The soul is nature animating and moving; mind and mind are related to the soul.

Saint Macarius the Great:

The soul is a clever, full of all beauty and truly wonderful creation of God. The soul is a very refined body. A creature of a special kind.

The soul is a great and wonderful thing. When creating her, God created her in such a way that no vice was put into her nature.

This creation is intelligent, majestic, marvelous - the image and likeness of God, having an unparalleled close relationship with God, without, however, the slightest communication between their beings, endowed with all the perfections inherent in the spirit, and, due to its extreme subtlety, movable, fleeting, elusive .

Saint Basil the Great:

A soul that has fallen into carnal passions destroys its inherent beauty.

The soul that preserves the power of thought in sobriety and worthy actions will be established in contemplation and will exercise its disposition in what is right, just, worthy and peaceful. And if he stops thinking and stops deepening into contemplation, the rebellious bodily passions, like countless and insolent dogs over which there is no overseer, begin to bark strongly at the soul and each passion tries to torment it, tearing off for itself a part of its life force. Although the soul is the same, its power is twofold: one is the actual life force of the body, and the other is the power that contemplates the existing, which we also call rational. But the soul, since it is connected with the body, naturally, as a result of this connection, not arbitrarily, imparts vitality to the body. For just as the sun cannot but illuminate that upon which it has cast its rays, so it is impossible for the soul not to give life to the body in which it dwells. The power of contemplation is set in motion at will. Therefore, if the soul makes its contemplative and rational power always awake ... then it lulls the bodily passions in two ways, that is, both by being busy contemplating the best and kindred to it, and by the fact that, supervising the serenity of the body, chaste and calms its passions . If, however, having loved indolence, it leaves the contemplative force in inactivity, the bodily passions, finding the life force idle and dividing it among themselves - since no one rules them and no one stops them - they carry the soul to their aspirations and actions. Therefore, the bodily passions in us are strong when the mind is inactive, but they are submissive when the mind controls and owns the body.

The horse is beautiful, and the faster and hotter he is by nature, the better, but he needs a rider and a steward. If the rider properly disposes of the natural properties of the animal, then he will use it for his own benefit and achieve the Goal: he himself will remain whole, and the animal will be useful. If the rider does not manage the young horse well, then the horse repeatedly goes astray, falls onto an impassable road, or, falling from the rapids, takes the rider with him - the rider's negligence endangers both. So talk about the soul and the body. The body has received natural tendencies, which are not senseless, but no doubt good and useful for something; but it did not receive its share of reason, so that the soul would be honored by the advantage of reason. If the Soul properly controls the aspirations of the body, then the body is saved, and the soul is out of danger. If, however, he neglects management and, enveloped in a sleep of carelessness, ceases to keep the body in check, then the body itself, as having no mind, is deviated from the straight path, and plunges the soul into disasters equal to its falls - not due to its own unfitness, but according to carelessness of the soul. For if the bodily passions were such that the soul could not tame them, then the body would indeed be guilty. But if they have become obedient to many who have labored to overcome them, then the body cannot be blamed by those who try to denigrate it, calling it the first culprit of vice. One can reproach the soul with negligence, which has weakened its power over the body, but it does not by its very nature have evil in itself, but plunged into evil after the impoverishment of good in it.

Saint John Chrysostom:

The soul is a rational and spiritual nature, fast-moving, constantly in activity, dearest to the whole world, of unparalleled and indescribable beauty, an essence that has an affinity with the heavenly - by no means, however, of a Divine nature, but akin to heavenly and incorporeal beings.

The human soul is so magnificent that it is incomparable with any natural beauty. If it were possible to see the beauty of the soul with bodily eyes, then no earthly beauties could compare with it. But it can only be seen with sincere, enlightened eyes.

Man consists of two parts - from the soul and the body. The body has its misfortune and trouble - the soul also has it. The body is visible - and its trouble is visible; the soul is invisible - and its misfortune is invisible. The body is perishable and mortal - and its trouble will end; the soul is imperishable and immortal - and its misfortune has no end, but the soul abides with it forever until it is freed from it. The soul, as rational, immortal and created in the image of God, is much more precious than the body; therefore, her misfortune is much more dangerous and terrible than bodily misfortune. For bodily trouble with the body dies and ceases; but the affliction of the soul with an immortal soul never dies unless the soul here is freed from this affliction.

Saint Athanasius the Great:

A person can lie on the ground, think about the heavenly and contemplate it. Often, too, when his body is inactive or asleep, he is in motion within himself and contemplates what exists outside him, and also moves and moves from country to country, meets his acquaintances and often through this foresees what should happen to him the next day. ... The body is mortal by nature, why does a person talk about immortality and often, out of love for virtue, he himself goes to death? The body is temporary, why does a person imagine the eternal and, rushing towards it, neglects what is under his feet? The body itself will not conceive of anything like this... Therefore, there must be something else that would think of an opposite and unnatural body... It is natural for the eye to look and the ear to listen, why do they withhold one thing and accept the other? Who keeps the eye from seeing, or who shuts up the ear for hearing, which is by nature able to hear? Or who often withholds from natural striving the taste appointed by nature itself for tasting? Who forbids the hand to touch anything, if the hand is intended by nature to act? And the sense of smell, given to the sense of smell, who sometimes retains? Who produces all this contrary to what is natural to the body? Or why does the body, refraining from what is demanded by nature, bow down to the advice of someone else and be restrained by his wave? All this points to nothing but the soul dominating the body. The body does not stimulate itself to activity, but is stimulated and set in motion by others, just as a horse is not controlled by itself, but by the one who rules it.

Rev. Ephraim the Syrian:

Our soul is the most beautiful and above all creations, the creation most beloved by God, sealed with the mystery of His grace and wisdom.

The soul was created in the image of your Creator, His likeness and His image are imprinted in you - beware of tarnishing the image of God and subjecting yourself to the condemnation of the King, whose image you have scolded.

Saint John of the Ladder:

The whole world is unequal to the soul; the world passes away, but the soul is incorruptible and will remain incorruptible.

Saint Cyril, Archbishop of Jerusalem:

The soul is an excellent work of God, created in the image of the Creator. She is immortal, She is a living, intelligent and incorruptible being. The soul is free and has the power to do what it wants.

Blessed Theodoret:

He who plays the lyre, if the lyre is not tuned, will not show his art on it... A leaky or unskillfully arranged boat turns the helmsman's art into nothing... So, of course, some bodily diseases do not allow the soul to show its rational activity. If the tongue is affected by a disease, speech becomes difficult, if the eyes are affected, they do not see, and if the disease touches the brain ... it is not able to receive mental activity into itself ... So, the well-being of the body does not constitute the essence of the soul, but with the well-being of the body the being of the soul discovers its wisdom.

Rev. Abba Isaiah:

Let us not allow the body to be sated, so that the passions inherent in it do not present their demands, so that the body submits to the soul, and the soul submits to the mind and becomes a virgin bride. Arriving in this state, she calls the Bridegroom to her: let my Brother descend into His vineyard and eat from His fruits.

The soul is given the will not to allow the senses to see evil spectacles, to hear something crafty and shameful, to obscene words, to worldly and crafty activities.

It is impossible for the soul to enter into the rest of the Son of God if it does not have His image... The soul, not sealed in the image of the great King, Jesus Christ, is not accepted by the Angels into communion with them. They reject it, saying, "How can you enter here when you don't have the King's image on you?"

Abba Daniel:

The fatter the body, the weaker the soul, and the drier the body, the stronger the soul... The more the body dries up, the more refined the soul becomes. The more refined the soul, the more fiery it is.

Tertullian:

Although the soul is imprisoned in the body as in a prison, although it is darkened by perverted teachings, although it is deprived of vigor due to passions and lusts, although it slavishly serves false gods; however, when he comes to himself, as if freed from intoxication or sleep, or some kind of illness, and becomes healthy again, he pronounces the name, God, and this name alone, since the true God is really one. Everyone says: God is great, God is good, and what God will give. (6) The soul testifies of Him as the Judge, when it says: God sees, I entrust to God, God will repay me. O testimony of the soul, by nature a Christian!

The human body, consisting of different parts, is connected by the soul, and it does not allow it to crumble. When the soul leaves the body, it decays and decays. Because then all his ties are destroyed, and what was united and harmonized before death disintegrates and decays. So it is with the soul when Divine grace is removed from it. For grace is the soul of our soul. Before Adam's transgression, grace was united with the soul, as the soul is united with the body, and contained it in the unity and harmony of thoughts, which, after the transgression, scattered in innumerable directions. This Divine grace of the Holy Spirit is again given by Holy Baptism to those who receive it by faith even after the announcement. This is the Divine Mystery, which all the external wisdom of the Hellenes does not know and cannot understand. For just as every person is sure that the soul is that force that brings into harmony and unites different parts of the body into a harmonious whole, so every Baptized Christian must always remember that nothing else, but only the grace of the All-Holy Spirit, which he received in Holy Baptism and New Birth, one unites, combines and holds back unscattered the innumerable and diverse movements and thoughts of the soul (if it has it). This gathering together of spiritual thoughts is and is called the life of the soul, which God grants to it. But some forget and remain in carefree forgetfulness that their body consists of many and varied parts, and therefore is subject to many ailments, and that it is contained in union and harmony by the soul. And when they are healthy and do not feel any illness, they are exalted by it, as if it were not a gift from God, but something of their own. Similarly, some of those who have been vouchsafed to receive Divine grace do not heed themselves and do not contain in their minds and thoughts this great sacrament of Divine grace received by them (and holding in union and harmony the various thoughts and aspirations of the soul), and incline to proud thinking. About Me. Puffed up, they fall into "condemnation with the devil" (1 Tim. 3:6), are exposed from Divine grace and fall into a state worse than that in which they were before Baptism.

And only those of them who, realizing what a great evil they have suffered, shed many bitter tears in order to receive Divine grace again, after many labors and sweats, are again worthy of this great Divine mercy.

Saint Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow:

Man is not only a body, but not only a spirit: he is a unity of body and spirit. “And man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7), that is, as soon as the Creator breathed the breath of life into the body He created, man became a living being, one in consciousness, two in nature. In the teaching of the Holy Scriptures about the spiritual beginning of human life, sometimes the duality of this beginning is also indicated, for example: "The Word of God is living and active ... penetrates even to the division of the soul and spirit, and the joints and brains" (Heb. 4, 12) . Some of the teachers of the church also speak of the soul and the spirit, as if they were two different principles of our spiritual nature. But the Apostle’s words: “spirit” and “soul”, in relation to human nature, do not mean different beginnings, but only the higher and lower sides of the same beginning: hence his expressions: “spiritual” and “soulful” man ( 1 Cor. 2, 14-15), that is, a person with higher knowledge and illumination from God, who sees into the realm of the Heavenly, spiritual world, and a person with undeveloped or even dull spiritual vision, unable in this state to see anything higher than the sensual. The teachers of the Church, of course, thought no differently, distinguishing between the spirit and the soul in man, because, speaking of the nature of man in general, they, together with everyone else, recognized only a two-part, spiritual and bodily composition of him.

The soul is an invisible subtle force; being spiritual and immortal.

But the image of God in the human soul is manifested not so much in these two of its qualities (spirituality and immortality), but in its strengths and abilities. Namely: the mind, the gift of speech, freedom, memory and reason.

