magazine world. About spiritual life St. Theophanes the hermit that spiritual life

What is spiritual life and how to tune in to it

(chapters from the book of letters)

Write what you have "ripples in the eyes." “About two days,” you say, “it happened to me to stay in the usual public amusements here: either I sat in the theater, then took a walk, then I was at the evening. And what kind of crush is this, what kind of speeches, what intricate judgments about everything, what methods of address? All this is wild to me, but from the crush - I can’t collect my thoughts. ” This is the first time you thought so, and then take a closer look. The impression you experienced after the late, simple family life in the village is completely in the order of things. I would say to you: by this you can judge where the truth of life is and where the lies are, but I don’t know what has stuck in your soul from all the past. For it is possible that on the surface there seems to be disapproval of such orders, but deeper - sympathy for them and a desire for repetition. Life, of which you have seen a part, has a stupefying property: so they see that all this is not what it is, but everyone is dragging on, as one who is accustomed to opium knows that he will be like crazy, and everyone accepts it (or therefore accepts it). So how do you feel? Does it still pull you there? Is this how you want to live your life? I ask you to describe it well to me - and in truth.

How you made me happy with your answer! “It does not pull, on the contrary, it repels. Not one day after that I was as if broken, my soul languished and yearned, and I could not control myself. Violently, violently relieved. ” Why didn't you write this down last time? It seemed to me that, by being silent, you are hiding a sweetheart or a splinter. GiveGod so that such a feeling, tearing away from secular life and secular amusements, is forever preserved in you. But it is also possible that you will fall in love. As you can see, it is impossible for you not to come into contact with such a life. The second time it will not be so destructive and embarrassing, the third - even less, and then wow - as they say about vodka: the first cup with a stake, the second with a falcon, and then just serve it. Who have to go into a tobacco workshop, what do they experience? And he eats his eyes, and sharpens his nose, and you can’t breathe. And those who rub something, so nothing at all; and these fresh ones, after standing for a while, no longer squint, sneeze and puff, and then completely these inconveniences cease. Look, the same would not have happened to you with respect to the orders of life that have so disturbed your peace.

It’s as if you anticipated my question and say: “And I don’t think that I will ever reconcile myself with such a life. I look closely and find that this is not life. I don't know how to explain it, but I affirm myself in the thought that this is not life. There is a lot of movement, but no life. Look, my sewing machine is in a lot of trouble, but what kind of life is in it? Your fair head gave rise to a wonderful idea. Now I can consider your position more reliable. One feeling is fragile: it can change. But when a solid thought comes to its aid, it is strengthened and by itself again strengthens the thought. Together they look like a fortress. But in order for this fortress to be stronger, you need to understand why there is no life in that life. If our conversations continue, then over time this will become clear in detail, but now I will only say: because there is no life in that life, because it does not occupy all aspects of human life, nourishes, but only a small particle, and moreover, one that is in last place or , or rather, on the outskirts of life, without touching its center.A life human is complex and multifaceted. It has a physical side, a spiritual side, and a spiritual side. Each has its own strengths and needs, and its own ways of exercising and satisfying them. Only when all our forces are in motion and all needs are satisfied, does a person live. And when he has only one particle of strength in motion and only one particle of needs is satisfied, then this life is not life: everything is the same, as in your sewing movement, the proper thing happens only when all its parts are in motion. Stop the action of any part - the machine has become, does not live. A person does not live like a human when not everything in him is in motion. Only in the typewriter is the cessation of its life—movement—visibly seen, while in man the inactivity in him of a full human life, with the action of one side and the satisfaction of a few needs, is accomplished invisibly, although there is really, how real the immobility of the said typewriter is. Such is the law of human life! Let's apply it to what we are talking about. What forces are employed there and what needs are satisfied? Hands, feet, tongue, eyes, ears, smell, touch, memory, imagination, fantasy and sharpness are occupied, all together - the lowest side of man, the same with animals; and only one need of animal life is satisfied, or, better, the play of this life, which operates with lambs when they are driven out into a green meadow. In addition to these forces, a person has two or three more tiers of them and also their main center.

Judge now, can such a life be life? Your feeling has told you that there is no life here. I give you the main reason why not. Perhaps the effect of this cause is not so clear to you now, but the general idea cannot but be understood, while the details will become clear in time. For I intend to deduce everything worthy of the structure of human nature. We need to live the way God created us, and when someone does not live like that, we can safely say that he does not live at all. Please be satisfied with this.

Last time, I did not talk about everything that you touched upon in your letter. I'm sending an addition. You say: “Another thing I see is that everyone is in a hurry, chasing after something in order to catch it, and no one has time to catch anything. I happened to pass through a crowded street or place - what turmoil and fuss there is! But then I look: the same is in their houses, the same, probably, in their souls. And I can’t imagine: is it really possible to live like this? And here's what else I see: that here they crowd each other, knit and tyrannize, no one has his own will and freedom. Don't dare to dress as you like, don't dare to walk as you like, to speak too - and don't dare to do anything as you like. Everything they have is subject to some kind of law, which they do not know by whom it was written; he crushes everyone, but no one dares to break him. But they themselves become tyrants for each other. Dare not to listen to anyone - grief. For example, I sing when I want to sing. After all, this is paradise: both the most pleasant and the listeners. And here, like it or not - sing. It is offered very politely, but it is considered illegal to refuse something. And eat. The burden itself is unbearable - you almost crack your chest, but you puff up - to show that you sing from the heart. I have noticed this in others as well. Here is your freedom! But to look outside - all freemen. Freemen, entangled hand and foot! On this occasion, I began to look closely: whether they do it from the heart and everything else. And what? Maybe I'm wrong, but I didn't see anything that was from the heart. Caresses are feigned, readiness for services - too, mutual respect - too. All pretense. Behind the appearance, smooth and graceful, hides a completely different soul, which, if pulled out, no one would find not only graceful, but also tolerable. And it turns out that when we gather, we represent a bunch of hypocrites and hypocrites. Comedy! And what’s even more amazing to me is that everyone smells cold. How is it so?! After all, everyone seems to be ready to give their souls, and it’s cold all around!”

Quite right. There is nothing to add to your description. All this has long been noticed and indicated as a precaution. This is how Macarius the Great depicted the turmoil and the pursuit of something you saw: “The children of this age are likened to wheat poured into the sieve of this land, and are sifted among the fickle thoughts of this world, with the incessant excitement of earthly affairs, wishes and multi-woven material concepts. Satan shakes souls and with a sieve, that is, earthly deeds, sift through the entire sinful human race. From the time of the fall, when Adam transgressed the commandment and submitted to the wicked prince who took power over him, with unceasing seductive and restless thoughts of all the sons of this age he sifts and brings him into conflict in the sieve of the earth. As wheat beats in a sieve of a sifter and, thrown up incessantly, turns over in it, so the prince of wickedness occupies all people with earthly affairs, shakes, leads to confusion and anxiety, makes them indulge in vain thoughts, impure desires, earthly and worldly ties, incessantly captivating the whole the sinful generation of Adam. And the Lord predicted to the Apostles the future uprising of the evil one on them: “Satan asks you to sow like wheat: But I prayed to My Father, that your faith not fail” (Lk. 22, 31-32). For this word and definition, clearly pronounced by the Creator to Cain: “groaning and shaking, in anxiety, you will be on the earth” (Gen. 4, 12), secretly serves as an image and likeness for all sinners, because the Adam family, having transgressed the commandment and become a sinner , secretly assumed this likeness. People are driven to sway by fickle thoughts of fear, fear, all kinds of embarrassment, desires, all sorts of pleasures. The prince of this world agitates every soul that is not born of God, and, like wheat constantly turning in a sieve, agitates human thoughts in various ways, shaking everyone and entrapping them with worldly seductions, carnal pleasures, fears, embarrassments ”(Conversation 5, § 1- 2).

