Annie Besant - esoteric Christianity, or the lesser mysteries. Esoteric Christianity of George Gurdjieff (I.V. Nezhinsky)

It would be naive, I think, to believe that the Christian religious tradition does not have an esoteric basis.

Note: Esoteric - secret, hidden, intended exclusively for initiates.

The Church strives to ensure that people who are committed to Christianity, and, indeed, not only to Christianity, but also to other Semitic religions, perceive the meaning of the texts of the Holy Scriptures literally. The Church, or rather the conservative part of the hierarchical elite, does not really need broad-minded people who understand the meaning of the spiritual evolution of humanity. Why? Yes, for the simple reason that such people are impossible or difficult to manipulate, they are not controlled as a common herd of profane people who do not seek to understand the essence of the teachings of the same Christ, but thoughtlessly accept the dogmas of religious legends on faith. Understanding the esotericism of the teachings of Christ by the broad masses of believers for the Semitic churches, in particular for the Christian one, is neither desirable nor beneficial because in this case it loses its control lever. It is easier to control the profane and present superstitious grandmothers with tales of heavenly bliss and hellish torment, preach about repentance for a good afterlife without going into the true meaning of this action, which has the deepest meaning and undoubted benefit for human evolution, etc. But it is much more difficult to be an educator for the gray mass of people and to convey to them the true essence of the teachings of Christ and other Great Teachers of mankind.
In this essay, I set myself the goal of trying to reveal the esoteric meaning of some moments of the works included in the New Testament, within the framework of the little knowledge on this issue that I have, and, of course, my intuitive sense of truth.

Before getting into the subject matter, I would like to give a short background on all the canonical Gospels and Evangelists.

Note: in addition to the canonical Gospels, which are included in the Bible, there are others, the so-called apocrypha.

The first three Gospels: Matthew, Mark and Luke are more focused on the biography of the person of Christ, but the Gospel of John is already a Gospel that reveals more the essence of the teachings of Jesus Christ. Matthew was one of the twelve apostles called by Christ the Savior himself. Revealing his Gospel to the Jews, Saint Matthew set as his main goal the desire to prove that Jesus Christ is precisely the Messiah about whom the Old Testament prophets predicted, that the Old Testament revelations were obscured by the scribes and Pharisees, and that only in Christianity are these revelations fully understood and perceived as complete meaning. Before the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in the year 70, Matthew was engaged in the spread of Christianity in Palestine among the Jews, at whose request he wrote his Gospel for them. Then, according to some information, he preached in Ethiopia, Macedonia and other countries. According to various opinions, he died either a martyr's death in Phrygia, or a natural death in Ethiopia or Macedonia.
Evangelist Mark was not one of the twelve apostles, so he could not be a constant companion and listener of Jesus Christ, as Saint Matthew was. He wrote his Gospel from the words and under the guidance of the holy Apostle Peter. Clement of Alexandria claims that the Gospel of Mark is, in essence, a recording of the oral sermon of the Holy Apostle Peter, which St. Mark did at the request of Christians living in Rome. The very content of this Gospel indicates that it is intended for both Christians and pagans.

Note: Clement of Alexandria (Titus Flavius; ? - 215 AD) Christian theologian and writer who strived for a synthesis of Hellenic culture and Christian faith; head of the Alexandria Theological School.

The Gospel of Luke was clearly influenced by the influence of St. Paul, whose companion and collaborator was St. Luke. As the “apostle of the Gentiles,” Saint Paul tries most of all to reveal the great truth that the Messiah-Christ came to earth not only for the salvation of the Jews, but also for the pagans, and that He is the Savior of the whole world, of all people. John, the beloved disciple of Christ, was a witness to all the events and miracles performed by the Savior of the world in His earthly life. John wrote his Gospel at the request of the bishops of Asia Minor, who wanted to receive instruction in faith and piety from him. John noticed some incompleteness in the stories about Christ contained in the first three Gospels, which speak only about the physical, and wrote his own, spiritual.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. It was in the beginning with God. Everything came into being through Him, and without Him nothing came into being that came into being. In Him was life, and life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not overcome it.”

