Ego is and has always been the arch enemy of enlightenment. So when EnlightenNext set about creating an entire issue of the magazine dedicated to this perennial nemesis of truth and goodness, Craig Hamilton traveled to the spiritual seat of the Greek Orthodoxy in Mt. Athos, Greece. Once the home of an oracle to Apollo and as legend has it, blessed by the Virgin Mary herself (with John the Baptist—lost in a boat), the many monasteries and hermitages on Mt. Athos to this day fuel the fires of the austere, mystical branch of Orthodox Christianity.
Father Archimandrite Dionysios, who became a monk at the age of 17, is today the head of his own monastery and one the most revered elders in this ancient contemplative tradition. His deep personal experience, religious conviction, and scriptural knowledge of good and evil make him a perfect authority on the human struggle to transcend egotism, selfishness, and anything else that obstructs one's capacity to reflect the light of God.
Ancient meets future as young American journalist encounters revered monastic luminary in this hypnotically captivating discussion about the battle with ego.
BIO
Born in 1950 and raised in a small town in northern Greece, it was clear from early on that Father Dionysios would not find his home in the world. Coming from a religious family with forefathers in the priesthood, at the age of seventeen he left home to pursue his passion for the spirit at the historic cliff-top monastery of Great Meteoron in central Greece. It was here that he met his spiritual father, the widely revered elder, Archimandrite Aemilianos, and became tonsured into the life of renunciation. When several years later the Greek tourist industry had all but taken over the entire ancient Meteora complex, Elder Aemilianos and his band of young monks relocated to a remote monastery on Mt. Athos and began, along with a handful of other new brotherhoods, to reinvigorate the waning ancient monastic haven with their zeal for the holy life.
Father Dionysios was a bright light from the beginning, known for his unwavering devotion to his elder and for his spirit of selfless giving, shared with all who came to visit their monastery perched high above the Aegean Sea. It was this spirit of generosity and passion for the monastic life that would before long bring invitations from Europe and America and eventually lead him away from the "mountain of silence" he called his home to help guide others along their way. Since leaving Mt. Athos, Archimandrite Dionysios has served at a number of different posts in Greece, Europe and America, eventually spending several years as Abbot of Holy Cross Monastery in Jerusalem. Having recently returned to Greece, where he was given an island on which he will soon build a monastery to house his core group of monks, he is also overseeing a newly founded convent outside Athens, where about forty young nuns have gathered from many different parts of the world.
