Golden connection with God. About what prevents us from being with God

Paramahansa Yogananda

Excerpts from lectures given by Paramahansa Yogananda in 1944

The glory of God is great. He is real and He can be discovered... On his own life path silently and confidently you must come to the conclusion that God is the only object, the only goal that can satisfy you, for in God himself lies the answer to all the longings of your heart.

Paramahamsa Yogananda

Communion with God is an established fact. In India I saw saints during their conversation with the Heavenly Father. And everyone can also communicate with Him, not a one-way conversation, but a conversation when you talk to God and He answers. Surely everyone can talk to the Lord. However, the question being discussed today is: How can we convince Him to answer us? Why should we doubt? The sacred scriptures of the world are replete with descriptions of God's communications with man. One of the most beautiful such cases is described in the Bible: “...The Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at night, and God said: ask what to give you. And Solomon said: ...Give Thy servant an understanding heart... And God said to him: because you asked for this, and did not ask for yourself a long life, did not ask for wealth for yourself, did not ask for the souls of your enemies, but asked to give myself reason to be able to judge, Behold, I will do according to your word. Behold, I give you a heart that is wise and understanding... And that which you did not ask for, I give you, both wealth and glory...” (1 Kings 3.5-13.) David also talked with the Almighty many times and even discussed secular affairs with Him: “And David asked God, saying: Shall I go against the Philistines, and will you deliver them into my hands? And the Lord said to him: Go, and I will deliver them into your hands.” (1 Chronicles 10/14.)

God is driven only by love

The average person prays to God only with his mind, and not with all the fervor of his heart. Such pleas are too weak to receive any response. We should talk to the Divine Spirit with confidence and a sense of closeness, like with a father or mother. Our relationship with God should be one of unconditional love. More than in any other relationship we can rightly and naturally demand a response from the Spirit in His aspect as the Divine Mother. God is forced to respond to such a call, for the essence of a mother is the love and forgiveness of her child, no matter how big a sinner he may be. The relationship between mother and child is the most beautiful form of human love given to us by the Almighty. Such a perception of God (in the aspect of the Divine Mother) is necessary, otherwise the convert will not receive a clear answer. And the demand for an answer from the Almighty must be very strong; It is not enough to be a half-believer. If you have decided, “He is going to talk to me”; if you believe this way, no matter how many years He has not answered you, if you trust Him, one day He will respond. IN Autobiographies of a Yogi I have described some of the many times I have had conversations with God. The first experience of hearing the Divine Voice was in childhood. One morning, sitting on my bed, I concentrated deeply. “What lies behind the darkness of closed eyes?” - this question completely took over the mind. Suddenly, a powerful flash of light appeared in my mind’s eye. Divine images of saints meditating in mountain caves formed like miniature movie frames on a large shining screen inside my forehead. - Who you are? - I asked out loud.- We are Himalayan yogis. - The heavenly answer is difficult to describe, my heart trembled. The vision disappeared, but the silvery rays diverged into circles expanding to infinity. - What is this wonderful glow? - I asked.; “...The Lord is with you when you are with Him; and if you seek Him, He will be found by you; if you leave Him, He will leave you”( 2 Chronicles 15.2. );“Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me.”

Revelation 3.20. - ). If you can “break bread” with the Almighty at least once, break His silence, He will often talk to you. But in the beginning it is very difficult. The reason it's difficult to get to know God is because He wants to make sure you're truly committed to getting to know Him.

He tests to see whether the devotee really thirsts for Him, or for something else. He will not talk to you until you convince Him that there is no other desire hidden in your heart. Why will He open up to you if your heart longs for His gifts? Love the only thing a person can give to God

Everything created was created to test man. By our behavior in this world we demonstrate the presence of a desire for the Most High or His blessings. God will not say that you should desire Him above all else, for He wants the voluntary gift of love for Him, without seeking gain. This is the whole secret of the design of the creation of our world. He who created us longs for our love. He wants us to give it away voluntarily, without reason, and not when He asks us to. The love of each of us is the only thing that God does not have until we deign to give it to Him. So you see that even the Almighty has something that He wants to achieve - our love. And we will never be happy until we give it. As long as we, wayward children, pygmies, crawling around this globe, cry out with tears for His benefits, while ignoring Him, the Giver, our many misfortunes will be inevitable. Since God is the essence of our being, we are unable to truly express ourselves until we find His presence within ourselves. - This is true. Because we are divine and part of Him, anything material cannot provide us with lasting pleasure. “He who does not give shelter to Me will never receive shelter” (

A little discussion of this matter will help in your attempts to contact Him. Many people do not like to think of God as a person, considering the anthropomorphic concept to be limited. They regard Him as the Impersonal Spirit, as the Omnipotence, the Intellectual Will, responsible for the given Universe. But if our Creator is faceless, how could it happen that He created man? We are individuals with individuality. We think, we feel, we desire, and God has given us the ability not only to evaluate the thoughts and feelings of others, but also to respond to them. Naturally, the Almighty is not deprived of the same, inspiring his own creations. If we allow this, our Supreme Father can and will establish a personal relationship with each of us. Considering the impersonal aspect of God, the idea of ​​Distant Existence arises. Someone who only receives the thoughts of those praying, leaving them unanswered, Someone who, knowing everything, still maintains a heartless silence. But this is a philosophical mistake, for God is everything - both in personal and impersonal aspects. He created personality, human existence, and cannot but have a personal aspect. The mere thought of the possibility that God can take human form and come and speak to us already fills our hearts with joy. Why doesn't He do this for everyone? Many saints heard the voice of God. Why can't you hear Him? “You, O Lord, are invisible, faceless, unknown, incomprehensible, and yet I believe that my boundless devotion can coax You into taking some form.” If you pray sincerely enough, your devotion may persuade God to take on the form of a person. You, like St. Francis of Assia and other saints, can see the living Christ. Jesus was the form in which God appeared before people. He who knows Brahma (God) is Brahma himself. Didn’t Christ say: “I and the Father are one”? ( John 10.30.) Swami Shankara also declared “I am the Spirit”, and “Are You That?” We have the testimony of many great prophets that all men are created in the image of God. I received much more knowledge from God than from books. I have read little and am telling you what I have directly learned. That is why I speak with authority, for it is the authority of direct perception of the Truth. The opinion of the whole world may try to resist it, but the authority of direct knowledge will ultimately always be accepted.

The Meaning of “Image of God”

In the Bible we read: “...For man was created in the image of God (Genesis 9.6.)" No one has yet fully explained how man reveals the image of God. God is Spirit, and man, by essence of his nature, is also Spirit. This is the original meaning of the biblical episode, but there are many other valid interpretations of this idea. The entire human body, consciousness and movement in it, is a microcosmic likeness of God. Consciousness is omnipresent and omniscient. You might instantly think you're on the North Star or Mars. Mentally there is no gap between you and anything. Thanks to the presence of consciousness, we can say that we are created in the likeness of God. Consciousness knows about itself, it intuitively feels itself. God recognizes Himself in every atom of creation through His own cosmic consciousness. “Are not two small birds sold for an assarium? And not one of them will fall to the ground without the will of your Father. (Matthew 10.29.)”. Man also has cosmic consciousness from birth, although few people develop its power. In addition, man has a will, through which he, like the Creator, is able to instantly create worlds. However, few develop this strength of this will. Animals cannot reason, but humans can. All the qualities that God has - consciousness, reason, will, feelings, love - are also found in man. Thus, we can say that man is truly created in the likeness of God.

The physical body is not matter, but is energy

The energy available in our body is greater than what is needed to control physical processes. The cosmic energy by which the universes are supported also vibrates in our bodies, but this energy is one of the aspects of God. Therefore, we are created in His image even from a physical point of view. What is this energy contained in our body? The physical body is made up of molecules, molecules are made up of atoms, atoms are made up of electrons, and electrons are made up of life force or “lifetrons” - countless billions of particles of energy. With the spiritual eye you can see your body as a mass of sparkling particles of light - energy emanating from the twenty-seven thousand billion cells of the body. It is only through illusion that you see your body as solid flesh. In reality it is not matter, but energy. Due to the prejudice that a person consists of flesh and blood, you sometimes consider yourself weak. If you noticed the Divine consciousness in the body, you would understand that the flesh is nothing more than the physical manifestation of the five vibratory elements - earth, water, fire, air and ether.

