Prelest - Prelest

Bu maqola uning uchun tekshirilishi uchun nomzod qilingan betaraflik. Ushbu nominatsiyani muhokama qilish uchun quyidagi sahifada topishingiz mumkin munozara sahifasi. (Noyabr 2020) (Ushbu shablon xabarini qanday va qachon olib tashlashni bilib oling)

Prelest (dan.) Ruscha: preest, dan Ruscha: lest - cajolery (jozibasi, jozibasi), Yunoncha: b - plani), shuningdek, ma'naviy aldanish, ruhiy aldanish, aldanish, illuziya deb ataladi, bu Muqaddas Otalarga ko'ra pravoslav xristian atamasi. Pravoslav cherkovi, soxta ruhiy holat, ruhiy kasallik, "inson tabiatining yolg'ondan yaralanishi" (St. Ignatius Brianchaninov ).^[1]

Prelestni ruhiy kasallik bilan chalkashtirib yubormaslik kerak, lekin bu behuda, mag'rurlik va jinlarning taklifidan kelib chiqadigan va kamtarlik va Muqaddas Muqaddas Ruhlar bilan va ruhiy rahbarlik ostida davolanadigan Xudoga bo'lgan shaxsiy munosabatlaridagi ruhning ruhiy kasalligi. ota.^[2] Keng talqinda har bir kishi prelest deb hisoblanadi, ya'ni har bir kishi noto'g'ri fikr va qarashlarga ega, hayotning ma'nosini to'liq anglamagan va o'z gunohkorligi darajasiga ega.

Tor ma'noda ba'zi bir shaxslarning eng avvalgi holatida ekanligi ma'nosida ishlatilsa, demak, bu kishi dastlab xudojo'y nasroniy hayoti yo'lida bo'lganida, eng kuchli mag'rurlik va o'z-o'zini takabburlik fikriga qadar egalik qilganligini anglatadi. shaxsiy muqaddaslik haqida. O'zini avliyo deb hisoblash - bu aniq bir ilhomdir, chunki inson Xudoga qanchalik yaqin bo'lsa, u o'zining nomukammalligini shunchalik ko'p ko'radi va barcha haqiqiy azizlar o'zlarini eng katta gunohkor deb bilishadi. Prelestga qarama-qarshi bo'lgan holat - bu ma'naviy hushyorlik.

Sharqiy pravoslav qarashlari

Umumiy ma'lumot

Qisqacha aytganda, insonning har qanday xatosi yoki yolg'on fikrni haqiqat deb qabul qilishi, avvalgi boshlanishi bo'lishi mumkin:

"O'z-o'zini aldash va jinlarni aldash manbai soxta fikrdir" Avliyo Ignatius (Brianchaninov).

Ammo Muqaddas Ota-onalar, asosan, odamlarning ruhiy masalalar bo'yicha hukmidagi xatolar va ayniqsa shaxsiy ruhiy holatni tushunishda xatolar haqida yozganlar.

O'ziga bo'lgan haqiqiy qarash (o'zining ruhiy holati, Xudoga nisbatan mavqei, gunohkorligi va boshqalar) mag'rurlik va behuda ehtiroslar bilan chambarchas bog'liq va bu ehtiroslar bilan buziladi. Dastlabki daraja - bu bunday buzilish darajasi, ya'ni o'ziga qarashdagi yolg'onlik miqdori va yolg'on qarashdan haqiqatga o'zgarishning qiyinligi darajasi.

Prelestning har xil turlari ko'plab Muqaddas Otalar, shu jumladan Otalar tomonidan tasvirlangan Filokaliya: St. Sinay Gregori, St. Maximus Confessor, St. Symeon metaphrast, St. Symeon yangi dinshunos va boshqalar. Hatto ba'zi bir Muqaddas Ota "prelest" iborasini aniq ishlatmasa ham, astsetik hayot haqida yozish ma'naviy amaliyot haqiqatni yozishni, ya'ni najotga, yolg'onni esa aksini keltirib chiqaradi va shuning uchun uni haqiqat deb qabul qilishni anglatadi prelest.

Zamonaviy o'quvchi avliyo otalarning urf-odatlarini tinimsiz saqlagan Avliyo Ignatius (Brianchaninov) yozuvlarida prelest haqidagi eng to'liq izohni topishi mumkin. Ushbu yozuvlarning ba'zilari "On prelest" kitobiga kiritilgan.^[3] faqat turli xil aldanish shakllariga bag'ishlangan (ibodatning noto'g'ri usuli, orzularga bo'lgan ishonch, haddan tashqari g'ayrat, yolg'on kamtarlik va boshqalar), bu Sankt-Ignatius birinchi asrlarning Muqaddas Otalari so'zlari asosida tushuntiradi va so'nggi turli xil narsalar haqida ma'lumot beradi. aldanish holatlari. Ushbu kitobda Sankt-Ignatius prelestning quyidagi ta'rifini beradi: bu "inson tabiatini yolg'on bilan jarohatlash" yoki boshqacha qilib aytganda, "inson haqiqatni qabul qilgan yolg'onni o'zlashtirishi".

Ba'zi zamonaviy zohidlar, masalan, Hesychast oqsoqol Jozef,^[4] Muqaddas tog'ning oqsoqoli Paisios,^[5] oqsoqol Daniel Katounakiotis^[6] prelest haqida ham yozgan.

Prelest tushunchasi pravoslav ma'naviyatida va astsetikada juda muhimdir. Bu xristian (ayniqsa monastir) bilan ibodat qilishni boshlash uchun asosiy xavflardan biridir Iso ibodat.^[7]

Prelestni o'ziga xos ko'rinishlarida aniqlash ruhlarni farqlash (yoki kamsitish) deb ataladi. Diskriminatsiya fazilati "boshqa fazilatlardan kattaroq; va barcha fazilatlarning malikasi va tojidir".^[8] Bu juda yuqori darajadagi ruhiy yoshga to'g'ri keladi va "uchta voz kechishni" talab qiladi (Evagrius)^[9], Seynt Jon Kassian^[10], Sent-Jon Klimak^[11]): dunyodan ajralish, ehtiroslar bilan ichki kurash, ibodat va chuqur ma'naviy bilimlarga ega bo'lish. Haqiqiy kamsitish, ehtiroslar bilan kurashish bo'yicha avvalgi tajribadan so'ng paydo bo'ladi. Kamsitish manbai Ilohiy inoyat va kamtarlik fazilatidir.

Professor N.E. Pestov o'z kitobida^[12] Umuman olganda, prelestga nisbatan eng xavfsiz ma'naviy yo'l bu tajribali va muqaddas oqsoqolga bo'ysunish bilan yashash yoki hech bo'lmaganda boshqalarning maslahati bilan yashashdir. Prelestga tushishning eng tezkor usuli bu aksincha - o'z fikrlariga ishonish va har qanday maslahatga quloq solmaslik.

Umumiy prelest va prelest tegishli

Seyntning so'zlariga ko'ra Ignatius Brianchaninov, "Ma'naviy aldash - bu istisnosiz barcha odamlarning holati va bu asl ota-onamizning qulashi tufayli amalga oshdi. Barchamiz ma'naviy aldanishga duchor bo'lmoqdamiz. Ushbu haqiqatni anglash unga qarshi eng katta himoya. Xuddi shunday, barchaning eng buyuk ma'naviy aldovi - o'zini undan xoli deb hisoblash ".^[1]

Poltava arxiyepiskopi Teofan Sankt-Ignatiyning ushbu bayonotiga qisqacha "umumiy prelest" va so'zning "to'g'ri ma'nosida" prelestni ajratish bilan izoh beradi. Yuqorida aytib o'tilganlarning barchasi asosida u quyidagi ta'rifni beradi: "Qisqacha aytganda," umumiy prelest "va" prelest "o'rtasidagi farq, so'zning o'ziga xos ma'nosida, yuqorida aytilganlarga asoslanib ifodalanishi mumkin. O'zining gunohkorligini unutish va unga e'tibor bermaslik. Biz eng avvalo munosib deb ataydigan narsa, agar u mavjud bo'lmaganda, o'zini o'zi adolatga bog'lashdir. Agar inson o'zini solih deb hisoblasa, demak uning adolati ilohiy emas, balki shayton, Xudoning marhamati uchun begona va Buyuk Abba Poemenning mashhur so'zlarini esga olish kerak: "Men gunoh qilmagan va tavba qilmagan kishidan gunoh qilib tavba qilgan odamni afzal ko'raman. Birinchisi yaxshi fikrlarga ega, chunki u gunohkorligini tan oladi. Ammo ikkinchisida yolg'on, ruhni yo'q qiladigan fikrlar bor, chunki u o'zini solih deb tasavvur qiladi '(Bp. Ignatius, Paterikon, 75) ".^[13]

Tashqaridan qarash

Faqat birovni tashqi tomondan ko'rganida uni muqaddas deb hisoblash mumkin. O'zini muqaddas deb hisoblash prelestning yaqqol namoyonidir, chunki kimdir Xudoga qanchalik yaqin bo'lsa, u o'zini shunchalik gunohkor ko'radi. St. Buyuk Makarius aytadi: "agar siz kimdir mag'rurligini va u inoyatning sherigi ekanligidan faxrlanishini ko'rsangiz, u mo''jizalar yaratgan va o'liklarni tiriltirgan bo'lsa ham, lekin agar u ruhini vijdonsiz va xor deb bilmasa va o'zini ruhi kambag'al deb bilmasa. O'zini o'zi bilmagan holda, uni yovuzlik o'g'irlaydi, hatto u mo''jizaviy alomatlarni yaratgan bo'lsa ham, unga ishonmaslik kerak, chunki nasroniylik belgisi - Xudo oldida yaxshi biladiganlar uchun buni yashirishga intilish kerak. odamlardan va agar u podshohning barcha xazinalariga ega bo'lsa, ularni yashirish va har doim: "bu mening xazinam emas, boshqasi uni mening joyimga qo'yadi, men esa tilanchiman, qachon uni qo'ygan xohlasa, u uni mendan tortib oladi ”. Agar kimdir: "Men boyman, men orttirgan narsamga etarlicha egaman va menga bundan ortig'i kerak emas", - desa, demak bu nasroniy emas, balki aldanish va shaytonning idishi. Xudodan lazzatlanish qoniqarsizdir, va uning didi va aloqasi qay darajada ochko'zlikga aylanadi, bunday odamlar Xudoga bo'lgan ishtiyoqi va boshqarib bo'lmaydigan sevgisiga ega bo'ladilar, ko'proq muvaffaqiyatga erishishga va yutuqlarga erishishga harakat qilsalar, o'zlarini shunchalik taniydilar Kambag'al, chunki ular hamma narsada kambag'al va hech narsaga ega bo'lmaganlar: "Men bu quyosh meni yoritib turishiga loyiq emasman", deyishadi. Bu nasroniylikning belgisidir, bu kamtarlikdir. "^[14]