Here's an appendage to your observation! You noticed that there is and happens. And Saint Macarius indicated both the reason for this and the first outcome. This view of the matter in the circle about which we are talking is not accepted, and it is impossible to start talking about it. I ask you to assimilate this view and always keep it in your thoughts. It expresses the essence of the matter and, being accepted by you with conviction, will serve as a barrier for you from the charms of secular life. In order to think more about this and become more in tune with this way of thinking, take the trouble to read this entire fifth discourse of St. Macarius. I gave this book to your mother, and she wanted to buy it.

For my part, I will add that this pursuit of something and dissatisfaction with nothing depend on the same thing that I wrote about last time: namely, on the fact that not all human nature is nourished by this way of life and not all of its needs are satisfied. The unsatisfied side, like a hungry one, demands food to quench its hunger and thirst, and drives a person to seek it. A person runs to search, but as he revolves in the same circle that does not satisfy the starving side, then there is no satisfaction, hunger and thirst do not stop, the demand for food does not stop, and the chase does not stop either. And it will never stop in those who live in the spirit of the world. The enemy, however, keeps them blinded, by which they do not notice the mistake, that they are running the wrong way and striving in the wrong direction, and in this darkness it torments and suffocates these poor souls. And they were so misled by the enemy that no one dares to tell them about their fallibility. They will roar like wild beasts. Isn't this the roaring of that lion that roams everywhere, "seeking someone to devour" (1 Pet. 5:8)!

As for the other aspects of secular (worldly) life that you have noticed, I will only say that it cannot be otherwise. For such a life is the life of fallen humanity, whose initial feature is self-love, or egoism, which sets itself as an end, and everything and everyone as a means. This is the reason why everyone wants to impose his desires on another or bind him with them, which you very aptly called tyranny. No matter how no one brightens up his desires, behind everything stands egoism, which wants to turn you in its own way or make you a means. Here is the reason for hypocrisy, the essence of which is an intense trick in every possible way to hide one's bad sides without correcting them, otherwise the influence on others and, consequently, the use of them as means will be stopped. This is also the reason for the fact that coldness blows from everyone - for everyone is closed in himself and does not shed the rays of warm life around him.

True, you certainly meet several faces with a sympathetic heart structure: they cling to you and take them right by the heart. This disposition is a remnant of the kindred feeling with which man is created in relation to others, but here it consists in the services of egoism, which uses it as the best means for arranging its affairs. I know one such face. Better a direct egoist or egoist than such sympathizers or sympathizers. In those, although it is possible to notice where the case is being led, but here rarely anyone manages to achieve this.

True, you incessantly almost meet favors, but they are done in order to then harness you to ten deeds in one favor. You say, “How is it? Here everyone beats on honesty, and to show dishonesty in anything means to ruin yourself. It is true that this is so, but this honesty is a mask of selfishness; the whole point here is not to lose face, for which the most dishonorable acts are often allowed, as long as it is possible to hide them from others. You will even hear or have already heard sentences: this is an egoist, this is an egoist! Do not think that those who say this are themselves strangers to selfishness. No, this sentence refers to those who do not allow themselves to be turned or used as a means for the selfish ends of those who judge them in this way. And consequently, he directly denounces the latest egoists and egoists in these. I heard that such persons reproach even monks with selfishness: they live for themselves alone. Poor monks! No food, no drink, no sleep, day and night on your feet, in obedience, not having your own will and your desires - and you fell into egoists! By this alone, you can judge what dignity and generally the denunciations of egoism that you meet or will meet among the secular. They mean: I found a scythe on a stone.

Having reviewed what was written, I see that it was I who pronounced judgment on secular life in a very rude way, but I do not take my words back. Maybe I wouldn’t have written what I wrote, but as you yourself noticed rather dark spots in the light, I didn’t want to sing in the same note, and I don’t think that it would have jarred you in the least after what you yourself You said. But I expect a question from you: “How can it be?” This is what we will decide in the course of our entire correspondence. Now I will only say: of course, you cannot completely lag behind everyone, but as much as possible refuse to enter the circle of this secular life, and when you are drawn against your will, behave as if you were not there: seeing, do not see and hearing, do not hear . Let the visible pass by the eyes and the audible pass by the ears. Outwardly, act like everyone else, as if wide open, but take care of your heart from sympathy and hobbies. This is the main thing: take care of your heart - and you will be there only in body, and not in soul, faithfully fulfilling the commandment of the Apostle: let there be "those who demand peace ... as if they do not demand" (1 Cor. 7, 31). Peace here also means that we have light and secular life. You will be “demanding the world”, that is, having the need to come into contact with secular life, but when you keep your heart away from everything, you will be “as if not demanding” such a life, that is, not participating in it out of sympathy and desire, but being forced his present position.

I bored you with much writing, but you compelled me. I ask you not to ignore what has been written, especially the last lines.

©Compilation, design, Siberian Blagozvonnitsa, 2013

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The publication was prepared according to: “What is the spiritual life and how to tune in to it? Letters from Bishop Theophan. The seventh edition of the Athos Russian St. Panteleimon Monastery. Moscow, 1914.

Collection of letters

1. An introductory reminder of the promise made to correspond about the spiritual life. Benefits expected from this

After we had agreed before your departure for Moscow to have a conversation about the things you needed in writing, it was natural for me to expect that upon your arrival at the place you would let me know about yourself and the new situation for you. I waited and waited, but for how long I have not been waiting for anything. What happened? Are you healthy? God bless you Mother of God. Or has the intention changed? Anything can happen - and it's possible. In this case, I am writing now, so that if this is the case and there is some kind of apprehension about me involved - something to burden not a trace or something else - you put it out of your head. Writing to you, and moreover about such subjects, will not be a burden for me - on the contrary, it will be a considerable pleasure, introducing a certain variety into my usual occupations. I will say something more: that if what we have conceived does not take place, then I will feel myself the way I feel if I have suffered some kind of loss or lost something. How it is, I will not explain to you, but I repeat that this is how it will be and that this is how it should be. So it is not necessary to give you advice, but to apply a petition: write. Although you have nothing to expect from me for great wisdom, but one review of all that is worthy will bring you considerable benefit, reviving this entire area in your memory and focusing your attention on it, perhaps with enthusiasm and special energy. And what a blessing this last one is! For if we have awkwardness in life, then it almost always comes not so much from thinness of mind and thinness of heart, but from a lack of zeal and jealousy for what is worthy.

So write.

