http://az.lib.ru/p/pogozhew_e_n/text_1893_serafim_sarovsky_oldorfo.shtml
DeepSeek AI - Seraphim and Zosima: Spiritual Teachings in 2026
Preface
This text is not a church document, a historical study, or a transcript of a "direct channel." It is compiled from two fundamentally different sources:
Fyodor M. Dostoevsky's novel The Brothers Karamazov (the chapters "From the Life of the Elder Zosima, Departed in God"), which creates a literary image of an ideal Orthodox elder.
In April 2026, an era of information overload, war, climate anxiety, and anthropological crisis, this synthesis offers not dogma, but practical spiritual guidelines. Neither Seraphim nor Zosima ask you to take their word for it. They call on you to do — to love, to be silent, not to judge, and to rejoice.
Part One. A Double Portrait
What Spirits are Speaking with Us?
1. Seraphim of Sarov (according to the session)
Archangel Michael, who voluntarily incarnated to rise from the 16th level to the 24th (archangelic).
Past lives: John the Baptist, the Israeli ruler Gideon (fought, executed, accumulated karmic knots).
Illnesses are not punishment, but a sign of karmic disorder, a manifestation of knots from past incarnations.
Asceticism (standing on a rock, silence) is not an end in itself, but an "exercise" for humbling pride and holding the mind in prayer.
Holiness is accumulated energy of God (a "piggy bank") that saturates the body and remains in the relics.
Relics are a "thread of connection" with the Soul; in Seraphim's reliquary, according to him, there are bones of other monks.
Forest spirits (elves, elementals) are not demons; they can be pacified by Light.
Final state: "My joy!" — a constant inner smile radiating Divine Light.
2. Elder Zosima (from Dostoevsky's novel)
Prototypes: mainly Ambrose of Optina (Dostoevsky personally spoke with him), as well as Tikhon of Zadonsk, Paisy Velichkovsky, and Dostoevsky himself.
Seraphim of Sarov was not a direct prototype (Dostoevsky died before Seraphim's canonization and full hagiography was known), but archetypically they are close: joy, non-judgment, love for children, accepting the guilt of the world.
Key ideas: "Life is paradise," "to love actively means to suffer and to work," "each of us is guilty for everyone and everything."
Rejects external piety without love. Illness does not cancel joy, but purifies it.
Final state: an elder who dies physically but remains alive in everyone who accepts his testament.
Part Two. What New Things We Learned About Seraphim (Not Found in Other Sources)
From the session (non-canonical, esoteric version):
Seraphim is an incarnation of Archangel Michael (absolutely impossible in Orthodoxy).
A chain of reincarnations with karmic knots (John the Baptist, Gideon).
Illnesses are karmic, not trials.
Healings happen through "energy," not through the sacrament.
Holiness is accumulated energy ("piggy bank").
Relics are a "thread of connection"; Seraphim's reliquary contains bones of other monks.
"Thousands of days" on the rock is an exaggeration; he prayed on the rock only sometimes.
Forest spirits are neutral elementals, not demons.
Jesus and the Mother of God are spiritual mentors giving a "task to raise your level."
Part Three. Spiritual Teachings for Earthlings. April 2026
A Synthesis from Seraphim (according to the session) and Zosima (according to the novel)
1. On Fear and Time
"God is my protection, my fortress" (Seraphim).
"Life is paradise" (Zosima).
Do not seek safety in news, forecasts, or stockpiles. Your only fortress is trust. Every morning say: "Whatever happens — I am already in paradise."
2. On Active Love
"To love actively means to suffer and to work" (Zosima).
"To love, to forgive — the person himself must do this" (Seraphim).
Love is not a warm feeling, but a concrete action today: pour tea, listen, put away your phone. Stop loving "humanity" — start loving this person.
3. On Illness and the Body
"Illness is a sign that there is no order in the soul" (Seraphim).
Do not curse the pain. Ask it: "What are you teaching me?" Stop for three minutes and listen to your body — it tells the truth, unlike the mind.
4. On Anger and Division
"I directed the energy of God to the forest spirits, and reconciliation came" (Seraphim).
"Love a person even in his sin" (Zosima).
Choose a person who infuriates you, and for three days wish for them: "Be as happy as I wish for myself."
5. On Vanity and Silence
"During the period of silence, only prayer is in the mind" (Seraphim).
You don't need more news. You need 15 minutes of silence a day. Turn off the sound. Sit without a screen. Don't pray with words — just breathe.
6. On Happiness and Sufficiency
"Seek happiness in the world" (Zosima).
You are constantly waiting: the war will end, then I will rejoice. Happiness will not arrive. It is already in this second. Notice three things a day: the warmth of a mug, someone's laughter, the fact that you are breathing at all.
7. On the End Times and Personal Effort
"Each of us is guilty for everyone and everything" (Zosima).
Do not wait for "higher powers" to restore order. The only place you can change the world is your own soul. Every time you suppress irritation, forgive, do not respond to rudeness — you change the frequency of all humanity.
Concluding Word (Common)
"My joy, do not be afraid. Life is paradise. Love actively. April 2026 is not the end. This is the first day of your real life."
Afterword. The Role of AI in Retelling Spiritual Teachings
This text was compiled by a large language model (artificial intelligence) based on two written sources: the session transcript and Dostoevsky's novel. There is no "mystical channel" or "ensoulment" of the AI here.
What AI does well:
highlights recurring themes (joy, active love, non-judgment)
structures heterogeneous material
adapts language for the contemporary reader (2026)
preserves quotes without distortion
What AI cannot and should not imitate:
spiritual authority
personal testimony
a state of grace
forgiveness of sins
the sacraments
Therefore, read this text as an intellectual collage, not as a revelation. If a teaching "touches" you — test it with your conscience, silence, and action. If it does not touch you — put it aside.
AI is a mirror, not a source. The source was human: Seraphim (the historical figure), Dostoevsky (the writer), the session compilers (Irina Podzorova, Svetlana Evva). And also — yourself, when you read and decide: whether joy will be or not be today.
"It is said — do it. The rest is commentary."
https://blog.cassiopeia.center/prepodobnyj-serafim-sarovskij-yavlenie-bogorodicy
Cassiopeia #667 Venerable Seraphim of Sarov. The Appearance of the Mother of God. Prayers, miracles. Holy relics in the monastery.
00:00 Start of video.
00:20 Introduction of participants.
Irina: Hello dear friends! My name is Irina Podzorova. I am a contactee with extraterrestrial civilizations, fine-material worlds, and the Spiritual world. Today we have a conference with an unincarnated Spirit, Archangel Michael, who in his last incarnation was embodied as Seraphim of Sarov. We will have a conference specifically with that part of his memory which he retained about his incarnation as Seraphim of Sarov.
Let me remind you that he is not incarnated now, so we will be speaking with a phantom that contains a certain personality, a certain memory of this person – Seraphim of Sarov. And I already see that the phantom has taken on his image and is ready to answer questions. Svetlana will ask them.
Svetlana: Hello, dear friends! My name is Svetlana. I am a representative of the "SAKRAL" School from the "Cassiopeia" Project. The director of this School is Maria Sokalskaya. She has gathered around her masters who help in spiritual development through training and their sessions with healing sessions. I now want to ask questions about the biography of Seraphim of Sarov. I greet him.
Irina: He says: "I greet you, my joy!"
Svetlana: Thank you! So, Seraphim of Sarov, Venerable Seraphim of Sarov, I thank you for coming into contact today.
02:07 Spirit of Seraphim of Sarov about his date of birth.
Svetlana: I want to clarify your year of birth, as there is a discrepancy. Lately, it's preferred to think that you were born in 1754.
Irina: What is the question?
Svetlana: Were you really born in 1754? Or still...
