A Different Christianity

Robin Amis was a British author, poet, publisher, editor and translator. Although he had studied a wide range of spiritual traditions, including Kabbalah, the Fourth Way and Hindu teachings, it was his conversion to the Eastern Orthodox Church and his relationship with Mount Athos, the ancient monastic republic in Greece, that ultimately defined his life and work. Over a thirty-year period, between 1982 and 2013, he made more than 60 visits to Mount Athos, where he was recognised as a "synergatis", a fellow worker and equal of the monks. Amis documented the results of his research in A Different Christianity: Early Christian Esotericism and Modern Thought (SUNY 1995, Praxis 2003), and recounted his experience on the Holy Mountain in Views from Mount Athos (Praxis 2014). As founder of Praxis Institute Press, he translated, edited and published the three volume English language edition of Gnosis by Boris Mouravieff as well as books on Hesychasm and the spiritual tradition of Eastern Orthodoxy. He was married to the American artist Lillian Delevoryas and in the last years of his life lived in Bristol, England. In the early 1960s Amis joined the Study Society in London, which was led by one of P. D. Ouspensky's former students, Francis Roles. By the late 1960s, Amis was leading study groups in various parts of England, including Bristol, Birmingham, Sussex and Gloucestershire. In 1979, Amis took a group of his students to meet with Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh, Bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church. This meeting, in turn, led to Amis' interest in Orthodoxy and the ancient monastic tradition that had been preserved on Mount Athos. Amis first visited Athos in 1982 and by chance met with Gerald Palmer, a former student of Ouspensky who had converted to Orthodoxy in 1950. Palmer's spiritual teacher on Athos was Father Nikon who encouraged Palmer to acquire, translate and publish the Philokalia, the compendium of teachings of the Church Fathers of the Eastern Orthodox Church. This translation was started by Gerald Palmer and E. Kadloubovsky, and continued by Palmer, Kallistos Ware and Philip Sherrard. It was begun at a time when very few Orthodox books were available in the English language. Amis' initial visits to Mount Athos in turn led to his own conversion to Eastern Orthodoxy in 1983. Between 1987 and 1993, Amis and a small team that included Lillian Amis, Sergei Kadleigh and his wife Leslie, translated, edited and published the three volume work, Gnosis, A Study and Commentary on the Esoteric Tradition of Eastern Orthodoxy by Boris Mouravieff. Originally published in France between 1960 and 1963 Gnosis was based on the course entitled "An Introduction to esoteric philosophy according to the esoteric tradition of Eastern Orthodoxy" that Mouravieff had taught at the University of Geneva. In his later years Amis concentrated on writing, lecturing and teaching. He continued to make regular bi-annual visits to Mount Athos, establishing a close relationship with Osiou Gregoriou monastery, its Abbot, Archimandrite George Kapsanis, and the brotherhood of monks there. During those visits, Amis placed himself under obedience with an elder, Saint Paisios of Mount Athos. At one of these meetings St. Paisios told him: "You English have served man very well with your intellect, giving him many things he needs, the solutions to many problems that have made life easier for everyone. Now you should do another work - to understand and tell the world of the inner truth, the truth of the heart as well". In many ways this instruction defined the latter part of Amis's life, which he devoted to this task. He formed Praxis Research Institute (www.praxisresearch.net) and working with a small number of associates and students around the world through video conferencing he developed his ideas for bringing Hesychasm to spiritual seekers who have to live and work in the world. Amis died in Bristol, England, aged 82 on 13 June 2014.