Finding The Way To The Heart

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

The Beatitudes - The Commandments of Blessedness by Fr Victor Potapov, Part 4

Teaching given by Fr Victor Potapov, and posted on the website of
St John the Baptist Russian Orthodox Cathedral, Washington DC
Posted here with written permission from Fr Victor Potapov

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Meekness is necessary in a spiritual person; the power of meekness erases anger, malice, enmity, and condemnation from the heart and adorns the soul with a gentleness.

Christ Himself was meek. Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest, said Christ. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30).

The Apostles of Christ also preached meekness. The Epistle of the Apostle James tells us:

Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits... (James 3:13;17).

Let your moderation be known unto all men (Philippians 4:5), exhorts the Apostle Paul. He does not mean for us to be meek for show, but rather that we strive so that meekness becomes a widely recognized quality for Christians. The Apostle numbers meekness among the fruits of the spirit (Galatians 5:23).

Meekness means gentleness and kindness, freedom from selfishness and celebrity, and refusal to coerce and force matters. Meekness is to have a firm and quiet conviction that good is more powerful than evil, and that it can reach victory sooner or later. The words of Saint John Climacus tell us:

"Meekness is an unchangeable state of mind, which remains the same in honor and dishonor. Meekness consists in praying calmly and sincerely for a neighbor when he causes many turmoils. Meekness is a rock overlooking the sea of anger, which breaks all the waves that dash against it, yet remains completely unmoved. Meekness is the buttress of patience, the door, or rather, the mother of love, and the foundation of discernment, for it is said: The Lord will teach the meek His ways (Psalm 24:9). Meekness prepares us for the forgiveness of sins; it is boldness in prayer; an abode of the Holy Spirit. But to whom shall I look? Even to him that is meek and quiet. (Isaiah 66:2). In the hearts of the meek the lord finds rest, but a turbulent soul is a seat of the devil."

He, who is completely incapable of becoming angry, is not meek, but rather he who feels the movement of anger and restrains it, overcoming his sinful self-centeredness. The meek man never repays evil for evil, offense for offense; he does not become angry, does not raise his voice in anger against sinners and offenders... he shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the street (Matthew 12:19), according to the word of the Evangelist.

It is possible to say, that the meek become like Christ, Who, as the Apostle Peter writes in his First Epistle, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously (I Peter 2:23). A good illustration of these words we find in the Prologue (12th of March).

A certain elder monk, Cyrus by name, being of low origin and very meek, was not liked by the brethren of the monastery where he was saving himself. It often happens because of humility or because of some other good quality, that someone will, in the end, become liked who previously was not liked; but the lot of the Venerable Cyrus was not such! In time, the hatred of the brethren increased: not only the elder brethren, but also the youths who were novices, insulted him and not infrequently even drove him away from the table. This continued for fifteen years.

The Venerable John of the Ladder happened to be in this monastery, we read further on in the Prologue. Seeing that the meek Cyrus, on being driving away from the table, frequently went to sleep hungry, he asked him: Tell me, what do these offences against thee mean? Believe me, beloved guest in Christ, answered the humble elder, the brethren do not act this way out of malice; they are only testing me to see whether I am worthy to wear the angelic habit. On entering this monastery, I heard that an anchorite must be tested for thirty years, and I have only lived here half that time.

This incident from the life of the Venerable Cyrus is an extreme example of Christian meekness, of which only a few are capable. The ascetic did not wish to take revenge on his persecutors, but even derived benefit for himself from their insults and accepted as the highest good fortune that which others would consider for themselves as misfortune and dishonor.

In general, all the saints were good teachers of meekness. One may further name the disciple of the Venerable Anthony the Great (251-356), the Venerable Paul the Most Simple (4/17 October) who by his life gave an example of blessed simplicity. The Venerable Sergius of Radonezh (25 September/8 October), by his gentle and meek words and persuasive speech, as the Church sings in one of the hymns in his honor. He reconciled the princes who were at enmity with one another. And here is a clear example of meekness from the life of the Venerable Theodosius of the Caves, the abbot of the illustrious Monastery of the Caves in Kiev:

Once, the Venerable Theodosius was conversing with the Great Prince Iziaslav until late in the evening. The Great Prince did not wish to let the Venerable One go to the Monastery by foot, and ordered one of his servants to take Saint Theodosius to the Monastery. But this servant, seeing the wretched clothing of the Venerable Theodosius, took him for a simple alms' collector, and said:

Monk, it is high time for me to rest in thy place. The Venerable Theodosius good-heartedly gave up his place to him, and himself began to drive the horses, and the servant fell asleep. In the morning, upon waking up, the servant saw that all the grandees coming to the Great Prince were bowing to the venerable Theodosius. His terror increased when, upon driving up to the Monastery, he saw that all the brethren came out to meet their abbot and with reverence received a blessing from him.

Not only the saints who lived in antiquity showed an example of evangelical meekness and simplicity. In our days too, the righteous also teach us holy meekness by the example of their life. In this connection, let us mention the Russian New-martyr, Metropolitan Benjamin (Kazanski) of Petrograd. At his trial in 1922, Metropolitan Benjamin in his final word said: I know not what you will announce in your sentence--life or death. Whichever it is, with reverence I turn my gaze on high, place upon myself the sign of the Cross and say: Glory to Thee, O Lord God, for everything. Shaved, in rags and with prayer on his lips, Metropolitan Benjamin went calmly to the place of execution. He uncomplainingly accepted a martyric death, remembering the words of Jesus: Whosoever doth not bear his cross , and come after me, cannot be my disciple (Luke 14:27).

The lot of martyrdom is not appointed for everyone, but we have the ability to be meek cross-bearers, according to the spirit of Christ's teaching, if, as the Apostle Paul says, we crucify our flesh with the passions and lusts (Galatians 5:24), if we preserve meekness and good-heartedness in the face of offences and insults, if we refrain from envy, anger, evil speaking and revenge.

How can we act otherwise, how can we get irritated, grow angry, take revenge? asks the holy righteous John of Kronstadt; and he says further: God, our common Father, before Whom we commit sins without number, always deals with us according to His meekness, does not destroy us, is longsuffering with us, ceaselessly benefits us. And with our brethren, we must be meek, condescending and longsuffering. For (according to the word of Christ) if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: but if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses (Matthew 6:14-15).

Furthermore, continues the righteous one of Kronstadt, all we, as Christians, are members of one body, and members take care of one another; besides, we are called sheep of the rational flock of Christ; why is this so? Because sheep are meek, free of malice, patient; such must we also be. Only those of us who are meek and free of malice, like lambs, belong to Christ's flock; but they who do not have Christ's spirit, His meekness and lack of malice ; they are not His. Complete Collection, vol. 1, pp. 173-174.

The only reliable path to salvation is to imitate the Lord Jesus Christ's meekness: His judgment by Caiaphas and Pilate, the painful minutes being nailed to the Cross, and the hours being crucified and blasphemed. These images show heavenly meekness to the world.

And the high priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee? But Jesus held his peace (Matthew 26:62-63)

We read in the Gospel according to Matthew, and in the Gospel according to Luke--

And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. Then said Jesus, Father forgive them; for they know not what they do (Luke 23:33-34).

We cannot bear the Cross of the Savior because His Cross is too heavy for us. But we must take up and bear our own cross in life, meekly enduring life's adversities for Christ's sake. The holy Apostle Peter says:

For this is thank worthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when you do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: who did not sin, neither was guile found in his mouth; who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously (I Peter 2:19;23).

