John Climacus
The church authorities regularly challenged Symeon, even though his teachings were rooted in the Gospels. He was also faithful to the early Greek Fathers and the two main traditions of Byzantine spirituality: the Alexandrian School, which took a more intellectual approach, and the "school of the heart", represented by Mark the Hermit, Pseudo-Macarius, John Climacus, and other early ascetic monks. He combined these different traditions with his own inner experience in a synthesis that was new in Byzantine mysticism.