soul's life after death (posmertnaya zhizn dushi) alexei osipov

8/16/2019 Soul's Life After Death (Posmertnaya Zhizn Dushi) Alexei Osipov

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Alexei OSIPOV

POSTHUMOUS LIFE

Deliberations of a сontemporary teolo!ian

Moscow

Danilov monastery Publishers

Danilovsky blagovestnik2007

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Forth edition, with amendments and additions.

Proessor !si"ov #.$. P!%&'(M!(% )$F*. Deliberations o a contem"orary

theologian. M., 2007. + 120 ".

Blessed by His Holiness Patriarchof Moscow and All Russia Aleksei II

#leksei Osipo"# POSTHUMOUS LIFE#

&he booklet is devoted to the "roblems o a mans e-istence beyond the death

boundaries. 'ow should we understand the *ternity /hat is that + aterdeath

suerings an od give a lie to him, who, as 'e knows, will go to the eternaltorments Do our "assions remain in action ater the death #re there any real

means to hel" the de"arted /hat is the inluence o the "ray on the aterdeath

state o a soul

3obody can remain indierent to theses dee" 4uestions, this mystery o the

human lie in its two measurements + time and *ternity. &he booklet written by

#leksei $lyich !si"ov, merited "roessor o the Moscow %"iritual academy, is

com"osed on the basis o his "ublic lectures and answers to the 4uestions o the

listeners5 it will hel" the readers to reconsider in the ma6or "art what was known

by them beore, to a""roach that world through the "rism o the "atristic teaching.

c. #.$.!si"ov

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Contents

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P$EFA%E TO THE FO$TH EDITIO&

Posthumous lie o a soul + is always a certain mystery, which allures to itsel.

?/hat is there and how is thereA + is a 4uestion that is "assed over rom generation

to generation, giving birth to a lot o answers. Many o them are borrowed rom

doubtul sources rom outside hurch5 rom teachings o nonhristian religions,

occult inventions, stories o ?visitorsA to another world, ?revelationsA in dreams,

antasies o "sychically sick "ersons and etc. &hat is why there is every need to

o"en this theme at least in "art, giving way to the teaching o %aint Fathers and

authoritative hermits o the orthodo- hurch to the ma-imum "ossible e-tent.

'owever, hristianity does not have an aim to make this mystery such a reality

that would answer all the 4uestions o our ininitely curious souls. For a "erson,

living here + this is im"ossible to do and in the most "art it is not useul.

$m"ossible because that world is absolutely dierent, and it is im"ossible to

e-"ress it by our language. $t is very illustrative in this sense the e-"erience o the

a"ostle Paul, who ater being there, shared with his brethren the only recollection

, he told them that ?e ear' inexpressi"e tin!s( tin!s tat man is not

permitte' to tell) H2 orinthians, 12, 9I J.

$s not useul Hor not "ermittedI as the knowledge o the uture may com"letely

"aralyKe a mans reedom in the most im"ortant "art o his lie + s"iritual and

moral. $t is easy to imagine how our behavior would change i we learned, 4uite

surely that we would die deinitely in a certain number o days at a given hour.

=nowledge o the uture will im"ose iron chains u"on a mans behavior , who has

not got rid o "assions and weaknesses. Due to the same reason that world and the

time o death were o"ened ar rom all the saints. #nd on the contrary, not having

direct knowledge about that world, a man turns to be 4uite ree in his s"iritual and

moral lie here, ree in his choice o one o the two basic views on the "roblem o

utmost im"ortanceL a belief in od and eternal lie o a "ersonality or a belief inits eternal death. $t is not accidentally that hrist told the a"ostle &homasL *o+

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a"e seen me( yo+ a"e belie"e', blesse' are tose -o a"e not seen an' yet

a"e belie"e'! HGohn, 20, 2>I. $n act + belie is that very true indication o the

s"iritual demands o a man, their orientation and "urity. $.;. =irievsky e-"ressed

this idea "recisely and clearlyL ?# man is what his belie isA.

:eyond the grave the status o a man + is a direct ruit o his ambitions and

actions in this world. :ut the ruit is not according to a law o retribution, but as

"er a law o conscience. &his is beautiully maintained by %t. #nthony the reat in

his admonitionsL ?Ewe, when we ha""en to be kind, we commune with od + as

in a likeness with 'im, when we become evil, we de"art rom od + as in an

unlikeness with 'imEour sins do not let od begin to shine in us, they unite us

with demons who torture usEA1 :eing a hristian we may only discourse,

en6oying our theological deliberations, actually not believing 'im and e-cluding

'im rom the whole o our lie. #s it was notedL ?&hey "hiloso"hiKe about lie,

but they do not live through a lieA.

%"iritual ormation and "erection o a "ersonality take "lace in ront o

tem"tations, inluence o "assions, heavy doubts more oten than not. &hese thornsare re4uired or a man in his earthy lie, or they o"en to him himsel, humiliate

him, make him ca"able o cogniKing the hrist %aviour, and by way o this

ac4uisition o a kings dignity o a son o od. $t is not accidentally that the

Fathers used to s"eak, i there had been no demons, there would have not been any

saints. .Te /in!'om of ea"en as been for0ef+lly a'"an0in!( an' for0ef+l

men lay ol' of it)# HMatthew, 11, 12I.

$ e-"ress cordial gratitude to #lla #le-seevna DobrosoKkikh, without whose

energetic initiative and thorough editorial decoding o my lectures this book would

hardly be written.

"o not ha#e a $ro$ensity for earth%

1 #dmonitions o %t. #nthony the reat. Dobrotolubie HPhilokaliaI. ;.1.Par.10.


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E#erything is short&li#ed '

and ha$$iness in the ne(t world only is

eternal, unchangeable, true% And this ha$$iness de$ends on the way

how we li#e through our this #ery life%

%t.&heoan the ecluse.

A1OUT THOSE 2HO LIVE I& A&OTHE$ LIFE

'asnt anyone watched chains o "eo"le strolling to the graveyards on the

*aster to "ay homage to the dearest tombs #nd though this custom o going to

the grave +yards on a :right day o the esurrection ! hrist was taken root

during the %oviet "ower Hthe !rthodo- have a s"ecial day o the *aster

remembrance o the de"arted + adonitsaI, it is worth noting that it is 6ust on the

bright days o the hristian east o victory over death that even nonhurch

goers seek to remember their de"arted relatives. &hey want to believe that their

dearest ones have not "assed away or ever, that they are alive but somehow live

dierently and it is "ossible to be with them, at least in s"irit.

&his inner ineradicable sense o immortality o the human "ersonality is

stronger than any ske"ticism. #nd it is really soL all o them + our beloved and

dearest, are alive, but they live through a dierent lie, not that one that we are

living through right now, but a lie to which we will come to in due time, when

everyone comes to sooner or later. &hat is why any 4uestioning about that life

which is lie eternal and which we celebrate marking the *aster, the esurrection

o hrist, is es"ecially close to us, it does not touch u"on our mind only but our

heart, maybe in the larger e-tent.

!ur heart "erceives very closely the word with a dee" meaning de$arted that

sounds in a hurch. /hile hearing it you eel a certain tran4uility, which they

might have achieved, having thrown a lesh rom themselves with its numerous

concerns, uss, a ire o un4uenchable "assions. 8ou have reed yoursel, our


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beloved and dearest de"arted. 'ow dierent is the word rom those ones which we

hear outside the hurch walls@ #nd o course, we would like to know + how are

they there and what is there &here are ew "eo"le who do not dis"lay any

concern about it.

#nd what ha""ens with a man when he dies away /hat occurs with a soul

when it comes out rom its body /e stick to certain !rthodo- traditions. $t is a

custom to remember those "assed away on the d, >th, 90th days. :ut we have

very a""ro-imate ideas what is ha""ening with a soul during this "eriod o time.

/e have heard that every "erson goes through many torments. :ut what is this $s

it really that very thing, what "o"ular brochures write about on the sub6ect or

something dierent

#nd even a more serious 4uestionL /ho is being saved #nd what does it

meanL ?being saved $ hristians only are saved, or else + only the !rthodo-

#nd out o the !rthodo- only those who have lived through a righteous lie #nd a

torturing 4uestion "ut by the lie itsel, whether they will be saved or "erished

orever + all those who due to some reasons could not acce"t hristianity Hor e-am"le, there was no worshi""ing about hrist or it was worshi""ed alsely, or

they were not brought u" in this way and etc.I $ all unaithul or all adherent o

a dierent aith, o the non !rthodo- "erish, in that case a minor raction o a

"ercentage o the humankind will be saved, and will all the rest "erish Didnt

od know about it #nd another 4uestion that s"rings u" when we touch u"on the

issue o a "osthumous state o a soul. /hat is ehenna and everlasting torments#re they really everlasting in the sense o endless 'ow could it be matchedL rom

the one side + ods awareness and love and rom the other + e-istence o eternal

torments

'ere we see what kind o serious 4uestions arise out o a sim"le, at irst glance,

act o remembrance o the de"arted. &he theme o lie o a soul ater death is

secret, concealed. ;ery little is revealed to a man about his "osthumous residence.

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/ell touch u"on here only some ragments o the matter, which are o interest or

many and are highlighted in the 'oly &radition o the hurch.

EAT( D$I&3( 1E MA$$*( M* SOUL4

Many remember the os"el "arable about a man whose land "roduced a good

cro". *ven beore that he "robably was well o, but this time due to a s"ecial

abundance o the yield he started reasoning what he would do with such wealth.