Freedom is the ability to reasonably choose a useful and necessary thing; it is the active ability of a person not to be enslaved to sin and to choose the best in the light of God's truth.

Saint John of Damascus:

The soul is a free entity, endowed with the ability to will and act, changeable in will, having a mind, not as something different from it, but as the purest part of itself. For as the eye is in the body, the mind is in the soul.

The soul is connected with the whole body and embraces it like fire iron.

The soul is a living, simple, incorporeal entity, by its nature invisible to bodily eyes, immortal, verbally intelligent, formless, acting through the organic body and giving it life and growth, the feeling and power of birth.

The soul is an intelligent spirit, always moving, convenient to good or evil will.

Blessed Augustine:

The soul is a created, invisible, rational, incorporeal, immortal, most god-like nature, having the image of its Creator.

Hieromartyr Irenaeus of Lyons:

The soul was created by God and has a form characteristic of its nature, different from an angelic being. She got her appearance from her closest contact with the body.

The type of the soul is a reflection of the inner man, and therefore it is different for different people.

Holy Righteous John of Kronstadt:

Our soul is, so to speak, a reflection of the face of God; the clearer, the greater this reflection, the brighter, calmer it is; the smaller - the darker, more restless. And as our soul is our heart, it is necessary that in it all the truth of God be reflected through feelings, through gratitude, and there was no reflection of lies at all.

The soul is part of the spiritual world. God is reflected in a pious soul, like the sun in a drop of water; the purer this drop, the better, clearer the reflection, the more cloudy - the duller, so that in a state of extreme impurity, blackness of the soul, the reflection (of God) ceases, and the soul remains in a state of spiritual darkness, in a state of insensibility.

Our soul is as simple as thought and as fast as lightning.

The soul of a pious person is a precious spiritual treasury.

Our soul is called a soul because it breathes the Spirit of God, that is, it is so called from the Life-Giving Spirit.

The very fact that the same place of residence, the same enjoyment and the same life with Angels are intended for human souls, is an indication that souls are beings similar to Angels in everything.

Angels have an image and appearance, just as the soul has its own image and appearance, and this image, the external appearance, both of the Angel and the soul, is the image and appearance of the external man in his body.

The life of the body - from the presence of the soul in it, the life of the soul - from the presence of the Holy Spirit in it.

The soul expresses itself in the life force; the soul has desire or will, and energy or natural anger that does not turn into irritability ...

Saint Theophan the Recluse:

The soul is a real, living force, although intelligent, purely spiritual.

With its, so to speak, physical side, it arranges the body, animates it, moves and acts through it, and with the other side, the higher one, at the same time it is aware of itself, freely acts, contemplates the heavenly, reflects on the earthly and strives for the Divine and eternal.

The fig tree, covered with leaves, was beautiful in appearance, but did not receive approval from the Lord, because there were no fruits on it, and there were no fruits because there was no inner power to bear fruit. How many such fig trees exist in the moral sense! Everything looks good, but there is nothing inside. They are dignified, honest, and fulfill everything Christian, but they do not have the spirit of life in Christ Jesus, therefore they do not have living fruits, and what is in them only seems to be a fruit, and is not a fruit. What is the spirit of life in Christ Jesus? To this we say: one thing in him is from the Lord, and the other is from us. What is from the Lord is actually the power of spiritual fruitfulness, and what is from us is only the recipient of this power. Take care of the last one. Here the root is the feeling that you are perishing, and that if it is not the Lord, you will perish. Hence all life, with all deeds and labors - a contrite and humble heart. Further, since the future is unknown, and there are many enemies and stumbling is possible every minute, then - fear and trembling in search of salvation and incessant crying: "Behold the image of fate, save me." Woe to him who rests on anything but the Lord; woe to him who labors for anything other than the Lord! Ask yourself, who has labored in works that are considered pleasing to God, for whom are you laboring? If your conscience boldly answers: only for the Lord is good, and if not, then you are building a house on the sand. Here are some guidelines for a fruitful inner spirit. Consider this and other things.

The purpose of the soul is its union with God, living communion with God

The life and peace of the soul is a mysterious and inexpressible communion with the Heavenly King.

Woe to the soul if it dwells on its own nature and trusts only in its own deeds, not having communion with the Divine Spirit, because it dies without being worthy of Eternal Divine Life.

Woe to the soul if it does not have in itself the true Pilot - Christ: being in the midst of the bitter sea of ​​darkness, agitated by passions, overwhelmed by evil spirits, it perishes.

Saint Isidore Pelusiot:

The body lives as long as the soul is in it, and the soul lives as long as God's Spirit is in it. And just as the body dies after being separated from the soul, so, after the departure of the Holy Spirit, the soul lost its blessed life, not becoming nothing, but continuing to live a life that is worse than any death.

Venerable Simeon the New Theologian:

The resurrection of the soul is its union with the Life that is Christ. Just as the body is dead unless it accepts the soul and in some way merges with it unconfused, is not and is not called alive and cannot live, so the soul cannot live by itself unless it is united by an indescribable union and is not united unmerged with God, Which truly is Eternal Life. And only then, as soon as she is united with God and thus resurrected by the power of Christ, will she be worthy to mentally and mysteriously behold the economic Resurrection of Christ.

He who is enlightened by the Holy Spirit, who renews everything, acquires new eyes and new ears. He no longer simply, like a man, looks at the sensual - sensual, but, having become higher than man, he looks at the sensual and bodily spiritually, as images of the invisible world. And he listens not to the word or words of men, but to the one living word of God, although it is spoken through the word of man. Such a soul hears only the living word of God, recognizable by it and desired, and only allows it to enter inside itself and, when it enters it, kisses it with joy.

Saint Gregory the Theologian:

How could a demon have taken you so far from Christ, caught your tongue, and hearing, and seeing, O unfortunate soul? Where do you wander outside the gentle light, agitated by desires, anxieties, worries, trembling with one shadow of fear, serving seductions, drying up and melting in bursts of seething anger? Do not indulge, soul, in the whirling of the soaring mind, but also do not forget your life when you approach the flesh, to hidden and obvious carnal shortcomings! Let everyone in the valley world be indignant at worldly storms, let time, like checkers, play everything: beauty, and wealth, and unfaithful happiness, and power! And I, holding fast to Christ, will never give up hope that I will see the radiance of the united Trinity, when the soul, the property of the great God, now mixed with the flesh, and before - the image of God, enters into union with Heaven.

Walk immaculately through all the ages and powers of Christ. As a disciple of Christ, cleanse yourself, take away the veil that has been lying on you from birth ... Endure, if necessary, stoning ... If they will flog you with scourges - solicit other things, taste the bile for the first taste, drink vinegar, look for spitting, take the stress in the cheeks and earaches. Be crowned with thorns - the severity of life according to God; put on a scarlet robe, take a reed, let those who swear at the truth bow down before you. Finally, willingly crucify, die, accept burial with Christ, and with Him you will rise again, and be glorified, and reign, seeing God in all His majesty and visible to Him.

Rev. Abba Isaiah:

When the soul enters into obedience to the mind that owns it in the Lord, then, united together, the mind and soul bring pure prayers to God ... They are true worshipers, such as the Father is looking for, worshiping Him "in spirit and in truth" (John 4, 23 ). It is said about them: "I will dwell in them and walk in them" (2 Cor. b, 16). They were given a promise: "If two of you agree on earth to ask for any deed, then whatever they ask, it will be for them from My Father in heaven" (Matt. 18, 19).

Saint Basil the Great:

The soul is illumined by the Sun of Truth when the intelligent Light rises in it and the day comes in the one who accepts it.

Rev. Ephraim the Syrian:

The God-loving soul is subjected to many trials and temptations. Courageously enduring sorrows, she becomes purer and more fit for spiritual work, and at last she is honored to inherit the heavenly region of the Kingdom.

Venerable Macarius of Egypt:

Having God's light in itself, and living in it, and being adorned with all sorts of virtues, the soul participates in the light of repose.

Our soul, approaching the true Bishop - Christ, must be slain by Him, must die for its wisdom ... and sin; and just as life leaves the victim, the slyness of the passions must leave her.

Just as bodily eyes see the sun, so those illuminated by God's light see the image of the soul.

Whoever wants to become a son of God, first of all, like the Lord, must humble himself, endure when they consider him insane and dishonorable, not turn his face away from spitting ... not chase after glory, after the beauty of this age and anything like that, not have bow your head, endure reproach and humiliation, be despised and trampled by everyone ...

Like an old sack full of pearls, Christians are obligated to be humble and despised by the outward man, but by the inward man they have pearls.

Saint John Chrysostom:

The life of the soul is service to God and the morals corresponding to this...

When the soul is truly embraced by Divine attraction and love, it does not turn to anything real ... raging with some of the most beautiful rage that comes from chastity, it despises everything visible.

Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk:

What is bride and groom to each other, so is Christ and the Christian soul. The bride is betrothed to the groom - so the human soul by faith is betrothed to Christ, the Son of God, and is washed by the bath of Baptism. The bride leaves the house of her parents and clings to her groom, so the Christian soul, betrothed to Christ, the Son of God, must leave the world and worldly whims and cling to one of her Bridegroom, Jesus Christ. To this the Holy Spirit through the prophet. calls her: "Hear, daughter, and look, and bow your ear, and forget your people and your father's house. And the King will desire your beauty" (Ps. 44, 11-12).

The sun is clearly reflected in pure and still water - so God, the eternal Sun, appears in a quiet, immaculate and pure soul and is depicted in it. "So, beloved ... let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God," the apostle admonishes us (2 Cor. 7, 1), and God, the eternal Sun, will dwell in us, and so His image the saint will be depicted in us. Heavy dense things, such as earth, stone and wooden walls, and so on, do not contain sunlight. On the contrary, it passes through glass, clear water, crystal. Similarly, the mind, darkened by the sins and lusts of this world, cannot contain the enlightenment of God. For like is contained in like. That is why it is said: "Rise, sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you" (Eph. 5:14). Repent and cleanse your soul with repentance and tears, and drive away the cloud of your vain thoughts, and then Christ will enlighten you.

Saint Theophan the Recluse:

Man's final goal is in God, in communion, or living union, with God. Created in the image and likeness of God, man, by his very nature, is in some way of the divine kind. Being the race of God, he cannot but seek communion with God, not only as with his beginning and Archetype, but also as with the supreme good. That is why our heart is only satisfied when it possesses God and is possessed by God. Nothing but God comforts him. Solomon knew a lot, possessed a lot and enjoyed a lot, but finally he had to recognize all this as vanity and vexation of the spirit (Eccl. 1, 8, 17, 18; 3, 10, 11; 8, 17). One rest for man is in God. "Who is in heaven for me? And I want nothing with you on earth. My flesh and my heart fails: God is the rock of my heart and my part forever" (Ps. 72:25-26).

Saint Ignatius (Bryanchaninov):

God the Trinity, when redeeming His image - man, gave such an opportunity to succeed in improving the likeness that the likeness turns into a union of the image with the Original, the poor creature with its all-perfect Creator.

When the mind and heart become the abode of God... then, naturally, both the soul and the body become His abode.

The likeness of man to God, recognized by God, will bring to man blessed Eternity. The loss of this likeness entails exile from the world of God into a gloomy hell, into its fiery abyss, into eternal suffering.