Christ's third Commandment of Blessedness promises the meek that they will inherit the earth. This is true although difficult for contemporary man to comprehend in the context of stormy recent politics. States, parties and people continue fight for land and riches. Throughout history, people have fought over land and resources, making war and other violence, destroying so many human families as well other resources. The violence may well go on. Millions suffer in torment, and cannot see or take delight in the real beauty of our splendid earth, created by God.

Nevertheless, there are people who, as it is said in the Scriptures, have nothing, but posses everything (II Corinthians 6:10). These Christians ascetics live in the bosom of nature in deserts and mountains. Some of them were wanderers, who in Holy Russia went about the country on foot, from monastery to monastery, from one holy place to another. They delighted in the beauty of the land and were nourished by its excellent fruits. They breathed the pure air and drank spring water. They prayed to God beneath the open sky. They worked with their own hands, and they never took away land from anyone. And the land really belonged to them. And they, in their meekness, possessed it.

By the commandment of meekness, Christ foresaw not only such a possession of the earth. The time will come, when the earth in reality will belong to the meek. According to the word of the Apostle Peter, we, according to his promise, look for a new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness (II Peter 3:13). By God's Judgement, the meek will become citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven, which the Psalmist calls the land of the living. I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living (Psalm 26:15).

Meekness is freedom from this sinful world, but a loving attitude towards it . The world needs healing by meekness. And meekness is readiness to endure suffering patiently and with joy. Only in this kind of meekness, can one win Christian victor: not by self-denial but by sacrificial love. This Christian victory is directly opposite to any worldly victory that suppresses enemies or rivals with vindication of one's purpose and pretension. Christ's victory is to attract to Himself the hearts of men. His victory challenges all worldly wisdom about man and man's futile aspiration. Christ's victory is goodness, self-renunciation, and love.

All earthy experience adds up to a loss in the face of what the Gospel calls treasure in the heavens. The believing mind knows that all things earthly evaporate and lose their power to attract. It believing mind wants heavenly treasure to nourish it fully without fear of loss f any kind.

The commandment the meek shall inherit the earth expresses the existential truth that unselfish love irresistibly attracts the human heart. It is an invincible power. We know that a mysterious law operates. True victors may look like people suffering defeat. The contemporary French writer Albert Camus expresses this truth in these words: I cannot but believe those witnesses who gave themselves up to be killed.

Let us complete our sketch with the prayerful instruction of the contemporary teacher of meekness, the Venerable Siluan of Athos:

The soul of the humble is like the sea; toss a stone into the sea and for a minute it slightly disturbs the surface, and then falls into its depths. So do afflictions drown in the heart of the humble man, because the Lord's power is with him.
Where dwellest thou, O humble soul; and who liveth in thee; to what shall I liken thee?
Thou burnest brightly, like the sun, and burnest not out; but with thy warmth thou warmest all.
To thee belongeth the land of the meek, according to the word of the Lord.
Thou art like unto a flowering garden, in the heart of which there is a splendid home, where the Lord doth love to abide.
Thee do heaven and earth love.
Thee do the holy Apostles, Prophets, Hierarchs and Venerable love.
Thee do the Angels, Seraphim and Cherubim love.
Thee, the humble, doth the Most Pure Mother of the Lord love.
Thee doth the Lord love and rejoice over."

©Archpriest Victor Potapov,
1992-1993

The Beatitudes - The Commandments of Blessedness by Fr Victor Potapov, Part 3

Teaching given by Fr Victor Potapov, and posted on the website of

St John the Baptist Russian Orthodox Cathedral, Washington DC
Posted here with written permission from Fr Victor Potapov

"Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.

In this commandment, Lord Jesus Christ speaks about the contrition and sorrow that come from knowing one's separation and remoteness from God. Christ lists this spiritual mourning next after those poor in spirit, counting them blessed who tearfully sorrow over their unworthiness, as King David cried out in repentant sorrow: Every night I will wash my bed, with tears will I water my couch(Psalm 6:7). So too did sorrow the Apostle Peter, who denied Christ: And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly (Matthew 26:75). The Apostle Peter wept continually. It is said that during his life, each time whenever he heard the cock crow, he would recall his denial, and, with a feeling of the most profound repentance until the end of his days, he would shed bitter tears.

Whoever thinks he can go along the way after Christ without mourning is naive, writes Archimandrite Sophronius (Sakharov) in his book To Know God as He Is. Take up a dry nut, place it under a heavy press and you will see how oil will begin to flow from it. Something similar takes place in our heart when the invisible fire of God's word burns it from all sides. Our heart has become stony in its brute egoism, and, what is worse, in its spasm of pride. But truly there is such a Fire (Luke 12:49), which is able to melt even the strongest metals and stones.

The First Beatitude - Poverty of Spirit - gives rise to the Second - Blessed Mourning. The man who is poor in spirit, who is free from spiritual and physical desires, cannot but sorrow over himself and in general over the fallen state of all humanity, and over the horrors of our godless world, held captive by its own vain inventions, a world which considers itself rich and prosperous, in need of nothing, but which is in reality, according to the word of the Apocalypse, wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked(Revelation 3:17). Knowing all that God gives us, and all who actually abides with God, one can only sorrow and weep - As the prophets did over the sinners of Israel, as the Lord did over the corpse of Lazarus, or over the city of Jerusalem, and last in the garden of Gethsemane, before the cup of His Own passion. Any absence of mourning, according to the teaching of the Fathers of the Church, shows that our prayer has not yet ascended past its first degree towards God.

Who has not wept in life? We know sorrow from the loss of relatives and near ones. This is natural sorrow. Tears are a sign of suffering. But can suffering give happiness and blessedness to man? Not always. If a man suffers because of visible good things, because of pride, passions and self-love, then these sufferings only torture the soul and do not bring any benefit. But if a man accepts suffering as a trial sent by God, then grief and tears cleanse and wash his soul, and he finds joy and comfort even in grief itself.

The Fathers of the Church teach us to distinguish the sources of tears. Thus, the Venerable Ephraim the Syrian writes:

"With people there are three different kinds of tears. There are tears for visible things--and they are very bitter and vain. There are tears of repentance, when the soul desires eternal good things, and they are very sweet and beneficial. And there are tears of remorse there, where (according to the Savior's word) there is weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 8:12), and these tears are bitter and useless, because they are altogether fruitless when there is no longer any time for repentance."

For the Venerable Ephraim the Syrian, the second kind of tears is that blessed sorrow over sin necessary in spiritual life. Such mourning is considered blessed because the tears have no darkness or hopelessness, but, on the contrary, Christ's victory fills this sorrow with hope, light, and joy.

Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, writes the Apostle Paul to the Christians in Corinth, but that you sorrowed to repentance: for you were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you (II Corinthians 7:9-11).

The Venerable John of the Ladder, following after the Apostle Paul, says in the Seventh Steps of The Ladder of Divine Ascent:

"Mourning according to God is sadness of soul and the disposition of a sorrowing heart, which ever madly seeks that for which it thirsts . . . Mourning is a golden spur in a soul which is stripped of all attachment and of all ties . . . Keep a firm hold of the blessed gladdening sorrow of holy compunction, and do not stop working at it until it raises you high above the things of this world, and presents you pure to Christ . . . The fruit of spurious compunction is self-esteem, and the fruit of praiseworthy compunction is consolation . . . When I consider the actual nature of compunction, I am amazed at how that which is called mourning and grief should contain joy and gladness interwoven within it, like honey in the comb."

Another great Christian ascetic, the Venerable Nilus of Sinai, speaks on this theme. In his work On Prayer; we read:

"Do not turn into a passion the means (provided) against the passions, lest thou stir to greater wrath Him Who gave thee this grace (that is, tears). While shedding tears over (their) sins, many have forgotten the purpose of tears and, having become frenzied, they have fallen away from the right path."