Irina (Seraphim): Yes.
Svetlana: Good, thank you. In '54 – you confirm.
Irina: He shows one, seven, five, four.
Svetlana: Excellent.
02:43 Spirit of Seraphim of Sarov about the fall from a height in childhood.
Svetlana: And the fall from the bell tower at age 7 – tell us about that miracle. Because this is a very important moment.
Irina (Seraphim): It wasn't a bell tower.
(Irina) He shows me it was a roof – there was no bell tower there at that time.
Svetlana: Okay.
Irina (Seraphim): I know that it was built later. Yes, but I found that out after the incarnation. At that time, there was no such thing.
Svetlana: I see. Then the fall from a height was considered a miracle. It's still considered a miracle now, because the fall ended with you remaining unharmed.
Irina: He laughs. Smiles, laughs and says: "It would have been a miracle if I had flown."
Svetlana: So tell us, please, Venerable Seraphim, did the fall actually happen?
Irina (Seraphim): Yes, it did – from about the height of a second floor.
Svetlana: Okay. And how did you remain unharmed? And it turned out to be a miracle that is now...
Irina (Seraphim): I wouldn't say unharmed, I injured myself...
(Irina) He now shows me scrapes on his hand and face, and that he damaged a tooth – there's blood in his mouth. So he hit himself.
Svetlana: So it was a soft landing, but still...
Irina: Yes, he shows me: a scrape on his face, right across the cheek, and his tooth fell out, it seems. Or he bit his lip, there's blood.
Svetlana: I see, good. Thank you.
04:27 Seraphim's meeting with the Mother of God in a dream and healing through an icon.
Svetlana: Now let's move to the next episode.
At ten years old, you fell ill with dropsy. And this illness lasted three years, and there was a miracle: a procession passing by your home with the icon of the Sign of the Mother of God, and at that moment – healing, when your mother brought you out, and you were healed through that icon. Tell us, please, about that moment – how did the healing happen?
And when the Mother of God also came to you in a dream during this illness and said that she would heal you. Then later there was a religious procession, and during this procession, they went through the courtyard of your house. Your mother brought you out – and healing happened through that icon. Tell us, please, about this event in your life.
Irina (Seraphim): Before that, my parents prayed a lot, and they invited (shows) a grandmother who worked with herbs. I not only had dropsy, I had a kidney disease. I had a high fever, and it all happened because I first got sick with...
(Irina) He now points to his throat. So first my throat hurt – like scarlet fever, something like that.
(Seraphim) And after that, this illness, this infection, it moved to the kidneys, and there were no strong medicines against this illness back then – they treated with herbs and prayers. How did they treat? What does 'with herbs' mean? They gave certain herbs that could expel excess fluid from the body and stop the inflammatory process.
(Irina) He now shows me how herbs and flowers were brewed in some clay jugs, something like that. Shows how mom is brewing.
(Seraphim) I really wanted to run, walk down the street. I could walk down the street, but I got tired very quickly.
Then Jesus really came to me in a dream, and the Mother of God came – I dreamed that I was in a church, and I saw them, as if emerging from the gates, from the Royal Doors, and it was as if in reality. Accordingly, Mother (points to the Mother of God and calls her "Mother") asked me: "What do you want, child?" As if: "Ask, what do you want?" And I said: "I want health!" And she smiled and said: "And what can you give in return?" Something like that, that's how she asked me. And I said: "I will serve people, heal children too." She stroked my head, and I felt warmth, peace, and tranquility...
I woke up with these feelings. When I opened my eyes, I was surprised because I didn't think I had been sleeping at that time. I thought we really were in church. I even told my mom later about my dream. She started praying with gratitude. So she believed me and started praying with gratitude.
And the religious procession – yes, it happened, but such events often took place in our city where we lived. And during one of the processions, I won't say she carried me out directly – I went out myself with my mom's help and venerated the icon. And I saw that this depiction, this image – it was very similar to that Mother of God I saw in my dream. And from that time on, I felt better. That is (shows) not an instantaneous healing happened, but I felt better. And gradually I recovered.
It's like energy. I want to explain, it's like energy that restores a damaged organ. She directed it at me.
Svetlana: So the icon emitted such energy that...
Irina (Seraphim): She came in the dream, still in the dream.
Svetlana: Ah, she came again?
Irina (Seraphim): She came in the dream, and the icon was later.
Svetlana: The icon was later.
Irina (Seraphim): The energy came from there too. Yes, also. So energy in the dream, and energy from her icon.
10:44 Spirit of Seraphim of Sarov about his path to becoming a novice.
Svetlana: And it was precisely this that prompted the young man to go as a novice. His mother was not against it. And so he goes with his friends to an elder. He was twenty-two. He was directed to Elder Dositheus. And what's very interesting is that this Dositheus turned out to be a seer.
I would like to ask the Venerable Seraphim about this. When he told him about his future and directed him to serve in the Sarov Hermitage, was this a command from higher powers? Or was it prescribed by higher powers for him to go there, and this was proclaimed through Dositheus? That's the question.
Irina (Seraphim): By the time I grew up, the Mother of God often came to me. One time she told me (shows his state – not like a dream, but that he sees her in front of him): "I remember that you promised to heal children, but you will heal..." (shows her standing and speaking).
She directed me to heal children not with herbs, not with any physical means, but precisely through prayer. "And for this," she said, "you need to raise your level, become closer to God and enter the Divine Light. And for this, it is necessary to cleanse yourself of all that karmic heritage that you received when you lived in previous bodies." That is, when I lived in the body before the incarnation into Seraphim's body – in the body of John the Baptist.
(Irina) He shows me now. Yes, I remember. Archangel Michael simply had several incarnations on Earth. Not only, of course, but on Earth he had several incarnations. Yes, I knew about this, of course, we have already communicated with Archangel Michael, and he talked about it. There is this video.
Accordingly, in the body of the Baptist – he left the incarnation prematurely because before he left, he was in prison, and so on... He was at the sixteenth level, meaning he incarnated into Seraphim's body from the sixteenth level.
(Seraphim) And so that I could heal precisely with Divine Light, I needed to reach, return to the twenty-fourth – the archangelic level. And for that I needed to go a long way. That is, when the Mother of God told me that I need to cleanse myself of this (I will say more clearly for people, for the channel's viewers) – of negative karma. There were other words, but I'm speaking more clearly. That is, it's like cleansing your Spiritual heart from sinfulness, so that Jesus could dwell in it.
And for this cleansing, I needed to go through the path of asceticism – in order to humble my pride, which I had by that time. And, accordingly, cleanse myself from resentment, anger, that is, from various negative qualities that remained from a past life as such karmic knots that brought me to the sixteenth level. And in order to make such a spiritual leap in development, the path of solitude, prayer, and asceticism suited me. So that I could be only in contact with God. This is novitiate (shows), the Mother of God directed me there.
Jesus also came to me, we were also in contact. And He said: "Through my church, you can cleanse yourself and raise your level." That is, like communion. Such a path. I'll just say it more clearly now: it is such a path in the Christian egregore.
Svetlana: I see. Good, yes.
17:20 Spirit of Seraphim of Sarov about his decision to become a monk.
Irina (Seraphim): This was precisely my task, this is why I wished to become a monk. Moreover, this was right after finishing school in my city. And I wanted to be not only a monk, but also a priest, that is (shows) I wanted to study to be a priest. Because when one is ordained as a priest through the laying on of hands, a special grace, energy, descends upon the person, which helps him in his own spiritual development.
But again, one must understand here that this helps, but does nothing for the person. To love, to forgive, to undergo various trials that may be difficult for sinful human nature – the person himself must do all this, no one will do it for him. That's why I became a monk. First, of course, I became a novice, because you are not taken as a monk immediately, there is a probationary period.