Impressions, which are the property of the soul at the hour of her death, remain her property forever.

The death of the soul is worse than the death of the body: the dead body will be resurrected... the soul, mortified by evil, is a victim of eternal death. The soul can be killed by one thought containing some kind of blasphemy.

Saint Isidore Pelusiot:

The resurrection of the soul mortified by sin takes place here, when it is reborn into Life by the deeds of righteousness.

Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk:

The human soul is spirit. Therefore, nothing else, only God - as the image of God with its Prototype - cannot be satisfied. From God came, in God and finds satisfaction. There is no such thing that could satisfy itself, except God.
Everything rests in its place: the body on the earth, as if taken from the earth; air goes to air; fire tends to height; a bird in a tree, a fish in the water has a rest; the soul, like the spirit, is in its Archetype - God. The sun, the moon, the stars and the whole sky are good and beautiful, but they please the body, the earth with all its fruits and its ornaments is good, but satisfies the body, water is good, but cools the body; sweet is the song of the birds, but sweet to the body; pleasant music, but pleasant to the body; food and drink are good, but both nourish and cool the body. So understand about other creations. But nothing created can satisfy, saturate, cool, console and cheer souls. There is another peace with which it calms down, there is food with which it feeds, there is a drink with which it cools down, there is light with which it is enlightened, there is beauty with which it rejoices, there is a center to which it aspires and, having reached it, seeks nothing more. God and His divine grace are everything for the soul: rest, food, drink, light, glory, honor, wealth, consolation, joy, gladness, and all the bliss that will then be satisfied when he finds him. And the more he seeks Him now, the more he desires Him; and until then he will desire and seek what he desires, until he sees him face to face. And then, the more he drinks from this living and ever-flowing Source, the more he will thirst for Him, without suffering and without satiety, all Eternity. The more God is seen, the more desired. Therefore, it happens that nothing can console the spiritual sorrow of the soul, except God and His holy word.

You have no part with the earth, you heavenly. You are the image of God; look for your prototype. For like tends to like: water flows into the sea, dust returns to the earth, birds with birds, and beasts with beasts, and cattle with cattle, and fish with fish, and a man with a man like himself, that is, good with good and evil with evil is found and everything is looking for someone like him. Seek also the One Whom you are like, and strive towards Him, like a fire on high. There is your peace; you won't find peace here. Go around the whole world, you will not find anything that would satisfy you. ... You, my soul, will not find peace here in this world. All the beauty of this world is a perishable substance, vanity, dust, earth - everything valuable in it. You are an immaterial, immortal spirit; you have no rest in them. The spirit does not rest in matter, but the spirit finds rest in the Spirit... Heaven and all the world will not satisfy you, for there is no likeness between you and the light. Turn to your Creator, Who created you in His own image. In Him alone you will find your peace, as in your center.

The spirit is immortal, therefore it is quenched not by corruptible and mortal matter, but by the living and immortal Divinity. So a poor man, having lost the Source of living water - God, digs muddy wells in creatures and seeks coolness from them for his soul! But dig, dig, poor soul, as much as you want these wells - you will not quench your thirst from them, you will still thirst for more and more. Do you know where to find living water? Hear, here he calls to Himself alive

A bit about the history of Christianity

At the beginning of its history, Christianity was a pronounced sect, in any sense of the word. The Christian doctrine was based on a fusion of its founders' non-traditional interpretation of Judaism and belief in the Messiahship of Jesus Christ. This movement had charismatic leaders: first Jesus Christ himself, who considered himself the messiah and son of God, then a group of his closest disciples, who believed that the "holy spirit" descended on them. Perhaps neither Maria Tsvigun, nor Grobova, nor Vissarion, nor Sai Baba can compare with them in terms of charisma and odiousness.

Founded by the apostles after the death of Jesus, the community in Jerusalem was an extremely totalitarian sect. Its members gave the community all their property, and the punishment for hiding something was death (such an episode is described in the Acts of the Apostles). Many of them wandered around preaching the "good news" and did it much more intrusively than today's Jehovah's Witnesses. The first Christians were sure that the end of the world would come very soon, they spent all their time in work, fasting and prayer. They considered themselves the chosen ones and that only they alone would be saved, and all the rest would burn in hell forever. The gospel calls for avoiding fellowship with non-Christians and not even welcoming them: “Everyone who transgresses the teaching of Christ and does not abide in it does not have God... Whoever comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house and do not greet him; for whoever greets him participates in his evil deeds” (2 John 1:10). Christianity calls to renounce your relatives and friends, for the sake of cult ideas:

“Not everyone is worthy of Me. Only the one who hates his father and his mother and all his neighbors for the sake of my name is worthy of me”, “The enemies of a man are his household,” Jesus Christ teaches.

In the course of history, Christianity, like many other cults, has become a less totalitarian organization, decentralized, moved away from a literal understanding of its original teachings; All these processes continue up to the present day. Nevertheless, in this cult even now there are destructive elements that have an extremely negative effect on the psyche of adherents.

About the Russian Orthodox Church

The Orthodox Church in Russia is the dominant religious organization. It has a centralized structure headed by a patriarch. In fact, the nuclei of parish communities, united around some priest or group of them, and monasteries are sectarian cells with local leaders. It is in them that destructive methods of influencing a person are practiced on a full scale. The Orthodox Church consists of a combination of these cells and other elements. That is, not all who consider themselves Orthodox are subject to tangible destructive influence, and this influence has a different degree of destructiveness, depending on the priest or rector.

In Russia, up to 70% of the population considers themselves Orthodox, about 1-3% share the Orthodox teaching and perform rituals, most of them are in the sphere of the destructive influence of Orthodoxy. These people are simply zombified, arguments about faith with them are useless, logical reasoning does not work on them.

On the specifics of recruiting new members

The recruitment process in the Orthodox Church is very specific. The fact is that for the majority of the population of our country, Orthodoxy is a traditional religion. That is, most people consider themselves Orthodox, while not performing most of the rituals and having a very vague idea of ​​​​the Orthodox dogma. For them, the Orthodox Church is a very authoritative organization. Naturally, if they “awaken” religiosity in them or for other reasons that prompt them to “come” to religion, they will come to the Orthodox Church, and not to some Krishnaites or Pentecostals. That is, in the Orthodox Church there is a division into churched and unchurched, and the believer, in most cases, takes the step between these steps on his own.

In addition, there is traditional recruitment. Preachers of Orthodoxy often speak at various public meetings, in the media, and are active in the army; in their activities they enjoy the full support of the state authorities. Orthodoxy makes persistent and very successful attempts to penetrate schools, universities, and hospitals. There is a deceptive recruitment here: when a person goes somewhere, not expecting to hear religious sermons there, but hears them there. The latest know-how is the preaching of Orthodoxy at concerts and in the work of rock bands, moreover, the most popular rock bands.

On the mechanism of governing believers

Orthodoxy, as, indeed, the vast majority of the so-called sectarians, does not have a physical impact on its adherents, after all, outside the window of the 21st century. But it exerts strong moral pressure, which sometimes works much better than physical. For example, no one forces a believer to donate, but he is told (and he certainly trusts the Orthodox Church!) that he will be rewarded in heaven for his donation, and here, of course, he is in a hurry to get himself a “heavenly treasure” and more . Or another example: no one forbids a believer to read anti-God books, but they tell him that by doing so he will offend God and, look, he will go to hell forever, where “eternal torment ... weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Naturally, no such believer will seek to read atheistic books. More about this: Orthodoxy does not hold back anyone and does not prevent the adept if he decides to break with him, but at the same time he unequivocally states that apostates will forever suffer in fire and brimstone with the devil and other evil spirits. Of course, a believer does not want to burn in hell, and this is a serious obstacle to breaking with Orthodoxy.

Perhaps some believer will be indignant and say that I am lying all the time, so he freely reads atheistic books, criticizes the church, etc. The answer for him: I'm only talking about believers who are under the strong destructive influence of the cult, probably you are not one of those. However, there are still believers who read atheistic books in order to expose them or for some other reason, but those who cannot approach them impartially and see in them only a fig.

Mind Control in the Orthodox Church

Now we will directly consider the destructive influence of Orthodoxy, which lies in the control over the consciousness of adherents. Mind control consists in controlling 4 components:

1) information

2) behavior

3) thinking

4) emotions

Information control in the Orthodox Church:

1. Use of deceit (lie): intentional withholding of information; misrepresenting information to make it acceptable; open deception.

An adherent of Orthodoxy in the church will never be told about contradictions in the Bible; about the controversial points of dogmatics; about examples of immoral behavior of priests; about the inquisitorial activity of St. Joseph Volotsky; about the persecution of the Old Believers; about the most severe persecution of pagans, Arians and Monophysites in the Eastern Roman Empire, blessed by many Orthodox saints; about the genocide of the peoples of Canaan, arranged by order of the biblical god himself.

And if they suddenly tell, then in such a way as to put everything in a light favorable to Orthodoxy, and, of course, they will not disdain deception.

But, for sure, the novice will be told in the most detailed way about the “miracle” of the Holy Fire, about the incorruptibility of relics, about myrrh-streaming, about miracles in the lives of saints, about the expulsion of demons in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, about the fact that man was created by God from the earth and about much and much more. Naturally, the truth (or at least the opposite opinion) about all of the above will not be told to him. Whether because of being in a state of self-deception, or because of the desire to deceive.

Consider a blatant example of information distortion in the Orthodox Church. Let's look at the second commandment:

In the Bible it sounds like this:

Do not make yourself an idol and no image what is in heaven above, and what is on the earth below, and what is in the water below the earth; do not worship them and do not serve them.

In all Orthodox books (God's Law, Prayer Book, etc.) it sounds like this:

Do not make yourself an idol and any semblance, a fir tree in heaven, a mountain, and a fir tree on the earth below, and a fir tree in the waters under the earth: do not bow down to them, nor serve them.

That is, the biblical commandment forbids making any images. But this is not consistent with the icon veneration accepted in Orthodoxy. And so, to resolve this contradiction, The Orthodox Church distorts the Bible.

2. Access to non-cult sources of information is minimized or adherence to them is eliminated.

Orthodoxy propagandizes a negative attitude towards various "entertainment" programs, books, magazines and events. Reading "heretical" and atheistic literature and visiting related websites is strongly discouraged and considered sinful (essentially prohibited). For example, on the Kuraev forum, you can not give links to such resources (they are simply deleted).

3. Widespread use of information and propaganda created within the framework of the cult.

Orthodoxy in Russia is promoted by a significant number of newspapers, magazines, and websites. There is an Orthodox radio "Radonezh", Orthodox programs on television.

Control of behavior in the Orthodox Church:

1. Regulation of individual physical reality

TO to the laity no specific requirements are put forward, but, however, it is recommended not to dress flashy, not to wear bright and defiant hairstyles, to give preference to the classic style. It is not recommended to eat a lot and tasty (to fall into gluttony), a significant number of days a year fast. Long sleep is also not recommended.

physical reality monks strictly controlled. They live according to a certain schedule, live in a certain place, wear monotonous clothes, eat little food (usually, no meat at all). They sleep little. Their whole life passes in accordance with the charter of the monastery and the will of the spiritual father. The monks are completely financially dependent on the monastery, they do not have personal money and property.