Five universal elements that make up the human body

The entire universe is the body of God and is created from the same five elements as the human body. The star-shaped body is an image of these five elements. The head, two arms and two legs make up the five points of this star. From this point of view, we are also created in the likeness of God. The five fingers also represent a combination of the five elements of Cosmic Intelligent Vibration, which contains the structures of the universe. Thumb shows the vibration of the fattest element - the earth, hence its thickness. The index finger represents the element of water, the middle finger represents the swift element of fire, so it is the longest, the ring finger represents air, and the little finger represents ether, which is why it is thinner than other fingers. Rubbing each finger revives its corresponding power. Hence, rubbing the middle finger ( Representative of the fire element) and navel ( Opposite the lumbar or “fiery” center of the back, which is responsible for the digestion and assimilation of food) helps overcome digestive disorders. God manifests movement in creation. Due to the desire to move, a person has developed legs; the toes are the materialization of the same five elements of energy. The eyes reflect God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in the pupil, iris and albumen. By concentrating on the spiritual eye, the vision of the physical eyes reflects its unified light, causing the spiritual eye to see. This single eye is the “eye of God”. We have developed two eyes in accordance with the law of relativity that prevails in our dualistic universe. Jesus said: “The lamp of the body is the eye. So, if your eye is clean, then your whole body will be bright.”(Matthew 6.22.)

. If we look with this inner eye - the single divine eye - then we will comprehend that everything created is created from a single substance - His light.

Ultimately, man is omnipotent. When your consciousness is united with the Divine, you can change anything you want. If necessary, auto parts can be replaced with others, but it is much more difficult to achieve the same with the physical body. The basis that controls all cells is the mind. A person who has completely mastered his mind can rearrange or replace both cells and body parts at will. For example, he could, just by thinking, force the atoms of the body to transform so that a complete new set of teeth appeared. When one is advanced spiritually, he is able to exercise complete control over matter. The Lord is the Spirit - invisible and faceless. But having created the physical world, He became God the Father, and by accepting the role of creator, He manifested Himself as a person. He became visible: this entire universe is the body of God. In the form of earth, He has positively and negatively charged sides - north and south poles. The stars are His eyes, the grass and trees are His hair, the rivers are His blood vessels. The roar of the ocean, the song of the lark, the cry of a newborn and all the other sounds of creation, this is His voice. This is God personified. The beating of all hearts is the pulsation of His cosmic energy. He manifests Himself in the walking of twenty-six hundred million pairs of legs, in the work of all hands. The One Divine Consciousness manifests itself in the activity of the brain of every person. By virtue of the Divine law of attraction and repulsion, the cells of the human body are harmoniously connected in the same way that the stars maintain their orbits. The omnipresent Lord is always active; There is no place where life is not manifested in one form or another. With infinite extravagance, God continually creates protein forms, which are the inexhaustible expression of His cosmic energy. When the Divine Spirit created, He had a specific idea or image. First He created the entire universe and then He created man. Creating a physical body from solar systems

God “talks” through vibrations

God, nevertheless, appears to us in physical form. He is even more personalized than you can imagine. He is valid and real, just like you. This is what I want to tell you about today. The Lord always answers us. The vibrations of His thoughts are sent constantly; This requires energy, which manifests itself in sound. Here lies the most important point. God is both consciousness and energy. The word “conversation” suggests the presence of vibration. In the vibration of His cosmic energy He speaks incessantly. He became the Mother of creation, materializing Herself in solids, liquids, fire, air and ether. The Invisible Mother constantly manifests Herself in visible forms: in flowers, mountains, seas and stars. What is matter? Nothing other than a special form of vibration of the cosmic energy of God. In reality, no form in the universe is solid. What appears to us to be so is actually a powerful or local vibration of His energy. God speaks to us through vibrations. But the question is, how do we come into direct contact with Him? This is the most difficult event of all - talking to God. If you talk to a mountain, it won't answer you. Talk to flowers, as Luther Burbank did, and you will feel a faint response. And of course we can talk to other people. However, is God really less responsive than flowers and people? Does He allow us to talk to Him without giving an answer? It seems exactly like that, doesn’t it? But the problem is not with Him, but with us. Our intuitive telephony is broken. God calls us and talks to us, but we don't hear Him. In the original at this place there is a photograph of Kaliyana-Kalpataru from the Jagannah temple.

Divine Mother

God in the aspect of the Divine Mother is depicted in Indian art as a woman with four arms. One hand is raised, in the manner of a universal blessing, in the other three hands there are: prayer beads symbolizing devotion; holy scriptures symbolizing teachings and wisdom; and a painted jug symbolizing wealth.

Cosmic vibrations “speak” all languages

However, the saints hear Him. Whenever a teacher I know prays, it feels as if the voice of God is descending from heaven. God doesn't need a throat to speak. If the prayer is diligent enough, then these vibrations immediately bring an answer also in the form of vibrations. This happens in the language you are familiar with. If you pray in German, then you will hear the answer in German, if you speak English, then you will receive the answer in English. The vibrations of various languages ​​originate in cosmic vibration. Being a cosmic vibration, God knows all languages. What is speech in a given language? It's a certain vibration. What is vibration? This is a certain energy. What is energy? This is a definite thought. Although God hears all prayers, He does not always answer them. This is similar to the fact that a child calls his mother, but she does not consider it necessary to approach him. Instead, she sends him a toy to calm him down. But when a child refuses anything other than the presence of his mother, she definitely comes. If you want to know God, you must be like restless children, screaming until the mother comes. If you decide not to stop turning to Her, the Divine Mother will speak to you. No matter how busy she is creative work around the house, if the prayers are persistent, She will certainly speak to you. The sacred scriptures of India say that if the whole night and the whole day, without a moment's break, the person praying zealously and devotedly turns to God, He will respond. But how few will do this! Every day you have “important things to do” - the same “devil” that leads us away from God. The Lord will not come if you say a little prayer and then start thinking about something else; or if you pray something like this: “Father, I turn to You, but I’m terribly sleepy. Amen". Saint Paul said: “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5.17.). Patient Job had long conversations with God. Job said to Him: “Listen, I cried, and I will speak, and what I will ask You, explain to me. I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear; now my eyes see You"

Don't be satisfied with less than the most

Don't waste your time looking for something insignificant. Naturally, it is easier to receive other gifts of God than the highest gift - Himself. But don't be satisfied with less than the most. I am not interested in the gifts of God except when I see Him, the Giver, behind them. Why do all my wishes materialize? Yes, because I go deeper, I go straight to God.

In every aspect of creation I see Him. He is our Father; He is closer than the closest, dearer than the dearest, more real than anyone. He is simultaneously knowable and unknowable. God is calling to you. He wants you to return to Him. It's your birthright. One day you will have to leave this earth, because this place is not permanent for you. Earthly life is a school to which He sent us to see how we would behave, that’s all. And before God reveals himself, he wants to know whether you want earthly, ostentatious glory or whether you have enough wisdom to say, “Lord, I'm done with all this. I want to communicate only with You. I know that You are all that I truly have. You will be with me even when everyone leaves me.” People seek happiness in marriage, money, wine and so on, but such people are toys in the hands of fate. Once this is understood, our search for the true purpose of life turns to God. We must claim the lost Divine inheritance. The less selfish a person is, the more he tries to make others happy, the more likely he is to think about God. And the more a person thinks about worldly goals and human desires, the further the happiness of his soul moves away. We were not placed on earth to crawl in the mud of feelings and shrink from suffering at every step. Everything worldly is a sin, for it suppresses the bliss of the soul. The greatest happiness comes from immersing the mind in thoughts of God.

Why delay happiness? Why don't you think ahead about why something meaningless seems so important? Most people concentrate on breakfast, lunch, work, and so on. Make your life simpler and think only about the Lord. The earth is the place where preparations are made for returning to Godhead. He wants to see if we love Him more than His gifts. He is the Father and we are all His children. He has a right to our love for Him, and we have a right to His love for us. Our difficulties arise because we neglect Him. And yet, He is always waiting. I really wish He would put a little more intelligence into each of us. We have the freedom to reject God or accept Him. Here we, like alms, beg for a little money, a little happiness, a little love.

Why ask for something that may one day be taken away? How long will you moan about money, health and difficulties? Catch immortality and the kingdom of God! This is what you really want.