Sankt-Ignatius (Brianchaninov) "kamtarlik o'zini kamtar ko'rmaydi. Aksincha, u o'zida katta mag'rurlikni ko'radi. Uning barcha shoxlarini topishga g'amxo'rlik qiladi; ularni izlashda hali ko'p narsalar borligini ko'radi qidirmoq."^[15]

Seynt Jon Kassianning yozishicha, "pokroq ko'rinish ko'proq narsani e'tiborga oladi, haqoratli hayot o'zini tanqid qilishning katta qayg'usini keltirib chiqaradi, axloqni to'g'rilash va fazilatlarga bo'lgan g'ayrat yig'lab yuboradi va xo'rsinadi. Hech kim bu darajadan qoniqmaydi. u mukammallikka erishgan va ruhda pokroq bo'lgan kishi o'zini qanchalik nopok ko'rsa, shunchalik kamtarlik uchun sabablarni topadi va balandlikka qanchalik tezroq intilsa, shuncha ko'p qaerda borligini ko'radi intiling. "^[16]

Muqaddas Tog'dagi Aziz Paisios, "o'zini avliyo deb biladigan va boshqalarga ibodat qiladigan, ularni gunohkor deb biladigan odam Xudoga jirkanchdir", deb aytadi.^[17]

Optinadan bo'lgan Avliyo Entoni (Putilov) o'zining kundaligida "Men shundan keyingina o'zim haqimda yomon fikrda bo'lganimda o'zim haqiyqiy fikrda bo'lganimni ko'rdim; va yaxshi fikr yuritganimda xayolda bo'lganimni ko'rdim" deb yozadi.^[18]

Turlar

Sankt Ignatius (Brianchaninov) yozishicha, prelestning ko'p turlari mavjud. Har bir tur o'ziga xos ehtirosga mos keladi va undan kelib chiqadi va har qanday tur mag'rurlik bilan bog'liqdir. Prelestning barcha turlari, shuningdek, noto'g'ri ibodat bilan bog'liq va tavba qilish ibodatning asosi bo'lmaganida sodir bo'ladi. Sankt-Ignatiusning ta'kidlashicha, ibodat nuqtai nazaridan, prelestning ikki xil turi mavjud:

1. tasavvur - odam o'zida yoki tashqarida mavjud bo'lmagan narsani tasavvur qiladi. Bunday aldanishga ibodat qilishning yolg'on uslubi kiradi (Osmon, Rabbimiz Iso Masih, farishtalar, azizlar xayoli bilan), natijada jinlardan kelib chiqqan xuddi shu mavzudagi haqiqiy tasavvurlar bilan gallyutsinatsiyalar paydo bo'ladi.
2. o'z-o'zini takabbur qilish (mag'rurlik, takabburlik) - inson o'ziga xos bo'lmagan Xudo oldida qadr-qimmatini belgilaydi. O'z-o'zini takabbur qilish, ibodat paytida tabiiy his-tuyg'ularni Ilohiy inoyat harakatiga noto'g'ri bog'lashda namoyon bo'lishi mumkin.

Sankt-Ignatiusning aytishicha, birinchi turdagi prelestlar aqlning noto'g'ri harakatlaridan, ikkinchisi esa yurakning noto'g'ri harakatlaridan kelib chiqadi.

Avliyo Sinay Gregori aldanishning bir nechta shakllari haqida ham aytadi:^[19]

1. xayoliy tasavvurlar va aqliy obrazlar va xayollar, takabburlik va o'z-o'zini takabburlikdan kelib chiqqan: "takabburlikdan keyin aldanish, aldanish kufr bilan, kufr bilan qo'rquv, qo'rquv bilan qo'rquv va dahshat bilan ongning tabiiy holatini buzish bilan birga keladi".
2. diabolik ta'sir - "u o'z-o'zidan zavqlanishdan kelib chiqadi, bu esa o'z navbatida tabiiy istak deb ataladi. O'z-o'zini qondirish, ta'riflab bo'lmaydigan nopoklikning barcha ko'rinishlarida xushyoqishni keltirib chiqaradi". Ushbu shaklda ba'zi odamlar haqiqatan ham xushchaqchaqlik jinlaridan kelib chiqqan vahiylar va bashorat sovg'asi mavjud.
3. ruhiy buzilish - dastlabki ikki shaklning natijasi.

Prelest va aqldan ozish

Avliyo Ignatius Brianchaninovning so'zlariga ko'ra, Sinay avliyo Gregori,^[19] Simeon Yangi dinshunos,^[20] Valaam oqsoqol sxemasi-Abbot Jon (Alekseyev)^[21] va boshqa astsetika, birinchi turdagi prelest (tasavvur bilan ibodat) ko'pincha aqldan ozishga olib keladi. Ikkinchi tur (takabburlik) ba'zida ruhiy kasallikka olib kelmaydi, ammo odam etti o'lik gunohdan biri bo'lgan mag'rurlik holatida najot topolmaydi. Sankt-Ignatius bu haqda yozadi: "Bunday prelest - dahshatli: bu ruh uchun birinchisiga o'xshab o'limga olib keladi, ammo unchalik ravshan emas; u kamdan-kam hollarda aqldan ozish, o'z joniga qasd qilish bilan tugaydi, lekin aqlni ham, qalbni ham buzadi. . "^[22]

Soxta tasavvurlar

Muqaddas Otalarning fikriga ko'ra, yolg'on tasavvurlar mag'rurlik bilan bog'liq. Muqaddas Ignatius Brianchaninovning aytishicha, vahiylarni ko'rishni xohlaydigan va aqli Muqaddas Ruh tomonidan yangilanmagan va qayta tiklanmagan odamlar mag'rurlikka to'lishadi.^[22] - bu, Ignatiusning yozishicha, birinchi va ikkinchi turdagi prelestlar o'rtasida (ya'ni "xayol" va "takabburlik" o'rtasida) bog'liqlik mavjud. Archimandrite Seraphim (Alexiev) aytadiki: "Mag'rurlik bo'lgan joyda va ayni paytda uning vizyoni bor - bu Xudodan bo'lishi mumkin emas, lekin har qanday holatda ham - yovuz shaytondan".^[23]

Ruminiyalik oqsoqol Kleopa (Ili) soxta vahiylar va orzular aldanishining 7 usulini aytib o'tdi:^[24]

1. Mag'rurlik;
2. Vinglori;
3. Zaif va tajribasiz aql;
4. Diqqatsiz g'ayrat;
5. Itoatsizlik;
6. E'tirof etishda o'z xohish-irodasiga va fikrlarni yashirishga rioya qilish;
7. O'zini va Ilohiy Muqaddas Bitiklarni bilmaslik.

Oqsoqol Kleopa, shuningdek, o'zlarini ko'rishga loyiq emas deb bilganliklari va aldanish xavfi tufayli vahiylarni rad etgan Paterikondan bo'lgan turli xil avliyolarning misollarini keltiradi. Shuningdek, u turli xil Muqaddas Ota-bobolarning dalillarini keltirar ekan, agar vahiylar haqiqatning barcha xususiyatlariga ega bo'lsa ham, ularni osonlikcha qabul qilmaslik kerak - agar azizlar vahiylarni tezda qabul qilsalar, ular aldanib, avliyo bo'lmas edilar.

Oqsoqol Heshast Yusuf uning hayotidagi misollarni eslatib, haqiqiy vahiylar har doim juda qattiq azob va qayg'ularni oldinga surishini yoki ta'qib qilishini va ularni Xudo faqat tasalli sifatida berishini aytadi.^[25] Vizyon to'g'ri bo'lsa ham, kurash bilan fikrlarga qarshi turish va vahiy haqiqati bilan faxrlanmaslik juda qiyin. Oqsoqol Jozef vahiylardan keyin mag'rurlik haqida shunday yozadi: "Shundan keyin nima bo'ladi? Odam jinlarning masxarasiga aylanadi. Ular uni yozuvlar va vahiylar bilan, orzular va vahiylar bilan, ramzlar va raqamlar bilan, sehr-jodu va xurofotlar bilan aldaydilar".^[4]

Oqsoqol Muqaddas tog'ning Paisioslari bitta haqiqatni ko'rgan ayol haqida shunday hikoya qiladi. Keyin Iblis unga Xudo tanlagan degan fikrni taklif qildi va u bunga ishondi. Keyin jinlar uni turli xil vahiylar va vahiylar bilan qiynay boshladilar. Oxir-oqibat, u yana bir haqiqiy tasavvurga ega bo'ldi va unga yordam berishi uchun oqsoqol Paisiosga yozishni buyurdi.^[5] Shunday qilib, oqsoqol Paisios o'zining barcha tasavvurlaridan faqat ikkitasi Xudodan bo'lganligini aytadi.

Shuningdek, oqsoqol Daniel Katounakiotis Prelestning uzoq holatidagi bir nechta bunday holatlar haqida vahiylar bilan birga yozadi. U maktubida juda ko'p ko'rgan Ieroteos nomi bilan bitta iyerodeakon haqida yozadi. U hamma narsani tan olgan bo'lsa ham, hech kim e'tirof etuvchilar buni aldanish deb tushunmagan. Keyin oqsoqol Sabba unga haqiqatni qanday aniqlashni maslahat berdi. Shundan so'ng aldanish aniqlandi. Ammo vahiylar qayta-qayta quvib chiqarilgandan so'ng to'xtaganiga qaramay, Ieroteosning ruhiga shikast etkazish juda jiddiy bo'lib qoldi va keyinchalik u barcha monastik qasamlarni buzdi. Prelestning yana bir ishi oddiy Nikolay bilan sodir bo'ldi. U shuningdek jinlarning uzoq va kuchli harakatlariga duch kelgan. Oqsoqol Doniyor Nikolayni barcha qarashlari yolg'on ekanligiga ishontirgan bo'lsa ham, umrining oxirigacha aldanish izlari ko'rindi.^[26]

"Buyuk soat" kitobida^[27], tog'dagi Avliyo Panteleimon monastiridan oqsoqol Jerom (Solomentsov) yozuvlarida. Atos, Teofan iyeroshemamonk hayoti tasvirlangan. U juda ko'p tasavvurlarga ega edi va 15 yil davomida u ruhiy otaga hamma narsani tan oldi. Ammo keyin u sezilarli darajada yashiringan va mag'rur bo'lib qoldi. U ruhiy ota o'zi kabi yuksak hayot kechirmaydi deb o'ylay boshladi. Bir marta, u e'tirof etuvchiga tashrif buyurganida, u unga ba'zi vahiylari haqida gapirib berdi va keyin shunday siljishiga yo'l qo'ydi: "Va menga ba'zi vahiylar haqida aytib berishim buyurilmagan". Bunga iqror bo'lgan kishi: "Men sizni prelestingiz bilan tabriklayman!" U yashirgan ikkita vahiy haqida gapirganda, ular yolg'on ekanligi aniqlandi. Ko'rish paytida ong erkinligi masalasi asosiy fikrlardan biri edi - agar ong vahiyni boshqara oladigan bo'lsa, demak u to'g'ri emas (masalan, Avliyo Maksimos Kavsokalyvitlar bu haqda Avliyo Gregori bilan suhbatlashadi). Keyingi hayotda ota Teofan xayolotdan qutulolmadi, u Atoni tark etdi, savdo bilan shug'ullandi va azoblarda vafot etdi.