All this leads to alienation from the "outside" world, physical and mental exhaustion, increased suggestibility and autosuggestibility. The adept has a comfortable feeling of belonging to the "brotherhood", which binds him even more strongly to Orthodoxy.

2. Devotion of considerable time to the rituals of the cult

Lay people are advised to pray at least 2 times a day and go to church at least once a week. Particularly "advanced" lay people are advised to devote all their free time to prayers, pious reflections and reading cult literature.

Monks are required to pray all the time and very often participate in divine services. The Jesus Prayer is common: when a person constantly says “in his mind”: “Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.”

This leads to a lack of time to reflect on one's faith. Prayers have a meditative effect.

3. Having to ask permission for important decisions

This leads to distrust of oneself, which has a destructive effect on the individual. The criticality of the adept drops noticeably. He begins to trust other people's opinions more than his own. However, he accepts it as his own.

4. Condemnation of individualism

Most Orthodox leaders completely reject individualism. Considers it a product of heretical Protestantism and a sign of pride.

5. Presence of strict rules and regulations

For the laity, wearing a pectoral cross, having icons in the house, covering the head in the temple; observance of fasts, participation in rituals, etc.

The monks all life is in accordance with a strict routine.

6. The need for obedience and dependence.

Obedience is proclaimed one of the main virtues.

Mind Control in the Orthodox Church

1. Proclamation of the teachings of the cult as the only true and saving

The teaching of the Orthodox Church is declared to be the only true one, all other teachings are considered either incorrect or distorted. For an adept, the world is divided into black and white (Orthodox and non-Orthodox).

2. Language Manipulation

In the Orthodox Church, during divine services and prayers, the Church Slavonic language is used, which is incomprehensible to “outsiders”. In the everyday life of adherents of Orthodoxy, internal cult words and expressions are also used, for example, instead of “thank you”, the Orthodox say “God save”, etc. This alienates the adept from the outside world, he becomes better when he is in a cult atmosphere.

Also in Orthodoxy there is a specific use of some terms, for example, pride, freedom, love, etc. are understood in their own way.

3. Refusal of rational thinking

It is often said that faith is a purely irrational phenomenon. That religious truths must be comprehended with the heart, and not with the mind. That for spiritual development it is necessary to unconditionally trust what the Orthodox Church teaches. Adepts are urged to believe in spite of all doubts and logical arguments.

4. Disapproval of criticality

Criticism of the doctrine is prohibited, it is declared a manifestation of pride. If something confuses the adept and a satisfactory explanation is not found, then he is told that it is either too early for him to understand it, or that this is a mystery inaccessible to the human mind, or this is a temptation from Satan.

5. Using techniques to stop thinking: monotonous speaking; saying prayers; singing.

During the divine service, there is unintelligible singing of the choir, reading "in chant" of prayers by the priest, group pronunciation of prayers. All this has a strong meditative effect. There is a monotonous repetition of a significant number of times of some prayers, for example, during rituals, the words “Lord, have mercy” are often repeated. The psyche is also influenced by such elements of the Orthodox Church as a significant number of icons, made mainly in gloomy colors; many burning candles, etc. In general, Orthodox rituals are equivalent in their effect to meditation. They act on the adept in the likeness of a drug. They tie him to a cult and negatively affect mental activity.

Emotion control in the Orthodox Church

1. Manipulating feelings

The feelings and emotions of the adept acquire a cult coloration. He tries to suppress or eliminate some natural feelings (for example, feelings for the opposite sex, hunger for fasting, etc.). On the other hand, the cult itself dictates to him what feelings he should experience (for example, adherents of Orthodoxy are called to rejoice at Easter, mourn on certain days, constantly remember their sins, etc.)

2. Imposing a sense of guilt and an inferiority complex

The adept is suggested that he is a sinful person, that he offends God daily with his behavior, that he is not worthy of salvation, and the reason for this is his pride, laziness, disobedience, etc. That if he is saved, it is only thanks to the great mercy of God and the intercession of the church. Some Orthodox figures argue that all people are guilty not only of their personal sins, but also, for example, of the murder of the royal family, persecution of the church, or the not very favorable socio-economic situation in the country. In prayers, the adept often calls himself "cursed", "sinful", "insane", guilty of all sins, in general, lowers himself to the fullest. Repeating this day after day, he seriously begins to think so.

3. Ritual recognition of "sins"

In Orthodoxy there is a confession. Its essence lies in the fact that the adept tells the priest about his sins, while it is believed that he confesses to Jesus Christ himself, and the priest is only his representative. Naturally, the adept is forced to talk about his life "from and to". Because of this, he first experiences a feeling of fear and shame, then a feeling of relief. This leads to the erasure of the boundaries of his personality, to the aggravation of dependence on the cult.

4. Overuse of fear

Virtue is the fear of God (fear of offending God). Also, fear of the afterlife, of demons, of the coming of the Antichrist, etc., is often instilled.

5. Extreme emotional peaks and valleys.

For example, adherents are in a depressed state before confession and communion, and after communion they experience a sharp emotional upsurge.

6. The promise of "God's help"

The adept is promised ecclesiastical and divine supernatural help if he lives in accordance with the requirements of the cult. At the same time, successes are attributed to God, and the adept himself is to blame for failures.

7. Moral barriers to leaving a cult

According to the teaching of the Orthodox Church, apostates from the faith will burn in hell forever. If a person has not yet completely lost faith, then this circumstance does not allow him to criticize the cult or leave it.

Conclusion

All of the above shows that Orthodoxy is a destructive cult and has an extremely negative effect on the psyche of its adherents. This, of course, does not mean that it should be banned. In no case! But at the same time, it must be admitted that the Orthodox Church is no better than Hare Krishnas, charismatics, Jehovah's Witnesses and other so-called sectarians. In this regard, it is extremely important, not in words, but in deeds, to separate Orthodoxy from the state, to stop its penetration into state structures, and to stop sponsoring this cult by the state. It is necessary to equalize all religions in rights. It is equally important to honestly and impartially inform the population about the destructive nature of Orthodoxy.

Recent publications on related topics

BODY AND SPIRITUAL COMPOSITION OF A HUMAN

The teaching of the Holy Fathers of the Orthodox Church speaks of human nature as a tripartite composition of spirit, soul and body - the so-called trichotomy. However, there is another view of human nature: as a combination of soul and body (dichotomism). The Orthodox Church accepts both of these teachings. The Catholic West has always recognized only dichotomy. In Orthodoxy, there were dichotomists among the Fathers and Doctors of the Church: St. Cyril of Jerusalem, St. Basil the Great, Blessed. Theodoret, blessed Augustine, Rev. John of Damascus. But there were also trichotomists: Tertullian, St. Justin the Philosopher, St. Efrem Sirin. In the 20th century, most Russian Orthodox authors tended towards trichotomism.

Dichotomists see in the "spirit" the highest ability of the rational soul, the ability through which a person enters into communion with God. “The human soul,” says St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, “as a spirit created from God, cannot find pleasure, rest, peace, consolation and joy in anything else, as soon as in God, from whom it was created in His image and likeness; and when she is separated from Him, she is forced to seek pleasure for herself in creatures, and to feed herself with various passions, like horns, but she does not find proper rest and consolation, and so she should die from hunger, for the spirit needs spiritual food. That is, the spirit must find its food in God, live by God; the soul must be nourished by the spirit; the body must live by the soul—such was the original arrangement of the immortal nature of man. The afflicted spirit, departed from God, instead of giving food to the soul, begins to live at the expense of the soul, to feed on what we usually call “spiritual values” in a worldly way (fiction, music, spectacles); the soul, in turn, begins to live the life of the body. When the spiritual prevails over the higher (spiritual), a person begins to fall, but when the spiritual prevails, it enriches and directs the entire human composition to God. According to the teaching of the Orthodox Church, a person “consists of an immaterial and rational soul and a material body” (Orthodox Catechism).

The idea of ​​the human soul as an essence, special and incomparably superior in its significance to everything sensible, penetrates all the frank teaching about man of the Old and New Testaments.

Speaking in the Book of Genesis (ch. 2) about the creation of man, the God-seer Moses gives details that largely explain the mysterious duality of the human being: And God created man, dust from the face of the earth, and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul.(Gen. 2:7). God created the human body from the earth - this is the material world in man, breathed into him the spirit of life - this is the spiritual world in him. The creation of man is the creation of a living being, by which the visible and invisible are brought into unity.

The bodily-spiritual composition of a person is confirmed by other places of Holy Scripture. Job, addressing his comforting friends, says: Be silent, let me speak, and rest from anger, earthing my flesh with my teeth, but I will put my soul in my hand(Job 13:13-14). The psalmist David cries out before God: Moreover, my flesh will also dwell in hope, as if you would not leave my soul in hell, below, give Your reverend to see destruction(Ps. 15:9-10). Ecclesiastes on the death of man: And the dust will return to the earth, as if, and the spirit will return to God, Who gave him(Eccl. 12:7).

In the New Testament we read the words of Christ the Savior Himself: Fear not those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul; Fear more than the Mighty and destroy both soul and body in Gehenna(Matt. 10:28) - from which it is clear that a person consists of a body and a soul. The Apostle James writes: Just as the body without the spirit is dead, so is faith without deeds dead.(James 2:26). The apostle Paul also teaches: May the God of peace Himself sanctify you who are all perfect (in everything): and your spirit and soul and body are all perfect at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, may(1 Thess. 5:23). Glorify God in your bodies and in your souls, which are God's(1 Cor. 6:20).

Everything that is best and most perfect in the composition of the visible world is concentrated in the human body, so that it truly is a small world in the great world of God. But the body with its organs constitutes only the external, visible side of the human composition, while the invisible and spiritual side is the soul - a being completely different from the body, towering above it and above all visible nature with its perfections and advantages. It is the breath of God and has not an earthly nature, but an extramundane, heavenly one. It is the highest and most excellent part of man.

SOUL

Godlike soul- a simple, incorporeal, rational, free, life-giving being. As a simple being, it is indivisible; as an incorporeal being, it is invisible; as a life-giving being, it is immortal.

St. John of Damascus gives the following definition of the soul: “The soul is a living, simple, incorporeal essence, by its nature invisible to bodily eyes, immortal, thinking and rational, not having a definite form – it uses the organic body and gives it life, and growth, and feeling , and the force of birth. The soul is free, has the ability to desire and activity; it is changeable in regard to the will. All this the soul received from the grace of the Creator (Creator), from whose grace it received both being and a special kind of nature.

St. Gregory the Theologian teaches thus: “The soul is an intellectually contemplative being, eternally abiding, the image and breath of the Almighty God, a particle of the Divine (of course, not in the proper meaning of this word), a stream of invisible Divinity and infinite light. Divine and inextinguishable light, enclosed in a cave (in the body), but Divine and inextinguishable.

There are four different types of animal beings: some of them are immortal and inspired - what are the Angels, others have mind, spirit, soul, body and breath - what are people, others have breath and soul - what are animals, and others only life - what are plants, in whose life is without soul, without breath, without mind and immortality” (St. Anthony the Great).

“The nature of the human soul, in contrast to the nature of the angels, has a life-giving spirit and, through its activity, animates the earthly body connected with it” (St. Gregory the Theologian).

