The core of the book is a discussion, by "Fr. Maximos", of the nine gifts of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), and how to practice the Jesus Prayer. Some might have a problem with Markides' tendency to compare Orthodoxy to non-Orthodox spiritual systems, but I didn't mind it. In fact, I liked it. Towards the end of the book, Markides recoounts his response to a Jew who wants to pray, but who doesn't want (for obvious reasons) to pray the Jesus Prayer. The book has several audiences, I think, one of them being people not aware of Orthodoxy, and another being those who may think that real spiritual practice is only found across the Indus.