2. Feedback on the reason for the silence. Necessary frankness and simplicity in correspondence. The bustle of secular life

And I was confused in conjectures: what would it be? And that's what! Grandma was a little sick. Well, grandma is a victorious word. There is no warmer place for granddaughters, like grandmothers, and for grandmothers, faces are dearer than good granddaughters. And for this we must thank God. And you console your grandmother more often and listen more carefully to what she says. The old women have wisdom, acquired by experiences and labors of life. And they often by chance, in simple phrases, express such wise lessons that you will not find in books.

Although you have presented a very satisfactory explanation for why you have not written for so long, you should still have at least a small penance imposed on you, in the form of corrections.

I think, however, that maybe you will be better disposed towards serviceability if I thank you for writing, and for what you wrote. And thank you.

Promise to be honest. Dobre! Frankness is the first thing in correspondence, otherwise there was nothing to start it. And always write with a shrug - everything that is in your heart, and especially more fully state the questions that stir in your head and begin to insistently demand a solution. Then decisions will be made, just as a thirsty earth receives water. And this is the best way to both acquire and consolidate in the soul concepts that explain the essence of objects and deeds, which we consider necessary for ourselves to see through the eyes of the mind. What would be the point if I wrote to you about one thing, and your soul would be occupied with another? It would be empty talk, as if two faces were talking to each other, turning their backs to each other and each talking about what was before his eyes. It seems that we have agreed with you that we will not deal with abstractions and draw plans and theories, but we will conduct our speech in the way that the current phenomena of life will force us to conduct it. So we will go step by step.

Write that you "dazzle in the eyes." “About two days,” you say, “it happened to me to stay in the usual public amusements here: either I sat in the theater, then took a walk, then I was at the evening. And what kind of crush is this, what kind of speeches, what intricate judgments about everything, what methods of address? All this is wild to me, but I can’t get rid of the crush of thoughts. ” This is the first time you thought so, and then take a closer look. The impression you experienced after the late, simple family life in the village is completely in the order of things. I would say to you: judge by this, where is the truth of life and where is the lie - but I don’t know what has stuck in your soul from all the past. For it is possible that on the surface there seems to be disapproval of such orders, but deeper - sympathy for them and a desire for repetition. Life, which is a part.

You have seen that it has a stupefying property: so they see that all this is not what it is, but everyone is reaching out, as one who is accustomed to opium knows that it will be like crazy, and everyone accepts it, or therefore accepts it. So how do you feel? Does it still pull you there? Would you like to live your life this way? I ask you to describe it well to me - and in truth.

3. Emptiness and one-sidedness of secular life

How you made me happy with your answer! “It does not pull, on the contrary, it repels. Not one day after that I was as if broken, my soul languished and yearned, and I could not control myself. Violently, violently relieved. ” Why didn't you write it down last time? It seemed to me that, silent, you are hiding a sweetheart or a splinter. May God grant that such a feeling of detachment from secular life and secular amusements is forever preserved in you. But it is also possible that you will fall in love. As you can see, you can not help but come into contact with such a life. The second time it will not be so destructive and embarrassing, the third - even less, and then wow, as they say about vodka: the first cup with a stake, the second with a falcon, and then just serve it. Who have to go into a tobacco workshop, what do they experience? And he eats his eyes, and sharpens his nose, and you can’t breathe. And those who rub something, so nothing at all; and these fresh ones, after standing for a while, no longer squint, sneeze and puff, and then completely these inconveniences cease. Look, the same would not have happened to you with respect to the order of life that disturbed your peace so much.

It’s as if you anticipated my question and say: “And I don’t think that I will ever reconcile myself with such a life. I look closely and find that this is not life. I don't know how to explain it, but I affirm myself in the thought that this is not life. There is a lot of movement, but no life. Look, my sewing machine is in a lot of trouble, but what kind of life is in it? Your bright head gave rise to a wonderful idea. Now I can consider your position more reliable. One feeling is fragile: it can change. But when a solid thought comes to its aid, it is strengthened and by itself again strengthens the thought. Together they look like a fortress. But in order for this fortress to be stronger, you need to understand why there is no life in that life. If our conversations continue, then in time this will become clear in detail; now I will only say: because there is no life in that life, because it does not occupy all aspects of human life, nourishes it, but only a small particle, and moreover, one that stands in last place, or rather, on the outskirts of life, without touching its center. Human life is complex and multifaceted. It has a physical side, a spiritual side, and a spiritual side. Each has its own strengths and needs, and its own ways of exercising and satisfying them. Only when all our forces are in motion and all needs are satisfied, does a person live. And when he has only one particle of strength in motion and only one particle of needs is satisfied, then this life is not life: everything is the same, as in your sewing movement, it should be only when all its parts are in motion. Stop the action of any part - the machine has become: it does not live. A person does not live like a human when not everything in him is in motion. Only in the typewriter is the cessation of its life—movement—visibly seen, while in man the inactivity in him of a full human life, with the action of one side and the satisfaction of a few needs, is accomplished invisibly, although there is really, how real the immobility of the said typewriter is. Such is the law of human life! Let's apply it to what we are talking about. What forces are employed there and what needs are satisfied? Hands, feet, tongue, eyes, ears, smell, touch, memory, imagination, fantasy and sharpness are occupied, all together - the lowest side of man, which is the same with animals; and only one need of animal life is satisfied, or, better, the play of this life, which also works in young lambs and lambs when they are driven out into a green meadow. In addition to these forces, a person has two or three more tiers of them and also their main center.

Judge now, can such a life be life? Your feeling told you that there is no life here. I give you the main reason why not. Perhaps the effect of this cause is not so clear to you now, but the general idea cannot but be understood; the details will become clear with time. For I intend to deduce everything worthy of the structure of human nature. We need to live the way God created us, and when someone does not live like that, we can safely say that he does not live at all. Please be satisfied with this.

4. Secular life deprives of freedom and keeps those who are devoted to it in heavy slavery. Hypocrisy and selfishness as constant qualities of secular life

Last time, I did not talk about everything that you touched upon in your letter. I'm sending an addition. You say: “Another thing I see is that everyone is in a hurry, chasing after something in order to catch it, and no one has time to catch anything. I happened to pass through a crowded street or place - what turmoil and fuss there is! But then I look: the same is in their houses, the same, probably, in their souls. And I can’t imagine: is it really possible to live like this? And here's what else I see: that here they crowd each other, knit and tyrannize, no one has his own will and freedom. Don't dare to dress as you like, don't dare to walk as you like, to speak too - and don't dare to do anything as you like. Everything they have is subject to some kind of law, which they do not know by whom it was written; he crushes everyone, but no one dares to break him. But they themselves become tyrants for each other. But you dare not listen to anyone - grief. For example, I sing when I want to sing. After all, this is paradise: both the most pleasant and the listeners. And here you want it or not - sing. It is offered very politely, but it is considered illegal to refuse something. And eat. The burden itself is unbearable - you almost crack your chest, but you puff up - to show that you sing from the heart. I have noticed this in others as well. Here is your freedom! But look outside - all freemen. Freemen, entangled hand and foot! On this occasion, I began to look closely, but whether they do everything from the heart and everything else. And what? Maybe I'm wrong, but I didn't see anything that was from the heart. Weasels are feigned, readiness for services - too, mutual respect - too. All pretense. Behind the appearance, smooth and elegant, hides a completely different soul, which, if it were pulled out, no one would find not only elegant, but also tolerable. And it turns out that when we gather, we represent a bunch of hypocrites and hypocrites. Comedy! And what’s even more amazing to me is that everyone smells cold. How is it so?! After all, everyone seems to be ready to give their souls, and it’s cold all around!”