“People have a rational soul, but animals have a feeling soul” (St. John Chrysostom).

St. Ephraim the Syrian says that our soul is the most beautiful and superior to all creatures, the creation most beloved by God, sealed with the mystery of His grace and wisdom.

* * *

The soul is a being immaterial, simple. This is what the Word of God teaches when it calls the soul a spirit: The Spirit itself will obey our spirit, as we are a child of God(Rom. 8:16); Who is the message from a person, even in a person, is like the spirit of a person living in him: so also no one knows God, just the Spirit of God(1 Cor. 2:11).

The soul cannot be seen with bodily eyes, cannot be touched, felt by any bodily senses: the soul is a spiritual nature, an incorporeal force.

St. Maximus the Confessor refutes the opinion about the corporality of the soul as a spirit - the image of God, as follows: “If the soul is a living body, then something must move it from within. Then we have to assume that there is a soul in the soul. If, however, they say that God moves us, then they will have to recognize the Divinity as the cause of those inappropriate and shameful movements, of which we, as you know, are very numerous. If any addition and decomposition is appropriate only in bodies, then the soul is not a body, since it does not participate in anything of the kind. As an image of the mental, we call it mental, but as an image of the immortal, and incorruptible, and invisible, we recognize these qualities in it too. As an image of the incorporeal - and incorruptible, that is, alien to any materiality.

So, the soul, like the angels, is a certain substance, but incorporeal and immaterial.

* * *

Soul is a being free. The idea of ​​the freedom of the human soul is expressed in countless places in Holy Scripture. First, in all those places where commandments are given to man and obedience to the law of God is required of him; secondly, where various rewards are offered to a person for the fulfillment of the commandments, and especially eternal bliss; finally, where for the violation of the commandments, various punishments, temporal and eternal, are predicted to the guilty.

For example: Life and death are given before your face, a blessing and an oath: choose the life, may you and your seed live(Deut. 30, 19); If you do not want to serve the Lord, choose for yourself today whom you will serve(Josh. 24:15); Create man yourselves from the beginning, and leave him in the hand of will: if thou wilt, keep the commandments, and do the faith of good will(Sir. 15, 14-15); If you want to go into the stomach, keep the commandments(Matthew 19:17).

The Holy Fathers and teachers of the Church proved the freedom of the human soul by the fact that we have consciousness of our freedom, that freedom is an inalienable property of a rational being and distinguishes man from lower animals, that only by free obedience and service can we please God, and without freedom there is no religion. , no morality, no merit.

* * *

Like the spirit of the soul of man immortal. The soul has its own rational, spiritual life, which can be clearly distinguished from the life of the body. Therefore, the soul, as a spirit, does not disintegrate with the body during the disintegration of the body, but remains immortal.

SOUL AND BODY

According to St. Gregory Palamas, the soul, created together with the body, is everywhere in the body, and not only in one specific place of the body, as containing and surpassing the body. Saint John of Damascus has a similar idea: “The soul unites with the whole body with everything, and not part with part, and is not contained by it, but contains it, like iron fire, and, staying in it, produces its own actions.”

“The body is not stronger than the soul,” says St. Irenaeus, “since the soul inspires and animates, and regenerates, and builds the body; the soul possesses the body and rules over it. The body is like an instrument, and the soul takes the place of artists… Giving life to the body, the soul itself does not cease to live.”

“Despite its invisibility,” writes St. Gregory of Nyssa, “the soul is a being completely different from the body, acting in it and through it, observing and knowing through its organs. This mental process, which takes place internally, testifies to the existence of a higher, spiritual power in the body.

So, the body often lies on the ground, and the person imagines and contemplates what is in heaven. The body often rests, is silent, and the person is inwardly in motion and contemplates what is outside of him, moving and moving from country to country, meeting with acquaintances. The body is by nature mortal, but man contemplates immortality; the body is temporary, but man imagines the eternal. The body itself will think nothing of the kind, because it is mortal and temporary. There must be something else that would think of an opposite and unnatural body. And this is a rational and immortal soul - mind - spirit.

“It is natural for the eye to look and the ear to listen; why do they turn away one and choose another? Who turns the eye away from sight? Or who closes the hearing for hearing? Or who keeps from the natural inclination the taste, which is by nature meant to be eaten? Who forbids anything else to be touched by a hand that is by nature active? Who does this contrary to what is natural to the body? Or why the body, turning away from what is required by nature, leans on the advice of another (that is, the mind) and is curbed by its wave? All this proves nothing else than a rational soul dominating the body.

The body does not move itself, but is set in motion by another, just as a horse does not harness itself, but is forced by the one who owns it. Therefore, laws are given to people - to do good and turn away from vice; for the dumb, deprived of reason and thinking, the bad remains indistinct, and the good remains indifferent” (St. Athanasius the Great).

“Man is a being formed by the unity of body and soul (spirit), and without a body he would not be a man, but an Angel, just as with one body without the Divine Spirit he would be an animal, not a man. The body is an instrument of the soul, a kind of garment and covering for the soul” (Saint Cyril of Alexandria).

St. Gregory the Theologian explains that the soul and body during the life of a person are most closely related to each other by the manifestation of the wisdom of God, providentially establishing this union. According to the saint, the soul is connected with the body so that in the struggle and battle with the body we constantly turn our eyes to God ... so that we know that we are at the same time great and insignificant, earthy and heavenly, mortal and immortal. The soul is united with the body so that if we decide to be proud of the image of God in us, our earthly nature would humble us. The body is perishable and short-lived, but the soul is Divine and immortal and, being the breath of God, is united with the body for testing and ascent to the likeness of God.

SPIRIT AND SOUL

The Apostle Paul, wishing to designate the spiritual nature of man as opposed to the bodily, calls it either the soul or the spirit (1 Cor. 6:20; 5:3-5). But he also has places in the Epistles where he distinguishes the soul and spirit as two sides of the same spiritual nature of man, or specifically designates the spirit in the soul as its highest ability: For the word of God is alive, and active, and sharper than any sword, sharper than any sword, and sharper than any sword, and passing even to the division of the soul and the spirit, the members and the marrow, and judging by the thought and thought of the heart(Heb. 4:12); And your spirit and soul and body are perfect at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, may(1 Thess. 5:23). Here, by spirit is meant a separate and independent of the soul substance, the inner, innermost side of the soul. The relation of the soul and spirit is put in parallel with the relation of the compounds (members) and the brain to the body; but just as the latter constitutes the inner part of the same bodily being, or the content in relation to the containing, so, obviously, the spirit is conceived by the apostle as the innermost part of the spiritual being of man. For the apostle, the spirit means that special high structure of the innermost part of the soul, which is created under the influence of the grace of the Holy Spirit. St. Gregory of Nyssa also admitted in a person, besides the body, a feeling soul, similar to the soul of animals, and a soul that animals do not have - a spirit.

The spirit is given by God as a life-giving principle in order to control the soul and body. In other words, the spirit is the life force of man as an immortal being; scientists call it that: vitalistic (life) force.

In animals, the soul, together with the body, was produced by the earth: And speech God: let the waters bring forth the reptiles of the living souls ... And the speech God: let the earth bring forth the living soul according to its kind, the four-footed and creeping things, and the beasts of the earth according to their kind. And be a taco(Gen. 1:20-24).

And only about man it is said that after the creation of his body from the dust of the earth, the Lord God I will blow into his face the breath of life, and be a man I live in my soul(Gen. 2:7).

The Monk Seraphim of Sarov taught that words I will blow into his face the breath of life mean that "God did not create only flesh for Adam from the earth, but together with it he gave the soul and the spirit to man." “The body and soul of man were created at the same time, together, and at that very moment they breathed in (how they breathed in - this is inexplicable) a god-like spirit, so that man immediately appeared in all his greatness and was perfect in soul and body” (St. John of Damascus).

SPIRIT

All parts of human nature were created from the dust of the earth, and Adam was created as an active animal being, like other animated God's creatures living on earth. “But here is the strength, that if the Lord God had not then breathed into his face this breath of life, that is, the grace of the Holy Spirit, elevating him to god-like dignity, then he would be like all other creatures, although they have flesh and soul, belonging to their kind, but not having the Holy Spirit within themselves. When the Lord God breathed into Adam's face the breath of life, then, according to Moses' expression, and be Adam in my soul I live, that is, completely like God in everything and like Him, immortal forever and ever” (St. Seraphim of Sarov).

This breath of life and there is a higher principle in man, that is, his spirit, by which he immeasurably rises above all other living beings. Therefore, although the human soul is in many ways similar to the soul of animals, in its highest part it incomparably surpasses the soul of animals, precisely because of its combination with the spirit that is from God. The human spirit is like a link between the body and the soul.

This means that the body and soul are not yet the whole person, or rather, they are not the complete person. Something higher stands above the body and soul, namely the spirit, which often acts as a judge of both the soul and the body and evaluates everything from a special, higher point of view.

The spirit from God, combined with the soul of animals, elevated it to the level of the human soul, and man became twofold.

“The animal soul, where are feelings, where irritation and lust, makes us small chim higher than animals, but the spirit reveals us small chim belittled and from the angels. Man has a spirit whose true life is life in God. The Spirit, - says St. Theophan the Recluse, - as a power emanating from God, knows God, seeks God and finds rest in Him alone. Convinced of his origin from God by some spiritual, innermost instinct, he feels his complete dependence on Him and recognizes himself obliged to please Him in every possible way and live only for Him and Them, and sanctify the animal part of the soul and the body itself to the point of dispassion.

The human spirit, according to St. Theophan, is “an organ of communion with God, a God-conscious, God-seeking and God-living power. Its essential features are consciousness and freedom, the principles that move it are faith in God, a feeling of comprehensive dependence on Him and confidence in Him. The manifestations of his life are the fear of God, the actions of conscience and the thirst for communion with God, expressed (from the outside) by dissatisfaction with anything created. This is the breath of god-like life that God breathed in at the creation of the primordial, and which returns to God after death, according to Ecclesiastes.

St. Luke Voyno-Yasenetsky writes: “A person’s soul is much higher in essence, for the spirit participating in its activity is incomparable with the spirit of animals. He can possess the highest gifts of the Holy Spirit, which the holy prophet Isaiah (11:1-3) calls the spirit of the fear of God, the spirit of knowledge, the spirit of power and strength, the spirit of light, the spirit of understanding, the spirit of wisdom, the Spirit of the Lord, or the gift of piety and inspiration in the highest degree.

The spirit and soul of a person are inseparably united during life into a single essence; but one can also see different degrees of spirituality in people. There are "spiritual" people, according to the Apostle Paul (1 Cor. 2:14).

There are ... people - cattle, people - grass, there are people - angels. The former are not much different from cattle, for their spirituality is very low, while the latter approach incorporeal spirits, which have neither body nor soul.

So, the soul can be understood as a set of organic and sensual perceptions, traces of memories, thoughts, feelings and volitional acts, but without the obligatory participation in this complex of higher manifestations of the spirit, which are not characteristic of animals and some people. App speaks about them. Judas: These are soulful people who have no spirit(Jude 19).

