthly existence. According to Evagrious, this demon of boredom actually shines away the light of God from the human eyes, so that he gets lost.

....

This mind asphyxiation and will paralysis may result in man's getting into hellish zones, into such worlds where there is no human dignity, no desire to enjoy life as it is and as it was given. The good part is that God can still reach people's minds, even in this desperate situation.

The so-called "fathers of the desert", those familiar with the spiritual realities and attacks of demons, are very likely to have gained such discernment, that they can identify this illness of spiritual boredom from its very first symptoms, and fight back to prevent it from growing into their souls. It may happen to those who are wrapped up in lots of activities, in an agitated life, who are always on the run and are not accustomed to quiet life, to the silence of the desert, away from human interaction and superficial relationships, not accustomed to being alone with themselves, in order to understand themselves, to get to know their very own desires, likes and dislikes, to accept their failures and successes and to be fully aware of their own limitations.

Akedia's victims lack the ability to enjoy things as they were given by the Creator of the universe, to have a thanksgiving attitude towards God for all his earthly and spiritual gifts. . ....

By Claudia Miclaus Published: 6/9/2008

Akedia: Despondency

Our contemporary psychiatry and psychology are not so well acquainted with the passion of despondency. Most contemporary mental health professionals would diagnose a despondent person as having depression. We even have trouble distinguishing the words “dejection” and “despondency” from each other. But here the ancient fathers showed a depth of perception that is rare among mental health professionals at the present time.

I am following the convention of using the English term “despondency” to render the Greek word akedia ( Akedia is a compound word. The first part is the prefix a- (’a-), which means “not” and is used exactly like the prefix “un-” in English. The second part is the abstract noun kedia which itself is derived from the more concrete noun kedos Kedos means “care for others,” especially the kind of care that you show when someone dies. To have kedos for the dead means that you care so much for the dead person that you wash the body, attend the funeral, and see the remains of the person respectfully buried, even though the person you loved is now dead and gone and will do nothing more for you in this life. Kedia, therefore, is the action of showing kedos. The noun kedia is used twice in the Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament. In both passages the word is used in reference to funerals (II Maccabees 4:49 and 5:10

Acedia From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Acedia is an old word from the Greek describing a state of listlessness, of not caring or not being concerned with one's position or condition in the world. It can lead to a state of being unable to perform one's duties in life. It is distinct from depression. Acedia was originally noted as a problem among monks and other ascetics who maintained a solitary life.

The Oxford Concise Dictionary of the Christian Church defines acedia as "a state of restlessness and inability either to work or to pray". Some see it as the precursor to sloth - one of the seven deadly sins.

Kathleen Norris has written a memoir "Acedia & Me" in which she relates her long battle with not caring and her subsequent healing journey. [On January 28, 2012 , I discovered the book and wished it would come into my hands!]

See also ennui and sloth