[1] 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.

He remained there until the age of 12 and continued his education at St Bees School on the edge of the Lake District National Park.

By the late 1960s, Amis was leading study groups in various parts of England, including Bristol, Birmingham, Sussex and Gloucestershire.

The Workshops won a number of national awards at Courtauld House, as well as exhibiting at the Victoria and Albert Museum and The Royal College of Art for the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in 1977.

Praxis also published an audiotape of sayings from the Philokalia on Prayer of the Heart, compiled by Palmer and read by Sergei (Kadloubovsky) Kadleigh.

The translation received funding and support by a number of former pupils of Ouspensky and Gurdjieff that included: Aubrey Wolton, and Ailsa Lenney, the secretary of Kenneth Walker.

Amis outlined his position and the results of his research in an article published in Gnosis magazine, entitled, 'Mouravieff and the Secret of the Source'[9] and at the first All and Everything Conference in England 1996.

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.

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.

The book, which has remained in print, has been influential in making available to a wider non-Orthodox audience in the West the experiential knowledge and inner practices contained within Eastern Orthodoxy and in particular the Athonite spiritual tradition.

[18] In addition, he was also working on another book, Kardia, a follow-up to A Different Christianity, which detailed and made accessible many aspects of monastic tradition for practical application in ordinary life, which is yet to be published.