In self-consciousness during life, the life of the spirit is closely intertwined with those mental acts that are common to man and animals, that is, with organic sensations and sensory perceptions: these latter, in turn, are inextricably linked with the life of the body, especially the brain, and disappear with the death of the body. Therefore, the primitive soul of animals is mortal, just as those elements of human self-consciousness that come from the dead body (organic and sensory perceptions) are mortal.

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There is in the soul fear of God- this is a reverent awe before the greatness of God, inextricably linked with the unchanging faith in the truth of the existence of God, in the reality of the existence of God as our Creator, Provider, Savior and Giver.

Just as an unbridled horse, throwing off the bridle from its mouth and overthrowing the rider from its back, rushes faster than any wind and is impregnable for those who meet it, so the soul, rejecting the fear of God that restrains it and casting aside the reason that controls it, runs through the camps of wickedness until rushing into the abyss of death, he will overthrow his own salvation into the abyss.

The spirit contains the feeling of the Divine - conscience and dissatisfaction with anything.

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Conscience- this is an inner feeling that determines the value, spirituality, legality, duty, morality, ethics of both individuals and all of humanity. This is an assessment of actions in terms of good and evil, necessary and universal.

Conscience is a marvelous reflection of the Divine in man. God has inscribed in the soul of man the requirements of His holiness, truth and goodness, instructing him to observe their fulfillment himself and to judge himself for serviceability or defect. In Holy Scripture, conscience is called a "rival", since it always resists our evil will.

Conscience is a natural law that enlightens the mind and shows it what is good and what is evil. God, creating the human soul, planted in it the seeds of all virtues. For their proper growth, God's influence is necessary. But in the presence of free will, a person can decide for himself whether or not to accept these beneficial influences. This is where our conscience comes into play.

Conscience tells a person what is right and what is wrong, what is pleasing to God and what is not pleasing, what should and what should not be done. But it not only indicates, but also compels a person to fulfill what is indicated, and rewards consolation for fulfillment, and punishes remorse for non-fulfillment. Conscience is our inner judge - the guardian of the Law of God. No wonder conscience is called the "voice of God" in the human soul.

“Conscience has a natural desire for God and is a book of God's commands. If we do not obey our conscience, then our lamp, shining behind the veil (the will of sin), shows things already darker and darker, and how in the water clouded from much silt we do not recognize our face ”(St. John of the Ladder).

Abba Dorotheos argues that one should always keep one's conscience towards God and not neglect His commandments even in the depths of one's soul, in secret. It is also necessary to keep a conscience towards your neighbors, that is, not to do what offends or tempts them with deed, word, appearance, look. Even with things, a good conscience teaches you to handle with care, to keep them and not to spoil them.

Conscious of being obliged to please God, the spirit would not know how to satisfy this duty if it were not for the guidance of conscience.

The Holy Fathers say: use conscience in all your deeds instead of a lamp, because it perfectly shows all your deeds in life, both bad and good.

“Conscience is a true teacher: he who hears it is not subject to stumbling” (Abba Thalassius).

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Thirst for God- the third manifestation of the spirit in man. Our spirit cannot be satisfied with anything created and earthly until it finds complete satisfaction in God, for living communion with Whom the human spirit always consciously or unconsciously strives.

Such are the manifestations of the spirit in a person, which should be the guiding principle in the life of every person, that is, to live in communion with God, in the will of God and abide in God's love, which means fulfilling one's purpose on earth and inheriting eternal life.

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Saint Macarius of Egypt says: "A body without a soul is dead, and without a spirit the soul is dead for the Kingdom of God."

The body, soul and spirit of a person are in a certain relationship, and the nature of this relationship is determined by the moral state of a person.

The combination of the spirit with the soul of the animal in man resulted in the elevation of the soul, its transformation into the human soul. This is due to the versatility of life states in a person (a set of feelings, views, rules), as “corporality”, “soulfulness”, “spirituality” and intermediate between them. The same explains the duality of a person's motives in the conditions of earthly existence: "one pulls his grief, the other - to the lu."

The experience of the 20th century is a demonstrative experience of universal charm. All sorts of "isms", from political to psychiatric, have brought the world to the brink of disaster.

But the experience of true freedom can still be revealed to the world, and this experience is repentance, a change in consciousness. The experience of the transformation of the fallen mind, its sanctification, deification. This is the only true experience, unappreciated by mankind, and if appreciated, then fairly forgotten.

The trouble is, if nothing happens in the life of a Christian, if his soul is lukewarm, like in a village puddle. The trouble is if “everything is normal” and habitual in spiritual life. But what about the Kingdom of God, which is “needy”, but what about “zeal for great gifts”, but what about that “perfection” to which the Lord calls us?! In a word, each of us is called to the fullness of spiritual life and to be content with less is a sin not only of laziness and indifference, but, above all, dislike of God.

It's like we're living in a "pretend". We pretend to pray, pretend to fast, pretend to repent, and nothing happens in our lives. No transformation, no insight and change of consciousness!

Lent is a time of overcoming the flesh, a time of effort by which a different vision of the world is acquired: incomparable, amazing, perfect ... infinitely surpassing all human experiences. What the Lord calls the Kingdom of God is within us.

Satan is devoid of creativity, he only perverts God's ideas and all "isms" from psychiatric to political are just surrogates of truth, fakes that exploit one property of the human soul. This property is longing for the Kingdom of God!

Fasting and prayer are the means of acquisition. “Give blood and receive the Spirit,” say the holy fathers. By "blood" here is meant the experience of abstaining from sensual pleasures and pleasures, forcing oneself to fulfill the commandments of God, to the Christian life. Here's what: in the transformation of the soul, in reconciliation with God.

Without this real and bright reconciliation, without the amazing experience of the Paschal meeting with the Risen Christ, human life loses its meaning, and there is absolutely nothing to fill it with.

Fasting is the germination of faith through the land of human wickedness, and Easter is the long-awaited meeting of the sprout with the Sun!

Our today's theme sounds so: "Consciousness of the God and consciousness of the person". Sounds very unusual. Why did you choose to phrase it that way?

I think that the task of our today's program "Wind of Joy" (which we air on the last Thursday of every month) is to help people put their soul's navigator in the right place so that the Lord's wind of joy fills the sails of a person's soul. Every person has altered states of consciousness. And in order to understand what altered states of consciousness are, one must understand what clear consciousness is. Holy is the Lord alone, a clear state of consciousness is a state of holiness. The Lord alone is holy by His nature, and an Orthodox person becomes holy by receiving the sacrament of Holy Baptism. Life is the time between baptism and the burial of a person. And during this interval, this holiness is constantly lost, and as the holiness is lost, altered states of consciousness arise.

The Holy Fathers said that a person's thoughts are internal, actually human, and external, coming from outside. And external ones are of three kinds: from God, from the evil one, and from other people. Internal and external thoughts in the mind of a person arise simultaneously. That is, the brain is both a receiver and a transmitter, it is a walkie-talkie that operates in the mode of reception and transmission. And if a person maintains a state of inner holiness, then he receives external thoughts from God, and if he does not support this, then these thoughts come from the evil one.

And it often happens that a person begins to hear what other people do not say. We have all faced such a situation when someone convinced us: “I heard it myself, you said it.” And I, for example, know for sure that I could not say this. But the person who heard it that way is not lying, he is telling the truth. That is, he perceived these thoughts from the evil one that entered him as the speech of the one with whom he was talking. And this is called an altered state of consciousness, what Christ said about: "You will have eyes - and you will not see, you will have ears - and you will not hear." That is, you will see and hear not what is, but what Satan inspired in you.

This is what modern people attach little importance to. We should not be afraid of external thoughts. The Lord told us that nothing that enters a person defiles him, but it defiles what comes out of a person. That is, if we do not have holiness and we do not have enough spiritual immunity, then these thoughts penetrate us - and with the help of dialogues, the concept of the fall of man is created. The man himself says: yes, this, of course, is bad, this is a violation of God's commandment, on the one hand; but, on the other hand, it is very good. An altered state of consciousness is what Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky spoke about: “The soul of a Russian person is wide: both God and Satan fit in it. One must narrow the soul down to one God.”

We can imagine a wide but not deep body of water. For example, our Gulf of Finland near the dam. Once it was called the Marquis puddle. Maybe not many people understand why the Marquis puddle, but when strong winds begin, the color of the water in the bay becomes brown, brown, clay. Because there are shallow depths, and the wave mixes all the booze, all bottom sediments - and everything is stirred up. This is the state of an altered consciousness, when both God and Satan are in the soul, when the soul is wide. And when the soul narrows down to one God, it turns into an ocean. When even the strongest storm is over the ocean, the water in the ocean is transparent, because no waves reach the ocean floor. A submarine can dive into the depths of the ocean - and there will be peace and quiet.

And when a person's soul becomes deep, when the Lord alone lives in it, then all the hurricanes of thoughts that sweep through our emotions do not affect the soul. Because we sacredly understand the words of the Savior: "Nothing that enters a person defiles him." A man says: “Lord, have mercy,” and all this recedes from him. That is, the state of holiness is a state of transparency of the soul and spirit of a person. It is the ability to recognize good and evil. We will devote today's program to this topic and try to measure the time s x opportunities to analyze this really very important problem for people, because it has practical significance.

- A question from a viewer: “I have two questions for you. First, what should true repentance be like? And second: how O is it wrong to reproach oneself for good deeds?

Of course, you have asked very important questions, but it is still important for us that all this be included in the framework of the topic of an altered state of consciousness. Repentance can occur only in a clear and transparent state of consciousness. And a clear and transparent state of consciousness is possible only in a state of holiness, restoration of the image and likeness of God, which the first man Adam lost when he violated God's commandment not to eat the fruits from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

In our earthly life, repentance is restored through the New Testament. Because all the religions that existed before Christ were ladders to God that people tried to build to heaven. And the New Testament is a ladder that the Lord lowered down to people. And the New Testament is the communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, which restore the image and likeness of God. That is, the New Testament is the sacrament. The Lord pronounces the words "New Testament" three times in three evangelists: Matthew, Mark and Luke. And each time in the context: "This is My Body, this is My Blood of the New Testament." In general, the concept of "New Testament" by Christ is not pronounced outside the acceptance of His Body and Blood.

True repentance is impossible without communion. That is, when the fire of the soul goes out in a person, he will never be able to see its dark spots. And in order to see them, it is necessary that a source of inner light appears. Repentance is the restoration of a state of holiness in which we see the dark places of our soul. That is why, in this context, I would say that repentance is impossible only with a logical understanding of sin. Logical reflection can help this repentance, but it can interfere in some way.

Because a person, studying sins, will find all of them in himself, like a student of a medical institute who studies a textbook of psychiatry and makes himself all the diagnoses: personality accentuations, and psychopathy, and neurosis, and manic-depressive psychosis, and schizophrenia, and all kinds of read diseases that a person does not actually have. Yes, they can develop. Because the vision of sin is the vision of the main link of sin. Therefore, the Lord hid our sins from us because of His mercy and because of our weakness. If we saw our sins, we would enter into deep despondency, but we do not see them, and they are revealed to us only when we receive grace. That is, healing grace always comes to help us endure the burden of seeing our sins.

How can good deeds be defined? If the deed that you are doing brings you and another person closer to God, then this is a good deed, and if you are doing a good deed, but you yourself are moving away from God (and the other person is moving away), then it turns out that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. In this sense, of course, you can also understand a good deed only through the sacrament.