O'z-o'zini takabbur qilish

Sankt-Ignatius (Brianchaninov) yozishicha "" o'zboshimchalik bilan "yuqtirgan odamlar juda ko'p uchraydi. Kimda-kim xayrixohlik ruhiga ega bo'lmasa, u o'zining qadr-qimmati va yutuqlarini tan olsa, pravoslav cherkovi ta'limotiga qat'iy rioya qilmaydigan, ammo har qanday dogma yoki urf-odatlar to'g'risida o'zboshimchalik bilan, uning xohishiga ko'ra yoki heterodoksal ta'limotga ko'ra muhokama qilish, ushbu prelest turida bo'ladi. Og'ish darajasi va og'ishning davomiyligi oldingi darajani belgilaydi ".^[22] Sankt-Ignatius shuningdek, St. Buyuk Makarius u aytgan: "mag'rurlikdan butunlay ozod bo'lgan odam yo'qligi sababli:" takabburlik "deb nomlangan nozik xayolda unga qarshi harakatlardan butunlay ozod bo'ladigan odam yo'q".

"Kibr" ruhiy kasallikka olib kelishi mumkin bo'lgan bir misol bor. Iyeromartir yepiskopi Arseniy (Jadanovskiy) o'zining "Ma'naviy kundaligi" da shunday aldangan bir ayol haqida yozadi. U har kuni Muqaddas Jamiyatni qabul qilmoqchi edi. Unga bunday qilish taqiqlanganda, u o'z uyida ilohiy marosimga xizmat qila boshladi. "Ammo uning ishi afsus bilan tugadi. U aqlini yo'qotdi va hozirda u ruhiy kasalxonada".^[28]

Soxta sovg'alar

Ba'zida jinlar "yordam berishlari" mumkin^[29] aldangan odam. Ushbu "yordam" tarkibiga ba'zi narsalar, hattoki diniy va juda murakkab narsalar bo'yicha tavsiyalar yoki yolg'on ma'naviy sovg'alar ko'rinishida bo'lishi mumkin: soxta davolash qobiliyati,^[30] yolg'on tushuncha,^[31] bashoratning yolg'on sovg'asi,^[19] soxta tinimsiz ibodat,^[32] jinlar ustidan yolg'on kuch,^[30] fikrlarni yolg'on o'qish,^[33] soxta beparvolik^[34] Bu erda "yolg'on" atamasi "Ilohiy emas" degan ma'noni anglatadi.

Tajribasiz odam, haqiqiy Ilohiy in'omlarni, kimga va qanday sharoitda berilishi mumkinligini etarli darajada bilmaydi.^[35] Ilohiy bo'lish kabi soxta sovg'ani bemalol qabul qilishi mumkin. Bunday soxta sovg'ani, "sovg'ani" yuboradigan soxta "Masih" paydo bo'lishi kabi ba'zi bir tashqi hodisalar bilan birga olish mumkin,^[5] yoki qabul qiluvchi kishi uchun asta-sekin va sezilmasdan sodir bo'lishi mumkin. Vaqtidan oldin soxta sovg'alar olgan ba'zi odamlar^[36][37] va mag'rurlik tufayli Xudodan ularga sovg'a yuborishni iltimos qildi va ular uni olishdi, lekin jinlardan. Boshqalar aniq biron bir narsani so'ramadilar, lekin allaqachon o'zlarini maqtashgan va o'zlarini munosib deb hisoblashgan, ya'ni ikkinchi turdagi prelest holatida bo'lishgan.^[38]

Metropoliten Sourozhning Entoni u yoshligida u boshqa odamlarning fikrlarini o'qish qobiliyatiga ega bo'lganligini eslaydi. Bir marta u Xudodan so'radi: "Agar bu sovg'a sizdan bo'lmasa, uni yo'q qiling". Va bu qobiliyat darhol g'oyib bo'ldi.^[33] Mag'rur odam uchun bunday sovg'adan voz kechish, o'zini olishga loyiq emas deb hisoblash va Xudodan sovg'ani olib qo'yishini so'rash juda qiyin. Agar bu soxta sovg'alar aldangan odam tomonidan qabul qilinsa, bu uning jinlarga aylanishiga yoki o'z joniga qasd qilishiga olib kelishi mumkin.^[39]

Fikrlarning yolg'on sukunati ("jinlar sukunati")

Ichki sukunat va fikrlarning etishmasligi, aniq bir shaxsning yuqori ma'naviy holatini ko'rsatishi shart emas. Seynt Jon Klimakning so'zlariga ko'ra, jinlar odamni qasddan tark etishi mumkin - yoki uni beparvolikka olib borishi va keyin to'satdan unga hujum qilishi, yoki agar u o'zini gunohkor qobiliyatlarda egallab olgan bo'lsa, yoki odamda hamma narsaning o'rnini bosadigan bitta asosiy ehtiros bo'lsa. boshqalar.^[40] Kronstadtning Sent-Joni reabilitatsiya markazida sobiq sektantlar va okkultistlarga yordam berib ishlaydigan Ota Jon (Adlivankin) tajribasiga ko'ra, u bir necha bor odamlarning to'liq "dispasensiya" holatini qanday kuzatganliklari haqidagi iqrorlarini eshitgan, ya'ni. har qanday gunohkor fikrlar. Bu ular mazhabparastlar va okkultistlar bo'lgan payt edi. Pravoslavga murojaat qilgandan so'ng, ular endi bunday uzoq tinch holatga ega emas edilar. Fr.ning so'zlariga ko'ra Jon, bunday holat (u buni "jinlarning sukunati" deb ataydi) juda xavfli - to'liq o'ylamaslik va tasalli va bu muqarrar ravishda odamning eksklyuzivligi, ya'ni mag'rurligi haqida fikrlarni keltirib chiqaradi.^[41]

Kecha tushlariga ishon

Oldindan xavfli tur - bu orzularga bo'lgan ishonch. Muqaddas Ota-onalar biz ularga hech qachon e'tibor bermasligimiz kerakligini aytishadi, chunki ular jinlardan kelib chiqishi mumkin.^[42] St. Jon Klimak deydi: "Bekorparastlik shaytonlari o'zlarining bashoratlarini tushlarida ko'rishadi. Ular kelajak haqida taxmin qilishadi va o'zlarining hiyla-nayranglari sifatida bizni bu haqda bizga xabar berishadi, shunda biz o'z vizyonlarimiz ro'yobga chiqayotganini ko'rib hayron bo'lamiz. Haqiqatan ham biz tushunchaga berilib ketamiz biz allaqachon oldindan bilish sovg'asiga yaqinmiz. "^[43] Siraxning donishmandligida shunday deyilgan: "Tushunmaydigan odamning umidlari puch va botildir. Orzular ahmoqlarni ko'taradi. Kim tush ko'rsa, u soyada yurib, shamolga ergashganga o'xshaydi."Sirachning donoligi 34: 1-2 ) "Chunki orzular ko'pchilikni aldagan va ular ularga ishongan holda muvaffaqiyatsizlikka uchragan." (Siraxning donoligi 34: 7 ) Agar odam tush ko'rishni boshlasa, tushida kelajak haqida alomatlarni izlasa, jinlar o'z orzulariga bo'lgan ishonchini tezda o'z joniga qasd qilishga olib keladigan yoki odamni bid'atga aylantiradigan darajada oshirishi mumkin.^[44] yoki boshqa o'lik gunohlar.

O'qitish ishtiyoqi

Havoriy Jeyms o'z maktubida ruxsatsiz ta'lim berishdan ogohlantiradi: "Birodarlarim, biz ko'proq hukmni qabul qilishimizni bilib, ko'p ustalar bo'lmanglar" (Yoqub 3: 1 ). Agar ma'lum bir odamda o'qitish istagi muhabbat va kamtarlikdan ko'ra behuda va mag'rurlik ehtiroslaridan kelib chiqsa, bu shaxsiy qadr-qimmati va o'qitish qobiliyati haqidagi yolg'on g'oyaga asoslanib va ​​bunday o'qitish yoqimli ekanligi uchun o'ziga xos prelestga aylanadi. Xudoga. Arxiepiskop Averkiy (Taushev) Jeyms 3: 1 tahlilida o'qitishni juda ehtiyotkorlik bilan va o'ziga ishonchsizlik bilan boshlash kerakligini aytadi.^[45] Bunday ichki qat'iyat mag'rurlik va shaxsiy qadr-qimmat haqida maqtalgan fikrga ziddir. St. Jon Klimak bekorchi haqida gapirganda, taqiqlangan o'qitish haqida ogohlantiradi: "U sizga episkop yoki abbat yoki o'qituvchi lavozimini qabul qiling deganda, unga e'tibor bermang. Qassobning peshtaxtasidan itni haydash qiyin".^[46]

O'qitish quyidagi holatlarda birlamchi bo'lishi mumkin:

• so'ralmasdan o'zboshimchalik bilan o'qitish va maslahat berish (odam so'ralmasdan o'qitishga aniq tayinlangan holatlar bundan mustasno);
• mavzuga qiziqmaydigan yoki ilgari tajriba va bilimga ega bo'lmagan kishini tushunishga o'rgatish;
• o'qituvchi yaxshi bilmaydigan, xususan, tajribadan emas, faqat kitoblardan biladigan narsani o'rgatish;
• episkoplar va ruhoniylarga tegishli o'qituvchi qadr-qimmatini o'zboshimchalik bilan egallash, masalan. jamoatga ishonish to'g'risida jamoat oldida ta'lim berish.