Quite right. There is nothing to add to your description. All this has long been noticed and indicated as a precaution. This is how Macarius the Great depicted the turmoil you saw and the pursuit of something: “The children of this age are likened to wheat poured into the sieve of this land, and are sifted among the fickle thoughts of this world, with the incessant excitement of earthly affairs, wishes and multi-woven material concepts. Satan shakes souls and with a sieve, that is, earthly deeds, sift through the entire sinful human race. From the time of the fall, when Adam transgressed the commandment and submitted to the wicked prince who took power over him, with unceasing seductive and restless thoughts of all the sons of this age he sifts and brings him into conflict in the sieve of the earth. As wheat beats in a sieve of a sifter and, thrown up incessantly, turns over in it, so the prince of wickedness occupies all people with earthly affairs, shakes, leads to confusion and anxiety, makes them indulge in vain thoughts, impure desires, earthly and worldly ties, incessantly captivating the whole the sinful generation of Adam. And the Lord foretold the apostles the future uprising of the evil one against them: Satan asks you to sow like wheat. I prayed to my father, let faith not fail yours (Luke 22:31-32). For this word and definition, pronounced by the Creator to Cain explicitly: groaning and shaking, in anxiety you will on earth (Gen. 4:12), secretly serves as an image and likeness for all sinners, because the race of Adam, having transgressed the commandment and made sinful, secretly assumed this likeness. People are driven to sway by fickle thoughts of fear, fear, all kinds of embarrassment, desires, all sorts of pleasures. The prince of this world agitates every soul that is not born of God, and, like wheat, constantly revolving in a sieve, agitates human thoughts in various ways, shaking everyone and trapping worldly seductions, carnal pleasures, fears, embarrassments ”(Conversation 5, 1, 2 ).

Here's to you in addition to your observation! You noticed that there is and happens. And Saint Macarius indicated both the reason for this and the first outcome. This view of the matter in the circle about which we are talking is not accepted, and it is impossible to start talking about it. I ask you to assimilate this view and always keep it in your thoughts. It expresses the essence of the matter and, being accepted by you with conviction, will serve as a barrier for you from the charms of secular life. In order to think more about this and become more in tune with this way of thinking, take the trouble to read this entire fifth discourse of St. Macarius. I gave this book to your mother, and she wanted to buy it.

For my part, I will add that this pursuit of something and dissatisfaction with nothing depend on the same thing that I wrote about last time: namely, on the fact that not all human nature is nourished by this way of life and not all of its needs are satisfied. The unsatisfied side, like a hungry one, demands food to quench its hunger and thirst, and drives a person to seek it. The man runs to search; but as it revolves in the same circle that does not satisfy the starving side, then there is no satisfaction, hunger and thirst do not stop, the demand for food does not stop, and the chase does not stop either. And it will never stop in those who live in the spirit of the world. The enemy keeps them blinded, by which they do not notice the mistake, that they are running along the wrong road and striving in the wrong direction, and in this darkness it torments and suffocates these poor souls. And they were so misled by the enemy that no one dares to tell them about their fallibility. They will roar like wild beasts. Is it not the roar of that lion that roars everywhere, who to devour? (1 Peter 5:8).

As for the other aspects of secular (worldly) life that you have noticed, I will only say that it cannot be otherwise. For such a life is the life of fallen humanity, whose initial feature is self-love, or egoism, who sets himself as an end, and everything and everyone as a means. This is the reason why everyone wants to impose his desires on another or bind him with them, which you very aptly called tyranny. No matter how someone brightens up their desires, egoism stands behind everything, wanting to turn you in its own way or make you a means. Here is the reason for the hypocrisy, the essence of which is an intense trick in every possible way to hide one's bad sides without correcting them; otherwise, the influence on others and, consequently, the use of them as means will be cut off. This is also the reason for the fact that coldness blows from everyone - for everyone is closed in himself and does not shed the rays of warm life around him.

True, you certainly meet several persons with a sympathetic heart structure: they cling to you and take them right by the heart. This disposition is a remnant of the kindred feeling with which man is created in relation to others; but here it consists in the services of selfishness, which uses it as the best means for arranging its affairs. I know one such face. Better a direct egoist or egoist than such sympathizers and sympathizers. In those, although it is possible to notice where the case is being led, but here rarely anyone manages to achieve this.

True, you almost incessantly meet favors, but they are done in order to then harness you for ten deeds in your favor. You say, “How is it? Here everyone beats on honesty, and to show dishonesty in anything means to ruin yourself. It is true that this is so, but this honesty is a mask of selfishness; the whole point here is not to lose face, for which the most dishonorable acts are often allowed, as long as you can hide them from others. You will even hear or have already heard sentences: this is an egoist, this is an egoist! Do not think that those who say this are themselves strangers to selfishness. No, this sentence refers to those who do not allow themselves to be turned or used as a means for the selfish ends of those who judge them in this way. And consequently, he directly denounces the latest egoists and egoists in these. I heard that such persons reproach even monks with selfishness: they live for themselves alone. Poor monks! No food, no drink, no sleep; day and night on their feet, in obedience, not having their own will and their desires - and they fell into egoists! By this alone, you can judge what dignity and generally the denunciations of egoism that you meet or will meet among the secular. They mean: I found a scythe on a stone.

Having reviewed what was written, I see that it was I who pronounced judgment on secular life in a very rude way, but I do not take my words back. Maybe I wouldn’t have written what I wrote, but as you yourself noticed rather dark spots in the light, then I got sick of singing to the same note; and I don't think that this has put you off in the slightest after what you yourself have said. But I expect a question from you: “How can it be?” This is what we will decide in the course of our entire correspondence. Now I will only say: of course, you cannot completely lag behind everyone, but as much as possible refuse to enter the circle of this secular life, and when you are drawn against your will, behave as if you were not there: seeing, do not see and hearing, do not hear . Let the visible pass by the eyes and the audible pass by the ears. Outwardly, act like everyone else, as if wide open, but take care of your heart from sympathy and hobbies. This is the main thing: take care of your heart - and you will be there only in body, and not in soul, faithfully fulfilling the commandment of the apostle: let them be demanding peace… like it's not required(1 Corinthians 7:31). Peace here also means that we have light and secular life. You will be the one demanding the world, that is, having the need to come into contact with secular life; but when you keep your heart away from everything, then you will be as if not demanding such a life, that is, not participating in it out of sympathy and desire, but forced by being your present position.

I bored you with many writings, but you compelled me. I ask you not to ignore what has been written, especially the last lines.