In general, the New Testament and the life of an Orthodox person is the unceasing communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, the acceptance of the Body and Blood of Christ. Of course, the frequency of communion may be different, but according to the Mosaic commandment, work six days - give the seventh to God. Once a week is a must. And if a person has greatly lost the image and likeness of God, then one must take communion literally every day until his restoration. When this is restored, perhaps the frequency can be reduced. That is, one should commune so often that one should always be in the image and likeness of God, that there should be a state of holiness in the human soul, a state of transparency, that it would be possible to distinguish between good and evil, that the navigator of the soul would always be directed towards the Kingdom of Heaven. And then the Lord's wind of joy fills the sails of your soul. In other words, the criterion for the correctness of our path is the joy in the Lord, we live as in Christ's bosom.

When the image and likeness of God is restored in a person, then the vision of the Garden of Eden is restored, the state of love for oneself, for one's neighbor and for God is restored. And when we fulfill God's main commandment: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself," then our course movement is restored. That is, in the spiritual life the main thing is the state of holiness. Holiness is the desire for God, it is the restoration of the image and likeness of God through the church sacraments of Confession and Holy Communion.

It can be said that the sacrament of Holy Communion itself also includes the sacrament of Confession, especially in current, minor sins. But when some serious sins come up that bother a person, an in-depth confession is definitely needed. However, in order to find dark places in the basement, you need to have a light source. That is, in order to really see your sins by the grace of God, you must first sanctify your soul, kindle the fire of your soul through the sacrament of Communion. If you like, first communion - then the vision of sins.

But there are such cases: “suddenly the Lord awakened the conscience of a fierce thief.” If the Lord awakened the conscience of a person and some sins haunt him, then, of course, first of all, you need to confess. That is, confession should not be formal, it should not turn into a ticket for communion. When a person does not feel any special sins, then in many churches the priest simply blesses a person for communion, and confesses in those cases when he feels such a need.

Question of a TV viewer: “This often happens to me: I don’t say these words, but they are attributed to me, the main thing is right there, in the same conversation: yes, you told me. And then again, it happens, and gossip about it goes. This is how I quarreled with my matchmaker, because I didn’t say these words, but she attributed them to me. What to do in such cases?

As a consolation, I’ll tell you that this happens to everyone, it’s just that the whole world is a kind of madhouse, where many people hear themselves, they hear not what they are told, but what they want to hear, they take what they wish for reality. Because it's an altered state of consciousness. How can we help such people? First of all, as St. Seraphim of Sarov said, one must save oneself. No need to save these people, you need to kindle the fire of your soul. "Save yourself - and thousands around you will be saved," said the monk.

When you take communion and the fire of your soul flares up brightly, this light will act on these people - and their clear consciousness will be restored. And, looking at you, they will say: “I want to be like you, I see that you live like Christ in your bosom, I also want to live like that.” And then you will be able to say: “This is happening because I regularly take communion.” Because I know that when the first Christians for the first three hundred years and then for almost three hundred more years (almost six centuries) took communion almost every day, they did it for a reason. They had a clear state of consciousness, they could distinguish between light and darkness, good and evil. And they understood that not every thought that arises in a person's head is a product of his consciousness. There are thoughts that come from the evil one.

And when we notice these thoughts, we don’t need to let them in, we need to say: “Lord, have mercy.” What is the therapeutic meaning of the Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner”? Constantly reading this prayer, a person will never miss enemy thoughts. As St. Paisios Svyatogorets said, in order for enemy planes not to land on our airfields, the runways must be occupied by our planes. So that there are no bad thoughts, our consciousness, our memory should be occupied with positive, bright, bright, imaginative memories, sunsets and sunrises - all bright, joyful memories.

And, if you like, the psychological and spiritual protection of a person is the number of bright, bright, positive memories. Because when we feel bad, we can hide in these thoughts as in the grace of God, we can, like a submarine during a strong storm in the ocean, sink below the waves of the sea, and we will always have peace and grace in our souls. Our emotions will be noisy, and there will be grace in our souls. This is the very road that the Lord spoke about: “Seek first the Kingdom of Heaven and its righteousness, and everything else will be added to you.”

Pride, according to the holy fathers, is one of the most terrible sinful inclinations of man. And, probably, this is the most terrible altered human consciousness. Pride leads a person to fall into certain sins. Please tell me, is such a state of altered consciousness, like pride, an obstacle to partaking of the Holy Mysteries of Christ?

Answering this question, I will say right away: if a person does not receive communion, he will have no chance at all to get rid of this condition. And regarding pride I will go a little from afar. If we remember the Garden of Eden, where God the Father was, then this was the time of faith in God. Adam loved God, loved himself, and loved the Garden of Eden. And he was a gardener in the Garden of Eden. According to God's plan, he had to work, take care of the trees, communicate with God and reach the state of deification, because he was created in the image and likeness of God. This tree of the knowledge of good and evil could not be the tree of death, it was the tree of life. But it becomes a tree of death when a person willfully tastes the fruits, and when the Lord gives the fruits, this tree turns into a tree of life.

In fact, when Adam lost that, he lost faith in God, trust in God. That is, God the Father is faith. And after that, the people remained hopeful that God would send His Son into the world and restore their vision of the Garden of Eden. Christ is the hope. And Christ said: “When I leave, I will give you the Spirit of Comfort, the Holy Spirit (Which descended on the apostles on the day of Trinity and Pentecost), and no one will take away your joy from you.” That is, love is the Holy Spirit. Faith, Hope and Love are hypostases of the Holy Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Pride is, perhaps, high spiritual achievements that do not increase the Holy Spirit, the spirit of love, and the soul begins to be filled with a changed spirit. That is, this is a special form of an altered state of consciousness, which can be called spiritual charm. Pride, to one degree or another, is inherent in every person. If we didn’t have pride, we couldn’t study, we wouldn’t build a single house, we probably wouldn’t build beautiful temples. But this pride should be like gasoline in a car: passing along the roads of life, gasoline must burn. And it can turn out the other way around: it does not burn out, but also a trailer with an additional gas tank - a whole tank of gasoline - is recruited.

Pride is like a satellite that goes into orbit: the first knee, the second and the third burn out. Sins are talents without the spirit of love. Undoubtedly, it is impossible to part with pride without constant communion, but also without the appeal of the one who communes to Christ before communion with a request to melt this pride into purposefulness, love, precisely into that state of which the Lord said: “Seek first the Kingdom of Heaven and its righteousness, and everything else will be added to you.” And a person seeks this, and love leaves, and he begins to seek more earthly glory, earthly power, as in the fairy tale about the golden fish, that old woman who wanted to become the mistress of the sea. That is, in fact, this is the spiritual state when the navigator of the soul goes astray - and very big problems arise. I think that not a single sin, including such an outstanding sin as pride, will not go anywhere.

But pride also does not grow in an empty place. After all, all sins grow from some root. For example, drunkenness leads to fornication, fornication to avarice, avarice to despondency, and despondency to pride. And we cannot overcome pride until we overcome inferior sin. We must understand that we can not always overcome this sin head-on, we must look for the root. In other words, if we cut down drunkenness, perhaps pride will be cut down. And then the love of money will become the root; gotta cut it down. Then you need to somehow overcome despondency and, perhaps, prodigal states. It's all like a root system that feeds pride. Why is pride the worst sin? Pride is the tip of a huge, scary iceberg that is becoming apparent. And the underground part of this iceberg, which is 9/10, is invisible. And without Communion, without God, it is impossible to turn these sins into talents.

Viewer's question: "Did Christ (not as God, but as a Man) know and understand that He would still rise after the crucifixion?"

The fact is that Christ was the God-man. And, undoubtedly, He was God in all the fullness of this understanding. But He was also a Human in the fullness of human understanding: He experienced hunger, pain, suffering. And He understood that before He was resurrected, He would have to die on the Cross. And, of course, He went to this Cross, taking upon Himself all the sins of the world. Can you imagine, He was so badly beaten that He had dozens of fatal wounds. Because Pontius Pilate, when he ordered Him to be tortured, gave the soldiers the task of killing Him during the torture in order to ease His martyrdom on the Cross. He wanted to help Him in this way. And He was indeed inflicted with many mortal wounds, but they could not kill Him. According to the results of the study of the Shroud of Turin, there were about 260 fatal wounds.

And He, killed many times, being physically dead, went to the Cross. Only God could do this. But all the pain of the whole world was at that moment in Him. And imagine what He experienced on the Cross as God, when as a Man he exclaimed: “My God, why did You leave Me?” He apparently saw this open hellish abyss and Satan and his army, who rejoiced and waited for Him there, hoping that they would keep Him there. But He destroyed the power of death, death could not hold Him, and all the demons were bound. And He rose from the dead.

Therefore, one should not think that since He was God, this detracts from His feat (since He knew that nothing would happen to Him anyway). No, He felt all the pain as a Human. And this tells us that the human body is capable of containing God. That is, every person is able to contain God. Maybe this will seem a little strange to people: how can this human body contain God? But it doesn't seem strange to us when a person's body contains Satan or a demon. That is, there seems to be no doubt here: yes, demons can easily enter. They say: probably, a demon lives in me. Bes is also a spirit. And, in principle, if a person can accommodate a demon (and he can accommodate a legion of demons), then he can also accommodate God. In this regard, of course, this does not diminish the feat of Christ, since He was God, but, on the contrary, emphasizes this. Because He could voluntarily refuse it, but then the hope that was all over the world (for the restoration of the immortality of man, the road to paradise) would never have been realized.

It is impossible to talk about altered states of consciousness and not touch upon the topic of certain substances that change the consciousness of a person. Many pagan religions use certain narcotic drugs, intoxicants, in order to somehow get closer to the invisible world. Do you think this rapprochement is really happening? Or is it self-deception?

In general, altered states of consciousness are especially understandable for those who drive vehicles. That's when various emergency situations arise, then often a person does not see obstacles on the way, does not see the person he runs into, does not see another car that goes towards him. He is in a special state of consciousness. That is, he does not see with his eyes a clear physical obstacle. And we know how important alcohol is in these altered states of transport. We know that a huge number of accidents happen due to an altered state of consciousness.

Yes, there is fatigue, there is illness, sometimes a person is distracted, dispersed, but alcoholism is 90% of an altered state of consciousness. In other words, when a person takes a certain amount of alcoholic beverages, he actually turns off the system of determining "friend or foe", he really drives away the guardian angel and voluntarily gives his will into the hands of crafty demons. And these crafty demons begin to lead him. That is, in other words, the state of alcoholic intoxication is a state of spiritual charm, at this moment a person’s self-esteem, his pride grow indefinitely, he begins to imagine himself as someone great and perform certain actions that look absurd, ridiculous to others, and he it seems that he is generally just a hero saving the world.

Therefore, undoubtedly, on some substances, on alcohol, on drugs, we see how a person voluntarily changes his consciousness and how demons infinitely guide him. Sometimes relatives say: when he is sober, he is a good person, but when he drinks, it is as if some kind of demon inhabits him, he himself does not know what he is doing. And a person sometimes in the morning also says: “What have I done there?” They tell him, he says: “Is it really me?” As if it wasn't him who did it, but someone who possessed him. And the person does not even understand that it was an altered state of consciousness with a complete lack of critical self-assessment of his actions and that he voluntarily opened the door to demons. In other words, any altered state of consciousness is a voluntary opening of the door of one's soul for demons. And in this sense, alcohol and drugs primarily contribute to this.

