Niketas'
Vita, or
Life of Symeon, is the most complete biography of
Symeon the New Theologian. Niketas was also the editor of Symeon's own writings and talks. An edition of Symeon's works was distributed by Niketas following a vision he had of Symeon. Niketas' personal works include polemical writings and treatises on the soul, on paradise, on the meaning of hierarchy, and on the limits of human life. He wrote an unpublished
hypotyposis on the private spiritual life expected of the Stoudios monks. Another widely read work is his treatise on ascetic practices which are contained in the fourth volume of the English editions of the
Philokalia, the three
Centuries on Practical, Physical and Gnostic Chapters. The titles describe three main stages on the spiritual path:
praktiki (practice of the commandments);
physiki (meditation on the essence of creation);
gnosis (the direct knowledge of God). Niketas wrote about many of the same themes as his teacher, Symeon, including: the experience of God as
divine light; the importance of having a spiritual father; love for others being more important than prayer; the responsibility of those who have direct experience of God's grace to share it with others. He also wrote that a spiritual life is possible no matter one's outer circumstances—that one doesn't have to physically withdraw from the world, and that true renunciation is an inner practice. Niketas' attitude to the spiritual life is fundamentally positive, and that true sanctity is only a return, through grace, to man's natural condition. ==Quotes==