The saints point out the need for the absence of attachments, however, one, even a strong material attachment cannot prevent the complete achievement of the kingdom of God. Self-denial does not mean giving up everything completely, it means giving up small pleasures in the name of eternal happiness. God speaks to you when you work for Him, and you should constantly talk to Him. Tell Him everything that comes to mind. Tell Him, “God, reveal Yourself, reveal Yourself,” don’t take silence for an answer. In the beginning He will answer you by sending you something you desired, showing that you are in the sphere of His attention. But don't be content with His gifts. Let Him know that you will never be satisfied until He appears. Eventually He will answer you. A saint may appear in a vision or you may hear the Divine Voice. This will lead you to understand that contact with God has been established. Only unceasing zeal can convince Him of the need to give Himself to you. Nobody can teach you this zeal. You yourself must develop it. “You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink.” However, when a horse is thirsty, it will diligently seek water. So, when you have a great thirst for the Divine, when you do not attach importance to anything else - the difficulties of the world or the difficulties of the body - then He will come. Remember, He comes when the call of your heart becomes ardent, when no excuses will satisfy you. You must remove from your mind any doubt that God will answer you. Most people don't get an answer because they don't believe. If you are absolutely confident that you will achieve something, nothing will stop you. This will happen when you refused to sign a verdict against yourself. Now, at this moment, I hear His Voice. Cosmic sound ( Reaching the Divine Realm is at stake Aum, Om - conscious, intelligent cosmic vibrations or the Holy Spirit. ), heard in meditation, is the voice of God. This sound is converted into a language you can understand. Listening to the sound Aum ), heard in meditation, is the voice of God. This sound is converted into a language you can understand. Listening to the sound, periodically I ask God to tell me something. This sound converts into English or Bengali and gives me precise instructions. In addition, God speaks to man through his intuition. If you have learned to hear the Cosmic Vibration ( Through a certain ancient technique

), it will be easier for you to hear His voice. But even if you pray to God through the cosmic ether, if your will is strong enough, the ether will respond with His voice. He talks all the time, saying: “Call to Me, speak to Me from the depths of your heart, from the essence of your being, from the very depths of your soul, persistently, sublimely, decisively, with the firm intention of continuing to search for Me in your heart, no matter how many times I I will be silent. If you constantly whisper in your heart, turning to Me: ‘Oh, my silent Beloved, speak to me,’ I will come to you, My devotee.” If even once you receive such an answer, you will never again feel separated from Him. The divine experience will always remain with you. But this “one day” is the most difficult thing, because because of our material prejudices, the heart and mind are not sure and doubts creep in.

God will answer any person regardless of caste, creed and color. There is a saying in Bengal: “If you turn the call of the soul to God as the Universal Mother, She cannot remain silent. She will definitely talk.” It's wonderful, isn't it? Think about all that came to me today and what I told you about. And never doubt again that God will answer you if the persistence of your requests is constant. “And the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as one speaks to his friend...” (Exodus 33.11.)

Many people ask: “how is it possible for an ordinary person to communicate with God?”
But what does “simple” mean? And who is “difficult”?
An ascetic prayer book in a cave?
A prophet gifted with extraordinary gifts?
A sage who has learned all the teachings of the world?
Before God we are all “simple”.
And communication with God is also achieved very “simple”.
There is nothing to be clever about here, there is no need to look for special revelations, you just need to trust Him and open up internally before Him.

God always wants us to enter into personal communication with Him, so that we get to know Him directly, but we ourselves close ourselves off from Him. Quietly and persistently He says to each of us: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock”; "My son, give Me your heart."

One sincere sigh - and He will open to meet you. And in a way that is understandable and accessible to you personally. And it will open up to someone else somehow differently.

It’s just that something inside us interferes with this sincerity. Here (and only here) you need to make an effort - to push these obstacles aside, simply not pay attention to them. Most often it is the fear of “being exposed” in my secret sins, of which I myself am especially ashamed. But this is simply stupid: after all, if He exists, then He still sees all of me, both the way I am and the way I will be. So the only thing that remains is to tell Him: here I am before You as I am - teach me to become better.

And we finally begin to think about how to get rid of it, because this feeling is deeply contrary to everything that we experienced during the Divine visit. This is how spiritual life begins - deep and difficult, joyful and bitter, with achievements and retreats, with bouts of hope and despair. But to those who have embarked on this path, everything else will seem simply boring and meaningless. “Jesus was so sweet that the whole world turned rancid to me,” said one of the Christian saints.

Without experience of communication with God, we know about Him only by hearsay, although this is where it all begins - “faith comes by hearing.” Without this experience, we cannot understand the full depth of our pride, we cannot comprehend the essence of our egoistic nature.

But only the first experience of communion with God is easy.
Now that we have really felt that God is Love, an internal struggle begins: what will be more important for me - the desire to learn to love the same way myself, or a stubborn reluctance to change my selfish nature.

The same pride can motivate me to strive for regular repetition of the experience - in confirmation of my own uniqueness. But proud motivation or simple mystical curiosity will not evoke a Divine response. And if we are very persistent, then this may happen: instead of God, someone else will come, to whom your egoism is deeply in tune. Another spirit will come who pretends to be God and who is so “close” and understandable to us, because he is as proud as we are. He will inspire us: “remain yourself, there is no need to become different, your Ego is divine in itself, and love is simply the realization that we all together form a single universal Self.”

Either we accept these false whispers, or we return to the path of searching for God - the One Whom we already knew, but then lost.

And we finally come to a clear understanding: in order to achieve inner silence, sincerity and openness before God, it is necessary to overcome the deadly resistance of the Ego...

It seems to my subconscious Ego that it will perish if God really exists and if God really is Love. And it resists - dully and adamantly. Reason helpfully comes to his aid, convincing him that there is no God, or that he is impersonal and therefore indifferent to me, or that I am already by nature a part of the deity and therefore I no longer need anyone except myself. The mind can come up with a lot of things, because it itself grew out of our egoistic nature.

And this will happen until I finally say to myself: “let me perish if there is no Truth, because without it (“without YOU”) I still don’t exist.”

And then we enter the next stage of spiritual life, which will never stop: our mind, our feelings, our subconscious will gradually begin to change towards God, under His influence and in His image and likeness. And there is no limit to this growth, because God is infinitely superior to us: we will always have room to grow further.

Every person in life faces questions of faith. One of the most important questions people ask is how to communicate with God? God is the creator of our entire world, the One and Almighty Creator, why does He care about me and my problems? How to turn to God so that He hears and helps? For centuries, people have been looking for ways to reach God. Some want to improve their financial situation, others are looking for guidance and direction, others want to solve some vital problems. Whatever the reasons for communicating with God, it is important that it eventually takes place. We really want this, but God wants it even more.

How to build our communication with Him? Well, first of all, you should not expect that relationships that have never existed before or that were once destroyed will be built or restored in an instant. This does not happen in relationships between people; you should not expect this to suddenly happen in relationships with God. Building relationships takes time. We need it in order to learn to trust God, and God also needs time.

To start make an appointment with God. Let a special item appear in your schedule - “”. This is necessary in order to prepare and decide. Before you talk to God about what worries you, you must at least create a common environment, a basis for a meeting. Choose a time to talk when you will not be interrupted, and warn God about it. Think about what you would like to talk to God about, what questions would you like to ask Him?

Best way to talk to God choose some quiet place. Let it be a bench in the park or a stone in the forest, or maybe it’s easier for someone to talk with God right in the room, sitting on the sofa. It is important that you feel calm in this place and can talk without being distracted by extraneous noise.

Maybe it doesn't really matter, but it's best for talking to God dress neatly. Of course, God saw us in different guises - He was with us at the moment of birth, He saw us during sleep, He saw us while working, He saw us tired or joyful. And God will be happy to communicate with us, no matter what we look like. However, our appearance this is also a kind of sign of respect for God and a reason for a more open relationship with Him.

Before turning to God, give yourself time to calm down. There is no need to jump into conversation right away. Listen to yourself, listen to your surroundings, light a candle, turn on some calm music to relax a little. A good conversation requires an attitude, an atmosphere of trust and warmth.

Start a conversation with God with simple things. How do you start a conversation with someone you haven't seen for a long time? You won't start right away by discussing deep personal issues, will you? You can thank God for this day, tell Him how you are doing. If you don’t feel the presence of God, you can tell Him about it: “God, I don’t feel You yet, it’s difficult for me to talk to You.” This kind of prayer is also very important. Even if you say, “God, I don’t know where to start our conversation,” it will already be very important step in your relationship.

Be honest and open in your communication with God. God knows you better than anyone. He created you, He took care of you throughout your life. Who else in the world might know more about your difficulties? God knows how and with what to help you. Talk to God about what really worries you, tell Him about your problems, about your life. Ask God questions that have been bothering you for a long time.

There is no one solution to how to talk to God. Everyone understands God in their own way, everyone can build their own, unique relationship with God. These few simple tips- only the first step with which you can start. But there are countless ways to communicate with God. Your path to God and your conversation with Him will be completely special.