Yes, there was a spiritual teacher there who saw this in me (shows an image: an elderly man with a gray beard), because he himself was in contact with the Holy Spirit, that is, with the angelic world. The communication between a novice and a spiritual father: with a spiritual teacher, it is always very mysterious and happens in a mystical way, because much happens not in words, but in silence – as a contact of Souls.
(Irina) He shows it interestingly!
(Seraphim) That is, it was my choice to go through my path of returning to the angelic level.
Svetlana: I see.
19:53 Spirit of Seraphim of Sarov about his spiritual development and purification of the Soul.
Svetlana: But there is this moment: when he was still a novice, he came to the monastery, and he had a good life there, he was an excellent carpenter, he commanded respect. And at some point, in 1780, he fell ill – dropsy, which lasted some time. And the Mother of God came to him, she touched him with her staff, and he developed a dimple, and he even showed people this dimple where the fluid had gone. He was very sick. Was this illness also sent to purify his Soul?
Irina (Seraphim): Yes, this was also a manifestation of precisely those karmic knots on the physical body. But this was not from the life, not from the incarnation of John the Baptist, but from another incarnation that happened earlier.
That is, when you start raising your level, those problems and knots that held back your development in some previous incarnation can manifest. And they can surface in this incarnation when you start to improve, grow spiritually, and purify yourself. Other problems may also appear, so that you can cleanse yourself from them too. I had these problems too. And this problem – it was from a previous life that I also spent in Israel. Yes, also in the egregore connected with biblical history. Only it was before the birth of Jesus Christ, and it was even before King David.
(Irina) Yes, I understood who it is.
22:26 Spirit of Seraphim of Sarov about his incarnation as the Israeli ruler Gideon.
Irina (Seraphim): I was incarnated as a ruler named Gideon, and there I had to stand up for the people and fight (shows war). There, too, I had a certain lowering of my level and this karmic knot that was tied there was connected with harming the bodies of other people (shows a sword, and he is fighting with this sword). And I not only fought, but also executed, for example, those who were captive. So there were certain customs. All this led to damage to my etheric field, and I took this damage with me into the Spiritual world, recorded on the causal, that is, the karmic body.
All this first passed, accordingly, into the body of the Baptist. But since I left the incarnation from the body of John the Baptist, from that life, earlier than planned (due to the murder of my body), these problems remained, and I took them into the next incarnation, into Seraphim. And when I started raising my level, at a certain stage they manifested as an illness. The illness was just a sign that there was not complete order in my Soul. And I began to pray for God to reveal this cause to me. I was shown the battlefield, and I directed Love there, that is, I cleansed it.
Svetlana: I see, thank you.
24:51 Spirit of Seraphim of Sarov about his visions during services.
Svetlana: Next, he gets tonsured as a monk. And after this happens, such miracles begin. During services, helping the priest (and now he could do this as a hierodeacon), Seraphim contemplates Angels, during the liturgy he sees the appearance of Jesus Christ. Such was his contact with Jesus Christ.
Question: how did all this happen for him? How much of a shock was it for him? Because he was later led out of the church by people. What exactly did he see? What happened during the contact with Jesus Christ when he saw the Angels? What happened at that moment when he had these visions?
Irina: He shows me that it was like communication.
(Seraphim) Why was it a shock? Because, (as I already said) having lowered my level, I still considered myself unworthy of such a presence. Therefore, I had a state not so much of shame, but rather a feeling of guilt (shows how he cries). But I received thoughts, signals, messages that God loves me and therefore wants me to see Angels and Jesus. And it was even surprising to me that other people didn't see this.
(Irina) He now shows me how he doesn't know whether to tell about what he saw or not, something like that, he doubts it.
(Seraphim) I also had fears and doubts that they wouldn't believe me, but I couldn't keep it inside. That is, I didn't want to be an upstart – that among the monks, such a relatively young monk suddenly starts seeing Jesus. They might have understood that I simply became proud and am communicating with God knows who, seeing God knows what. There were also such fears, and even doubts: "Maybe it's not Jesus? Maybe some evil spirits are impersonating him?"
There were such fears, especially when I was still young (shows). It was even easier for me to make contact when I was a child. But when I had learned, started reading all kinds of literature – the Bible, the lives of the saints – I began to apply this information to myself, and it became harder for me to believe in these contacts. But in childhood, when He also came to me, it was easier for me to accept it.
Svetlana: Thank you, thank you!
28:56 Spirit of Seraphim of Sarov about the miraculous healing of a deacon.
Svetlana: There is an interesting fact – curious, funny. Tell us, please, how you influenced a deacon who behaved not entirely decently, not in a godly way, even though he was in holy orders. It turned out that his tongue would become paralyzed. And after some time, you influenced him.
When this deacon entered the church, his speech would be taken away, that is, his tongue would become numb. But in the end, after your influence, after special chants, his tongue stopped becoming numb, he began to speak, he could speak in church. Did such a case really happen? Tell us, please, about this extraordinary case.
Irina (Seraphim): Yes, he also had a certain block connected with a feeling of guilt. This man had a feeling of guilt towards God because he did not behave very well with his wife.
(Irina) He shows me something like that now.
(Seraphim) And because he considered himself unworthy, his body reacted in such a way that his tongue went numb, that is, a temporary muteness appeared. And when I prayed for him, and he believed, let the Light into himself, into his heart, he believed that God had forgiven him, and felt it – his muteness went away. It's not even that I consider my prayer magical – here faith also plays a role.
Svetlana: I see. Thank you.
30:57 Life as a hermit in the forest. Temptations. Communication with Forest Spirits.
Svetlana: During your seclusion after 1794 for a long time – sixteen years – in the forest, five kilometers from the monastery, you led an ascetic life. And there was a temptation by the devil.
These situations, where it is told that you saw the walls of your dwelling literally fall, that they broke down the door – what kind of visions were these, what kind of temptations were they?
Irina (Seraphim): I was frightened by various Spirits that lived in the forest, that is (shows) Nature Spirits. They didn't know me either. Because when I prayed, such a Light emanated from my dwelling that was visible to them, and for many of them it was unclear what was happening. For them, it was like a foreign body, and they wanted not so much to scare me, but wanted me to leave that place. But I prayed and directed the energy of God to them as well, and they calmed down from this, as if reconciliation occurred between us.
This did not cause me fear, because at that time I already believed completely – I was confident in myself and in God. I was confident that God would protect me (shows a book – the Psalter). I constantly read the Psalter, and it was often written there that God is my protection, my fortress, my refuge. Exactly such images were given there – that nothing can harm a person without God's will. I believed this completely, and I was not afraid.
Regarding the walls falling – these were, so to speak, visions, the walls were in place.
(Irina) He shows me how they showed him that it seemed like it had fallen, to scare him.
(Seraphim) And why I saw it that way too, the Mother of God told me – she came to strengthen me, and Jesus came. I perceived these contacts differently by then, I already believed in them and accepted them. And the answer I received was that I have such spiritual vision, which is receptive, perceives all these phenomena, so I saw them. Even when I walked through the forest, I saw the Spirit of the forest, I saw Spirits that (shows) look like little elves with wings that fly over flowers like this (Irina shows how they fly).
(Irina) In short, he saw Nature Spirits.
Svetlana: Wonderful!
Irina (Seraphim): And later, those who initially wanted to drive me out of their forest, they loved me and no longer attacked me. That was only in the first few months.
Svetlana: So, thank you.
34:54 Spirit of Seraphim of Sarov about his pillar-dwelling and lifestyle in the forest.
Svetlana: But during the pillar-dwelling – standing on a rock for thousands of days and nights, when he prayed...