The saints, through the contemplation of nature and its phenomena, themselves learned spiritual mourning, faith, and piety. So, for example, did the Venerable Ephraim the Syrian.

"One day", he writes, "after rising very early, I went out with two brethren from the blessed city of Edessa; lifting up my eyes to heaven, which, like a pure mirror, gloriously shown upon the earth with stars, in wonder I said: If the stars shine with such glory, then will not the righteous and holy, who did the will of the Holy God, shine with the ineffable light of the Savior at that hour when the Lord cometh?

But no sooner did I remember about the terrible advent of the Lord than my bones began to shake. My soul and body trembled; I began to weep with heartfelt pain and said, sighing: What will I, a sinner, prove to be at that terrible hour? How shall I stand before the throne of the Terrible Judge? How shall I, the dissipated, have a place with the perfect? How shall I, the fruitless, appear among the number of those who have brought forth fruits of righteousness?

Who will recognize me? The righteous will be in the bride chamber; the impious, in fire; the martyrs will show their wounds; the ascetics, their virtues; and what shall I show, besides my indolence and negligence?"

The Holy Fathers of the Church teach us to ask of the Lord the gift of tears, because without tears there can be no real repentance and cleansing of the soul. Penitential tears are a kind of second baptism that washes away every sin from a man=s soul.For much as after a violent burst of rain, says Saint John Chrysostom, there is a clear open sky; so likewise when tears are pouring down, a calm arises, and serenity, and the darkness that ensues on our sins quite disappears (Homily 6 on the Gospel according to Matthew). Mourning over sins, writes Saint Demetrius of Rostov, washes the soul, whitens every darkening, cleanses the conscience, enlightens the mind, loosens sinful bonds, and expiates the handwriting of iniquities.

Those who sorrow over their fallen condition and the sinful world will rejoice in the future age, according to the Savior's word:Verily, verily, I say unto you, that ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy (John 16:20). Those who mourn in this life will rejoice in eternal life, for genuine, blessed joy--consolation is given only in the eternal abodes in God's Kingdom, for there, as it is said in the Revelation of John the Theologian, God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death,, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away (Revelation 21:4)."

©Archpriest Victor Potapov
1992-1993

The Beatitudes - The Commandments of Blessedness by Fr Victor Potapov, Part 2

Teaching given by Fr Victor Potapov, and posted on the website of
St John the Baptist Russian Orthodox Cathedral, Washington DC
Posted here with written permission from Fr Victor Potapov

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Usually the poor have nothing of their own and must ask others for help. The poor are not ashamed to admit that they get all their substance as gifts. The poor in spirit, like the ordinary poor, know they have nothing of their own in their souls, and that God gives them all their spiritual wealth and talents. Concerning the poor in spirit, the holy, righteous John of Kronstadt has written wisely:

The man poor in spirit sincerely acknowledges himself to be a spiritual pauper, having nothing of his own; whoever waits for everything from God's loving-kindness; whoever is convinced that he can neither think, nor desire anything good, if God will not give the good thought and the good desire, and that he cannot perform one truly good deed without the grace of Jesus Christ; whoever considers himself to be more sinful, worse, lower than everyone; whoever always reproaches himself and judges no one else; whoever acknowledges the garment of his soul to be defiled, dark, malodorous, worthless and does not cease to ask the Lord Jesus Christ to lighten the garment of his soul, to clothe him in the incorrupt clothing of righteousness; whoever unceasingly flees beneath the shelter of God's wings, not having safety anywhere in the world besides the Lord; whoever considers all his property to be God's gift and gives thanks for everything to the Bestower of every good thing and readily apportions his property to the those in need--this is he who is poor in spirit.

The First Commandment of Blessedness is also the first condition for spiritual life. Whoever is poor in spirit is blessed, says the Lord. This blessed poverty is called spiritual in the Gospel according to Matthew, because it is first of all a state of the mind and heart, pertaining to the disposition of the soul. It likewise stands for the complete openness of a man before God, for freedom from all pride and from faith in the power of his own spirit, his own ideas and opinions - for freedom from the vain imaginings of his own heart (Jeremiah 23:17, Romans 1:21), as spoke the Prophet Jeremiah in the Old Testament and the Apostle Paul in the New Testament. The words of John of Kronstadt again explain why the man poor in spirit is blessed:

Where there is humility, consciousness of one's neediness, one's poverty, wretchedness, there God is, there the cleansing of sins is, there peace, light, freedom, contentment and blessedness are. To such poor in spirit the Lord came to preach the gospel of the kingdom of God, as is said: he hath sent me to preach the gospel to the poor (Luke 4:18), to the poor in spirit, but not to the rich; for their pride alienates them from the grace of God. . . If people readily extend the hand of help and compassion to those who are truly poor and in extreme need of the very necessities of life, is not God even more compassionate regarding spiritual poverty, does he not paternally condescend to it at its call and fill it with His spiritual treasures? It is said: He hath filled the hungry with good things(Luke 1:53).

Are not the valleys abundantly bedewed with moisture; do not the valleys blossom, are they not fragrant? Is it not on the mountains where snow and ice are, where lifelessness is? High mountains are an image of the proud; valleys are an image of the humble: Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low (Luke 3:5) (we read from the Prophet Isaiah). God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble (James 4:6), instructs the Apostle James. Love humility, teaches Saint Anthony the Great, and it will cover all thy sins. Do not envy him who is going upwards, but it is better that thou consider all people higher than thyself, so that God Himself would be with thee (from the Philocalia).

The holy, righteous John of Kronstadt and Saint Anthony the Great take up the theme of humility, which is inseparably tied to the first commandment of blessedness. These divinely inspired men, as also all the saints, teach with one voice that only those who are free from egotistical love for themselves are fit to receive the grace of God to become blessed. The Mother of God, being herself a perfect poverty of spirit, proclaims in her magnificent hymn, that God - "Hath shown strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away (Luke 1:51-54)."

Jesus Christ Himself not only had no place where to lay his head (Matthew 8:20), but His physical poverty was a direct result of His complete poverty of spirit. He said:

Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do. . . . I can of my own self do nothing(John 5:19, 30).

A Christian is called to leave everything and follow Christ in poverty of spirit, becoming free of the sinful desires of this world. According to the world of the Apostle John the Theologian:

If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doth the will of God abideth for ever (I John 2:15-17).

The holy Fathers of the Church wrote very much about humility, considering that a correct spiritual life needs this virtue more than all else. Saint Isaac the Syrian, for example, writes:

"The truly righteous always think within themselves that they are unworthy of God; it is known that they are truly righteous by the fact that they consider themselves wretched and unworthy of God's care, and they confess this secretly and openly and they grow wiser by this through the Holy Spirit - in order to remain in labor and straitness while they are still found in this life. Christian Life According to the Philocalia."

Who can understand this? How can a man standing close to God consider himself to be sinful, unworthy of God's care, the least of men? The answer we find in the life of the holy Abba Dorotheus:

"I remember once we had a conversation about humility, and one of the notable citizens of the city was amazed on hearing our words that the nearer one draws to God, the more he sees himself to be a sinner, and he said: How can this be? And not understanding, he wished to find out what these words mean? I said to him: O notable Citizen, tell me, how dost thou regard thyself in thine own city? He answered: I regard myself as great and as first in the city. I say to him: If thou shouldst go to Caesarea, how wouldst thou regard thyself there? He answered: As the least of the grandees there. And if, I say to him again, thou shouldst travel to Antioch, how wouldst thou regard thyself there? There, he answered, I would consider myself as one of the common people. And if, I say, thou shouldst go to Constantinople and approach the Emperor, how wouldst thou begin to regard thyself there? And he answered: Almost as nothing. Then I answered him: So it is also with the saints: the nearer they draw to God, the more they see themselves to be sinners."

An ancient patericon (a collection of short stories about strugglers for piety) says: The clearer the water, the more noticeable are the smallest specks in it. When a ray of the sunlight falls on a room, it enables the eye to see myriad dust particles borne in the air, which until the penetration of the ray were not noticeable. So also with the human soul: The more purity in her, the more heavenly, divine light falls on her, and the more does the soul notice imperfections and sinful habits in herself.

The higher a man is in his morally, the more humble he is, and the more clear and constant is his consciousness of his sin.

The contemporary church writer, Tito Colliander, in Way of the Ascetics, chapter 8, gives the same counsel on poverty of spirit:

"Take remarks without grumbling: be thankful when you are scorned, disregarded, ignored. But do not create humbling situations; they are provided in the course of the day as richly as you need. We notice the person who is for every bowing and fussily servile, and perhaps say, How humble he is! But the truly humble person escapes notice: the world does not know him (I John 3:1); for the world he is a mostly zero. When Peter and Andrew, John and James left their nets and followed him (Matthew 4:20) what did their fellow workers say, who were left on the shore? For them the two pairs of brothers vanished; they were gone. Do not be hesitant; do not be afraid of disappearing like them, from this adulterous and sinful generation; what are you hoping to win, the world or your soul(Mark 8:34-38)? Woe to you, when all men shall speak well of you (Luke 6:26)."

God first revealed his will that all His creatures would be poor in spirit, and they breached this spiritual state by what is called the ancestral sin, the source of all our misfortunes and sorrows. To be delivered from the consequences of ancestral sin, one must become poor in spirit, like the hungry poor, who ask God for spiritual food, and whom the Lord feeds with fruits of the Spirit. The Apostle Paul counts these fruits: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith (Galatians 5:22). The man poor in spirit can is quoting these other words of the Apostle Paul: poor, yet making many rich (II Corinthians 6:10).

The venerable Starets Siluan of Mount Athos was poor in spirit, and he lived in our time, and enriched us with his wisdom and prayers:

The Lord said: Learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart. Wherefore my soul wearies day and night; and I beseech God and all the Saints in heaven, and all of you who have come to known the humility of Christ--pray for me, pray that the lowly spirit of Christ for which my soul weeps in longing may descend on me. I could not do otherwise than long for this humility which my soul once knew through the Holy Spirit, until I lost this gift, and so my soul yearns after it in tears.

O greatly-merciful Master, grant us a humble spirit, that our souls would find repose in Thee.
O most holy Mother of the Lord, obtain for us, O Merciful One, a humble spirit.
O all ye Saints, ye live in the heavens and ye see the glory of the Lord, and your spirit rejoices, pray that we also would be with you. My soul also yearns to see the Lord, and it longs for him in humility, as unworthy of this good.
O humility of Christ! I know thee, but I cannot attain thee. Thy fruits are sweet, because they are not earthly.
O merciful Lord, by the Holy Spirit teach us Thy humility.

To that said by the venerable Siluan, it is possible to add only the word Amen."

©Archpriest Victor Potapov 1992 to 1993

The Beatitudes - The Commandments of Blessedness by Fr Victor Potapov, Part 1

Teaching given by Fr Victor Potapov, and posted on the website of
St John the Baptist Russian Orthodox Cathedral, Washington DC
Posted here with written permission from Fr Victor Potapov

"The Commandments of Blessedness

Introduction

If ye love Me, keep My Commandments. John 14:15

[The term Commandments of Blessedness is a literal translation from the Old Church Slavonic words usually translated into English as Beatitudes. Another literal translation from an Old Church Slavonic term is Gift of Good Things that are Useful, but we have instead used the term Blessings. We have translated in this way to emphasize the link between commandments, blessings, and blessedness.]

The Old Testament commandments concerning God and neighbor were a revelation of Law as the basis of moral life. They did not disclose the inner Love of God's Law to mankind. The New Testament disclosed Love as the true Law in the person of Jesus Christ--God Himself Who had become man--and in His life and teaching.

The descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost brought the Perfect Love that could dwell in the hearts of Christians in the Church that the Holy Spirit founded for them that day. The God, Which had united with mankind in Jesus Christ, united mankind with the God in The Church. According to Saint Irenaeus of Lyons, the new fellowship of man with God was God's adoption of man. The suffering of Jesus Christ relieved mankind of responsibility for all sins, lifting sinful people from death towards a truly moral and eternal life.

Christ has made possible the gift of these blessings to all men and women without exception. These blessings are not forcible thrust on anyone. But everyone in fellowship with Jesus Christ may have them; that is, everyone who tries to fulfill His commandments and who lives in the Church, nourished by Her holy Mysteries. In commentary, Archimandrite Sophrony (Sakharov) has written--

"The commandments of Christ are in essence the self-revelation of God. Expressed in earthly words, they seem to us to be relative, but he who keeps them in a proper manner is set by them on the boundary between the relative and the unconditional, the finite and the infinite, the determinate and the absolute. To follow these injunctions, which are not enjoined through force, far exceeds our creaturely powers. It is necessary that the Almighty, Who has revealed Himself to us, would Himself, through His efficacious indwelling within us, raise us up to the sphere proper to Him of absolute, unconditioned Existence: I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing ( John 15:5)." "To See God as He I"s, p. 69.

According to the Savior's promise, each member of Christ's Church--each branch of the Vine--or the Body of Christ, in whose soul,the Holy Spirit lives, can reach moral perfection by fulfilling Christ's call: Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:48). The Christian starts to realize this ideal when the he begins to acquire the Holy Spirit, Who teaches everything, comforts in everything, in everything helps and directs, and makes joyous all things, according to the remarkable words of Saint Seraphim of Sarov.

The perfect example of total morality is the Person and Life of the Savior, which summed up the spiritual goals of the whole ancient world, especially of the peoples of Abraham and Moses. All their moral strength had coalesced in their hope of the Messiah, who came to the world as Christ the Savior. Christ was their Alpha and Omega--their beginning and end. Christ came into the world in order to bring us to His Father. For God so loved the world--we read in the Gospel according to John--that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

The spiritual life in Christ is not thrust forcibly, but is given to whoever seeks it with moral exertion. Whoever seeks, whoever applies personal moral exertion, will find it without fail, according to the promise of the Savior, Who said in his Sermon on the Mount:

"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? (Matthew 7:7-11)"

The holy Fathers of the Church wrote about the human moral effort needed to fulfil God's commandments. Here is what Theophan the Recluse, the Russian spiritual writer of the last century, wrote in his Foreword to Unseen Warfare:

'He who has repented gives himself over to serving God; and immediately he begins to serve Him by walking is His commandments and in His will. The commandments are not heavy, but many obstacles are encountered in fulfilling them in the external circumstances of the laborer and especially in his internal inclinations and habits. The laborer himself does everything, although with God's help, by giving himself up to devotion to God's will, or by committing himself to God's all--effectualness.

Saint Theodore of Edessa wrote that--"By keeping the commandments of Christ we do not convey anything to Him, Who has no need for anything and is the Giver of all good things, but we benefit ourselves, earning for ourselves life eternal and the enjoyment of unspeakable good things."

Saint Simeon the New Theologian wrote that God requires nothing except that we not sin:

But this is not the fulfilling of the Law, Saint Simeon writes further, but only the inviolable preservation of the image and lofty dignity, in which standing by nature and bearing the brightly shining garment of the Spirit, we abide in God and He in us, we become gods by grace and sons of God and are signed with the light of the knowledge of God, according to the word: The light of Thy countenance, O Lord, hath been signed upon us (Psalm 4:7).