According to the holy righteous John of Kronstadt, « prayer is the golden connection of a Christian man, a wanderer and a stranger on earth, with the spiritual world, of which he is a member, and most of all with God, the source of life.” About the extraordinary power of prayer, Saint Demetrius of Rostov writes: “Prayer not only defeats the laws of nature, not only is it an insurmountable shield against visible and invisible enemies, but even holds back the hand of the Almighty God Himself, raised to defeat sinners.” And even people far from the Church believe that “a mother’s prayer lifts us up from the bottom of the sea.” However, “reading prayers, standing in prayer and bowing constitute only a prayerful standing,” teaches St. Theophan the Recluse, “and prayer, in fact, comes from the heart. When this one is not there, there is none.”

We talk with a candidate of theology about what prayer should be, how and what to pray for Archpriest Dimitry Moiseev.

- Father Dimitri, prayer is...

- ... conversation with God, our appeal to the Lord. That is why prayer should not be reduced to simply reading some texts. It is necessary to understand: when we pray, we stand before God Himself, the Lord looks at us and sees what we say and how we say it. We pray just to quickly fulfill the prayer rule and get rid of it, or we really come to God as our loving Father.

- How do we understand “communication with God”?

First of all, this is unity with God, communion with Divine grace. Moreover, communication can also be nonverbal, that is, wordless. By the way, Abbot Nikon (Vorobyov) loved to communicate in this way with one holy fool who lived in the same city as him - in Gzhatsk. Sometimes they would sit next to each other on a bench, be silent, and pray. Then they will thank each other for communication and go their separate ways.

- Can communication be understood as turning to the Lord in one’s own words, or is it something else?

Prayer Rules- this is a model, since they were written by people moved by the Spirit of God. By carefully reading these prayers, we are more or less imbued with the spirit that the saints had. And having already tuned in to this correct tone, we can pray in our own words about specific needs, because there are no rules for all occasions. The Church recommends that you always begin prayer precisely with the rule in order to help an ordinary, worldly, sinful person, who has no experience of grace, to get at least a little closer to the right state of spirit through the Psalter, reading canons and prayers, the authors of which are holy people.

- Prayer is a dialogue between a person and God. Once the dialogue, then How can a person learn to hear the answer to prayer? Let’s say someone asked God in prayer whether he should go somewhere. And then he turns on the radio and hears the word “let’s go.” Can such a “sign” be considered an answer to prayer?

I think this should under no circumstances be done. Still, the Church strictly prohibits guessing through prayer or any other objects. If we achieve such purity of heart as that of St. Seraphim of Sarov or people of a similar spiritual level, then God’s answer will be clear and understandable to us. For the rest, who are in an ordinary spiritual state, for people like all of us, the Church prescribes to pray and rely on the will of God. The Lord Himself will manage. From the circumstances surrounding us, we will understand how best to act. If we want to go somewhere and ask the Lord to let us understand whether we should go there or not, then somehow, not miraculously, but in the most ordinary way, we will still understand it. For example, the train we were planning to take will be canceled, or some event will occur that will not give us the opportunity to go on a trip if God does not want it. Or, on the contrary, everything will turn out very well. But under no circumstances should one look for miraculous answers or supernatural revelations. This is already called the temptation of the Lord God.

If we pray correctly, God answers, and He Himself finds ways to reach us. We can say that prayer is a dialogue, but this will not be entirely accurate. Because, as Saint Photius of Constantinople said, using this or that word in figurative meaning, one cannot demand from it full compliance with the direct meaning. That is, all the accompanying moments that the direct meaning has do not always correspond to the figurative one. The word “dialogue”, of course, in this case is used in a figurative sense.

- Are there concepts of “correct” prayer and “wrong” prayer?

Of course, such concepts exist. What is prayer? This is our appeal to God. We must clearly understand what we need to contact Him with and what we don’t. The Monk Isaac the Syrian compares incorrect prayer to how someone came to the king, who can give him everything, and asked him for pus, that is, completely insignificant things for which one should not turn to the king. First of all, we must pray for our salvation, healing from sin, so that the Lord will forgive us our iniquities. As for everyday needs, the Lord said that the pagans are looking for all this. We must hope in God's Providence. However, due to our imperfection, weakness, due to the fact that we are not able to fully rely on God’s Providence and take care of some things ourselves, we ask God for help in earthly affairs. The Monk Mark the Ascetic said that those who do not care about worldly things, but place all their hopes in God, should pray only for the Divine. If we are weak and still have concerns about the things of life, then we need to pray about this too, ask for God’s help.

As for correct and incorrect prayer, correct prayer must come from a real vision of one’s situation. If I really see myself as a sinner, perishing, then first of all I must be concerned about my salvation. It is stupid for a person who is about to die from appendicitis to care, for example, about the whiteness of his teeth or a good hairstyle. Therefore, the authentic patristic prayers, which are given as examples in our prayer book and church services, are all filled with the spirit of repentance.

As for incorrect prayer, a striking example is one prayer that is gaining “popularity” in Orthodox circles. In Orthodox publications it appears either as an unnamed ancient prayer, or is attributed to one of the famous Orthodox saints. But in fact it belongs to the Catholic Saint Francis of Assisi. “Lord, make it so that they do not console me... but I console; so that they don’t understand me... but I understand; so that they don’t love me... but I love..." and stuff like that. This prayer, the author of which, Francis of Assisi, who said in his time that “I do not see any sin behind me that I could not atone for through confession and repentance,” is all filled with the spirit of pride, the spirit of what in Orthodoxy is called prelest. For interest, let us compare this prayer with any prayer from the prayer book compiled by Macarius the Great or Anthony the Great and filled with the spirit of seeing one’s sins and repentance. Let us compare this prayer with at least the prayer of the Optina elders, who prayed that the Lord would strengthen and comfort them. And seeing yourself as capable of comforting others, asking God for help on this path - this, of course, has nothing to do with Orthodoxy.

The Apostle Paul said that we ourselves do not know what to pray for, but “the Spirit of God intercedes for us with groanings that cannot be uttered.” This means that there is a prayer without words, and you can say nothing during prayer. How can we better understand this?

I think that here, for understanding, it is better to turn to the conversation of St. Seraphim of Sarov with N.A. Motovilov. When a person, by his purity, has been worthy of a visit from the Spirit, then, of course, words will no longer be necessary. The person will simply stand in silent communion with God. But in order to be worthy of such purity, such prayer, one must be Venerable Seraphim. You need to go through that school of life, that spiritual test that the monk went through. And only then may the Lord visit us with such prayer, such communication. But under no circumstances should we set ourselves the goal of achieving such prayer. The main thing is necessary: ​​to be cleansed of sins, we need to have only one goal in front of us - repentance. Everything else - be it gifts of God, some kind of revelation - all this is entirely under Divine power. And when the Lord deems it necessary, He will send a person one or another gift from His side. But we should not look for this under any circumstances. Because if we change the goal, we look not for cleansing from sin, but for some pleasures and experiences in prayer, then these experiences will come very soon. True, from a different force.

Bishop Veniamin (Milov) wrote: “Christ rejoices and is glad when he sees in a Christian the firm conviction that it is He who creates all good things in believers. Therefore, every Christian must confess that Christ fights in him, conquers, calls on God, prays, gives thanks, reveres and seeks salvation with prayer and humility...” What then is the role of the Christian himself, including in prayer, if he does everything in him Lord?

The Lord said to His disciples, and the Evangelist Apostle John brought this phrase to us: “Without Me you can do nothing. I am the vine, and you are the branches." This is truly so, since it was the Lord Jesus Christ who took upon himself human nature, updated it and gave us the opportunity, by joining it, to build our actions, behavior, and prayer.

The Christian’s task in this case is to show his will, to show that he really wants Christ to act in him. A person is not able to overcome either his sinfulness, or his passions, bad habits only on our own. Only Christ can do this in him. A person is required to prove by behavior, deeds, way of thinking, and his whole being that he really wants this. All our exploits, actions - everything that the Church requires from a Christian - should serve as confirmation of our desire to become better. It is not fasting, prayer or any other deeds themselves that correct us, but by this we prove our will to be corrected. And, of course, the Lord Himself corrects us.

Orthodox teaching tells us about synergy, that is, about collaboration between man and God. The Western Church, unfortunately, accepted the excess that St. Augustine made in his teaching on this issue. Any extreme is not typical for the Church, which always chooses the middle path.