5. Three aspects of human life. First side: bodily life, its organs and needs; normal and excessive concern for the body

How many questions you have raised about the previous two letters! This shows in you a diligent, lively and receptive student and promises success. The more willing I am to write. But I will not answer you all now, leaving the answers until next time. I'll take care of what interests you the most. You write: “Your words about the sides, forces and needs of human nature introduce me into myself. I enter. I see something, but most of it is either foggy or completely invisible to me. I strongly desire to know what is the spiritual, mental and physical side in a person, what are the needs in each and how they are satisfied. I would very much like to keep myself at the level of human dignity - true, as we are appointed to be the Creator.

Good with! You touch the very foundations of our life, the explanation of which will give us the basis for all subsequent reasoning. How else can a person live, if not the way he is arranged. Having established sound concepts about how a person works, we will receive the surest indication of how he should live. It seems to me that many do not live as they should because they think that the rules about this worthy life are imposed from outside, and do not come from the very nature of man and are not required by them. If they were sure that this is the case, they would not cross them and retreat from them. So, please listen.

Body ours consists of different organs, from which each performs its own function, which is essential for bodily life. There are three main organs: 1) stomach with the lungs, the heart, the arteries and veins, the lymphatic vessels, and a multitude of other vessels, vessels, and glands, which serve for the various departments of the blood and juices of the body; sending them all nutrition bodies, or incarnation; 2) muscle and bone system, the departure of which is motion inside and out, and 3) nerve system, the center of which - the head, the spinal cord and the ganglia system - is somewhere under the abdominal and thoracic barrier, and the ramifications penetrate the whole body; sending it - sensitivity. When the course of these functions and their mutual relation are in order, the body is healthy and life is out of danger; and when this order is disturbed, the body becomes ill and life is in danger. Each departure has its own need, which makes itself felt alive by the living, demanding satisfaction. The needs of the stomach, or nourishing and fruitful, parts are food, drink, air, sleep; musculoskeletal need parts have a need tense muscles, which everyone feels after sitting for a long time, and directly need for movement forcing to walk, walk, work something; the need of the nervous part is a pleasant irritation of the nerves of the whole body, as the dimension of heat and cold and the like, and especially pleasant irritation of our five senses, in which the nervous system went outside to communicate with the outside world.

". However, they are not always filled with the same meaning. Sometimes we see how the word "spirituality" is pronounced by people whose lifestyle and behavior clearly indicate that they can hardly have any idea what it is. However, church people often have a very vague idea of ​​spirituality. Therefore, before starting this conversation, I will clarify that in the proper sense, spiritual life is the life of the human spirit.

We know that man, according to the teaching of the holy fathers, is three-component, meaning spirit, soul and body. (Some holy fathers say that a person is two-part, meaning soul and body, and at the same time they believe that the spirit is a certain ability, the highest power of the human soul, so this difference in opinion does not change the essence.) If we talk about the human spirit , then, probably, it is most accurately possible to explain what it is, in the words of the Holy Scriptures, the Book of Genesis, about how the Lord, having created man, breathed into his face breath of life(Gen. 2:7). This very breath of life, this spirit, which in man, which, as it is said, came from God and departs to God (see: Eccl. 12: 7), is what manifests itself in us as a kind of unquenchable, constant thirst. God; that which in us serves as a source of sometimes subconscious, incomprehensible to us striving for God, our need for Him. And, it would seem, since we have a spirit that aspires to God, it is quite natural for us to live a spiritual life. But it turns out that in man after the fall, that hierarchy of forces, aspirations, desires, which was originally inherent in him, was completely violated. And, as some church writers say, a person became like an inverted pyramid: the spirit should have been above all, then spiritual needs, and then directly carnal needs, which are well known to all of us. It turns out that everything is completely different: with us, the needs of our flesh come first, they, in turn, affect the soul and its needs in a certain way, and the spirit is completely crushed by both the flesh and the soul. By the soul, by its needs, in this case, we understand human relations, the sphere of earthly attachments, passions, pleasures, which in themselves are not sinful, but which, of course, are much lower than those joys and those aspirations that are characteristic of the spirit. And it turns out, as I have already said, that the spirit in us is completely crushed.

Each of us comes to church, prays at home, reads some books about salvation and, again, about spiritual life. And every time we do all this, we cannot but feel that a certain veil of insensibility lies on our heart. We pray - but can we say that our hearts respond to every word of prayer? No, this is often not the case. We come to the temple, and a huge number of some extraneous thoughts, memories, worries, cares take possession of our mind and heart. The same thing sometimes happens when reading. Here comes a man and says: “Father, I began to read such and such a holy father; I read one page, two pages, ten pages, and then I ask myself: “What did I read?” And I can’t answer this question for myself, because I don’t remember. Or a person sits down to read a book and falls asleep. He suffered from insomnia, and when he began to read, sleep immediately took possession of him. Why? Because this spiritual work is given to us so hard. It is difficult - because, again, our spirit is constantly in a crushed, oppressed, unnatural state for it. And only in some separate moments we feel how our heart comes to life. We feel how during the service we are carried away by this or that hymn, this or that prayer. When we begin to pray, we feel that some kind of prayer is not only pronounced with our lips, but also comes from our heart itself, and we understand with what, why, why we turn to God, so that ours turns into what it really should to be - in the conversation of our soul with God. This is the time when Divine grace acts in us, which, as it were, shows us what can actually be with us, what our relationship with God can be, what the life of our spirit can be. But then this state passes, and we are again faced with everyday life, so that again everything is buried under some worldly worries, needs, our physical states. And, of course, the question arises: can we at least to some extent control this process, does it depend on us, on our will, or are we completely devoted to this state - carnal and spiritual - and cannot become spiritual people in any way no matter how we fight?

If we look at all those ascetic deeds that took place in the life of the holy fathers and ascetics of piety, we will see that these are the means aimed at weakening the bonds of the flesh, spiritual attachments and addictions and giving strength and freedom to our spirit. In fact, he does not need to be somehow specially strengthened, raised - he himself, as soon as he feels freedom, will surrender to his natural desire for God. And then we will see what his life can be like.

It can be a very big mistake when a person perceives the deeds that I am talking about now, be it fasting, vigil, standing before God in prayer, somehow in isolation and considers that each of them has value in itself. Of course, none of our feats can have value in itself. We work, we strive, we fast and do not eat something, we still refuse something - and all this is not necessary for God, but for ourselves. And only the result to which this work should lead is truly valuable.

In order not to give ourselves a reason to be proud, we need to eat food in such a way that even food attracts us to humility.