O'qitishning to'g'ri motivlaridan biri bu "Sizdan so'ragan har bir kishiga bering" amri bo'yicha boshqalarga ma'lumot almashishga itoat etishdir (Luqo 6:30, Matto 5:42 ). Xususan, Hesychast oqsoqol Jozef nega maslahat berishini o'zboshimchalik bilan emas, balki faqat so'ralganda tushuntirganda, bu so'zlarni o'z maktublarida keltiradi.^[47] Xuddi shu amrni St. Gregori Palamas nega unga ko'rsatmalar berishga qaror qilganini tushuntirganda, rohiba Kseniyaga yozgan xatida.^[48] Sankt-Ignatius (Briachaninov) o'zboshimchalik bilan o'qitish to'g'risida "otalar qo'shnidan so'roq olmasdan, qo'shnilarga o'z xohishiga ko'ra maslahat berishni taqiqlaydi; ruxsatsiz kengash o'z malakasi va ma'naviy qadr-qimmati ongining mavjudligidan dalolat beradi - bu aniq mag'rurlik va o'ziga xoslik" aldash (Butrus ieromartiri, Damashq Metropoliteni va boshqa otalar fikri. Filokaliya, 3-jild). Bu rektorlar va yuqori lavozimlarga taalluqli emas, ular har doim va duch kelgan har doim ularga topshirilgan birodarlikni o'rgatishlari shart. (2 Tim 4, 2). Ammo ular boshqa monastirlarga tashrif buyurganlarida, Buyuk Pakomiyga berilgan Iskandariyalik Makariyning maslahatiga amal qilishlari kerak edi. Pakomiy Makariyga birodarlarning rahbarligi haqida aytdi. Abba Macarius aytdi: "O'zingga bo'ysunuvchilarni o'rgating va hukm qiling va tashqarida hech kimni hukm qilmang" (Paterikon va Shahar Abba Makariusning Xotira Talesi, Ch. 2). Bu qoida shunday edi va hurmat qilinadi Xudoga ma'qul kelishni istagan barcha abbatliklar. "^[49]

Mag'rur o'qituvchi ko'pincha o'quvchilariga zarar etkazishini sezmaydi, chunki ular etarli darajada tajriba yoki bilimga ega bo'lmagan ba'zi bir mavzuni tushunmasliklari, noto'g'ri tushunishlari yoki hatto umuman tushunishlari mumkin emas, lekin o'qituvchi o'qitishni to'xtatmaydi. Rabbimiz Iso tayyorgarligi yo'q va tushuna olmaydiganlarni o'rgatishdan ogohlantiradi: "Muqaddas narsani itlarga bermang, marvaridlaringizni cho'chqalar oldiga tashlamang, aks holda ular oyoqlari ostiga bosib, qaytib o'girilib, sizni yorib yubormaydilar". (Matto 7: 6 ). St. Jon Xrizostom Ushbu so'zlarni talqin qilishda, hayotning buzilishi, ta'limni tushunmaslikning sababi deb aytadi.^[50] Yangi ilohiyotshunos Simeon, tushunib bo'lmaydigan narsani o'rgatish haqida xuddi shunday aytadi: "yangi boshlanuvchilarga va ayniqsa, ularning eng dangasalariga mukammallikning yakuniy bosqichlari haqida gapiradigan ularga nafaqat yordam bermaydi, balki balki ularni orqaga qaytishga majbur qiladi ".^[51] Xuddi shu narsani ham yuqori fanlarni o'qitish bilan ifodalaydi Havoriy Pavlus: "Ammo tabiiy odam Xudoning Ruhining narsalarini qabul qilmaydi, chunki ular uning uchun aqlsizlikdir. U ularni bilishi ham mumkin emas, chunki ular ruhan tushuniladi." (1 Korinfliklarga 2:14)

O'qituvchi, St. Symeon yangi dinshunos,^[52] mavzuni tajribadan bilishi kerak. Oqsoqol Jozef Hesychast shunday yozadi: "ehtirosli odam boshqa ehtirosli kishini o'rgatmoqchi bo'lganida, marhamat o'qituvchidan darhol uzilib qoladi, so'ngra u boshqa odam singari xato va ehtiroslarga tushib qoladi." Praxis, "unga bu vazifa berilmagan."^[53] Shuningdek, inson tushunchasidagi asosiy rol o'qituvchining sa'y-harakatlariga emas, balki Ilohiy inoyat harakatlariga tegishli. Oqsoqol Jozefning ta'kidlashicha, agar Xudo O'zining inoyati bilan tushunishga yordam bermasa, insoniyatning biron bir harakati bilan ta'lim muvaffaqiyatli bo'lmaydi. St. Alyaskaning begunohligi sevgi ruhining harakati haqida yozadi: ko'pgina imon va muhabbatga ega bo'lgan kishining og'zi va donoligi bo'lishi mumkin, unga tinglovchilarning barcha qalblari qarshilik ko'rsata olmaydi.^[54]

Cherkovda o'zboshimchalik bilan (ya'ni yepiskopning ruxsatisiz) ta'lim berish to'g'risida 64-sonli qoida Oltinchi Ekumenik Kengash o'qiydi: "Oddiy odam nutq so'zlamasligi yoki o'qitmasligi kerak, shuning uchun o'zini ustozning qadr-qimmati bilan sarf qilishi kerak, aksincha, Rabbimiz tomonidan chiqarilgan farmonga bo'ysunishi va tinglovchilarga qulog'ini keng ochishi kerak. O'qituvchilik qobiliyatining inoyatini oldi va ular ilohiy dalillarni puxta o'rgatishdi. <...> Agar kimdir hozirgi Kanonga bo'ysunmaslik bilan ushlangan bo'lsa, u qirq kunga haydalsin. "^[55] Keyin ushbu kanon talqinida shunday deyilgan: "Agar biron bir oddiy odam nutq so'zlash va kamtarona tajribaga ega bo'lish imkoniyatiga ega bo'lsa, unga Zonaras ta'kidlaganidek, savol berganlarga shaxsiy javob berish va o'qitish taqiqlanmagan. VIII kitobning 32-chi qismi. Apostolik in'ektsiyalari e'lon qiladi, chunki ular aytilganlarning hammasi Xudoga o'rgatilgan bo'ladi: Apollos Rabbiy haqida haqiqatni gapirgan va o'rgatgan va Rabbiyning suvga cho'mdirilishini bilganiga qaramay (Havoriylar 28) : 25) va o'sha Apollosga Xudo yo'lini aniqroq o'rgatgan Aquilas va Priscilla ".

E'tiborsizlik

E'tiborsizlik va beparvolikning aldanishi - bu insonda fazilatlarga bo'lgan ishtiyoqning asta-sekin va sezilmasdan susayishi va najotga mehnat qilmasdan erishish mumkin degan yolg'on g'oyaning paydo bo'lishi. Sankt-Ambroza Optina beparvolik haqida o'z maktublaridan birida qandaydir aldanish haqida yozadi: "E'tiborsizlik aldanishi (bo'lishi mumkin); lekin muntazam aldanish bo'lmaydi, chunki biz astsetik emasmiz".^[56] Boshqa bir maktubida u Xushxabarni keltiradi: "Siz sovuqlikdan va nasroniy vazifalaringizni bajarishni istamasligingizdan shikoyat qilasiz. Xushxabarning so'zlarini eslang, osmon shohligi zo'ravonlikka duchor bo'ladi va zo'ravonlik uni zo'rlik bilan qabul qiladi (Matto 11:12 ), va o'zingizning qobiliyatingiz va imkoniyatingizga qarab o'zingizni majburlang. "^[57] Haqiqiy zohid hech qachon hozirgi holatidan qoniqmaydi. U hech qachon etarli emasligini, kurashishi kerakligini va amrlarni bajarmaganligini tushunadi.^[58] E'tiborsizlik holatida va ma'naviy g'ayrat bo'lmasa, insonning holati muqarrar ravishda yomonlashadi: "Insonning ruhi o'lmas ekan, xuddi shu holatda qolishi mumkin emas: u yaxshilanadi yoki yomonlashadi". (Optina avliyo Macarius).^[57]

Sinay avliyo Gregori, beparvolikning sababi o'z-o'zini sevishdir.^[57]

Valaam monastiri abbati Pankratius (Zerdev) o'z intervyusida shunday deydi:^[59] ikkala haddan tashqari xavfli bo'lgan monastir hayoti haqida: haddan tashqari g'ayrat va beparvolik. Ikkinchisi bu aldanish va u hozirda ustunlik qilmoqda. E'tiborsizlik holatida, rohib, hali ham Sankt so'zlariga ko'ra, monastir hayotini olib borayapman deb aldanadi. Sarovning Serafimi, u shunchaki qora olov otashidir. U qora kiyim kiygan bo'lsa ham, u oddiy odamdan faqat uning rafiqasi yo'qligi bilan farq qiladi.

Sxema-arximandrit Ibrohim (Reydman) o'zining monastirlar bilan suhbatlar kitobida^[60] beparvolik aldanish deb o'ylaydi va beparvolik qaysidir ma'noda mag'rurlikka zid, ammo undan ham xavfli ekanligini aytadi. E'tiborsizlikning juda keng tarqalgan ko'rinishi - bu oziq-ovqatdagi abstremizmning zaiflashishi. Haddan tashqari ovqatlanish bilan, ehtiroslar odamda harakat qilishni boshlaydi va ongni qoraytiradi, ayniqsa shahvoniy ehtiros va ayniqsa yoshlarda. Shuningdek, beparvolik o'zini jismoniy mehnatga dangasalik bilan namoyon qilishi mumkin, qachonki odam o'zini ayamasa, uzoq vaqt cherkov xizmatiga borishga dangasa bo'lib, kundalik ibodat qoidasidan voz kechsa. Itoatkorlikda, rohib o'z irodasini kesib tashlash bilan kurashishda dangasa bo'lishi mumkin, bu ruhiy otaning marhamatiga binoan bajarishga intilmasdan, aksincha o'z aql-idrokiga va fikrlariga ishonadi.