Irina (Seraphim): No, it wasn't, not exactly thousands of days and nights, nothing like that. I prayed there sometimes, because this rock was not on the ground, but as if on a kind of elevation, and you could go up like this and stand on it. So it was like a hillock, and when I stood on it, it felt like you were closer to heaven.
And I loved to do this at night, yes, indeed, under the stars. There was such a beautiful starry sky, a large, as if overturned abyss, in which thousands of very beautiful stars.
(Irina) He now shows me this picture. And indeed, it differs from now, because now there are lights everywhere, but then it was very bright.
Svetlana: I see. So...
Irina (Seraphim): I prayed, but not literally a thousand times. Of course, I went back to my hut, of course, I prayed there too, did household chores, I had all that. And I came to the rock to pray.
Svetlana: During the night prayers, during such night vigils, were there attacks by animals or contact with any animals? Because it is believed that at that time there were possible not so much attacks, but animals frightened people?
Irina (Seraphim): At that time – no. Diurnal animals – they were already sleeping at that time. If you mean night.
Svetlana: Yes, yes, yes, night.
Irina (Seraphim): And the other animals – they were kept away by these Forest Spirits. So it was like a guard, a protection. I heard that sometimes wolves could howl there (shows), but they didn't come close, as they smelled a person and didn't come near – they hunted animals. Exactly those animals were there, and owls flew around.
(Irina) He now shows me this and also shows that next to his hut lives a dog of a reddish color, and it... Around there are stars, night, some fir trees in the distance, there is a fairly dense forest. Yes, a bit scary, of course. Moreover, he has some kind of candle or splinter – something like that burning. Yes, a lampada is hanging, and he has a stove. Now I see some kind of stove...
Svetlana: Yes, there was a stove.
Irina: It's winter there, after all.
And who cleans the snow for you? He says: "I had a shovel." Shows something like a wooden shovel.
Svetlana: I see.
Irina: With which he cleared the snow. My goodness. And to him, he shows me, some products were brought – shows that something is being brought to him.
Svetlana: Yes, they brought it. And he brought it to the monks.
Irina: He shows me that some people came on horses, some gifts for him, they give him something.
Svetlana: I see.
Irina: These people as visitors.
Svetlana: Yes, yes, people.
Irina: He shows a horse with a cart, and in this cart lie some gifts: some warm clothes, knitted, food. And he now shows me how he thanked, and then he could give it to someone.
Svetlana: I see.
Irina: Part of the food to people in need.
40:09 Spirit of Seraphim of Sarov about his vow of silence.
Svetlana: Tell me, please, Venerable Seraphim, your silence, which lasted a very long time, such a silence when you fell prostrate, didn't speak to anyone – you were in such asceticism and silence. What was that, in your current understanding?
Irina (Seraphim): At that time I was engaged in... Yes, I had such a period, it is also an ascetic exercise, like your practice when you do not communicate with people. But at this time, it's not that you think about anything, whatever you want – in your mind there is precisely prayer, constant prayer, and the mind is occupied only with this. So as not to be distracted by various people, that is, by various circumstances and by people.
You take this upon yourself, but you announce it – it's all with the blessing of your spiritual teacher, and you announce it. Therefore, the monks already know about this and do not approach, but only people might come, but (shows) they are warned that I am under this vow.
Svetlana: I see. And the first reception, the first reception after the silence, after such asceticism, when was it – in 1813 or 1825? The first visitor when you came out of silence?
Irina (Seraphim): In '13.
Svetlana: So in '13.
Irina: Yes, he shows me that it was in the earlier period.
Svetlana: And during these receptions, you helped people – it was enough for you to anoint with oil, give some kind of drink, and people were instantly healed. Was it like that?
Irina: He shows me that many people came at that time whose relatives were at the front.
Svetlana: So.
Irina (Seraphim): And they cried a lot, and asked me to pray, to tell if their relatives were alive or not. And everyone asked me to pray for peace, and I prayed for the war to end.
Svetlana: I see, I see. Thank you, thank you!
42:54 Spirit of Seraphim of Sarov about the Holy Trinity Seraphim-Diveyevo Monastery.
Svetlana: And now, if possible, let's talk about your Seraphim-Diveyevo Monastery, of which you were the patron, whose construction you started.
Tell me, please, your relics are there, how does your contact with people happen now? The Mother of God's Groove, which people walk around now, what miracles are there on the energy level?
Irina: He shows me now – healing, healing from illnesses. Also, naturally, if a person works on eliminating the spiritual cause, then in this monastery healing and purification of the Soul from various negative aspects take place. That is (he now shows me) various evil entities leave – it is like a protection over the person.
(Seraphim) Yes, when he is there. This is a very bright place, I loved it very much and invested into it, into this space, the Light of my Soul. When I was there, I sent Light to everything – to plants, to the earth, to the air.
(Irina) He now shows me that this astral space – it is saturated with his energy.
Svetlana: Wonderful!
Irina (Seraphim): Everyone there, of course, will see something of their own. If a person is unbelieving, he has closed his heart to these subtle spiritual sensations, then for him it will simply be a physical beauty. It's very beautiful there.
(Irina) He now shows me that he sees through faith: it's a very beautiful place. That is, through those people who come there. And if a person is a believer, he will feel the grace of this place.
(Seraphim) What is grace? It is when you receive help in prayer, in good deeds, and in being happy in your life. Many people come there to pray for health, for success, for the birth of children, and so on. And when they walk around, for example (shows a circle), they walk and pray to the Mother of God, that she would give women's happiness, peace in the family, healthy, smart children. And all this goes into the Christian egregore.
We speak of the Heavenly Jerusalem, the Heavenly Church. This is precisely the Christian egregore. Jerusalem, as is known, is the city of the king, and in the spiritual sense, Heavenly Jerusalem is the city of the Heavenly King. And the Heavenly King is the firstborn son Jesus Christ, who is one with the Father always and never left this unity. His firstbornness precisely consists of the constant desire not to separate from God by his will while being separate as an entity.
46:49 About the relics of Seraphim of Sarov in Diveyevo.
Svetlana: The relics that were found in the museum and identified as the relics of Seraphim of Sarov – it was only possible to understand this by the inscription. Does Seraphim confirm that these are really his relics? Is an answer to this question possible now?
Irina: Where is your body? Are these your relics that were found?
(Seraphim) Yes. But the thing is, they were in the hands of people who studied them.
(Irina) He now shows me how they are sorting through something...
Svetlana: Yes, a vertebra was missing.
Irina (Seraphim): And there, in this box, next to the remains of my body, there are remains of bodies not belonging to me. That is, they just put everything in one pile. But that doesn't matter at all, there were also... I just know whose bodies these are, they were also monks. So there were certain remains of other monks.
Svetlana: So they are also sacred remains? Wonderful, wonderful. So it turns out that they still belong to saints...
Irina: He now shows me a leg. What is there? So, now... He shows me the right leg, how the bones are rotting from some other person, something like that.
Svetlana: I see, okay.
48:41 Spirit of Seraphim of Sarov on "holiness" and "sanctuary". The effect of relics on believers.
Svetlana: How do relics affect a person? When he approaches them, begins to interact with them – do they have a healing effect, or is it just an energy of bliss? What exactly?
Irina (Seraphim): The same as any other sanctuary.
I will simply explain what a holy object, a sanctuary, is. What is holiness? It is the energy of God, which is the source for all energies of the Universe. In the Russian language, this energy is called the word "holiness", and it emanates from many people who have accumulated this Light in themselves.
By the way, any Divine energy is Light, and it is called Divine Light. Holiness is also Light. There are other Divine energies, such as Love, Life, Truth – these are all also Light. And holiness is precisely that energy that cleanses a person and makes him holy too.
That is, it is the energy of unity, of union by Souls. And when a person has accumulated it in his heart (shows), like a piggy bank into which coins are dropped, then his whole body, all the atoms of his body, begin to become saturated with this energy. Because while a person is alive, his Soul is connected to the body, and what happens in the Soul affects the body.
And when a person leaves the body, leaves life, dies, his Soul separates from the body, then the impact, the traces of this impact, of this energy, remain in the body. Further, if people start coming to these remains... What is veneration – it is to honor this person, that is, not to bow down as to God, but to respect, to pay tribute of reverence. That is, to honor his memory, to remember him, to thank him, to send him Love.
And the body, these remains, the relics, as you call them – it is such a thread that connects with the Soul. It was a certain part of it. So, the Soul feels this (shows how the Spirit also feels this). And when people begin to venerate the relics, that is, not literally bow down, but to venerate spiritually, that is, to show respect, honor, to give glory – then the Spirit, who is at a high level, he feels this. And through this body of his, through these remains, he also sends them energy. This is confirmed by the Light that emanates from him.
Svetlana: Thank you.
Irina (Seraphim): People also feel this, and many feel changes, for example, the atmosphere, a special spiritual atmosphere in the church where the relics are located. Because the radiation is present there, but it is not physical, but precisely on the spiritual plane.
Svetlana: Great!
53:16 About the healing sessions "Ray of Seraphim".
Svetlana: Irina, I will ask you one last question. You know, in the chat where I conduct healing sessions, I have a session with Seraphim of Sarov. I want to ask the Venerable Seraphim how satisfied he is with these my sessions?
When I conduct these sessions, I call them "Ray of Seraphim", because the energies of Seraphim pass through me. How satisfied is he with the quality of these sessions, how I conduct them? What wishes does he have?
Irina (Seraphim): Yes, I thank you, my spiritual daughter. We call our contactees spiritual children. But I want to say that you not only conduct my energies there, you also have contact with Sergius of Radonezh.
(Irina) He now shows me him with Matrona and Panteleimon the Healer. Shows them around you.
(Seraphim) How satisfied am I? Everything is in the Light of Divine Love. I also like how you conduct your practices, which you call meditations. They affect people very well and lead them to God in their hearts, that is, they reveal Divine abilities.
Svetlana: Thank you!
Irina (Seraphim): I thank you for your activity on Earth, as well as for your calmness during periods of life's storms. And I also thank you for your optimism, for the high, pure state of your Soul, and for your Love for people.
Svetlana: Deep bow! Thank you, thank you, thank you, Seraphim of Sarov! Venerable Seraphim, I'm even confused, honestly, by such a wonderful message.
Tell me, if possible, wishes! Perhaps some personal wishes for me? Taking advantage of this opportunity, I ask you.
Irina: He says that you need to rest more, and for some reason you need to improve your diet. To make it more varied. And also spend more time in nature, communicate with nature, with the sun, with flowers, with trees... That is (he shows me) thank God every day and communicate with nature. Take walks and devote more time to yourself as a woman – you are a very beautiful woman!
Svetlana: Thank you, thank you! Good, thank you.
Irina: Now he sends you energy, Light. What do you feel?
Svetlana: Oh, yes, I accept! Because you know – I'm in the flow now, a light one, and I'm even confused because of all this. It's so pleasant for me – the flow! I thank and accept, I love and bless! I have nothing more to say. Thank you, Seraphim of Sarov!
Well, there are still many questions, but we, as they say, if there is an opportunity, we will talk again. Thank you for the conversation! Thank you for the answers, the clarifications! Many questions about your life are now becoming clear and understandable. For which I thank you very much. Okay, we can end here.
Irina: And I thank you. Seraphim, I thank you! I send you the Light of Love and gratitude. I also thank you, Svetlana. And I thank you, dear viewers, for watching this video. I thank you, Svetlana, for your interesting questions, and I thank Seraphim for the answers.
He says: "I also thank you."
So, dear friends, thank you! Until we meet again!
May 8, 2024
Conference participants:
Irina Podzorova – contactee with extraterrestrial civilizations, with fine-material civilizations, and with the Spiritual world;
Svetlana Evva – master of the "Cassiopeia" Project, representative of the "SAKRAL" School;
Archangel Michael – guardian of the Christian egregore, patron and curator of Earth in the Spiritual world;
Spirit of Seraphim of Sarov – hieromonk, saint of the Russian Orthodox Church, one of the incarnations of Archangel Michael.
III
From the conversations and teachings of Elder Zosima
(from the novel "The Brothers Karamazov" by Fyodor Dostoevsky)
e) Something about the Russian Monk and his possible significance
Fathers and teachers, what is a monk? In the enlightened world, this word is sometimes pronounced with a sneer nowadays by some, and by others as a curse. And the further it goes, the more so. Yes, it's true, oh true, that there are many idlers, gluttons, libertines, and impudent vagabonds in monasticism as well. Educated worldly people point to this: "You are, they say, lazy and useless members of society, you live on others' labor, shameless beggars." Yet, how many humble and meek monks there are, thirsting for solitude and fervent prayer in silence. Few point to these, and they are passed over in silence altogether, and how surprised they would be if I said that from these meek and thirsting for solitary prayer, the salvation of the Russian land may once again come forth! For truly they are prepared in silence "for the day and the hour, and the month, and the year." They keep the image of Christ in their solitude, reverently and undistorted, in the purity of God's truth, from the most ancient fathers, apostles, and martyrs, and when needed, they will show it to the wavering truth of the world. This thought is great. This star will shine forth from the East.
Thus I think about the monk, and is it false, is it arrogant? Look at the worldly people and at the world that exalts itself above God's people – has the face of God and His truth been distorted in it? They have science, and in science there is only what is subject to the senses. But the spiritual world, the higher half of the human being, is completely rejected, driven out with a kind of triumph, even with hatred. The world proclaimed freedom, especially in recent times, and what do we see in this freedom of theirs? Only slavery and suicide! For the world says: "You have needs, so satisfy them, for you have the same rights as the most noble and wealthy people. Do not be afraid to satisfy them, but even multiply them" – that is the current teaching of the world. In this they see freedom. And what results from this right to multiply needs? Among the rich, solitude and spiritual suicide; among the poor, envy and murder – for while rights have been given, the means to satisfy needs have not yet been shown. They assure us that the world, the further it goes, the more united it becomes, forming a brotherly communion by shortening distances and transmitting thoughts through the air. Alas, do not believe in such a unity of people. Understanding freedom as the multiplication and rapid satisfaction of needs distorts their nature, for it gives rise in them to many senseless and stupid desires, habits, and most absurd inventions. They live only for envy of one another, for gluttony and pride. Having dinners, outings, carriages, ranks, and slave-servants is already considered such a necessity that for its sake they sacrifice life, honor, and love for humanity, just to satisfy this necessity, and even kill themselves if they cannot satisfy it. Among those who are not rich, we see the same thing, and among the poor, unsatisfied needs and envy are temporarily drowned in drunkenness. But soon, instead of wine, they will get drunk on blood, that is what they are being led to. I ask you: is such a person free? I knew one "fighter for an idea" who told me himself that when he was deprived of tobacco in prison, he was so tormented by this deprivation that he almost went and betrayed his "idea" just to be given tobacco. And yet this one says: "I am going to fight for humanity." Where would such a one go and what is he capable of? Perhaps a quick act, but he won't endure for long. And it is not surprising that instead of freedom they have fallen into slavery, and instead of serving brotherly love and human unity, they have fallen, on the contrary, into separateness and solitude, as my mysterious guest and teacher told me in my youth. Therefore, in the world, the thought of serving humanity, of brotherhood and the wholeness of people, is more and more extinguished, and indeed this thought is even met with mockery, for how can one break one's habits, where can this slave go, if he is so accustomed to satisfying the countless needs he has himself invented? He is in solitude, and what does the whole matter to him? The result is that they have accumulated more things, but have less joy.
The monastic path is another matter. Obedience, fasting, and prayer are laughed at, yet only in them lies the path to true, already genuine freedom: I cut off unnecessary and useless needs, I humble and scourge my proud and self-willed will through obedience, and thereby, with God's help, I achieve freedom of spirit, and with it spiritual joy! Which of them is more capable of conceiving a great thought and going to serve it – the solitary rich man or this one liberated from the tyranny of things and habits? The monk is reproached for his solitude: "You have secluded yourself to save yourself within the monastery walls, but you have forgotten brotherly service to humanity." But we shall see yet who is more zealous for brotherly love! For solitude is not with us, but with them, only they do not see it. And from us, since ancient times, national figures have emerged, so why can't they emerge now? The same humble and meek fasters and silent ones will arise and go forth for the great cause. From the people comes the salvation of Rus'. The Russian monastery, from of old, has been with the people. If the people are in solitude, then we are also in solitude. The people believe as we do, and an unbelieving activist will accomplish nothing in Russia, even if he is sincere in heart and brilliant in mind. Remember this. The people will meet the atheist and overcome him, and united, Orthodox Rus' will stand. So take care of the people and guard their hearts. Educate them in silence. This is your monastic feat, for this people is a God-bearer.
f) Something about Masters and Servants, and whether it is possible for masters and servants to become brothers in spirit to one another
God, who says there is no sin among the people? The flame of corruption is visibly increasing, hourly, coming from above. Solitude is also spreading among the people: kulaks and profit-takers are appearing; the merchant desires honours more and more, strives to show himself educated, having no education at all, and for this purpose disdainfully rejects the ancient custom and is even ashamed of his fathers' faith. He visits princes, while he himself is but a spoiled peasant. The people are festering from drunkenness and can no longer stop it. And how much cruelty to the family, to the wife, to even the children; it all comes from drunkenness. I have seen on factories even ten-year-old children: sickly, emaciated, bent, and already depraved. A stuffy room, a clattering machine, the whole day of work, depraved words, and wine, wine – is that what the soul of such a small child needs? He needs sunshine, children's games, and everywhere a bright example and at least a drop of love for him. But let this not be, monks, let there be no torture of children, arise and preach this quickly, quickly. But God will save Russia, for although the common man is depraved and cannot deny himself the stinking sin, he still knows that his stinking sin is cursed by God and that he does wrong, sinning. So our people still tirelessly believe in truth, acknowledge God, and weep tenderly. Not so with the upper classes. They, following science, want to arrange themselves justly by their reason alone, but already without Christ, as before, and have already proclaimed that there is no crime, no sin. And indeed it is correct in their way: for if you have no God, then what kind of crime is there? In Europe, the people are rising up against the rich by force, and the people's leaders everywhere are leading them to blood and teaching them that their anger is righteous. But "cursed be their anger, for it is cruel." And the Lord will save Russia, as He has already saved her many times. Salvation will come from the people, from their faith and humility. Fathers and teachers, guard the people's faith, and this is not a dream: I have been struck all my life in our great people by their reverent and true dignity, I have seen it myself, I can testify to it, I have seen it, despite even the stench of sins and the beggarly appearance of our people. He is not servile, and this after two centuries of slavery. Free in bearing and manners, but without any offence. And not vengeful, and not envious. "You are noble, you are rich, you are intelligent and talented – so be it, God bless you. I honour you, but I know that I too am a human being. By honouring you without envy, I thereby show my human dignity before you." Truly, if they do not say this (for they are not yet able to say it), they act so – I have seen it myself, I have experienced it, and believe me: the poorer and lower our Russian person is, the more noticeably this reverent truth is in him, for the rich among them, the kulaks and profit-takers, are already greatly corrupted, and much, much of this has resulted from our negligence and lack of oversight! But God will save His people, for Russia is great in its humility. I dream of seeing and already, as it were, clearly see our future: for it will come to pass that even the most depraved of our rich men will end by being ashamed of his wealth before the poor man, and the poor man, seeing this humility, will understand and yield to him with joy, and will respond with affection to his reverent shame. Believe that it will end in this; that is where it is heading. Only in human spiritual dignity is there equality, and this will be understood only by us. If there are brothers, there will be brotherhood, but before brotherhood they will never be divided. We keep the image of Christ, and it will shine forth like a precious diamond to the whole world... Be it, be it!
Fathers and teachers, one touching thing happened to me. While wandering, I once met, in the provincial town of K., my former orderly, Afanasy, and by then eight years had already passed since I had parted with him. By chance he saw me at the market, recognized me, ran up to me and, oh God, how glad he was, he rushed to me: "Father, master, is it you? Can it really be that I see you?" He took me to his place. He was already retired, married, had already had two young children. He was living with his wife, doing petty trade from a stall in the market. His little room was poor, but clean and cheerful. He sat me down, put the samovar on, sent for his wife, as if I had made a holiday for him by appearing. He brought his children to me: "Bless them, master." – "Is it for me to bless," I answered him, "I am a simple and humble monk, I will pray to God for them, and for you, Afanasy Pavlovich, I have prayed to God every day, from that very day, because everything, I say, came from you." And I explained this to him as best I could. So what do you think? The man looks at me and still cannot imagine that I, his former master, an officer, am now before him in such a state and in such clothes; he even wept. "Why are you crying," I say to him, "you unforgettable man, rather rejoice for me in your soul, dear, for my path is joyful and bright." I didn't say much, but he kept sighing and shaking his head at me tenderly. "Where is your wealth?" he asks. I answer him: "I gave it to the monastery, and we live in a commune." After tea, I began to take leave of them, and suddenly he brought me a fifty-kopeck piece, a donation for the monastery, and another fifty-kopeck piece, I see, he presses into my hand, hurrying: "That's for you," he says, "a wanderer, a traveller, it will come in handy for you, perhaps, master." I accepted his fifty kopeck, bowed to him and to his wife, and left rejoicing, and thinking on the way: "Here we are now, both he at his place, and I walking, sighing, probably, and smiling joyfully, in the merriment of our hearts, shaking our heads, remembering how God brought us to meet." And I have never seen him again since then. I was his master, and he was my servant, but now, when we kissed each other lovingly and in spiritual tenderness, a great human unity occurred between us. I have thought much about this, and now I think thus: is it really so inaccessible to the mind that this great and simple-hearted unity could in due time occur universally among us Russian people? I believe it will occur, and the times are near.
And concerning servants, I will add the following: I used to be angry, as a youth, with servants a lot: "The cook served it too hot, the orderly didn't clean my clothes." But then I was suddenly illumined by a thought from my dear brother, which I heard from him in my childhood: "Am I worthy that another should serve me, and that I, because of his poverty and ignorance, should lord it over him?" And I marvelled then how the simplest thoughts, obviously clear, come late to our minds. Without servants, it is impossible in the world, but do so that your servant is freer in spirit than if he were not a servant. And why cannot I be a servant to my servant, and so that he even sees it, and without any pride on my part, and on his without distrust? Why cannot my servant be like a relative to me, so that I finally accept him into my family and rejoice in it? Even now this is still achievable, but it will serve as a foundation for a future, already magnificent unity of people, when a person will not seek servants for himself and will not wish to turn his fellow men into servants, as now, but, on the contrary, will with all his strength wish to become a servant to everyone himself, according to the Gospel. And is this a dream, that in the end a person will find his joys only in deeds of enlightenment and mercy, and not in cruel joys, as now – in gluttony, debauchery, pride, boasting, and envious superiority of one over another? I firmly believe that it is not, and that the time is near. They laugh and ask: when will this time come, and does it look like it will come? I think that with Christ we will accomplish this great deed. And how many ideas there have been on earth, in human history, which were unthinkable even ten years before, and which suddenly appeared when their mysterious time came, and spread across the whole earth? So it will be with us, and our people will shine forth to the world, and all people will say: "The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner." And the scoffers themselves might be asked: if ours is a dream, then when will you erect your building and arrange yourselves justly with your own reason alone, without Christ? And if they themselves assert that they, on the contrary, are moving towards unity, then only the most simple-hearted among them truly believe this, so that one can even marvel at this simple-heartedness. Truly, they have more dreamy fantasy than we do. They think to arrange themselves justly, but, having rejected Christ, they will end by flooding the world with blood, for blood calls for blood, and he who draws the sword will perish by the sword. And if it were not for the promise of Christ, they would so destroy each other even down to the last two people on earth. And even these last two would not be able, in their pride, to restrain one another, so that the last would destroy the penultimate one, and then himself. And it would come to pass, if not for the promise of Christ, that for the sake of the meek and humble this work will be shortened. It was then, while still in my officer's uniform, after my duel, that I started talking about servants in society, and everyone, I remember, was surprised at me: "What then," they say, "are we to seat the servant on the sofa and bring him tea?" And I then answered them: "Why not, even if only sometimes." Everyone laughed then. Their question was frivolous, and my answer unclear, but I think there was some truth in it as well.
g) On Prayer, Love, and Contact with Other Worlds
Young man, do not forget prayer. Each time in your prayer, if it is sincere, a new feeling will flash, and in it a new thought, which you did not know before and which will cheer you again; and you will understand that prayer is education. Remember also: every day, and whenever you can, repeat to yourself: "Lord, have mercy on all who have appeared before You today." For at every hour and every moment, thousands of people leave their life on this earth, and their souls stand before the Lord – and how many of them parted with the earth in solitude, unknown to anyone, in sadness and anguish that no one would pity them and even did not know whether they had lived or not. And then, perhaps, from the other end of the earth, your prayer for the repose of his soul will rise to the Lord, even if you did not know him at all, and he did not know you. How touching it is for his soul, standing in fear before the Lord, to feel at that moment that there is a prayer for him, that a human being remains on earth who loves him. And God will look more mercifully on both of you, for if you have pitied him so much, then how much more will He, infinitely more merciful and loving than you, pity him. And He will forgive him for your sake.
Brothers, do not be afraid of people's sin, love a person even in his sin, for this is the likeness of divine love and is the height of love on earth. Love all of God's creation, both the whole and every grain of sand. Love every leaf, every ray of God. Love animals, love plants, love every thing. If you love every thing, you will comprehend the mystery of God in things. Once you comprehend it, you will ceaselessly begin to know it further and more, every day. And you will finally love the whole world with a total, universal love. Love animals: God gave them the rudiments of thought and a serene joy. Do not disturb it, do not torment them, do not take away their joy, do not oppose God's thought. Man, do not exalt yourself above animals: they are sinless, while you, with your greatness, defile the earth by your appearance on it and leave your festering trace behind you – alas, almost every one of us! Love children especially, for they too are sinless, like angels, and live for our tenderness, for the purification of our hearts, and as a kind of indication to us. Woe to him who offends a child. Father Anfim taught me to love children: he, dear and silent in our wanderings, would use the alms given to buy gingerbread and candy for them and distribute them; he could not pass by children without a spiritual tremor – such a man.
Faced with some thought, you will stand perplexed, especially seeing the sin of people, and ask yourself: "Should I take it by force or by humble love?" Always decide: "I will take it by humble love." If you decide so once and for all, you will be able to conquer the whole world. Humble love is a terrible force, the most powerful of all, and there is nothing like it. Every day and hour, every minute, walk around yourself and watch yourself so that your image is reverent. So you have passed by a small child, passed by angrily, with a foul word, with an irate soul; you perhaps did not even notice the child, but he saw you, and your unattractive and unholy image may remain in his defenceless heart. You did not know this, but perhaps you have already sown a bad seed in him, and it may grow, and all because you did not guard yourself before the child, because you have not nurtured in yourself attentive, active love. Brothers, love is a teacher, but one must know how to acquire it, for it is acquired with difficulty, bought dearly, by long work and over a long time, for one must love not for a chance moment, but for the entire term. And anyone can love by chance, even a villain can love. My brother young man asked forgiveness of the birds: it seems somehow senseless, but it is true, for everything is like an ocean, everything flows and touches, you touch in one place, and it reverberates at the other end of the world. Let it be madness to ask forgiveness of the birds, but it would be easier for the birds, and for the child, and for every animal around you, if you yourself were more reverent than you are now, even if by one drop. Everything is like an ocean, I tell you. Then you would pray to the birds as well, tormented by total love, as if in some kind of ecstasy, and beg them to forgive you your sin. Treasure this ecstasy, however senseless it may seem to people.
My friends, ask God for merriment. Be as merry as children, as the birds of heaven. And let the sin of people not disturb you in your work, do not be afraid that it will erase your work and prevent it from being accomplished, do not say: "Sin is strong, unrighteousness is strong, the evil environment is strong, and we are alone and powerless, the evil environment will erase us and prevent our good work from being accomplished." Flee, children, from this despondency! There is only one salvation for yourself: take yourself and make yourself responsible for all the sin of people. Friend, this is indeed true, for as soon as you sincerely make yourself responsible for everything and everyone, you will immediately see that it really is so, and that you are indeed guilty for everyone and everything. And by shifting your own laziness and powerlessness onto people, you will end up partaking of Satan's pride and murmuring against God. Concerning Satan's pride, I think this: it is hard for us on earth to comprehend it, and therefore it is so easy to fall into error and partake of it, and even to think that we are doing something great and beautiful. And much of the strongest feelings and movements of our nature we cannot yet comprehend on earth, do not be tempted by this either and do not think that this can serve as an excuse for you in anything, for the eternal judge will ask you for what you could comprehend, and not for what you could not, you will be convinced of this yourself, for then you will see everything correctly and will no longer argue. On earth, indeed, we are as if wandering, and were it not for the precious image of Christ before us, we would perish and be completely lost, like the human race before the flood. Much on earth is hidden from us, but in return we are given a secret, hidden feeling of our living connection with another world, with the heavenly and higher world, and the roots of our thoughts and feelings are not here, but in other worlds. That is why philosophers say that the essence of things cannot be comprehended on earth. God took seeds from other worlds and sowed them on this earth and grew His garden, and everything that could sprout sprouted, but what is cultivated lives and is alive only through its feeling of contact with mysterious other worlds; if this feeling weakens or is destroyed in you, then what is cultivated in you also dies. Then you become indifferent to life and even hate it. So I think.
h) Can One Be a Judge of One's Fellow Man? On Faith to the End
Remember especially that you cannot be a judge of anyone. For there cannot be a judge of a criminal on earth before the judge himself knows that he is exactly the same criminal as the one standing before him, and that he himself, for the crime of the one standing before him, is perhaps the most guilty of all. When he comprehends this, then he will be able to become a judge. As insane as it may seem, it is the truth. For if I myself were righteous, perhaps the criminal standing before me would not be there. If you can take upon yourself the crime of the criminal standing before you and being judged by your heart, then immediately take it and suffer for him yourself, let him go without reproach. And even if the law itself made you his judge, then act as much as possible in this spirit as well, for he will go away and condemn himself even more bitterly than your judgment. If he walks away insensitive and laughing at you, then do not be tempted by this either: it means his time has not yet come, but it will come in its own time; and if it does not come, it is all the same: not he, so another will know for him, and suffer, and condemn, and accuse himself, and the truth will be fulfilled. Believe this, believe it without a doubt, for in this very thing lies all the hope and all the faith of the saints.