These words begin the Gospel of John. For a person who is not familiar with esotericism, with the works of Helena Blavatsky, Annie Besant, Helena and Nicholas Roerich and other authors, these words are complete “gibberish”. When I began to get acquainted with the Bible, no matter how hard I tried, no matter how much I strained my thinking abilities, I could not understand the meaning of these words. And, meanwhile, it is in them that the whole idea of ​​cosmogony and anthropogenesis is embedded. The key to the meaning of these words, like many other biblical sayings, should be sought in the esotericism of Ancient Wisdom. Let's start with the fact that God, not as a personal being, but as the Absolute, existed, exists and will always exist. But this existence, like everything that comes from Him, is cyclical. This cyclicity should be considered as Non-existence and Being, or, as we can say in another way: the unmanifested and manifested state. In the unmanifested state, God is Parabrahman, and in the manifested state, God is the Logos. Logos translated from Greek means the Word. It is precisely this Word that is discussed at the beginning of the Gospel of John. In order to manifest itself, Parabrahman puts on the ever-existing cover of Spirit-Matter (Mulaprakriti). Thus, He designates the framework of His creativity and manifested state. Within this framework, God the Absolute, already as Logos, manifests his body, which is the Universe with its Worlds. Parabrahman moves from the unmanifested state of Non-existence to the state of Being - the manifested Logos. He builds His body – the Universe – in accordance with His Great Plan. He is the Architect of this Great Plan for the construction of the Universe. This is His Plan. The beginning of the manifested state of God the Absolute is indicated by the universal sound “AUM”, which is the Divine Word, which is accompanied by light. Word and light are inseparable - this is God himself: God the Absolute, God the Logos. It is through this relict sound and light that our Manvantara begins, i.e. our Universe begins to exist in time and space. In this manifested Divine environment, which is filled with the energy of the Logos, i.e. life itself, and the unfolding or evolution of both forms and consciousness begins. This deployment is in strict accordance with the plan of the Logos - the Great Universal Architect. All Worlds and Kingdoms, permeated with the energy of the mind of the Logos, begin to unfold in their manifested existence. Man is no exception, because... it is also a product of the creative activity of the Logos. A very interesting commentary is given by Georgy Yasko to the first verses of the Gospel of John in his work “The Hero’s Path.” I quote it:

“... At the beginning of the Universe, a relict sound was heard, this sound was heard in space. Only the relic sound was in the beginning in space, so everything began to be through the relic sound. It activated relict radiation (movement, the principle of life), which is perceived as relict light. And the relict light is still being studied and will be studied until the end of the existence of the Universe..."

“... The word of the fourth Gospel is the sound of the Big Bang, which embodies the plan for the development of the Universe in a self-developing energy-information system of the spiritualized Cosmos”

“There was a man sent from God; his name is John... He was not light, but was sent to testify to the light..." (John 1:6-9)
Who is John? He was known as John the Baptist. He was a very energetic and active prophet who expressed his teachings in simple and rather rude words. He preached that the day foretold by the prophets was at hand. This day is God's day. His close disciples discussed among themselves whether John was the promised teacher - the Messiah, whom the Israeli people had been waiting for for centuries. However, he said: “He who is stronger than I is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down to untie. He who comes after me is more powerful than I.” John the Baptist, like Jesus Christ, belonged to the secret society of the Essenes and knew, as an initiate, all the teachings of this order. He knew the secrets of Kabbalah, that system of Jewish occultism and mysticism. He became a preacher of the “coming of the Lord,” which was the secret teaching of the Essenes. John the Baptist and Jesus Christ were the greatest initiates of this order. The Essenes were an ancient Jewish occult brotherhood. Its statutes and rituals were of the highest mystical and occult kind. Among the rituals of the Essenes was the baptism of disciples. This ritual was accompanied by actions of mystical content. The performance of this rite was later recognized by the Christian Church. The Essenes believed in reincarnation and many other occult truths, which were later preached by Jesus Christ, but which the church subsequently abandoned. An interesting fact is that the doctrine of reincarnation was accepted by the early church as one of the fundamental points of the teachings of Christ. The entire New Testament, if you think about it carefully, is imbued with this teaching. And only in the 6th century at the Ecumenical Council of Constantinople did the Christian Church abandon this teaching, which deprived it of the life that Jesus Christ spoke about. This arrogant arbitrariness of many ignorant church fathers of that time could not but affect its modern situation. Meanwhile, reincarnation is a key point in the esotericism of Christianity. The Essene Brotherhood held certain views regarding the origin, present and future destiny of the human soul. And all these moments were present in the teachings of Christ and early Christianity. The teaching of the Essenes and the teaching of Christ about the soul said that it always exists, i.e. immortal. All these provisions run like a red thread through the entire teaching of Christ. It is in them that the esotericism of Christianity lies.

In order to trace the esoteric orientation of the Gospels, one should pay attention to the events associated with the birth of Jesus. Let us conventionally designate them as: “The Magi”, “The Star of Bethlehem” and the very birth of Jesus Christ.
Who are the Magi? These are Mages or Great Sages. My personal opinion about them is that they are incarnations of one of the Great Teachers. The title "Magi" has always been highly revered and shrouded in mystery. If we resort to dictionaries, we will see that the word “magic” means the ability of an initiate to control the subtle energies of nature. These wise magicians, or biblical magi, were representatives of the great mystical and other occult brotherhoods of the East. These are adepts, teachers, hierophants, all of whose teachings are deeply esoteric. And it is no coincidence that it is they, the highly educated “miracle workers,” who appear at the very beginning of the earthly journey of the Great Teacher, Jesus Christ, whose arrival they had long awaited.