Schema-archimandrite Ibrohim Iso ibodatidan voz kechishni monastirlar uchun beparvolikning eng xavfli namoyishi deb biladi: "Agar kishi Iso ibodatidan voz kechsa, u ruhiy hayotni rad etadi", "ibodat arqon qoidasidan voz kechish siz demaysiz har qanday monastir hayotni o'tkazish. " Muqaddas Ota-onalar ibodatni tark etish haqida shunday deyishadi. Seynt Jon Klimak yozadi: "O'z xohish-irodasi - bu itoatkorlikda yashaydigan rohibning xarobasi. Ammo yolg'iz odam uchun halokat - bu ibodatning uzilishi".^[61] Suriyalik Avliyo Ishoqning aytishicha, "aqlni buzishni boshlashi (uning alomati ongda paydo bo'la boshlaganda), birinchi navbatda, Ilohiy xizmatga va ibodatga dangasalikda ko'rinadi".^[62]

Bundan tashqari, Seynt Jon Klimak beparvolikni jinlarning hujumlari sabablaridan biri, shuningdek Xudo insonning ibodatlarini bajo keltirmasligi sabablaridan biri deb ataydi: "Bizning ichimizdagi har qanday jinlar qo'zg'alishi quyidagi uchta sababdan kelib chiqadi, beparvolik, mag'rurlik yoki jinlarga hasad. Birinchisi achinarli, ikkinchisi achinarli, ammo uchinchisi barakali ";^[63] "Agar Xudoga iltimoslar berilsa va darhol javob berilmasa, buning sababi quyidagilardan biri bo'lishi mumkin: yoki iltimosnoma muddatidan oldin, yoki u noloyiq yoki bekorga qilinganligi sababli, yoki qondirilsa, bu kibrga olib keladi." yoki beparvolik va beparvolik kelib chiqishi sababli. "^[63]

Prelestning sabablari

According to Saint Gregory of Sinai, there are 3 sources for prelest: "arrogance, the envy of demons, and the divine will that allows us to be tried and corrected. Arrogance arises from superficiality, demonic envy is provoked by our spiritual progress, and the need for correction is the consequence of our sinful way of life. The delusion arising solely from envy and self-conceit is swiftly healed, especially when we humble ourselves. On the other hand, the delusion allowed by God for our correction, when we are handed over to Satan because of our sinfulness, God often permits to continue until our death, if this is needed to efface our sins. Sometimes God hands over even the guiltless to the torment of demons for the sake of their salvation".^[64]

If the person conceals sins or thoughts in confession or does not trust to his spiritual father, he can also fall into prelest: "Think in this wise: the Holy Spirit dwells in your confessor, and he will tell you what is right. But if you say to yourself that your confessor lives a careless life, how can the Holy Spirit dwell in him, you will suffer mightily for such thoughts, and the Lord will bring you low, and you are sure to fall into delusion".^[65] Also, elder Ephraim of Philotheou speaks about his teacher, elder Joseph the Hesychast, who used to say to his disciples about some people who suffered from prelest. Such people quite often committed suicide because they believed that an Angel appeared to them, whereas it was a demon. The delusion was in the thought: "Do not tell that to the Elder".^[66]

The most likely time to fall into prelest

Oqsoqol Jon Krestiankin in his word about spiritual guiding says that the most dangerous time in relation to prelest is the beginning of the spiritual life. "Upon entering the Church, winged with new sensations, the newly-born reaches with his consciousness straight for the Kingdom of Heaven, to the heights of mysteries that are hidden behind the impenetrable curtain of Divine revelation. At that moment the spiritual father and his spiritual child enter into a unified struggle with the dark powers, the latter of which are ready with their deceit to turn the new convert from the path of salvation. The enemy's deception will hunt after this person for the rest of his life, offering him its dangerous sweetness. This initial period is particularly dangerous, for this sweetness still resonates with the nature of the fleshly man, and finds sympathy and response deep within his soul. The spiritual father's strength in this struggle lies in prayer and love for his spiritual child's soul, which has come to desire its own salvation. The spiritual child's protection lies in his trust of the pastor, in the awareness of his own sinfulness, and mistrust of himself".^[67]

St. Gregory of Sinai also writes that "around beginners and those who rely on their own counsel the demons spread the nets of destructive thoughts and images, and open pits into which such people fall; for their city is still in the hands of the workers of iniquity, and in their impetuosity they are easily slain by them. It is not surprising that they are deceived, or lose their wits, or have been and still are deluded, or heed what is contrary to truth, or from inexperience and ignorance say things that should not be said. Often some witless person will speak about truth and will hold forth at length without being aware of what he is saying or in a position to give a correct account of things. In this way he troubles many who hear him and by his inept behavior he brings abuse and ridicule on the heads of hesychasts. It is not in the least strange that beginners should be deceived even after making great efforts, for this has happened to many who have sought God, both now and in the past".^[68]

Premature desire of impossible virtues

St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov) writes that there is a spiritual law of interrelationship of virtues so that one certain virtue cannot be acquired without acquiring another that is in close relationship with the first one. For a spiritually inexperienced person, the very idea that some virtue can be premature seems almost blasphemous,^[69] but this is true according to Holy Fathers. St. Suriyalik Ishoq writes that "It is the good will of the most wise Lord that we reap our spiritual bread in the sweat of our brow. He established this law not out of spite, but rather so that we would not suffer from indigestion and die. Every virtue is the mother of the one following it. If you leave the mother who gives birth to the virtue and seek after her daughter, without having first acquired the mother, then these virtues become as vipers in the soul. If you do not turn them away, you will soon die".^[70] St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov) writes that "the fallen angel strives to deceive monks and draw them to destruction, offering them not only sin in its various forms, but also lofty virtues that are not natural to them". St. John Climacus writes that "the devil proposes impossible virtues to those who live under obedience, and unsuitable ideas to those living in solitude. <...>The enemy persuades them to look too soon for these virtues, so that they may not persevere and attain them in due time."^[71]

St. Ignatius warns that the books of Holy Fathers can act on novices so much that they, in inexperience and ignorance, easily dare to leave the place of residence, which has all the convenience for personal salvation by means of execution of evangelical commandments, and to seek for another higher way of life, seductively painted in their imagination.^[72] Such desires are the basis of many forms of prelest: desire of visions, revelations, and other supernatural gifts, execution of very long prayer rule, extreme fasting, premature desire of stillness and seclusion.

Expectation of grace

The very thought about forthcoming grace and receiving Divine gifts, expectation of grace is a clear manifestation of pride. St. Ignatius writes: "If there is an expectation of grace within you – beware, you are in a dangerous state! <...> Prelest exists already in self-conceit, in considering oneself worthy, in the very expectation of grace."^[73]

The Gospel says: "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation" (Luqo 17:20 ). According to St. Isaac of Syria^[36] va St. Macarius of Optina,^[74] these words mean that the ones who prematurely desired to acquire grace, acquired pride and fall. And this is not a sign that a man loves God but a mental illness. Saints who acquired grace, thought that they did not have it, and this humility kept them safe from the fall. St. Isaac adds: "How can we strive for high Divine gifts while Apostle Paul glories in tribulations." The same idea is expressed by St. Eginaning nektariyalari: "The ones who seek the Divine gifts and insights while being immersed in the passions are in proud and foolish delusion. First, one need to work on cleansing oneself. Grace is sent as a gift to those who are cleansed from the passions. And they get it quietly, at the moment that they do not notice."^[75]

St. Ambrose of Optina provides in one letter an example of such expectation of Divine gifts. A nun thought that she will receive all spiritual gifts at the day of the feast of Bosh farishta Maykl; but on that day she was depressed and thought of suicide. St. Ambrose wrote that it was a delusion, and that living in complete solitude would be dangerous for her because of such demonic attacks.^[76]

Schema-archimandrite Abraham (Reidman) reminisces about his youth, when he did not pray with the Jesus Prayer, did not know any experienced elders, and did not read the books of the Holy Fathers. He read for the first time the conversation of St. Sarovning Serafimi bilan Motovilov,^[77] but understood it in a primitive way and began to pray about acquisition of grace. As a result, he began to see visions from demons. Fortunately, later he came to his senses and realized that he was in delusion.^[78]

Shifolash

The above-mentioned kinds and properties of prelest suggest possible general means of curing it. These are opposite to different manifestations of prelest:

• Holy Sacraments (Confession, Communion, Unction);
• Humility;
• Obedience;
• Prayer without side thoughts, especially without imagining Lord Iso Masih, Farishtalar, Heaven, etc., paying attention to the words of the prayer;
• Prayers of other people of the holy life about the deluded person;
• Reading the Holy Scripture and the writings of Holy Fathers;
• Work therapy.

Nevertheless, no universal and suitable for everyone advice can be given for curing prelest. From the general point of view, fight with prelest is a fight with demonic thoughts mostly containing pride which, as St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov) notes,^[22] sometimes changes into deep sadness and desire of suicide. Keeping this in mind, the means of curing prelest should include some means of fighting with sinful thoughts and decreasing their influence on the deluded person. Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain says^[5] that if a spiritual person trusts his thoughts - that is already the beginning of delusion. Pride darkens the mind and even the prayers of holy people do not help such person. He should understand that keeping such thoughts (like "I am holy", "I am better than others" etc.) in the mind - that is prelest. Such thoughts should be disclosed either to the elder, or to the spiritual father, or to the abbess of the monastery, and then thrown away. Because of that, the first way to get rid of prelest is the Sacrament of Confession. If the person saw any vision, he should tell it immediately to his spiritual father not concealing anything.^[79] Then the person should follow exactly the specific advice of the spiritual father. Other Sacraments are needed as well but sometimes deluded persons are forbidden to take the Holy Hamjamiyat by their spiritual father for some period of time, sometimes rather long (1–3 years).

For example, it is written in Patericon of Mt. Athos about one monk who was living with his elder in a skete at Mt. Athos. Because of conceit, he gradually started to fulfill his own will, prayed more and more but without asking his elder about it. Then he was deluded by false visions, almost died and finally revealed everything to his elder. The elder sent him to a monastery and forbade to take Holy Communion for 3 years. The monk started to live there with many brethren, washed dishes and recovered.^[80]

One woman saw a lamp before icon at her house lit by itself. That happened every midnight and even in the presence of other people. She accepted that as Divine. But when she told that to her spiritual father, a known ascetic Bishop Basil (Preobrazhensky), he said: "No, this phenomenon is not from grace, but from the enemy. And because you accepted it as being from grace, I am giving you a penance: do not receive the Holy Mysteries for one year. The lampada will not light itself again". Truly, the lampada did not light by itself from that day on.^[81]

Sometimes in monasteries people suffering from prelest are also given ignoble obediences to humble them. Such obediences often include some hard and dirty work. Such work therapy decreases pride and demonic attacks that cause prelest and helps to switch the mind from the sinful thoughts to something else. St. Joseph of Optina writes in one letter to the abbess of some monastery about a deluded nun by the name of Mavra. He writes that Mavra should wash dishes or peel potatoes - it can decrease the pride that caused prelest. He also writes that she should not take Holy Communion often - the spiritual father should first incline her to humility and self-abasement. At the same time, solitary life should be completely forbidden for Mavra - otherwise she will go completely mad.^[82]

Another story about healing through work therapy is told by Hieromartyr Archimandrite Kronid (Lyubimov). A novice by the name of Alexander from Holy Trinity St. Sergius Lavra arbitrary increased his prayer rule and started to see visions. When his condition was revealed, he was sent to another monastery and was given an obedience to clean the horse stalls in the stable yard. At first, he protested: "You appoint such a great ascetic to such a humiliating obedience", but then he agreed and all brethren started to pray about him. Alexander worked all day long and did not have time for his previous intensive prayer feats. Several years later Archimandrite Kronid met Alexander who was already tonsured a monk as Athanasius and, for his humble and good monastic life, was made hierodeacon. When asked whether he remembered what had happened to him, he replied: "I remember everything, but only now realize the full horror of my state of mind."^[83]

When fighting with sinful thoughts, also it can be useful to have a strict everyday schedule and to alternate mental and physical work as it was shown by an Angel to St. Entoni Buyuk.^[84]