When someone actively labors to fulfil commandments, writes Saint Nicetas Stethatos, suddenly he is filled with joy unspeakable and ineffable, so that he himself is changed by a certain wondrous and inexpressible change, and, as if divested of the burden of the body, he will forget about food, sleep and other needs of nature: then let him know that it is God's visitation to him, which in strugglers produces a life-creating mortification and through this brings them in to the state of the flesh less ones. The author of such a blessed life is humility; the nourisher and mother--holy compunction; the friend and sister contemplation of the divine light; the throne--passionle***ess; the end--God, the Most Holy Trinity.

The monks Callistus and Ignatius wrote that we need readiness to sacrifice everything for God's commandments: When the time requires it, they wrote, we must eagerly destroy even our own souls, that is, not spare even our own lives, as the Lord Himself says:Whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it (Mark 8:35).

These clear statements show that Christian moral law is a living, energy-filled force, the good news about salvation and eternal blessedness in the Kingdom of Heaven, the perfect happiness, toward which all people strive.

Some people define their happiness in mundane accomplishments and talents, others in beauty, glory, wealth, authority over people, in the honor and esteem shown them by those around them, in love, in family life, and so forth. Sometimes people even attain such happiness, but it is short and illusory. Every such mundane happiness is precarious and not genuine. True happiness is intransigent and eternal. According to the teaching of Christ, true happiness is the Kingdom of Heaven. To be happy means to be a member of God's Kingdom, to live with God. God's Kingdom begins here on earth now, and continues fully realized in heaven, in eternity. There is no end to happiness in the Kingdom of Heaven. No one can take it away, no kind of chance has any operation. Happiness is blessedness: perfect goodness, beauty and eternal love.

Saint Gregory of Nyssa, a Church Father from the fourth century, used these words:

"Blessedness is the totality and plenitude of everything that is good and that is desired as good, without a single deficiency, deprivation or impediment... The followers of Christ not only await blessedness, as something belonging to the future, but it is characteristic of their soul, as something present, insofar as Christ Himself is present in them."

Blessedness may also be called that happy, ineffable condition of highest joy, when the human spirit is so elevated that it ceases to depend on anything that might disturb it. According to the word of the Apostle Paul: Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him (I Corinthians 2:9).

Blessedness is being bound closely, firmly to God, dependent entirely. In the fifth verse of 64th psalm we read: Blessed is he whom Thou hast chosen and hast taken to Thyself; he shall dwell in Thy courts. The 15th psalm assures us that Thou wilt fill me with gladness with Thy countenance; delights are in Thy right hand for ever (verse 11). Blessedness belongs to those who have attained the Kingdom of God, for, according to Christ's word, the Kingdom of God is within you.

Thus, the Christian believer can enjoy the beginning of blessedness already on earth. The tranquility of soul and sweetness that we feel at times in God's church are an advance on that endless sweetness which they will experience eternally who contemplate the goodness of God's countenance, so teaches the holy and righteous John of Kronstadt.

Christian life means good works as well as blessed feelings. Such is the will of God; such is His plan for man. In order to teach us, Christ offered nine short teachings--Commandments of Blessedness--that name all the virtues that lead to blessedness, mapping out the path for spiritual renewal. The Savior gives this divine revelation in his Sermon on the Mount, set in the 5th, 6th and 7th chapters of the Gospel according to Matthew, with a part of the Sermon given also in the 6th chapter of the Gospel according to Luke. Parallel to the commandments of Moses, they acre called the Commandments of Christ. Moses' ancient Ten Commandments were written on tablets of stone for objective study, but the Christ's Commandments of Blessedness are written by the Holy Spirit in the hearts of the faithful.

Although the human race may still seek to return nostalgically to the rejected moral truth of the life of Christ, so often man stops before accepting Christian revelation. But to the rest of us, the Sermon and Commandments of Blessedness sound like heavenly music. I repeat. The Commandments of Blessedness are thrust forcible on no one, but they call all men. To attain eternal blessedness, we need these pre-eminent virtues: humility, repentance, meekness, thirst for righteousness, mercy, purity of heart, peacemaking, suffering for the truth, and martyrdom for the Faith.

These truths are beautiful and holy. We can begin to experience blessedness only by immersing ourselves in them. Whoever approaches the Commandments of Blessedness and the rest of Sacred Scripture, to him Christ has promised-- Blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it (Luke 11:28)."

Posted with written permission from Fr Victor Potapov

©Archpriest Victor Potapov
October 19

Thursday, July 16, 2015

He Loved Righteousness by Hieromonk Isaac referring to St Paisios the Athonite

This book is available from The Holy Monastery of St Nektarios, Roscoe, N.Y.

" “You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt."- Exodus 22:21

" So you shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God; for I am the Lord your God."- Leviticus 25:17

" Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law." - Romans 13:10

" Actually, then, it is already a defeat for you, that you have lawsuits with one another. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded? On the contrary, you yourselves wrong and defraud. You do this even to your brethren. Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived... " 1 Corinthians 6:7-9 NASB

"He Loved Righteousness
In modern Greek, ... a 'just' or 'righteous' person is someone who is blameless in his dealings with others., and it is in this sense that the elder used the term.

He made a distinction between this human righteousness in which one does no injustice to one's neighbor, and divine righteousness, in which someone consciously endures injustice while giving thanks. Divine righteousness is for a person to prefer to sacrifice his will, his peace, his being right, in order to help and give peace to another.

The more spiritualy advanced someone is, the fewer rights he lets himself have...'Throw human reasoning and human righteousness away', the elder recommended. 'Enter into divine righteousness'...

Someone who's worldly and ignorant has a lot of rights...

.. the elder believed that, in his life too, the just God grants spiritual and even material gifts to people who consciously endure injustices, according to their situation.

In a letter he wrote, 'I saw the great unlimited righteousness of God. There was a soul who had been treated unfairly while he served sinful people without any thought of gain for himself. Within a month as a novice, he ascended to Divine vision and lived the mysteries of God.

The most beautiful moments of my life have been times when I suffered injustice. Anyone who accepts injustice accepts into his heart Christ, Who was treated unjustly.'

The elder practiced this divine justice in his life. He happily accepted injustices, and he was so sensitive that he conducted himself in such cases in a refined way, with discretion, so he wouldn't hurt or insult those who were treating him unjustly. He thought of them as his benefactors, prayed for them, and sent them gifts...'we think they do us wrong. But injustices actually help us. If we don't wrong ourselves, there is no one who can do us wrong. We wrong ourselves when we neglect to live spiritually. We live spiritually when we keep the commandments.'

So much did he love and practiced divine justice, that he preferred to be wronged rather than to do wrong to another and to be punished because of those he had wronged... He would beg mercy from God for any injustice he might have committed out of ignorance.

If we do not practice divine righteousness, we won't be able to advance in the spiritual life, and our prayers won't be heard... 'The whole world could have changed. But there's no justice, so prayers aren't heard'.

And yet, the prayer of even one righteous man is enough to propitiate God for the entire world. " From Elder Paisios of Mount Athos excerpts from pages 422 to 426.