Moving somewhat away from the central line of my work, I would like to note that in the text of the New Testament in the “Acts of the Apostles” (8:9-24) there is a mention of a certain Simon. Simon the Magician or Simon the Magus became, thanks to a mention in the Holy Scriptures, the personification of the image of an adept of black magic. He is known for his effective "miracles". He could rise into the air, hypnotize at a great distance, move objects by force of will, and much more. Simon was born in ancient Samaria, where people worshiped him like a god, amazed by his supernatural power. He was attracted to Christianity only in connection with the miracles that the holy apostles could perform, and when Simon saw their great deeds, he offered them money in order to have the same power, at which the apostles were angry and threw him out of the church. Peter said to him: “Let your silver be for your destruction, because you think to receive the gift of God for money.” From the name of Simon comes the name of the sin “simony”, associated with trading in church positions.

So, speaking about the Magi, it should be borne in mind that their mention in the New Testament is not accidental, but is fully justified by the fact that Jesus Christ himself was the greatest hierophant of many esoteric schools. One of the esoteric beginnings of the evangelical stories should be considered the mention in them of the “Star of Bethlehem”: “The Star in the East” (Matthew 2:2). For those who are not familiar with esotericism, the “Star of Bethlehem” literally means a bright star that suddenly appeared in the sky and, like a beacon, led the Magi with its guiding light on their long journey. Ordinary Christians firmly believe in the literalness of the fact that this star constantly accompanied the Magi on their journey, which lasted more than a year until it brought them to Bethlehem and stopped over the place where Joseph and Mary were with the baby Jesus. This story arose from the superstitious and ignorant views of most Christians in the first, second and third centuries after the death of Christ. What is the truth of the story about the Star of Bethlehem? Since ancient times, the great hierophants of the East have been waiting for the appearance of the Great Teacher in the manifested state, i.e. in the form of a man. Its incarnation was predicted in advance, many centuries ago. It seems to me that this truth is rooted in the teachings of the Great Teachers of the White Brotherhood. One of them had to incarnate to convey their great truths to earthly humanity because for a long time there had been a imbalance in evolutionary development in human society. This imbalance was expressed in the retreat of humanity into ritual pomp and dogmatism of faith. This is what should have been corrected. But how? Of course, in the form of the coming of the Messiah with his “new teaching.” The Great Teachers of humanity predicted that people would learn about the completion of this event through the planets, which the magicians eventually saw. They saw a special combination of planets in the sky: 1) the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in the constellation Pisces; 2) Mars joined these two planets; 3) these three planets constituted a striking and unusual stellar phenomenon, from which it followed that: a) the Teacher was born; b) he was born in Judea, because The constellation Pisces rules the national life of Judea. Thus, having calculated the exact moment of the conjunction of the planets, the Magi went to Judea in search of the Teacher of Teachers.

The coming of the Great Teacher in those days was a favorite topic of all sorts of speculation and controversy in all occult brotherhoods. The message of the Great White Brotherhood spread throughout the world and appeared to the initiates of all countries in all languages, that one of the Great Teachers would be revealed to the world - a powerful avatar, which in essence is the appearance of the Divine in the form of a man. This avatar was Jesus Christ, one of the Great Teachers of the White Brotherhood. He appeared to the world in the form of a man who incarnated for the sake of saving humanity from the threatening religious fanaticism and blind materialism, which, in their essence, are a huge obstacle to the evolution of human consciousness. For initiates all over the world, the appearance of the Messiah meant the appearance of a divine avatar - the Lord in human form, which was equated to the descent of the Pure Spirit into matter. This view, of course, far exceeded the expectations of the Jews. Having accepted this point of view, one can easily understand why the Magi-Magicians began to search for the Great Teacher so diligently and enthusiastically. They reached Bethlehem a year after the birth of Jesus Christ and the appearance of the Star. According to the widespread and established opinion among Christians, they were not looking for a newborn baby; they were looking for a baby and found him. The sages presented him with mystical symbolic gifts: gold, incense, myrrh. Having completed all the rituals, the Magi left Bethlehem. However, they did not forget the baby; they always followed his spiritual development and took a very direct part in this development. This is not mentioned in the Gospels, but there are other records that speak of this.

The question of the mystery of the “virgin birth” of Jesus Christ is one of the most controversial issues. The Orthodox Church builds its line of evidence based solely on the literalness of the presentation in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. This generally accepted dogma of Christian theology is also one of the constituent parts of the Creed. In our time, many progressive minds refuse to accept this dogma in its literal meaning. So what is the truth of the “immaculate conception” and “virgin birth”? The esoteric key is the key to understanding this issue. Esoteric sources do not even mention any supernatural miracles in connection with the birth of Jesus. The family, as it should be, consisted of father, mother and child. Esotericism considers the conception and birth of a child as the greatest miracle, a miracle of the creation of the Divine Will. Esotericism recognizes natural law as the Will of the Lord and does not know laws that go against this Will. There is no other way, even for such the greatest individuals as Jesus Christ, except through physiological conception and birth to a physical body. Man, in addition to the physical body, also has a soul and spirit, since he is threefold. The body is the temple of the soul and the abode of the spirit. The soul and spirit exist independently of the body and after the death of the latter. In other words, the body of Jesus, like any other person, is not Jesus himself. Jesus himself is something much higher than the body and, therefore, there is no great need for some kind of supernatural miraculous conception. The true Jesus was and is the Spirit. A spirit that is at a very high stage of evolution, at a stage that modern man will not reach very soon. The mystery of birth is that a person, in the words of Jesus himself, is born again, in the higher spheres, and is born of the spirit, which is the basis of the immortal, eternal “I”. This teaching is very clearly visible from Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus (John, chapter 3).

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”

“To be born of the flesh is flesh, and to be born of the Spirit is spirit.”

Note: the incarnation of a person, or his descent into the material Physical World, begins with the Mental World, with its highest part of the Fiery World. This World is the true homeland of the human “I”, the basis of which is Spirit (Atma). The Mental World is the spiritual world. In its lower spheres the mental shell of the soul is formed. The next stage of incarnation is the descent into the Astral World (Subtle World). In this world, the shell of the soul for the astral body is formed. One of the symbols of the Astral World is water. This is why Christ speaks of being born from water. And finally, the last stage of incarnation is physiological birth in the Physical World, where a person receives physical bodies (ethereal and dense).

The Spirit of Jesus Christ, although it is the Highest Spirit, but, like the spirit of any person, comes from God the Absolute. His Spirit, in its evolution, was far ahead of humanity, because... Jesus is one of those who came to Earth at the end of the third race to accelerate the evolution of humanity. He is one of those who brought “fire” into the essence of man and reached the stages of the Divine-Human, who were incarnated, are incarnating and will be incarnated as avatars for a shift in the consciousness of humanity. However, for earthly incarnation, even they need a “vessel,” which is the womb of the mother of the highest spiritual purity. This “vessel” was the Virgin Mary, through whom the incarnation of the Great Teacher of mankind took place, naturally, not without the help of Joseph.

So, Jesus Christ appeared in earthly incarnation as an ordinary child. However, the potential of Christ’s soul far exceeded the capabilities of an ordinary person. His higher “I” contained a huge reserve of the greatest abilities that are not inherent in an ordinary person, including a modern person, and this level will not be reached very, very soon. The manifestation of Jesus' abilities began from his earliest childhood, which took place in Nazareth. It was then that He began to comprehend the Jewish laws and become impatient with their dogmatic understanding, which was preached by the teachers of Israel. Esoteric legends say that, as a child, Jesus secretly made his way to strangers who were distinguished by occult and mystical knowledge and listened to them, imbued with the truth of the teachings. There was no shortage of such itinerant preachers due to the special geographical location of Nazareth. It was located at the crossroads of many trade routes. In addition, little Jesus was connected by an invisible thread with his true brothers - the Great Teachers of mankind, who actually led His earthly education. Through wanderers, as well as through ecstatic states, the child successfully assimilated those parts of the truths for which He was already ripe. By the age of thirteen, Jesus already possessed such a wealth of knowledge that it confused the Israeli teachers. This fact is recounted in the Gospel of Luke in chapter two. He and his parents visited the Jerusalem Temple during the Passover holiday.

“...all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers.”

However, this visit, in addition to the rapturous joy of seeing the majestic temple for the first time, deeply shocked the consciousness of the young Jesus Christ with the horror of the shed blood. This “festival of blood,” the blood of animals killed as a sacrifice to Jehovah, was a terrible sight. Of course, this dogma of bloody sacrifice could not be acceptable to the highest consciousness of the Great Teacher of mankind. This bloody ritual shocked him to the core with its cruelty and made him think about the uselessness of many dogmas that make up the religious teachings of not only the Jews, but also other peoples.

This episode ends the New Testament narrative of the young Jesus and does not resume until His appearance at the site of the preaching of John the Baptist, when He reached the age of thirty. Where and how did Jesus Christ spend these years? The answer to this question should be sought in esoteric legends. These years of Christ were spent traveling to distant countries, where occult teachings of various directions were revealed to Him. He was taken to India, Egypt, Persia and many other countries. During his travels, He met with the Great Teacher Rassul Moriya, who inspired Him to undertake the earthly feat for which He was destined. This feat was expressed in the dissemination of the great teaching of the White Brotherhood, saving humanity, mired in the sins of religious dogmas and impending materialism. Jesus Christ fulfilled his saving mission with honor and without hesitation. The Great Teacher had to fulfill his destiny in his country, among his people. With His uncompromising preaching, He antagonized the priests and the upper strata of the Jewish class, who ultimately sentenced Him to martyrdom on the cross. However, having fulfilled his mission, Jesus Christ became the Savior of all mankind, and not the Jewish Messiah. The spirit of His teaching continues to bear fruit in human hearts. But this teaching must be understood, as has already been said, using an esoteric key, and not by a literal interpretation of the New Testament and other sources of Christianity.

So, in order to understand the esotericism of Christianity, it is necessary to know who Jesus Christ is and what is the main goal pursued by Him. These questions can only be answered by carefully and meaningfully reading the narratives of the New Testament and using the esoteric key to truly understand them.

So who is Jesus Christ and what is the salvation of His mission? The ultimate goal of human evolution is to achieve the stage of the God-man. And this goal is symbolized by Christians in Christ. However, Jesus Christ is not limited to one religion. He is the ideal to which all humanity strives under the banners of various religions. But the true essence is one: Jesus Christ is the God-man. He, like other Great Teachers of humanity, came to Earth during the time of the Third Race, to guide the accelerated evolution of human consciousness. Without this guidance, humanity would not have advanced far along the ladder of evolution from the stage of animal man. Great Teachers have incarnated in the human environment at all times under the guise of great kings, prophets, teachers and directed human consciousness in the right direction through the teachings that they brought with them. These were teachings collectively developed by the Great Teachers of the White Brotherhood, but introduced into the human environment by one of them. The White Brotherhood is a hierarchical brotherhood of the greatest individuals who incarnate into the human environment under the guise of the most famous people of genius. Their evolution of consciousness is much ahead and exceeds the consciousness of ordinary people. This comparison of consciousnesses can be represented by how the consciousness of a person exceeds the consciousness of any worm, and their consciousness exceeds ours. They incarnated among people during all significant historical turning points and made a shift in the consciousness of people in the direction necessary for evolutionary development. Thanks to their tireless activity, we, earthly humanity, are at the modern level of civilization. They, the Great Teachers and with them Jesus Christ, reached the Divine-human level, which is the prospect of the evolution of humanity in general.

The word “Christ” is identified with the name of the “Son of God” (in Greek Grestos - Anointed One) and is the ideal beyond morality to which we strive. Christ can and must be born in the soul of every person. And this is the essence of the teachings of the God-man - Jesus Christ, which constitutes the heart of the Christian faith. And, based on this, we can formulate the main task of religion, whose carrier is the church: the awakening of Christ in the soul of man, abiding in the Spirit of Christ and the desire to achieve His high moral ideal.

For a clearer and more imaginative understanding of the essence of Christianity, or any other religion (the root of truth is the same for everyone), let us turn to a clear example.

There was a shipwreck. The ship has sunk, and helpless people, left to the blind elements, are desperately floundering in the raging waves of the ocean. If timely help does not come, they will all die: the violent waves of the elements will swallow them up. Where is the salvation? However, fortunately for the drowning people, the captain of the lost ship still managed to transmit an SOS distress signal. This signal was located on a distant shore in the so-called “Stronghold”. This is the permanent abode of illustrious selfless rescuers (saviors of humanity). This is the abode of the Great Teachers. This is the White Brotherhood, which is headed by the Great Hierarch. Having learned about the tragedy unfolding in the open ocean, he gives instructions to clarify the location of the shipwreck and organize a rescue expedition with all the ensuing consequences. To rescue those in distress from the harbor of the Stronghold, a rescue ship called the White Brotherhood urgently goes out into the open stormy ocean. On board there is an experienced team of rescuers, consisting of the Great Teachers of humanity. This team has carried out similar rescue operations more than once. The crew and the ship have everything they need for such situations. There is also a helicopter on board the ship called "Christ", piloted by one of the Great Teachers. To speed up the provision of assistance to victims of disaster, a helicopter rises from the side of the ship and heads to the scene of the tragedy. He has constant radio contact with the captain of the rescue ship and the head of the Stronghold, who remained in the monastery and from there directs the rescue operation. All threads of this operation are closed on it. After some time, the Christ aircraft arrived at the scene of the tragedy. A sad picture was revealed to the brave crew. Poor people, distraught with horror, cry out for help. How to help? But the solution to this problem has long been thought out and lies in the correct, clear and well-coordinated work of the crew, which quickly and accurately carries out the orders of the aircraft commander. A life raft is immediately released to those in distress. He, for a while, will accept drowning people. However, in order to prevent panic and act correctly in an extreme situation, the commander decides to land one of the trained rescuers on the raft. He, directly at the scene of the event, will lead the rescue operation. This rescuer has willpower and knowledge, which are now so necessary for people in trouble, and which will be opposed to the blind elements and panicky moods of drowning people who have lost courage. It has a radio for communication with the aircraft, a radio beacon, and personal rescue equipment. He quickly takes control of the situation, because... studied the difficult science of salvation very well. A lot depends on his clear and decisive leadership. His commands must be strictly followed by those in distress. The raft is deployed and ready to receive people who are no longer unconsciously floundering in the raging waves, but are swimming, using individual means of rescue, to the life-saving raft. Most of the people are already on it. The helicopter cannot immediately pick up everyone, it picks up only some of the rescued people, and flies off to the White Brotherhood ship to land them. The helicopter itself will return for the rest. It will make as many trips as necessary until the ship approaches the disaster site. First of all, the weakest are lifted aboard the helicopter - these are children, old people, and women. Those remaining at the scene of the tragedy are no longer as defenseless against the elements as before. They have an experienced leader, they are on a raft, they have food, clothing, personal means of survival, water, means of communication; and most importantly, hope for salvation and great faith in it. This faith is the main means of salvation, and its preservation is the primary task facing their leader and each individual. The unity of people in faith makes them strong and resilient in the face of raging elements. If you panic and weaken your faith in salvation, then disaster will inevitably happen: the waves of the raging ocean will swallow people. Salvation is in faith and struggle! It is very easy to draw some conclusions from the illustration above. Their symbolism is as follows:

1. The land on which the “Stronghold” monastery is based represents the highest spiritual worlds. In one of these worlds, but not at the highest, but close to the Astral World, is the abode of the Great Teachers. They could, using their highly spiritual position of attaining the consciousness of full Arhats or God-men, retire to higher worlds. But they voluntarily guard the development of human consciousness. The ocean symbolizes the Subtle and Physical Worlds. The watch carried out by the Great Teachers is constant and intense, lasting since the end of the third race for approximately 7-8 million years.

2. The Great Hierarch of the White Brotherhood, of course, is not God the Absolute, but a great entity that participates on high planes in the implementation of the Logos Plan. This entity is responsible for earthly evolution in the present Manvantara. This is the “Father” about whom Jesus Christ constantly speaks in his teaching.

3. The crew and the rescue ship itself “White Brotherhood” are the Great Teachers of humanity with their saving teachings for earthly humanity. The teachings are saving in terms of the success of the spiritual evolution of humanity.

4. The coastal part of the water ocean is the Subtle (Astral) World, and the open raging ocean is the Physical World.

5. The “Christ” helicopter with its commander and crew is a symbol of the Savior Jesus Christ with his closest disciples (apostles), as well as his teaching aimed at the spiritual evolution of humanity.

6. Radio communication is the Holy Spirit, or, as they say in the New Testament, the Comforter.

7. The light of the beacon is the direction of human evolution.

8. The life raft is the church. Unfortunately, the church, starting with the apostolic one, has never been united. It has always been torn and continues to be torn by strife of various kinds: political, administrative, economic, ideological, etc. It is more preoccupied with itself than with the spiritual awakening of people and their further direction along the path of Christ, along the path of spiritual evolution. The truth of Christ's teachings has been largely replaced by fetishism: tinsel, pomp, ritual mystery and dogmatism.

Having understood what is stated above, you can move on to the esotericism of Christianity. But first I would like to clarify the question: why did Christianity originate among the Jews? To this question, I think, the answer should be sought in the theory of passionarity, which was proposed and developed by Lev Gumilev (1912-92). The doctrine of passionarity is a doctrine about humanity and ethnic groups. An ethnos is a biosystem that develops in a specific area, i.e. geographical environment. This environment may have some tension at some times. This tension of the area is transmitted to people and affects society through the most susceptible people. This tension, leading to social explosions: coups, revolutions, wars, is called passionarity, and people susceptible to tension are called passionaries. When passionarity reaches its peak, various shocks occur, leading to shifts in people's consciousness. Using the moment of passionarity, the Great Teachers introduce their teachings into the environment of people, which are well absorbed and take root. This is precisely the peak of passionarity that was observed in Judea in those days. It was used by the Great Teachers for a pivotal shift in the consciousness of people through the introduction of Christianity. Apostles, disciples of Christ, obvious passionaries.

The basis of Christianity is Christ: his birth, life, ministry and death. But we must not, not for a second, miss the fact that Christ is the God-man. He was not born of God in our literal understanding of the word, but was born in the spirit and reached the level of the God-man and became the “Son of God” by right of his own above consciousness. And this secret constitutes the essence of the secret teachings of the mystical and occult brotherhoods. It should always be borne in mind that the soul of Jesus is incredibly different from the souls of people at our evolutionary stage. If our soul, our individual “I” arises in the Fiery plane of the Mental World, then His “I” has reached incomparably greater heights. And from these heights He began his descent into our world. This convergence was the decision of the Brotherhood of Great Teachers and was in accordance with their plan. You can be born on Earth only in accordance with the current Divine laws and not otherwise. These laws apply everywhere and always, even for such Great Teachers as Jesus Christ. He had a “virgin birth” not in the generally accepted, but in the esoteric sense. His individual “I,” which builds the shells of future bodies in the corresponding worlds, emerged from divine heights, figuratively speaking, “from the hands of the Creator.” His spiritual monad has not known repeated rebirths for a long time, i.e. did not carry karma - this engine of human evolution. Therefore He was blameless and pure as the source from which He flowed. He was a free spirit and an unfettered soul. The absence of his human karma, which He had long since outlived, freed Him from selfish personal desires that bind ordinary people to the circle of fateful actions and selfish pride. He could be an observer and helper of human evolution from the outside. However, according to the decision of the Supreme Council of His kind, He descended into the circle of the journey of an ordinary person and, having incarnated, took upon Himself the responsibility for a shift in the consciousness of mankind. This is what the Christian Church calls the Salvation of mankind. He voluntarily accepted the destiny to be the Redeemer and Savior of mankind. He really took upon Himself the “sins” of humanity, but not in the literal, but in the esoteric understanding of this action, the essence of which is that He took upon Himself responsibility for the further evolution of humanity, offering it His teaching, which, in essence, is the wisdom of ancient times. But before removing the “burden of sins” from the shoulders of the human race, He had to become a man among men, i.e. take on the burden of earthly life. Wandering through Egypt, Persia and India, Jesus was only a teacher and had a dim idea of ​​the truth of the mission for which He was destined. But, gradually, under the influence of the Teachers of the White Brotherhood, He began to experience periods of insight in which Jesus began to realize His true destiny. During these periods, He felt and understood the difference between Him and other people. He realized the greatness of the work intended for Him. All this happened slowly and gradually. But in order for His destiny to be fulfilled, Jesus had to enter the circle of karma of earthly humanity, which He did after His baptism in the waters of the Jordan, performed by John the Baptist, and departure into the desert. In the desert, fasting and meditating, Jesus discovered the path of the Savior of mankind. His mighty soul, moved by the spirit of the highest purity, without hesitation, despite the greatest temptations, entered the circle of karma of earthly humanity and took upon itself the greatest mission of the Savior. Jesus was a free soul, animated by a pure spirit and, therefore, He was more God than man, although He dwelt during His earthly journey in a dense human shell. He was an Immaculate Spirit, but, like everyone else, he was subordinate to the Unlimited Greatest Spirit of All Spirits - God the Absolute, the single beginning of everything that exists. According to the Universal Law, which is valid always and everywhere, the work of directing human consciousness along the true path of evolution can only be carried out from within the earthly circle, and for this Jesus had to become a man. So He did. In the dark desert, Jesus, having decided to renounce earthly temptations, immediately entered the circle of karma of humanity and became available to all the suffering, misfortunes, temptations and limitations of an ordinary person. His spiritual power undoubtedly remained in Him, but He was no longer a God-man standing outside worldly life, but became a man, albeit an unusual one, who had the opportunity to use his powerful spiritual power, but was bound by the law of karma. When the devil of personal achievement tempted Him, inciting Him to seek the benefits of earthly goods, Jesus was forced to overcome the temptation of temptation like an ordinary person. He was able to do this and emerge victorious from the struggle with the devil only because he firmly and completely focused on what was His true “I” - the Spirit of His Soul. He, understanding the absurdity and deception of all illusory earthly blessings, managed to drive away the tempter from Himself. Having become a man, He had to live His mortal life: he had to live, suffer and die like all people and according to the law of mortality. However, all these stages of the life of an ordinary person had to become more prominent and accentuated in order for His mission as the Savior to be fulfilled. The life of Jesus became the greatest service to humanity, which was expressed by His teaching, and the martyrdom on the cross was the final chord, the pure and polyphonic chord of suffering for the truth. He drank the cup intended for Him completely, to the last drop, to the very bottom, suffering as only such a spiritually sensitive individual could suffer. People, these limited creatures, in their spiritual immaturity, believe that the suffering of Jesus Christ ended when He breathed his last on the cross. No, this suffering for unreasonable humanity continues even now. They will continue for centuries until, finally, the soul of every person, even the last, the most fallen, is finally cleansed of the stains of karma and will thus be “redeemed” and “saved.” And there are very, very many such stains on the collective soul of modern humanity. And the trouble is that these spots are not yet decreasing, but growing. Who is this modern man? What claims can be brought against him? I think that you cannot say better than Nicholas Roerich. Therefore, I present some excerpts from his book “The Seven Great Mysteries of the Cosmos.”