Raising children, including spiritual education, cannot be reduced to just one feat of prayer for them. Of course, it is necessary to pray for children, but first of all, spiritual life is transmitted from person to person. I think children should see how their parents pray, what they pray for. And the very image of parents, constantly remembering God, is imprinted in the memory of children and in due time will serve them well. Because children will see that this is what a normal lifestyle is like. As for what is best to read for children, I think there is no one general rule for everyone. For some, the Psalter is closer, for others the akathist, for others the canon, for others some kind of prayers. Here I would prefer to leave everything to the discretion of the parents. Since the main thing in prayer is not to read any text (they do not differ from each other in the strength of impact or result); The main thing in prayer is the spiritual attitude with which we approach it, the sincerity with which we turn to God. You can say two words from the bottom of your heart, and the Lord will hear them, or you can read a huge book, and there will be no benefit from it.

Naturally, we take care of children, but it is important to remember that their future life depends not only on us. Children are independent individuals, they early age They are already trying to analyze something, talk about something, trying to somehow process in their own way the experience that they see from their parents. And, of course, the Providence of God, which takes care of every person, also watches over our children and helps them. Puts them in situations where they, with their experience, could do the right thing. Our task is to teach them this.

- Is it really forbidden for a woman to pray in church on critical days?

- Several years ago, the Serbian Patriarch Pavel wrote a wonderful research article on this topic. If desired, it can be found on the Internet. The essence of this study boils down to the fact that he tried to find out the reasons why such a ban exists. All canonical rules and traditions of the holy fathers come down, in principle, to two points. On the one hand, the uncleanness that a woman experiences during these days is an obstacle to her taking part in the sacraments. Why? For the simple reason that the sacraments must be approached in spiritual and physical purity. Roughly speaking, if a man there's blood coming out from the nose during the day, then on that day he should also abstain from receiving the sacraments. Secondly, there is a ban on shedding blood in the temple, and therefore in ancient times a woman was prohibited from entering the temple in such situations. Modern practice still tells us that it is possible to go to church in this state. Of course, you need to take certain measures to ensure that everything is in order.

But it is better for a woman to refrain from participating in the sacrament of communion or baptism these days. But there is no prohibition against coming to pray. I repeat, Serbian Patriarch Pavel writes about this in more detail and reasoning.

There are words in the Gospel that if you do not forgive people for their sins, then the Heavenly Father will not forgive you your sins. Do you need to forgive yourself during prayer?

Good question. The fact is that only God can forgive us. But what does this mean? This means correcting the consequences of the sins that we have committed. But the Lord is not angry with us, does not hold a grudge against any of us, and we ourselves should not hold a grudge against our neighbors, including ourselves. A Christian’s attitude towards his sins should be this: on the one hand, a person should regret that he committed them, on the other hand, it is necessary to understand that he cannot do otherwise, since he is sinful and fallen. And without God’s help, a person on his own is not able to abstain from sins. A person should see such a state of sinfulness as natural for himself, but he must with all his might ask God to deliver him from this fall.

- In Orthodoxy there is a certain division, which saint should pray for what. Is it correct?

It depends on how you approach it. On the one hand, from the lives of saints we learn that this or that ascetic in his life was able to overcome some passion or had the opportunity to help people with a certain problem. It is quite natural to turn to this saint with a prayer for help in a corresponding need. But to draw a clear distinction: one saint helps only in this, and the other - in something else, and in no case should their “spheres of influence” be confused - it is wrong. I think this is already close to paganism. Any saint, due to his closeness to God, has the grace to help us in any of our needs. And it is no coincidence that among the greatest saints of our Church there is no such division: nowhere is it written in what way John Chrysostom or Basil the Great, for example, helps; What needs to be addressed to Gregory of Nyssa, and what needs to be addressed to Maximus the Confessor. I think that's enough characteristic.

What if a person is praying, and at that moment someone interrupts him with a request for help? What is more important: helping a person or continuing prayer?

If a person comes for help, asks for some need, I think it is better to interrupt the prayer and help the person. Because, for example, the “Teaching News” is a set of rules on how a priest should behave in Divine Liturgy, - prescribes: if the liturgy is going on, and suddenly someone comes and asks to give communion to a dying person, then it is necessary to interrupt the liturgy and go to give communion to the dying person. Of course, if this happens before the Eucharistic canon. If a person comes with such a request at the time of the Eucharistic canon, then it must be completed and immediately go. This canon lasts about ten minutes. Therefore, this expectation will most likely no longer play a role here.

- Some unchurched people pray only according to their mood. What advice can you give them?

The fact is that prayer after all (I mean correct, perfect prayer) is a property of a new person. Of course, it is difficult for an old man, shaken by passions, to pray and it is very difficult to force himself to gather himself. However, it is necessary. You need to force yourself to pray. If we understand the need for prayer, we must work hard.

- Father Dimitri, should prayers bring satisfaction?

We pray not to feel better or to experience some kind of pleasure from communicating with God, but so that the Lord will change us: transform us from the old person into the new. We must expect help from God in our fight against sin, but not sensual pleasures, miracles or anything like that.

Seeking pleasure in prayer is strictly forbidden by all the Fathers of the Church, all who experienced this spiritual path.

The Gospel says: “If you bring your gift to the altar and there you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift” ( Matthew 5:23-24). Does this mean that peace of mind can be more important than prayer?

This refers to the sacrifice that a person makes to God, including the verbal sacrifice - prayer. We cannot say here what is more important: prayer or inner world. We can only say that prayer must be in the world and is possible only in the world. That is, prayer in a non-peaceful state is not prayer. Therefore, in order to pray profitably, correctly, you must have peace in your soul. And to do this, we need to come to terms with those who offend us and with those whom we may have offended.

Is it possible to submit health certificates to proskomedia for a person who constantly sins a mortal sin, for example, a man and a woman cohabit, living in a civil marriage, non-believers, although baptized? Will this not lead to condemnation, illness, and death for them?

Saint Nicholas Kavasila wrote that commemoration at the proskomedia for those people who do not have the opportunity to receive communion during the service imparts to them the same grace that they would receive by receiving communion. Therefore, commemoration at the proskomedia can be compared in its power to the grace of the sacrament. As for people who sin mortal sin, unbelievers, but baptized, we can say that by commemorating such people, we ask God to touch them with His grace, and here, what the result will be, we, of course, do not know: what awaits them as a result of this - illness or something else. The Monk John of Damascus writes about communion that by uniting with Christ in the sacrament of communion, we all receive judgment for ourselves, since all communions are unworthy. He further quotes the Apostle Paul: “Being judged, we are punished by the Lord, so that we will not be condemned with the world” (1 Cor. 11:32). St. John interprets these words as follows: by receiving communion in condemnation, you and I accept judgment in this life - through illness, some kind of sorrow, and other circumstances. By accepting this judgment here on earth, and having the opportunity to correct ourselves through this, we can avoid the judgment that awaits us after death. Therefore, this is good for us. Wishing your neighbor well is good. This means that it is necessary to remember our baptized loved ones at the proskomedia. And whether the Lord will bring them to Himself through this or not, and if he does, then in what way, it is probably better in this matter to rely on God Himself. After all, He knows best how to call a person to communion with God.

- How can we help such people change? For example, will the never-ending Psalter help?

Any of our prayers, any of our deeds can help. If only it was done out of sincere love for these people. Not out of a desire to become famous, not out of a desire to think about myself that I’m so good, I’m carrying out a feat for others. If our feat is dissolved by conceit and thoughts that my actions mean something and I can change something in the fate of these people, then such a feat is unlikely to bear any good fruit. Because it is associated with one of the most terrible human passions - pride. But if I am ready to impose some restrictions on myself for the sake of love, feeling sorry for these people and no longer relying on my own feat, but on the mercy of God, then such an action, I think, will help these people.

- What if it was ordered in a monastery and the monks pray?

Here you need to look at who is praying. Because the more sincere a person’s prayer, the higher his spiritual level, the more benefit there will be from such a commemoration. Here we should not talk about monks in general, but, in particular, about specific monks. There are people who live holy lives in the world, and there are people who sin in monasteries. Here you need to approach with reasoning about how much this person spiritual

- There is an expression that God has no unanswered prayers. Is it correct to think so?

Certainly. Because God sees and knows everything. Another question is that whether our prayers are fulfilled or not remains in His power. We cannot force Him or force Him to answer us. And therefore, any prayer should be in the spirit of the “Our Father” prayer, that is, we, of course, ask, but at the same time we say: “Thy will be done. It is in Your power to fulfill our requests or not, and You, seeing what is useful to us, will give exactly what we need, what is necessary.” And this does not always coincide with what we want. Often a child may ask his parents for something he wants, but is not useful, for example, to eat two kilograms of candy in one evening. And the parents will be absolutely right if they don’t give it to him, and there’s no point in being offended by it.

How to understand the words from the Easter canon: “We celebrate Easter with merry feet”? Is it true that Christians had ritual dances until the 4th century?