#nd he made a decision "oint blank to tear down his barns and build new ones

and ater that to live a "ros"erous lie. *at, drink, be marry, my soul, you have

"lenty o everything.2

$t is e-"ressed very elo4uently. eally, what dierent things has not a man

dreamed o during the whole history@ $ts about how to achieve such huge

scientiic and technological "rogress, when there comes an o""ortunity to do

nothing and only to eat, drink and be merry. 'a""iness, "robably will be achieved.

:ut what will be the end o these everlasting dreams o the rich man

:ut something ha""ens with him about which he had not thought Hneither hadweI and did not want to think. od s"oke out 'is 6udgment about himL ?*o+ fool5

Tis "ery ni!t yo+r life -ill be 'eman'e' from yo+A H)ukeL 12, 1>I. $t is not

sim"ly saidL you will die H and this would be terribleI, but + ? -ill be 'eman'e'A

H in the hurch %lavonic language it sounds even strongerL )*+-.+ your soulI.

&he "oint is not only in this short "eriod o time HtonightI, which se"arated

thoughts and dreams o the rich man rom the moment when his soul waswithdrawn rom him. For everyone this moment can be measured by a dierent

"eriod o timeL hours, days, months, years. :ut in any case they are 6ust an instant.

*veryone o us knows "erectly that his "revious "art o lie has "assed like a

dream + no matter how old he is now + 20, 0, 70E &ime is somewhat

remarkable, a uni4ue thing, it seems that it e-ists and at the same time it does not.

3ot without reason the ancient reek sage men used to sayL the "ast does not e-ist

2 ?#nd $ll say to myselL you have "lenty o good things laid u" or many years. &ake lie easy, eat, drink and bemerryA. H)uke, 12, 1>I

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as it has "assed away, the "resent + there is none, because it is elusive, there is no

uture, because it has not come yet. #nd what is there that will come or us beyond

the instant o the earth lie

#las, sentence "assed on the os"el rich manL your soul will be withdrawn

rom you + it is "ronounced u"on everyone who sees the essence o their lie in

eating, drinking and being merry.

:ut what is it + death &his 4uestion inevitably comes to everyone, moreover

when his age reminds him about it. :ut the "oint is not the age but the wisdom,

which characteriKes a "erson irres"ective o the years that he has lived. Do you

remember what )ermontov said when he was only 20 years oldL ? $ dont wait

anything rom lie and $ dont eel sorry about anything rom the "astA.

:ecause o the im"ossibility to ind an answer to the 4uestion about the essence

o lie in ront o unavoidable death it is 4uite oten that tragedies take "lace. &here

are many occasions when "eo"le inish their lives by committing suicides + due to

the seeming senselessness in their lives. /hat is worth noting, suicides occur in all

ages starting rom the youngest, among the selmurderers there are children o theages + 10, 11, 12, and sometimes younger. &his striking "henomenon is witnessed

"resently both in ussia and abroad. For e-am"le, 1. "ercent o all deaths are

suicides.

U&DE$STA&DI&6 OF DEATH 1* A&%IE&T PEOPLE

%o what is death #ll "eo"le thought about it. #ll religions s"eak about it.#ctually they s"eak dierently.

$ we turn to "rehristian history, we see numerous versions o descri"tions o

the aterdeath "eriod. $t is worth noting however that all o them s"eak, in real

act, about a certain orm o the continued lie.

/hat did our distant ancestors think about death &his is 4uite a voluminous

4uestion, and well 6ust s"eak about it in short.

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once"tions o the *gy"tian religion are es"ecially interesting. $n the *gy"tian

?1oo/ of te 'ea') H$ts title is literally translated as ?%omin! from te

'ay)7888( which was written about 2000 years :.. , we ind dierent relections

about how a soul will a""eal to gods, to s"irits, to a""eal in order not to be

sub6ected to some heavy blows, suerings, lagellations, not to ind onesel in a

situation which is even worse than death itsel. For here lies a terrible sentence that

the god or announces to the breakers o the gods willL ?&errible swords will

chastise your bodies, your souls will be e-terminated, your shadows will be

tram"led, and your heads will be cho""ed. 8ou will not rise@ 8ou will walk on your

heads@ 8ou will not stand u" as youve got into your "its@ 8ou will not run away@

8ou will not get o@ #gainst you is the ire o a snake, that one that burns down

millions@...&hey, gods with knives will cut you o, will "ut an end to you@ 3o one

will ever see you, those who live on *arth@A :ut according to the same book the

soul may save itsel and become like a small god. Moreover, a striking concern

about "reservation o a body HmummiicationI and se"arate "ieces o "oetic te-ts

in "yramids give cause to some researches or a su""osition about the "resence o belie among the ancient *gy"tians in the uture resurrection.9

%omething o this kind we see in the &ibetan ?1oo/ of te 'ea')( though it has

a much more later origin, it was written about the ;$$$ century. $n it we ind

dierent motives, s"eciic or 'indu consciousness. Death is viewed here as a ste"

in the evolution or on the contrary, in the degradation o a soul, it is e-"ressed in

certain orms o reincarnation. &hough according to &ibetan conce"tions some "eo"le may achieve the condition o socalled moksha Hliberation, releaseI, when

the "rocess o release will sto", however very ew "eo"le will reach the inal end.

&he teaching about the reincarnation is contained in almost all religious and

"hiloso"hical 'indu systems o thought.

&he *gy"tian book o the deadALhtt"Lrumagic.com.9 %ee, or one, Nubov #.:. ;ictory over the last enemy. :ogoslovsky ;estnik. O1. second issue. %ergiev Possad,1>>.

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# lot o e-otic things may be ound in :uddhist tales. #ccording to one o them

:uddha reincarnated 21 times and whom hasnt he only been He-ce"t emaleI,

beore at last he became an illuminated.

&rue, the initial orm o :uddhism is dierent, it orients a "erson at achieving so

called nirvana. :ut what it is really + dierent schools say about it dierently. :ut

that is not so im"ortant, the main thing is that something is ha""ening there%

:y the way, a ew words about the idea o reincarnation. $t oers a s"eciic

salvation rom death as well, but dee"ly dece"tive or the humans "sychology,

"ost"oning as a rule or tomorrow everything that is diicult and is what you

dont want to do today. %o, the s"iritual and moral "erection is the heroic deed o

the struggle with yoursel. #nd as knownL

# battle with yoursel

$s the most diicult battle.

;ictory out o victories

$s the victory over yoursel. /0% 1ogau2%3

&he idea o reincarnation subconsciously orientates a man at a battle withhi4self in an indeinite uture, es"ecially i here a man is doing "retty well.

:esides the same chain o incarnations, actually does not have an end + that is an

endless number o deaths and births. :ut such lucky men as :uddha, who

reincarnated ?onlyA 21 times, are only a handul. &he destiny o the ma6ority, $

re"eat + is an endless chain o continued reincarnations.

&he idea o reincarnations almost without changes was ado"ted by thetheoso"hy as well.

'owever this idea has no serious background.

First. $ reincarnation had been the law o our e-istence, every man would have

ke"t his "revious conditions in his memory. !therwise the basic argument would

become senseless, the one that dominates in the theory about the need o multi"ly

incarnations o "ersonality giving it a chance to undertake eorts with the aim o

com"lete "uriication rom sins. &he *nglish "hiloso"her )ocke was 4uite right

Friedrich von )ogau H1


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in noting, that i there is no memory about the "revious reincarnation, there is no

identity o a "ersonality, so, conse4uently there is no reincarnation, but there is a

sim"le birth o a new myself#

%econdly. &here are no acts conirming it. are cases o socalled

?recollectionsA o your own reincarnations have a dierent origin, they are natural

conse4uences oL

either o a oreign hy"nosis HsuggestionI, including o a tele"athic ty"e


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*ven more remarkable is the "osthumous state o 'eracles this giant hero o

ancient reek mythology. 'e himsel is staying at !lym"us, at the east o gods

and at the same time his trembling shadow with a strained bow is in 'ades.

%imultaneously he is in two "oles. &his unusual idea o 'omer became one o

the sources o the original eschatological conce"t or ather Pavel Florensky.

/hat do these sur"rising antasies s"eak about !n the one hand ancient

reeks elt the reality o that very world and undestroyability o the human soul,

they believed, that it e-isted, that very "osthumous condition. !n the other hand,

not knowing what it was like, they were ull o ear beore this inevitable

unknown aterdeath state and made all "ossible con6ectures5 they created, as we

see, bright myths in their attem"ts o attaching some meaning to this mystery.

#nd we must do them credit + some o these myths are not only interesting but

they dee"ly e-"ress the idea o "osthumous reward. %uice it to remember the

ancient intuitions about :lessed $slands and *lysium ields or the righteous and

later myths, e-"ressing ho"elessness o the destiny o those condemnedL torments

o &antalus, %isy"hean stone HtoilI, Danaides barrels and etc. # similar "icture can be seen in other "rehristian religions. $ntuitive eeling

o immortality and direct acts conirming it Ha""earance o the dead, their

accurate "ro"hecy, warnings and etc.I, are dissolved in the thick og o ignorance

about that world. #nd this is all along through the "rehristian history o the

mankind.