Although work therapy sometimes is very useful, the deluded person can become very lazy. While in delusion he could easily pray and do prostrations for hours, recovery from this state can be accompanied by strong relaxation of will, melancholy and laziness to the prayer and physical work. Archimandrite Ambrose (Yurasov) tells a story about a deluded woman who arbitrary increased her payer rule to 1000 prostrations every day because of conceit. She was concealing it from her spiritual father. When the spiritual father revealed the delusion through her hidden anger and petulance, she no longer could execute even her initial smaller rule of prayer and prostrations, she could not fast at all and even could not read morning and evening prayers.^[85]

Regarding the opposite form of prelest, which is associated not with the excessive zeal but with the lack of it, the delusion of carelessness, Schema-archimandrite Abraham (Reidman) notes^[60] that everyone should remember that a man can change and everyone, due to carelessness and self-justification, can quickly and unnoticeably change to their opposite. To prevent that, we need to gain a skill of self-restraint, in the first place, for the Jesus prayer. St. Anthony the Great names^[86] several means of increasing the zeal to virtues and fighting with carelessness: inner means include remembrance of death (i.e. living every day as the last day), thinking about the time after death, fear of God; external and more advanced means include: feeling of sweetness of living with God, love to God, love to do good and according to God. Elder Ephraim of Philotheou writes in a similar way that "you can conquer carelessness using constant prayer, with the mouth and mind, with the remembrance about possibility of sudden death, about the tortures of hell, about Heaven etc. We need to enforce ourselves to our spiritual duties and especially to silence and prayer".^[87]

Even with Divine and human help, as Saint Optina ambrozasi notes, "It is easier to turn every sinner to repentance than to bring a deluded person to reason".^[88] However, there are cases when people were instantly healed of delusion. There is an episode in the life of St. Niphon of Athos when he was visited by a monk who accepted a false vision as true and became proud considering himself above the others. Through the prayer of the St. Niphon the monk instantly began to see his pride.^[89] Another case occurred with Archimandrite Parthenios, hegumen of St. Paul Monastery at Mount Athos. When he was young, he fell into negligence and stopped reading the monastic rule. This went on for a whole year. In the end, he suddenly cried out: "Mother of God, help me, I can not do anything. Make it so that I overcome this state!". And the state of negligence suddenly disappeared: he immediately made 400 prostrations.^[90]

Prelest in the New Testament

In the scene of temptation in the desert, the devil tries to delude Lord Jesus Christ (Matto 4: 1–11 ).

In Tog'dagi va'z, Lord Jesus Christ talks about false miracles (Matto 7: 21-23 ).

Also Lord Jesus says about prelest and false prophets (Matthew 24:4–5, Matthew 24:11 ).

Yilda Havoriylar 16: 16-18, Apostle Paul expels the spirit of false prophecy.

Yilda 1 John 4:1, Apostle John writes about false prophets and trust to spirits.

Yilda 2 Corinthians 11:13-15, Apostle Paul writes about false visions.

Yilda 1 Timo'tiyga 2:14, Apostle Paul mentions the deception of Adam and Eve.

Yilda 1 Timothy 6:20, Apostle Paul advises to avoid delusion - "oppositions of science falsely so called".^[91]

Orthodox saints who suffered from prelest and recovered

When Saint Niphon, bishop of Cyprus, was an ordinary monk, he was struggling against demons and fell into partial insanity for 4 years but later was cured.^[92]

Avliyo Symeon Stylite Iblis payg'ambar singari uni jannatga olib ketishni xohlagan aravani ko'rsatgan jinlar aldanib qolishdi. The chariot disappeared when St. Symeon wanted to enter it but made the sign of the Cross.^[93]

Saint Iakovos worshiped a demon who appeared as Lord Jesus and who disappeared after Iakovos made the sign of the Cross.^[94]

Saint Isaac the Recluse of the Kiev Caves was living in seclusion for 7 years and was deluded by a false vision of Lord Jesus. He was left by demons lying unconscious. Saints Antonius and Theodosius of the Kiev Caves were nursing him and praying about him for 2 years. After that, St. Isaac got better and in the end of his life he received the power over demons.^[95]

Saint Nicetas of the Kiev Caves attempted an excessive feat of seclusion without sufficient experience. He was deluded by an "angel" who helped him and gave him a false gift of clairvoyance. When the Holy Fathers of the monastery unraveled the demon tricks and cast the "angel" away, St. Nicetas lost his supernatural abilities and even could not read at all. Later, following the way of humility, St. Nicetas became the Bishop of Novgorod and received the gift of miracleworking.^[31]

Saint Theodore and Basil of the Caves suffered heavily from the demon tricks. St. Theodore was deluded by a vision of "angel" and false appearance of a demon in the form of St. Basil and was listening to them. Later, St. Basil brought St. Theodore to reason and convinced that it was a delusion.^[96]

Avliyo Atonit Silouan was in delusion 2 times as written in the book of elder Sofronii. Once St. Silouan accepted a vision and nobody, whom he asked about it, told him that this was a false vision. "But I was beguiled by vanity and began to see devils again. Then I knew that I had been deceived, and I made full disclosure to my confessor and asked him for his prayers; and because of his prayers I am now saved and ever beseech the Lord to grant me the spirit of humility."^[97]

Unsuccessful attempts to delude Orthodox saints and modern ascetics

When Holy martyrs Timotheos and Mavra were crucified, the Devil tried to delude St. Mavra on the cross. She had two similar visions. An "angel" came to "help" her and offered a cup with water and honey. When she suggested him to pray together, the "angel" did not pray and could not look to the east. From this St. Mavra found out that this was a delusion. Then she had another vision of a man who brought her to a river of water and honey and again suggested to drink. When she refused again, the vision disappeared.^[98]

When St. Pachomius the Great was living in solitude, the Devil appeared in front of him as "Christ" and said: "Greetings, Pachomius, I am Christ paying you a visit, my faithful friend." Ammo Sankt-Paxomiy notinchlikda va chalkash fikrlarda edi. So he understood the delusion and rejected the vision: "Devil, depart from me, cursed are you and your visions and your insidious arts. You have no place among the servants of God."^[99]

St. Atos tog'idagi Butrus had many false visions trying to scare or delude him. During the first year of solitary life at Mt. Athos, St. Peter suddenly saw a "boy", whom he knew before. They started to speak and the "boy" tried to convince St. Peter to return home. St. Peter replied that he would listen only to the Mother of God since She had commanded him to settle at Mt. Athos. When St. Peter pronounced the name of the Mother of God, the demon disappeared.

7 years later a demon appeared in front of St. Peter as an "angel of light". The "angel" commanded him to go to the world for salvation of others. When St. Peter refused again and pronounced the names of the Mother of God and St. Nicholas, the "angel" disappeared.^[100]

Qachon St. Gregory the Decapolite was living in a cave, he had many demonic assaults. Once the demons appeared as Sebaste qirq shahidlari and said that they came to give him the grace and power over demons. But St. Gregory understood their plots and rejected the vision.^[101]

When elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain lived in the Stomion Monastery, he had a vision: the roof opened and he saw a pillar of light reaching the sky. At the top of it he saw a young man who looked similar to Jesus Christ. "You are honored to see Christ" - elder Paisios heard inside him. "Who am I, unworthy, to see Christ" - replied Paisios and the vision disappeared.

Another time, when elder Paisios lived at Mt. Sinai, he had to go out in the night. There were several steps near his kellia and elder Paisios used a lighter to descend safely. But this time the lighter did not want to fire. Suddenly a ray of light like from a flood lamp shone from one of the rocks. Elder Paisios understood that this "help" had demonic nature and went back. The light immediately disappeared.^[5]

The term "prelest" in the liturgical texts of the Orthodox Church

The notion of prelest is used in some of the liturgical texts of the Orthodox Church.

In the Akathist to the Mother of God:^[102] "For thou hast quenched the furnace of deception" (Ikos 5); "For thou hast trampled on the delusion of error" (Ikos 6).

In the Great Canon of St. Kritlik Endryu:^[103] "I lie naked and ashamed, for the beauty of the tree, which I saw in the middle of the garden, deceived me" (Monday, Ode 2); "O God, Trinity yet One, save us from delusion, temptations and misfortune!" (Monday, Ode 3); "But you, my hopeless soul, have rather imitated Esau, surrendering to the crafty evil the beauty you inherited from God. In two ways, works and wisdom, have you been deceived and now is the time for you to change your ways" (Tuesday, Ode 4).

In the Holy Anaphora of the Liturgy of St. Buyuk rayhon:^[104] "and was led astray by the deception of the serpent", "Releasing us from the delusions of idolatry".

Prelest and Jesus prayer

Many Orthodox Holy Fathers and modern ascetics wrote about the dangers of wrong practice of the Iso ibodat and prayer in general: Saint Symeon the New Theologian, Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov, Saint Theophan the Recluse, Saint Ambrosius of Optina, Saint Macarius of Optina, elder Joseph the Hesychast, Valaam elder John (Alexeev) and others.^[105]

Moskva dinshunoslik akademiyasining professori A.I. Osipov tahlil qiladi^[7][106] the teaching on the prayer by St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov) and points out that the prayer should have three properties: attention, reverence, repentance. Also humility should be the basis of the prayer as St. Ignatius says: "Today I read the declaration of St. Buyuk Sisoes, which I always particularly liked. A monk said to him: 'I am in constant memory of God'. St. Sisoes responded to him: 'That is not great; it will be great when you consider yourself to be worse than any creature.' St. Sisoes continues: constant memory of God is a very elevated activity!! However, this height is very dangerous, when the ladder to it is not founded on the solid rock of humility"^[106] (Holy Fathers use the words "memory of God" as a synonym for the Jesus prayer).^[107]

Several dangerous practices of the Jesus Prayer can be named that contradict the teaching of the Holy Fathers. If at least one of the following exists:

1. the person prays without keeping the attention in the words of the prayer and imagines heavenly hosts, Lord Jesus,^[108][109]
2. the person does not use the prayer for repentance but seeks for some "spiritual feelings", "consolation by grace",^[110][111]
3. the person does not truly repent of some sins, i.e. he does not want to completely give up some sinful habits for which the consciousness condemns him,^{[4][105][112]}

he/she can fall into prelest.

Also, Metropolitan Ierotheos (Vlachos) in the book "A Night in the Desert of the Holy Mountain"^[113] speaks of the following errors in the prayer:

• The idea that grace and vision of the Uncreated Light can be gained quickly. In reality, for most people it takes years. Therefore, a person may become disappointed if he does not quickly acquire it;
• Great importance is attributed to psychotechnical methods (paying attention to inhalation-exhalation, heartbeat, etc.), while they do not act magically, but are only auxiliary means of reducing distraction;
• Jumps, skipping stages during the development of the prayer. Some go directly to noetic prayer or want to connect the nous and the heart right away through breathing, skipping oral prayer.
• Disappointment if there are no tears. Or vice versa, a person told someone about his tears and they disappeared because of that;
• A strong desire to see the Uncreated Light – then demons can demonstrate for the ascetic their own "uncreated light". The very thought that "I am worthy to see the Uncreated Light" is a dangerous state;
• Violation of obedience – the thought not to ask the director originates from the enemy.

St. Ignatius tells a story about the proper way of the prayer. A monk came to him from Mt. Athos. This monk did not need warm clothes in winter because of the internal heat in his body caused by the prayer and was wearing chains. At first, St. Ignatius thought that this is a true ascetic and wanted to hear something useful from him about the prayer. But then he found out that the monk uses wrong way of prayer with exaltation and imagination. St. Ignatius gingerly asked the monk to try to keep the mind in the words of the prayer. When the monk started to pray this way, that was enough to cure him. All his visions disappeared and he could not make them return. When the monk returned later, he no longer looked conceited. He took off the chains and could not do without warm clothes.^[22]

St. Ambrose of Optina several times wrote in his letters that for a beginner, especially without an experienced mentor, it is much safer to start with audible verbal prayer rather with purely noetic (silent) one because many people who prayed with noetic prayer, were mentally deranged, while St. Ambrose does not know any examples of people falling into prelest with verbal prayer.^[105]

During practice of the Jesus prayer, the person always encounters an opposition from the demons through the thoughts. They attempt either to make the person abandon the prayer or to make the prayer unpleasing to God, i.e. to drive the person into pride and prelest. There is even such wrong opinion that one can fall into prelest because of the Jesus prayer. This opinion is denied by Valaam elder John (Alexeev): "One falls into prelest not because of the prayer but because of pride, self-conceit and following own will".^[114] This following own will includes neglecting Confession and advice of the spiritual father, as elder Joseph the Hesychast notes: "It is not just a matter of saying the prayer, but it is also a matter of being attentive. You must be vigilant with your thoughts, masterfully controlling them. Otherwise, they will take control of you and in the end you will become the laughing-stock of the demons. I have never seen a soul make progress in the prayer without frankly confessing secret thoughts".^[115]

St. Paisius Velichkovskiy says that though Jesus Prayer purifies man from all passions and keeps him safe from delusions, a man can fall into delusion if he practices the Prayer "according to own will, not according to the power of the teaching of the Holy Fathers, without counsel and questioning of the experienced" and because "being arrogant, passionate, and weak, lives without obedience and submission". And the reason of delusion is not the Prayer, but "following own will and pride of the ones who follow own will."^[116]

A warning to those who follow own will is also expressed by St. Gregory of Sinai: "it is impossible for all to be taught this discipline (i.e. unceasing prayer). Obedient^[117] illiterates and simples can be trained in it – yes – since obedience for the sake of humility is capable of all virtue. But the disobedient, whether simple or educated, are not taught this science lest they fall into prelest. For those who are a law unto themselves cannot escape conceit, which is usually followed by prelest as St. lsaac says. But some people, not thinking of the harm they may do, teach every newcomer the efforts they themselves make to keep remembrance of God, in order that the mind should become accustomed to this remembrance and begin to love it-which is impossible, especially for those accustomed to live as they choose. For, since their mind is impure owing to negligence and arrogance, and is not cleansed with tears, they mostly see images of shameful thoughts instead of prayer, while the impure spirits rooted in their hearts gnash their teeth, disturbed by the terrible name (of God), and strive to destroy the man who thus wounds them. Therefore, if a man, who acts on his own, hears or reads in books about this doing and wishes to practise it, he will suffer one of two things: if he forces himself to efforts he will fall into prelest and will remain uncured or, if he does not make efforts, he will remain unsuccessful his whole life".^[118]

Similar to the last words is said by St. Buyuk Makarius about not making efforts in the fight with passions: "if someone compels himself to the prayer until he attains the gift from God, and does not force or bother himself in the same measure to humility, love, meekness and to other virtues: sometimes the grace of God happens to him by his prayer and petition; because God is merciful, and he gives what is requested to those who ask of Him. But, without having prepared and accustomed himself to the virtues mentioned above, either he loses the grace, or he receives and falls, or does not succeed from arrogance; because he does not commit his will to the commandments of the Lord".^[119]

Three ways of attention and prayer

St. Symeon the New Theologian^[20], St. Theophan the Recluse^[120], St. Silouan the Athonite^[121] say that there are three ways of prayer:

1. prayer with imagination,
2. prayer with attention in the mind,
3. union of the mind with the heart.

The second way is better than the first one, and the third one is far better than the others and is the only truly correct and fruitful way of prayer. St. Silouan says that these three ways or stages of prayer correspond to the stages of normal development of human spirit: the first movement of the mind is outward, the second stage is the return to self, and the third stage is the movement to God through the inner man. If the person stays in and is satisfied with the first way, this, besides fruitlessness may lead to delusion. The first way keeps the person in the state of misapprehension, in the imagined world and the real life gradually starts to be filled with this imagination and fantasy. The second way is not so dangerous but its result is also fruitlessness, it does not allow to reach the freedom from passions and moreover, contemplation. St. John Climacus writes the same about imagination: "during prayer do not admit any sensory imagination, so as not to be subject to distraction"^[122] (in the Russian translation of the Ladder, "distraction" here is interpreted with the meaning of "madness").

St. Symeon says that the third stage is reached under the obedience to the spiritual father because without obedience one cannot have the consciousness clean. St. Silouan says that union of mind with heart is experienced by any believer when he prays with attention, "from heart", especially with tears; but the third way is not only tears; it is mind that stands with prayerful attention in the heart. During this, the mind is freed from any image and imagination and sees all thoughts that approach the heart before they reach it. The prayer in this state guards the mind from these thoughts and from initiation of any sinful passion.

Valaam elder John (Alexeev) writes in a letter to a woman who lives in the world that the third way of prayer does not suit her: it cannot be without solitude and solitude cannot be without prayer; she should be satisfied with that she keeps attention in the chest and she should strive more to keep the consciousness clean before God, people and things. In another letter about the prayer to a monk, elder John advises that he should not seek tears; it is better to attain inner peace; if the place in the heart is prepared by humility, God will give his mercy without our wish and expectation.^[123]

False unceasing (self-moving) Jesus prayer

Sometimes, very rarely, God gives some humble and pious individuals, who reached the highest degree of purification from passions, a gift of unceasing (self-moving) heart prayer.^[88][124] That is one of the greatest blessings from God that a person can receive. But if the person is conceited, he may confuse the Divine gift with something merely natural or even demonic.

Archimandrite Raphael (Karelin) writes about Saint Seraphim (Romantsov), elder of the Glinsk Monastery, and about the importance of obedience which is required to receive the Divine grace. Bir marta Fr. Seraphim spoke to a nun who thought of herself as having an unceasing prayer. She lived in the mountains and severely fasted. Fr. Seraphim said: "Once a day, you have to have a hot meal". She stared at Father Seraphim: "Do I have to waste the time and distract the mind from the prayer to prepare lunch?" Fr. Seraphim widely crossed himself: "Cross my heart, that you do not have any prayer and never had it". When she left, Fr. Seraphim said, "She did not understand anything. The one, who gave her the schema, he was in prelest himself. Poor soul, how much struggles she will have!"^[32]

Another time St. Seraphim (Romantsov) said to a monk: "You do not have any prayer of Jesus: you just got used to it, as some people get used to the bad language".^[32]

St. Ambrose of Optina also writes in a letter that one person has had an unceasing prayer when asleep. And when he listened closer to what his heart was saying, he heard: "Meow" − like a cat but not the Jesus prayer.^[88]

Once elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain met a man who got used to the words of the Jesus prayer. But upon talking with this man, elder Paisios realized that he was in delusion thinking very high of himself, e.g. that his every thought comes from God because he constantly prays.^[125]

Elder hierodeacon Ephraim from the Glinsk monastery says that "usually what they take for the grace-filled prayer of the heart is just pronunciation of the words with attention (mind) in the heart and it is a subtle demonic delusion".^[126]

Magicism and "automatic" view of prayer

One of the kinds of false attitude to prayer originates from a widespread view on God, prayer, and spiritual life, implying that God can be "forced" to execute the petition that is asked in the prayer, i.e. as if the prayer acts "by itself", solely by pronouncing the words, with no regard to the spiritual condition of the person who prays.

This "automatic" view can apply to any relationship with God, to any action of Divine grace including the prayer and Sacraments. Orthodox theologian Fr. Valery Dukhanin writes that such view has nothing to do with Orthodox faith and rather belongs to magic: "The main property of magic – correct ritual. That is a drastic difference with the Sacraments of the Church, which cannot help without man’s personal relation to God".^[127]

Unconditional action of prayer assumes that free will does exist neither in man nor in God and that God can do something harmful and with no regard to the inner determination of all involved persons. St. Hilarion of Optina writes that though we should pray about each other, the view on prayer that every petition is necessarily executed originates from pride and leads to delusion.^[128]

Professor A.I. Osipov writes that "an awareness of magic is deeply present in our 'old man'. For very many people, Orthodoxy consists in placing candles, 'venerating', donating something, leaving prayer requests, ordering Liturgies, molebens and pannikhidas, joining in the cross processions, visiting holy shrines, confessing and receiving Communion. The most important part of salvation, life according the commandments and repentance, remains undone. However, without spiritual transformation (in Greek, the word for repentance is μετάνοια [metanoia], which means to change one’s way of thinking), all of these external activities are at the least useless, and at the worst harmful, for they can cause one to feel self-righteous and raise his self-opinion over “sinners.”"^[129]

Also some holy fathers wrote about such "automatic" attitude to the Sacraments (i.e. without faith and willingness to fight with passions): St. John Chrysostom,^[130] St. Mark the Ascetic,^[131] St. Quddus Kirili.^[132] Such false "automatic" attitude to the action of Holy Sacraments is named by A.I. Osipov as one of the reasons of degeneration of Christian faith and backsliding into paganism.

Delusions of Antichrist

Apostles Paul and John say in their epistles that Antichrist will come right before the end of times (2 Thess. 2, 1 John 2:18). His coming will be accompanied by false miracles and signs. Father Nikita Grigoriev in his book "Faith and delusion" writes about Antichrist that "in appearance, he will be kind, gentle, patient and merciful. He will attract everyone by his “love” and will amaze everyone with his “miracles” but this “love” will be false just as the “miracles” will likewise be false. Moreover, this “love” will not be salvific for the people, but destructive because it will not call people to genuine repentance, to take up one’s Cross, to spiritual rebirth through the Holy Spirit in the Church of Christ. No, the anti-Christ’s love will condone human passions. From the very beginning, in Paradise, when man fell, he did not want to hear about his sin; he did not wish to repent and be forgiven. He wanted to remain in his sin and justify it. The anti-Christ will not rebuke passions and call people to genuine contrition of heart in order to forgive and heal them, but on the contrary will justify them just as they are. It will make people feel good about themselves as they are."^[133]

Orthodox views on the lives of certain modern elders and saints of the Orthodox Church

Professor of the Moscow Theological Academy A.I. Osipov in his lecture course on “Basic Theology” speaks in one of the lectures^[134] (as well as in the textbook for this course^[135] and some other public lectures) about false way of prayer and false spirituality. He says that some books containing errors appeared recently. These errors can be attributed to either misunderstanding of the basics of spiritual life by the authors of the books or to such errors and delusion of the character, i.e. particular elders or even glorified saints that are described in these books. One of such saints is elder Porphyrios (Bairaktaris) of Kafsokalivia (1906-1991). A.I. Osipov stresses that he knows about this elder only from the book ("Elder Porphyrios of Kafsokalivia. Life and words. Maloyaroslavets, 2006. In Russian"). And the book contains some wrong views that true saints should not have. These errors include:

1. St. Porphyrios thought of himself that he received the spiritual gifts of prayer and clairvoyance when he witnessed another elder Dymas praying and the latter did not see elder Porphyrios. Prof. A.I. Osipov say that such transfer of gifts (from one person to another) is common only for paganism and occultism. And in Orthodoxy, gifts are received only after long fighting with passions;
2. Elder Porphyrios advises not to fight with passions: he matches the way of fighting with passions against another way, an “easy way” – way of love, which he follows himself. Elder Porphyrios advises everyone to go by this easy way of love. But love, according to Orthodox teaching, can be acquired only through fighting with passions for a long time.

Another book that A.I. Osipov criticizes in the same lecture, is "The Teacher of Mental Prayer" by Hieromonk Charalambos of the Monastery of Dionysiou. The criticism is related to the speed of pronunciation of the Jesus Prayer. Elder Charalambos teaches to say it very fast, which contradicts to the teaching of St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov). And the disciple of the elder right after first such fast pronunciation of several thousands of prayers felt sweetness in the mouth. After that, the elder became very happy for his disciple and was saying that this is correct way.

Orthodox views on the lives of certain saints of the Roman Catholic Church

The Ecstasy of St. Theresa, Janlorenzo Bernini, 1652

The accusation of prelest has long been marshalled in polemics against Western spirituality. There is a widespread view among Orthodox theologians^[136], initially based on the opinion of St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov)(1807-1867)^[137], St. Theophan the Recluse (1815-1894) and Optina elders^[138] that some of the most respected saints of the Rim-katolik cherkovi who were glorified since it turned to papa ustunligi, as it is described in their books or books about them, were in a state of prelest and therefore could not have been considered as saints. This view consists of the following.

St. Ignatius provides examples of visions and other mystical experiences of St. Assisiyadagi Frensis, St. Loyoladan Ignatiy, Tomas va Kempis and compares them with experience of Orthodox saints of the first centuries. Professor A.I. Osipov Sankt-Ignatiusning bu boradagi ta'limotlarini tahlil qiladi va pravoslav va Rim-katoliklarning ma'naviyat, tavba va kamtarlik nuqtai nazaridagi farqni ta'kidlaydi. U Moskva dinshunoslik akademiyasining asosiy dinshunoslik kursi uchun darslik bo'lgan kitobida shunday yozadi:^{[139][106][140]}

Sent-Frensisning hayotiy maqsadi, ("Men mehnat qildim va mehnat qilmoqchiman ... chunki bu sharaf keltiradi", "Men boshqalar uchun azob chekishni va boshqalarning gunohlarini qaytarishni istayman"), u o'zi ko'rmaydigan qulashni ko'rsatadi; bu uning gunohlarini ko'rsatadi. Umrining oxirida u: "Men gunohimni tan olish va tavba qilish orqali qutulmagan gunohim haqida bilmayman.^[141] Uning o'lishi kerak bo'lgan so'zlari: "Men nima qilishim kerakligini bajardim".^[142]"

Taqqoslash uchun, Buyuk Sisoning (V asr) so'nggi daqiqalarini keltiramiz:

O'lim paytida birodarlar qurshovida, u go'yo ko'rinmas mavjudotlar bilan suhbatlashayotgandek edi. Birodarlar undan: "Ota, aytingchi, kim bilan gaplashyapsiz?" U javob berdi: "Meni olib ketish uchun kelgan farishtalar bilan; lekin men tavba qilishlari uchun, meni qisqa vaqtga tark etishlarini iltimos qilaman". Birodarlar Sisoning fazilatlari mukammalligini bilar edilar va "Sizga tavba qilishning hojati yo'q, ota" deb norozilik bildirishdi. Siso javob berdi: "Haqiqatan ham tavba qilishni boshlaganimni bilmayman".

Sisoning o'zining nomukammalligini chuqur anglashi barcha haqiqiy azizlarning asosiy fazilati va ularning vahiylari haqiqat bo'lganligining eng muhim belgisidir.

Ushbu iqtibosda (men prof. A.I. Osipovning ingliz tilida havola qilingan kitobidan olingan) Sankt-Frensisning "Men nima qilishim kerak edi, men bajardim" degan so'zlarini A.I. Osipov rus tilidagi boshqa bir kitobdan, o'z navbatida uni boshqa kitobdan oldi. Taqqoslash uchun, Sent-Bonaventuradagi Sent-Frensis hayoti quyidagicha o'z ichiga oladi: "Men qilishim kerak bo'lgan narsani qildim". (P. 150).^[143] Bunday so'zlarning talqini va kamtarlikka munosabati, Mitrofan Lodyjenskiyning "Ko'zga ko'rinmas nur" kitobida ota Jorj Makrisning qisqaroq maqolasida keltirilgan.^[144]

Ota Jorj Makrisning yozishicha "Frantsiskaliklarga xayrlashish marosimida Sankt-Frensis shunday dedi:" Endi Xudo meni chaqirmoqda va men barcha birodarlarimni, ham hozir bo'lganlarni, ham yo'qlarni, ularning huquqbuzarliklari va xatolarini kechiraman va gunohlarini kechiraman. bu mening kuchimda ». Ushbu so'zlar shuni ko'rsatadiki, Frensis o'zini o'lim to'shagida o'zini Rim Papasi singari gunohlarni kechirishga qodirdek his qilgan edi .. Ma'lumki, Rim cherkovidagi Pensiya Sacramentasi va Eucharistdan tashqari gunohlarning kechirilishi papa hokimiyatining vakolati edi. Frensisning bu imtiyozni o'z zimmasiga olganligi bilan taxmin qilishi mumkin edi.^[144] O'zini muqaddas deb hisoblash prelestning yaqqol namoyonidir, chunki bu yuqoridagi "Tashqaridan qarash" bo'limida tushuntirilgan.

Prof. A.I. Osipov ham aytmoqda^[134] katolik mistiklarining aldanishlarining uchta asosiy namoyishi mavjud:

• eng yuqori darajaga etgan Masihning rahmdilligi;
• Xudo bilan nikoh, Xudo bilan noz qilish, Xudo bilan ishqiy munosabatlar va boshqalar;
• xayolparastlik.

Rus faylasufi A.F.Losev G'arb ma'naviyatini va xususan, St. Foligno Anjelesi: "Bu ibodat va Xudo bilan suhbat emas. Bular isteriya, ya'ni prelest asosida juda kuchli gallyutsinatsiyalar".^[145]

Boshqa bir rus faylasufi M.V. Lodyjenskiy pravoslav va rim-katolik tasavvuflarini taqqoslaydi va Sit o'rtasidagi kamtarlikning farqlariga ishora qiladi. Sarovning Serafimi va St. Assisiyadagi Frensis.^[146] Uning fikriga ko'ra, avliyo Frensisning chinakam kamtarlikka erisha olmaganligining sababi shundaki, o'sha paytda Rim-katolik cherkovi chinakam kamtarlikka ega emas edi. Muallif papa ustunligidan topgan ma'naviy mag'rurlikning eng kuchli dalilidir.

Yangi shahid Mixail Novoselov Avliyo Ignatius (Brianchaninov), Avliyo Teofan Rekluzening ta'limotlarini, M.V. Lodyjenskii va Rim-katolik tasavvuf asarlarining asarlari.^[147] U G'arb tasavvuf asarlarining bir necha sahifalarini, xususan, St. Avila shahridagi Tereza, ular prelestda ekanligini ko'rish uchun.

Prof. A.I. Osipovning aytishicha, Rim-katolik cherkovidagi burilishlar hamma uchun, hattoki ma'naviy hayot asoslarini biladigan odam uchun tushunarsiz va tushunarli bo'lmagan narsalardan boshlangan. A.I. Osipov o'zining shaxsiy tushunmovchiligiga misol keltiradi. U ma'ruzalaridan birida gapiradi^[134] u 1950-60 yillarda Moskva diniy seminariyasida o'qigan vaqt haqida. U Tomas a Kempisning "Iso Masihga taqlid qilish" kitobi haqida bilar edi - Ignatius Brianchaninovning yozuvlarida, bir xonadon egasi qizini ushbu kitob bilan ko'rganida, uni qo'lidan olib qo'yganida va shunday dedi: "bilan romantikalarda o'ynashni to'xtating. Xudo. " Va A.I. Osipov kitobni olib o'qidi va yomon narsani ko'rmadi: "Nega uni tanqid qiladilar? To'g'ri, biz Iso Masihga taqlid qilishimiz kerak". Uzoq vaqtdan keyin u yana ushbu kitobni ko'rib chiqqach - hamma joyda prelestni ko'rdi: hayajonlanish, yuksalish, yolg'on sevgi. A.I. Osipov qo'shimcha qiladi: "Men tushunmadim, tasavvur qiling! Men ko'rmadim. Buni shunchaki bilgan va his qilgan odamlar - ular angladilar. Ular yolg'on qaerda ekanligini ko'rishdi."

Shuningdek, professor A.I. Osipovning fikriga ko'ra, bu Sharqiy va G'arbiy cherkovlarni ajratish kaliti - filiok yoki papa ustunligi emas - bu faqat hamma uchun ko'rinadigan oqibatlar. Boshlanish ehtiroslar bilan kurashish yo'lidan Xudoga yolg'on sevgi yo'lidan qaytgan odamlarning ruhiy og'ishida edi.

Boshqa pravoslav dinshunos Deacon Andrey Kuraev o'z kitoblarida Sharq va G'arb tasavvufiy amaliyotlarini bir necha bor taqqoslaydi. Uning so'zlariga ko'ra, ko'pincha diniy yo'llar rasmiy dogmatik farqlar bilan taqqoslanadi - lekin bu eng muhim qism emas. Uning fikriga ko'ra, pravoslavlik va katoliklik o'rtasidagi eng muhim farq meditatsion ibodat qilishdir. Uning yozishicha, "G'arb ruhiy hokimiyatlari Sharqning ma'naviy o'qituvchilari qat'iyan taqiqlaydigan ma'naviy amaliyot usulini qat'iyan tavsiya qiladilar (bundan tashqari, cherkov birligi davridan beri)".^[148]

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