Here is a reference to the Old Testament events when the people of Israel crossed the Red Sea from Egyptian slavery to a state of freedom. It is this transition that St. John of Damascus talks about in his canon. As for whether Christians had ritual dances before the 4th century, we cannot say that they were everywhere or that they were nowhere. For example, I cannot imagine the Apostle Peter dancing on stage. I know that some Christian peoples have ritual dances, but I think that this is a discount on their national mentality. After all, in Christ there is no Greek, or Jew, or anyone else. Therefore, Christian perfection does not accept such things. It is probably possible to allow such condescension towards the given ethnic weakness of some people, to a certain extent, but the ideal lies in a completely different way of worship. It still combines calmness, inner peace and silence, which are not associated either with dancing or with other similar things. But this already applies to a supranational basis. Therefore, calm worship is characteristic of both northern and southern countries, regardless of what temperament one has. The manifestation of temperament is also evidence that a person is not yet in Christ.

- Why are there so many rituals in Orthodoxy?

Orthodox Church takes care of a person’s attention so that it is directed to God during prayer. For perfect people who have learned to pray correctly, who have mastered highest form prayers, all these rituals are not needed. We know from ascetic literature that devotees of piety devoted almost all their time to the Jesus Prayer, that is, a short prayer. All the numerous rituals and other chants were practically not used by them. Why? Because their mind is accustomed to focusing on prayer and always being turned to God. For us, the weak, it is very, very difficult to keep our attention on such prayers and prayer phrases. Therefore, to help us, the Church gives other prayers, easier, more figurative, which with an abundance of images help us to hold our attention. Numerous church rituals are aimed precisely at this, because they keep the mind from wandering and direct it to where it needs to go.

Is it necessary to pray that the Lord would reveal to a person the motives of his actions towards God and his neighbors in order to find out whether they are selfish or not?

Of course, it is necessary to try to see in myself what dictates my thoughts, intentions, actions, etc. Whether the intentions are selfish or spiritual. But since we can certainly say that they will not be completely spiritual, it means that we need to pray about this. This is what we do, asking God: “Grant me to see my sins.” And this applies to everything, including motivation.

The Apostle Paul said that faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. It is through faith that we receive something from God. How not to confuse faith with hope in prayer?

If we hope that God hears us and that the Lord can answer our prayers, this is faith. Because in the Christian understanding, faith is not just the understanding that God exists, but first of all trust. Because if I believe that God exists, and this is where my faith ends, then, probably, this is not faith in the Christian understanding, for demons also believe that God exists, but they react to Him in a completely different way. But if I believe in the Providence of God, I trust God, if I understand that God cares about my life, wants my salvation, and if I build my actions in accordance with my faith, then this will be genuine faith. Here it is no longer separated either from the hope that the Lord hears me, knows me, remembers me, etc., or from love for God and neighbor.

- Holy Righteous John of Kronstadt taught: “ Believe: what you said in prayer, what you asked for, will be... You have a sure guarantee of receiving the object of your petitions in the very words by which this object is signified, by the mercy and omnipotence of God, for the word itself, the name in an instant, can be with the Lord be a deed - and you will certainly receive what you ask for for your unshakable faith.” How can we learn to believe this way, but not cross the fine line between faith and self-hypnosis?

And the Lord told us: “Whatever you ask in prayer with faith, it will be done for you.” The Apostle James comments on these words: you ask and do not receive, which means you are asking for something that is useless. If I ask God for what the Lord commanded: salvation, healing from sin, God’s help in the fight against sin, and the like, I will receive it from the Lord. But if I ask, for example, for a palace in the Canary Islands, a million rubles a month in income and similar things, then, probably, the Lord will not send this to me - for the simple reason that it is not useful to me. The same applies to some gifts, for example, the gift of miracles. Imagine that every resident of the city will now be given the gift of miracles. Such miracles will begin in the city, it is better not to allow this. Of course, we need to understand what we should ask God for. The Lord, in His mercy, is ready to give us all blessings in abundance, but as a wise Father, a Doctor, He sees what is useful for a person and what is not. Therefore, he sends us only what is necessary and useful for our salvation.

My dear children! The man about whom today's Gospel tells (see:), deaf and tongue-tied, evokes special compassion in us. For the Lord, he is a soul thirsting for communication, but at the same time, she herself is not able to perceive the sound messages of people, nor through sounds to formulate her own thoughts and express herself before the Lord standing next to her.

Someone who is deaf and tongue-tied, unable to hear or speak. The Lord, seeing such a great misfortune - a soul that could not turn to its Savior, as it is said in the Gospel, sighed. He sighed before the four-day-old Lazarus (see:), He sighed before the deaf man. But what distinguishes them - the buried dead and the tongue-tied?

Standing before the tongue-tied man, the Lord uttered only one word - “Ephphatha,” which means “open up.” Ears, open, open, lips! And immediately our deaf and tongue-tied man spoke. And immediately his ears were opened and the bonds of his tongue were loosed.(), and the ears tuned in to the waves emanating from God standing nearby.

My dears, do you think that these are things of a long time ago? And I think and am in special awe from just one thought: after all, we are all deaf and tongue-tied before the Lord. Which of us could say with confidence that he had a chance to talk with God and be heard by Him? And who admits that he opened his ears and received into himself, deeply imprinted on his heart what the Lord said? Which of us always keeps our mouths and ears open to God? On the contrary, deaf and tongue-tied, we stand before the Lord daily.

Let's, my dears, figure out what “Ephphatha” is. This is: “open, ears,” “open, lips,” with which the Lord addresses each of us. How can we cut our Gordian knots with the help of one word and make it possible for a person to communicate with God?

Standing before God, we understand that in order to hear Him and speak to Him, it is necessary to initiate a personal conversation with the Lord through the mind. After all, there is a Spirit, and therefore, He communicates with man only through the mind. God hears us by perceiving the waves sent by the mind and emanating through the lips. But it is important to understand: the mind is capable of sending signals to God without resorting to the help of the lips. Our mind can talk directly to God.

What does it mean to talk? Why do people talk to each other? They need communication. They want someone to become an accomplice in their opinion, judgment, and experience of their life. I talk with God, which means I communicate with God and unite through this communication with Him.

In order for our mind to enter into a conversation with God, it must first turn towards God. Our mind has this ability to move in different directions, move up and down. Don’t we say, “Oh, I forgot what I wanted to say? Oh, my thought is gone.” What I mean? That my mind was distracted dissipated. “Where are your thoughts?” - they ask a person whose mind has become unfocused.

Conversation with God means the exit of our mind towards the One who created it, the One from Whose bosom it came, the One to Whom it makes constant offerings. I talk with God, which means I turn to God, my mind reaches out to the Lord. Communication with God, conversations with Him, prayers to Him is a stretching of my mind, and therefore my whole being, towards God. This is a kind of outpouring of my soul. It is my mind that bends over God. Not the heart, because it often misleads us, and then it seems that it clings to someone, but in fact it simply chooses someone who is able to satisfy its desires. The mind is always looking for something like itself - the One in whose image it was created, that is, God.

I communicate with God, my dears, which means I stretch my mind and then, as it were, throw it out of a sling, letting it go in search of God. He follows a straight path, without deviating from the road to the side. I completely let go of my mind. From this moment on, he is free from any kind of thoughts, thoughts, sensations, ideas, dreams, feelings - everything that can captivate him, interest him and lead him astray.

We turn to God, which means we patiently reach up. After all, we are standing on earth, and He is in Heaven. We ourselves do not have the strength to rise so high. It is He who must come down and find us here. The moment a person has a desire to talk to God, to accept Him, He will leave Heaven, exhaust Himself, provide us with His “I”, so that a change in our essence becomes possible when He enters us, and we enter Him. As a result of patiently waiting on God, we will feel that the only thing our thoughts are distracted by is God.

Why do I characterize this state as a distraction? Why did the Holy Fathers of our Church call him that? Because we have filled our brains to such an extent with our selfish passions and false understanding of life that we believe that a person is alive not when he turns towards God, but when he turns towards his “I”. It is necessary to get away from everything to which he is accustomed, to break away from his “I” and turn to the truly Existing God. Our communication with God is our firm position in relation to Him, not shaken or dissipated by anything.

Having directed our spirit, that is, our mind, in this way towards God, we will notice something unusual. Where we could not even imagine - in the darkness of our soul, in the darkness of sins - tears will suddenly flow. "What's happened?" - we ask in surprise.

It's simple. The Lord hands us a staff for support on the path leading forward to unity with Him. This is a gift that is given to us at the beginning of our journey, the first message sent by God.

