WELCOME TO PRAXIS RESEARCH INSTITUTE
Praxis Research Institute was founded to rediscover spiritual teachings from the earliest Christian traditions and to make them available in forms accessible to serious seekers today. Praxis research has been guided by the direct inheritors of St Paul’s Church, leading us to results of real significance to modern thought and spirituality. We have learned:
- A certainty that human life has a greater meaning and purpose than is generally recognized today
- That this significance lies at the heart of all the great world religions, but is most accessible to the west in Christianity, which largely shaped western civilization
- These essential truths are only proved through spiritual experiences which, though glimpsed by almost everyone, are almost impossible to explain or communicate
- These experiences are echoed in spiritual writings of those who do absorb them fully and can then nourish the study and practice of others based on traditional spiritual teachings, translated to meet the needs of contemporary audiences
- The original meaning of many of these Christian spiritual teachings has been lost in the west, causing serious seekers to turn to eastern spiritual traditions
- That many modern teachings are grounded in the earliest Christian writings… particularly including of the Gospels and the Early Church Fathers, and that this same teaching is alive and well in places like the 1000 year-old monasteries of Mount Athos where our researches are centered
Praxis’ Director and principal researcher, Robin Amis, has spent over thirty years studying Christian spiritual traditions, primarily as a regular visitor to the Holy Mountain, where he has been acknowledged as a ‘Fellow Worker’ – in St. Paul’s Greek terms, ‘synaxaris.’ Mr. Amis initially documented his research in his book A Different Christianity, (SUNY Press, 1988). The results of his continuing research will be available on this website.
Praxis was established in Massachusetts in 1986 as a not-for-profit research and educational organization to communicate Mr. Amis’ discoveries and to sustain ongoing research. This site is beginning to provide access to this research on the following pages. In addition, Praxis Bookstore offers books and monographs of writers in this tradition including early writers such as St. Gregory Palamas, as well as more recent authors including St. Theophan the Recluse, Father George Capsanis, Abbot of the Monastary of Gregorios, and Russian ´emigré philosopher Boris Mouravieff with his three-volume series, Gnosis.
Praxis members represent a range of Christian denominations – Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant – as well as non-Christians, and come from throughout the United States and Europe. Praxis welcomes both visitors and new members, offering material in print, on video, and through on-line courses of study. To learn more, follow the links on this page to read about specific topics of Praxis research, view video lectures by Robin Amis, or visit the Praxis Research Institute Bookstore to review our publications.
If you want more specific information about the Praxis program, you may contact us and submit a request at the following e-mail address: info@praxisresearch.net.
Please note that the UK office for Praxis Research Institute has recently moved from its former location at Three Barns in South Brent, Devon, to Bristol, UK. If you wish to contact Robin Amis or Lillian Develoryas in the UK office, they can be contacted via e-mail at: robinamis@praxisresearch.org, or by post to:
The Courtyard Flat
9 Royal York Crescent
BRISTOL BS8 4JZ - the U.K.
or by telephone at: 41-44-117-923-7620