Holy Fathers about spiritual joy. Can a Christian be happy? How to be happy as an Orthodox person
Happiness– satisfaction with human aspirations and needs. A person initially has a desire for the Source and all kinds of things. Complete happiness is found only with God, in God.
Is it possible to achieve happiness outside of God and without God?
Man's desire for God is inherent in his nature at creation. This means that outside of His Creator, man will not be able to fully satisfy his natural and personal aspirations. It is God who is the inexhaustible Source of goods, the Source of happiness, and it is in Him that a person can find real, eternal happiness.
Living at a distance from God, a person, of course, can experience pleasure, even something similar to the highest happiness that saints experience, for example, in love. However, even in this case, satisfaction will not be exhaustive, and happiness will not be complete (see:).
As for satisfaction with material goods or sensual pleasures, they are even less like the happiness of saints.
Thus, King Solomon, who seemed to possess all the earthly blessings that a man of his time could dream of (fame, wealth, wives, respect), nevertheless asserted: vanity of vanities, all is vanity ().
Let us remember that during the Transfiguration of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Apostle Peter, who felt contact with God, immediately forgot about all his earthly worries and sorrows, wanting to remain on the mountain, with His God, which, in fact, was expressed in the words: “Lord! It’s good for us to be here; If you want, we’ll make three tabernacles here: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah” ().
On Orthodox icons, the general state of eyewitnesses to the Transfiguration is expressed in the positions of their bodies (they are often written upside down, upside down), and in gestures and facial expressions.
All cultures can be divided into soteriological (from the Greek - salvation) and hedonistic (from the Greek - pleasure). Happiness is usually chosen by people at three ascending levels: bodily pleasure, mental well-being or involvement in the highest, the Absolute.
Happiness lies in love for God and for man... Love is a synonym for happiness, and since we all strive for happiness, we must strive to cultivate love in ourselves. While we are choked by dullness, despondency, loneliness, hostility, hatred. But He who is can teach us. ( prot. Alexander Men)
Root word happiness- "Part". Happiness. A happy person is a person who lives with a part of something, has some part. Part of some Good. The good is common to all. Universal. Worldwide. Immeasurable. Inexhaustible Good. And this Good is God! Truly happy - having a common part with God. Living in God. And the closer a person is to God, the happier he is.
In Orthodoxy, instead of the concept of happiness, a more specific concept is used. Through communion and acquisition of the Holy Spirit, a Christian becomes involved in God: “Abide in Me, and I in you” (). This is real, timeless, eternal happiness, which begins in this world, but is complete in the Kingdom of Heaven. It has nothing to do with the philistine concept of “happiness.”
In the Bible there are reflections on the search for happiness “under the sun”, i.e. in our world are contained in the book of Ecclesiastes or Preacher. Cm. .
Hieromonk Macarius (Markish): The Lord sets us a task: to be happy. Happy in this life and in the next. It is clear to everyone that current happiness is nothing if it does not continue. The Savior opens His Sermon on the Mount () with the “beatitudes”, “makarisms”: each verse begins with the word Blessed, in Greek makarii, which exactly translated into Russian means happy.
But what is happiness? Continue reading the Sermon on the Mount, and you will see that Christ refutes the usual stereotypes. He calls happy not the proud, but the poor in spirit, that is, not satisfied, but hungry and thirsty for righteousness, not winners, but peacemakers...
Happiness, of course, is subjective, that is, it ultimately depends on what is in me, in my soul. However, we understand well that “the search for happiness within ourselves” is an absolutely rotten and disastrous business: after all, our soul is not free from sin... Hence the conclusion is very simple and definite: happiness is possible and achievable only with Christ, on the way to Him and behind Him.
Archimandrite Melchizedek (Artyukhin): Do you know what the biggest cause of unhappiness is? It is a constant search for happiness. Happiness is life with God. Everything else is as God wills. Because our life after the Fall in this sinful, sin-soaked world is not a place of rest, but a place of achievement.
<…>
How mistaken are those people who seek happiness outside themselves - in foreign countries and travels, in wealth and fame, in great possessions and pleasures, in pleasures and excess and in empty things that end in bitterness! Building a tower of happiness outside our heart is like building a house in a place that is subject to constant earthquakes. Very soon such a building will collapse...
Brothers and sisters! Happiness lies within ourselves, and blessed is the one who understands this. Test your heart and observe its spiritual state. Perhaps you have lost your boldness before the Lord? Perhaps conscience denounces the transgression of His commandments? Maybe she denounces you for injustice, for lies, for failure to fulfill our duties to God and neighbor? Experience, perhaps, evil and passions have filled your heart; perhaps it has deviated onto crooked and impassable paths...
Unfortunately, the one who neglected his heart was deprived of all blessings and fell into many evils. He expelled joy and was filled with bitterness, sadness and spiritual distress. Banished the world and acquired depression, anxiety and horror. He expelled love and found hatred. And, finally, he expelled all the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit, which he acquired at his baptism, and became akin to all the atrocities that make a person miserable and damned.
Brothers and sisters! The most merciful God wants happiness for all of us both in this life and in the next. For this purpose, He founded His saint, so that she would cleanse us from sin, so that she would sanctify us, reconcile us with Him and give us heavenly blessing.
The Church always has open arms for us. Let us all, whose conscience is burdened, hurry into them quickly. Let us hurry, and the Church will lift the weight of our burden, give us boldness towards God, and fill our hearts with happiness and bliss.
“We are used to calling something external happiness... But it is not outside, but within us, in a state of spirit that is gratifying, joyful, and well-dissolved.”
“If it pleases the Lord and is not harmful to a person, then external happiness is given.”
“Such is the human race, such is human happiness: it is like the most inconspicuous traces of a ship, which cut in front and disappear behind!”
“Love-wisdom knows how to do both - to use happiness in moderation, and to maintain decency in adversity.”
“Beloved Christian! May people prosper in the happiness of this world. You will be quite happy when you have happiness within yourself. This is true, immovable and inalienable happiness!”
“Happiness for people is to have strong people as protectors and helpers. For a Christian, happiness is to have God as your Protector and Helper.
“Blessed is the man whose protection is with You, O God!”
“This is true happiness and true bliss, which neither fire, nor water, nor prison, nor exile, nor captivity, nor cunning, nor human malice, nor death can take away.
“If God is for us, who can be against us” ()?
“Man, having confessed himself to be a slave and a creation of God, having surrendered himself entirely to the will of God, immediately enters with his whole being into the realm of holy Truth. Truth brings the right mood to the spirit and life. He who has ascended into the realm of Truth, who has submitted to the Truth, receives moral and spiritual freedom, receives moral and spiritual happiness. This freedom and this happiness do not depend on people and circumstances.”
“If the mere contemplation of (Divine) glory (at the Transfiguration of the Lord) filled the disciples (Jesus) with bliss, then what should be the happiness of a person who has achieved close and sincere unity with God to such a degree that the Lord dwells in him, permeating his entire being with His rays unfading glory, which seems to flow from a person sanctified and enlightened by His presence! This is the highest happiness: in unity with God, which makes a person a partaker of Divine glory.”