Elder Paisios of Mount Athos - by Hieromonk Isaac is published by the Holy Monastery of St Arsenios the Cappadocian, Chalkidiki Greece 2009

Elder Paisios of Mount Athos (†1994) is perhaps the greatest and most revered Elder of the Orthodox Church of our time. Even though he lived the monastic life in obscurity on the Holy Mountain of Athos in northern Greece, he became a shining light for thousands of faithful who flocked to see him. His life, miracles, and teachings continue to touch the hearts of people throughout the world to this day. Unquestionably, this present biography (written by his spiritual disciple Elder Isaac), which is the most authoritative account of his life, will inspire readers forevermore.
Hard cover, 752 pages with numerous photos and icons. Published by The Holy Monastery of Saint Arsenios the Cappadocian

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

"Crown Them with Glory and Honor" Verse from the Orthodox Sacrament of Marriage

Table set for the Celebration of the Sacrament of Marriage

In the Orthodox Church Source

"For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church." Letter of the Apostles Paul to the Ephesians 5:31-32 Source

"The mystery of marriage was established by God in Paradise.. Marital union is therefore not a consequence of the fall but something inherent in the primordial nature of human beings... In fact in an Orthodox understanding, the goal of marriage is that man and woman should become one, in the image of the Holy Trinity, whose three Persons are essentially united in love....'When husband and wife are united in marriage, they are no longer seen as something earthly, but the image of God Himself.' St John Chrysostom. The mutual love of the two partners in marriage becomes life-giving and creative when a child is born." Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev in The Mystery of Faith, p. 149 to 154, Dalton-Longman-Todd Ltd, London 2007

"Husbands, never call her simply by her name, but with terms of endearment, with honors, with much love. Honor her and she will not need honor from others, she will not want the glory that comes from others, if she enjoys that which comes from thee. Prefer her before all on every account, both for her beauty and her discernment, and praise her."
St John Chrysostom in Homily XX On the Letter to the Ephesians Source

Saturday, July 4, 2015

Hidden Fire by Joseph Magnus Frangipani

Lotus Flower

HIDDEN FIRE: ORTHODOX PERSPECTIVES ON YOGA
by Joseph Magnus Frangipani
Posted with permission from the author
From Pravoslavie. Ru

Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols?

1 Corinthians 6:14–18 NIV

I was raised Roman Catholic. I loved prayer. Walks through woods, playing in creeks, running through the vast fields of the imagination. These were like prayer for me: the silence, the stillness, the hesychia children find themselves in almost by nature.

I didn't always stay in this prayerful place. But I recognized it. And I took it for granted, as a simple activity within the heart. We all experience this to varying degrees. We use different words - or none at all, because they all seem so inadequate - to express the heart's movement toward God. It seems when we are innocent in heart, especially when we are very young, there is a tangible perception of two in these experiences. Lover and Beloved. The Someone Else. As I child, I didn't articulate this Presence as Christ - just as I never articulated my parents by their names. I just knew them.

As a high school student - my grandparents put me through an all-boy Roman Catholic high school - I wanted to be a Trappist monk. I attended services regularly and read the Bible often. Scripture really is like a door. You can enter through it and the Holy Spirit takes you places without ever really lifting your shoes off the ground. But I knew there was something more. A difference between reading about the experiences and the experience Himself.

Dr. Harry Boosalis writes in Holy Tradition: "We are not called simply to 'follow' Tradition or 'mimic' Tradition. We are called to experience it...just as the Saints have and continue to do." We know something is missing in the world around us. Some richness, some depth we are vaguely aware of and long after. This is, of course, the richness of God's love, light, and grace. But, at that time of my life, I didn't have the language to express this. Like so many, I attributed this dissatisfaction, this unease, to other things.

Then a psychology professor in high school guided my class through self-hypnosis. My intrigue with meditation followed quickly thereafter. I felt relaxed. I let my guard down to new experiences. I felt as if the back door of my heart opened permanently. I rejected God 'to go it alone on my own.' I experienced, very clearly, a light switching off inside me. The Presence, the Someone Else, the Friend respected this decision. It felt as if He quietly left. He respects freewill. He never forces Himself. He knocks on the door of the heart and waits.

So I started meditating regularly. Initially, especially as a teenager, it was really difficult: sitting for hours with old Tibetan Buddhists, completely still, bringing my thoughts back to the bare wall and bronze statue of the Buddha in front of me. I started studying reincarnation, karma, and samsara.[1] I wasn't yet aware of Tibetan Buddhism's origins in the shamanistic religion called Bon, nor its embrace of astrology, magic, and other occult practices.[2]

I wanted to learn how to calm anxiety and depression, how to sweep scattered thoughts. Visiting Buddhist meditation halls and Hindu ashrams, I was intrigued by the 'spiritual fireworks:' the ecstasies, trances, feelings, and visions. These are associated with all levels of meditation and yoga and increase with practice. These experiences and more are sometimes referred to as siddhis, or powers acquired through sadhana (practice of meditation and yoga). Intrigue became fascination, and the fascinating became familiar. Without my noticing, my initial 'harmless' curiosity of the yoga and meditation hardened into habit. I spent more than a decade immersed in this spiritual sea.

During these years, lots of questions were asked. For instance, do Roman Catholic priests and monks know whether early Christians believed in the pre-existence of souls and reincarnation? They said they didn't know. And besides, they asked, what does it matter? Reading further into the origins and meanings of Far East religions, and eager to experience the bardos - the intermediary dimensions of the material and spiritual worlds - I studied the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying.

I read all the mystical or esoteric literature I could get my hands on and kept a copy of the Bhagavad Gita folded in my back pocket and read the writings of Paramahansa Yogananda. I immersed myself in the writings of Osho, read Ram Dass and Ramana Maharshi, convinced there was no being more divine than myself. It was up to me to shatter my illusory self. According to so much of what I read and heard there can be no personal relationship with the Divine and this conflicted me. The calm and peaceful nature of childhood was gone. The more I delved into the meat of meditation and yoga, the more sudden and unexplainable urges I experienced to hurt myself. My soul was under attack. This was a very dark and unfortunate period of my life.

Seeking calm, I took the Bodhisattva vow and sought a contemplative and peaceful lay monastic order within Buddhism in an effort to ground myself somewhere, with something. After an initial period of relative peace, boldness developed, even recklessness, concerning spiritual activities. I was going through a sort of spiritual alcoholism. But I didn’t know it.

The Prodigal Son ate the food of pigs in a far country. But he returned home when he remembered the taste of the Bread of his Father's house. For more than a decade I lived in this far country, eating its food.

I saw so many people - some friends, many strangers - seeking the dissolution of self. They had an insatiable desire to lose themselves, not in the life and light of God but in the darkness of the void, in a separation from the Love Who Transcends Everything. This separation is hell. Many men, women and children seek this hell, spinning through promiscuous relationships and leaping out of the windows of drugs, through which so many fall. But I studied and practiced Kundalini Yoga and shamanism, learning the presence of fear and coldness.[3]

I grew a reputation for reading the tarot, an occult method of divination. I taught yoga and instructed groups through guided meditations and chanting in sage deserts. We experimented with astral projection – guided out-of-body experiences through the bardos described in the Tibetan books. I carried not only underlined copies of the Bhagavad Gita, but of the Upanishads and sutras of the buddhas everywhere I went.[4]

Every one of these pursuits was a swim stroke away from the holy mountain of Christ. Drop water on stone long enough and you'll whither it away. Swabbing orange paste across my forehead, I rang bells offering fruit and fire while worshipping Krishna, wandering barefoot the streets of Eugene, Portland, Seattle and finally Rishikesh, Haridwar and Dharamsala in north India.

"Separated from God Who is the source of Life," writes Archimandrite Zacharias in his book Hidden Man of the Heart, "man can only withdraw into himself.... Gradually he is left desolate and dissolute."

Buddhism rejects the self, the soul, and the person. It folds its arms in silence against God. Suffering is never transfigured. There are crosses in Buddhism but there is never resurrection. One could say that Buddhism finds the empty tomb and declares this emptiness the natural state of things, even the goal. In Buddhism everything - heaven, hell, God, the self, the soul, the person - is an illusion waiting to be overcome, discarded, destroyed. This is the goal. Total obliteration. In this 9th-century axiom, the essence of Buddhism is summed: 'If you see the Buddha, kill him.'