I have not asked for anything yet, have not made any effort, have not grown or become stronger, but He Himself took a step towards me, sent His first message. Here is the first bell that rang - tears! Tears will come, know that help has come, God is already near you.

My children, please remember what we talked about last time, compare how a person’s unity with God occurs in public, during worship, and privately - in a room (see:), in a cell. Here are two ways of communication between man and God. They lead to the fact that man is completely owned, and man is completely owned by God.

So, at the beginning of the path, a person receives help from God and realizes that without much difficulty his mind becomes whole, begins to collect what is scattered in it, and takes a single course upward. The mind rises rapidly, fearing nothing. And the more clearly he sees in front of him the chaos that separates him from the cherished height, the more he is amazed, surprised, perplexed, but nothing will stop him.

There, at a height, he, appearing before the invisible God, will be seized by horror. He realizes that he has reached the footstool of His feet, that all the saints stand nearby mystically and truly, that he is where continuous communication with God takes place, where people inherit the promise of the Lord: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.(). In all ages, together with them, but not with me, because these mystical experiences are still alien to me.

I am afraid because I have touched a mystery - my feet have stepped on the footstool of His feet. And from now on I stand before God with trembling. As if nothing happened to me! Here, another important moment is instinctively felt, following the distraction of the mind to God - this is the tenderness of the heart.

The tenderness of the heart is the anticipation of another personal experience: that that terrible God about whom we know actually exists My Lord and mine(). He is my Father. He does not cease to be Him for me, even if I myself do not yet realize it, but I am touched by His inclination towards me, His love for me, I want to confess my sins to Him.

Usually, when listing sins in confession, we do not feel our sinfulness. On the contrary, in a sense, we love our sins and reflect on them. And this happens until we decide to move away completely and irrevocably from them, for they are the main obstacle to communication with God. Realizing this, a person will want to shout: “Get out!” But the heart is silent, and the mind already feels such a need, anticipating the coming of God and realizing that He will not enter into communication with a person flooded with sins. This is how tenderness comes, which is also a gift sent to us from God.

Look, my children: what man cannot do, God does. Who are we?! Weak, pitiful creatures. We take on something and not only don’t complete the task, but we even forget that we once started this business. We take up one thing, give it up, take up another... we go to God, but along the way we lose sight of where we were going.

What a strange creature man is! It oscillates from side to side and does not move forward. His legs were broken and he was generally very sick. The Lord strengthens him in his weakness:

- What do you want?

- This.

- Here, take it.

- Anything else?

- Also this

- Take it.

- Well, maybe something else?

- That's it.

- Take it.

But I don’t feel it, my soul is so weak, it is speechless. But the mind understands everything, anticipates, foreknows. It is he who enters into a mystical dialogue with God. Our will, opinion and feeling are not yet involved in this dialogue. A dialogue is conducted with the mind and subconscious, which remember our history, those times when a person met God in the Garden of Eden and simply turned to Him, asking Him for this and that. The dialogue begins with tears. answers me, and I marvel at His generosity and the gifts he sends me.

So communication begins with fear. It is replaced by tenderness. After this - some completely unusual feeling of what rejoices in me.

Have you ever felt like you sometimes bring joy to people? You yourself don’t know why, but you clearly feel it. You look at the person who is happy with you and say: “Look, he is happy with me!” So, we begin to understand what makes us happy. And this gives birth inside you to joy and gratitude, a certain joy of anticipation, inner greatness, foreshadowing that this is from God. God takes this joy from His storehouses and distributes it to us.

Along with joy comes the always accompanying feeling of mental pain. Why pain? Our soul is both rich and poor at the same time. Seeing God's mercy, she realizes her own callousness, her terrible, tragic situation, understands her insignificance and begins to get sick. This pain is caused by the feeling that fills it - “My God, why are you so far from me?” and also - “You send me Your joy, but I don’t feel it!” Why can’t I, knowing that You rejoice with me, hug You? I’m here, but who knows how far away You are?”

The soul begins to suffer because of its fall and exile, and we, my dear children, rise with you to an important level of communication with God, achieving what the Holy Fathers called “extreme understanding of the mind.”

What is the highest sobriety? This means that you seem to be sitting at the extreme point from which you can see everything around, and you are in constant danger of falling from it into the abyss. You get the feeling that someone grabs you, lifts you up, and it’s like you’re flying in an airplane, looking down at the abyss of your sins and falls. Just as from an airplane you look at the earth that you left, so you look at your former self, which remained there below, while your mind ascends upward, rises to the heights.

Sitting at the very top, like on the tip of a pike, you are afraid to think about anything, you avoid any extraneous speculation. What does speculation mean? Everything that the mind contains, every action contained in the verb “to think,” every feeling, every meaning, every expression. Whatever you say is from this world. And when you thank God for something or ask Him for something, you confess - all this is from this world, because you yourself are in the world.

So, you acquire and meet the “extreme understanding of the mind,” that is, the understanding of the highest essence, the One God. It is the unique feeling of a mind that has renounced everything, left everything behind, even the self, and stands alone on the summit.

When your mind reaches this stage on the mystical path to God, this most chosen part of human existence, this spiritual part of your hypostasis, then you will make a discovery for yourself and see that the passions, weaknesses that have taken their deepest roots in you and exhausted long years, have been erased. You are there and looking at God, but where is your anger, where has it gone? I ask you to remember our last conversation. Eating anger? Eating selfishness? Food, where is it? Everything has disappeared. A very important point! Rip out your passions. Isn't that what we say? The Lord pulls out passions. Sitting on a chain, you cannot rise up. The one who is tied is nailed down. It is necessary to cut the strong ropes of passions. This is God's work.

God helps a person to move away from passions, to free himself, to purify his essence, and first of all the mind, and then the heart and conscience. After this, a person falls into complete ignorance of everything. We don't remember anything and we don't know anything. Everything we have learned seems to us like a blotter that deserves one thing - to be torn. Then we want to get away from any temptation. However, it is necessary to pay attention to random memories that come to mind and push them away. For every memory, every thought, every speculation will throw me back there, into my dark lair, and I will leave the peak on which I am now.

Pay attention, my dear children, to the feeling of abandonment. What is abandonment? Often a person in his life has a feeling that he has been abandoned, abandoned: “God has abandoned me, people have abandoned me, no one attaches importance to me.” Experiencing abandonment, you are unable to do anything other than lock yourself in and open yourself, eliminate the discord, because in essence this is your internal split, and not a split with God or people, restore the frustrated forces of the soul, expand your mind , this simple spirit so that it can ascend to God.

The soul turns away from all meanings, in its abandonment it is similar to the prophet Habakkuk (see:). “Sit here, you will see the whole meadow, you will see the sky.” Your mind feels free and rushes to flight. Then you will rise to the next stage of your ascent to God. This is one of the most beautiful periods of spiritual life.

Think about it, is it possible to be happy and not know about it at the same time? Or having savings, being in the dark about them? Think about it, there are those who love and wait for you, and you think that you are as insignificant as a reed in a field. Terrible thing! But the mind suddenly realizes that everything is actually not like that: “they are waiting for me up there.” And he sets to work with the help of the One who gives strength to man, takes upon Himself our weaknesses, and strengthens indecision with His help. Our mind begins to ascend.

The mind begins to ascend in spirit and truth. What does it mean in spirit and truth? This means: having a spiritual feeling, being in that state when it is possessed by the Holy Spirit, Who, like a magnet, attracts our spirit to Himself. The Holy Spirit is the bearer of truth. Therefore, I leave my delusions, I bury them, I leave what has a beginning and an end, I leave myself in truth and spirit, which once began its life and which will die, I leave my thoughts, my anger, that is, everything in what I believe, what I feel, what I live, what I know, what is an integral part of my desire, what is an immutable truth for me. I separate from myself my desires, feelings, everything erroneous, false and transitory, everything that leaves and changes, like the earth from a tornado. Thus, my dear children, our spirit ascends, drawn by the Holy Spirit.

What prompts the Holy Spirit to carry our spirit along with Him is the highest love, which takes possession of it (the spirit) at those heights where it (the spirit) dwells with fear. The mind admires to an intellectual height that is not comparable to the length of human life, which is vain and deceptive, and therefore has nothing to do with spirit and truth. Mental height is the height of the mind, it is what you comprehend with your mind, but it is not you yourself who realizes it, but the Holy Spirit.

This is mind hijacking. While the mind, being drawn by the Holy Spirit, rises upward, we suddenly feel that we are grabbed by the throat, we feel how the Holy Spirit, according to the words of the Holy Fathers, “having descended, kindles Divine love in man.”