$ we turn to the %cri"ture o the !ld &estament, here again well indsomething similar. Prior to the books o the "ro"hets we ind assertions in it that

the soul goes into slee" ater death, and "robably it dies away. &hat is the whole

o the man is turned into ashes ater death, not only his body. #nd "ro"hets only,

es"ecially the great ones, started s"eaking deinitely that ater death the soul does

not esca"e, does not die and even does not all aslee", but it e-"eriences suering

or 6oy de"ending on the nature o the moral lie o the human being5 "ro"hets

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that I was dead, that I didn5t loose 4y consciousness, not for any 4o4ent, when I

felt 4yself the sa4e ali#e $erson, hearing all, seeing, reali6ing, ca$able of

4o#ing, thinking, s$eaking7!89

&hen he tells us about his astonishment, when having ound himsel in the

middle o the room and having seen a grou" o medical workers, he glanced over

their shoulders + in the direction where they were looking atL ?There on the bed it

was I who was lying:I called the doctor, but the at4os$here, in which I found

4yself turned to be ;uite unfit for 4yself< it neither $ercei#ed nor re$roduced

sounds of 4y #oice, and I beca4e aware of 4y co4$lete dissociation with

e#erything around, felt 4y strange loneliness and fear and was $anic stricken% I

4ade all efforts and tried announce 4yself, but these efforts dro#e 4e into the

ut4ost des$air% "on5t they see 4e7! ' I thought with des$air ti4e and again% I

was a$$roaching the $eo$le grou$ing o#er 4y bed, but nobody out of the4 either

turned around, or $aid any attention to 4e, I was e(a4ining 4yself with

bewilder4ent, not understanding how they couldn5t see 4e, as I was =ust the sa4e

as before% But I 4ade an atte4$t to gras$ hold of 4yself but 4y hand could onlycut an air another ti4e%!88

#nd evidences similar to this one are many. %ometimes "osthumous eelings o

a man ha""en to be connected with moments disastrous or himsel, when in

ront o his eyes a disgraceul s"ectacle o sharing out his "ro"erty is revealed.

3obody s"oke about the dead "erson, he was not needed to anyone already Has a

thing which was only good or throwing it out to the rubbish as it was it or nothingI, all the attention was "aid at the money and his belongings. #nd you can

imagine the horror o the ?lovingA relatives when they saw him coming back to

lie Do you understand how he elt when he had to communicate with them@

#n interesting story rom his own lie was told me by my neighbour %ergei

#lekseevich Nuravlev H1>11>>7I, a teacher, who lived in %ergiev Possad. $

knew him to be a decent man, mentally 4uite normal and that is why $ have no

10 =.$kskul. (nbelievable or many, but true event. S&roitsky listok, O B, 1>10.11 %ame.

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doubts in the credibility o his story. /hen he was 20 and ell dangerously ill with

ty"hus, he was running a tem"erature above 90 , he was taken to hos"ital. #nd

suddenly at a certain moment he elt a big lightness and saw himsel in the middle

o the hos"ital room, where he was lying. $t was the First o May H%oviet holidayI

and he remembered about his riends and instantly ha""ened to be beside them.

&hey were en6oying the holiday, drinking vodka in the o"en air, talking, laughing,

but his attem"ts to associate with them turned to be absolutely unsuccessul.

3obody noticed him and nobody heard him. &hen he remembered about the girl

he knew and ha""ened to be near her in the same way. 'e saw her sitting by a

amiliar young man, listened to their cordial conversation, but they didnt "ay

attention at him either. :ut all o a sudden he came to his senses + $ am ill, he

thought5 and he saw himsel in the hos"ital room, two medical nurses were

standing near his bed with a stretcher and the doctor announcedL ?'e is dead and

he must be taken to the mortuary HmorgueI. #t that very moment Nuravlev elt an

awul cold and heard a scream coming rom the womenL ?'e is alive@A #ter his

coming back to lie, %ergeis tem"erature com"letely let him. # day ater he wasreleased rom the hos"ital. :ut the more e-citing was ater that. %ergei came back

to his routine work and made a hint to his riends, saying he knew, how they had

celebrated the First o May and what they were talking about. &hey were

e-tremely sur"rised and insisted o giving them an honest answer, who had

"rovided him with these acts. HProbably their debates were not intended or a

broad "ublicI. #nd the girl who was e-"osed by %ergei by telling her all thedetails o her conversation with another young man and her behavior with him,

became very much bewildered. 3aturally a 4uestion arisesL i there is no soul,

could it be that a dead body lying in a hos"ital room would learn everything about

what was ha""ening ar beyond the walls o the hos"ital

#nd here is one more incident, which a brother o 'egumenos 3ikon

H;orobievI12 + ;ladimir 3ikolaevich, e-"erienced. /hen he was seven, during a

game in la"ta Ha ball gameI he was accidentally struck on his head so heavily, that

12 %ee5 the same author ?e"entance is let or usA.%retensky mon. "ublish. M., 200.

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he ell down as a dead. 'e told everyone that he saw himsel very high above this

"lace, he saw the boys that stood around his body "er"le-ed, he watched one o

them rushing to his home and his mother running out o their house screaming

and crying. %he took hold o him and iercely started "lucking at him. #nd there

he saw such a beautiul sun and it was so good there, so 6oyully, and when he

regained he started crying as hard as he could, but not because o the "ain but

because it was very des"ondently and un"leasant on earth, it was semidarkness

like in some underground, though the day was 4uite sunny. &his was the event

which was oten s"oken about by all the brothers o ;ladimir 3ikolaevichL

'egumenos 3ikon, #le-ander, Mikhail, ;asily.

&hese acts are incalculable. &hey testiy with utmost reliability to the "resence

o a soul in a man and to the continued lie ater death o the body. #nd it is

im"ortant to make it a note + it is the soul that is the source o thoughts, eelings,

emotional e-"erience, not the body. Mind, heart Has a eeling organI, will are in

the soul, not in the body. &his was always stated by the religion.

'enri :ergson, a amous French "hiloso"her o the end 1>th + beginning 20th century + said that, a mans brain is 6ust a tele"hone station that transmits only,

but it is not the source o inormation. $normation comes to the brain rom

somewhere and it could be a""rehended and "assed to by it dierently. $t could

work well and it could malunction and ail com"letely. :ut it is a transmitting

mechanism and it is not the generator o a mans consciousness. &oday a vast

range o acts com"letely conirm that :ergsons idea. Presently we see a great number o "ublished books written by the authors

saying about the unceasing lie ater the bodys death. For instance, a book by Dr.

Moudy + ?)ie ater lieA caused a real sensation in the (nited statesL 2 millions

co"ies were sold literally during the irst a year or two. :ooks are seldom

distributed at such a s"eed. Many "erceived it as a revelation. #nd though such

acts are always suicient they were not known, "eo"le did not "ay attention at

them, considering them as a descri"tion o hallucination or maniestation o a

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mental abnormality o a "erson. 'ere a doctor, a s"ecialist, surrounded by the

same s"ecialists, s"eaks about acts and only acts. /hat is more he is the "erson

who is not interested in the ?"ro"aganda o a religionA.

$ may cite here some more books on the sub6ectL

;asiliev #. %uggestion at a distance. M., 1>>0.

=alinovsky P. &ransition. M., 1>>1.

=uraev #. /here the soul goes. ?&roiKkoe slovoA, 2001.

)odyKensky M.;. $nvisible light. Pgr., 1>1.

)odyKensky M.:. Dark orce. Pgr., 1>1.

)uka H;oino8aseneKkyI, archbisho". %"irit, soul and body. :russels, 1>7B.

MoritK oolings. :eyond the threshold o death. %Pb.1>>9.

%era"him HouseI, 'ieromonk. %oul ater death. M.,1>>1.:ut in order to understand correctly everything that is connected with the

"henomenon o that world, an !rthodo- should read and study the woks by %t.

$gnatious :rianchaninov H1B


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a state o a clinical death. &he book is abundant in great number o acts. $t is

worth noting that M.oulings was a kind o man who was 4uite indierent to

religion, but ater one event in 1>77 Hthe book starts with this storyI he started

viewing the "roblem o man, soul, death, eternal lie and od dierently. &he

acts that the "hysician describes, makes us "onder over the issue seriously.

oulongs tells us how he began the reanimation o a "atient who was in a state

o a clinical death. 'e tried to make his heart work by means o massage, ordinary

or this case. $t was the common thing in his "ractice. :ut he encountered such a

"henomenon, which had never occurred in his lie beore. 'is "atient, u"on

recovering or a ew moments started iercely screamingL ? $ am in hell@A ? Dont

sto"@A &he doctor asked what rightened him. ?Dont you understand $ am in

hell@ /hen you sto" making me massage $ turn to be in hell@ Dont let me return

there@A1 %o it was re"eated several times.

Dr.oulings writes that as he was a man "hysically strong, he sometimes

worked so hard that there were instances when he broke his "atients ribs. &hat is

why when they came to their senses they usually beggedL ? >to$ torturing 4ybreast? @ou hurt 4e? $n that case the doctor heard something very unusual.

"on5t sto$?! #nd he describes urtherL ?nly at the 4o4ent when I looked at his

face I was sei6ed with alar4% The e($ression on his face was 4uch worse than at

the 4o4ent of his death% His face was distorted by an awful gri4ace, 4eaning a

horror, $u$ils of the eyes were widened, he was tre4bling and he was bathed in

sweat, & in other words all this defies descri$tionA

19

. &hen Dr.oulings writeswhen that "erson inally regained consciousness he told him about his terriying

suerings during his death. &he sick "erson was "re"ared to endure anything but

not to return back there. &here was hell@ )ater on when the cardiologist started

investigating similar cases, asking his colleagues about it, it turned out that there

were a lot o such acts in their "ractice. %ince that time he has started writing

down stories o the reanimated "atients. 3ot every one revealed. :ut these stories

1 MoritK oulings. ?:eyond the threshold o deathA. h.1 S&o the hell and backA. P.1. %Pb., 1>>9.19 %ame.

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which were 4uite o"en, were more than suicient to make sure in the continued

lie o a "ersonality ater death. :ut what lie

$n his book Dr.oulings inorms us, unlike Moudy, that hal o ?resurrectedA

"eo"le say that it is very good there and they dont like to return rom there and

they came back unwillingly, without a 6oy, but the other "art o reanimated , on the

contrary, tells that they saw there ire lakes, horrible monsters and e-"erienced

"ainul eelings and suerings. #nd, oulings writesL ? The nu4ber of cases of

the ac;uaintance with the hell is increasing ra$idlyA1. 'e generaliKes the re"orts

o the reanimated in the ollowing wordsLA They assert that death ' a thought of

which frightens an ordinary 4an ' is not a ter4ination of life or drowsiness, but

a transition fro4 one for4 of life to another ' so4eti4es $leasant and =oyful, and

so4eti4es gloo4y and terrifying!8 %

*s"ecially interesting are the acts concerning the saved suicides. #ll o them

Hno one knows any e-ce"tionsI e-"erienced there the hardest tortures. Moreover

these tortures were connected with both "sychological, s"iritual e-"eriences and

Hes"eciallyI with visual. &hese were the hardest suerings. Monsters a""eared inront o the "oor, the very sight o those made their souls shudder and there was

no "lace to hide rom them, there was no chance to close their eyes, to close their

ears. &here was no way out o this horrible state@ /hen one girl was returned to

senses she ke"t asking aboutL ? Ma44y, hel$ 4e% Made the4 de$art fro4 4e :

the4, de4ons in the hell? It was so awful?!8

oulings cites another very serious actL the ma6ority o his "atients, whonarrated about their s"iritual tortures survived by them in the clinical death,

resolutely changed their moral lie. %ome o them ke"t silent, but it was "ossible

to understand by their subse4uent lie, that they had e-"erienced something very

horrible.

6OD96IVE& MA&:S FLESH

1 %ame. h. ADescent into the hell. P>1.12.

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3owdays due to a great number o acts accumulated in the medicine science Hnot

antasies, akin to "o"ular olklore, but suiciently reliable actsI, it is "ossible to

state with the utmost credibilityL the e-istence o a soul is the undis"utable

s0ientifi0 truth. Des"ite a rude materialistic notion, orceully im"osed into the

minds o the whole generations stating that a man is only a body, only an animal

with a com"uter in his mind, in reality, he is a selconscious and undestroyable

"ersonality5 the carrier o this "ersonality is above all a certain immortal

substance + a soul, having two orms o e-istence. First, known to us + in a bodyL

a soul with a body Has dierent rom the s"iritI is a mans lesh. &he other

mysterious orm o the soul e-istence + is ater death. hristianity reo"ens

slightly a curtain o the mystery o its being beyond the earth boundaries.

For more com"rehensive understanding o this mystery it is necessary to tell

about the body as o a home or the soul. &he "atristic teaching says 4uite

deinitely that a man beore the Fall, beore his "resent state, "ossessed a

spirit+al body but a material as well or i you like material an' a spirit+al bo'y.

'ow could it be understood Dont s"iritual and material e-clude each other#ccording to the hristian religion + no. !n the contrary, only that very material

body ac4uires normal image o its e-istence , when it becomes a s"iritual one. /e

may see that remarkable "henomenon in hrist esurrected.

Do you remember how hrist "assed through the closed doors, suddenly

a""eared beore his disci"les, broke bread with themE and suddenly disa""eared.

#t the same time he told his "u"ilsL ?Loo/ at my an's an' my feet# It is Imyself5 To+0 me an' see, a !ost 'oes not a"e fles an' bones( as yo+ see I

a"e)# H)uke, 29L >I. #nd it was 'e who said that, /ho suddenly a""eared in

the room S-it 'oors lo0/e' for fear of te ;e-s HGohn, 205 1>I. 3obody o"ened

'im the doors. #nd what did the a"ostle &homas eel, he, who didnt believe in

esurrection, when he suddenly he saw hrist coming into the room with

closed doors and he heard rom 'imL ?P+t yo+r fin!er ere, see my an's#

$ea0 o+t yo+r an' an' p+t it into my si'e# Stop 'o+btin! an' belie"e: .

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&homas answer was uni4ueL ?My Lor' an' my 6o') HGohn, 205 272BI, that is,

this is 8ou + 8oursel@ $n ome they show a inger o the a"ostle &homas who

touched im"erishable rib o hrist. &o be rank, $ do not believe it very much,

sorry. :ut the "oint is not whether &homas touched hrists rib and with that very

inger what is im"ortant is that &homas touched the reality, going out o the

boundaries o our habitual human e-"erience, and made sure o it des"ite the

"rotest o his socalled common sense. #nd how was it "ossible not to "rotestL

could it be "ossible that real lesh, blood and bones could go through the same real

material ob6ects reely, without hindrance@

/e may build dierent hy"otheses to e-"lain this "henomenon. 'owever all o

them will be in the inal count like telling ortunes by coee grounds, or ? no- -e

see b+t a poor refle0tionA, H1 orinthians, 15 19I as i guessing. :ut it you want

here is one o such guessing. #t the "resent time thanks to a dee"er scientiic

understanding o s"ace and time it is "ossible to make guesses that a body

remaining material, but having become s"iritual, stays outside our three

dimensional s"ace, in other ?s"acesA, being ?insideA ours. $n these s"aces a bodydoes not need any material means or its e-istence. &hrough these ?s"aces a

s"iritual body may go inside any "oint o our earthy s"acetime reely, ac4uiring

usual 4ualities or it. :ut $ re"eat, this is not more than guessing , a "oor relection.

#nd what $ know or sure that we all, will sooner that we think, turn to be there

and Sten -e sall see fa0e to fa0eA H1 orinthians, 15 12I. &hat is why dont

hurry and wait a little. oncerning the act that the body could be s"iritual the a"ostle Paul writes

directlyL ? So -ill it be -it te res+rre0tion of te 'ea'# Te bo'y tat is so-n

is perisable ( it is raise' imperisable


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$n the same way %aint Fathers teach that ater the universal resurrection, "eo"le

will have the same s"iritual body, which the irst man had Heven more "erectI,

which "ossessed unusual, remarkable or our "resent condition 4ualitiesL it knew

neither illnesses, nor "ain, nor suerings, nor death. $t did not need clothes,

"rotection rom some outer inluence5 it did not eel hunger, thirst, leshly desires

and as we see on resurrected %aviour it did not de"end on our time and s"ace. #nd

in the same way how it is im"ossible to make harm to the air, having struck it with

a stick, in the same way our human body and soul were and will be invulnerable,

dis"assionate, nonaected by any suerings. %aint *"hraim o %yria H$;I, wrote,

or e-am"leL ?Dinds in the Paradise float to and fro in front of the righteous 4en<

one blows the4 the food, the other one $ours water:Dinds feed s$iritually those

who li#e in the s$irit: 0or s$iritual creatures food is s$iritual!8%

Paradisiacal fragrance satiate without a bread< a breath of life ser#es

be#erage:Bodies containing blood and 4oisture, achie#e there a $urity si4ilar

to the soul itself:There bodies ele#ate to the le#el of souls, a soul rises to the

degree of a s$irit EA1>

and stays in a condition o a constant 6oy. %aint #thanasius the reat H$;I characteriKed s"iritual and cor"oral 4ualities

o the irst manL ? 0or before the cri4e co44itted by Ada4 there was neither

grief, nor fear, nor weariness, nor hunger, nor deathA20. %aint #nthony the reat,

s"eaking about those changes, which occur here on the ground with the body o a

saint man, wroteL AThus a body sticks to any good and bending to the Power of the

Holy >$irit changes so drastically, that finally beco4es to a certain 4easure $ri#y to those ;ualities of the s$iritual body, which it is due to obtain after the

resurrection of the righteousA21. &he same is said by %t. yril o GerusalemL ? This

body will rise:it will not re4ain the sa4e, it will beco4e eternal% It will ha#e no

need either in the si4ilar food to sustain life or in a stairway for rising, because it

1B %t. *"hraim o %yria. reations. ;.. P.2B7. ?!tchi DomA, 1>>.1> %ame. P.2B>.20 %t. #thanasius the reat. reations. M., 1>>9. &.9. P.9


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will beco4e s$iritual, so4ething re4arkable, such as it is i4$ossible to e($ress, as

it 4ust be, and we are inca$able in doing that:!FF

/as a body created by od, in need o ood and anything else Henesis, 1, 2>I, as

we know, that resurrected hrist ate teir foo' .in teir presen0e4 H)uke, 29, 9I

%t. Gohn hrysostom answers this 4uestionL G>o, u$on His resurrection Christ took

food and water not because of the necessity, & then his body was not in need of

that, but to fulfill the 4atter of resurrection!F%

&he same thing is said by %t. Macarius o *gy"tL

C(*%&$!3L Dill the bodies of Ada4 and others u$on their resurrection a$$ear

naked before od or will they ha#e clothes on the4 and whether their food will be

of different kind7 How then a body could be co#ered with clothes and how will it

be fed /all $eo$le li#ing in this century, 4en and wo4en, 4ust co#er their $ri#ate

$arts and take $erishable food /co4$% John, , F27 Dill all this be needed to

those resurrected after their deli#ery fro4 the earth5s life and who will be

returned to the $re#ious co4$osition or not7

#3%/*. SThe issue see4s to 4e irrele#ant and thoughtless, because we all know that all created s$lendor /co4$% Ja4es 8, 882 and co4$osition will be

abolished /or fade away2 u$on deli#ery /or the end of the world2, and the earth

will not $roduce fruit for the body5s nourish4ent, but the sky will co4e with all its

beauty% /co4$% FK, 32% Dhere fro4 will $eo$le get their food and 4ake clothes,

if according to od, all the #isible will $ass away7 Isn5t it clear that there is

so4ething else besides the #isible and what will be gi#en7%%%od already nowclothing the soul with glory and filling it with His fire, will gi#e cloths to a body

at that long&awaited ti4e and He will transfor4 our lowly bodies and they will be

like His glorious body /Phili$$ians, , F82, ha#ing gi#en, the co4fort with food at

last and hea#enly clothes and i4$erishable angel&like deeds!FK%

'ere are the remarkable 4ualities that were inherent to and will be inherent to a

mans lesh body and soul + in the lie o the uture age.

22 %t. yril o Gerusalem. /ords on catechumenism. 1B, "ar 1B. P.22B. %oikin "ublish. %Pb.2 %t. Gohn hrysostom. reations. $nter"retation on evangelist Matthew, 2.

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%O&SE=UE&%ES OF P$O6E&ITO$S: SI&

&he Fall o the irst men, who imagined themselves ods, resulted in the act

that changes o ontological nature took "lace in Mans nature. %aint Fathers call

them as a firstborn da4age H%t. :asil the reatI, inherited corru$tion

H%t.Macarious o *gy"t 2, even a sin in a /estern theology, then in our theological

thought + original sin. &he mans lesh + a body and a soul became according to

the athers, $lu4$, vested in ?!arments of s/inA H enesis, , 21I. /hat kind o

changes + that is clearly described by %t. Ma-imus the onessor H;$$ c.IL ? od

ha#ing taken u$on Hi4self the conde4nation for 4y #oluntary sin, I 4ean '

ha#ing taken $assionability, $erishability and 4ortality of Lhu4an nature!: F3%

&hese three 4ualities became inalienable in humans nature, all "eo"le are born

with them. $t should be noted however that these changes are o constitutional

character, but not o s"iritualmoral one, though they turn to be an unsteady soil,

on which a "erson can easily slide down to a sin.

/hat is meant by $assion7 $ a s"iritual body could not suer, ater becoming?"lum"A the lesh is sub6ected to dierent suerings both a body and a soul. H#

%lavic word $assion means, in "articular, suffering ' ?the "assions o hristAI. $t

is well e-"lained by %t.Gohn o Damascus H;$$$ cen.IL

? Natural and irre$roachable $assions are not within our $ower, they ha#e

co4e into our life as a conse;uence of conde4nation, which took $lace due a

cri4e /of the first $eo$le2, as, for e(a4$le, hunger, thirst, tiredness, labour, tear,deco4$osition, death e#asion, fear, death throes, fro4 which co4es $ers$iration,

dro$s of blood:and etc% what is inherent to all $eo$le!F : :ut this original

"assions Hnonsinul, Snonre"roachulA, according to %t.Ma-imus the onessorI

should be distinguished rom the "assion that is sinul, which a""ears in a man as

a result o the sins committed by himsel and ollowing his sinul heredity. %t.

rigory o 3issa e-"lains the beginnings o sinul "assions in such a wayL ? A

2 %t. Ma-imus the onessor. reations. :ook 2. Cuestions and answers to &helassious. Cuestion 92. ?MartisA "ublish., 1>>. P.111.2


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sla#e of $leasures 4akes the re;uired necessities by way of $assionsO instead of

4eals he seeks the $leasures of a belly, he $refers adorning to clothes, lu(urious

a$art4ents to co4fort of roo4s, instead of gi#ing birth to children he turns his

eyes to illegal and forbidden $leasures% That is why 4oney&grabbing, delicacy,

$ride, #anity, libertinis4 ha#e co4e into life through wide&o$en gates!F %

/hat is "erishability )ook at a child and an old man. 'ere is the "rocess o

"erishability, what it makes with a man@

#nd at last the body o a man became mortal.

'ere are the three main illnesses, which a""eared as a result o the Fall o our

"rogenitors and they are transerred to all "eo"le without e-ce"tion. #ll o them

are unluckily tied with the ?original sinA. For in the given case a ?sinA means, as

we see, not "ersonal guilt o each o #damAs descendants or his sin, but the single

or all corru"tion, sickness o the human nature.

:esides the original and "ersonal sins there is a tribal sin. Parents and ancestors

endow their descendants with not only bodily and "sychical illnesses but with

s"iritual ones Hor e-am"le, strongly "ronounced envy, anger, avidity and etc.I. #llthe "eo"le are born with them, but they become a""arent in each man dierently.

#nd though a man does not bear the res"onsibility or these inherited illnesses, but

he is morally res"onsible or his attitude to them + whether he struggles with them

or on the contrary, he develo"s them. &his inherited sinul nature is called a tribal

or ancestral sin. hrist only had an absolute immaculate nature, he didnt only

committed a sin 'imsel, but he was withdrawn rom the stream o a tribal sin dueto his birth rom the 'oly %"irit and the 'oly ;irgin Mary. %t. Fathers s"eak about

this. For e-am"le %t.regory PalamasL hrist ?was the only one who was neither

born in lawlessnesses, nor carried in a sinful belly!F%

&hus, three dierent "henomena are called the same word ?sinA. :ut a sin in a

direct sense is only a sin that is "ersonal. &he original and tribal sins are called a

sin in a igurative sense, as they are an inherited illness, and not a "ersonal deed,

27 %t. rigory o 3issa . reations.h. ;$$, M.,1B


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or which a man bears res"onsibility. Misunderstanding o this terminological

dierence leads to serious creed delusions, one o which concerns a human nature,

"erceived by odthe/ord and rom here the main hristian religious teaching +

the essence o the hrist %acriice.

/hen the original sin is inter"reted as a guilt o all "eo"les H&eaching o a

atholic churchI, and a alse conclusion is made, that odthe/ord has "erceived

not our ?sinulA nature but a irstman made, immortal, im"erishable nature o the

First #dam. &his was the teaching o Mono"hysites, Monotheletes, #tartodokets.

#ccording to a teaching o 'elian alicarnassky, an heresiarch o #tardokets, ?

u$on incarnation, Christ has assu4ed a soul and a body in the sha$e which Ada4

had before the 0all% If Christ got tired, cra#ed for food, cried and etc%, He did it

only because He wanted it but not due to necessity!F% #t irst glace this is an error

"urely s"eculative, in reality, however it results in atal conse4uences or

hristianity + actual denial o the essence o hrist cross "assions.

#bove all, how could hrist suer and die i 'e "ossessed im"assionate and

immortal nature #ssertion o #tartodokets and the one made by "o"e 'onorius,convicted by the hurch ouncil, that during 'is earthy lie hrist made 'is

body by some s"eciic action either hungry, or thirsty, crying suering, at last

mortal, looks like a antastic game. %t.Gohn o Damascus armed himsel against

that with all his might. ?>o, & he wrote , & it is i4$ious to say as reckless Julian and

aian assert, that the body of od was i4$erishable before resurrection% 0or if it

had been i4$erishable, it would not ha#e had the sa4e essence with us and in the sa4e way ;uite illusory ha$$ened, what the os$el says, & hunger, thirst, nails,

$erforation of a rib, death% If that had ha$$ened only illusory, the ad4inistration

of this 4ystery would ha#e been a lie and a fraud, and He would ha#e 4ade

Hi4self 4an only shadowy, not in reality, and we are sa#ed illusory not truly< but

' no? And those who say that, they will not $artici$ate in sal#ation?!9

2> hristianity. *ncycclo"aedia in volumes. ;.1. M., 1>>. ".10.0 %t. Gohn o Damascus. &he e-act e-"osition o the !rthodo- belie. M., 1>>2. P.2


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$n act i the %on o od had healed the human nature way back in incarnation,

having taken it as im"assionate, im"erishable, immortal, so ross becomes

unnecessary. :y this the ma6or thing in hristianity is abolished + the ross victim

o hrist and a direct battle against cross is consolidated.

&hat is why %t. #thanasius the reat indignant that some "eo"le ascribe the

irstman 4ualities to the human nature taken by the %on o od wroteL ? let the4

be silent those who assert, that Christ5s flesh is inaccessible to death, but

i44ortal in essence?!8% The same thing was asserted by a great number o hurch

Fathers% For e-am"le, regory the &heologian H$; c.IL He /Christ2 got tired and

got hungry, he was thirsty and was in a state of struggle and cried ' according to a

law of a body5s nature!F% %t. *"hraim o %yriaL ? He was the son of that Ada4,

o#er who4 a death reigned, according to the a$ostle! % rigory PalamasL!The

Dord of od assu4ed such a flesh, what we ha#e, though absolutely $ure, though

4ortal and unhealthy!K% &he e-"ression o a liturgical understanding o this issue

is, or one, a "rayer behind the ambo at the liturgy o the Preconsecrated

!erings on reat Monday in Gerusalem. &here are such words in itL The T6ar of ages:Christ, our od: @ou, ha#ing taken our $oor nature, is not $ri#y to

$assions due to @our od5s nature, if not ha#ing been #ested in $assionate and

deathly nature by @our own will!3% &here are a lot o these te-ts in our hurch

service


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resurrected it. &hat is clearly stated in the e"istle to 'ebrewsL ? In brin!in! many

sons to !lory( for -om an' tro+! -om e"erytin! exists( so+l' ma/e

te a+tor of teir sal"ation perfe0t >teleiisaiI tro+! s+fferin!) H'ebrews, 2,

10I. &hat is why %t. Ma-imus the onessor wroteL ?The i44utability of the

fulfill4ent in Christ has returned i4$assionability, i4$erishability and i44ortality

to this nature through the Resurrection! %

Mortality, "erishability and liability to suerings + are the 4ualities o the

allen humans nature are that incrustation on a healthy body H gar4ents of skin, &

enesis, , 21I, which hrist o"erated by 'is death o a martyr in 'umanity

"erceived by 'im. 'aving resurrected it, 'e became a new #dam, having o"ened

the gates o the =ingdom o od or all ca"able or s"iritual birth. hristianity

teaches about the uture general resurrection, when owing to "assions and

resurrection o hrist the nature o a man will raise healed, gloriied, s"iritually

"erect. 'owever to get a new lesh everyman must take o his garments o skin +

a death o a body. *ven the Mother o od went through the gates o death to

ac4uire a new, s"iritual body. $t is worth noting that atholicism and Protestantism contain a lot o delusions

o the "rinci"led nature on these and other issues, both o creed ty"e and s"iritual

lie H understanding o the irstman corru"tion, hrist sacriice, conditions o

salvation, sins and virtues, sacraments, "osthumous status o a soul, "rayers,

"rayers or those who "assed away, s"iritual lieEI

2HE$E A SOUL $ESIDES AFTE$ DEATH OF THE 1OD*

/hat does the !rthodo- 'oly &radition say

# mans contact with another world is more oten starts beore death and the

soul oten comes into the com"lete amaKement beore a com"letely dierent

reality, which o"ens beore it. 3umerous acts testiy to it. $ll cite two reliable

acts.

7 %t. Ma-imos the onessor. reations. :ook 2. Cuestions and answers to &helassious. ?MartisA "ublish., 1>>.#nswer O 92.

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My own uncle studied in the town o &ula. 'aving received a telegram telling

him about his mothers death, who lived in the village, he urgently started or

home. $t was late at night when he arrived at the town o Plavsk, which was

situated at 1 kilometres away rom his own village. 3o means o trans"ort

unctioned at that hour, he elt ear to walk. :ut he walked. 'aving come out o the

town, he was amaKed seeing clearly his own mother walking in ront o him. 'e

rushed to catch her but all in vain. #s soon as he started to walk 4uicker, she in the

same way 4uickened her ste"s. #nd that continued all the way along till he reached

the village, when the vision suddenly disa""eared. &his is how his mothers soul

encouraged him in a diicult moment o his lie.

My another uncle, dieing in com"lete conscience beore our eyes, all our

relatives, suddenly statedL Here are the two who ha#e co4e, and now you will

not be able to hel$ 4e!% &hese cases very remarkable and not e-"lainable by any

natural reasons are uncountable number. $ am sure almost everyone either heard

and got in touch with something similar.

#n established church tradition asserts that during the irst twothree days ater death H though our time cannot be correlated with the category which we call

*ternityI, a man, or rather his soul stays in the conditions o the ?earth gravityA.

'aving turned out to be there, in eternity, it will not deny itsel the immediate

attem"t o usual association with relatives and dearest "eo"le.

$n #"ostolic Decisions H$; c.I we ind direct indications to the third, ninth,

ortieth and a yearly days as o s"ecial days or remembrance o the de"arted.H)ater on in the hurch they started to commit ecumenical service or the dead,

when the hurch "rays or all the de"arted, including those who did not get a

hurch burial due to dierent reasonsI.

/e ind an interesting e-"lanation o these days o remembrance in the writings

o %t. Macarios o #le-andria H$; c.I 'e asked an angleL ? Dhen the Church

0athers are entrusted with 4aking an ffering to od for the de$arted on the

third, ninth and fortieth day, so is the benefit 4ade to the soul of the de$arted7!

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&he angel answeredL ?od did not conni#e at anything at the Church that is

illdis$osed or unfa#ourable< but He arranged hea#enly and earthy sacra4ents in

the Church and ordered to co44it the4

Dhen on the third day an offering takes $lace at the Church, the soul of the

de$arted gets fro4 an angle, guarding hi4, a relief in his sorrow, which he feels

because of the de$arture fro4 the body< he gets it because, the $raying and

offering was 4ade in the Church of od for it, and fro4 that a fa#ourable ho$e is

born% "uring two days the soul is allowed to walk on the earth where it wanted

together with angles staying by its side% That is why a soul, lo#ing the body,

wonders around the house, where it de$arted with the body, so4eti4es around the

coffin, into which the body had been $ut, and in this way it s$ends two days, as a

bird, searching for a nest for itself% A #irtuous soul walks along those $laces, in

which it used to co44it truthful things% n the third day when He was resurrected

fro4 the dead, He orders e#ery Christian soul to resurrect to the hea#en in the

4e4ory of His resurrection for the adoration to od% Thus the Church has a

good tradition to 4ake an offering on the third day and $ray for the soul% After the adoration to od He orders the soul to be shown different and

$leasant abodes of the saints and the beauty of $aradise% All that the soul #iews

for si# days, being astonished and glorifying the Creator for e#erything $ od .

Conte4$lating all that it changes and forgets sorrow, which it had, being in a

body% But if it was guilty in sins when seeing saint en=oy4ents it starts to grie#e

about and re$roach itself, sayingO Alas, how 4uch I used to fuss in that world?Carried away by finding satisfaction in lust, I s$ent the 4a=or $art of 4y life in

unconcern and I did not ser#e od as it should be in order to ha#e the sa4e race

and lory% Alas, $oor 4e? Q$on #iewing during the si( days all the =oy of the

saints it is again raised by the angels to ad4onition before od% >o the Church is

doing #ery well by co44itting offering and $raying on the ninth day for the

$assed away%

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After the second ad4onition the 1ord of all orders to take the soul to the hell

and to show it the $laces of torture there, different de$art4ents of the hell and

different tortures of i4$ious, and being there the souls of the sinful wee$

constantly and grind their teeth% The soul rushes for thirty days, tre4bling at the

though of a $ossibility to be conde4ned and e4braced by the4% %n the fortieth

day the soul is again raised for the ad4onition before od< and then the Judge

deter4ines the $lace which is a$$ro$riate for it de$ending on its deeds%

MESSA6ES F$OM &'()(

/e oten hear a 4uestionL could ghosts o the de"arted a""ear beore us #nd

here does not lie a mere curiosity. Cuite a ew acts are known when the de"arted

a""eared to their nearest "eo"le in their dreams, in a drowse and even in reality

and conveyed some im"ortant news to them. For e-am"le, three months beore his

death Philaret HDroKdovI Moscow metro"olitan, saw his de"arted ather in his

dream who saidL Re4e4ber the date of 8&th!% eally, the Metro"olitan died on

the 1>th o 3ovember. &here are a lot o these acts. #lso there are 4uite a ewreliable re"orts about how the recently died "eo"le a""eared beore their relatives

and very close riends. 3umerous acts o this kind are given in the book ?%"irit,

soul and a bodyA, written by archbisho" )uke H;oino8aseneKkyI, in the books

?;ariety o religious e-"erienceA by ;.Games, in ?Dark orceA by M.)odyKensky,

?Mysterious "henomenon o a human state o mind A by #. ;asiliev, ?#bout lie

ater deathA by =.. 8oung and etc. :ut the yearning to see the de"arted, to ind out about his whereabouts, is very

haKardous. &he attitude towards these "henomena should be e-tremely res"onsible

as the hristian creed asserts. %aint Fathers warn strictly that we should not only

search or contacts with that world, but with all "ossible means we must a"oi'

tem and not tr+st the inormation, obtained in the dream or in reality, moreover

at some sort o s"iritual sessions, where, allegedly, they summon the souls o the

dead. %ometimes a message rom there in act comes true. &he danger o such

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realiKations lies in the act that a man is set u" to trust dreams, visions, and etc. +

and then demons would show him such disgusting things that he would run his

head into the noose. 'orrible thing. $ it is needed, od will ind means to "rom"t

a man what he really must do. :y the way, the statistics states, that those involved

in s"iritism, as a rule, are mentally deranged, many end their lives by a suicide.

;enerable Gohn assian o ome describes what ha""ened with one monk,

who being a strict ascetic, began to trust dreams and "erished. 'ere is that

messageL ? The de#il, wishing to lure hi4, often showed hi4 true drea4s /drea4s

co4ing true2 in order to win hi4 o#er for acce$ting te4$tation into which he

wanted to in#ol#e hi4 later% >o, one night he showed hi4 Christian $eo$le with

a$ostles and 4artyrs, co#ered with e#ery sort of the infa4y, e(hausted with grief

and wee$ing, & on the one side, and on the other ' Judaic $eo$le with Moses,

$atriarchs and $ro$hets ' in the s$lendor of a radiant light and li#ing in the =oy

and fun% In addition the te4$tator ad#ised hi4 that he should take the circu4cision

/that is Judais42, if he wanted to $artici$ate in beatitude and gladness of the

Judaist $eo$le% And he, being te4$ted, fulfilled the order% 0ro4 all said abo#e it isclear, that e#erybody who4 we ha#e s$oken about, would not ha#e been 4ocked

at in the 4ost 4iserable and grie#ous way, if they had had the gift of

reasonableness!%

&he venerable Gohn limacus Ho the )adderI wroteL ? He, who belie#es

drea4s, he is like a 4an, he runs after his shadow and tries to gras$ it! % GIf we

start to sub=ugate oursel#es to de4ons in drea4s, they will outrage o#er usduring our wakefulness% He who belie#es drea4s, he is not cle#er at all< and he

who does not ha#e any trust for the4, he has lo#e of wisdo4!K9%

3ow in the /est Hand we do not to try and lag behind themI we witness

everybodys ad or mysticism, to be "recise, wed better use the )atin word

occultism. *very one is eager to learn what is there. #ccording to "ublic o"inion

"olls it was ound out that 92 "ercent o #mericans had a contact, as they think,

B ;enerable assian o ome. /ritings. M., 1>B2. #bout reasonableness. h. B. P. 1>1>9.> )estvitKa H &he ladderI. /ord , "ar.2


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with the ?de"artedA, and two thirds had the e-"erience o e-trasensory

"erce"tions. &hat is the real national disaster. Peo"le do not even sus"ect that

such an inormation may originate rom s"irits o lies, rom devil, and they do not

understand how dangerous it is to enter a contact with such ?%"iritsA. $t is not the

de"arted that s"eak with them but the demons in the image o the dead. &hat is

why the !rthodo- saints, knowing "erectly the nature o such "henomenon, they

didnt only search this kind o meetings, but in order to avoid a atal mistake, they

com"letely re6ected to "erceive any visions or attach im"ortance to dreams.

;enerable regory %inait HQ$;I warnedL Ne#er take to your heart whate#er you

see sensual or s$iritual, outwards or inwards, irres$ecti#e whether it is the i4age

of Christ or Angel, or any saint:That one who takes, is easily te4$ted:od is

not indignant at hi4 who carefully heeds hi4self, if he, for fear of te4$tation,

will not take what co4es fro4 Hi4:but He will $raise hi4 as a wise 4an!K8%

Multi"le acts, connected with the "henomena o that world, with dierent

mysterious "henomena H"rognostication, tele"athy, "oltergeist, vision o the dead

in real lie and in unusual dream and etc.I, occultism, s"iritism and etc., may beound, or one, in interesting books by arch"riest regory DiachenkoL ? From the

s"here o mysteriousA, M., 1B>< and ?%"iritual lieA + amendment to the book

?From the s"here o mysteriousA, M., 1>00.

For those who are interested in "atristic understanding o these issues, $d

recommend cha"ter 9< ?#bout dreamsA o the ith volume o $gnatius

H:rianchaninovI writings and the third volume o the same author ?#scetice-"erience, which contains ?# word about sensual and s"iritual vision o ghostsA,

?# word about deathA, ?#mendment to a word about deathA and ?#bout the

essence o created s"irits and a human soul. 'ere you may ind a lot o interesting

acts about a""earance o both angels and demons, you will ind a "atristic

teaching about s"irits, about how to discern s"irits, about their inluence on a

man, and what is the most im"ortant + about the correct attitude o a man towards

dierent mystical "henomena, about ways o resisting ? uninvited guestsA, and

91 ;enerable regory %inait. #dmonition or those kee"ing silence. Dombotolubie. HPhilokaliaI. ;..M., 1>>0. P.229

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serious warnings based on e-"erience o saint Fathers, to categorically avoid

contacts + visual, acoustic, mental, "erce"tional + with that world.

&his is how all saint "eo"le behaved@ #nd we being sinul should be more

careul the more so.

?TA3E EA$TH* THI&6S HE$E AS MOST 2EA3

$EFLE%TIO& OF %ELESTIAL

/hat ha""ens with the soul ater three days + !utside hristianity we do not

ind actually anything sound and trustworthy, e-ce"t antasies. !rthodo-y reo"ens

that world to a man rom an e-tremely im"ortant side or tis life. /e s"eak

about suerings o souls ater death Htrying e-"erienceI92.

Mitro"olitan Macarios o Moscow H1> cen.I, s"eaking about the status o a soul

ater death, wroteL ? Howe#er I should 4ake it a $oint, that, generally s$eaking,

while describing the ob=ects of the s$iritual world ' for us, in#ested with flesh,

there would co4e u$ ine#itable features, 4ore or less sensual, anthro$o4or$hous,

so, in $art, they are ine#itably ad4itted in the si4ilar teaching about trying e($erience, which the soul undergoes after its de$arture fro4 the body% That is why

we should re4e4ber well the ad4onition, which Angel 4ade to the #enerable

Macarios of Ale(andria, as soon as he started s$eaking about after death

sufferingO &ake earthy things here as most weak reflection of celestial”. De

4ust think of trying e($erience not in the rough, sensory sense, but in the

s$iritual sense as far as it is $ossible for us, and not to be attached to 4inor $articulars, which different writers and different tales within the Church itself are

$resented differently alongside the single basic idea about the after death

sufferings!K% &hese words, "ronounced by #ngel, should not be orgotten when

we get in touch with messages about that world and stories about trying

e-"erience.

92? %uering ater death or trying e-"erience in the theologian language + is torments He-"osure o sinsI o souls

ater their de"arture rom bodies beore ods 6udgement over them, committed in the air s"ace by evil s"irits. &hesouls o the saints are not sub6ected to them. Macarios o *gy"t s"eaks about them in detailA. H:rokgaus and *"hronencyclo"aedia.I9 Metro"olitan Macarios o Moscow. !rthodo-dogmatic theology. %Pb.5 1B>, v.2, ".B.


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/e recall the last days beore death o bisho" %ergei o %molensk and

Dorogoburgsk H%mirnov, 1>7I + the elderly, nice, "leasant "erson, though he

could hardly be called a s"iritual hermit. 'is decease was very demonstrative + he,

time and again, gaKed around himsel and ke"t re"eatingL E#erything is not what

it is to be, all is not like it should be!% 'is sur"rise could be understood. &hough

we are sure, that there e#erything should not be in the way it is here, we

inadvertently continue to imagine that lie according to the image and likeness o

this lie. :oth hell and "aradise + as "er Dante or Milton, and we "erceive ater

death suerings turning our mind to those "ictures which we gaKe u"on with

curiosity in dierent brochures. /hether we want it or not we cannot de"art rom

our "rimitive earthy conce"tions. /ell, how else it could be

!ne o the a""roaches to understanding realities o that world we can ind in

the "resent day science, which de"icts, or one, the world o atom or a broad

"ublic with the hel" o earthy analogies. %o, "hysicists, studying elementary

atomic "articles assert, that in macrocosm + our world + there are no notions,

ca"able to e-"ress ade4uately the realities o microcosm. &hat is why in order to "resent them to the "ublic, "hysics are orced to ind and invent words, names,

images, taken rom our habitual e-"erience. &rue the "icture that is taking sha"e,

is sometimes antastic, but nevertheless it is clear in its idea.

)et us see how the inventor o the irst atomic bomb !""enheimer describes

the conduct o an electronL ? If we ask whether the $osition of an electron is

constant, we 4ust answer no!< if we ask whether the location of an electronchanges in the course of ti4e, we 4ust answer no!< if we ask, whether an

electron is i44o#able, we 4ust answer no!, if we ask whether an electron kee$s

on 4o#ing, we 4ust sayO no!KK%

!r i take the notion o ? wave"articlesA. $ we think harder , it sounds absurd

enough, as a wave cannot be a "article, and a "article cannot be a wave. /ith the

hel" o this "arado-ical notion, which does not it within the rames o our so

called common sense, scientists try to e-"ress the dual character o the nature o

99 F. =a"ra. Dao o "hysics. %Pb. 1>>9. P.10.


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the substance at the level o elementary "articles o an atom H which, de"ending on

the very "articular situation, become a""arent either as a "article, or as a waveI.

%cience knows a lot o these "arado-es. /hat are they useul or us or &hey

show, i the "otential o a man is so limited in cogniKing and e-"ressing the

realities o this world in a ?human languageA, so it is obvious, these "ossibilities

are even more limited in understanding o that world. &hat is why all its

descri"tions bear conditional, symbolic nature. &he :ible is ull o socalled

anthro"omor"hisms, when od is de"icted like a man. #nd, unortunately, we are

very oten inclined to take images and analogies in descri"tions o that world or

the reality itsel, and as a result, absolutely distorted conce"tions are being

created not only about "aradise, hell, trying e-"erience and etc., but about the

s"iritual lie, about salvation, about od 'imsel. &hese distortions can easily

mislead a hristian, to lure him into the "aganism. #nd a hristian + "agan + what

can be the worst

%t. Gohn assian o ome wrote on the sub6ectL If these and si4ilar $assages

of the >cri$ture are understood literally, in the rough $erce$tional sense, it will turn out that od slee$s and wakes u$, sits and walks, turns his face or back to

so4eone, a$$roaches and distances, & and the flesh $arts ha#e ' head, eyes, hands,

feet and etc% & All this cannot gi#e us the notion without the ut4ost sacrilege

about Hi4, Dho as the >cri$ture states, is in#isible, indescribable, o4ni$resent, in

the sa4e way we cannot ascribe to Hi4 without blas$he4y His indignation in

anger and rage!

K3

% #ll the descri"tions o this kind are such that we seem to startunderstanding something, butE #nd this ?butA is the main thing that should be

born in mind in our attem"t to realiKe what is the trying e-"erience and the status

o a soul ater death. ealities there are 4uite dierent there, everything is not in

the same way as we have here.

%o when angel told venerable Macarius about celestial and earthy things, so

above all he meant ater death suerings. #nd it is clear why he warned himL with

all the sim"licity o their earthy notions, in reality they have 4uite dierent, dee"er

9 Dobrotolubie HPhilokaliaI. ;.2. %t.&rinity %ergiev )avra. 1>>. P.


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s"iritual, celestial sense. #nd there is no such similar sense in either o the

religious teachings, including those o the non!rthodo- nature.

%o, atholicism, or one, dee"ly distorted the "icture o the "osthumous state o

man by advancing its dogma on "urgatory and the teaching o the socalled

limbo. Purgatory is the "lace o suerings intended or reimbursement o shortage

o socalled mans merits to satisy ods 6ustice. )imbo is the location between

"aradise and "urgatory, where souls o unba"tiKed babies are "laced, they neither

suer, nor take delight. H&his is how we may all into such theological absurdity

when we ignore "atristic teachingI.

&he church tradition says, that ater the bodys death the soul goes through the

"aradise abodes irst, then in the most cases it goes through socalled trying

e-"erience. :oth are socalled e-amination or a soul. #nd as any e-aminations,

they, naturally can be "assed dierently.

?Dhen our soul is se$arated fro4 our body, says %t. yril, archbisho" o

#le-andria, H; c.I, on the one hand we5ll confront the hea#enly hosts and

#irtues, on the other ' the $owers of darkness, e#il&doers, hea#enly chiefs of trying e($erience, torturers and e($osers of our deeds: Ha#ing seen the4, the soul will

e($ress its indignation, shudder and in disarray will search for the safeguard fro4

angels of the 1ord, but being recei#ed by saint angels, ha#ing $assed through the

air s$ace under their $rotection and ha#ing risen to a height, it will confront

different trying e($erience /as if so4e frontier $ost or custo4 house, at which

duties are e(acted2, which will bar it the way to the ingdo4, will block and hold its stri#ing for it!K %

POSTHUMOUS TEST OF 6OOD

#ccording to the hurch tradition, ater the three days stay in the coin the

soul o the dead gaKes the "aradise abodes, then on the 90th day it is shown

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tortures o the hell. 'ow could we understand these earthy images, ?earthy

thingsA

&he soul being the inhabitant o that world by nature, having reed itsel rom

the "lum" body, becomes ca"able o seeing that world in the "ro"er way. There

everything is o"en to a soul. #nd i, as the a"ostle Paul writes, under earthy

conditions -e see b+t a poor refle0tion( !+essin!( an' ten -e sall see fa0e to

fa0e H 1 orinthians 1, 12I + that is how it is in reality. &his vision and cognition,

as diered rom the earthy cognition, having basically the e-ternal ob6ective

character, ac4uire the im"licated nature ater the death o the body. &he com"licity

in the given case means the unity o the "erson who is coming to know with the

knowable. &he soul enters into the direct contact, contact with the world o ghosts

as it is the same sort o ghost. :ut with what kind o s"irits is the soul united

/ith those with whom it is similar in its s"iritual status. /e may believe that each

virtue has its own s"irit, its angel + in the same way as each "assion has its s"irit,

its demon. :ut well s"eak about it later.

'ow could we understand everything ha""ening with the world within the "eriod rom the d through to the >th days %omehow "eo"le think that the soul

is tested at the trying e-"erience. 'owever, there is no doubt, that the soul is being

e-"osed not only in the tem"tation by evil, "assions, but when it turns out to be in

ront o good. &he dierence is only in the act, that the irst thing is linked with

the vision o demons, their threats and that is why with suerings, and the second,

on the contrary, enra"tures the soul by showing the beauty o angels and saintsvirtues, o their love. :ut in this case also the soul ?takes e-amsA. /hat do they

com"rise &hey e-"ose what good 4ualities the soul have ac4uired during its

earthy lie, what elevated and "ure things it strived at, what ideals it served.

%o, ater three days these socalled tests o the "erson o good, start. &he soul

"asses in ront o all virtues Haccording to the a"ostle, this isL love, 6oy, "eace,

"atience, kindness, goodness, aithulness, gentleness and selcontrol, and etc. +

alatians, , 22I. For e-am"le, it turns out to be in ront o mercy. /ill it "erceive

>


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it as that s"iritual treasure, to which it has been striving at, though it could not

"erorm it com"letely under the conditions o earthy lie, or on the contrary, the

ac4uired brutality will "ush the soul away rom that virtue, as rom something

alien and unacce"table /ill it unite with the s"irit o mercy or re6ect it %o

during the si- earthy days the test o the soul or its res"onse to good, love, chastity

occursE #s a result o this ?e-am it will see all its real good, not sham, not

through rosecoloured s"ectacles, it will see the genuine ace o its virtues and

good deeds.

&his will have a tremendous inluence or its urther seldetermination. !ne

thing is obvious, that the soul, striving or the truth, 6ustice, love in its earthy lie

and having seen here their entire heavenly beauty, o course, will seek towards

them with all its might and become single with them to the measure o its s"iritual

"urity. #nd that is why it will not be sub6ected to trying e-"erience, as is witnessed

by )ord 'imsel H I tell yo+ te tr+t( -oe"er ears my -or' an' belie"es

Him -o sent me as eternal life an' -ill not be 0on'emne'( e as 0rosse'

o"er from 'eat to lie ? Gohn , 29I, and the e-am"le o saint "eo"le, who havedirectly crossed to heavenly abodes. From here it becomes clear, why the souls o

the de"arted come to know "aradise irst, but not the hell5 why must the soul,

having shown the as"iration or od and ca"able to receive the =ingdom o od,

e-"erience the contact with the evil, with the disgusting outrage, with demons

&he most wonderul e-am"le is the reasonable criminal. 'e was the irst, who

entered the "aradise without crossing the trying e-"erience , though, according toall earthy notions o 6ustice he had to be sub6ected to them to the utmost measure.

&his act testiies to the great signiicance o hrists sacriice, reeing everyone,

who has sincerely humbled and re"ented rom the "ower o demons tortures both

in the earthy and "osthumous lie. &hat is why we may believe irmly, that

hristians, living according to the os"el conscience, inherit eternal lie on the

ninth day, having avoided all the suerings ater their death.

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TEST OF EVIL

&he trying e-"erience is not ods "unishment or sins, but the last remedy or

the dangerously sick, who didnt only give themselves into the "ower o "assions,

but 6ustiied themselves, didnt re"ent and ?reachedA a high o"inion about

himsel, his advantages, his merits beore od and "eo"le. For such a soul the

suerings ater death re"resent "erect means o cognition o his very bottom

"osition, or without this awareness, it is im"ossible to convert to od, to acce"t

'im5 salvation is im"ossible.

%o or a soul, which has not withstood the test o good, alas, the other 0days

trials are "rovided. &he trying e-"erience starts. &he torments are described

much more oten in the civil literature than the contem"lation o the beauty o the

=ingdom o saints. &he reason behind it, evidently, lies in the act that the ma6ority

o "eo"le are immeasurably more enslaved by the "assions, than engaged in good

doing. &hat is why this test takes much more time. :ut as a result the soul is shown

all the "ower o evil o each o its "assion.

/e all know what it means the ire o "assion + a man is suddenly sub6ected toterriying anger, greed, lustE@ #nd then down with reason, conscience, good,

your own wellbeing. #ll this is ha""ening there, but to much greater e-tent. &he

action o that very "assion Hor "assionsI, which "revailed in the essence o the

whole mans lie, is e-"osed in the soul in its ullness. #nd he, who didnt ight

it, served it, or whom it was the essence o his lie, he will not withstand demons

tem"tations, he will rush to gras" them as i on a bait. %o this is how therustration occurs during these trials, and alling o the soul into the bosom o

senseless and un4uenchable ire, being inlamed by this "assion. $ under the

earthy conditions it could get its ood and comort rom time to time, then there it

is to undergo real torments o &antalus97.

&hey usually s"eak about twenty kinds o torments and they start the list with a

seemingly innocent sinL with idle talk, with that one, which we dont "ay any

97 #ccording to an ancient reek myth the guilty tKar &antalus was condemned by gods to stand u" to the chin in a "ool o water in 'ades and beneath the ruitladen boughs only to have the water or ruit recede at each attem"t todrink or eat.

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attention to. &he a"ostle Games says 4uite the o""ositeL .ton!+e7B. ;.2, P.9799.

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de"icting various suerings during tortures. /hat you could only see there@

/hat kind o suerings demons might im"ose on sinul "eo"le@ &he artists have

strong antasy, very vivid, and that is why these "ictures im"ress so greatly. :ut

there everything is not like this.

/hy isnt it shown in the "ro"er way &he reason behind it is the same + there

is no chance to give knowledge to a man, living in his lesh, the nature o those

suerings, which are in store or each "erson, violating conscience and truth,

violating the commandments. #s, o

soul's life after death (posmertnaya zhizn dushi) alexei osipov

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