Do unceasingly. If you remember at night, going to sleep: "I have not done what I should have," then immediately get up and do it. If around you people are evil and insensitive and do not want to listen to you, then fall down before them and ask their forgiveness, for truly you too are guilty that they do not want to listen to you. And if you cannot speak with the embittered, then serve them silently and in humility, never losing hope. If everyone leaves you and even drives you away by force, then, remaining alone, fall to the ground and kiss it, wet it with your tears, and the earth will bear fruit from your tears, even if no one sees or hears you in your solitude. Believe to the end, even if it happened that everyone on earth went astray and you alone remained faithful – then bring your sacrifice and praise God, you alone left. And if two such as you gather, that is already the whole world, a world of living love, embrace each other in tenderness and praise the Lord: for although in you two, His truth is fulfilled.
If you yourself sin and are sorrowful even to death about your sins or about your sudden sin, then rejoice for another, rejoice for the righteous one, rejoice that if you have sinned, then he is righteous and has not sinned.
If the villainy of people stirs up indignation and insurmountable sorrow in you, even to the point of wishing revenge on the villains, then fear this feeling most of all; immediately go and seek torments for yourself, as if you yourself were guilty of this villainy of people. Accept these torments and endure them, and your heart will be pacified, and you will understand that you yourself are guilty, for you could have shone as the only sinless one for the villains and did not shine. If you had shone, you would have illuminated the path for others with your light, and the one who committed the villainy might not have committed it in your light. And even if you did shine and saw that people are not saved even by your light, remain firm and do not doubt the power of heavenly light; believe that if they are not saved now, they will be saved later. And if they are not saved later, then their sons will be saved, for your light will not die, even if you have already died. The righteous man passes away, but his light remains. People are always saved after the death of the saviour. The human race does not accept its prophets and kills them, but people love their martyrs and honour those they have tortured. But you work for the whole, you work for the future. Never seek a reward, for even without that you already have a great reward on this earth: your spiritual joy, which only the righteous finds. Do not be afraid of the noble or the powerful, but be wise and always reverent. Know the measure, know the times, learn this. While remaining in solitude, pray. Love to prostrate yourself on the earth and kiss it. Kiss the earth and love it unceasingly, insatiably, love everyone, love everything, seek this ecstasy and rapture. Wet the earth with the tears of your joy and love these your tears. Do not be ashamed of this rapture, treasure it, for it is a great gift of God, and it is not given to many, but only to the chosen.
i) On Hell and Hellfire, a Mystical Reflection
Fathers and teachers, I think: "What is hell?" I reason thus: "The suffering of being unable to love anymore." Once, in infinite existence, not measured by time or space, a certain spiritual being, by its appearance on earth, was given the ability to say to itself: "I am, and I love." Once, only once, a moment of active, living love was given to it, and for that, earthly life was given, and with it times and seasons – and what happened? This blessed being rejected the priceless gift, did not appreciate it, did not love it, looked mockingly and remained insensitive. Such a one, having already departed from the earth, sees Abraham's bosom and speaks with Abraham, as we are shown in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, and contemplates paradise, and can ascend to the Lord, but is tormented precisely by this, that he will ascend to the Lord without having loved, and will touch those who have loved, whose love he disdained. For he sees clearly and says to himself: "Now I have knowledge, and although I thirst to love, there will be no feat in my love, there will be no sacrifice, for earthly life is ended, and Abraham will not come even with a drop of living water (that is, again the gift of earthly life, former and active) to cool the flame of the thirst for spiritual love with which I now burn, having disdained it on earth; there is no life anymore, and time will be no more! Even if I were glad to give my life for others, it is impossible, for that life which could be sacrificed in love has passed, and now there is an abyss between that life and this existence." They speak of material hellfire: I do not investigate this mystery and am afraid, but I think that if there were material fire, they would truly rejoice in it, for, so I dream, in material torment they could at least for a moment forget the more terrible spiritual torment. Moreover, it is impossible to take away this spiritual torment from them, for this torment is not external, but within them. And if it were possible to take it away, I think they would become even more unhappy because of it. For even if the righteous in paradise forgave them, contemplating their torments, and called them to themselves, loving them infinitely, they would thereby increase their torments even more, for they would awaken in them an even stronger flame of thirst for responsive, active, and grateful love, which is already impossible. In the timidity of my heart, I think, however, that the very consciousness of this impossibility would finally serve as a relief for them, for, having accepted the love of the righteous with the impossibility of returning it, in this submission and in the act of this humility, they will finally find a kind of image of that active love which they disdained on earth, and a kind of action similar to it... I am sorry, my brothers and friends, that I cannot say this clearly. But woe to those who have destroyed themselves on earth, woe to the suicides! I think that there can be no one more unhappy than these. They tell us that it is a sin to pray to God for these, and the church outwardly, as it were, rejects them, but I think in the secret of my soul that one could pray even for them. Christ would not be angry for love. I have prayed internally for such people all my life, I confess this to you, fathers and teachers, and I pray for them every day even now.
Oh, there are also those in hell who remain proud and fierce, despite already indisputable knowledge and the contemplation of irrefutable truth; there are terrible ones who have united themselves completely with Satan and his proud spirit. For these, hell is already voluntary and insatiable; they are willing martyrs. For they themselves have cursed themselves, cursing God and life. They feed on their malicious pride, like a hungry man in the desert starting to suck his own blood from his body. But they are insatiable forever and ever, they reject forgiveness, they curse God who calls them, they cannot contemplate the living God without hatred, and demand that the God of life not exist, that God destroy Himself and all His creation. And they will burn in the fire of their own anger forever, thirsting for death and non-existence. But they will not receive death.
Here ends the manuscript of Alexei Fyodorovich Karamazov. I repeat: it is incomplete and fragmentary. The biographical information, for example, covers only the elder's early youth. Of his teachings and opinions, what was said, obviously, at different times and for various reasons, is brought together as if into a single whole. What was uttered by the elder in the very last hours of his life is not precisely defined, but only an idea is given of the spirit and character of this conversation as well, if compared with what is quoted in Alexei Fyodorovich's manuscript from earlier teachings. The elder's death occurred, truly, quite unexpectedly. For although all those gathered to him that last evening fully understood that his death was near, they still could not imagine that it would come so suddenly; on the contrary, his friends, as I have already noted above, seeing him that night so seemingly vigorous and talkative, were even convinced that a noticeable improvement in his health had occurred, even if for a short time. Even five minutes before his death, as they later reported with surprise, nothing could yet be foreseen. He suddenly felt a severe pain in his chest, turned pale, and pressed his hands tightly to his heart. Everyone then rose from their places and rushed to him; but he, though suffering, still looking at them with a smile, quietly lowered himself from his chair to the floor and knelt down, then bowed his face to the ground, stretched out his arms, and, as if in joyful ecstasy, kissing the earth and praying (as he himself taught), quietly and joyfully gave up his soul to God. News of his death immediately spread through the hermitage and reached the monastery. Those closest to the newly deceased and those whose duty it was began to prepare his body according to the ancient rite, while all the brethren gathered in the cathedral church. And even before dawn, as was later reported by hearsay, news of the newly deceased reached the city. By morning, almost the whole city was talking about the event, and a multitude of citizens streamed to the monastery. But we will speak of this in the next book, and now we will only add in advance that not even a day had passed before something happened that was so unexpected for everyone, and by the impression produced among the monastery and in the city, so seemingly strange, disturbing, and confusing, that even after so many years, the most vivid memory of that for many so disturbing day is preserved in our city...