I don't mean to say that when a person drinks a small amount of alcohol, he has this altered state of consciousness; I want to say exactly about the intake of alcohol, when a person loses control over himself. That is, here, too, one cannot say that the intake of any amount of alcohol will necessarily lead to an altered state of consciousness, but, in principle, it will be a road in that direction. This does not mean that a person will immediately open up to demons, but after some trait this will happen, and this trait will be different for each person. And only people around will be able to appreciate it. And he himself, when he comes out of this state.

Question of a TV viewer from the Sverdlovsk region: “My daughter has been ill since 2011 with a mental illness. I know that I need to take communion more often so that there are improvements in my soul, but she believes that she did not deserve this, and she is afraid to approach.

Here, nevertheless, one must somehow explain this to the priest, talk with him, because communion is shown to sick people in extreme economy, an extremely gentle approach. Canon 121 of the Sixth Ecumenical Council says: show compassion to the suffering, so as not to plunge the suffering souls into the rapids of despair. That is, firstly, she needs medical treatment; secondly, such a person should be given communion without preparation. It's just that she comes first, at least at the end of the service, to the very communion. And, undoubtedly, repentance should be absolutely excluded from her now, because the demons will immediately turn on delusional interpretations - and the person will feel such sins that are not in him.

Therefore, in this case, such a mentally ill person who feels unworthy of communion should be asked to receive communion without confession, in order to first kindle the fire of his soul. Because any confession in this particular case can be very damaging. And it is necessary to explain to a person that the sacrament is the healing of sinners. That's when a person feels like a sinner, then, on the contrary, it is necessary to take communion more often. It is important that the Lord knock on the heart, that is, one cannot forcibly take communion, but one must explain, persuade; perhaps ask the priest to come to the house and talk. It is very important that this contact be established, and, perhaps, at first, commune her at home, and when the fire of her soul flares up a little, then invite her to church. Therefore, it is imperative to combine drug treatment with communion.

When some Orthodox people encounter mental illness and end up in psychiatric hospitals, they are taken out of an acute state with medication and then given medication for supportive treatment at home. A person gets better, then he does not take these pills and thereby makes a big mistake, and after a while it all comes back. What is mental illness? This is when the insulation is broken in the wires and they spark, and medicines are electrical tape, with which the broken sections are tied. Of course, it is better without electrical tape, but sometimes you can’t do without it.

And mental illness is also a person's road to God. On the contrary, sometimes a disease keeps a person from very many evil deeds, he simply does not have sufficient strength to perform them. Therefore, God must be thanked for everything. And in this case, you need to find an approach to your daughter, after talking with the priest first. This should, of course, be done by the priest, and in such a way that he shows a gentle, warm, kind approach to her. Then her soul will open, she will begin to take communion, and against the background of communion, her mental state will improve. Then, under the supervision of the attending physician, it will be possible to reduce the dose of medications that a person takes outside the hospital.

We are now talking about the negative aspects of such a phenomenon as an altered consciousness, but in many Eastern religions there is such a thing as an enlightened person. Please tell me, within the framework of our Orthodox tradition, can we talk about some kind of enlightenment?

Can we say that a non-Orthodox person can open his soul to God? Can God manifest in the soul of a non-Orthodox person? Undoubtedly, God can manifest where He pleases. We know many examples from the Old Testament when the Lord manifested itself among the pagans. We know, for example, how the Apostle Peter was in the house of Simon the tanner and the Roman centurion was told by an angel to call Peter. That is, he was unbaptized, and an angel of the Lord came to him and said: “Call a man named Peter, who is in the house of Simon the tanner, and he will tell you how to be saved.” It's in the Acts of the Apostles.

And when Peter, having come to his house, began to speak to him and his relatives a word about Christ, at that moment the grace of the Holy Spirit descended on the pagans, and Peter exclaimed: “Who prevents those who have already received the grace of the Holy Spirit from being baptized? » That is, if the grace of the Holy Spirit, the spirit of love, descended, they were in an enlightened state of consciousness and after that they were baptized. Therefore, of course, here, in these practices, this is possible. But it is also possible that demons disguised as angels will descend. At least in the practice that we constantly encounter in our real world, as a rule, these are still manifestations of demonic forces.

But at the same time, I would not want the child to be thrown out with water and that we limit God in the places of manifestation. Therefore, we must not forget that God is for all peoples. This does not mean that all religions are the same, not at all, Orthodoxy is a religion when the ladder was lowered from heaven. But when people try to build a staircase to heaven, this is their business, because perhaps they do not know about that staircase, do not understand it, they do not feel the wind of joy that fills their soul from Orthodoxy. Therefore, everything can be, and only individually it is possible to answer this question. I would not speak so unequivocally, but if people take drugs or some psychoactive substances for enlightenment, this, from my point of view, is an unambiguous demon. That is, this is an unambiguous way out to contacts with the invisible forces of evil. As we can see, in many pagan religions, this was the basis of the exit.

And somewhere, in some Buddhist monasteries (as a result of spiritual contemplative prayer, when a person entered a state of clear vision), this is probably possible; I can imagine it. But to answer this question, you need to see specific people. Therefore, one cannot indiscriminately say: this is good or this is evil. This is the work of God. The sun rises on the good and the evil, and the rain also falls. Our main task is to remember that our greatest sin is judging one another and lacking the spirit of love. “In the time of turmoil and debauchery, do not condemn, brothers, brother ...”

We must constantly remember the words of Basil the Great: "Slander is the truth without love." Therefore, each of us, speaking of his brother, without having a sufficient spirit of love for him, is a slanderer, even if, from our point of view, we report the right things. That is, it can be said that whenever we lack the spirit of love, we are still in an altered state of consciousness and see a caricature picture of a person. And the Lord, who abides in a clear consciousness, always sees the true appearance of a person. And a person seems lost to us, but the Lord knows that a great future awaits this person, the Kingdom of Heaven awaits him. Therefore, no one should ever be condemned, because "Judge not, lest you be judged." And "forgive us, O Lord, our debts, as we also forgive our debtors."

Why do people sometimes receive communion and do not feel a meeting with Christ? Firstly, Ignatius (Bryanchaninov) said that they rarely take communion; I need to partake more often for this. Secondly, we come to partake in the spirit of condemnation, condemning one of our neighbors, and the priest, giving us the Body and Blood, says: "For the remission of sins and for eternal life." And sins can only go away when we forgive those who offended us. But we cannot forgive these people, and we do not ask God to give us the grace of forgiveness. It should be said: "Lord, give the grace of forgiveness to those who offended us." The Holy Fathers always rejoiced when someone offended them: “Lord, we have forgiven them, and You forgive us our sins.” Whenever there are people who wronged us unfairly, there are some of our sins that will go away if we forgive these people.

Question from a TV viewer from Yekaterinburg: “In our time it is very difficult to pray and prepare for communion because of everyday, official issues. How to set yourself up, where to draw strength, where to get them? And how can you help your family members in this regard?

This question resonates with the topic of our today's program, because I said that one should take communion as often as possible so that there are no altered states of consciousness, but clear states. But the person says that the modern communion rule and the modern requirements of fasting, the canon of repentance, the rule of prayer sometimes take a lot of time and people do not have such a physical opportunity due to their real life to fulfill all this. I want to say that all this prayer rule appeared as people took communion less and less.

When the early Christians took communion every day, they did not have any special rules. And no special posts, except for the posts regulated by the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. And there have always been two ways. Economy is the soft way. “Infants are fed liquid food,” said the apostle Paul. - And when they grow up - solid. Babies in Christ were all people who walked the path of economy, and no special rules were imposed on them, except for those rules that they could really bear.

And acrivia was applied to spiritual ascetics, to monks. And, of course, the Acrivia road is also essential. But somewhere from the 14th century, acrivia began to penetrate the life of Orthodoxy, and in the 18th century, when Tsar Peter changed the structure of the state and the Church did not obey him, but he somehow wanted to weaken the influence of the Church on the world, he adopted a decree on the inadmissibility of attitudes towards Communion as an apothecary drug. The strict rules of the strict ascetic monasteries of the 18th century were taken and transferred to the world. This is the rule that is prescribed to us today - in part this is the same rule. And people began to take communion less and less. By the beginning of the 20th century, many people began to receive communion once a year, because when a person received communion once a year, he received a certificate from the priest and he was given income tax benefits due to the decree of the Synod.

In fact, here you need to ask the priest to speak with him individually, so that, when possible, to fulfill the rule. The rules are good, pious, but they were never binding. Today they are sometimes elevated to mandatory rank. In this case, it is necessary to find personal contact with the priest. Therefore, probably, in some temples there will be a hard approach (this is correct and understandable), and in some - a soft one.

For example, in our temple in Yukki, we apply an individual approach to each person according to his weakness and illness. But my temple is generally filled with sick people, including the mentally ill, so I, being a doctor, understanding their condition, have the opportunity to show extreme economy towards them. After all, when a priest gives communion to a patient in a hospital, no rules are required there, especially in intensive care, for dying people. Therefore, many priests need to think about this: after all, approach people as sick, as weak. And when a person gets stronger, then you can put more on him.

But it is very bad that sometimes these good, pious rules become an insurmountable wall that blocks a person from God. These rules should help to get closer to God, but here such a fence is being built that sometimes a person cannot get over it. And people can't take communion often. In addition, sometimes they say right in the temple: “Are you a saint in order to take communion often?” But we must remember that after all, communion is the healing of sinners, and not a reward for the righteous. With us, sometimes it began to turn into a reward for the righteous. And that's precisely the New Testament - this is the religion of the sacrament.

And the Old Testament is the religion of the law. That is, after all, the Old Testament creeps into the New Testament all the time; some pagan roots creep into the Old Testament. And it is precisely the Old Testament approaches, when the rule becomes higher than God, that sometimes prevent a person from meeting God. So knock, ask. Nicodemus the Holy Mountaineer and Macarius of Corinth said: beg the priests, ask them not to leave without communion, and your fiery prayer will melt the most cruel heart of the priest.

- I ask you to tell us a few words for the remaining days of Peter's fast.

I beg you, remember: the main sin for all of us is condemnation. Treat each other as if we all lived in a big crazy house, in which there are a lot of good people, but they seem to be not quite all right with the psyche. Just be kind. Remember how in "Operation Y"? “To treat people softer, and to look at problems more broadly.” And treat yourself, too, as a not quite healthy person and with a sense of humor. The ability to laugh at oneself puts demons to shame. As long as you have a sense of humor for yourself, critical self-esteem, and you will feel like a narrow-minded, stupid person, an altered state of consciousness will never happen to you. Because the basic law of psychiatry says: "Fools don't go crazy." That is why Ivan the Fool is a favorite hero of Russian fairy tales. Feel like a fool and you'll never go crazy. Ivan the Fool was not a fool after all. Remember, at the end of the tale he became a king. Therefore, treat others with love, commune as often as possible, ask your priests about it, find approaches to them, find a temple where you will receive communion, and the Lord will manage everything.

Host Mikhail Kudryavtsev, deacon

Recorded by Elena Kuzoro