If we analyze all the congratulations that we receive on our birthdays and other holidays, they usually begin with the words “happiness and health...”. But what meaning do we put in them? How does Orthodoxy understand the essence of happiness? Is it only external well-being and money that make a person truly happy?
From Old Testament prosperity to hopes for the Kingdom of Heaven
By worldly standards, Orthodoxy is a very strange religion. After all, instead of a tit in her hand, she only offers a pie in the sky. No promises to you of a happy and carefree life, of heaven on earth.
Even in the text of the Bible, the word “happiness” itself is very rarely mentioned.
For example, it appears nine times in the Old Testament, and interestingly, five of them are in the book of Job. The same Job the Long-Suffering, tempted by Satan, and in an instant lost his fortune, family and health.
There are only nine meager mentions, even though in the Old Testament they believed that if a person fulfills the commandments, then the Lord will reward him for this with earthly prosperity.
It was believed that God blesses a person with children, with an increase in wealth... This understanding is partially preserved among modern Christians, and in the Protestant environment they do not wish each other happiness and health, but say: “May God bless you!”
But, in truth, the New Testament has a completely different assessment of the essence of happiness. In the Gospel this word is never mentioned at all. Moreover, the incarnate Christ does not preach earthly prosperity. He says to His disciples: I was persecuted on earth, which means you will have to experience the same thing. He does not promise them financial well-being, career growth and social guarantees.
Why? Yes, because all this is earthly, temporary, perishable. And He is the Immortal God, His Kingdom is in heaven. Therefore, Christ promises only one thing - “he who endures to the end will be saved.” That is, one who has endured all trials and tribulations, but remains faithful to God, will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Eternal joy and joy await him there. But not a million dollar bill, a spacious apartment in the city center and advancement on the career ladder.
Although many understand that all this is external and temporary, they often act like Salome, the mother of the apostles John and James. One day she turned to Christ with a request: seat my sons on the right and left hands in Your kingdom. To which the Savior replied: you do not know what you are asking.
Do we know what happiness is and what we really wish for our loved ones, friends, colleagues?
Not about money...
Happiness is usually divided into two categories:
- external;
- internal.
By external we usually understand all external factors that supposedly make us happy. This is money, expensive clothes and jewelry, apartments and cars, foreign resorts...
Usually it all comes down to one thing - wealth. After all, if a person has money, he can afford a lot: from education at the most prestigious universities in the world to getting a good position, status in society and the illusion of a happy person.
But the essence of happiness is not in imposed illusions. And increasing one’s financial status does not make a person’s life rosy and cloudless.
Sometimes you have to face the fact that the more you have, the more you want. If you have a million, then it seems that when another one appears, everything will be fine. But then you’ll want another one, and then a billion...
And each person has individual “appetites” for money. Compare a beggar and a big business owner. The first has no shelter, no clothes, no food. The second one has everything in excess.
If you give a beggar 10 thousand dollars, he will be very happy - it will be enough not only for bread. But for the second one it will be just a small increase in fortune.
If not money, then what is happiness?
Happiness lies in doing what you love and achieving your goals?
This is a complex internal state when a person is satisfied with his life, every day is spent consciously, and he has a favorite thing to do.
Such a person loves and is loved, does good and puts a lot of energy into his favorite activity. Achieved goals and the results obtained influence both the internal state of a person and partly the external:
- It’s a teacher’s happiness when students come to lessons prepared;
- for a musician - to sell out or write a new masterpiece;
- for an athlete - to set a record;
- for a millionaire - to increase his fortune by another million;
- for a beggar to have plenty of food.
Christianity sets before a person a more global goal - salvation. What does it mean? Happiness in Orthodoxy is being with God. But we need to talk about this gradually and in detail.
Christian happiness: longing for paradise and the desire to be saved
Every person has an inherent desire for happiness, and there is nothing sinful in this.
Moreover, we can safely say that each of us was created by God for happiness. But the meaning of this concept is not at all identical to a large amount in a bank account and external well-being.
Man was created for love, achieving holiness, living with God. The first people lived in the Garden of Eden, experienced the beauty of God's world and communicated with God. It was true happiness. The Bible has an even better word: beatitude.
But everything changed after the ill-fated Fall. Since then, for thousands of years, man has been grieving for the lost paradise and trying to find it in earthly life.
Christianity gives him hope. Which one? Achieve holiness and go to heaven. It was the Kingdom of Heaven that Christ promised to His disciples.
You can fantasize for a long time about what life will be like in the promised paradise, but this is not the main thing. One thing is important: for a righteous person who loves God with all his heart, being in heaven will turn into eternal bliss. No sorrow, melancholy, illness, worries. Only all-encompassing joy and love.
It’s hard for an ordinary person, burdened with vanity and sins, to imagine this. But many saints knew from their own experience what they were striving for.
Prayer is the door to heavenly joy
The righteous, in a state of prayer, experienced the taste of happiness in Orthodoxy.
- The Apostle Paul in his letter to the Corinthians writes that at one time he was “caught up into the third heaven” - that is, he went to heaven and heard angels singing.
- Mary of Egypt, who atoned for the sin of fornication with a 47-year feat in the desert, prayed so fervently that she rose above the ground.
- Seraphim of Sarov achieved such holiness that during his lifetime he was visited by the Most Holy Theotokos, and, according to the testimony of his contemporaries, divine light emanated from him. In addition, the monk was so “not of this world” that he constantly rejoiced and greeted everyone he met with the exclamation “My joy, Christ is risen!”
These are just some examples. Many saints who perform the unceasing Jesus Prayer speak of unearthly joy and consolation. Whether they are healthy or weak, in prosperity or sorrow, they calmly accept everything that God sends. As the Apostle Paul writes, rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in everything.
It turns out that all these virtues are inextricably linked: if a person constantly remembers God and does everything with prayer, then he accepts all trials with gratitude. And even if sorrows or illnesses come, he still thanks God. Why? Because the Almighty gives a person a chance to change, humble himself, help others, overcome his own pride and self-esteem.
Blessed - happy or crazy?
Inner joy and love are the basis of happiness in Orthodoxy. In the New Testament, the first words are mentioned very often. And the Evangelist John the Theologian, who is also called the “apostle of love,” calls on everyone: Your joy will be complete.
The word “beatitude” is also used frequently in the New Testament. In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ pronounces the nine beatitudes - the ways to achieve holiness. He calls blessed the merciful, the meek, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, those who were exiled and suffered for the truth of God.
By Christian standards, such people really know the essence of happiness and are preparing for a heavenly life, and not for a comfortable earthly one.
But what meaning does the word have? "blissful" in the explanatory dictionary?
- Happy.
- Crazy, not quite normal, holy fool.
These interpretations precisely contrast secular and church understandings.
If happiness in Orthodoxy is to be with God, to endure all sorrows in earthly life, to humble yourself, to renounce earthly blessings in order to achieve perfection and stay in heaven, then in the world everything is completely different.