Do you see how the Holy Spirit works things out in our lives? Now He begins to arouse Divine love in us... and we begin to ascend, fly, striving to reach the Holy Spirit. We carry out all movements together with Him. To the extent that our spirit feels the currents of the Holy Spirit, the more fearless it becomes in front of the chaos that opens and ascends to it. And since he sees that the Holy Spirit follows with him, this love inflames even more, rising to the top. Thus, a person, communing with the Holy Spirit, acquires his first experience of spiritual life.

Until now we have been earthly, immersed in life's adversities, in our invisible abuse. Now we are gradually becoming accustomed to spiritual experience. leans towards me, descends into my life. Until now, all the work was done in my mind. Unity with God also took place in the mind. But I am not just a mind, but also a body, a soul, a whole organism - the way God created me. He knows me well and therefore loves me even when I sit in my darkness. God comes to meet me halfway, and I understand that. Having approached, He steps with me, in me. For it only seems to me that He walks with me; in fact, He walks in me, and not with me, for I still do not discern anything.

When I understand, my dear children, that the Holy Spirit walks with me, then this will be my penultimate experience of communication with God, which can be called a state of unity with God. This is the state we call the state of prayer. For communication with God is one and the same. Praying does not mean speaking. When I pray, I ascend to God.

What is this state into which my mind first entered, and then myself? It can be called the habit of dispassion. After all, what is a state? This is what I have achieved, it is inside me, but essentially it is a skill, an addiction. Learning to be dispassionate. What does dispassion mean? A swift conversion with love to God alone. Nothing else.

This is the unshakable state of not only the mind, but also the stability of my entire life, which is preserved not only during the ascent of the mind, but also when communicating with God in everyday reality. I begin to strive for God and become His interlocutor. Let me walk, go into the garden, go out onto the lawn, run to my home, go to bed, sit down at the table, go to the office, cell, wherever... my conversation with God does not stop anywhere. I am experiencing the restoration of my fallen nature.

We spoke at the beginning about the subconscious first joy. Now we already realize in desires, and in knowledge, and in all our sensations that our relationship with God has been restored, and each of us has become His interlocutor, acquired the joy of a baby who has again met his Father, Who has hidden somewhere, and the baby calls Him, thinking that he has lost Him. The father already thought that he had lost the baby, that perhaps he had fallen or even died. Having found the Father, the child claps his hands, laughs, and shouts cheerfully. Here it is - the first-known and first-born joy of a person who discovers that he walks with God.

The soul rejoices, and the person becomes joyful. He acquires a different kind of piety, which is the outflow of it own experience, stronger and more authentic.

These are the second tears, which are given to us not just as help from God, but flow on their own from the awareness of our true state. We have a desire to leave life, to disappear. Recognition of sin begins, comprehension of one’s guilt, and a desire to repent before God appears. But in order to truly repent, it is necessary to move forward.

A person is born with a desire for pure prayer. What does “pure prayer” mean? She's like clean house, cleaned and freed from foreign objects. This is a place ready for the arrival of a guest, to become the throne of God. Such is the pure, open, liberated place of our soul. When the soul is ready, a person feels purely, dispassionately, without any inspiration alien to the mind and heart. He begins to feel, pray and live indulgently.

What does "lenient" mean? In the image and likeness of God, that is, in a Divine way, God-like, with God, as if dwelling with man. He strives to do as God deals with him. He tries to pray and live purely, dispassionately, condescendingly, in the patristic understanding of these words.

He begins to hear with his mind - remember the deaf and tongue-tied person? – the first rustle of the saints’ wings. Angels gather to him, as to Daniel (see:), the three youths (see:), Tobiah (see:) and all those chosen by Him. I feel that angels, intelligent forces, are with me, and I understand that he is becoming my Father and recognizes me as his Son. I recognize Him, my Father, and He recognizes me. We talk with Him.

At this moment, my dear children, we enter last stage the spiritual hypostasis of a person is communication with the saints, which we clearly feel during prayer. There is no prayer in the distance, as I told you, but there is prayer only in spirit and truth. A person who prays communicates truly and in the Spirit with God acquires sensitivity and refinement - a rude person will not be able to pray! – he doesn’t want to make anyone sad. He instantly feels that he did not take pity on someone in time, or bothered him in vain, or forgot about someone, and understands that in this case all his labors are in vain, and his ascent to God was a sham.

A truly ascetic, walking along the right path, strives to be one with the whole world. He worries with his gut about the salvation of every person, goes to meet him in order to love, hug any small animal, flower, lily and everything that exists. Together with the whole world, he wants to appear before God.

Rising higher, a person wants to separate from everyone in order to remain alone with God, but “having been separated from everyone, to be united with everyone.” He contains all people, embraces them and discovers for himself that love is not at all something that comes out of our hearts, but, let’s say this in a humane and human-like way, from the heart of God, and enters our mind, heart, and from there it pours out to others in order to ascend again to God.

When a person feels his connection with God and then an embrace with all people, then he gives him communication in feeling. What does it mean? This means that he acutely feels that he is one with God. Before you only spoke, but now you also hear. Remember our discussion about how we find ourselves speaking to God as Father. You - Father and Son - are talking with each other - the shackles have fallen from your tongue. Now, my dears, my ears are opened and I begin to hear His answers to my questions.

That’s why the Holy Fathers say: let’s turn our minds to sensitivity in prayer, to our communication with God. What is sensitivity in prayer? This is not just hearing the interlocutor, but the inner feeling of God with the entire fullness of our life. Let it come out of us living water God and the rivers that are spoken of in the Holy Scriptures will flow out (see:). Then we will understand what it means to “be a theologian.” We ourselves will become theologians, we will discover and know God. And God the Word will speak to us, and we will recognize the Word and acquire immaterial knowledge about God. Then, as we ascend, we will be confident that our eyes will open and life will become true.

Then, my dear children, we will begin to receive news. What is news? will inform us of everything we ask. What does “notify” mean? Realize that you are filled with God, the word of God, His presence, the search and expectation of God. The announcements end, my children, with a sigh.

We talked about mental pain. Remember we talked about how the Holy Spirit motivates us to fight? with unspeakable sighs()? What does “ineffable” mean? Those that are not spoken out loud, that is, not obvious, hidden. These sighs are given to us by the Holy Spirit. The life of God begins to come into us. says God hears, although it seems to me that I hear. Just like when you love someone, it seems to you that it is not he who loves, eats, sees, goes somewhere, but you yourself. It is exactly the same in Divine love, which has entered negatively within us: the Holy Spirit sighs for our deep and already constant cohabitation with Him, and I feel that I myself sigh with the inexpressible sighs of the heart of the Holy Spirit, which burst out.

The Fathers say: “If you have not yet acquired the gift of prayer, then wait and you will receive it.” This is what prayer means! This is what communication with God means! Perhaps you have not received such a gift? It's a shame, because it's simple. And since it is said that let those who have not yet received the gift of prayer lie in ambush and seize it, then sit here and ask for the Holy Spirit. He will hear you and grant you what you ask for. For communication, as you see, is the constant acceptance of God into oneself, and not just giving oneself to Him.

You understand, my dears, that communication with God is simple, and not only transcendental, but also feasible for a person. It is similar to a scroll from the book of Revelation (see:), which we take inside. When you realize that it is so simple and true to accept God into yourself, you will lose your desire.

When you sit and talk with God, there comes a time when you want to run away, or go to your solitude to hide... you and God. You raise your hands - saying this, I’m trying to pick up words from everyday speech - and you see that you are no longer the master of your “I”: neither your legs, nor your mind, nor your heart, nor your feelings. Everything is inundated with God and has become alien to you. You have lost power over yourself, self-will. You, a free person, are no longer free. You gave your freedom to God, became His slave, His footstool, united your will with the will of God, this union of two wills took place... And now there is the Lord God Who owns you. You are removed from this power and do not know what you are doing. It seems to you that your mind, incapable of anything, seems to be floating.

You don’t know, you don’t understand, you can’t imagine what’s happening. But one day you will understand. All these questions that we ask now will confront you later: “What am I doing, what is happening to me, who am I? Why am I doing this? My brain is blind, God, I'm probably going crazy. But I see how my mind rises and rushes to another intelligent peak, from which it will call on every breath and all creation to sing and praise God: “Hey, you plants, birds, run the rivers, the seas, and all together praise the Lord.”

As it was said in the Gospel that we read today, everyone was amazed because the hooter spoke. And they said: “Truly, truly, Christ has done everything well” (see:).

So, my dear children, if we achieve this in our lives, then people thirsting for a true miracle will say about us in amazement: “Christ did everything well.” It is so simple! Is there really anything difficult for God? Said - done. He makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak ().