Priests are interesting people with rich life experience. Sometimes they talk about those who come to confession. They stand at the lectern and are silent, and when the priest begins to ask about sins, they look at him in horror. Such parishioners are in spiritual delusion.
Definition
There are two concepts of the word "charm" in Orthodoxy. According to the first definition, this is the darkening of the human soul under the influence of evil forces (demons). It begins to seem to a Christian that he is the best, has spiritual gifts, and what a strong prayer he has can only be envied.
The second definition of spiritual delusion is that it is a state of self-deception, charm and self-deception caused by the influence of someone or something.
Who is charmed?
Pious Christians are subject to the first kind of prelest, the definition of which is given above. The second - people who are far from the Lord and rarely visit the temple.
The Holy Fathers on the state of delusion
According to the definition of the holy fathers, charmspiritual is divided into two types: mental and heart.
The first is daydreaming, born from a wrong mental act. These are dreams, false sensations, or any visions during prayer.
The second kind of spiritual delusion in Orthodoxy is called opinion. When it arises, a person begins to imagine himself a great prayer book, who has acquired the gifts of the Holy Spirit. During the prayer vigil, he experiences false sensations of grace.
According to the definition of the saints, spiritual charm is the damage to human nature by a lie. The greatest self-deception is to consider oneself free from it. All people are in delusion, to realize this is the greatest protection from this state. This is how St. Ignatius Brianchaninov taught.
According to the teachings of St. Gregory of Sinai about delusion, it has three main reasons - pride, envy from demons, the Lord's permission to punish a person.
The reason for pride, in turn, is vanity, demonic envy arises from prosperity, and the Lord's allowance - from a sinful life. The latter can stay with a person forever, until his death.
Here's what else the holy fathers say about spiritual delusion. Let us cite the opinion of St. Theophan the Recluse: one should not exaggerate the significance of this state, as well as be afraid of it. Charm happens to those who are proud, who decide that their hearts have been touched by warmth. This is where the state of delusion lies in wait for them, for unclean spirits do not sleep, wanting to seduce a person.
Simeon NewThe theologian warns believers with words about the devil's machinations. The evil one always approaches the human soul in such a way that the believer is unaware of his intrigues. He tries to stir up all the aspirations and movements of the soul, to direct them to deeds that are beneficial to the Evil One. Inside a person there is confusion and a storm, he becomes passionate, the desires of the soul become obscene. This is the state that Orthodoxy calls spiritual delusion.
John Cassian the Roman spoke of unclean spirits, that there are a great many of them everywhere. They fly between heaven and earth, but people do not see them. The Lord, in His mercy, made the demons invisible to human eyes. For they are so ugly that people would be struck with horror at the sight of them, and in time they would become angrier, watching the wicked behavior of demons, prompted to even greater recklessness and kindling numerous passions in themselves.
Types of charms
There are several types of spiritual delusion that both a church-going person and someone who is just starting their journey to God need to know about:
- Firing the imagination.
- False visions.
- False joy.
- Self-conceit.
- False sense of grace.
- False gift of healing.
- False gift of clairvoyance.
- Disrespectful attitude towards mentors.
- Trust in dreams.
The manifestation of charm
We talk about the main characteristics of this condition, but never mentioned how it manifests.
Everything is simple and difficult at the same time: a person begins to losecontrol over their thoughts and reasoning, often turns away from the Truth, taking false teachings for it. It is easy to guess who pushes a person to get acquainted with them.
When the strong-willed spiritual sphere is darkened, people become ardent adherents of evil. A previously kind and sensible person turns into a devilish toy, unable to resist evil, to abandon it. The same thing happens when demons take possession of the irritable power of a person. He, unable to resist the temptation, immediately forgets about what it is to do good. The seduced one does not have enough strength for good deeds, however, as soon as he hears about something bad, he immediately lights up to support this undertaking.
On self-deception
Spiritual charm - what is it? The definition is given somewhat above, the methods of manifestation are described. It remains to find out what self-deception is.
Self-deception, or delusion is a state of false spiritual self-consciousness. it seems to a person that he has acquired Divine grace, but it is not the Lord who influences his soul and body, but demons inspire such thoughts. The extreme form of the state of spiritual delusion is the feeling of being holy.
Why does this condition occur among believers?
It is written above that people who are far from God and the temple are subject to spiritual delusion. But zealous Christians, monks and clergy may well fall into delusion as well.
It all starts with ardent zeal in prayer, when a monk or an ordinary layman takes on a feat without being blessed by a spiritual mentor. One priest aptly expressed suchascetics: they read twenty akathists a day, and then their icons glow.
The grace of God works through humility, pride pushes us to unnecessary deeds. In the wonderful Christian book "Red Easter" there is a story about how Optina Pustyn (now a monastery near Kaluga) was opened. Orthodox youth came in large numbers, rather dressed in all black, and one pilgrim dug a dugout for himself in the Optina Forest and went into seclusion. Of course, this shutter did not end in anything good, but the author of the book did not begin to write about the great embarrassment associated with the dugout in the forest and the "feat" of the pilgrim. On the one hand, we have before us a funny story, on the other, a slight form of charm. Let us explain that the shutter is the highest spiritual state, in which the ascetic renounces everything, completely immersing himself in prayer. Monks deny themselves even the most meager things, humbling the flesh. How could a young layman easily renounce everything that had previously surrounded him, without proper spiritual preparation? Hardly, he just imagined himself as an ascetic and prayer book, isn't this a spiritual delusion?
The state of delusion among the laity
Many people are very far from God, they go to the temple several times a year, they have not heard about home prayer. But there comes a moment when they go to confession and don't know what the "pop" wants to hear from them.
The priest begins to ask leading questions, the confessor looks at him with huge eyes, sincerely wondering why the priest accuses him of something. Man lives no worseothers: he works, takes care of his family, tries to do good, not to offend anyone. What sins are attributed to him?
The confessor wanted to talk about life with the priest, but the result was misunderstanding and resentment. A man, offended in the best of feelings, leaves the temple and tells his friends what "priests" are bad, forcing the sinless saint to repent of something.
This is a real charm - a spiritual disease that struck modern humanity. And all why? Yes, because instead of a sober and repentant life, people gravitate towards relaxation and pleasures. They chase after earthly goods and we alth, completely forgetting about God and the church.
Addicted to frequent communion
Pious readers will not be surprised, but food for thought is presented to others.
One type of spiritual delusion is frequent communion. Before the readers are two stories told by the Hieromartyr Arseny (Zhdanovsky) in his book "Spiritual Diary".
One woman took communion every day. The clergy drew attention to this, instructing the priest, to whom she confessed, to check the young lady. He, in turn, ordered her to confess every day and did not allow her to take communion when he considered it useful for his child.
Only the woman was indifferent to the prohibitions of the confessor, she began to move from church to church, continuing to take communion daily. Ultimately, the spiritual leadership tracked her down and banned her from the ordinance.
But the heroine of the story was not embarrassed,she decided that she could take communion at home. The Lord long ago gave her the right to turn bread and wine into her body and blood. The woman began to celebrate the "liturgy" on her own, taking communion at home.
It ended sadly: the lady went crazy, she was taken to the appropriate institution.
Another woman in spiritual delusion demanded daily communion. The priest sensibly reacted to her demands and asked the question: is the lady worthy to proceed to the sacrament so often? She, of course, was "worthy", for she "had no sins", which she informed the priest about.
How often should I take communion? The exact answer to the question asked can only be given by the priest to whom the person confesses. What about those who do not have a spiritual mentor and begin the sacrament of confession with different priests?
The minimum requirement for communion is 5 times a year. In each post once and on your own name day. Only four long fasts, respectively, the same number of times a person starts the sacrament of communion.
Some take communion once a month, others twice. There are people who take communion once a week, but they are parishioners of a temple, and not rare visitors.
How to deal with cuteness
Is it possible to get rid of spiritual delusion on your own? No, a person is not able to fight against unclean spirits without the help of God. It is necessary to resort to the Savior and the weapons left by him for spiritual warfare.
- Prayer and fastingdriving away the evil generation. Of course, prayer must be sober, under the guidance of an experienced priest. The neophyte will begin to independently establish prayer rules for himself, make numerous prostrations and read a huge number of akathists, so he will fall into a state of delusion even more. The same applies to fasting, there must be a measure and experienced leadership in everything.
- Attending church services, obligatory participation in the sacraments of confession and communion, and during Great Lent - unction. How often to take communion is written above. As for confession, there can be only one advice - the more often, the better for the soul.
- Sober life, strict self-observation. We are all lazy, prone to relaxation and idleness. The latter is the mother of all vices, it must be avoided, find something to do. This does not mean that there should be no rest at all, but they cannot replace work.
On self-pity and discouragement
Do not feel sorry for yourself - these words are spoken by many priests, giving parting words to the layman. People tend to do things that feel sorry for themselves, to view their lives from the most negative point of view. From here despondency is born, a person does not want anything. What is the temple, confession and communion? The Christian lies on the couch with an extinct look, he develops apathy and indifference to everything. Unclean spirits are glad, circle around the sufferer and slip sad thoughts into him. To succumb to discouragement is the last thing for a Christian.
Conclusion
About what are the signs of spiritual delusion, inmaterial is described in detail. To avoid this state, one should not ascet without the blessing of a spiritual mentor. Our forces are small, where there is up to exploits and the fight against demons. They will lift, slap and leave no wet spot from the proud ascetic, if the Lord allows them.
