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Spiritual vision of the world.
1. Perception of Divine power and knowledge.
2. Mystical vision of the “spiritual” and material world.
3. Christian “spiritual vision” and “discernment of spirits.”
4. True knowledge and false demonic mysticism.
5. “White and black”, “useful and harmful” knowledge.
6. The process of spiritual enlightenment.
7. Grace-filled Orthodox mysticism.
8. main reason“spiritual blindness” and “mystical charm”.
9. The essence of Christian knowledge of God.
10. Orthodox concept of “miracle”.
11. Theanthropic knowledge of true faith.
12. “New wine and new wineskins” of Christian knowledge.
13. The sin of “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit” is conscious denial of God and heretical distortions of Christian dogmas.
14. Higher knowledge as “dwelling in the Holy Spirit.”
The qualities of the One God that we understand naturally imply Omnipotence and Omniscience of the Creator of the Universe, that is, the presence of absolute Power and Knowledge. It cannot be otherwise. Only the eternal and uncreated God-Spirit, who created and continues to create everything that exists, can have absolute knowledge of existence and the creative power to create the universe.
Having created man in His “image and likeness,” the Lord gave us eternal life. The immortal human personality gains the ability to freely cognize and creatively transform the material world created by God. But the world is very complex, and earthly man is at the initial stage of his development. In order to truly perceive undistorted and useful revealed knowledge, a person must first learn the correct way to receive Divine knowledge with the help of the Creator.
God's help never humiliates a person. A Christian’s communication with God is not at all like a “master and slave” relationship. This is a sincere relationship between a loving Heavenly Father and a loving son who joyfully responds to God's Love and patiently learns Divine wisdom. The gracious knowledge and power of God are always given to us unlimitedly and freely. But first we must learn to accept them by properly preparing body and soul through righteous living. Firstly, there is a kind of “safety technique” in place here that does not give Divine knowledge into “inept and evil hands.” Secondly, the “pure energy” of God’s power can only enter a righteous person cleansed of evil.
Despite the presence of God-given creativity, inherent in our spirit and manifested by the human soul, earthly man is not able to rise to the level of divine-human knowledge due to sinful imperfection and spiritual weakness. In addition, man is constantly disturbed by fallen angels-demons, who try to pervert the idea of correct knowledge of the world and its practical results, directing them to the creation of sin and evil.
The organic, natural development of thinking and feelings, mind and heart, the disclosure of the psycho-physical abilities of the body and the “spiritual” organs of the soul, occurs as the grace-filled cleansing and transformation of the physical-spiritual nature of a Christian occurs. It is as a result of fulfilling the Divine commandments, enlightening us with the grace of the Holy Spirit, that earthly man, of course to the best of human ability, reveals the ability of spiritual vision of the universe, acquires the qualities of Divine omniscience and omnipotence.
Only with the help of the Divine energy-grace of the Holy Spirit and in direct dependence on real spiritual, religious, ethical and moral development, a person becomes able to perceive Divine power and cognize the true knowledge descending from above, which reveals to us the essence of human existence, covering the structure of the visible and invisible universe .
God-given Christian wisdom is only to a small extent connected with the gift of mystical vision of the visible material and invisible “spiritual” world. This gift, like the opportunity to communicate with immaterial “spiritual” beings like Angels and human souls, is given to very few saints, and depends solely on the action of Divine Providence.
The reason for the difficulty of mystical vision is not at all that God supposedly “specifically prevents us from cognizing matter and closes the entrance to the spiritual worlds, jealously guarding His power.” Earthly man is simply not capable of a full vision of the spiritual-material universe due to his sinful imperfection. It is also necessary to take into account the fact that human nature is not adapted to the structure of spiritual worlds, and the creatures inhabiting them are immeasurably superior to humans in all respects. It has its own rules and its own masters, and not taking into account whose will is not only frivolous, but also very dangerous.
Only the lowest and simplest manifestations of the existence of the spiritual worlds are accessible to us. A typical type of human spiritual vision is contacts with fallen angels-demons, which are not uncommon among alcoholics and drug addicts with an “altered” or rather poisoned consciousness. Some people clearly sense the spiritual essence of the natural elements, behind which stand the divinely created "spirits of nature", many of them greatly distorted by the effects of the original Fall and demonic intervention. There is also magical witchcraft spirit vision, when a person deliberately summons unclean spirits to receive demonic help. Naturally, all of the above types of mystical vision of the world can hardly be called normal, useful, and even less safe.
For real mystical communication with the higher Divine worlds and enlightened beings of Light, a person must prepare his body and soul with a righteous life to the state of divine-human deification. The few saints who already on earth communicate with God and the Angels approach a theanthropic level similar to the state of the incarnate Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Considering the sinful imperfection of our physical and mental nature, the task is extremely difficult, occupying almost the entire earthly life and still accessible to a few only by the will of God.
In eternity, the enlightened soul has all its God-given abilities of knowledge and creativity revealed naturally without effort. On earth, there is no need to rush, willfully “forcing” this area of spiritual and religious knowledge. It is not for nothing that Orthodox teaching strictly warns believers about the destructive danger of “spiritual delusion.” It’s another matter if the Lord Himself sends mystical gifts to a righteous person to help people. In this case, the Christian extremely humbly accepts Divine revelation, without being at all deceived about “his merits and abilities” and truly applying it to the benefit of himself and humanity.
Mystical Christian knowledge, which comes to a person as a result of grace-filled communication with God and knowledge of God, would be more accurately called the gift of “discernment of spirits”, in the sense of distinguishing the influence of the spirits of Light or the spirits of darkness on a person, as well as their activities according to the principle of “what is good and what is evil” .
A true believer “sees and knows” God with an enlightened mind-consciousness and “feels” the Creator with a “pure heart.” Christian “formless spirit vision,” which in most cases dispenses with obvious “mystical contacts,” means a clear understanding of the essence of phenomena and things created by God or sent to man by dark forces.
As a result of beneficial practice Christian life, the believer learns to clearly distinguish the Divine Truth from the action of the forces of evil and the activity of human consciousness. Gracious spiritual vision correctly builds a “hierarchy of values”, forming an undistorted, divinely revealed worldview, aimed at the benefit of man himself and our entire world. Distorted demonic mysticism, on the contrary, serves to satisfy proud curiosity and purposefully brings evil to people.
The Christian grace-filled “discrimination between good and evil” is the most useful, accessible and safe manifestation of mystical life for earthly man. But to achieve it, a person must sincerely do the will of God in the name of personal salvation of the soul and the transformation of our world. Full-fledged spiritual wisdom, revealed from above, comes to the believer in the process of internal transformation - the birth of a Christian “of water and the Spirit”, as a result of the practical fulfillment of the commandments of Christ.
For a normal solution to the issue of mystical life, a Christian must immediately understand that revealed wisdom cannot be acquired through purely human efforts, through the logical study of theology and philosophy, through special magical rituals and psychophysical exercises.
There are many philosophical and mystical-religious teachings that assert that under certain conditions, absolute knowledge of the universe inherent in the Creator of the Universe becomes accessible to the consciousness of earthly man. Typically, such “spiritually drunk” and “pretty” teachings have a very distant relationship with the experience of traditional world religions, which are well aware of the difference between creation and the Creator.
In our time, there have been especially many false “spiritual teachers” who talk about the possibility of unlimited access to sources of “cosmic universal information” using various meditation techniques and psychophysical exercises. Such “teachers” can recognize the experience of world religions, which speaks of the salvation of the soul, of the cleansing of man from the power of sin and evil. At the same time, they interpret traditional religious knowledge as “incomplete and outdated methods” that only to a small extent help in acquiring “cosmic knowledge.”
The statements of teachers of modern “humanism” clearly imply that it is quite possible to do without knowledge and experience of traditional religions. It is enough to use the superhuman abilities of our consciousness. It is significant that the achievement of “cosmic knowledge” does not actually depend on the ethical and ethical, moral and spiritual-religious state of a person. And “knowledge” itself can equally serve good and evil, which are supposedly “two equivalent forces of the universe.”
The “universal knowledge” of magical man-theism actually has nothing to do with the Divine commandments. This is a predominantly logical and magical mastery of the laws of the universe, giving a person omnipotence and omnipotence, regardless of the degree of purification of his soul from the power of sin and evil, regardless of his enlightenment with the spirit of selfless goodness and selfless love. Such conclusions immediately lead a spiritually sober person to a completely logical conclusion about what “spiritual forces” are behind the proud supporters of “cosmic” knowledge.
Christian wisdom humbly and at the same time uncompromisingly affirms that any proud teaching that denies or considers unimportant the path of a righteous life, the path of cleansing a person from the power of sin and evil, the path of developing love for God and people, to one degree or another comes from the forces of evil and is controlled by spirits darkness.
In most cases, the teachings of magical theology are created by the distorted, “spiritually blind” mind of a proud and self-loving person at the suggestion of demonic forces. It is not surprising that they resolutely deny the spiritual and religious creativity of conscious holiness and selfless goodness.
“Neutral” knowledge, independent of the spiritual state of an Angel, a person or any other intelligent being created by God, simply does not exist in the Universe. Or beings created by God choose the path of holiness, goodness and love, receiving from God access to a full knowledge of the universe for the benefit of all Divine creation. Or they, like fallen angels, choose the path of self-loving, proud evil, limiting themselves to the “lowest levels of existence”, serving the primitive destruction of the God-created world.
Despite God-like abilities, earthly man, distorted by the Fall, is not able to correctly develop them through purely human efforts without the help of the Creator. However, Divine knowledge and power are easily available to every righteous and good man as his grace-filled enlightenment progresses. Without the help of Divine Love, a person cannot correctly perceive and apply even the simplest knowledge about the structure of the material world, which is very clearly confirmed by the “successes” of modern science and technology, aimed primarily at the destruction of our planet and the literal suicide of humanity.
Knowledge about the universe is interesting, but not always useful. Because in addition to the “light”, truly useful knowledge given to people by God for material and spiritual creation, there is a distorted “dark” demonic knowledge, revealed by the forces of evil for our destruction.
Divine Providence basically reveals to us the knowledge necessary for the salvation and correct development of the Earth and humanity, and dangerous spiritual or material knowledge makes it inaccessible or hinders its application. This is not at all a humiliation of man, but the Creator’s paternal concern for our preservation, because ethical and spiritual-religious development is still in last place for most people. If we are given the opportunity to “control nature” like God, we will inevitably destroy ourselves, which is very clearly shown, for example, by the use of atomic energy.
The highest knowledge about the true structure of the universe is practically inaccessible to sinful earthly man with a distorted consciousness and an imperfect body. In fact, even talking about it makes no sense. Moreover, after the death of the physical body, the human soul acquires divine-human perfection naturally without any effort.
For the individual and humanity as a whole, the most important thing is correct Christian spiritual and religious knowledge, which gives us the opportunity to transform our earthly nature and the world with the help of the Divine energy-grace of the Holy Spirit. At all times, Christian knowledge about the grace-filled knowledge of God and communication with God is the most vital and necessary for the existence and development of humanity. Without him, the world would have “ceased to exist” long ago. Naturally, God-given knowledge, revealed through the practice of traditional Orthodox life, cannot serve the goals of gaining proud omnipotence and evil omnipotence.
The grace-filled divine-human knowledge is revealed by God only to righteous people who direct their God-given abilities to the creativity of goodness and love. Reasonably limiting sinful human self-will, which is destructive for ourselves, the Creator gives us only what is really necessary - useful and saving knowledge.
Christian spiritual and religious knowledge has only little relation to the control of the forces of the material world, and concerns mainly the liberation of man from the power of sin and evil for the sake of the grace-filled transformation of the Christian by the spirit of holiness, goodness and love.
Fallen angels, seeking to enslave man and subjugate him to their evil will, purposefully reveal to people knowledge aimed at subjugating the material universe for the sake of creation artificial world, rejecting the natural creation of the One God. Regardless of whether the “dark revelation”, beneficial only to demons, refers to “spiritual” knowledge such as magic and witchcraft or to scientific knowledge, it is always harmful and dangerous, because it necessarily forces a person to do evil to the destruction of himself and the world around him. It is not surprising that, in contrast to creative Divine knowledge, the natural result of demonic knowledge is the self-destruction of its bearer.
“Spiritually negative” knowledge, usually known under the guise of “white” or “black” magic, is always aimed at gaining proud omnipotence. Modern science is not far behind the demonic essence of magic, working mainly for the military industry, creating new instruments of death, serving to increase material wealth and satisfy base passions. Even the knowledge of the material world that is truly useful to us is distorted by the mind of a proud and evil person beyond recognition. For example, medicine, which should serve to save human life and maintain his health in accordance with moral, moral and religious principles, turns into an attempt to achieve earthly immortality and animal pleasures at any cost. What is the cost of genetic engineering alone or experiments to control the human psyche, with the help of which scientists and rich people strive to become “gods” who control the people as a “herd of slaves”.
The further humanity exists, the clearer it becomes that any knowledge that is not based on the Divine commandments brings people mainly harm. Despite the technical and scientific power of modern civilization, people continue to suffer from disease and hunger, war and crime, mental anxiety and social injustice.
The danger of spiritual and physical destruction of humanity comes not only from scientific knowledge. Nowadays, when it has become clear that science and social measures are not a universal way to correct the situation on Earth, various “cosmic” teachings are becoming more and more popular. Their representatives allegedly speak in the “name of God,” understanding by God anything - the Cosmos and the Universe, “intelligent” matter and beings of the “spiritual” world, but not the Personality of the One God and Creator of the universe, who reveals Himself to traditionally believing people.
Like proud magic and godless science, “cosmic” teachings have one common characteristic feature - they are aimed at developing superhuman abilities while completely denying our sinfulness and the need for repentance through a righteous life. Some “cosmic” teachings quite seriously assert that God “fears” for His power and therefore hides from us knowledge about the structure of the universe. Some consider God to be a faceless “cosmic energy” whose power becomes available to everyone under certain conditions. In any case, it turns out that Divine Omnipotence and Omniscience can be achieved by man himself through controlling nature with the help of scientific and magical knowledge, psychic energy and technotronic machine civilization.
Insignificant in his spiritual powers, earthly man distorted by original sin wants to establish “heavenly order” on earth without the help of God. The times of primitive atheism are long gone and now, obeying the suggestion and obvious guidance of demonic forces, sinful man strives to become a man-god. Unlike traditional atheists, fans of man-theism even acknowledge the existence of God, declaring that we no longer need a Creator, because we ourselves can easily “become like gods.” In essence we see modern version temptation of humanity by Satan with the help of the bait of “absolute knowledge”, repeating the original fall.
Unlike traditional religious teachings, which require a person to practically work on himself in obedience to the will of God, “cosmic” false teachings lure people with “sophisticated” sayings consisting of meaningless “general” phrases about goodness and love. Correct moral and ethical instructions, partially found in such teachings, are immediately crossed out by “our right” to put above all else the “dignity” of a person, which implies human pride and primitive sinful pride.
This is how the forces of evil most effectively distract humanity from true knowledge, confusing people and directing them onto the path of destructive false wisdom. The affirmation of the “dignity” and highest value of a sinful earthly person, “having no need” for repentance and correction, inevitably serves to satisfy the most primitive bodily and mental passions. Any adherent of “human god” thinks only about his own omnipotence. If his conscience troubles him, he reassures himself that “some excesses” and violent decisions in relation to “unenlightened” people are necessary for their own “good.” That is why such teachings appeal to proud and self-loving people who have the utmost contempt for Christian creativity of conscious holiness, selfless goodness and humble love.
Any sober-minded and cautious person understands how dangerous any spiritual and material knowledge is, which can be equally directed towards good and evil, towards helping people and towards their slavish submission. For an unbeliever, this caution concerns primarily the material world and its social structure. A believer understands that in addition to the material, there is also a spiritual world, that in addition to the body we have an immortal soul, which, as a result of using distorted or dangerous knowledge, dooms itself to spiritual destruction.
The material world represents the initial, simplest stage of creation, subject to the destructive influence of time, while the spiritual world exists forever. A believer most of all values spiritual and religious knowledge, which teaches a person salvation from the power of evil and brings universal benefit through the creativity of a righteous life and good deeds. Moreover, only this knowledge really solves our material and social problems.
Soberly aware of his sinful imperfection, a believer wisely and humbly accepts only the knowledge that is given to us from above for the spiritual benefit of humanity. The entire history of the world shows that without Divine help humanity cannot cope with its sins, much less defeat the forces of evil by establishing on earth real world and justice. First of all, God-given knowledge teaches us the practice of grace-filled divine-human enlightenment, which is the primary, most important and valuable task for humanity.
The Lord instructs humanity on the path of spiritual purification and development in the simplest and at the same time in effective ways. Their difficulty is practical application is explained mainly by the demonic influence of sinful pride, which does not allow a person to selflessly work for the good of his neighbors. However, with the help of grace, any believer is able to follow the Christian path of spiritual birth “of water and the Spirit,” leading to real communion with God and knowledge of God. If desired, each person can acquire the highest divine-human wisdom inherent in a free human personality, cleansed from the power of evil and enlightened by the spirit of selfless love.
Along with godless fans of science and technology, proud “cosmic” teachers and magicians teach about the possibility of gaining omnipotence through knowledge of “secret knowledge about the structure of the world and man.” It turns out that if we know everything about the universe, we will be able to solve the main “urgent” social, national, cultural and moral problems. This is a meaningless attempt to solve an “internal” problem with external influences, without removing its real cause, which lies within the person himself.
A Christian does not deny the importance of useful scientific knowledge, but first of all he strives to acquire spiritual and religious knowledge, which teaches us not to do evil and freely do good with the assistance of the Divine energy-grace of the Holy Spirit, which internally changes the human essence, radically transforming our body and soul , mind and heart. Only by learning to live righteously and do good will we be able to solve all other issues.
The gracious deification of the individual, vitally necessary for the person himself for personal salvation, at the same time has a positive effect on the world around him, cleansing it from the power of sin and evil by deeds of righteous life, goodness and love.
Magical and scientific knowledge, achieved without the help of God through the efforts of the proud human mind, represents a false bait of demonic forces, drawing a person into the abyss of spiritual and material destruction. Despite the zealous proclamation of the “triumph of universal theories of “freedom, equality and fraternity,” the “rulers” modern world They continue to use godless scientific and magical knowledge to seize power and enslave the common people. Scientific knowledge and there are more and more material benefits, but due to our sinfulness they actually do not bring real benefit to humanity. Figuratively speaking, “one percent of the population is overeating, and ninety-nine are starving.”
A believer who has acquired the grace of God-revealed Christian knowledge directs it towards one single goal - to teach people to do good, consciously renouncing the creation of evil. Conquering selfish pride, Christian saints receive “miraculous” superhuman abilities from God, but they never use them for self-affirmation, enslaving influence on people and selfish enrichment. To see the difference between real Knowledge and its “deceptive double”, it is enough to analyze the activities of numerous “magicians and healers” who treat diseases with one hand, and with the other offer any services, such as casting spells and love spells.
Superhuman abilities sleeping in our souls themselves begin to act in righteous and holy people, as a “natural addition” to the knowledge of the true Christian faith. The righteous does not strive to amaze others with miracles to satisfy pride and lust for power. A Christian, who humbly dedicates his deeds to God and people, places little value on superhuman abilities, understanding them as an auxiliary, not the most necessary means of saving the world. First of all, a Christian wants to awaken the souls of people from the slumber and delusions of a sinful life, directing them on the path of spiritual enlightenment by his own example of fulfilling the saving will of God.
Pride and selfishness are always the most dangerous sins. Especially if they are based on the logical power of the mind and superhuman psycho-energetic abilities. It is pride that creates a kind of anti-divine revelation, inspired by devilish forces. Just try to doubt the wrongness of the proud “teacher”, the sources of his abilities, how a person who zealously cares about the “good of the whole world” is suddenly filled with “mad” hostility and anger towards Christianity, which clearly shows where his knowledge and "talents".
For a Christian, the Lord is, first of all, the Source of Holiness and Love, and not a “carrier of information and power.” Improving in the creativity of selfless love for God and people, the believer graciously unites with God in the Spirit, returning to an undistorted sinless state. Only a person free from the power of evil receives from above the ability to correctly cognize the world, realizing the creativity of salvation and development of humanity.
Christian teaching, which serves the practical realization of Divine Truth, simultaneously shows us the only path to acquiring undistorted, revealed knowledge. Through the Christian creativity of righteous life, good deeds and selfless love, the Orthodox believer naturally acquires correct knowledge about God, the world and man.
Orthodox communion with God and knowledge of God does not at all mean that a believer, at his own discretion, constantly communicates with the spiritual world and spiritual beings in the style of “video communication”. Christian mystical spiritual vision mainly manifests itself through the undistorted hearing of conscience, which is the exponent of the will of our God-created spirit. By perceiving Divine revelation through the voice of a “pure” conscience, the soul of a righteous person receives the ability to control our physical and mental nature, fulfilling the saving will of God without error.
It is equally important to learn to humbly hear God and the spiritual world through the actions of the people around you. The Lord specifically reveals himself to us through “near and far” so that we are under external control. It is very difficult to soberly control oneself, but from the outside our mistakes and sins are most noticeable. It is especially important to hear the spiritual mentors of the Church, who use all the wealth of the Holy Scriptures and the Holy Tradition of Christianity for our education and admonition.
What people usually take as “real” mysticism, in the sense of various “prophetic dreams” and direct visions of the spiritual world, plays the last role in the life of a Christian. A Christian specifically refuses to receive such abilities of his own free will, so as not to fall into proud “delusion.” This is precisely an “addition” to the grace-filled mysticism of a righteous life, which is understood by a Christian exclusively as a gift from above, sent to a few people in rare situations.
A righteous person, illuminated by sincere love for God and people, unlimitedly perceives God-given spiritual knowledge and grace-filled power that serve the salvation of the Christian himself and the world around him. This is the knowledge of real spiritual wisdom, aimed at the personal good of a person and all humanity. God-given wisdom clearly distinguishes deeds according to their “inner essence,” clearly dividing knowledge into true and false, depending on what it serves - good or evil, righteous or sinful life.
Through visible religious creativity, an Orthodox Christian strives for inner grace-filled illumination, which opens the sight and hearing of the human soul, giving us the opportunity for correct communication with God and the spiritual world. Christian communion with God humbly refuses to search for obvious mystical phenomena, realizing that a real vision of the spiritual world takes place according to the will of God and happens very rarely. To most believers, the Lord reveals himself in personal communication with God through the voice of conscience, when a person clearly hears the will of God in his soul. Also, the will of God is known by a Christian through teaching Christian Church and obedience to spiritual mentors, through simple communication with believers and non-believers.
It is significant that the process of “internal” knowledge of God does not exist in itself without the participation of “external” knowledge of God, based on humble attention to the revelation of the will of God in the people around us and the teaching of the Church. The Lord expects from us a personal, extremely conscious creation of His will, but at the same time, a Christian must remember the destructive influence of religious pride. For the correct individual education of a Christian person, humility teaches us to distinguish false revelation from the Truth, using the collective experience of the Church and the opinions of others. This is the basic principle of perception of Divine revelation, equally binding on great saints and ordinary believers.
At all levels of spiritual development, the Christian humbly recognizes "personal" power and knowledge as an unmerited gift of God's grace. Christian knowledge of the will of God is inseparable from constant control over proud self-will. To ensure the “safety precautions” of spiritual and religious life, a Christian prefers to check his personal spiritual state and his feelings with the help of the conciliar teaching of the Church, the people around him and spiritual mentors, purposefully abandoning the path of “mystical phenomena and revelations.”
This principle concerns the use of all means of spiritual development - theological knowledge and church life, asceticism and prayer. Only humility saves a person from the errors of pride and the creation of evil towards people, graciously and mystically revealing to him an undistorted perception of the saving will of God.
If a person really strives to understand the structure of the universe and the spiritual laws of existence through the perception of the power and knowledge of the “light direction,” he voluntarily chooses to serve good, calling on God and the forces of Light for help. The only opposite option involves serving the forces of darkness. There are simply no other ways. When the Lord shows a person the saving path of self-denial from a sinful and evil life, which is necessary for our own good, we usually do not like it. However, this is the only possibility of knowing the real Truth.
Fallen angels-demons, who are the focus of evil, deceitful pride, in any case deceive the self-loving and therefore stupid sinner. At first glance, it seems that it is the Almighty Creator who “subdues and enslaves” man, “demanding” from us the service of a righteous life and humble love. A sinner who does not want to infringe on his primitive desires naturally “imagines” that demons open a path to “limitless freedom” for man. In fact, fallen angels send evil power and destructive knowledge to the sinner for their own gain in order to gain the soul of a person. Indulging in destructive self-will with demonic help, a sinner can indeed do evil unlimitedly in a short earthly life, but then the terrifying reckoning of eternity inevitably comes.
The “highest” falsity of godless and anti-spiritual teachings that affirm the primary value of “man’s freedom from God” is clearly manifested when comparing the life of a good righteous man with the life of an evil sinner, when comparing their specific deeds in relation to people. Mystical experience and theological knowledge, religious creativity and its sources are also easily verified by a person’s behavior, whether he strives to live righteously and disinterestedly do good, or seeks proud power over people, destroying himself and bringing evil to people in the pursuit of sinful pleasures.
There are always few great saints and righteous people on earth. There are also few conscious executors of the will of demonic forces in the world. Most of humanity has a vague idea of the spiritual meaning and purpose of our earthly existence. There is no doubt that external - social, political, economic and educational reasons for the “spiritual and religious blindness” of earthly humanity play an important role. And at the same time, in most cases, only the person himself is to blame for this, indulging in his sinful, selfish pride.
Even when a proud person is a member of the Church, his consciousness is constantly distorted by the influence of bodily and mental passions, not allowing him to understand when he is sinning and when he is serving God. Full-fledged spiritual knowledge is given only to a humble person who clearly sees that we sin more often than we do the will of God, that for spiritual development we vitally need divinely revealed knowledge and grace-filled power, that living according to the commandments is always difficult, but we must strive to fulfill the will of God in the process of a “simple” righteous life.
The “spiritual” disease of religious pride is mortally dangerous for any believer in any “proportion”. Pride quickly leads to thoughtless and insane “prelest”, which unconditionally requires a person to listen only to himself, recognizing only personal “spiritual experience”, not paying any attention to the advice and help of others. As a result, dark forces begin to completely control the self-loving and proud person.
Often, when “charm” clearly manifests itself in the form of mental illness, it is already too late - a person loses his mind under the influence of demonic energy and may even commit suicide. In order to avoid such terrible falls, the believer must strictly follow the path of humble obedience to the conciliar teaching of the Church, the experience of its teachers and spiritual mentors, although such obedience greatly limits his will and desires. And then the difficult path of traditional Christian education necessarily leads the believer to acquiring the God-given ability to independently understand and do the will of God, correctly distinguishing between good and evil.
Christian "spiritual vision" is directly related to the growth of conscious faith through the practice of righteous living, selfless kindness and selfless love towards God and people. If a Christian complacently hopes to achieve the salvation of the soul and grace-filled enlightenment through the study of theological knowledge and careful execution of the ritual law, he will inevitably get lost in the labyrinths of “dead” logical knowledge and magical ritual belief.
In fact, a proud believer is no different from a proud atheist-atheist or a conscious fighter against God, because they all do the same “works of darkness.” The proud desire of the believer to gain the salvation of the soul and knowledge of the spiritual world with his “own” powers, one way or another, takes him away from God and subordinates him to the fallen angels. A proud person who forgets about the humble basis of the true Orthodox faith will certainly be deprived of grace-filled help and becomes unable to serve God and people.
It is not surprising that a proud person often stops fulfilling even the ritual law, replacing it with ugly, false imitations. Church "activists" - Pharisees and self-righteous scribes - "theologians" quite seriously accused the Savior, who healed lepers and raised the dead, that He and the apostles eat bread without washing their hands. The most “terrible” thing about this “violation” is a slight deviation from physical hygiene. And it is generally unknown whether there was a need to wash hands in this case. Such “traditions of the elders” clearly show that visible verbal veneration of God can be incredibly far removed from the confession of true faith. And not only from the confession of dogmas and canons, but even from the simplest ritual piety.
Hypocritical believers who purposefully abolish the Divine commandments for the sake of observing meaningless, non-binding “human institutions” hope for “it is not clear what.” This is not even a faith, but some “national-cultural” traditions. Only an extremely stupid person, spiritually blinded by exorbitant pride, can try to gain God-given knowledge through such “piety.”
Despite the Old Testament examples, the same mistakes are often repeated by Orthodox believers, who madly rely not on keeping the commandments, fasting and prayer, but on the simplest rules of temple discipline. The main thing is to enter the temple correctly, stand and bow correctly, kiss the icon correctly and stand the service. And then you can calmly consider yourself a pious righteous person, “worthy” of saving your soul and having the right to arrogantly teach, judge and reproach the “sinners” around you.
1 The Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered to Him, 2 and when they saw some of His disciples eating bread with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands, they reproached him. 3 For the Pharisees and all the Jews, holding to the tradition of the elders, do not eat without washing their hands thoroughly; 4 and when they come from the market, they do not eat without washing. There are many other things that they decided to adhere to: observing the washing of bowls, tankards, cauldrons and benches. 5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him: Why do not Your disciples walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands? 6 He answered and said to them, “Isaiah prophesied well about you hypocrites, as it is written: This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. 7 but in vain they worship Me, teaching doctrines the commandments of men. 8 For you, having abandoned the commandment of God, adhere to the tradition of men, the washing of mugs and cups, and do many other things like this. 9 And he said to them, “Is it good that you set aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition?” 10 For Moses said: Honor your father and your mother; and: He who curses his father or mother shall die by death. 11 And you say: whoever says to father or mother: korvan, that is, a gift to God that you would use from me, 12 You already allow him to do nothing for his father or his mother, 13 making void the word of God by your tradition which ye have established; and you do many similar things. 14 And he called all the people and said to them, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand: 15 nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile him; but what comes from it defiles a person. 16 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear! 17 And when He entered the house from the people, His disciples asked Him about the parable. 18 He said to them: Are you really so slow-witted? Don't you understand that nothing that enters a person from outside can defile him? 19 Because it does not enter into his heart, but into his belly, and comes out, by which all food is purified. 0 He further said: what comes from a person defiles a person. 21 For from within, from the heart of man, come evil thoughts, adultery, fornication, murder, 22 theft, covetousness, malice, deceit, lewdness, an envious eye, blasphemy, pride, madness, - 23 all this evil comes from within and defiles man Mk 7 (1-23)
A person who clearly understands the essence of spiritual and religious creativity often believes that sinful defilement comes from an insufficiently “church” life, in the sense of rarely visiting church, from a small amount of prayer and fasting, and so on. If a believer strictly and carefully applies the means of salvation, the Lord will eventually bring him to spiritual insight. But in most cases, the difficult path of asceticism and prayerful creativity is replaced by meaningless ritual trifles that actually have nothing to do with spiritual development.
The conscientious Christian recognizes the importance of the means of spiritual development and the vital necessity of ritual piety. At the same time, he clearly sees the “spiritual relativity” of this side of faith, in the sense that real sin and real evil come from a lack of a righteous life, good deeds and humble love towards God and people.
Real evil, which is initiated by the forces of darkness, desecrating the sinner himself and the world around him, comes from the heart of a proud and selfish person. From the heart of a humble righteous man, on the contrary, the gracious light of Divine holiness, goodness and love radiates, enlightening the Christian himself and all humanity. This is the most important pattern of Christian spiritual development. Outside of her knowledge, the path of the true Orthodox faith turns into a caricature - a “blind mentor” leads a “blind student,” and as a result, both fall into the “pit” of sin and evil.
“I am the light of the world; “Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life,” says the Lord Jesus Christ, meaning that a righteous person who sincerely strives for a grace-filled union with God ceases to live in the darkness of sin and acquires the Divine “light of life” , giving us an undistorted, saving vision of the world through the eyes of the All-good and loving Creator.
To reveal God-given spiritual vision, which carries an undistorted vision of God, the world and man, a Christian is called upon to imitate, to the best of his ability, the Holiness and Love of the Creator. Prayerful, ascetic and ritual piety helps correct our imperfect, purely human knowledge of the world, but cannot teach us to fully “see good and evil.” If a Christian wants to gain true spiritual enlightenment, he is called to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, developing in himself the holiness of humble love, renouncing pride and selfishness, selflessly doing the good will of God towards people. It is in this way that earthly man perceives the grace of the Holy Spirit and becomes a godlike son of God, receiving Divine knowledge and power from above.
A believer, not enlightened by the grace of the Holy Spirit, continues to “judge according to the flesh,” not noticing the essence of faith and focusing on visible ritualism. The Pharisees assessed the actions of the Son of God with a purely human judgment, without Divine knowledge of what was happening. Strangely, the Pharisees, who believed that they were fully fulfilling the will of the One God, categorically did not accept the Son of God.
The reason for such a misunderstanding of Divine revelation is the simplest - “you know neither Me nor My Father; If you knew Me, you would also know My Father.” In essence, the Pharisees found themselves fulfilling the Divine commandments, although outwardly they looked quite “churchly” and pious. No wonder they consciously or unconsciously denied the long-awaited Savior of the world. For the incarnate Son of God, who came to save humanity, the last, most powerful means remained - to show with his own death how God loves man and for the sake of this love is ready to sacrifice His Only Begotten Son.
Believing in the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, in the sense of recognizing the dogmatic teachings of Christianity, is quite simple. But in order to become a real Christian, this is clearly not enough. True faith requires us to constantly “abide in the word” of God, practically fulfilling the Divine commandments. Only in this way does a believer become a disciple and follower of the Son of God, who learns the saving Truth of a righteous life, gaining freedom from the power of sin and evil. “Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin,” even if he belongs to the earthly Church and God’s chosen people. If the Pharisees were “children of Abraham” not only in the flesh, but also in the spirit of a righteous life, they would do the “works of Abraham,” imitating the sincere faith of the prophet.
It is not surprising that the proud Pharisees, despite their “churchism,” were constantly looking for an opportunity to eliminate or even kill the Son of God, who impartially and uncompromisingly exposed the “secret of sin” - you can look like a believer “one hundred percent,” but not actually be one. “Your father is the devil; and you want to do the lusts of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and did not stand in the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks his own way, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
Fallen angels-demons, who teach a person a sinful and evil life through the satisfaction of sinful passions, always lie and deceive. To some they promise absolute “freedom” of “unbridled” passions, to others they seduce with the tempting opportunity to gain the salvation of the soul through formal ritualism.
When the saints sent by God tell the truth about the meaning and purpose of Christian life, the Pharisees do not believe them, or rather do not want to believe them, because the truth requires sincere repentance. It is significant that the “best” Pharisees’ argument against the saints is the following statement: “Aren’t we telling the truth that You are a Samaritan and that You have a demon?”, that is, the accusation of heresy and spiritual “delusion” that the Pharisees themselves suffer from.
A Christian is called to cognize the highest Divine Truth, which makes man a truly free and rational being. True freedom, inseparable from undistorted knowledge of existence, from the ability to change the world for the better, is determined by man’s voluntary consent to do the will of God. Divine knowledge and power come to us as we are cleansed from bodily and mental sins, as we sincerely strive for a righteous life, as we comprehensively banish self-loving pride, as our mind and heart are enlightened by the spirit of selfless love for God and people.
For the grace-filled illumination of the Holy Spirit, it is not enough to recognize the dogmas of Christianity-Orthodoxy and go to church, fulfill the ritual law and even participate in the grace-filled Sacraments of the Church. These products help cleanse and transform our physical and mental nature. But the main task of Christian life is the liberation of man from the slavery of selfish pride and the further enlightenment of the believer with the spirit of sincere love for God and people.
Otherwise, the believer inevitably turns into a Pharisee, who, despite all his outward piety, commits sin and evil, one way or another, serving the demons who fell because of pride and disobedience to God. It is pride in most cases that leads a believer to the utmost spiritual decline, when a person can no longer, or rather does not want to, do the will of God.
The Old Testament Pharisees were spiritual teachers and mentors of God's chosen Jewish people. But when the Savior of the world, the Lord Jesus Christ, began to expose their selfishness and pride, they, in devilish rage and anger, rejected the Son of God, calling Him a messenger dark forces. Because of “religious” pride, absolutely unacceptable absurd situations still arise in the church environment when believers refuse to accept the saving and miraculous revelation of Divine Providence, not wanting to recognize the Divine Truth for the sake of primitive pride.
The lie of a sinful life, hidden under the beautiful mask of ritual piety, easily blinds the believer as soon as he begins to be proud of his “churchliness,” asceticism and theological knowledge. Despite church life and knowledge of Christian teaching, pride does not allow a person to see God with his heart, correctly understanding and doing His will.
Lack of humble love and indulgence in religious vanity inevitably leads to resistance to God. And the further proud resistance to God goes, the closer the sinner’s cooperation with the forces of evil becomes, when a person cares more and more about satisfying the lust for power and obtaining material benefits, not wanting to humble himself and repent, live righteously and selflessly do good.
If a Christian really wants to learn to distinguish between good and evil, in order to fully live according to the commandments of Christ, he must understand and accept the highest value of voluntary humility, completely destroying self-loving pride in himself through the development of selfless love for God and people.
1 Then the Jerusalem scribes and Pharisees come to Jesus and say: 2 Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they do not wash their hands when they eat bread. 3 He answered and said to them: Why do you also transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God commanded: honor your father and mother; and: He who curses his father or mother shall die by death. 5 And you say: if someone says to father or mother: what you would use from me is a gift to God, 6 he may not honor his father or his mother; Thus you have made void the commandment of God by your tradition. 7 Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied well about you, saying: 8 These people draw near to Me with their lips, and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me; 9 but in vain they worship Me, teaching doctrines the commandments of men. 10 And calling the people, he said to them: listen and understand! 11 It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth defiles a person. 12 Then His disciples came and said to Him: Do you know that when the Pharisees heard this word, they were offended? 13 He answered and said: Every plant that My Heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted; 14 leave them alone: they are blind leaders of the blind; and if a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit. 15 Peter answered and said to Him, Explain this parable to us. 16 Jesus said: Do you also not yet understand? 17 Do you still not understand that everything that goes into the mouth goes into the belly and is thrown out? 18 but what comes from the mouth - comes from the heart - this defiles a person, 19 for from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, blasphemy - 20 it defiles a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile a person. Matthew 15 (1-20)
12 Again Jesus spoke to the people and said to them: I am the light of the world; whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. 13 Then the Pharisees said to Him: You testify about Yourself, Your testimony is not true. 14 Jesus answered and said to them: If I testify of Myself, My testimony is true; because I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going. 5 You judge according to the flesh; I don't judge anyone. 16 And if I judge, then My judgment is true, because I am not alone, but I and the Father who sent Me. 17 And in your law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. 18 I testify of Myself, and the Father who sent Me testifies of Me. 19 Then they said to Him: Where is Your Father? Jesus answered: You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would also know My Father. 20 Jesus spoke these words at the treasury when he taught in the temple; and no one took Him, because His hour had not yet come. 21 Again Jesus said to them: I am going away, and you will seek Me and die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come. 22 Then the Jews said: Will He really kill Himself, because He says: “Where I go, you cannot come”? 23 He said to them: You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. 24 This is why I told you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that it is I, you will die in your sins. 25 Then they said to Him: Who are You? Jesus said to them, “He was from the beginning, just as I tell you.” 26 I have much to say and judge about you; but He who sent Me is true, and what I have heard from Him, that is what I speak to the world. 27 They did not understand what He was telling them about the Father. 28 So Jesus said to them: When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that it is I, and that I do nothing of Myself, but as My Father taught Me, so I speak. 29 He who sent Me is with Me; The Father did not leave Me alone, for I always do what pleases Him.
30 When He said this, many believed in Him. 31 Then Jesus said to the Jews who believed in Him: If you continue in My word, then you are truly My disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. 33 They answered him: we are Abraham’s seed and have never been slaves to anyone; How then do You say: You will be made free? 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.” 35 But the slave does not remain in the house forever; the son abides forever. 36 So, if the Son sets you free, you will be truly free. 37 I know that you are Abraham's seed; yet you seek to kill Me, because My word cannot fit within you. 38 I speak what I saw with My Father; but you do what you saw your father do. 39 They answered Him: Our father is Abraham. Jesus said to them: If you were children of Abraham, you would do the works of Abraham. 40 And now you seek to kill Me, the Man who told you the truth, which I heard from God: Abraham did not do this. 41 You are doing the works of your father. To this they said to Him: We were not born of fornication; We have one Father, God. 42 Jesus said to them: If God were your Father, you would love Me, because I proceeded from God and came; for I did not come of Myself, but He sent Me. 43 Why do you not understand My speech? Because you cannot hear My words. 44 Your father is the devil; and you want to do the lusts of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and did not stand in the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks his own way, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me. 46 Which of you will convict Me of unrighteousness? If I speak the truth, why don’t you believe Me? 47 He who is from God listens to the words of God. The reason you don't listen is because you are not from God. 48 To this the Jews answered and said to Him: Are we not telling the truth that You are a Samaritan and that You have a demon? 49 Jesus answered: There is no demon in Me; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. 50 However, I do not seek My glory: there is a Seeker and a Judge. 51 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever keeps My word will never see death. 52 The Jews said to Him: Now we have learned that you have a demon. Abraham died and the prophets, and You say: whoever keeps My word will never taste death. 53 Are You greater than our father Abraham, who died? and the prophets died: what are you doing? 54 Jesus answered: If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing. My Father glorifies me, of whom you say that He is your God. 55 And you did not know Him, but I know Him; and if I say that I do not know Him, then I will be a liar like you. But I know Him and keep His word. 56 Abraham your father rejoiced to see My day; and he saw and rejoiced. 57 To this the Jews said to Him: You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham? 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” 59 Then they took stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid himself and left the temple, passing through the midst of them, and went further John 8 (12-59)
The healings performed by the Lord Jesus Christ clearly indicate the inextricable connection between holiness, good deeds, love for people and the “wonderful” or rather gracious spiritual power granted to the righteous by God. The Savior specifically speaks of His Divine power, placing in first place not the fact of miraculous healing, but the forgiveness of the sins of the healed. Naturally, with truly Divine influence, complete healing of body and soul usually occurs.
For God, in contrast to people who value the miracle itself, the spiritual transformation of a person is incomparably more important. “Miraculous” manifestations of special psychophysical abilities, characteristic of Eastern religions, do not represent anything particularly significant for a Christian. What is important is not so much a miracle as its consequences for a person. Especially the consequences of spiritual healing, although we usually, due to our bodily weakness, value, first of all, physical health.
Another difference between the God-given “Christian miracle” is that the grace-filled power, knowledge and strength sent to the righteous from God are naturally confirmed by the creativity of selfless goodness and selfless love towards people. A Christian who voluntarily imitates Christ in the creativity of Holiness and Love organically acquires Divine power and knowledge of the Holy Spirit. In non-Christian religions, on the contrary, the “miraculous skill” itself, such as levitation and other psychophysical abilities, is valued, regardless of the righteousness of the “miracle worker.” This is where the abundance of demonic “miracles” created by black magic and spirits of darkness comes from.
As a result of the Fall, man was incredibly distorted and therefore the Christian understands the primary importance of personal healing of man from the power of sin and evil. The main thing is our spiritual state in the sense of righteousness and sinfulness, and not mental, physical and mental abilities. Secondly, purely human strength is always insufficient for a full understanding of the meaning and realization of the purpose of human existence. A person can amaze those around him with his mental and psychophysical development, but this means nothing, because he is little capable of creating goodness and love without grace-filled strengthening from above.
The decisive step towards divine-human knowledge and power depends on ourselves. Non-Christians understand this rule as the need for intensive exercise of their mind, body and psyche. Unlike a scientist who extols the “proud mind”, a yogi or a martial artist, a Christian moves along a different path of “primitive” traditional righteousness, firmly knowing that the Lord sends grace-filled power and knowledge only to those who sincerely renounce sin and evil, striving to consciously fulfill Divine commandments.
A Christian moves towards higher knowledge of God through the “simple path” of righteous life and good deeds. This is how a person saves his soul and has a beneficial effect on the people around him, healing their bodies and souls with the Divine energy of holiness and love. Communion with God of the true Orthodox faith, which gives us genuine spiritual wisdom, health and strength, is inextricably linked with the fulfillment of the Divine commandments.
Likewise, all our misfortunes, sufferings and illnesses are related to our sins. What is the use of the “miraculous abilities” of the mind, body and soul if a person does evil and in eternity he will inevitably face spiritual collapse and the depreciation of everything that so amazes people who do not understand the meaning of a real miracle.
1 A few days later He came again to Capernaum; and it was heard that He was in the house. 2 Many immediately gathered, so that there was no longer room at the door; and He spoke the word to them. 3 And they came to Him with the paralytic, who was carried by four; 4 and, not being able to approach Him due to the crowds, they opened the roof of the house where He was, and, having dug through it, lowered the bed on which the paralytic lay. 5 Jesus, seeing their faith, says to the paralytic: child! your sins are forgiven you. 6 Some of the scribes sat there and thought in their hearts: 7 Why does He blaspheme so much? who can forgive sins except God alone? 8 Jesus, immediately knowing in His spirit that they were thinking this way in themselves, said to them, “Why are you thinking this way in your hearts?” 9 Which is easier? Should I say to the paralytic: your sins are forgiven? or should I say: get up, take your bed and walk? 10 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins, he says to the paralytic: 11 I say to you: get up, take up your bed and go to your house. 12 He immediately got up and, taking the bed, went out in front of everyone, so that everyone was amazed and glorified God, saying: we have never seen anything like this. Mk 2 (1-12)
17 One day, while He was teaching, and the Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting here, who had come from all the places of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem, and the power of the Lord was manifested in healing the sick, - 18 behold, some brought a man who was paralyzed on a bed, and tried to carry him into the house and lay him before Jesus; 19 and, not finding where to carry him because of the crowd, they climbed onto the top of the house and through the roof lowered him with his bed into the middle before Jesus. 20 And He, seeing their faith, said to the man: Your sins are forgiven you. 21 The scribes and Pharisees began to reason, saying: Who is this that blasphemes? who can forgive sins except God alone? 22 Jesus, understanding their thoughts, answered and said to them, “What are you thinking in your hearts?” 23 What is easier to say: your sins are forgiven you, or to say: get up and walk? 24 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins, He said to the paralytic: I say to you, get up, take up your bed and go to your house. 25 And he immediately stood up before them, took what he was lying on, and went to his house, praising God. 26 And horror seized everyone, and they glorified God and, being filled with fear, said: “We have seen wonderful things today.” Luke 5 (17-26)
After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus came to Jerusalem. 2 There is also a pool in Jerusalem at the Sheep Gate, called Bethesda in Hebrew, which had five covered passages. 3 In them lay a great multitude of the sick, the blind, the lame, the withered, waiting for the movement of the waters, 4 for the Angel of the Lord from time to time went into the pool and disturbed the water, and whoever first entered it after the water was disturbed was recovered, no matter what disease he was possessed by. 5 Here was a man who had been ill for thirty-eight years. 6 Jesus, seeing him lying down and learning that he had been lying there for a long time, said to him: Do you want to be healthy? 7 The sick man answered Him: Yes, Lord; but I do not have a person who would lower me into the pool when the water is troubled; when I arrive, another has already descended before me. 8 Jesus says to him: get up, take up your mat and walk. 9 And he immediately became well, and took up his bed and went. It was on the Sabbath day. 10 Therefore the Jews said to the healed man: Today is the Sabbath; You shouldn't take the bed. 11 He answered them: He who healed me said to me: take up your bed and walk. 12 They asked him: Who is the man who said to you, “Take up your bed and walk?” 13 The healed one did not know who He was, for Jesus hid himself among the people who were in that place. 14 Then Jesus met him in the temple and said to him, “Behold, you are made well; Don’t sin anymore, lest something worse happen to you. 15 This man went and announced to the Jews that the one who healed him was Jesus. 16 And the Jews began to persecute Jesus and sought to kill Him because He did such things on the Sabbath.
7 Jesus said to them: My Father is working until now, and I am working. 18 And the Jews sought even more to kill Him because He not only violated the Sabbath, but also called God His Father, making Himself equal to God. 19 To this Jesus said: Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of Himself, unless He sees the Father doing: for whatever He does, the Son also does also. John 5 (1-19)
Until a believer frees himself from the power of bodily and mental passions, especially from the influence of self-love and pride, the undistorted spiritual vision peace and divinely revealed knowledge of the true Orthodox faith remains impossible for him. Despite any outward piety and theological knowledge, a sinful, self-loving and proud person cannot fully unite with the Lord in the spirit of mutual love, cannot enter into personal communication with God, and cannot gain knowledge of the Divine will and power.
It is not surprising that in his judgments about the spiritual meaning of things and phenomena, a proud person, believer and non-believer, is equally guided by visible, changeable signs, without distinguishing the inner content behind the outer shell, and under the influence of the forces of evil, mistaking good for evil, and vice versa. This is exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ speaks about when addressing God the Father - “You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes... All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father; and no one knows the Father except the Son, and to whom the Son wants to reveal it.”
A proud person does not accept the will of God in any form - be it strict ritual, prayer and fasting self-restraint or conscious creativity of humble love. The real embodiment of the saving will of God requires from us the creativity of voluntary repentance and righteous life, unfeigned humility and selfless love for God and people. Only a truly righteous and kind person, who sincerely strives to serve God and people, sees, recognizes and accepts the action of Divine truth both in the guise of a strict preacher of repentance, demanding a merciless fight against sin, and in the guise of merciful and all-forgiving love, teaching us to freely do our will God's
Theanthropic knowledge of the true Christian and Orthodox faith is inaccessible to weak human powers and is given to us by blessing from above. And at the same time, it depends on our humble appeal to God, on our sincere consent to do His will, renouncing self-will and self-love. The Lord endlessly and unlimitedly “gives” Himself to people, but only a righteous, humble and kind person who really wants it can perceive His power and knowledge.
1
And when Jesus finished teaching his twelve disciples, he went from there to teach and preach in their cities. 2
John, having heard in prison about the works of Christ, sent two of his disciples 3
say to Him: Are you the One who is to come, or should we expect something else? 4
And Jesus answered and said to them, Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5
the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised and the poor are preached to; 6
and blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.
7
When they had gone, Jesus began to speak to the people about John: Why did you go into the wilderness to see? Is it a cane shaken by the wind? 8
What did you go to see? a person dressed in soft clothes? Those who wear soft clothes are in the palaces of kings. 9
What did you go to see? prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10
For he is the one of whom it is written: Behold, I send My angel before Thy face, who will prepare Thy way before Thee. 11
Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen a greater man than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12
From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and those who use force take it by force, 13
for all the prophets and the law prophesied before John. 14
And if you want to accept, he is Elijah, who must come. 15
He who has ears to hear, let him hear! 16
But to whom shall I compare this generation? He is like children who sit on the street and, turning to their comrades, 17
they say: we played the pipe for you, and you did not dance; We sang sad songs to you, and you did not cry. 18
For John came neither eating nor drinking; and they say: he has a demon. 19
The Son of Man came, eating and drinking; and they say: here is a man who loves to eat and drink wine, a friend of publicans and sinners. And wisdom is justified by her children.
20
Then He began to rebuke the cities in which His powers were most manifested, because they did not repent: 21
woe to you, Chorazin! woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the powers that were done in you had been done in Tire and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes, 22
But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tire and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. 23
And you, Capernaum, who have ascended to heaven, will be cast down to hell, for if the powers that were manifested in you had been manifested in Sodom, it would have remained to this day; 24
But I tell you that it will be more bearable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you. 25
At that time, continuing his speech, Jesus said: I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes; 26
Hey, Father! for such was Thy good pleasure. 27
All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father; and no one knows the Father except the Son, and to whom the Son wants to reveal it. Matthew 11 (1-27)
He who is humble enough to do the will of God and live according to the commandment
A righteous person, living according to the dictates of humble love, naturally begins to correctly understand and do the will of God, gaining God-given insight into the meaning and purpose of true faith through the perception of the grace of the Holy Spirit. Only those who sincerely want it can be a believer, and especially a Christian. If a person really wants to do the will of God, he will definitely come to know the divinely revealed essence of Christianity.
In the soul of a conscious - righteous, kind and loving servant of God, the Lord Himself is invisibly present, opening to man the possibility of unlimited perception of real spiritual wisdom. The path of theanthropic Christian holiness represents the only way to acquire undistorted spiritual knowledge, allowing the believer to fully apply the principle: “do not judge by appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.” Otherwise, any spiritual and religious creativity becomes a meaningless and dangerous “idol” of religious pride.
The meaning of fulfilling the religious law lies in the spiritual and mental healing of a person, and not in formal ritual belief, divorced from real righteous life. That is why faithful Jews, leading a pious church life, were constantly perplexed about the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, not recognizing either the words or deeds of the incarnate Son of God. The reason for the misunderstanding of the Savior was the simplest - religious pride did not allow the Jews to do the will of God the Father.
It is significant that many of the Jews, despite belonging to the Church, were actually unbelievers. Therefore, they did not understand and did not accept the divine-human essence of the teachings of Christ, because accepting the teachings of the Son of God requires the decisive banishment of proud self-aggrandizement. Often a similar situation is repeated with “nominal” Orthodox Christians who only pretend to be believers, consciously rejecting the will of God revealed to the world through the humble righteous and saints of the New Testament.
Due to the lack of grace-filled insight, a proud person loses the God-given ability to “judge with righteous judgment,” which sees the essence of phenomena. For him the main thing is appearance, and therefore often without hesitation, condemns the Divine revelation of holiness and love coming from above. As a result, holiness is mistaken by the Pharisee for blasphemy, and feigned hypocritical ritual belief becomes for him a “confession” of true faith.
The Highest Divine Truth is naturally hidden from a proud person, no matter how much he tries to cognize it, and is easily revealed to those who, like God, sincerely do good to people, humbly fulfilling the will of God in a righteous life. No proof in the form obvious miracles, verbal instructions and good deeds will not help a proud person to understand the essence of Christianity, because he himself does not want this.
When the righteous sent by God denounce ritual false faith, the proud “believers” clearly show their true Pharisee nature and, instead of humble repentance, seek to kill the righteous man. It is significant how at any time the Pharisees, overwhelmed by devilish pride, accuse the righteous sent by God of the sin of religious pride. At the same time, the Pharisees again and again are primitively guided external signs ritual piety, without paying attention to the true content and motives of the deeds of the righteous.
The real, humble and repentant fulfillment of the will of God does not lie in slavish adoration before God, but in conscious co-creation with God through imitation of the Spirit of Divine Holiness and Love. Divine Love, striving to raise us to the “heights of the Spirit,” never humiliates a person. There is not a drop of pride in a Christian’s striving for divine-human perfection, because in order to achieve godlike holiness and love, a believer must mercilessly renounce self-will and self-love for the sake of selfless service to God and people.
True Christian faith is confirmed, first of all, by a righteous life and good deeds, for the sake of which a Christian must completely forget about selfishness. The path of perceiving godlike knowledge and power, the path to achieving the highest dignity of the human person, the path of transforming sinful man into an enlightened god-man, is in any case the path of utmost humility.
10 But when His brothers came, then He also came to the holiday not openly, but as if secretly. 11 The Jews looked for Him at the festival and said: Where is He? 12 And there was a lot of talk about Him among the people: some said that He was good; and others said: no, but he deceives the people. 13 However, no one spoke about Him openly, fearing the Jews. 14 But halfway through the feast, Jesus entered the temple and taught. 15 And the Jews marveled, saying, How does he know the Scriptures without having studied? 16 Jesus, answering them, said: My teaching is not Mine, but that of Him who sent Me; 17 whoever wants to do His will will know about this teaching, whether it is from God, or whether I speak from Myself. 18 The speaker seeks his own glory on his own behalf; but He who seeks the glory of Him who sent Him is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. 19 Didn't Moses give you the law? and none of you walks according to the law. Why are you seeking to kill Me? 20 The people answered, “Are you not a demon?” who seeks to kill you? 21 Jesus, continuing his speech, said to them: I have done one thing, and you all marvel. 22 Moses gave you circumcision [although it is not from Moses, but from the fathers], and on the Sabbath you circumcise a man. 23 If a person receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with Me because I healed the whole person on the Sabbath? 24 Do not judge by appearances, but judge with righteous judgment. John 7 (10-24)
22 Then the feast of renewal came in Jerusalem, and it was winter. 23 And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch. 24 Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him: How long will You keep us in bewilderment? if you are the Christ, tell us directly. 25 Jesus answered them: I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in the name of My Father, they testify of Me. 26 But you do not believe, for you are not of My sheep, as I told you. 27 My sheep obey My voice, and I know them; and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who gave them to Me, is greater than all; and no one can snatch them out of the hand of My Father. 30 I and the Father are one. 31 Here again the Jews took up stones to stone Him. 32 Jesus answered them: I have shown you many good works from My Father; For which of them do you want to stone Me? 33 The Jews answered Him: We do not want to stone You for a good deed, but for blasphemy and because You, being a man, make Yourself God. 34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, I said, you are gods?” 35 If He called those to whom the word of God came gods, and the Scripture cannot be broken— 36 Do you say to him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world: You are blaspheming, because I said: I am the Son of God? 37 If I do not the works of My Father, do not believe Me; 38 and if I do, then when you do not believe Me, believe My works, so that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me and I in Him. John 10 (22-38)
The Lord Jesus Christ brought to humanity a truly Divine teaching about the salvation and spiritual development of man. Christian teaching, provided it is sincerely followed, gives us the opportunity to achieve a complete transformation of human nature in one earthly life. In the entire history of mankind, Christianity for the first time and finally revealed the fullness of revealed knowledge, affirming the dominant role of conscious holiness and selfless love for God and people, without which there is no true faith.
To know the Christian Truth, it is necessary to understand the external visible and internal invisible sides of spiritual and religious creativity. The visible manifestations of faith and its invisible spiritual essence are inextricably interconnected in the sense that the creativity of personal salvation and the actions of a Christian in relation to others should equally bring to the world an example of fulfilling the Divine commandments in the spirit of humble love. Until a believer casts out the spirit of proud self-love and learns full-fledged love for God and people, he will constantly distort faith, wrongfully calling ritual piety “true” spiritual improvement and attributing absolute value to it.
The spirit of religious pride deprives the meaning and value of any feats of pious life performed in the name of personal salvation. Because of pride, ascetic and prayerful work, the fulfillment of canons and ritual piety degenerate into a “spiritually dead” and meaningless ritual belief. A proud supporter of ritualism cannot perceive grace and is not able to understand what the Lord expects from us and how we are obliged to do the will of God in relation to God and people. Despite any theological knowledge and apparent pious behavior, the proud “believer” is deprived of the opportunity to “assimilate” Divine revelation and, therefore, does not have the power and knowledge to fulfill Christian commandments.
The pious Pharisees disdained even to approach worldly sinners, while the Savior communicated without hesitation with such people, using the slightest hope of saving a person’s soul. The meaning of Christian religious creativity is not only the personal salvation of the soul, but also spiritual help to perishing people, imitating the absolutely selfless Love of the Creator.
In complete contradiction with the Divine commandments, the Pharisees considered the manifestation of humble love for sinners to be the greatest desecration and a direct violation of the will of the Creator. Pride did not allow the Pharisees to understand the will of God, and dark forces put their demonic revelation into their self-righteous minds, replacing the real meaning of faith with meaningless formal piety, which does not always free the believer from even the simplest bodily sins.
Only the creativity of conscious holiness and humble love truly cleanses a person from the power of bodily and mental passions, saving the believer and the world around him, freeing them from the power of evil and leading to knowledge of the will of God. This is what the Lord Jesus Christ teaches us, this is what all Orthodox believers who truly want to become disciples of Christ are called to do.
The parable of “new wine and new wineskins” shows the “spiritual incompatibility” of the Christian teaching about the primacy of conscious holiness and humble love with the flawed ideas about salvation through ritual law and theological knowledge.
Under the influence of dark forces, proud, proud and self-righteous “believers” at all times deliberately create and forcibly affirm the image of the false Pharisaic faith. Pharisaic false faith puts “personal salvation” at the forefront, indifferent to people, which is supposedly achieved through “pleasing” God with the help of asceticism, theological knowledge and magical ritual belief. It turns out that if you fast more, pray and go to church, carefully performing church rituals down to the smallest detail, God is simply “obliged” to provide the believer with earthly blessings and the salvation of the soul, regardless of his true spiritual state.
Even Orthodox believers often try to replace the Christian teaching of holiness and love with distorted Old Testament ritual beliefs, provoking an acute conflict between Pharisaism and the true Orthodox faith. A righteous personal and church life, conscious non-participation in the sins and evil deeds of unbelievers, an extremely tough struggle with bodily and mental passions are vital for every Orthodox Christian. But when an Orthodox believer, in his excessive concern for personal salvation, begins to despise sinners, he immediately loses the ability to show Christian love for people. Afraid of being defiled by the world, running away from communication with people, actually refusing to help the salvation of those around him, forgetting about fulfilling the main Divine commandment, such a believer in vain thinks of achieving personal perfection through the impeccable fulfillment of the ritual law.
The spirit of selfish pride deprives the believer of knowledge of the meaning and purpose of the Christian commandments, preventing a person from selflessly and unselfishly fulfilling the will of God in practice. Religious pride leads the believer to the loss of the blessed world and “disorder of the soul,” from which there are only two ways out.
Some Christians overcome themselves and strive to free themselves from the power of selfishness and pride, approaching true righteousness, acquiring humble wisdom and actually doing good. By receiving the grace of the Holy Spirit, such believers begin to see the meaning of true faith, which lies in the creativity of love towards God and people.
The second is the false and destructive path of increasing religious pride, which leads the believer to a complete loss of faith and enslaves him to the will of dark forces that “spiritually” blind a person, purposefully teaching him to distort and deny the will of God through formal ritual belief.
The Savior of mankind, the Lord Jesus Christ, brought to the world “new wine and new wineskins” of the true Orthodox faith. Christ reveals to us the content and form, power and knowledge of the revealed teaching about the primary importance of the grace-filled creativity of holiness, goodness and love, without which the fulfillment of the Divine commandments is impossible.
All other manifestations of spiritual and religious life must unconditionally obey the Christian law of humble - selfless and selfless love. Naturally, we must not forget about the need to apply the ritual law and traditional means of saving the soul. Church discipline and obedience to the teachings of the Church, fasting and prayer, theological knowledge and firm confession of dogmas, performance of rituals and participation in the Sacraments continue to retain their undoubted value and importance in Christianity.
As long as the apostles were close to Christ, the gracious power of the Son of God protected them from the destructive influence of mental and physical passions. Under the cover of grace, the apostles did not have a strict need for ascetic, prayerful and canonical discipline, naturally fulfilling the will of God. After the ascension of the Savior, the apostles had to directly combat the sinful influence of the surrounding world, consciously making personal volitional efforts.
“When setting off on their own voyage,” the apostles did not completely rely on their own strength and ritual piety. A true Christian in any situation humbly recognizes personal sinful imperfection, relying mainly on grace-filled help from above. And at the same time, he does not forget to demonstrate himself to the best of his ability in the creativity of conscious holiness and selfless love, which requires the sincere participation of a person.
A Christian fulfills the ritual law without exaggerating its saving value, remembering that the true transformation of the believer is impossible without the gracious assistance of the Holy Spirit. And then a full-fledged union of righteous life and selfless love leads the Christian to real communication with God, facilitating the perception of Divine energy, which gives us the opportunity to stop sinning and doing evil.
Grace-filled humility gives rise to the ability to correctly understand the external and internal manifestations of faith, when the believer “flexibly” combines the visible forms of faith with its inner meaning. The Christian firmly adheres to the visible traditional forms of faith, but “mechanical” formalism and magical Pharisaic ritual belief are alien to him. Christian wisdom shapes the behavior of a believer in accordance with the immutable requirements of a righteous life, clearly forbidding a person to sin and cause harm to people, teaching him to uncompromisingly do good. This is the only version of the true Orthodox faith, which gives us the opportunity to fully understand and do the will of God.
“Old wineskins and old wine” symbolize the “seasoned”, time-tested traditional, conservative church teaching, the importance, usefulness and value of which are undeniable. At the same time, one should not absolutize the “forms” of faith in the form of rituals, canons and even dogmatic knowledge, because true faith is integral to constant improvement in the creation of God’s will and knowledge of the Creator.
It should be specially noted that the grace-filled renewal of church life and church teaching does not at all mean a radical change in dogmatic and canonical knowledge. The teachings of Christianity-Orthodoxy need not so much to be changed as to be put into practice.
Effective knowledge and embodiment of Christian teaching depends on the degree of our righteousness, on the measure of the believer’s purity in relation to bodily and mental passions, on the Christian’s enlightenment with the spirit of humble love for God and people. It is in this direction that the correct renewal of the teachings of the Christian Church and the development of individual Christians should move forward, avoiding the false “renovationism” of traditional Orthodoxy.
Visible forms of faith are created by revelation from above, but imperfect earthly people take part in their creation. Therefore, despite their importance and usefulness, visible forms of faith become obsolete over time, taking on a certain “purely human” element, turning into an “old”, fragile and inferior form of serving God. The “old wine” of the previous experience of the Church is good, but it runs out of steam in “old wineskins”, requiring replenishment from the “new wine” ripening in the “new wineskins” of modern communion with God.
At all times, conscious Christians gain their own experience of knowledge of God, which should benefit the Church and the world. Regardless of the historical era, the gracious influence of the Holy Spirit directs Orthodox believers to full communion with God and the knowledge of God and humble love. Dogmas and canons, theological knowledge and means of spiritual salvation must be more and more fully realized by Christians in practice, if necessary, intelligently changing and improving according to revelation from above.
9 Passing from there, Jesus saw a man named Matthew sitting at the toll booth, and he said to him, “Follow Me.” And he stood up and followed Him. 10 And while Jesus was reclining in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and reclined with Him and His disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples: Why does your Teacher eat and drink with publicans and sinners? 12 When Jesus heard this, he said to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick, 13 Go and learn what it means: I want mercy, not sacrifice? For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
14 Then John’s disciples come to Him and say: Why do we and the Pharisees fast a lot, but Your disciples do not fast? 15 And Jesus said to them, Can the sons of the bridal chamber mourn while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16 And no one puts patches of unbleached fabric on old clothes, because what is sewn again will be torn away from the old, and the hole will be even worse. 17 Neither do they pour new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wineskins break, and the wine flows out, and the skins are lost, but new wine is poured into new wineskins, and both are preserved.Matthew 9 (9-17)
The “old wine” of traditional church experience means well-tested dogmatic and canonical knowledge that really serves the salvation of the human soul and the creation of the will of God. However, this divinely revealed knowledge is often hidden in the “old wineskins” of outdated ritual forms, which do not give people the opportunity to fully do the will of God at the present time. Often spiritually “ossified” forms of ritual belief, divorced from the reality of modern religious life, cannot ensure the perception of Divine grace and lead believers to the development of religious pride.
We are not talking here at all about a change in the traditional way of church life, about a complete revision of all previously created dogmas, canons and rituals. In fact, the conciliar experience of the Orthodox Church remains unchanged at all times. The problem is that people do not want to confess the dogmas and fulfill the canons of the true Orthodox faith in practice, justifying themselves by saying that “nothing can be changed.”
In most cases, advocates of “preserving the purity of faith” primitively hide unerased sins under the guise of formal ritualism, on which the salvation of the soul supposedly depends. That is why the Old Testament believers could not, or rather did not want to understand the words and actions of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Savior again and again spoke to the Jews about the need to save the souls of sinners by the example of sincere repentance and conscious righteousness of the believers themselves. In response, the scribes and Pharisees, who were afraid of being “defiled” by communicating with repentant sinners, stubbornly clung to primitive ritualism and banal religious pride. And to this day, many Orthodox Christians, who do not want to overcome the errors of the Old Testament, are perplexed by the behavior of Christian righteous men and saints.
The defense of traditional, conservative church values is entirely justified. But if a believer stops applying previous church experience in practice, all his assurances and slogans about “preserving the purity of faith” become a primitive pretense. The Pharisees absolutize the external religious law, and its simplest part, which has almost no effect on the effectiveness of spiritual life.
At the same time, they quickly begin to “forget” about the internal law of a righteous life and good deeds. And then the “old wine” of the previous experience of the Church ceases to be understood by believers, does not bring any benefit and is exhaled in the “old wineskins” of outdated concepts, unsuitable both for storing and embodying the teachings of the true Orthodox faith.
The Savior’s parable of “skin and wine” is still relevant today. It is no secret that among Orthodox believers there are purely nominal Christians who stubbornly cling to the image of the Old Testament Pharisaic rites, turning the “new wine and new wineskins” of the New Testament into something very far from true Christianity. Despite the extremely clear revelation of the Gospel, such “Christians” do not understand, or rather do not want to understand, the teaching of the Son of God about the primary value of the spirit of conscious holiness and selfless love, wittingly or unwittingly denying it in a proud desire to achieve personal salvation through primitive ritualism.
The Orthodox faith represents the process of a person’s continuous spiritual ascent to God. During his short earthly life, a believer manages to take only the initial steps towards knowledge of God and His holy will. In fact, any reference to the fact that “old wine is better”, that everything is already open and clear to us, is completely ridiculous. No one denies the saving value of the traditional teaching of the Christian Church, tested by millions of believers through their own experience. But at the same time, Christ Himself tells us: “Behold, I am making everything new.” The Creator of the world never stops in spiritual creativity, thereby calling the imperfect earthly man to continuous spiritual ascent.
The real reason for the conflict between adherents of the immutability of traditional church teaching and supporters of the development of the teaching of the Church on the basis of modern spiritual experience is not at all the fact that any renewal necessarily turns into “renovationism,” which threatens heresy and distortion of the will of God. It’s just that sinful earthly man is characterized by spiritual laziness, which does not want to improve in the creation of the Divine commandments.
Correct renewal implies a more complete implementation of the commandments of Christ, and not at all the abolition of dogmas and canons. A person relatively easily agrees to fulfill the ritual law, but when it comes to the implementation of the Divine commandments, many begin to look for “workarounds”. When believers say that everything new is wrong and unnecessary, they simply do not want to work on themselves. Or, even worse, like the Old Testament Pharisees, they hide under the mask of ritual piety a sinful and evil life that does not tolerate grace-filled enlightenment.
The real reason for the denial of new, revealed knowledge is hidden in the irreconcilable struggle between humility and pride, between righteous and sinful life, between the creation of good and evil. If a believer humbly chooses a righteous life and creative work of love, he naturally takes from the spiritual treasury of Divine revelation “new and old” religious knowledge - what was revealed earlier and what the Lord is revealing to us at the present time.
The renewal of church experience irreconcilably denies heretical teachings that distort the traditional teaching of Christianity-Orthodoxy. But if modern righteous people and prophets come to the Church, who, in the name of God, preach the fight against sin and the need for a grace-filled transformation of church life, we must take the new revelation extremely seriously, so as not to reject the will of God to our own destruction.
27 After this Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax collection office, and said to him, “Follow Me.” 28 And he, leaving everything, stood up and followed Him. 29 And Levi made a great feast for Him in his house; and there were many publicans and others who sat with them. 30 The scribes and Pharisees murmured and said to His disciples: Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? 31 Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a physician, but the sick; 32 I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. 33 They said to Him: Why do John’s disciples fast often and say the prayers of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink? 34 He said to them, “Can you force the sons of the bridal chamber to fast while the bridegroom is with them?” 35 But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days. 36 At this he told them a parable: No one puts patches on old clothes, having torn them from new clothes; Otherwise, the new one will be torn apart, and the patch from the new one will not fit the old one. 37 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and flow out on its own, and the skins will be lost; 38 but new wine must be put into new wineskins; then both will be saved. 39 And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately wants new, for he says: old is better. Luke 5 (27-39)
47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of all kinds, 48 which, when it was full, they pulled ashore and, sitting down, collected the good things into vessels, and threw the bad things out. 49 So it will be at the end of the age: the angels will come out and separate the wicked from among the righteous, 50 and they will throw them into the fiery furnace: there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 51 And Jesus asked them: Have you understood all this? They say to Him: Yes, Lord! 52 He said to them: Therefore, every scribe who has been taught the kingdom of heaven is like a master who brings out of his treasury new and old. Matthew 13 (47-52)
We see how religious pride and blind fanaticism forced Old Testament believers to vehemently deny the saving revelation of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, when encountering new spiritual and religious concepts and phenomena in the Orthodox and non-church environment, a humble Christian is in no hurry to draw hasty conclusions.
The behavior of the proud Pharisees cannot be attributed to simple dogmatic ignorance, which can be easily corrected if desired. It also cannot be attributed to a lack of spiritual enlightenment and prudence, which is forgiven by God provided that the person is sincerely mistaken and does not understand, due to excessive fanatical jealousy, what he is denying.
Taking into account our spiritual imperfection, the Lord in most cases forgives such a “word against the Son of Man”, created in relation to Christian teaching out of ignorance or thoughtlessness. A sincerely believing person, who did not previously know the highest Truth of the Son of God, quickly passes through such temptations. If he really wants to understand the essence of Christianity, the Lord will certainly open to him the spiritual vision of the soul and lead him to the knowledge of the Orthodox teaching of the true faith.
The whole trouble is that the Pharisees purposefully denied Divine Holiness and Love, covering up their conscious resistance to God by “preserving the purity of faith.” When Christ healed the sick and cast out demons, while simultaneously teaching the people to fully implement the Divine commandments, the Pharisees, out of envy and pride, attributed the saving action of Divine Providence to demonic forces.
This is the unforgivable sin of “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit,” when a person who calls himself a believer, contrary to all common sense, voluntarily or unwittingly denies the will of God, calling good evil and evil good. This sin is not forgiven in any case, because it is inherent in conscientious Pharisees who purposefully refuse to do the will of God, repenting of pride.
Ignorant Pharisees-fanatics, thoughtlessly and insanely condemning the saving action of Divine Providence, are less common. Extremely evil and proud fanaticism also cannot serve as an excuse for the unforgivable sin of “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.” This is not just a “mistake of sincere ignorance,” as was the case with the Apostle Paul, but a complete spiritual blindness of religious pride, clearly serving the forces of evil.
Often, Orthodox believers clearly do not understand what they mean when they talk about preserving the “purity” of faith, which depends not so much on external ritual forms, but on righteous life, performed in the spirit of selfless love for God and people. If newly discovered knowledge, as it was with the revelation of Christ, teaches us to do the will of God in a more complete form, it can and should be accepted, studied and used. Otherwise, we risk finding ourselves in the position of the Old Testament Pharisees, who were undoubtedly church people who knew the Holy Scriptures and Tradition of the Church very well, but because of pride they deliberately rejected the Savior of the world, the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.
22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 Or recognize the tree as good and its fruit as good; or recognize the tree as bad and its fruit as bad, for a tree is known by its fruit. Spawn of vipers! how can you say good things when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 A good man brings out good things from a good treasure, and evil person brings out evil from an evil treasure. 36 But I tell you that for every idle word that people speak, they will give an answer on the day of judgment: 7 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned. Matthew 12 (22-37)
Another version of the unforgivable sin of “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit” is the distortion of Orthodox dogmas and canons by a person inside a church organization. And also the creation of heresies that produce a church schism and the fall of heretics from the original Christian Orthodox Church. First of all, the sin of “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit” implies a distortion of the Orthodox dogma about the Third Person of the Trinity - the Holy Spirit.
The creation of any heresy is driven by the same “spirit” as Pharisaism. The basis of heresy is a manifestation of human pride, madly trying to explain the unknowable Essence of God and the existence of the spiritual world with the imperfect and limited human mind. The arbitrary and arrogant attempts of heretics to come up with some kind of “new and pure Christianity” or to create a “new and pure church” have no justification. Because of them, schisms and religious wars begin, when believers hate and kill each other. Such evil cannot be covered up by any “good intentions” regarding the cleansing of the Church or the development of correct church teaching.
It is impossible to radically change the Orthodox teaching of the Christian Church for the simple reason that it expresses the only correct knowledge about God, the world and man. But it is pointless to destroy and re-create the earthly Church, since exactly the same sinful people will enter it. First of all, a Christian is called to transform and change himself, and not the teachings of the Church and its earthly organization. The teaching of the Orthodox Church actually does not require additions, much less changes, because we do not even fulfill what it requires of us in its present form. As for the church organization, its main change for the better occurs not through reforms, but through the grace-filled transformation of the believers themselves.
You can often hear that all non-Orthodox Christians are Catholics and Protestants, who, from the point of view of Orthodoxy, are obvious heretics, “universally” guilty of this sin. Next “in terms of degree of heresy” come believers of two religions of monotheism-monotheism - Jews and Muslims. And the “last apostates” from the true faith are “pagans” - believers of non-Christian religions. All of the above categories of believers allegedly completely fall away from God, are initially doomed to destruction and worship fallen angels instead of God.
Such statements are only partly true. A believer who does not profess with his life the correct Orthodox commandments, dogmas and canons, loses the ability to do the will of God savingly. This is where his disastrous falling away from God and true faith comes from. The question can be answered in approximately the same way: “can an unbeliever save his soul”? Theoretically, it can, if we consider that the Lord takes into account the real essence of a person and his specific deeds. But in practice, an unbeliever simply renounces God, does not recognize His saving commandments and loses the opportunity to do God’s will savingly.
At first glance, everything proves that unbelievers and non-Orthodox people actually cannot be saved. In theory, everything turns out “smoothly”, but in relation to the real history of the earth we have to draw conclusions very carefully. Why was Christianity-Orthodoxy not preached and established throughout the world? Why did the initially united Christianity undergo a schism? Why did various “churches” separate from Orthodoxy?
There are no “simple” definitive answers to these questions. We can only say that the main reason for the distortions of Orthodox teaching and the emergence of heresies is our proud sinfulness. Moreover, everyone is to blame here - Orthodox and non-Orthodox believers. The Orthodox are that, knowing the true faith, they still sin and thereby resist God. In this we are no better than the Old Testament Pharisees, who had the correct dogmas and denied God.
Non-Orthodox people are guilty of denying the correct, saving fulfillment of the Divine commandments for the sake of distorted and “spiritually negative” teachings. However, we all have one hope: God’s mercy. The Lord, out of His boundless Love, accepts every smallest particle of true faith and righteous life, trying to save everyone possible.
In the existence of non-Orthodox peoples we can only see the incomprehensible mystery of the saving Divine Providence. Orthodoxy contains the highest Truth, the practical confession of which will fully save a Christian. According to God's plan, all people on Earth are called to accept Christianity-Orthodoxy. But this has not happened yet - the preaching of the Orthodox faith has affected only part of globe. Therefore, of those people who more or less do the will of God and fulfill the Divine commandments, the Lord mercifully saves everyone who is possible, despite the defectiveness of their faith. Such “moderate ecumenism” does not at all mean the salutary equality of all religions. Orthodoxy really saves, and all other religions can lead to a variety of results, including negative ones.
In relation to unforgivable heresy, only general spiritual patterns can be identified. If an Orthodox believer falls away from Orthodoxy into heresy, a heterodox denomination or another religion, he has no excuses. This is a clear path to destruction, especially if a person begins to violently oppose Orthodox teaching. The same applies to all non-Orthodox believers who purposefully deny the highest Truth of Christianity-Orthodoxy, despite its saving essence.
It is significant that Christ speaks about unforgivable sin, addressing not the pagans, but the faithful Jews. First of all, the Gospel tells us about the unforgivable heresy - the sin of Pharisaic false faith among the Orthodox themselves, when believers consciously deny the Spirit of Divine Holiness and Love, which teaches us to live righteously and selflessly do good. “Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit” means that a self-loving and proud “believer” hides his bodily and mental sins under the guise of ritual piety, purposefully humiliating and expelling genuine Christians from the earthly Church in the name of satisfying proud lust for power and material self-interest.
Despite his “churchliness,” the proud “believer” clearly opposes the will of the Creator, denying Divine revelation and not recognizing the true servants of God. In this situation, it does not matter whether a person consciously denies the will of God or is a blind fanatic. In any case, such people themselves turn away from God, cease to be believers and begin to serve the powers of darkness with all the ensuing consequences. This is the most dangerous heresy and “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit,” which quietly destroys the Church and destroys the souls of believers.
A fanatic who does not understand what he is doing has some justification. But this is little consolation, since all people hear the voice of conscience and understand the value of a righteous life, selfless goodness and selfless love. Not every believer can be a monk, ascetic, clergyman, preacher and theologian, but the commandment of love for God and people is clear and accessible to all Orthodox Christians without exception.
A Christian has no right to deceive himself, believing that the sin of “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit” applies only to the Old Testament Pharisees or “external” heretics who clearly distort the dogmas of Christian teaching. Christians can no less “successfully” commit given sin, choosing an evil and proud life, covered with a mask of “church” piety. A person who only pretends to be a believer, while actually denying the practical confession of the commandments of Christ, one way or another, commits an unforgivable sin against the Holy Spirit.
True spiritual wisdom, inextricably linked with an undistorted, revealed vision of the world, is expressed primarily in the fact that a Christian consciously chooses the saving practice of righteous living and humble love. This is the only way to obtain the admonishing grace of the Holy Spirit. The spiritual blindness of a sinful and evil person is a consequence of our proud pride. We can create any extremely pious and “church” appearance, but this does not matter if a person chooses the path of sin, leading him to denying God and serving the forces of evil.
Creativity of a righteous life, based on selfless love for God and people, leads a believer to genuine knowledge and fulfillment of the will of God. The slightest admixture of religious pride deprives any ascetic feats and the most correct dogmatic knowledge of the grace-filled effectiveness. A proud believer can go to church as much as he wants, but in any case he loses the ability to perceive the saving energy - the grace of the Holy Spirit. And without grace-filled communion with God, a person is simply incapable of knowing, much less doing, the will of God.
Under the influence of black demonic energy, a proud “believer,” voluntarily or involuntarily, ceases to discern the true meaning and purpose of faith, inexorably moving towards spiritual death. At first, he unconsciously - fanatically and blindly denies the will of God, imagining that he serves Him better than anyone else. And then the Pharisaic denial of God completely displaces the Divine influence from the soul of a proud person, forcing him to actively devote himself to serving the forces of evil.
It is not surprising that proud Pharisees at any time attribute the gracious actions of Divine Providence to the machinations of demonic forces. It is through the Pharisees, and not through heretics, heterodox and non-believers, that the fallen angels most successfully and purposefully turn over, change places the concepts of good and evil, righteousness and sinfulness in the minds and hearts of believers.
The main type of unforgivable sin “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit” means the conscious fulfillment of the will of demonic forces under the guise of zealous ritual faith, the conscious denial of the will of God under the guise of a pious life. Such a sin is unforgivable and is not at all the fault of God. The proud Pharisee himself does not want to repent, refusing to accept forgiveness and help from above, purposefully choosing to create evil in the name of satisfying vanity and pride.
The Old Testament Pharisees declared the Lord Jesus Christ to be a messenger of dark forces, despite His gracious preaching, uncompromising fulfillment of the will of God, good deeds and the greatest miracles saving people through the healing of soul and body. Only narrow-minded fanatic Pharisees could not understand the revelation of true faith. Others, internally reborn into conscious devil worshipers, did not want this. Pharisaical denial of God of any kind is determined by the fact that in the soul of a proud person, due to the absence of the grace-filled spirit of a righteous life and humble love, the Divine energy of the Holy Spirit cannot be present. But without grace-filled communication and connection with the Creator, not a single person is able to fully serve God and people. And the worst thing is that the Pharisee inevitably replaces the saving creativity of true faith with destructive service to the forces of darkness.
A proud Pharisee who teaches believers to “live according to true faith”, implies by this a formal execution of the ritual law, which has no real spiritual value. Such “piety” does not frighten the fallen angels at all, since it does not give a person saving grace - the power and knowledge of the Holy Spirit. When real Christians teach people to serve God through the creativity of a righteous life and selfless love, the Pharisees, incited by the forces of evil, cannot tolerate this. That is why real followers of Christ, despite their obvious belonging to the Orthodox Church and manifestations of Divine power and knowledge, are often declared heretics who are allegedly in “delusion” and “distort” the truth of Orthodoxy.
Every Christian, to one degree or another, needs to go through the temptation of pharisaism, through the test of religious pride and selfish desire for personal salvation. This is the most terrible and difficult, but at the same time necessary test of the authenticity of our faith. An Orthodox believer who has accepted the Sacrament of Baptism, recognized the dogmas of Christianity-Orthodoxy and leads a pious church life, must ultimately make a decisive choice in serving God, recognizing the highest value of conscious righteousness, selfless good deeds and selfless love for people.
Everything that serves the above purpose must be humbly recognized as a manifestation of the will of God. Recognize and apply, despite new and unusual forms of expression, which, due to their “spiritual practicality,” often do not please our sinful and proud nature. Only messengers of God can live righteously and selflessly do good in the spirit of humble love. By denying such people and their deeds, we thereby do not recognize the goodness of Divine Providence and, to our own destruction, we deny the saving will of God.
“Infection” of a believer with proud Pharisaic false faith inevitably drives out Divine grace, filling the human soul with the destructive energy of evil. The Lord can, by His own power, temporarily cleanse the nature of a proud and self-loving person. However, such a Divine action does not bring real benefit, since a proud person himself does not want to do the will of God, again and again opening his mind and heart for even greater submission to the forces of evil.
Only in combination with our sincere desire and humble consent to serve God and the salvation of the world, the Divine energy of the Holy Spirit heals and enlightens the nature of a sinner. We often treat our inner state very carelessly, proudly considering ourselves “real” Orthodox Christians and not thinking that such behavior imperceptibly leads us to falling away from God. Religious pride is destructive in any case and on any scale. It is this that most effectively, quickly and imperceptibly leads a person to an irreversible fall, which is often impossible to correct.
A sinful person who proudly refuses to do the will of God can only destroy and create evil. Which people should be classified as such opponents of God, goodness and the true Orthodox faith? At first glance, these include all non-believers and low-religious “non-church” sinners, heterodox Christians - Catholics and Protestants, as well as believers of non-Christian religions.
In the overwhelming majority of cases, only the All-Knowing Creator knows the reasons why a person is in one degree or another of unbelief, why he did not accept Christianity-Orthodoxy, why other peoples profess non-Christian religions. Answers of the following type: “they themselves are to blame through their own reluctance” or “God knows that they cannot be saved and therefore the preaching of Orthodoxy has not reached them” show only the spiritual limitations of the speaker, who simply does not understand that he has the right to decide these issues only the Lord Himself.
As for the non-believers and worldly sinners of little faith living next to us in Orthodox Russia, they undoubtedly bear personal responsibility for the rejection of Orthodoxy. Moreover, most Russian people are baptized and sometimes go to church on major holidays. But they will be responsible for this themselves, and we simply do not have the right to condemn someone to death, arrogating to ourselves the right of Divine Judgment.
An Orthodox Christian, at any opportunity, is obliged to zealously and uncompromisingly defend the highest truth of Orthodoxy and, to put it mildly, the “spiritual insufficiency” of other beliefs. Moreover, here, first of all, it is appropriate to ask the question: “how can a person gain faith if he does not feel the Lord in his heart, and in addition is an unbeliever, rather out of ignorance, due to the lack of active examples of Christian righteousness in the people around him”?
A Christian has no right to judge such people who, under the saving influence of grace, can repent, turn to God and decisively change their lives. We really like to condemn sinners and decide the fate of unbelievers instead of God, but we extremely rarely want to show them a truly Christian attitude, showing the path to God by our own example. The righteous does not judge the sinner, but his sin, and judges not so much by verbal reproof as by personal example of the expulsion of this sin.
Moreover, the majority of non-Orthodox believers and unbelieving worldly sinners do not deny the existence of God and the need to fulfill the Divine commandments. They will be judged by the Lord Himself, who knows the true essence of a person and the real motives of his behavior. Orthodox Christian It is necessary to firmly understand that the accusatory and terrible words of the Gospel are addressed, first of all, to Orthodox church people, to whom the knowledge of Divine Truth is fully revealed, associated with the great responsibility of free choice between false and true faith.
There are always few conscious servants of evil on earth. In most cases, fallen angels choose fanatically limited, spiritually blind people who themselves do not know what they are doing for the Pharisaic distortion of the faith. When such a “sincere” Pharisee-fanatic understands what his hypocritical ritual belief will lead to, he can repent out of fear of punishment alone, in the name of personal salvation. Therefore, the forces of evil usually seek to introduce such a person into a state of mental and “spiritual-demonic” disorder, called “prelest” in the ascetic tradition, which distorts a person’s consciousness beyond recognition with proud self-will and the corrupting influence of mental and physical passions.
A Christian must be extremely clear about the destructiveness of religious pride. The meaning and purpose of Christian life are constantly revealed to people through the example of the righteous and saints sent by God, who teach us to do the will of God in the spirit of selfless love. If a person decisively chooses the path of holiness and love, no temptations of dark forces can prevent him from coming to the saving knowledge of the true Orthodox faith. If a Christian has even the slightest desire to do the will of God, the Lord will certainly help him, show him an example of true Christianity and lead him on the right road leading to the salvation of his soul.
22 And the scribes who came from Jerusalem said that He had Beelzebub in Him and that He cast out demons by the power of the prince of demons. 23 And calling them, he spoke to them in parables: How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand; 25 and if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand; 26 and if Satan has rebelled against himself and been divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. 27 No one entering the house of a strong man can plunder his belongings unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house. 28 Truly I say to you, all sins and blasphemies will be forgiven to the sons of men, no matter what they blaspheme; 29 but whoever blasphemes the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but he is subject to eternal condemnation. 30 ThisHe said because
that they said: There is an unclean spirit in Him. Mk 3 (22-30)
22 Then they brought to Him a man possessed by a demon, blind and dumb; and he healed him, so that the blind and dumb man began to speak and see. 23 And all the people marveled and said, Is this not the Christ, the son of David? 24 The Pharisees, having heard this, said: He does not cast out demons except by the power of Beelzebub, the prince of demons. 25 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said to them: Every kingdom divided against itself will be desolate; and every city or house divided against itself cannot stand. 26 And if Satan casts out Satan, then he is divided with himself: how can his kingdom stand? 27 And if I cast out demons by the power of Beelzebub, by whose power do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 28 If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then of course the Kingdom of God has come to you. 29 Or how can anyone enter the house of a strong man and plunder his things, unless he first binds the strong man? and then he will plunder his house. 30 He who is not with Me is against Me; and whoever does not gather with Me scatters. 31 Therefore I say to you: every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven to men, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven to men; 32 if anyone speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; if anyone speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him either in this age or in the future. 33 Or recognize the tree as good and its fruit as good; or recognize the tree as bad and its fruit as bad, for a tree is known by its fruit. 34 Spawn of vipers! how can you say good things when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 A good man brings good things out of a good treasure, and an evil man brings evil things out of an evil treasure. 36 I tell you that for every idle word that people speak, they will give an answer on the day of judgment: 37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.
38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said: Teacher! We would like to see a sign from You. 39 But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign; and no sign will be given to him except the sign of the prophet Jonah; 40 for as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. 41 The Ninevites will rise up in judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented from the preaching of Jonah; and behold, there is more Jonah here. 42 The queen of the south will rise up in judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, there is more Solomon here. 43 When the unclean spirit leaves a person, it walks through dry places, looking for rest, and does not find it; 44 Then he says: I will return to my house from where I came. And, having arrived, he finds it unoccupied, swept and put away; 45 then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more evil than himself, and entering they live there; and the last thing happens for that person worse than the first. So it will be with this evil generation. Matthew 12 (22-45)
The following fact of spiritual existence is amazing and worthy of amazement - the Almighty Creator of the Universe never leaves lost humanity in His care. Heavenly Father specifically sends His Son, the incarnate God-man and Lord Jesus Christ, to save our world. God selflessly descends to earth for the material and spiritual salvation of fallen people, unselfishly and with great love goes to sinners, showing us the path of salvation and giving us the strength to overcome it, introducing humanity to Divine power and higher knowledge.
The power and strength of the Creator is completely different from what proud and sinful people imagine. If a person sincerely accepts the Love of the One God, responding to it with a righteous life, renunciation of the creation of evil and selfless love for people, he becomes a being of one Spirit with God. Thus, a Christian is transformed into an enlightened God-man, who is inexplicably born again with the assistance of the Divine energy of the Holy Spirit.
Every member of the Christian Church is called to strive to achieve the highest stage of spiritual development, to the full, grace-filled enlightenment of body and soul. To achieve divine-human perfection, you do not need to invent anything; it is enough to accept and fulfill the Christian teaching of righteous life, good deeds and selfless love. This is true Christian co-creation with God, “birth in the Spirit” and “worship of God in spirit and truth,” meaning the grace-filled deification and union of man with God.
The grace-filled birth of a person from above occurs with the free choice of the path of the true Orthodox faith. When a Christian voluntarily serves God and does God’s will in relation to people, he thereby communicates with the Lord in the flow of grace of the Holy Spirit and becomes a son of God who sees and knows the world through the eyes of its Creator.
For grace-filled transformation, a person needs to meet God halfway, consciously renouncing selfishness and pride. A proud egoist destroys not only his soul, inevitably bringing evil to the people around him. It is impossible to love yourself in the name of satisfying mental and physical passions and at the same time create saving Divine commandments.
The Lord does not expect from the majority of believers extreme ascetic deeds and special prayer work, careful ritual piety and special theological knowledge. The omniscient Creator does not pay attention to a person’s literacy, his theological and science education, because they are insignificant in comparison with the grace-filled illumination that awaits the believer as a result of the practice of Christian life. The highest enlightenment of the human personality through “dwelling in the Holy Spirit” becomes possible for any believer who accepts the path of conscious holiness and selfless love.
The idea of the completely independent development of man in “freedom” from God and “external” spiritual influence represents the most destructive self-deception instilled in people by fallen angels. This is how demons enslave a person, subordinating him to the power of bodily and mental passions. A person who proudly refuses the help of the Creator inevitably falls under the power of the spirits of darkness, who give a person “complete freedom” to create sin and evil during his earthly life. But demons do not reveal how the “freedom” of a sinful soul ends when it passes into eternity. However, many sinners do not have time to “enjoy” even earthly sinful “freedom,” since sin always acts extremely destructively for the person himself.
The Creator never demands blind slavish obedience from people and does not deprive us of true freedom. It only seems to sinful earthly man that the slightest restriction of destructive bodily and mental passions is an encroachment on his “freedom”, from which man himself and all of humanity supposedly “suffer mercilessly.” In fact, selfless worship of God “in spirit and truth” of selfless love is necessary for man himself for his own earthly and eternal good. Acceptance and knowledge of Christian teaching is our “natural duty,” which would be more accurately called a “saving gift” of the Creator.
The visible acceptance of the Christian faith is only the beginning of the path of grace-filled enlightenment. Basically, the Lord expects from us a practical righteous life, filled with selfless goodness and selfless love, which are least of all similar to the “slavish” submission of man to the will of the Almighty Creator. In fact, this is the only path of real spiritual development for every normal and reasonable person.
By voluntarily fulfilling the will of the All-Good Creator, we essentially try for ourselves, establishing true justice and the highest truth on earth, achieving the salvation of the soul and helping the salvation of those around us. It is foolish to say that God “dutifully rewards” believers eternal life and the salvation of the soul. The Lord does this out of love, for which the believer sincerely thanks and praises the All-Good Creator, Who undeservedly gives us Divine power and knowledge, creating from a Christian a God-man and a son of God, similar to the All-Knowing and Almighty Creator of the Universe.
Christian deification of the human person is carried out through an “ordinary” righteous life, introducing a person into Orthodox Church New Testament. The Church is not just a religious organization, but a collection of righteous people and saints who make up the Mystical Body of Christ.
There is no more “simple” and at the same time higher spiritual and religious path than the path of humble Christian righteousness, sacrificing oneself in the name of saving the world. The perfect joy of grace-filled union with God and humanity in the spirit of mutual love opens up to the Christian the highest degree of spiritual knowledge. By developing the Christian virtues of faith, hope and love, a person naturally achieves Divine omniscience, which reveals an undistorted vision of the world through the eyes of its Creator.
When a Christian speaks about the grace-filled knowledge of material and spiritual existence, he means not so much the laws of governing matter, time and space, but rather the knowledge of the true Orthodox faith. On at this stage of existence, the main thing for us is the doctrine of the saving creation of the will of God, which saves the human soul from the power of sin and evil, helps to avoid eternal destruction and directs those around us to the path of salvation.
Sinners - evil, proud and self-loving people, blinded by earthly passions, often laugh at the conscientious disciples of Christ who sacrifice themselves to help a perishing world. But no matter how proud a person is and enjoys earthly blessings, earthly life passes very quickly. For some reason, sinners are terribly afraid of dying, although they constantly convince themselves of the non-existence of eternal life.
In fact, deep down in the soul, every person knows that he is immortal and understands that the meaning of life lies in the free choice between good and evil, and the true goal of human existence is the voluntary creativity of love and good deeds. The choice between good and evil is extremely unpleasant and difficult for the distorted sinful nature of earthly man. However, whether we like it or not, this choice is justified by the only fair and correct laws of the universe established by the All-Good Creator. And what faster man will understand this by doing right choice, the more benefit he will bring to himself.
1 Among the Pharisees there was someone named Nicodemus, one of the leaders of the Jews. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said to Him: Rabbi! we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do such miracles as You do unless God is with him. 3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to Him: How can a man be born when he is old? Can he really enter his mother’s womb another time and be born? 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be surprised at what I said to you: you must be born again. 8 The Spirit breathes where it wants, and you hear its voice, but you do not know where it comes from and where it goes: this is what happens to everyone born of the Spirit. 9 Nicodemus answered Him: How can this be? 10 Jesus answered and said to him: You are the teacher of Israel, and do you not know this? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, but you do not accept Our testimony. 12 If I told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except the Son of Man, who is in heaven, who came down from heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 so that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 He who believes in Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the Only Begotten Son of God. 9 The judgment is that light has come into the world; but people loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil; 20 For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds be exposed, because they are evil, 21 but he who does righteousness comes to the light, so that his deeds may be revealed, because they are done in God. John 3 (1-21)
4 It was necessary for Him to pass through Samaria. 5 So He comes to the city of Samaria, called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob's well was there. Jesus, weary from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about six o'clock. 7 A woman comes from Samaria to draw water. Jesus says to her: Give me something to drink. 8 For His disciples went into the city to buy food. 9 The Samaritan woman said to Him: How can you, being a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink? for Jews do not communicate with Samaritans. 10 Jesus answered her: if you knew the gift of God and Who says to you: Give Me a drink, then you yourself would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water. 11 The woman says to Him: Master! you have nothing to draw with, but the well is deep; Where did you get your living water from? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well and drank from it himself, and his children, and his cattle? 13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone drinking water this, he will thirst again, 14 and whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into eternal life. 15 The woman says to Him: Master! give me this water so that I won’t be thirsty and won’t have to come here to draw. 16 Jesus says to her: Go, call your husband and come here. 17 The woman answered: I have no husband. Jesus says to her: you said the truth that you have no husband, 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband; That's right what you said. 19 The woman says to Him: Lord! I see that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where we should worship is in Jerusalem. 21 Jesus says to her: Believe Me, that the time is coming when you will worship the Father, neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You do not know what you bow down to, but we know what we bow down to, for salvation comes from the Jews. 23 But the time will come and has already come when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is looking for such worshipers for Himself. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth. 25 The woman says to Him: I know that the Messiah will come, that is, Christ; when He comes, He will tell us everything. 26 Jesus says to her: It is I who speak to you. John 4 (4-26)
1 I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch of Me that does not bear fruit He cuts off; and every one that bears fruit he cleanses, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You have already been cleansed through the word that I preached to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it is in the vine, so neither can you unless you are in Me. 5 I am the vine, and you are the branches; He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 Whoever does not abide in Me will be cast out like a branch and wither; and such branches are collected and thrown into the fire, and they burn. 7 If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this My Father will be glorified, if you bear much fruit and become My disciples. 9 As the Father has loved Me, I have loved you; abide in My love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. 11 I have spoken these things to you, so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. 12 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are My friends if you do what I command you. 15 I no longer call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have told you everything that I have heard from My Father. 16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name, He may give it to you. 17 I command you this, that you love one another. John 15 (1-17)
For each and every person, regardless of faith and nationality, there are only two opposing spiritual and religious paths. This is the path of godlike insight through the practice of real righteous life, inseparable from conscious faith, built on love for God and people. That is, the path of real good. The second path is naturally the path of unbelief and denial of God, which is done in the name of satisfying selfish pride in relation to people. This is the path of true evil.
If a person really seeks spiritual good for himself, he chooses the path of Christian spiritual and religious knowledge. The choice of the saving path of the highest revealed knowledge begins with humble repentance. Man must humbly admit that the Creator of the world does not need anything coming from man. The Almighty and All-Knowing Creator is self-sufficient and can easily do without our ritual “offerings.” It becomes simply ridiculous when an imperfect and sinful earthly person, who needs to work hard on himself for the rest of his life, tries to prove that his fasts and prayers can “please” God.
The Lord selflessly gives us inexhaustible grace-filled power and knowledge necessary for complete grace-filled transformation, but we must humbly want to accept them. Otherwise, pride will prevent a person from taking the path of spiritual purification and transformation, will not allow him to cognize the true laws of existence and ascend to the level of enlightened God-manhood.
If we evaluate the life of a Christian from a worldly point of view, then it usually “seems” to non-believers that God does everything for believers, and a Christian is supposedly a weak-willed “toy” in the hands of the Almighty Creator. It turns out that without help from above, a believer is “nothing significant,” even if he has god-like power and works miracles. And any non-believer “independent” of God, who affirms “the highest value and freedom of the human person from the influence of the spiritual world,” is an example of “a true man who creates his own destiny.” Such an “inverted” vision of the world is formed as a result of a demonic distortion of the consciousness of a proud atheist, who puts fallen angels in the place of God.
Demons really help their supporters to do evil unlimitedly during their earthly life, but for this they demand eternal power over the human soul. The Lord, on the contrary, teaches us to renounce evil for the duration of our short earthly life, giving the righteous and good person Divine eternity. It is the Creator who unselfishly gives us life, opening before us the eternal path of divine-human creativity, leading to immortality and real freedom from the power of evil.
The entire earthly history refutes the teachings of proud man-theism, showing very convincing examples of how “great” politicians and conquerors, scientists and financiers, artists and philosophers, flood the world with rivers of blood and bring untold misfortunes to humanity. The false opinion about the “lack of will and weakness” of believers is easily exposed by the practical requirements of Christian life. By accepting the gifts of grace sent from above for personal salvation and spiritual help to sinful humanity, a Christian agrees to the most difficult spiritual feat of renouncing pride and selfishness in the name of love for God and people.
Man initially possesses the greatest god-like abilities that bring us closer to the Creator. But we can correctly reveal and apply them only if we live according to Christian commandments. A Christian has little appreciation for the “miraculous” psychophysical abilities of the human person and is not seduced by the most “secret” knowledge about the universe. For a disciple of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, the greatest joy is the acquisition of the highest Truth of the Orthodox faith, which best advances us along the path of divine-human development, most effectively helping the spiritual liberation of humanity.
The path of voluntary service to God and people requires from a Christian the utmost effort and complete dedication. But on the other hand, it leads a person to the acquisition of god-like immortality, likening him to God and giving him strength to save our world from the power of evil. Denying the highest Truth of Christian teaching and higher power Christian life, a person inevitably takes the path of spiritual error, leading to serving the forces of evil and the destruction of the soul. Like the servants of God, a slave of demonic forces can receive special “miraculous” gifts from them. But this means nothing if a person brings evil to himself and those around him, seducing people with false greatness and meaningless knowledge, selling an immortal soul and god-like freedom for a short moment of base earthly passions and pleasures.
9 There was the true Light, which enlightens every person coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11 He came to his own, and his own did not receive Him. 12 And to those who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the power to become children of God, 13 who were born neither of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. In 1 (9-13)
37 On the last great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying: If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture says, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water. 39 This He spoke of the Spirit, which those who believed on Him were about to receive: for the Holy Spirit was not yet given to them, because Jesus was not yet glorified.. John 7 (37-39)
1 And calling His twelve disciples, He gave them power over unclean spirits to cast them out and heal every disease and every infirmity. 2 The names of the twelve Apostles are these: the first Simon, called Peter, and Andrew his brother, James Zebedee and John his brother, 3 Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the publican, James Alphaeus and Levbeus, called Thaddeus, 4 Simon the Canaanite and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him. 5 Jesus sent these twelve, and commanded them, saying: Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter the city of the Samaritans; 6 but go especially to the lost sheep of the house of Israel; 7 As you go, preach that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand; 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons; freely you have received, freely give. 9 Take with you neither gold, nor silver, nor copper in your belts, 10 neither a bag for the journey, nor two coats, nor shoes, nor a staff, for the worker is worthy of food. 11 Whatever city or village you enter, visit who is worthy in it, and stay there until you leave; 12 and when you enter a house, greet it, saying: Peace to this house; 13 and if the house is worthy, then your peace will come upon it; if you are not worthy, then your peace will return to you. 14 And if anyone does not receive you and does not listen to your words, then, when leaving that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet; 15 Truly I say to you, it will be more bearable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that city. 16 Behold, I send you out as sheep among wolves: therefore be wise as serpents, and innocent as doves. 17 Beware of people, for they will hand you over to the courts and beat you in their synagogues, 18 and you will be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, for a testimony before them and the Gentiles. 19 When they betray you, do not worry about how or what to say; for at that hour it will be given to you what to say, 20 For it is not you who will speak, but the Spirit of your Father who will speak in you. Matthew 10 (1-20)
9 But take heed to yourselves, for you will be handed over to courts of justice and beaten in the synagogues, and you will be presented before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony before them. 10 And the Gospel must first be preached to all nations. 11 When they lead you to betray you, do not worry in advance what to say to you, and do not think about it; but whatever is given to you in that hour, then speak, for it is not you who will speak, but the Holy Spirit. Mk 13 (9-11)
1 After this the Lord also chose seventy other disciples, and sent them two by two before Him to every city and place where He Himself wanted to go, 2 and he said to them: The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. 3 Go! I send you out like lambs among wolves. 4 Do not take a bag, a scrip, or shoes, and do not greet anyone on the road. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say: peace to this house; 6 and if the son of peace is there, then your peace will rest on him, but if not, then it will return to you. 7 Stay in that house, eat and drink what they have, for the worker is worthy of reward for his labors; do not move from house to house. 8 And if you come to any city and they receive you, eat what they offer you, 9 and heal the sick who are in it, and say to them, The kingdom of God has come near to you. 10 If you come to a city and they don’t accept you, then go out into the street and say: 11 and we shake off the ashes that cling to us from your city for you; however, know that the Kingdom of God has drawn near to you. 12 I tell you that on that day it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that city. 13 Woe to you, Chorazin! woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the powers that were demonstrated in you had been demonstrated in Tire and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes; 14 but it will be more tolerable for Tire and Sidon in judgment than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, who ascended to heaven, will be cast down to hell. 16 He who listens to you listens to Me, and he who rejects you rejects Me; and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.
17
Seventy disciples returned with joy and said: Lord! and the demons obey us in Thy name. 18
He said to them: I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning; 19
Behold, I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will harm you; 20
However, do not rejoice that the spirits obey you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. 21
At that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit and said: I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. Hey, Father! For such was Your good pleasure. 22
And turning to the disciples, he said: everything has been handed over to Me by My Father; and who the Son is, no one knows except the Father, and who the Father is, no one knows except the Son, and to whom the Son wants to reveal. 23
And, turning to the disciples, he said to them especially: blessed are the eyes that see what you see! 24
For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see and did not see, and to hear what you hear and did not hear.
Luke 10 (1-24)
12 First of all, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to synagogues and prisons, and leading you before kings and governors for My name’s sake; 13 This will be for your testimony. 14 So make it your heart not to think in advance what to answer, 15 For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all who oppose you will not be able to contradict or resist. Luke 21(12-14)
Tuesday, 13 January 2015One who always regards living entities as spiritual sparks qualitatively equal to the Lord understands the true nature of things. What could confuse or disturb such a person?
Ultimately, our anxiety is caused by the fact that we do not see a living being, but only its body. If you look at me, you will see my body. Our eyes are made of water, earth, air... These eyes are able to perceive material energy, so I can see what kind of body you have: male or female, young or old, etc. But to actually see you, a different type of vision is needed.
IN Sri Isopanishad, It is said that a wise person sees that the living entities are part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, qualitatively equal to Him, and that such a person has no reason to worry. In the material world everyone is restless due to lack of spiritual vision. When we talk about vision, we understand that it happens material And spiritual .
Material vision is of two types.
First type- this is a vision through raw feelings: vision, hearing etc.
But there is also another material feeling, second type material vision - speculative reasoning. It is based on gross sensory perception. Through gross feelings, information enters the mind, and then, based on it, a person reasons about what is true and what is not. But the results of mental constructions cannot be spiritual, since they are based on the perception of material senses. This process of acquiring knowledge is called “bottom-up”. Following this process, a person who wants to understand something (for example, a scientist) examines it very carefully with his eyes, perhaps armed with some kind of extension in the form of a microscope or telescope, and then begins to wonder what it all means.
Thus, our speculative constructions are based on material sensory perception, and the conclusions we come to ultimately depend on the capabilities of our senses. But since our material senses are limited, our conclusions will always be imperfect. In other words, our senses are imperfect, so all our knowledge gained through sense perception will also be imperfect. Nevertheless, relying on the power of our gross feelings and subtle feelings - speculative reasoning - we try to ascend to the Absolute Truth, to enter the spiritual dimension. This is what people usually try to do. They receive some information with the help of their senses and based on it they make some conclusions, trying to climb to the Absolute Truth, and the conclusions they come to are called “truth”.
Spiritual Vision- other. It is not obtained through investigation with the help of material senses and subsequent speculative reasoning. The spiritual vision described in this mantra Sri Isopanishad, is received by those who want to see the Truth. Because there is a desire in his heart to see the Truth, The Absolute Truth reveals itself to this person.
This is the essence of the fundamental difference between the ascending and descending ways of obtaining knowledge.
He who himself wants to be a master does not want to acknowledge the existence of a conscious, active, decision-making, compassionate and loving Supreme Being. Even if they recognize the “Almighty,” they do not agree that He is a person. They don't recognize that the Almighty can decide to show me something and actually show it to me. They think it is the result of their own efforts.
In other words, generally people think that God, or the Absolute Truth, is impersonal or inactive, that the Absolute Truth cannot decide to reveal Himself to me - that everything depends on me, it is I who must climb up to It. If God exists, he is like the sky. God is an ocean of light, that's all. He has no consciousness, He cannot make a decision. When you say “make a decision,” you are talking about an individual.
Thus, most people are not ready to accept the existence of the Supreme Personality. To recognize the Supreme Personality for them means to put themselves in a subordinate position, and we all want to be masters. Once I accept the existence of the Supreme Personality, I will put myself in a position where I am no longer the master, and this will jeopardize my present position. All my life I have been trying to be a master, and now I have to accept this nonsense that there is a Supreme Master? I can accept God and all that, but only if God is inactive and impersonal. As soon as I accept that the Absolute Truth is a person, as soon as I accept the Personality of Godhead, I will have problems with my dominance, because if there is a Supreme Person, the Supreme Lord, then I am no longer the supreme person, so I have to start thinking about , whether my actions and my entire way of life are pleasant to someone else - the Supreme Personality, since my task is to coordinate my will with His will. In other words, once I accept the Supreme Personality, I cannot be happy unless I align my will with His will. And if I don’t want to give up my dominance, if I don’t want to coordinate my will with the will of God, if I also want to be God myself, to be at the center of everything, the person around whom everyone and everything revolves, the most important person in my life, and everyone else and the whole world should serve my pleasure, then there is no question that I can accept the existence of the Supreme Personality, because I do not want this.
People once said about Jesus Christ: “How does he know the Scriptures without studying?”
And he answered: “My teaching is not mine, but of Him who sent me; whoever wants to do His will will know about this teaching, whether it is from God, or whether I am speaking on my own behalf.”
And then he said: “Didn’t Moses give you the law? and none of you walks according to the law"(John 7.15-17, 19).
Obviously, they did not want to “do the will of God,” and therefore did not recognize Jesus as His representative.
Thus, one who accepts the Supreme Personality of Godhead acknowledges: “The Supreme Personality can reveal to me whatever He wants—everything that He wants me to know—and do it much faster than I could find out on my own.” something about God. The Absolute Truth can reveal itself to me in its entirety in less than a second.” This is the thinking of one who understands the Personality of Godhead. He stops trying to climb into the kingdom of God, explore and reason based on the results of his research, and tunes in to receive the information that descends to him.
Usually a person is trying to find the truth, or he is trying to realize the Absolute Truth. He is busy searching - searching, searching... But the Absolute Truth is not a piece of gold hidden somewhere, just lying there waiting to be found. The Absolute Truth is active and personal. If She doesn't want you to find Her, She will become invisible and you won't find Her. In other words, you can never find Her this way. Once you accept the existence of a Supreme Person, you accept that there is another being with a will of its own. I may think I want to find Him, but He may not want to show Himself to me. I may lack the qualities needed to see Him.
In other words, this is where the will of another person comes into play, and this always complicates matters somewhat. If I alone decide everything, it is easy - I am dealing with myself - but as soon as another person appears in your life, everything becomes very complicated. It's like when a woman has a child or someone gets married, life becomes much more difficult. You allow another person into your life. For example, your child says: “I want this, I want that.” You have never had anything like this before - you didn’t have a child and didn’t have such problems. But he is a different person. As soon as another person appears, you have to deal with her will, her desires.
In the case of a child, you can gradually force him to align his will with yours, because you are greater. You can say “shut up” or lock him in his room and be on your own again. But the Supreme Personality is in control of everything, and you cannot even open your mouth before Him. You are small. It is you who will need to coordinate your will with His.
That is why most people do not want to accept the Supreme Personality - they themselves want to be the supreme person. They want to be chief enjoyer. They want, to be served, want to be Mr.. In fact, many people believe that one who has achieved spiritual realization becomes a master - realizes that he is something like God, and everyone else does his will.
But in reality this is not the case. "Spiritual teacher" means "heavy." Guru, The literal translation of the word “guru” is “heavy.” Why is it heavy? This comparison is that he is like a tree with a huge amount of fruit. But its fruits are the fruits of love for God. When a person actually achieves spiritual realization, he has many fruits of love for God, he becomes one who loves God with pure love, when he no longer has his own will and he simply fulfills the will of the Supreme Personality when his will is completely harmonized with the will of the Supreme Personality. Such a person is called a "guru" or " spiritual teacher", and he is given respect as the representative of God.
Anyone who thinks, “Guru is one who has attained the position of supreme personality,” is mistaken. Sometimes people begin to lead a so-called spiritual life, but they do not give up the desire to be a supreme person. They still want to be her. They bring this desire with them, so when they hear about the Supreme Personality, they immediately begin to feel uncomfortable. Why? Because "Supreme Person" means that you are not supreme, and immediately you become envious, take God as your competitor. You are not against the idea of God, but only if He is not a conscious being who is able to make decisions, love you and whom you can love, who has his will, perhaps different from yours. They don't like this idea of God.
Nowadays the popular idea is that I am God, the Supreme Personality, and I just need to realize this through meditation. If I meditate long and hard enough, I will break through this illusion and realize that I am the Supreme God. But this is the last trap of Maya (illusion).
Maya has two traps.
The first is to think that I am the material body or material mind. And often people understand that they are neither body nor mind, but spirit - life force, not matter.
But, unfortunately, they fall into Maya's last trap - n they begin to think that they are the Supreme Lord. They begin to meditate: “All living beings come from me, I am everywhere, I am everything, I am the Cosmos, I control the Cosmos, I send the fog and I dispel it. Of course, I didn’t know that now I would send fog, in fact, I thought that I would send something else, but I must have wanted it to be the way it is now, because it is so” - and so similar.
Therefore it says very specifically:
One who always regards living entities as spiritual sparks qualitatively equal to the Lord understands the true nature of things.
Qualitatively equal. An example is a drop of water from the ocean. A drop of ocean water has the same quality as the entire ocean - the same percentage of salt. But a drop of water cannot be compared to the ocean. A tiny living being cannot be compared to the Supreme Living Being.
Although we have the same quality, in quantitative terms we are much smaller and we have much less strength.
And how does this manifest itself? The fact that we, a living being, have fallen under the influence of ignorance, and therefore we seek knowledge. The living entities become enclosed in a material body. The Supreme Being is never trapped by the material body. The Supreme Personality is the controller, and we living entities, part and parcel of the Supreme, are those who are governed by. We are all under control. None of us can claim to be the one in control.
Thinking of yourself that you are the Supreme Lord is the last trap of illusion. Our essence is spiritual, but we are not the Supreme Spirit. We are not omnipotent. Twenty minutes ago I was meditating: “I am God, I am God,” and now I am standing at an intersection because the light is red and cars are rushing past at breakneck speed. What kind of God am I? It is ridiculous to meditate “I am God” and then stand at an intersection because the light is red.
These people do not ask the question: “If I am God, why am I not omnipotent?” But if you ask them, they will answer: “It is because you are in illusion.”
- But if I am God, how can I be in illusion?
- Because you forgot that you are God.
- If I am God, how could I forget? Doesn't "God" mean "almighty"? If I am God, how could I forget that I am God?
- You wanted to forget.
- If I wanted to forget, now I want to remember. Why am I still in illusion?
“Well, you probably don’t really want to remember.”
- Who are you?
- I am also God.
- Are we equally Gods?
- Yes. Equally.
- But then there is no God. Equally... is there a Supreme God?
- No. We are all Gods equally. But in reality it is all one God. We are not really individuals. We just pretend that we are individuals. It's all one, and we just pretend that we are separate from each other.
- Oh, we pretend that we are separate from each other. Why are you a teacher? Why are you a guru?
- Because I realized that I am God and you are not.
A man in India was asked, “What is the difference between a guru and a disciple?” He replied: “The guru has realized that he is God, but the disciple has not yet realized it. I realized that I am God, and you are not yet.” - “Yes, but, in my opinion, you just said that I am you, and you are me, there is no difference, there is no individuality. Therefore, if you have realized that you are God, then why did I not realize it at the same time?” They don't have an answer to this question.
This is a wrong idea: “I am God.” We are all little gods. We are all spiritual souls, not a material body. I am not a body - not white, not black, not a woman, not a man, not a person, not an animal... All living beings are integral parts of God.
Here, in Sri Isopanishad, the devotee of God remembers this mantra and is thus purified, realizing that all living beings are part and parcel of God, children of the Supreme Being. And nothing can disturb such a person. He doesn't envy anyone. The impersonalist, for example, thinks, “I am God,” and is constantly restless because he is constantly losing control of “his creation.” All he can do is explain to himself: “It turned out this way because I must have wanted it.” But this does not help get rid of anxiety.
And one who identifies himself with the body is even more worried. He is constantly afraid of death, is attached to the material world and is afraid of losing something or not getting something. Such is the life of a materialist.
Thus, in Sri Ishopanishad contains information descending from the spiritual dimension. “Mantra” means “information in the form of sound descending from the spiritual dimension,” descending knowledge. In this way we receive information about the Absolute Truth from the Absolute Truth, which descends and reveals itself to us. This means that she is not “it,” but He: God is a person making a conscious effort to reveal Himself. This clearly indicates that He is a person. And "He" also means that He is sovereign, that there is really only one man, in the sense of "ruler." Everyone else is subject. All living beings are, in fact, subordinate, whether we are temporarily in female or male bodies, we are, in fact, in a subordinate position. In this sense, no one is a man except the Supreme Personality. We are all meant to be subservient servants, not masters. Our natural position is to serve. The idea that our natural position is to exploit, that we should try to be masters of material nature or other living entities, is wrong. God owns everything and everyone - all living beings - as stated in the First Mantra Sri Isopanisad:
Everything living and non-living in the universe is under the control of the Lord and belongs to Him.
Living and non-living. I'm alive. I am an active living being, and now I am in the realm of temporary inanimate energy - matter. All material things belong to God. All this matter was here before I came here, and it will all remain here after I leave. And all living beings are animated energy, living beings are children, or part and parcel, of God. They belong to Him. So if I think that any living entity belongs to me, be it my wife, husband, children, dog or anyone, if I think “he is mine” or “she is mine”, that is actually an illusion. Because this person belongs to God. I do not belong to you and you do not belong to me, but we all belong to God. And all inanimate energy belongs to God.
Thus, a wise person sees everything in unity in the sense that all energy belongs to God, therefore he sees God everywhere because God's energy is everywhere. Everything belongs to Him.
And he uses all energies in His service. This is called "devotional service" or bhakti yoga, or karma yoga. When a person understands that the Supreme Being is the owner of everything, he begins to realize that everything he has belongs to God, and therefore he uses it all for the glorification of God or in the service of God. It is called karma yoga.
“Karma” means “action”, “yoga” means union with God. Therefore, actions in connection with God, based on a connection with God in love, the purpose of which is to please God, to fulfill His will, are called karma yoga.
Karma yoga based on the following information or knowledge:
I am spirit soul, not material body.
All living entities are part and parcel of the Supreme Living Being. We all belong to Him. And,
All inanimate energy, material energy, belongs to the Supreme.
Understanding this, I engage in devotional service. In other words, I have jnana, knowledge. And then I act on it.
So I should have the following knowledge:
I exist. I am the spiritual soul, I am eternal, I am not matter.
I am part and parcel of the Supreme Soul.
All living entities are in the same position as me—they are also part and parcel of the Supreme. They belong not to me, but to him. And all material energy also belongs to Him.
I am like a man who found a wallet with money. If I am ignorant, I think, “Now this is my wallet, I will enjoy.” Even if there is a card with the owner’s name and phone number, I still think: “This is mine.” This is the influence of ignorance. But the one who is reasonable understands: “This belongs to someone else,” and returns the wallet to the owner.
There is a comparison that characterizes three types of people. Let's say three people are walking down the street and each of them finds a hundred dollar bill.
The first one will immediately think: “Oh, I will enjoy it!” - and immediately begins to think about what he will buy with this money for his pleasure. Such a person can be compared to an ordinary person materialist.
The second is compared with yogi, which doesn't want to disturb his peace. As he walks past a hundred dollar bill, he thinks, “I don’t even want to look, I don’t want to get involved, it’s karma”—something like that.
And the third person picks up the money, finds the owner and returns it to him. It can be compared with bhakta, or devotees of God. He is not interested in his own peace, his own salvation, getting rid of pain or possible troubles; he understands: “This belongs to God, let me return it to Him - I will use it in His service.” He does not look at money as a source of pleasure, and he also does not try to stay away from it, thereby displaying false renunciation. Instead, he uses everything he can - be it a million dollars, or some of his abilities, or his mind, or his professional skills (writing articles, working on a computer - whatever) - about He understands that all this belongs to God, and uses and redirects it to serve God.
Most people use material energy, including their strengths, abilities, gifts, etc., for your own material pleasure; the main thing in their life is themselves, their pleasure.
Then there is another type of people - much less of them - who, having failed in their attempts to enjoy the material world and tired of such a life, trying to get away from him. They don't want to participate in anything. And they are making great efforts in this direction. They try to give up everything, but everything continues to cling to them. They try to give it up and it comes back and they try again to give it up but gradually they get drawn back into all this activity and they don't like it and they try to give it up again. For example, they fast and then they break out and they eat, eat, eat for a whole week and then feel guilty: “I have to renounce the world. I got sucked in again,” and they start all over again. They bounce on their buttocks, trying to awaken kundalini. Do pranayama very diligently - they really make great efforts to renounce everything and rise above it, and begin to feel peace and some kind of bliss again, but before they know it, life sucks them in again and they have to start all over again. And mostly people fall into one of these two categories.
But a devotee is one who truly works on a spiritual level, understands: “First of all, I don’t own anything, so I can’t use it for my pleasure. I simply take what is necessary to keep this body in good condition to be able to serve, and whatever else I have I use in the service of God.” And he also understands: “Since I do not own anything, I cannot renounce anything.” Someone may say: “I gave up this, I gave up that. I had a yacht and a big house, and I gave them up and now live simply. I gave up everything,” and he may really like that he “gave up everything,” and he may want to give up something else, believing that he still has some property. But in reality, how can you give up something that doesn't belong to you? A bank teller is constantly dealing with money, money, money, but for him there is no question of giving it up - because it is not his. It is an illusion to think that you once owned something. How can you refuse this?
Saints of all times advise us not to make false attempts to be “renounced” and “spiritual” and not to try to be the master of the material dimension, to enjoy the material world, but to unite our will with the will of the Supreme Personality, which means to use all our abilities, capabilities, all our property, great or small, in His service. Whether we have much or little, God doesn’t care, because we offer it all to Him. What matters is that we offer it. It is not the quantity that is important, but the quality - the consciousness with which this is done.
In fact, the natural original position of a living being is serve the Supreme Lord with love. When one returns to this state of devotional service, or bhakti yoga, he regains previously lost qualities necessary to enter the kingdom of God; in other words, no longer receive material bodies. This is no longer necessary, because reincarnation, the transmigration of the soul, is caused by the desire of the individual to be the master of the material world. Nature is arranged in such a way that a living being who desires material pleasures, leaving the gross physical body, receives another and has the opportunity to continue his attempts to enjoy. But they are full of suffering - birth, illness, old age and death cause great suffering. It is not natural for an eternal living entity to be in the temporary material world. This is not where we should be. Our natural dimension is the immaterial, the immaterial world.
In this way, when we are freed from the desire to be a master, when we are no longer envious of the Supreme Personality and we no longer have material desires and our only desire is to serve the Supreme Personality, we we regain the right to be in the kingdom of God again. Then we no longer have the need to receive a material body. And this is actually the natural state of a living being, and it is called religion. Religion is not something you join or change. Religion is the natural primordial state of a living being. In this state, the living entity lovingly serves the Supreme Living Being.
Much less embarrassing for a person is the limitation of his sensory vision, blindness in relation to primitive vision, produced by the fall, than the blindness of the spirit produced by the same fall (St. Tikhon of Voronezh speaks a lot about the blindness of the spirit in his cell letters, volumes 14 and 15). What kind of blindness of spirit is this? what kind of blindness of spirit? the sages of the world will ask in particular, and, without expecting an answer, they will immediately call the announcement of the blindness of the human spirit, of its mortality, idle talk and absurdity. Such is this blindness! it can unmistakably be called death. Food and we are blind? (John 9:41) - the blind and arrogant Pharisees said to the Lord. Not feeling blindness is not a sign of vision. Fallen people, who did not want to acknowledge their blindness, remained blind, and those born blind, who recognized their blindness, received their sight in the Lord Jesus Christ (John 9; 39:41). Let us try, in the light of the Holy Spirit, to discern the blindness of our spirit.
Our mind and heart are afflicted with blindness. Because of this blindness, the mind cannot distinguish true thoughts from false ones, and the heart cannot distinguish between spiritual sensations and spiritual and sinful sensations, especially when the latter are not very gross. Because of the blindness of the spirit, all our activities become false, just as the Lord called the scribes (scholars) and Pharisees wild and blind (Matthew 23), blind leaders who do not enter the kingdom of heaven and do not allow people to enter it.
With true spiritual achievement, the grace of God, planted in us through holy Baptism, begins to heal us little by little from the blindness of the spirit through tenderness. In contrast to the state of blindness, we begin to enter into a state of seeing. Just as in the state of vision the viewer is the mind, then vision is called by the Holy Fathers mental vision, that is, mental. Since the state of vision is brought about by the Holy Spirit, vision is also called spiritual, being the fruit of the Holy Spirit. This is how it differs from contemplation. Contemplation is common to all people; Every person engages in contemplation whenever he wants. Vision is characteristic of those who purify themselves through repentance; It does not appear to the arbitrariness of man, but from the touch of the Spirit of God to our spirit, therefore, according to the all-holy will of the All-Holy Spirit. The doctrine of spiritual or mental visions is set forth with particular clarity and detail by the Hieromartyr Peter, Metropolitan of Damascus. (Philokalia, part 3).
Tenderness is the first spiritual sensation delivered to the heart by Divine grace that has overshadowed it. It consists of tasting Godly sorrow, dissolved by grace-filled consolation, and opens before the mind a spectacle that has never been seen before. From spiritual sensation comes spiritual vision, as the Holy Scripture says: taste and see (Psalm 33:9). The vision makes the sensation worse. “From doing with compulsion, immeasurable warmth is born, kindling in the heart from warm thoughts new to the mind. Such doing and storing refines the mind with its warmth and gives it the ability to see. From this, warm thoughts are born, as we said, in the depths of the soul, which is called Vision. These visions give birth to the warmth that gave birth to him. From this warmth, growing from the grace of the Vision, an abundant flow of tears is born" (St. Isaac of Syria, beginning of the 59th word). As long as sensation lasts, so does vision. With the cessation of sensation, vision ceases. It comes unknown, it goes unknown, not depending on our arbitrariness, depending on the dispensation. The gate to spiritual vision is humility (saying of St. John Kolov, Alphabetical Patericon). The constant presence of tenderness is accompanied by constant vision. Vision is the reading and acceptance in the spirit of the New Testament. With the cessation of tenderness, communication with the New Testament ceases, and communication with the Old Testament begins; instead of the predominance in the soul of humility, which does not resist evil (Matt. 5:39), there is justice, which strives to tear out an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth (Matt. 5:38). For this reason, the Monk Sisoes the Great said with lamentation: “I read the New Testament, but return to the Old” (Alphabetical Patericon). Anyone who wants to constantly remain in tenderness and spiritual vision must take care to constantly remain in humility, driving out self-justification and condemnation of others, introducing humility through self-reproach and the consciousness of one’s sinfulness before God and people.
The first spiritual vision is the vision of one’s sins, hitherto hidden behind oblivion and ignorance. Having seen them through emotion, the ascetic immediately receives experimental knowledge of the previous blindness of his spirit, in which what exists and existed seemed completely non-existent and non-existent. This existing thing, when tenderness recedes, again disappears into oblivion, and again appears non-existent. When tenderness appears, it appears again. The ascetic moves experimentally from the consciousness of his sins to the knowledge of his sinfulness, with which his nature is infected, to the knowledge of passions or various ailments of nature. From the vision of his fall, he moves on to the vision of the fall that embraces all human nature. Then the world of fallen spirits gradually opens up to him; he studies them in his passions, in the struggle with them, in the thoughts, dreams and sensations brought by spirits. The seductive and deceptive view of earthly life, which hitherto seemed endless to him, is taken away from him: he begins to see its edge - death; he begins to admire, that is, to be transported in spirit, by a feeling to the very hour of death, to the hour of God’s impartial judgment. From his fall, he sees the need for a Redeemer, and by applying the commandments of the Lord to his ailments and seeing the healing and life-giving effect of these commandments on ailments and on the suffering soul, he acquires a living faith in the Gospel, as if in a mirror, he sees even more clearly his fallen nature, and the fall of humanity, and the evil spirits. Limiting ourselves to counting these visions as essentially necessary and quickly becoming accessible to the diligent monk; Let us conclude the calculation with the words of the Venerable Maximus the Confessor: “it is impossible for the mind (i.e., the spirit) to achieve dispassion from one activity (i.e., from physical feats alone), if many and different visions do not accept it” (monks Callistus and Ignatius on silence and prayer, chapter 68, Philokalia, part 2). The word “accept” shows that these visions are not contemplations, arbitrary states or creations of the mind; You can translate the word “accept” with the word “visit”.
It is very natural for our spirit to acquire dispassion, when the sensations of fallen nature are replaced by spiritual sensations that follow and accompany tenderness, and the mind of fallen nature is replaced by spiritual mind, formed from concepts delivered by spiritual visions. In order to distract us from living according to the Gospel commandments, from Christ-imitating humility, from tenderness, from spiritual vision, from liberation from the slavery of passions or from dispassion, from the Resurrection of the soul, in order to keep us in blindness, in death, in captivity in ourselves, fallen spirits They wage a fierce battle with the ascetics. In this battle they exhaust all their inherent malice, all their characteristic cunning. Cunning and malice are called here characteristic of fallen spirits, not because they were given to them at creation - no! fallen spirits were created good, alien to evil, as we already know from the teachings of Anthony the Great - because through their arbitrary fall they internalized evil and became alien to good. We repeat what was said above: the fall of man consists in mixing good with evil; the fall of demons is in the complete rejection of good, in the complete assimilation of evil (Ladders, word 4, chapter 35; all the Holy Fathers are of the same opinion). I was guided to all your commandments, I hated every way of unrighteousness (Psalm 119, 128), says the Holy Spirit about His guidance of man to salvation: so, in contrast to this, the spirit of malice opposes every commandment of the New Testament, hates every way of living a God-pleasing life. But in this opposition to the Gospel commandments, in promoting all sinful inclinations, fallen spirits are studied by the ascetic of piety, seen by him, recognized through the knowledge of spirits acquired by this means; sensory vision of spirits, if allowed, only replenishes knowledge. This is exactly how knowledge about a person is obtained: essential knowledge of a person is acquired by studying his way of thinking and feeling, his way of acting; The more detailed such study is, the more definite the knowledge becomes. This knowledge is replenished by face-to-face acquaintance; Personal acquaintance alone has almost no significance in relation to the essential knowledge of a person.
Modern humanity at this point in time has quite a lot of different types of evidence of the existence of worlds different from the visible world of forms - the material plane of planet Earth. The existence of other worlds gradually becomes a stable picture of the world. Interest in “other” worlds, as well as in issues of interaction with such worlds, usually comes down to thinking about what qualities or paranormal abilities a person must have in order to “see”, feel, interact with such a different world, as well as with its representatives, there are also plenty of opinions and points of view on this matter on how to develop the ability to “see, hear, feel.” There has been a strong public opinion among “knowledgeable” people that in order to possess paranormal psychic abilities at the first stage it is necessary to develop, develop, etc. Sensitivity to the perception of the subtle world.
For many practitioners, energetic, spiritual, yogic, etc. With practice this works, but many don’t. But even those who manage to develop some extraordinary abilities, that is, those that not everyone living today has, sooner or later hit the ceiling, they suddenly understand that there is a limit to the development of these abilities, and then a certain level human development, practices that focus on ability are doomed to failure. A reasonable question arises: what to do next and what to do for those who really want to “open their third eye,” but never want to open it?
Let's start with the fact that many people still have a persistent misconception about the purpose of a person, his essential definition, his abilities and capabilities, and, accordingly, about the need for their development, disclosure, etc.
One of the basic statements of the Esoteric teaching says:
“Man is, first of all, a Soul that exists “eternally,” and also follows the path of evolution and can periodically be reincarnated in new physical bodies, which it organizes for itself according to a certain order and template, from the cells of genetic parents, taking into account all previous accumulated experience and previous existence."
The esoteric model determines the interaction of planet Earth and man:
1. Planet Earth has its own consciousness and is a single living organism.
2. Everything that exists inside the consciousness of the Earth exists on the planet.
3. Any object on Earth has its own consciousness and, including humans, is a multidimensional energy-informational object.
Let us consider such a multidimensional interaction using the example of a Simplified model of interaction between human Mental Bodies and Consciousnesses.
Simplified Model of Consciousness and Mental Bodies:
The External Signal arrives at the “Antenna” and then to the Mental Body of Sahasrara. Provided that a person has an Active Consciousness “Super-I” (Higher Self), this Signal is processed by this Consciousness.
The unprocessed part of the “Signal” that passed through the Mental Body of Sahasrara enters the Worldview “filter” - the Subconscious, located on the Mental Body of Ajna.
If a person has an active “not-I” Consciousness, then this “Signal” is processed by him and launches the 3rd Eye - the second System of Perception of the World. The unprocessed, not accepted part of the “Signal” from the Mental Body of Ajna enters the Mental Body of Vishuddha, which includes Consciousness - the translator of the Signal, which turns the received Signal into our 3-dimensional world and the Mind - which analyzes the received images.
If a person has an Active “I” Consciousness, then it processes the part of the “Signal” received by it using the 1st Perception System and builds Conscious Behavior.
If the “I” Consciousness is not active, then part of the Signal enters the Mental Body of Anahata - “Animal Consciousness” and builds Emotional Behavior.
From this diagram it is clear that each Active “upper” - higher frequency Consciousness “intercepts” the Signal and takes control over itself.
Therefore, by developing our higher frequency states of Consciousness, we fundamentally change ourselves, our perception of ourselves and the world, our behavior, our capabilities, etc.
The esoteric model of the Universe tells us about the principle of consciousnesses embedded in each other - the Matryoshka principle. Such a doll shows that human consciousness is invested (absorbed) into another similar consciousness, which subsequently enters the next more expanded similar consciousness and so on ad infinitum.
Man is, first of all, consciousness, and he is inside the consciousness of planet Earth. The planet is also, first of all, consciousness, and it is located inside consciousness solar system, which is inside the consciousness of the Galaxy and so on.
Man is a multidimensional energy-informational structure of living consciousness; God “embedded” 7 basic abilities in every person:
1. clairsentience (tactile sensations)
2. spiritual clairvoyance
3. claircognizance
4. clairaudience
5. clear sense of smell
6. clear physical vision
7. Clear recognition of taste sensations
In modern man, 5 basic abilities are mainly clearly manifested through the senses, and therefore another misconception lies in the definition of his abilities. Many people confuse the concepts of “Sensuality” and “Sensitivity”.
Spiritual Vision and Sensitivity
Sensuality is an ability human psyche respond to external influences and experience the influence of external objects, which are realized with the help of the senses, the ability to experience emotional states, penchant for carnal pleasures.
The ability of the human spirit (sensuality) to perceive the surrounding reality with the help of the senses is a condition for obtaining cognitive experience and a person’s practical attitude towards the world.
The presence of sensory abilities in a person determines for him, like any other living organism, a guideline and successful actions in the world around him.
Sensitivity- this is a property of humans and animals sense irritating signals from the external environment and from one’s own tissues and organs: tactile (touch), pain, temperature, muscle-bone, etc.
We hope the difference is obvious! This is precisely where all the answers to questions related to paranormal, extrasensory and other “other” abilities in humans lie.
A person is a “system” and his self-development, transformation of consciousness, transmutation of the physical body must occur comprehensively, in a system of multidimensional spiritual development and the harmonious entry of the Spirit, Soul and transformation of the Personality into individuality. We invite you to begin not only to receive, study, and memorize knowledge, but also to apply it, practically developing your abilities of Feeling Knowledge in the World of New Energies ***
Conscious management of attention gives a person the opportunity to more effectively identify, compare and, if necessary, eliminate external and internal factors that lead to a state of balance, which is important for qualitatively increasing the level of development of a person’s personality. You can learn about the mechanisms of attention and the ability to consciously control it in the practice “Development of the Soul: Human Attention. The role of attention in life."