Buddhism does not profess to - nor can it - heal soul and body. Both soul and body are to be overcome and discarded. In the Orthodox Church, however, the soul and body are meant to be healed. Buddhism teaches that nothing has intrinsic value. The Church teaches that everything God makes has intrinsic value. This includes the human body. We are complex beings. The actions of our body, mind and soul are linked. And these linked actions are directly related to our relationship with God and the spiritual realm For Orthodox Christians, everything - even suffering - is a hidden door through which we meet Christ, whereby we embrace one another.

One autumn, I traveled to Rishikesh, India. This city is named after the pagan god Vishnu, ‘the lord of the senses.’ Rishikesh is the 'yoga capital of the world.' It is generally accepted to be the place on earth where yoga originated from.

For 40 days I studied and practiced the so-called secret spiritual path of integral yoga in the foothills of the Himalayas.[5] This covered not only the gym yoga of America; each class began and ended with a prayer to ‘the god of the roaring storm,’ Shiva. This is while I was teaching English to Tibetan refugees and working for the Tibetan National Government as an editor.

Yoga is historically rooted in Hinduism. Curious, I spoke with a rinpoche at the Dalai Lama's monastery in Dharamsala.[6] I asked him who or what these Hindu gods are according to Buddhist cosmology. His answer is alarming: “They are created beings, with an ego...they are spirits trapped in the air."[7]

What is yoga? What is kundalini energy?

The literal meaning of yoga is 'yoke.' It means tying your will to the serpent kundalini and raising it to Shiva and experiencing your 'true' self. All paths of yoga are interconnected like branches of a tree. A tree with roots descending into the same areas of the spiritual world. This is evident in the ancient books the Bhagavad Gita and the Yogic Sutras of Patanjali. I learned that the ultimate goal of yoga is to awaken the kundalini energy coiled at the base of the spine in the image of a serpent so that it brings you to a state whereby you realize Tat Tvam Asi.[8]

Of course, yoga may facilitate exceptional experiences of body and mind. But so does the ingestion of mind-altering drugs, and flavorless, imperceptible poisons. Through yoga, little by little, one is harnessing shakti, which yogis refer to as the Divine Mother, the 'dark goddess' connected with other major Hindu gods. This energy isn't the Holy Spirit, and this isn't aerobics or gymnastics. Attached to this entire system are bhajans and kirtans – pagan equivalents to Orthodox Christian akathists, but for Hindu gods – as well as mantras, which are 'sacred' formulas, like calling cards or phone numbers, to the various pagan gurus and gods.

How is yoga connected with Hinduism?

To be clear, Hinduism does not refer to a specific religion. It is a term the British gave to the various cults, philosophies and shamanistic religions of India. If you ask one Hindu if he believes in God, he may tell you that you are God. But ask another, and he will point to a rock, or statue, or a flame of fire. This is Hindu polarity: either you are God, or everything else is a god.

Yoga is beneath this umbrella of Hinduism, and in many ways is the pole of the umbrella. It acts as a missionary arm for Hinduism and the New Age outside of India.[9] Hinduism is like an extraordinary Russian nesting doll: you open one philosophy and within it are ten thousand more.

And the unopened ones are risks. You may swim easily and carelessly in waters you do not know. But unaware of the tides and nuances of the area, you may be in danger. You may be swept away by the undertow. You may cut yourself against unseen rocks and contract imperceptible infection and poison. This happens in the spiritual life. When we dive in the ocean, we may be attracted to the brightest, most colorful and intriguing fish but the most colorful and exotic are often the most poisonous and deadly.

The first time I visited India, I took off my shoes and socks and walked through the water, coconuts, discarded candy and shimmering fire of Kalkaji Temple. It is one of the most famous temples dedicated to Kali, ‘the goddess of death.’ I didn't know it, but I was right in the middle of her most important festival of the year. The temple was chaos and the energy very heightened and dark.

Thousands of men, women and children gathered at this Rishikesh temple to worship this demon. Next to me, a woman's eyes rolled back in her head, arms waving back and forth, tongue wagging pink from her mouth, legs lifting and falling like a puppet on strings. This was clearly demonic possession.

Once, I venerated the Sitka Mother of God icon[10] and experienced incredible warmth, tears of humility and love, mental clarity, and peace. It was like walking in front of a window full of warm, fragrant sunshine. At Kalkaji temple, I experienced the opposite.

Kali is often depicted as a frightful, many-armed goddess with purple skin raising a severed human head, a bloody tongue hanging from her mouth. She wears a necklace of human heads and a belt of arms.

I have drank coffee with people instrumental in the movement of yoga, Hinduism and the New Age in America who, in order to be initiated into her cult, were prompted to eat human corpses from Nepalese graveyards. Not too long ago, the popular British newspaper The Guardian reported that child sacrifices continue to this day, honoring this demon Kali.[11] This is all connected to Hinduism. And it is connected to yoga because the postures of yoga are not religiously neutral. All of the classic asanas have spiritual significance. For example, as one journalist reports, the Sun Salutations, - perhaps the best-known series of asanas, or postures, of hatha yoga - the type most commonly practiced in America - is literally a Hindu ritual.

“Sun Salutation was never a hatha yoga tradition,” says Subhas Rampersaud Tiwari, professor of yoga philosophy and meditation at Hindu University of America in Orlando, Florida. “It is a whole series of ritual appreciations to the sun, being thankful for that source of energy.”[12]

To think of yoga as a mere physical movement is tantamount to “saying that baptism is just an underwater exercise.” writes Swami Param of the Classical Yoga Hindu Academy and Dharma Yoga ashram in Manahawkin, N.J.[13]

It is the goddess Kali who attempts to unite practitioners through shakti with Shiva by means of yoga. At her temple just outside New Delhi, I saw the hideous 'self-manifested' idol: a rock with strange, beady eyes, beaked and covered in yellowy slime and curdled food. In Hinduism, idols are 'woken up.' They are dressed. They are fed. They are sung to. And they are put to sleep. I've been part of hundreds of these ceremonies.

With more than five million readers, Yoga Journal is the best-selling yoga magazine in the world. In a revealing moment regarding the superiority of yoga as psychotherapy, Yoga Journal revealed the Hindu philosophy behind the practice:

“From the yogic perspective, all human beings are ‘born divine’ and each human being has at its core a soul (atman) that dwells eternally in the changeless, infinite, all-pervading reality (brahman). In Patanjali’s classic statement of this view...we already are that which we seek. We are God in disguise. We are already inherently perfect, and we have the potential in each moment to wake up to this true, awake, and enlightened nature.”[14]

Teachers and students typically greet each other with the Sanskrit ‘namaste,’ which means, “I honor the Divine within you.” This is an affirmation of pantheism and denial of the true God revealed in the Bible. The Sun Salutations, or, Surya Namaskara, originated with the worship of the Hindu solar deity Surya.

In Church hagiography and iconography, we venerate saints - real people who lived righteously before God and participated and continue to participate in His light and love - asking their intercessions. Idols, on the other hand, writes Fr. Michael Pomazansky, “are the images of false gods, and the worship of them was a worship of demons, or else of imaginary beings that have no existence; and thus, in essence, it is a worship of the lifeless objects themselves.”[15]

I have seen swamis – in this country, in America – transmit this demonic kundalini energy just by looking in a person's eyes. And if one is open to it, the body may shake and vibrate like a tin windup toy.

And yet when it came time for me to receive this cursed energy through Shaktipat, an unbelievable fear washed over me like cold, electrified water so I raised my shield and sword: I started saying the Jesus Prayer.[16] Glory to God! This awful presence was deflected by the Name of Jesus. We must remember, as St. Paul writes, We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.[17] With that prayer as my shield and sword, I swam a stroke back towards Christ. I took a step out of the far country. I took a step into my Father’s House.