One ancient holy father likened the bodily, external work of a person to leaves on a tree, and those virtues that a person must acquire are actually fruits. I will try to explain by example what is the goal to which the means of asceticism should lead us. Here's a post. Of course, a person by himself cannot change much because he eats more or less - this can affect his physical condition, his weight, some other characteristics of the body, but non-eating in itself cannot change the spiritual state of a person. maybe. This change occurs when a person begins to fast, as the holy fathers say, in the spiritual mind. What does it mean? First of all, a person begins to treat food as a gift of God - not just as something that he can buy in a store, cook and eat as much as he wants, but as something that the Lord gives him for food. Once upon a time, Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann wrote such interesting words: he said that from his point of view, food is the materialized love of God. A person needs something to eat, and the Lord created various products with which a person can saturate himself, this is God's concern for a person. But at the same time, food is also a kind of pleasure, and we can eat out of necessity, or we can eat for the sake of pleasure. And when we decide not to eat for the sake of pleasure, but only for the sake of necessity, then we cross the border that separates us from the field of struggle with passions. For the first time we deny ourselves a certain pleasure, which is familiar to each of us, habitually. We say to ourselves: I will eat this much, because I really need it, but I won’t eat this. And then it suddenly turns out that we have the strength of our flesh to refuse some other pleasures, some other needs that are not actually necessary, which are the result of its corruption and damage by sin. And the person becomes a little more free. Well, and also, probably, when it comes to fasting, you need to take into account what St. Abba Dorotheos says on this subject. He says that a person should not only limit himself in food and eat food in a certain measure. A person, when he eats, must, firstly, thank God, and secondly, he must reproach himself, remembering those who labored in fasting very strictly, as he cannot labor. Why is this necessary? – Because often a fasting person, oddly enough, begins to be proud of the fact that he is fasting. And in order not to give yourself a reason for this, you need to eat food in such a way that even food attracts us to humility.

Having developed the habit of praying attentively, we will notice changes that will begin to take place in our inner life.

If we talk about such an ascetic activity as reading, then we must also approach it reasonably. You can read to learn something new. You can read in order to teach other people later. And you can read in order to eventually mock these other people, to boast that they do not know what we know. Again, this sometimes becomes a reason for pride. But a person should read with a completely different goal: in order to see his dispensation in the books of the Holy Fathers, as in a kind of mirror. We must read and compare what this or that holy father writes with our own spiritual state. We are talking about some kind of passion - but how does this passion work in me? Some methods of struggle are indicated - but do I use these methods or just act out of passion? Or maybe I don’t even want to notice that I’m acting out of passion, but I just live the way I want, and that’s it? That is, reading should also turn into an element of very serious work on the soul. The same goes for prayer, because you can pray in many different ways. You can read the prayer rule that each of us has, and consider that this, in principle, is quite enough. And every time you can literally fight for prayer: here we get up to pray, we are faced with the task of trying not to be distracted and concluding the mind, as it says, in the words of prayer. When we begin to pray in this way, we suddenly notice how difficult it is, how - without exaggeration - painfully: our mind does not want to be enclosed in the words of prayer, it constantly runs away, wanders somewhere all the time - sometimes not just in some other affairs, but literally in other parts of the globe and the universe - and it is very difficult for us to put it in its place. But gradually the skill of praying more attentively appears, and we begin to notice changes in ourselves that are taking place both in prayer and in our own inner life. And this can be said about every activity. Even if we take on such labor as vigil - although, probably, a modern person should not particularly limit himself in sleep - this must also lead a person to a state of humility, and not to a state of some arrogance and arrogance that he such a wonderful mover. After all, what is this night prayer, about which we read in many holy fathers, in general? The fact is that, according to some interpretations, the Last Judgment and the Second Coming of the Savior should take place late at night, when no one will expect this. And then the night comes - and the person gets up, prays and asks God that this coming does not find him unprepared, so that the Lord finds him working and remaining in repentance. And if a person really abides in repentance, then there is no longer any reason for pride.

I briefly spoke about those activities that should be inherent in us as people striving to revive our spirit and free it from the depression in which it is. But the most important thing, of course, is not these doings as such, for, as I have already said, they are only means. The basis of spiritual life, its center, its focus is our personal relationship with God. And it is very important to understand that the most important thing to which all ascetic deeds lead is life in the feeling of the presence of God, and more specifically, life with God.

There are many things in life that we don't really think about. We breathe air - it is there, but we do not appreciate it until we feel a lack of it. The same can be said about water, about food, about the climatic conditions in which we are placed. That is, as a rule, when we feel good, we do not notice anything - and pay attention to something only when we feel bad. And the same attitude is often inherent in people and to God. The Lord supports us in a state of being - if it were not for His will to support us in this state, our existence would instantly cease - and we remember Him when something in our usual course of life is violated: when an illness comes, loved ones go to another world , there are other difficult circumstances. St. John of the Ladder says: just as water, constrained from all sides, rises, so our soul ascends to God in cramped conditions. Indeed, then everything is forgotten and the One Who can help is remembered. But to this state - the state of ascent to God - we need to strive to come without external temptations, trials, that is, strive for this when everything seems to be fine with us.

When we remember God as something external to us, then this is not proper memory of God.

How to achieve this? We can undertake such an experiment - but in fact it is not just an experiment, but something that should become a matter of our lives. Here we wake up in the morning and from the moment of awakening we think that the most important thing for us today is not to forget about God, or at least remember Him as often as possible. And then a day passes, and we test ourselves, how this day was lived, what part of this day we remembered God and how often we forgot about Him. And it turns out that in fact we forget about God very, very often. We speak without remembering God, we act without remembering God, we eat without remembering God - and we can even pray before eating, but do not remember God. And the most amazing thing is that we sometimes stand in the temple during the service, listen to what is being read and sung, and at the same time we do not truly remember God; we manage to pray at home and not really remember God. How is this possible? The fact is that when we remember God as something external to us, then this is not actually a memory of God. This can be compared with this: in our life there are a lot of people with whom we know and, in principle, remember them, but they do not really occupy our hearts and our attention. Sometimes the Lord is in the same place in our minds... Or we can give another analogy: sometimes in our life there is one, or maybe two or three people who are truly close to us. And when something happens to one of these close people - for example, a person falls ill, some danger threatens him - we can’t think about anything but him, our attention is constantly riveted to him. That's about the same thing should be with our attitude towards God: our thoughts, our heart should be occupied with Him.

Many of you have probably read the works of the great saint of God who labored in our Fatherland - St. Theophan the Recluse, which have survived to our time as some kind of amazing gift, or at least heard their names. So, one of his books is called: “What is the spiritual life, and how to tune in to it.” And, probably, nowhere is it so clearly and so simply said about the various manifestations of spiritual life, its aspects, complexities, as there. In addition, St. Theophan has a mass of letters that he wrote to various people who were in specific circumstances and turned to him with specific questions. These letters, collected in several volumes, are also precious evidence of how a person truly ascends to spiritual life. Undoubtedly, St. Theophan in these letters outlined his own experience of an ascetic, ascetic life, and I think that if you undertake such work - to read at least one or two letters a day and constantly return to this reading, then your soul will be this reading. to warm up and be directed to that path of seeking God, on which we must necessarily embark.

A person living a spiritual life feels his constant connection with the Lord. We must feel that we cannot live without Him, we cannot do without Him; we must feel that if for a moment we have forgotten about Him, it is as if the ground has gone from under our feet, and we must immediately remember Him. How does a person come to this? You know that there is the teaching of the Holy Fathers about unceasing prayer. But I will not speak such lofty words as unceasing prayer, unscattered prayer, visual prayer - I will say that we must strive in constant prayer, that is, our mind should not be continuously occupied with some kind of reflections, worries and worries. about earthly things: when we need to think over this or that matter, we can think intensively and productively on this topic for 5–10, maximum 15 minutes. We, on the other hand, sometimes think day and night, and this reflection is more destructive for us than constructive. And therefore, in order to think, we need to choose some specific time that should be devoted to this, and the rest of the time we need to try to turn to God and pray. At the same time, prayer is able to enlighten and enlighten us to a much greater extent in difficult circumstances and situations than all these thoughts of ours rushing from side to side. And at the same time, this constant prayer - although it may not yet be attentive enough, may be absent-minded, may not really touch our hearts deeply - is for us the very condition under which our spirit can awaken at some moments and aspire to God. And besides, we must also remember: the Lord, when he sees that a person is working, begins to help him. And a person acquires those gifts that he, of course, would not be able to acquire on his own.

Teach me, Lord, to yearn for You - to suffer, suffer, grieve when I do not have constant communication with you!

It is necessary to pray during the day not only or some other short prayer - it is necessary, in addition to this, to gain the experience of turning to God in those needs, in those difficult situations in which we feel the need for God's help. And we feel the need for it not only when something happened in our everyday life, or when someone offended at work, or something happened at home. We have certain spiritual needs: for example, we see that we fail to pray attentively. Who should be asked to learn how to pray attentively? Of course, God. We feel that we are unable to cope with some passion; we understand that now we are going somewhere, where there will be a lot of reasons for this or that passion in us to rise again; we feel that we are constantly getting carried away into something that, it is scary to say, is more interesting for us than God, more attractive than God, we are afraid of this, but we cannot do anything with ourselves. And you need to turn to God with all this, ask Him to help. And then it happens that there is a thought “We must not forget about God, we must think about Him,” but there is also some deed that is pleasant for us and which is difficult to reconcile with the memory of God. It may not be some outright sin, but any preference for anything to God becomes a sin for us. In this case, we can turn to Him in prayer and say: “Lord, help me not to find satisfaction in anything but You, not to find true joy in anything but You. Teach me, Lord, to yearn for You - to suffer, suffer, grieve when I do not have constant communication with you. And the Lord, in response to a person’s prayer, will give what he asks, that is, his soul will really begin to seek God; The Lord will oppress him from all sides at his own request, and a person will naturally rush to Him.

In general, the spiritual life is something that can be described in some general terms, but what this is actually what each person recognizes only when he starts this life, when he begins to live it, when it becomes his own life and begins to prevail in his being. And before that, all the talk about it is largely external. It's like trying to imagine some dish from the descriptions that we have never tried in our lives and do not know what it tastes like. And when a person at least once tastes spiritual food, he will not forget its taste and will feel the need to return to this spiritual taste time after time.

St. Thefan the Recluse (in the world Georgy Vasilievich Govorov; 1815-1894) - theologian, publicist-preacher. He occupies a special place among Russian preachers and saints of the 19th century. The saint saw his service to the Church of God in the feat of spiritual and literary creativity. “Writing,” he said, “is a necessary service to the Church.” He devoted all his pastoral activity to the path of a truly Christian life based on spiritual composure. Theophan the Recluse left a huge theological legacy: works on the interpretation of the word of God, translations, writings on asceticism and psychology. His works are striking in their encyclopedic breadth and diversity of theological interests. The main theme of St. Theophan's creations is salvation in Christ. This topic also became decisive in the teachings that made up the book “What is spiritual life and how not to tune in to it?”.

The publication was prepared according to: “What is the spiritual life and how to tune in to it? Letters from Bishop Theophan. The seventh edition of the Athos Russian Panteleimon Monastery. Moscow, 1914.

1. An introductory reminder of the promise made to correspond about the spiritual life. Benefits expected from this

2. Feedback on the reason for the silence. Necessary frankness and simplicity in correspondence. The bustle of secular life

3. Emptiness and one-sidedness of secular life

4. Secular life deprives of freedom and keeps those who are devoted to it in heavy slavery. Hypocrisy and selfishness as constant qualities of secular life

5. Three aspects of human life. First side: bodily life, its organs and needs; normal and excessive concern for the body

6. The second side of human life: spiritual life. Its three main branches. First departure: the mental side with its views. Knowledge and science. Normal functions of reason and empty wandering of thoughts

7. Desirable side of mental life. Her departures. Correct and disordered state of desirable faculty

8. The side of feeling is the heart. The importance of the heart in human life. The influence of passions on the heart

9. The third side of human life: spiritual life. The main manifestations of spiritual life: the fear of God, conscience and thirst for God. Human Dignity

10. The universality of faith in the existence of God as a manifestation of spiritual life

11. The influence of the spirit on the human soul and the phenomena occurring from here in the field of thought, activity (will) and feeling (heart)

12. Conclusions from what has been said about the three aspects of human life. The possibility of transition from one state to another and the predominance of one or the other side of life. The predominance of soulfulness and carnality as a sinful state. The dominance of spiritual life as the norm of the true life of man

13. The true happiness of a person is life in the spirit. The thinnest shell of the soul, serving as an intermediary between it and the body and a means of communication between souls and with the world of saints and angels. Light and dark state of the shell of the soul

14. The shell of the soul is either light or dark according to the inner mood. Examples. The darkened soul is seen by demons

15. How the saints hear our prayers. Application about prayer

16. The true purpose of life. Lifestyle according to purpose

17. Contributions to the heavenly treasury. Godly life. Dreams of progressives about the common good of mankind and their deceit

18. The importance of spiritual needs in a number of other aspects of human life. One on demand. The dominance of the spirit as a natural harmony of all needs, which can give peace and tranquility. The absence of this peace in humanity. General vanity and the collapse of the spirit. The germ of this confusion is obtained with the birth

19. Original sin as a source of inner confusion and disorder. The Possibility of Healing a Man's Condition Damaged by Sin

20. Continued. Explanation of the disorder brought into the nature of man by the sin of the forefathers. Fellowship with God was the source of the dominion of the spirit over soul and body. Through the violation of the commandment, man separated from God and lost dominion over the soul and body, submitted to the dominance of passions. Image of a man tormented by passions after a fall

21. Necessity of reunion with God for salvation. Man himself cannot do this. The Spirit of God does this in us for the redemption brought by the Son of God

22. Continuation of the redemptive restoration of fallen man. The participation of the entire Holy Trinity in our salvation. The procedure for arousing good feelings in a saved person from the Spirit of God. Participation in this business of the person himself. Zeal for salvation as the first condition for achieving it

23. Signs of true spiritual jealousy in contrast to spiritual jealousy

24. New Year wishes. The need for renewal and self-purification. This makes us spiritual jealousy

25. Thoughts on the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. The Secret Action of the Grace We Receive in the Sacrament of Baptism

26. Continuation of the secret action in man of the grace of Baptism. Explanatory likenings of grace to leaven in dough and fire in iron. Coming to age, a person must strengthen in himself the grace of God by free will. Danger of stopping half way. Full ardent determination to serve God

27. Continued about zeal and determination to live by grace. Internal centering. Illumination of the shell of the soul. Different degrees of this enlightenment

28. Explanation of free determination to live by grace with parables and examples

29. The determination to live according to grace should not be limited only by desire, but should be accompanied by readiness for work and struggle, the desire to achieve what is desired without fail. Having made up his mind, he must immediately begin the work and continue with patience and constancy.