You have to look for a place in the sun, live up to your status and be even better than others - have a lot of money, dress beautifully, live in luxury. Like, we only live once, we have to try everything.
But if this were true, then why do wealthy people often become depressed, feel empty, and even commit suicide?
Why do many survivors of clinical death radically change their lives, give up millions and billions and help those in need, like, for example, Australian businessman Karl Rabeder?
Because the essence of happiness is not in money and temporary well-being. In this life it can be achieved through prayer, helping others, and constant dedication. The more you give, the more you get back.
It is also clear that earthly life is so colorful that it will not be possible to constantly stay on the white line. We constantly lose and gain something. But will our experiences be important after a certain time, or when time and space no longer exist?
...I remember how in my student years one girl was very upset when the music teacher said that she had a weak voice. After class she looked very sad. Then a friend gave her very important advice: try to look at your problems from the distance of eternity. Will this small problem remain important to you in five years, ten years, in old age? Will it have even the slightest significance, not in temporary life, but in eternal life? And what is happiness specifically for you?
This video parable also talks about the essence of happiness:
On the eve of the holidays, it is customary to wish each other happiness. At the same time, of course, everyone understands happiness in their own way. For example, when one young man was asked: “How can I become happier?” - he replied: “You need to smile more, relax, spend more time on yourself and enjoy life.” Of course, such a secular “recipe” for happiness is not suitable for an Orthodox Christian. It is worth noting that the topic of happiness is relevant not only for secular people, but also for believers. It is no coincidence that His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, touching on this topic in his speeches and sermons, remarked: “Whether we are happy or unhappy depends on what is in our hearts.”
The modern book market is simply overflowing with books about ways to acquire utilitarian, worldly happiness, which in reality can only lead a person to unhappiness. It is gratifying that in this spiritually unsafe literary niche the voice of a priest was heard about what real happiness is and how to understand it correctly.
Not long ago, the Nikeya publishing house published a new book by psychologist Archpriest Andrei Lorgus, in which an attempt was made to spiritually and psychologically study happiness, let’s say, from an Orthodox point of view. Let me remind you that Archpriest Andrei Lorgus is the rector of the Institute of Christian Psychology, he graduated from the Faculty of Psychology of Moscow State University and the Moscow Theological Seminary. He is a hereditary priest with 20 years of experience and a practicing psychologist. Despite the fact that “The Book of Happiness” is written in simple language, accessible even to people far from faith, it is very deep in its essence. Moreover, Father Andrei touches on many difficult issues of modern church life.
At first I wanted to write a review of this unique book, however, after reading it twice with a pencil in my hand, I realized that talking in detail about what is written there is tantamount to retelling poetry in my own words. It seems to me that this book is better studied by the reader himself, so I will share only some of my impressions and thoughts inspired by this work.
Myths about happiness, or happiness within us
In the preface to his book, Father Andrei writes that happiness for him has never been the goal and meaning of life, but, fulfilling his duty as a priest and psychologist, he came to the conclusion that it was necessary to give a Christian answer to the question of what happiness is. At the same time, he immediately warns readers that if they are interested in happiness as an object that can be found, acquired, earned, begged or begged, then it is better for them not to read this book. This also applies to those who are convinced that life is a tragedy, a “cross” or an ordeal.
According to the priest, everyone is capable of being happy, you just need to allow yourself to be happy. For a Christian, happiness is a feeling of fullness of life with God.
In this regard, Father Andrey examines common myths about happiness, which are often ingrained in us from childhood. For example, one of them: “Happiness will come someday...” - that is, a person lives in anticipation of a “bright future.” Anyone who lived through Soviet times will understand well what we are talking about. This tendency to idealize the future is usually inherent in children.
This also happens to adults, but often they also idealize the past: everything was better before. As a result, a person, along with a sense of reality, loses happiness, which always occurs only in the present moment. Therefore, Orthodox asceticism teaches sobriety: awareness, composure and a clear relationship with the present moment, that is, as they say now, you need to be here and now.
Another myth about happiness can be formulated as follows: “When I get rich...” It consists of waiting for a special stage in life, beyond which, in a person’s opinion, everything will be fine. For example, someone thinks: when I earn a million, or get married successfully, or become a candidate of science, or become a boss, then I will be happy. However, such a constantly receding reality often leads to severe disappointment and emptiness of life, based on continuous expectation of something. Again, this myth does not allow a person to live in reality, in the present. As a result, this search for happiness brings a lot of unhappiness over time.
As we see, such myths are mistakenly based on the fact that there is supposedly some external source of happiness that can make us happy. According to priest Andrei Lorgus, “the main spiritual task is to teach people to transfer this point of attention, the point of awareness within themselves, because the source of happiness is a person’s own soul,” which is very valuable to the Lord. By the way, the word “happiness” is based on the root “part”. For Christians, it is joyful to discover that happiness and communion are words of the same root and very close in meaning.
In his book, the author teaches not to confuse joy and happiness with pleasure - sensual pleasure. (The word “pleasure” has two roots: “ud” - parts of the body, and “will”. Therefore, “pleasure” is the power of the body, pleasure). Joy is much more diverse and complex. In general, the priest calls on people to grow up, since the spiritual and psychological maturity of an individual includes realism. According to the priest, it is necessary to learn to appreciate today, since only here and now a person is able to act: the future does not yet exist, and the past no longer exists. In this sense, the author defines happiness as active joy, that is, not receiving something, but precisely creating spiritual joy in oneself.
Know yourself
Modern people, even those who are not interested in psychology, know that a person has not only a conscious, but also a subconscious (unconscious) sphere. The image of the unconscious is often compared to an iceberg: what is above the surface of the water is our consciousness, and what is under the dark water, a much larger part, is our unconscious. But it’s one thing to know this firsthand, and another thing to verify it in practice.
I once witnessed how one woman turned to a psychologist about the fact that she did not know how to handle money correctly: she immediately spent it, got into debt, etc. And so the psychologist, in order to understand the situation, suggested that the woman take a projective (drawing) test. I stood nearby and watched what was happening. The woman took a piece of paper and a pen and began to confidently carry out the psychologist’s task. I knew how to interpret this test and was very surprised (as was the testing psychologist) that the woman began to draw. Usually such images are drawn by very successful people in business. It is even customary to call them top managers, and it was unclear how this woman, with such psychodiagnosis, could have any problems in the material sphere. This is a born leader. And at the very last moment, the woman suddenly unknowingly crosses out this drawing herself. We were extremely surprised and asked the woman: “Why did she do this?” She looked at us in bewilderment and said with difficulty: “I don’t understand it myself, but my hand twitched like that...” That is, at the moment her unconscious worked: in fact, the woman did not want wealth and was afraid of it, although she spoke about it exactly the opposite... This is a clear example of the fact that a person’s inner deepest desires often do not correspond to what he voices, being in a clear mind and sober memory. As they say, a person has one thing on his mind, but in his subconscious it is completely different.
By the way, Archpriest Andrei Lorgus also touches on the topic of the unconscious in his book. He writes: “We remain a mystery to ourselves in our unconscious.” It is precisely the fact that we do not know ourselves fully that is the result of the general fall into sin. He notes that some people, in their unconscious depths, do not consider themselves entitled to be happy. As it turned out, a person can hide a deep multi-level denial of himself, his happiness, and denial of love.
According to the priest-psychologist, “it is in the Gospel that a person’s desire for happiness, joy and God is revealed more than convincingly, in its entirety. But the Gospel is now more often understood, unfortunately, not as the discovery of the Resurrection, but rather as the discovery of the same “Freudian” hell. Many Christians see in the Gospel, first of all, evidence of man’s sinful hopelessness, and not at all evidence of God’s boundless love for us and how good it is for a person to be together with Christ.” According to Father Andrei, it is often found among Orthodox laity with the dominant understanding that their main goal is to search for sin, passions and repentance within themselves. But they understand repentance not as the path of “abundant life,” but as a goal that leads nowhere further. It turns out that a person is baptized, participates in the Sacraments, but at the same time he is not born from above. The craving for sin not only remains with such a believer, but unconsciously he does not even want to part with it.
Subconscious "mines" on the spiritual path
The author also writes interestingly about the trap of false meanings. The point is that deep down, every person strives for his own good, albeit misunderstood. So, for example, the same thief can justify his criminal activities by the fact that in this way he fights the injustice and greed of the rich.
According to Father Andrei, some in the church covertly continue to seek self-affirmation at the expense of other people, striving for power or money. Of course, these are passionate aspirations, but they are dictated by some deep meanings, the discovery of which is the task of Christian psychology. That is, to make a person aware of them and understand the fallacy, so that he creates and does not destroy his life. “The important task of a psychologist is to show that this is not a desire for self-destruction, sin, but a desire for an ostensibly understood good, which turns into sin.”
There are no recipes in Christianity. And the “standard” spiritual practice described in Sunday school textbooks does not work in life. There is a certain internal evaluation criterion given by the Apostle Paul: “Rejoice always.” We are talking about joy that is not associated with external pleasures, but is generated from within. It is the sinfulness of internal attitudes that prevents a person from feeling this joy.
The Holy Fathers showed us a spiritual vector: to become the image and likeness of God, to gain freedom, the ability of creativity, creativity, courage, love - that is, to gain what helps a person in the pursuit of wholeness. A person who is determined to create the image of God in himself is a happy person. Our emotional testimony of Christian happiness lies in the Easter jubilant tropar “Christ is risen from the dead...”, the author notes and then continues: “When you admire the sunset or sunrise, know that it is God who says to everyone: “I love you!” » You need to think about this more often so that your facial expression is not gloomy. The spiritual task is to rejoice and transform with this joy your relationships with at least two or three of your loved ones.”
"Life Lives"
As Father Andrei writes, disbelief in one’s forgiveness poisons the lives of many, because it is a denial of Divine forgiveness. Happiness is revealed and given to man in God’s forgiveness, in the Sacrament of Confession. However, even in Christianity, man manages to choose the aspect of judgment and punishment, rather than the aspect of forgiveness and love, despite the fact that the Gospel gives us examples of how the connection between man and God is restored through forgiveness. This is the prudent thief, the prodigal son, and many people healed and forgiven by the Lord. For the Lord, the value of a person’s living soul is incomparably greater than all his sins. Compared to the immortality of the human soul, sin is insignificant.
In modern conditions, a spiritual vector is needed, which can be defined in the words of St. John Chrysostom: “Life lives.” This means that Orthodoxy must bring people the light of life in all its diversity, as the Church understands it.
Happiness in a Christian way is Easter. The Resurrection of Christ is the victory of Life over death, it is the victory of Love over enmity. The happiness of a Christian is confidence in immortality, hope in life with God, in gospel love and life in this love and forgiveness of God. According to the author of “The Book of Happiness,” “the very important mission of Orthodoxy today is not just to say, but to show people with our lives: “This is our faith - the faith of joy and life.”
Reviews
There is a program on TV Culture: “Rules of Life” called. So there they talk about happiness every day: people write about happiness and their recorded stories are broadcast! No one has ever talked about happiness with God, not even once in the year the program has been going on! It can be the happiness of having a child. This could be first love and so on. There was no mention of any commercialism - like earning a million dollars or finding a treasure trove of gold in a whole year! and represent the happiness of people the way a priest does! - deliberately belittling the opinions of people - it’s a sin for him! Money doesn’t buy happiness - that’s what anyone in the world will tell you, and even more so in Russia! And if that priest imagines that people are all mercantile, then he himself is extremely mercantile, he even worries about candles and burnt wax when he goes to bed - if only he could collect the wax and send it back for melting down, he could make many more candles! He judges people by himself! Sin to him - mercantile! And if it was initially built on a false idea: “Another myth about happiness can be formulated as follows: “When I get rich...” It consists of waiting for a special stage in life, after which, in a person’s opinion, everything will be fine. For example, who “he thinks: when I earn a million, or get married successfully, or become a candidate of science, or become a boss, then I will be happy.”
All his construction and all his conclusions are wrong! Builds on sand! Who told him that people see happiness in money? He came up with it himself, because he himself dreamed of getting rich and thinks that all people are like that! Horror and horror - what a huge sin it will be for him - he accuses all people - “they, you see, see happiness in money” - a fool does not find happiness in money! And the priest accuses people - they are sinners, like? Who made him a judge? No research - conducted by institutes, scientists, psychologists! - will not confirm this point of view. Thousands of people were surveyed, hundreds of thousands, and no one saw happiness in money and wealth!! Only this priest is smarter than all institutions and smarter than all people - you see, he knows? Idiot! Great sinner! If he does not publicly repent and apologize to the people he condemned. (if there are dreamers of wealth, they are mentally ill). He will burn in Hellfire! And he will forever repent! Fact!
and you should not fall for deception! on a false basis, only false constructions are possible! Read Theophan the Recluse, for that matter!
If we analyze Andrei’s article completely unbiasedly and calmly philosophically, as a kind of commentary on the “Book of Happiness” by an Orthodox psychologist, then the book, like the author’s article, is unique, interesting and needed, especially in the modern world. And what do we observe in the modern world, for example, when we go to a book supermarket? Chaos of worldviews and a huge number of “teachers of life”. What do modern “life teachers” teach? I have been ironic on this issue many times, looking at the books of modern American psychological writers who instill in their readers, namely, a mercantile-pragmatic interest in life, mixing with this “interest” also faith in God. Like the fact that you will believe in God and you will be rich and happy, and you will have everything, including money, as a means to wealth. That is, based on the tradition of American pragmatism, what turns out to be a purely consumerist and selfish attitude towards God. A logical question arises: what methods and means are offered and instilled in readers by modern “popular” psychologists, and most importantly, what goals they set and arouse among the reading public. The answer is simple: these means, methods and goals of modern psychologists in many ways not only contradict the Christian worldview, especially the Orthodox one, but in general a false Christian worldview is being promoted. This is the problem of our time. And this book by an Orthodox psychologist and the author’s article is only a small contribution to the treasury of life, as an alternative reading and understanding of Life from the Christian Orthodox point of view, as an alternative to the whole “sea” of many “teachings” in the modern world. This is the root and grain of this article - missionary and educational, how to show the precocious secular public, using the example of the concept of “happiness,” a completely different, alternative understanding of “happiness in life”, based on the FUNDAMENTALS of the Orthodox tradition and thought.
Now regarding the review by the author Sergius.
What immediately catches your eye is the aggressiveness and bitterness of the author of the review. The question arises: why such a tone and pathos of the review? If the author of the review adheres to an atheistic worldview, then you need to HONESTLY start the conversation with this, as from the Point of your certainty and criticize and polemicize. By the way, atheists can be completely different, because if a person is truly involved in the tradition of world Philosophy, then he will never write in such a spirit of bitterness as was written by the author of the review.
For example, a philosopher might note in a review how:
“If in “cultural programs” no one has ever spoken about happiness with God, this does not mean that there is no Experience of comprehending what in the secular world is called “happiness.” What is “happiness” as a category of secular understanding? It is obvious that this understanding is both broad and vague, and very relative. What is happiness in the light of the secular everyday understanding of some aspects of human life? Namely, as something very relative and vague. For along with the secular understanding of “happiness” comes another understanding of how. anxiety, care and despair. And in this sense, the philosopher can rightfully turn to the biblical book of Ecclesiastes to comprehend wisdom, which says that everything in the world is vanity of vanities and that the world itself, as a phenomenon, is something transitory and relative. And, by the way, the most secular expression like “the happiness of the birth of a child” is very clumsy in comparison with the full and clear expression like “The joy of the birth of a child”; Joy, as a concept and experience, indicates a specific deep feeling of the human soul. And this is one thing, and the second is that in the world in all centuries before Christianity there were many births, but only Christianity OPENED to the World the true MEANING of such an understanding as “The JOY of Birth”, “The JOY of the Nativity of the Child”. And this DISCOVERY-REVELATION of Christianity is of a metaphysical scale and depth, turning the world upside down, which is not even comparable with any scientific discoveries in its significance regarding the expansion and deepening of the HORIZONS of the worldview of a person even two thousand years ago, even a modern person.
And, by the way, the wisdom of A.S. Pushkin says in the imprinted word:
"There is no happiness in the world,
There is only peace and will..."
And the wisdom of Pushkin’s words can be paraphrased as the genius B.P. Vysheslavtsev formulated the DISCOVERY of R. Descartes:
“The world is doubtful - God is certain”...
Or to paraphrase Pushkin’s words differently:
"There is no happiness in this world (in the secular sense),
There is only Love and Joy of God..."
It is worth noting that A.S. Pushkin and Seraphim of Sarov lived at the same time, but at the same time in different worlds. And how amazingly Pushkin in his wisdom coincides with the mood of life of Seraphim of Sarov, from whom came the radiation of love to everyone who came in the word: “My joy...”.
Do you agree that how clumsy and indeed, in a sense, mercantile and selfish, “my happiness...” would sound?..
And etymologically comparing: “happiness and misfortune” go side by side and sometimes often intersect.
Ironically, we can say how clumsy such a sentence would sound:
“what a misfortune” that the author of the review did not understand the author of the article.
Instead, there are more precise and specific expressions like “unfortunately”, i.e. as “pity” for a person.
So I can only say to the author of the review: unfortunately...
Unfortunately, the author of the review did not understand the essence of the article, which correctly and gently outlined the DIFFERENCE between the understanding of “secular happiness” and the religious and church understanding of “JOY”...
I'm sorry too. That I couldn't post links here. We'll have to do verbal explanatory work! Because I actually don’t have anger and/or aggressiveness. A representative of a religion simply takes on too much. Regardless of the name of the religion: shamanism, voodoo, Hare Krishnas, Jehovah's Witnesses, or priests and priests with pastors - everyone is condemning towards atheists! Fact. They were burned at the stake, poisoned and even gassed in the subway - the same religious ones who trusted in God! Fact! So far nothing positive has been seen: except for the fact that grandmothers are taking their last money for candles and mythical services! services. Religion doesn't give you anything! And there is no need to shield yourself: we are not like that, we are “Orthodox” - just like parasites were, the fact is that it is! the same Pushkin scolded the priests, and the famous classic wrote a fairy tale: About the worker Balda and the priest Talakonny forehead! And Ostap Bender also recaptured his companion from the priests. And then Ilf and Petrov showed the essence of the priest’s happiness in Soviet times: “we’ll build a candle factory and live”! Or is it all for nothing! These are all facts from life. And there is no anger towards sick people: religiosity is an atavistic disease!
http://www.site/2013/08/16/1321 This is a story about Mother Lyubov, from our real life.
Among people far from the Church, there is a widespread idea that the Christian faith is incompatible with a state of happiness, a feeling of joy, that to be Orthodox means to constantly be in a state of sorrow, at best about one’s sins. It is clear that this gloomy picture has or should not have anything to do with reality. It is not in vain that the Apostle Paul calls us: Rejoice always (1 Thess. 5:16). But what does it mean to rejoice in a Christian way?
We talk about the Orthodox understanding of happiness with the first deputy chairman of the Educational Committee of the Russian Orthodox Church, professor at the Moscow Theological Academy, Archpriest Maxim Kozlov.
—Father Maxim, does an Orthodox Christian have the right to think about happiness?
- Undoubtedly. And this needs to be actively discussed when addressing the Orthodox audience, because, unfortunately, there is a certain kind of tendency in the perception of life, especially among those who have recently come to the Orthodox faith, which assumes that the path to salvation is necessarily a path of suffering. To put it more bluntly, the idea that the profession of the Orthodox faith and happiness are incompatible suggests that God wants people to suffer, while the text of Holy Scripture, Holy Tradition and the One in Whom we believe answer this question differently: God is already here, in earthly life, giving those who believe in Him the opportunity to find real, and not illusory, happiness, which is the beginning of eternal life. Reading the lives of the saints, we understand that, despite adversity and trials, they were happy people — of course, in a different sense than what is commonly said in the world.
—The word “happiness” is not found very often in the Holy Scriptures...
—The noun “happiness” does not appear at all in the New Testament. In the Old Testament it occurs no more than once per book. Paradoxically, the word “happiness” is most often used in the book of Job, which tells about the suffering of this righteous man.
The adjective “happy” is found somewhat more often, but only in everyday contexts or in etiquette formulas. For example, in the Acts of the Apostles, the Apostle Paul addresses his interlocutor: King Agrippa! I consider myself fortunate that today I can defend myself before you (Acts 26:2).
However, I propose to pay attention to an adjective that is close in meaning to the concept of “happy”, but is translated into modern Russian by another word - the Greek word makЈrioj. It appears frequently in the Greek translation of the Old Testament and in the New Testament, which was originally written in Greek. This word is translated into Church Slavonic as “blessed.” This word is not translated in the Synodal Translation of the Holy Scriptures, but if we nevertheless translate the word makЈrioj (“blessed”) into Russian, we get the word “happy.” Happy not in the sense of “lucky”, but in the sense of “ontologically involved in the state of unity with God.”
In the English Bible the word makЈrioj is translated as “blessed” (blessed, happy, blissful. - Ed.), and in German - as “selig” (blessed, happy, joyful. - Ed.). It cannot be said that these words belong to the stylistically neutral range of vocabulary of the English and German languages, however, they are widely used in the modern language and, unlike the Church Slavonic “blessed,” are completely understandable to the average modern reader.
If we understand the Beatitudes in this way, we will see that happiness is not a state of suffering or suffering. Happy are the meek, happy are the peacemakers, happy are those persecuted for Christ’s sake. Happy are those who force themselves to heroically fulfill the commandments, contrary to what, both at all times and in our time, the enemy of the human race and the spirit of this age calls them to do.
—You say that there are two understandings of happiness: happiness in the sense in which it is spoken of in the Holy Scriptures, and the worldly understanding of happiness, which now dominates in society. What's the difference? What is the false understanding of happiness? What, so to speak, are its “traps”?
—The traps of imaginary happiness on the path to real happiness are the tricks of the enemy of the human race. They can be quite varied. Nowadays, these are, most often, promises of a different life than the one you have: you would be happy if you had more money, if you had another wife, if you were born in another country... For a person active-active, this thought moves from the realm of dreams to the realm of plans: you will find the desired happiness if in one way or another you move yourself to these conditions. However, on the path to such happiness, as a rule, there is one small obstacle: you need to break the commandment. “One or two... It’s not scary... And if it’s scary, then for the sake of happiness you can endure it,” the evil one inspires us. But this is not true. We must firmly remember that the path to happiness is the path to God, and it never lies through conscious consent to sin.
—Now, along with the word “happiness,” the words “success” and “positive” are used in society. Is it dangerous for a Christian to strive to be successful or “to be positive”?
—Striving for success is, first of all, risky. We must remember that success depends not only on our efforts, but also on the will of God. The Lord may not bless one or another of our endeavors. Achieving success in a particular field of activity is not a sin in itself. Success does not bring spiritual harm to those who do not pursue it, to those for whom it is not the goal of their activity. After all, the Lord, out of His love, does not allow us to “play” with the “toys” that tie us to the earth. If the main thing in my professional activity is not improvement in this or that area of knowledge, not achieving a greater level of skills and mastery, but rather “stepping” from career step to step, God, for my own good, can deprive me of career success. So, in my opinion, the best advice on how to be successful is to not strive for success at all — at least not to desire it in the first place.
There are two risky things associated with positive thinking. The first is obvious for a Christian: one must evaluate oneself realistically, and not positively. This does not mean at all that we should evaluate ourselves based on a falsely understood humility: that I am, they say, mean, disgusting, and we need to spit on ourselves and rub ourselves with our boots. But we also cannot turn a blind eye to the obvious flaws or unrealized opportunities that exist in our lives. The second danger associated with positive thinking is that it presupposes—I’m exaggerating a little, of course—the perception of life’s misfortunes according to the well-known formula: “Everything is for the best in this best of all worlds.” But such an attitude to reality when faced with a real tragedy or, to put it mildly, with a tense dramatic situation - a serious illness of a loved one, loss, war, disaster - can turn out to be a house of cards. We all need to get rid of illusory thinking, learn to accept life according to the gospel principle: the day’s care is sufficient, that is, each day has enough of its own care (Matthew 6:34). We need to accept life as it is given to us today, and not build structures around it, even the most positive ones.
—The concept of “comfort” is also close to the concept of “happiness”. But should an Orthodox Christian strive for comfort?
-Gilbert Keith Chesterton (English Christian thinker, journalist and writer of the late 19th - early 20th centuries - Ed.) said this very well in his time: “If I were looking for comfort first of all in my life, then half a bottle of port would have been given to me.” its much faster and simpler than my religion." Christianity is by no means a religion of spiritual comfort. By the way, Soviet anti-religious propaganda also spoke about this, but, of course, it blamed Christianity for this. The idea of Christianity as a religion of consolation and reassurance is, of course, false. Religion is not a pill or a band-aid, and certainly not an antidepressant that can help a person actually feel more comfortable. Christianity is a religion of causing mental discomfort. Let us remember the parable of the publican and the Pharisee. In it, the one who left the temple in a state of mental discomfort, the one who felt bad and the one who felt that he had no right to be there at all, came out of the temple more justified. And the person who was in a state of religious comfort turned out to be less justified.
- So if we feel happy, then this is a reason to be afraid? Think about it?
-No, we must be afraid and think if we feel satisfied with ourselves. A happy person is not necessarily a self-satisfied person. See how the Apostle Paul says: It is a great gain to be pious and content (1 Tim. 6:6), that is, to live according to the truth of God and be content with the circumstances around us, to walk without grumbling along the path of life that God sends us.
-Still, it is very difficult psychologically to combine the call of the Apostle Paul to rejoice and repentant crying about one’s sins...
—Saint Peter of Athos says that salvation is found between fear and hope: between fear for the way I live, that because of my sins I am worthy of hell - and the hope that God, in His love for mankind and mercy, will save me all -it will save you. This is, if you like, an antinomy. But it is precisely in the combination of fear and hope that the middle royal path of a Christian lies - the path of salvation. Relying only on God's mercy can lead to moral irresponsibility and indulgence in one's sins. The absolutization of fear turns God from a loving Father into a punishing Judge, which is much closer not to Christianity, but to other monotheistic religions. We turn to God as our Heavenly Father, in relation to Whom we are often not even children, but inexorable slaves. But we must not forget about His fatherhood.
—Today we are bombarded with tons of negative information every day: deaths, terrorist attacks, wars. Is it possible to be happy knowing about all this?
-There is nothing new under the sun. The great Russian philosopher Alexei Fedorovich Losev once said that those who have suffered little in their life are embarrassed by the imperfections of the world. Those who have seen evil and trials in their life treat new ones fearlessly. Well, what new happened at the beginning of the 21st century compared to what happened before? Yes, now there are terrorist attacks - but before there were barbarian conquests. Now there is cancer - but before there was plague and pestilence. Now we have sudden climate changes, environmentally unclean products - and before there was famine. People often lose self-control precisely because they were brought up with the feeling that the world has become stable and comfortable. After all, after World War II, life, at least for some part of humanity, improved in such a way that it became possible to predict it. We have the illusion that we ourselves are the architects of our own happiness. But the Lord reminds us that this is not so, that without God we cannot reach the threshold. And then we begin to understand that our inner feeling of the fullness of being does not depend on external circumstances.
—But sometimes the flow of negative information dulls the feeling of compassion...
—Yes, this is a specific disease of our time - oversaturation of information flow. And here we can only advise one thing: limit the flow of information, especially that which concerns issues where your reaction is meaningless and useless. There is no need to listen to the news for more than five minutes a day. Or you may not listen at all. Your colleagues will tell you everything really important. It is better to try to help someone with whom you happen to be close in real, not virtual life, someone who is within human reach, as they say, within six handshakes. In general, virtuality, which seems to make us a person of the world, at the same time suppresses us with its volume, just as, perhaps, in the Middle Ages the colossal size of the cathedrals suppressed a pilgrim who came to Rome. But the majestic cathedral aroused reverence for God in a person’s soul, and crazy streams of negative information inspire us with the idea that you, in fact, cannot do anything. In order to maintain self-control, and even more so to get closer to what we call happiness, we must be in real, private life. After all, Christianity is to a large extent a personalistic religion; it presupposes personal relationships both between God and man, and between man and those whom he knows in his real experience.
—And yet can we say that Christianity is a religion of happiness?
—We can say that Christianity is a religion of love. Love for God and love for man. God's love for us exceeds all degrees of love that we can imagine and, of course, much stronger than our earthly love for people. And if we, “being evil,” wish our loved ones happiness, can God wish us anything else?
Newspaper "Orthodox Faith" No. 02 (550)
People have thought about happiness at all times. They not only dreamed about it, but also sought to explain what emotions and conditions are necessary for a person to feel as if he is in seventh heaven. Is there a Russian formula of happiness and how does it relate to Orthodoxy? So, about the Russian understanding of happiness, about happiness and bliss in Orthodoxy - in our article.
How people see happiness depends on religion, citizenship and their own worldview. Sometimes our understanding of happiness is dictated by the rulers of minds - politicians, writers and poets. Therefore, a person must understand what he really needs, and not what is contrived by strangers.
National concepts of happiness
It is now fashionable to formulate national concepts of happiness. A lot of literature has appeared on this topic.
It all started with Danish "hygge"– love for comfort and pleasant little things. The embodiment of Danish happiness is an evening by the fireplace with a cup of coffee, sweets and your favorite book. Then came stories about the Swedish concept of happiness "lagom"– simple practical life in respect for others. Be yourself, keep a low profile, don’t try to grab too much of a piece and be grateful when everything goes well - this is well-being in Swedish.
Soon they started talking about Norwegian "friluftsliv"– here proximity to nature, trips to the forest, temporary refusal of the Internet, mobile phone and other sources of information and communication are of great importance. Returning to the pristine is happiness in Norwegian style.
For Americans, the highest happiness lies in their career and the high results obtained from work. For pedantic Germans, happiness is associated with law and order.
Russian suffering? Our understanding of happiness
Books are written and sold about foreign concepts of happiness, including in Russia. From them, readers learn to be happy. But there are no such books about Russian happiness. There are attempts, there are articles that initially captivate, but then repulse. Because the authors start with health and end with peace. They have a desire to adapt the text either to the state ideology, or to the views of their social group.
What kind of fly in the ointment spoils such texts?
That a Russian person must first suffer, and only then, after overcoming difficulties, tragedies, insults, become happy. And happiness actually lies in the fact that sorrows and resentments have receded for a while. I read that Russians have a craving for suffering. That, if you follow Russian logic, suffering is good. Sadness, fused with hope, is declared the source of Russian optimism. Such happiness, reminiscent of sadomasochism, will not be learned from us. Just because the Russians had a difficult history does not mean they rejoiced in adversity.
“The Grand Inquisitor”, illustration by Ilya Glazunov for the novel by F.M. Dostoevsky's "The Brothers Karamazov" Schopenhauer has the concept of “negative happiness,” which does not mean the experience of joy, but the formal absence of troubles. And they are trying to pass this off as the Russian concept of happiness.
Here is how priest Andrei Lorgus explains the relationship between suffering and happiness: “Any person can be happy. It’s another matter that someone chooses a different path for themselves - serving suffering. Yes, please, but this is a personal choice. And, from my point of view, this choice should be conscious, it should be determined by spiritual experience, and not be a blind adherence to stereotypes. After all, people often unconsciously, due to their traumatic fate or neurosis, choose a life of suffering. This is not a spiritual choice, it is a psychopathological choice. It is very easy to impose suffering on a traumatized person - he is used to it. It is very easy to impose suffering on a Christian while he lives with an unhealed soul.”
Russian formula of happiness
In my opinion, the Russian person synthesized in his idea of happiness the Danish love of comfort, the Swedish desire for simplicity, the Norwegian desire for nature, and the German desire for order.
Most Europeans, including Russians, name a strong family, good health, and material wealth as the main conditions for happiness.
But they also have their own characteristics - Russians love holidays, large, open-air celebrations. Religious and secular. They love stability, which is why many people like strong power. They love to show off themselves and their achievements. They love their parents and children and are attached to home. They love their homeland, both small and great.
From this we can derive the Russian formula of happiness - a calm life in a good home. Minimum changes. Possibility of implementation. Decent income. Holidays with family and friends. Religion as a source of morality.
But there is a minus, judging by the VTsIOM poll, the answer that happiness is in God was given by only 2% of modern Russians. In a country where more than 70% call themselves Christians, it simply doesn’t occur to people to associate happiness with religion!
Happiness in Russian literature
What if this is the fault of publicists who declare that Christianity is suffering, that an Orthodox Christian should not strive to earn money, must be ashamed of a comfortable life, and that all good things await him only after death?..
In my opinion, one cannot trust the author’s reasoning about happiness if he is close to socialist ideology. His reasoning is always to the detriment of the individual, humiliating him in favor of the state and the crowd. We all come from the Soviet Union, where, according to Mayakovsky, “one is zero,” unless it dissolved in society. But this disregard for a person’s personal needs began in pre-revolutionary times. Raznochintsy - bilious, consumptive nihilists, or nervous idealistic nobles, indifferent to their roots, flooded Russian literature. They brought there hatred of a quiet life, contempt for prosperity, doubts about traditions. They still valued their family, but were not happy with their chosen ones. They still believed in God, but in their own way, hysterically and painfully, not in the same way as the common people believed - calmly and naturally.
Socialist and near-socialist writers accused of philistinism those who do not strive for a “new life” and simply raise children, work and pray. And they raised “advanced youth” for the revolution.
Man was created by God with all his needs - in a cozy home, in a strong family, in a favorite job - is it so that he fights with these needs and flogs himself? Can't you combine it? It turns out that it is possible, but writers write about this as a selection of monarchical patriarchal views, alien to socialist views.
Ivan Sergeevich Shmelev in his novel “The Summer of the Lord” resurrects the warm Orthodox atmosphere of his home. Colorfully describes the customs associated with folk holidays. Pickling cucumbers on the Intercession, the blessing of apples on the day of the Transfiguration of the Lord, the celebration of Christ on Easter, the wonderful Maslenitsa, birch trees in the church on Trinity Day. Here is the reconciliation of honest life, sincere faith and beauty. Good relations between masters and servants. Hiking on pilgrimage. Friendly work.
The little hero of the novel, Vanechka, reflects: “It seems to me that Christ is in our yard. And in the barn, and in the stables, and in the cellar, and everywhere. In the black cross from my candle - Christ has come. And everything we do is for Him. The yard has been swept clean, and all corners have been cleaned, even under the canopy where there was manure. These days are extraordinary—passionate days of Christ. Now I’m not afraid of anything: I walk through the dark hallways - and there’s nothing, because Christ is everywhere.”
This mood – “Christ is everywhere” – is the basis of the ideal Russian world order.
Pavel Ivanovich Melnikov-Pechersky in the novel “In the Forests and on the Mountains” combined the poetry of folk life with eternal spiritual questions - how to be a Christian in everyday life and not succumb to heresies. The life of merchants and artisans is calm and measured - everyone does their job, prays, goes to fairs, makes pilgrimages to monasteries. Life in Old Believer monasteries is peaceful and joyful. They have generous benefactors who send their daughters to be raised by nuns. Of course, the plot of the novel is not without misfortunes, but they are all a consequence of temptations to which some characters succumb. An idyll would be possible if everyone followed the path of the Holy Scriptures. But the overall picture of the Volga region pleases the reader:
“Old Rus' there, primordial, old. Since the time the Russian land began, there have been no alien inhabitants there. There, Rus' has stood in purity since ancient times - as it was under our great-grandfathers, it has been preserved to this day. The good side, although it looks angrily at the stranger"
There are glimpses of Russian happiness in some of the works of Aksakov, Bunin, Leskov, and in fairy tales and stories by Gogol. People of different incomes and social backgrounds enjoy life there - from nobles to farmers. They are united by their commitment to tradition and religiosity.
Here, for example, is Leskov’s “Sealed Angel”: “We used to go from place to place, to new work in the steppes, Luka Kirilov in front of everyone waving a cut soot instead of a stick, behind him on a cart Mikhailitsa with the icon of the Mother of God, and behind them we all set out as an artel, and here in the field there are grasses, flowers meadows, where herds graze, and the viper plays the flute... that is, simply admiration for the heart and mind! Everything went well for us, and we had wonderful luck in every business: there were always good jobs; We had agreement among ourselves; calm news came from the family; and for all this we blessed the angel who came before us, and it seems that it would be more difficult to part with his wonderful icon than with our own life.”
What do these works tell us?
Spiritual joy does not exclude simple human joys. Because spirit, soul, and body were created by one Creator. But you cannot deviate from God’s Commandments.
Pavka Korchagin from Ostrovsky’s story “How the Steel Was Tempered”, who poured shag into the dough in the priest’s kitchen, ended his life as an immobilized invalid, having overstrained himself on a socialist construction site - this is a post-revolutionary, communist, and not a patriarchal and monarchical phenomenon.
Happiness in an Orthodox country is, yes, bourgeois, yes, bourgeois. The happiness of your own home, and not a smoky dorm, your family, and not the party, your craft, and not plowing on the BAM, cathedral prayer, and not a Komsomol meeting.
There is a place for heroism in the Orthodox patriarchal consciousness. But he is natural - not in the name of the leader and the world revolution, but in the name of his family and faith.
Happiness and bliss. Rejoice in the Lord
Fortunately in Orthodoxy there are two points of view.
There is a radical one - to abandon everything earthly and think only about the future world. Asceticism, monastic and monastic-like, is practiced by a few, most often lonely people.
There is a moderate one - to combine faith with a righteous life and good deeds, not forgetting about family wealth. This is the choice of most Orthodox people.
Christ gave the Beatitudes, which explain the conditions for spiritual well-being. Some clergy believe that happiness and bliss are one and the same, others distinguish between them.
Hieromonk Pitirim Sukhov explains: “Christ does not force anyone to do anything, He only sets the bar and says: if you are like this, you will be blessed. How to translate the word “blessed”? This is a Church Slavonic word, it is impossible to literally translate it into Russian, but the most accurate, closest in meaning word is happiness. A blessed person is a happy person. Therefore, Christ says: “blessed are the poor in spirit,” that is, the humble, “blessed are those who mourn,” that is, those who lament their sins, “blessed are the meek,” “blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,” that is, those who want to live only according to the truth of God , “blessed are the peacemakers” - those who try to bring peace. “Blessed are the merciful, for they will obtain mercy.” This is the plank. Try to fulfill all these beatitudes: become merciful, a peacemaker, fulfill everything that is written there, and indeed, you will be completely happy.”
But the archpriest Igor Prekup does not consider happiness and bliss to be synonymous. They may or may not be combined in a person’s life:
“It seems to me that the concept of “happiness” cannot appear at all in the paradigm of monasticism. Not because the monk is doomed to misfortune. That's not the point. There is a concept of bliss - participation in the goodness of God. A person can be blissful and yet be in crisis. “Crisis” and “happiness” are incompatible concepts. A person who is in achievement is in struggle. There may be temptations to despondency. A person is trying to overcome all this, it’s hard for him. But he is blessed because it is at this time that he gives God the opportunity to act in himself. Therefore, a monk in a state of struggle is blissful, but can one call him happy?!
If we talk about the happiness of a lay Christian, then the guideline for him is the same - bliss. But it does not exclude simple human happiness in the family, creativity, profession, etc. A Christian must be careful that this happiness does not come to the detriment of his bliss, does not interfere with it.”
Layman, Russian philologist Vladimir Kolesov writes: "In In ancient Russian texts, joy is presented as grace emanating from God. Such grace gives health and strength, and this is happiness.”
A priest talks about the Orthodox system of happiness Maxim Kaskun.
How to feel about your happiness?
If a person feels like he is in heaven on this sinful earth, he should not lose his head. Spiritual danger awaits happy people too.
Is it possible to build happiness on someone else's misfortune? Answered by priest Dimitry Smirnov.
What do elders and priests advise a successful Christian?
Don't be proud
“It is no small matter for those who are in happiness not to be proud of their prosperity, but to be able to modestly use happiness.”, -emphasizes Saint John Chrysostom.
Don't forget about your neighbors
“Do not change according to the breath of happiness, like one of the crowd, but let wisdom keep you constant for your friends. For the first usually happens to ill-mannered and ignorant people, and the last is characteristic of very wise people.”, - reminds Venerable Isidore Pelusiot.
Don't be mistaken
There are false images of happiness. “This is not only the aforementioned happiness of fusion, achieved through sin (be it fornication, adultery or homosexuality), but also, for example, imaginary happiness that is harmful to health, to oneself in general, or associated with risk to life and health for the sake of self-affirmation and pleasure (extreme sports, etc.). Complete happiness is one that, at a minimum, does not contradict bliss.”, explains the priest Igor Prekup.
Thank God
Since we received everything according to the will of God, we should not forget about gratitude. We often say “Thank you” to kind people than to the Creator.