How is yoga connected to Orthodoxy?

Yoga is a psychosomatic practice, an interaction between mind, body, and spirit(s). We must remember the word ‘yoga’ means 'yoke,' like the wooden crosspiece fastened over the necks of animals attached to the plow. St. Paul warns us, Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?[18] Yoga isn't Scriptural nor is it otherwise part of our Church’s Holy Tradition.

Everything we're looking for, everything, can be found in and through the Orthodox Church. So what would do we want from yoga?It is important to know that in yoga, as well as many mystical schools, strange lights may accompany practitioners but these are often from demons or created lights of the mind, for Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.[19] Many have and are following the 'spiritual fireworks’ of the so-called 'new' age. Of course, this is not the Uncreated Light experienced by Moses and the disciples on Mount Tabor. It is not the Divine Light St. Gregory Palamas defended in the 14th century against western scholasticism.

Direct knowledge of God is possible, and direct experience, but knowledge and experience of evil is also certainly available. We have freewill to choose whom and what we seek. This, of course, requires discernment and testing, where accountability before an experienced priest or elder is absolutely necessary. Indispensable, too, is heartfelt participation in the Mysteries of the Church. We do better looking into the mysteries of our hearts than entertaining these imaginations of the head.

Furthermore, something should be said in relation to the claim that ‘pop’ forms of gym yoga carry no danger or threat to a practitioner. Someone who holds such an opinion is either ignorant of, or chooses to ignore, the many warnings that appear in the eastern yoga manuals concerning the Hatha yoga that is practiced in such classes. Is the instructor aware of these warnings and able to guarantee that no harm will come to the student?

In his book Seven Schools of Yoga, Ernest Wood begins his description of Hatha yoga by stating, “I must not refer to any of these Hatha Yoga practices without sounding a severe warning. Many people have brought upon themselves incurable illness and even madness by practicing them without providing the proper conditions of body and mind. The yoga books are full of such warnings….

For example, the Gheranda Samhita announces that if one begins the practices in hot, cold or rainy weather, diseases will be contracted, and also if there is not moderation in diet, for only one half the stomach must ever be filled with solid food…. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika states that control of breath must be brought about very gradually, ‘as lions, elephants and tigers are tamed,’ or ‘the experimenter will be killed,’ and by any mistake there arises cough, asthma, head, eye and ear pains, and many other diseases.” Wood concludes his warning about posture and breathing yoga by saying, “I should like to make it clear that I am not recommending these practices, as I hold that all Hatha Yogas are extremely dangerous”.[20]

If an Orthodox Christian wants to exercise, he or she may swim, jog, hike, walk, and do stretching exercises, aerobics, or Pilates.[21] These are safe alternatives to yoga. We can also offer prostrations before God. The Church doesn't want any of us to be unhealthy or unhappy. We should trust the prescriptions of our Mother the Church and follow them as best as our ability, and the grace of God, allows. No one should try to extend the life of the body at the expense of the soul.

Above all, we mustn’t trust our own judgment. We must be accountable to someone.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not on your own understanding.[22]

As Orthodox Christians, we know that the actions of our bodies, such as bows, prostrations, and making the sign of the Cross have a relationship to the state of our soul before the True God. Why would we ever chance copying bodily actions that for centuries have been directly related to the worship of demons? Such actions could have serious consequences for both our soul and body which belong to Christ.

May we be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.[23]

For comments and questions please contact the author Joseph Magnus Frangipani atJoseph.Magnus9@gmail.com.

Joseph Magnus Frangipani

03 / 07 / 2015

[1] Reincarnation is the concept that the soul moves on to another human, animal or spiritual body after biological death. Karma, a fundamental doctrine like reincarnation of Hinduism and Buddhism, is the principle where the intent and actions of an individual influence the future. Karma removes God from the picture, centering you as your own savior. Samsara is the repeating cycle of birth, life and death.

[2] Shamanism is a dangerous practice involving channeling (possession) of benevolent and malevolent spirits, employing drug-induced trances, and evoking spirit guides, omens, and fortune telling with human or animal bones. Bon was an early pantheistic religion steeped in numerology, astrology, divination, animal sacrifice, and magic. These elements still exist within many schools of Buddhism.

[3] Kundalini, an essential but dangerous component of yoga, is depicted as a serpent coiled at the base of the spine awakened through yogic postures and meditation. The presence of 'awakened' Kundalini energy, also called Shakti, is said to unite practitioners with Shiva, the originator and god of yoga. The opening of various chakra – or spiritual pressure points – throughout the body by means of physical postures (hatha yoga) and meditation (raja yoga) facilitate this uncoiling. Symptoms associated with awakening Kundalini include altered states of consciousness, increased pressure in the skull, twitching, increased blood pressure, extreme sexual desire, emotional numbness, and more.

[4] The Bhagavad Gita, or, 'Song of god,' is a dialogue between the Hindu god Krishna and a warrior regarding bhakti (devotional yoga), jnana ('liberation' through knowledge) and dharma, or one's spiritual responsibilities. The Upanishads are Vedic mystical writings concerning the nature of reality and ultimate realization. Sutras are teachings typically delivered by buddhas or Hindu sages.

[5] There are many 'schools' or 'arms' of yoga suiting the many different types of practitioners. For example, four classic, or primary types of yoga include: Jnana yoga (the yoga of direct knowledge), Bhakti yoga (the yoga of devotion), Karma yoga (the yoga of action), and Raja yoga (the 'royal' path which includes Hatha, Tantra, Laya, Kundalini proper, and other forms of yoga).

[6] A rinpoche is recognized as a reincarnated and accomplished teacher of Buddhism.

[7] St. Paul refers to Satan as “the prince of the power of the air” in Ephesians 2:2.

[8] Sanskrit for “Thou art that” appearing in the Upanishads and subsequent yogic and Vedic texts. The phrase means the practitioner is identical with the Ultimate Reality, or with a god, or God.

[9] The New Age movement, like Hinduism, is hard to pin down but is generally associated with, but certainly not limited to, gnosticism, the occult, Wicca, drug-induced trances and 'realizations,' shamanism, UFOs, crystals, matriarchal polytheism and the LGBT movement, but eschewing Orthodox Christianity.

[10] A gift from laborers of the Cathedral of St. Michael the Archangel in Sitka, Alaska, this exceptionally beautiful miracle-working icon is indeed a window to heaven.

[11] The Guardian, Saturday, March 4, 2006.

[12] Dru Sefton, “Is Yoga Debased by Secular Practice?” Newhouse News, July 15, 2005,http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1445950/posts.

[13] Ibid.

[14] Stephen Cote, “Standing Psychotherapy on Its Head,” Yoga Journal, May/June 2001, p.104.http://michaeltalbotkelly.com/standing-psychotherapy-on-its-head/.

[15] Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, p. 323.

[16] Shaktipat is the conferring of demonic spiritual energy with a word, look, thought or touch. The Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

[17] Ephesians 6:12.

[18] 2 Corinthians 6:14.

[19] 2 Corinthians 11:14.

[20] The Sandilya Upanishad gives similar warnings. See Seven Schools of Yoga, by Ernest Wood, pgs. 78-79.

[21] Pilates is a perfectly safe and appropriate alternative to yoga. A mental fitness system aiding flexibility, strength and focus, Pilates is a conditioning routine emphasizing coordination, balance and breathing. Studies have also shown that stretching exercises are an effective alternative to yoga in treating lower back pain.

[22] Proverbs 3:5.

[23] Matthew 10:16.