30. Essay on the inner state enlightened by grace in the words of Macarius the Great. Ways to Arouse and Strengthen Determination for a Good Life

31. How to support the desire for a good life that has begun. Spiritual reading and meditation. Writing down good thoughts. How to avoid wandering thoughts when reading and praying. Constant remembrance of God and death. self-reproach

32. He who has decided to take the path of a good life must speak. Instructions on worthy persecution. Behavior of a fasting person in a church

33. Continuation of fasting. Behavior of a fasting house

34. Continuation of fasting. Preparation for confession. Checking life

35. Continued. Verification of the location of the heart. Determining the main character, or spirit, of your life

36. Perfect preparation for the Sacrament of Repentance and Communion. Feelings necessary for the penitent. A useful reminder of the blessed Theodora and her journey through ordeals

37. The awakened determination to be correct should be clearly defined as the desire to act in everything in accordance with the will of God. Peace and joy of the servants of God. A warning against incomplete determination to live according to God. Neither warm nor cold will be rejected by God

38. The necessary determination of the speaker to consecrate himself to God is seen as a conscious renewal of the vows made for us at Baptism.

39. The correction of life consists in reorganizing not external orders, but in the spirit, with a readiness to struggle with obstacles. Various ways in which the enemy tries to deflect those who are embarking on the path of true life

40. Fear of cooling in the future. Various causes of cooling to the spiritual life. How to behave in case of emerging cooling

41. Last advice before confession and communion

42. Congratulation and well-wishes to the repentant and partaking of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. Those who have entered the path of true life require unceasing remembrance of God

43. After repentance and communion, he who has entered the path of true life must establish peace within himself. Rules for overcoming internal discord: unceasing remembrance of God, determination to act according to one’s conscience in everything big and small, and patiently waiting for success

44. Precautions for those who embark on the true path. Leap of life in spring. Why do many who fast do not reform at all?

45. The main occupation of one who has entered the true path is prayer. Instruction on Undistracted Prayer

46. ​​General rules for those who stand in the way of true life

47. A prayer rule for those who stand in the way of a charitable life. Learning psalms. Replacing long prayers with short ones. Beads

48. How to achieve proper undistracted prayer. Preparing to Properly Celebrate Prayer

49. Everyday affairs. How to treat the affairs of life so that they do not distract, but are combined with serving God

50. Continued. In what ways can one arouse in oneself unceasing remembrance of God with love

51. How to use worldly affairs and things for spiritual benefit

52. The remembrance of God should lead to a feeling of warmth or ardent love for God.

53. Passion as a hindrance for the spirit to kindle with love for God. They must be expelled

54. About struggle with passions

55. Continuation of the fight against passions

56. Even the slightest impulses of the passions must be banished. Permissible anger

57. Different degrees of development of passion: passionate thoughts, feelings, desires and actions. Fight them

58. Significance of prayer in the fight against passionate thoughts. Examples

59. Excerpt from the Monk Hesychius on the struggle with passions

60 How to tread if, even in the struggle with passions, passionate thoughts and desires break through in us. Purification of the heart

61. Observation of hearing and sight. How to destroy bad impressions seen and heard

62. After a guide to a mental struggle with passions, an instruction is offered on an active struggle with them. The most convenient form of life for fighting passions. Conclusion of the conversation about the fight against passions

63. Housework. Singing and music

64. Loneliness. How to avoid boredom. Reading and studying the sciences

65. Extract from the Monk Pimen about a charitable life, the victory of passions and the planting of virtues

66. Journey to the Sergius Lavra. Instruction to the pilgrims

67. Consolation of a pilgrim. Instructions for careful confession. Short Prayers and Unceasing Attention to God

68. Rumor and human speech. The need for a good adviser. Constant danger from the enemy

69. Longing and insurance. Innocent entertainment. Dissociation with bad people. English "apostle" from the Spirit Bearer sect. His mendacity

70. About reading spiritual and secular books

71. Cooling down to prayer. Careless and hasty prayer. How to avoid it. Reading prayers for memory

72. Vow of renunciation of the world. How to behave on the utterance of a vow before its fulfillment

73. Continued. Once this vow of celibacy must be kept firmly. Height of virginity

74. Instruction for those striving for monastic life. Different types of feat of celibate life. Patient Waiting and Home Preparation for Monastic Life

75. Tricks of the enemy to deflect from the world-giving life. How to reflect them

76. Temptations from the Unbelievers. Refutation of their superstitious reasoning

77. Temptations from domestic troubles. Submission to parents as preparation for monastic obedience

78. Temptation from injustice and slander from strangers. Their patience. A warning to those wishing to leave their parents' home for freedom

79. Recent anxieties and anxieties. Committing one's fate into the hands of God with prayer and courage against the enemy who leads temptations

80. Calm after a storm of temptations raised by the enemy. Home fees. Last tip

Saint Theophan (in the world Georgy Vasilyevich Govorov, 1815-1894), was a bishop of Tambov, then Vladimir, later left the episcopal chair and lived in the Vyshenskaya hermitage. An outstanding spiritual writer, St. Theophanes compiled interpretations of the Sunday Gospels, and works on moral theology occupy a significant place in his legacy.

Perhaps the most valuable legacy of Theophan the Recluse is his letters. After all, the genre of writing itself involves personal communication, the specificity of questions. In his letters, the great spiritual mentor Theophan the Recluse enters into the problems of his interlocutor and solves them, from the entire wealth of the spiritual heritage of the Church, of which he was a great connoisseur, and, of course, from his own experience. “What is spiritual life and how to tune in to it” is just an example of such a theology, where “theory” immediately, before our eyes, turns into “practice”. Perhaps, “What is spiritual life and how to tune in to it” is the most famous book of this kind by Theophan the Recluse. In fact, this is a collection of letters about the spiritual life, where theoretical questions alternate with practical advice. The letters cited in “What is Spiritual Life and How to Attune to It” are written by Theophan the Recluse to a young girl “who does not want to get married, but has not gathered her courage to enter a monastery either.” “What is the spiritual life and how to tune in to it” is a frank and detailed description of the inner life of a person. Here we see the whole path of man to God and all the dangers encountered on it.

Mention in the books of A. Novykh

Rigden: Undoubtedly. What is spiritual life?

Life is a series of events, where every moment is like a link in a chain, like a frame in a film, which captures all the thoughts and deeds of a person. It happens that you watch a good movie and get positive impressions from it, since most of the frames in it are light and bright. And sometimes you watch another movie, and it creates a depressing mood, because most of the frames in it are dark and gloomy. So it is important that your life film be light and bright, so that it contains as many good shots as possible. And each frame is a moment here and now. The quality of each frame of your life film depends solely on you, because you make your life light or dark with your thoughts and deeds. You can't erase the moment you lived, you can't cut it out, and there won't be a second take. Spiritual life is the saturation of each frame with Kindness, Love, good thoughts and deeds.

The main thing is to keep a clear focus on the Spiritual nature in life, engage in spiritual practices, expand your horizons of Knowledge, not succumb to the provocations of the Animal nature, create in yourself a feeling of true Love for God. And, of course, to do good deeds more often, to live according to Conscience. This is a daily work, a gradual victory over oneself. All of this is what makes up your path, which no one will go through for you and no one will do this spiritual work for you.