“...People...are proud of their achievements. They... are proud of their civilization, forgetting that once the civilization of Atlantis was no less magnificent, but perished... due to human misunderstanding. People... do not want to know that the plan of the Logos... is to develop consciousness... therefore they do not care about the quality of their consciousness... The mind has gone ahead, creating miracles of technology, and the human heart has frozen at the level of the Stone Age - it has remained stone... Has the age of achievements of science made us happy? and human technology? ... No, the acceleration of mechanical discoveries has not ennobled life. But with the help of science and technology, people have improved the methods of fratricide... People... have lost the ability to think about the fundamentals of life... The insignificant has obscured the main thing. Having forgotten about the basics, man has forgotten about his purpose. I deprived myself of the path to improvement. He threw away the ethics of the spirit and imprisoned himself in spiritual immobility... Religions degenerated. Cultists perverted the Great Truths taught by the founders of religions... Religious disputes destroyed the meaning of the teachings... people moved away from perverted religions. They rushed into godlessness. We became imbued with the so-called “scientific worldview.” But young science... did not teach how to live... Material science began to deny everything invisible with the rough eye. Science has allowed itself to stupidly limit and answer about what it does not know. This is how false science hinders the knowledge of the universe. The antagonism of scientists slows down evolution... Planetary life... is divided along countless borders. Hatred between people has assumed unusual proportions... misanthropy has reached the point of total methods of destruction... But it is impossible to remain in anger without poisoning the consciousness. People have poisoned the environment with their disgusting and evil thinking... People do not want to know responsibility. After all, they are supposed to be the crown of the planet. But in the crown, instead of precious cameos, there were coals... Thinking... was so poisoned by the poison of conceit and malice that the entire cosmic balance was disrupted. Every manifestation of life... is filled with poison created by the human environment... the consequences of human actions... poisoned the Earth... The emanations of human actions nourished the earth's crust... The Earth's atmosphere formed a kind of crust... This strong sphere surrounded the Earth in a vice... Knowing how much the Worlds need to be nourished by higher energies, one can imagine the consequences of such isolation... It is impossible... to consider such a state of the World normal. The Planet... is sick... How can you call such a disease of the Planet? Best of all is the fever of poisoning... The world is covered with ulcers of human vices and creations. The world is immersed in the consequences of human actions... The layers of the earth and underground are saturated with phenomena created by the atrocities of mankind... You cannot kill millions of people with impunity without instituting the heaviest karma... No one thinks what consequences will appear for themselves... Every day the tension among people and Nature increases. Nature is sick with human madness. The planet's convulsions are becoming more frequent... The planet is shaking in shocks of heat and cold. For several decades now, daily earthquakes have been occurring... The Earth is in continuous trembling... Earthquakes, eruptions, storms, icing, climate disruption, disease, impoverishment, war, uprising, betrayal - what other signs is waiting for humanity?! ... But the ear is deaf and the eyes are darkened! ... consciousness continues to deteriorate... If people do not pay attention to the growing unprecedented cold and heat, then they will probably soon experience fiery uprisings. The actions of humanity cause underground fires to reach the surface of the Planet. Fiery energies are knocking in their prisons... People do not think that fiery energies will flood the planet as a natural consequence of the law of Nature... Fire is looking for a way out... Evil will can push peoples to planetary cataclysms.”

The picture painted is very sad. However, let us hope that the Principle of Christ embedded in the soul of every person will nevertheless triumph and find a way to move a person to know his true “I”. And this progress will be the true meaning of the concepts of “redemption” and “salvation” of the human race. Not salvation from the fiery Gehenna of Hell, but salvation from the fiery Gehenna of sensual selfishness, not redemption for imaginary original sins, but redemption from the abomination and filth of earthly life. Jesus Christ lives in us, in our soul in the form of the Christ Principle. This awareness is necessary for us. It will lead us to the understanding that we are, in our nature, divine individuals in fraternal union with all humanity. And it is precisely this awareness of the deity within us that is our salvation and redemption.

So, Jesus Christ continues his work as the Great Teacher along with his brothers. On the material plane, he works in the hearts and minds of men in the aspiration of the spirit from material material fetters. In terms of the spiritual Worlds, He works in man’s aspiration to know his true “I”. And this work
- is His greatest sacrifice to all humanity. Christ is always with us! To achieve this realization, we only need to recognize His presence, and we will immediately feel the satisfaction of our spiritual hunger and spiritual thirst and receive what we strive for. Christ is always within us and always responds to the call of true believers. Believe in Christ and you will be saved. The esotericism of Christianity brings this message to everyone!

Elena Terekhova

Esotericism and self-knowledge- different and identical concepts, since self-knowledge has a broader meaning. You can also know yourself from the point of view of religion. Is there really a connection between esotericism and Orthodoxy? Is it considered normal if a believer is interested in mysticism?

You don’t have to practice spiritual teachings, just practice love spells, or be a secret member of an occult society. Orthodoxy has a negative attitude towards secret teaching and practice. The Church accepts only its own Sacraments - confession, communion and others.

Esotericism and self-knowledge are a combination of thoughts and reasoning about facts inexplicable by science, which, nevertheless, are reality. Esotericism can be compared to a different understanding of reality, which has deeply entered our lives. The Christian faith, from the very beginning of its existence, has taught about the special relationship between man and God.

Like other religions, Christianity consists of teachings, reasoning and interpretations of the vision of the world, states of the soul, analysis of our actions and the people who surround us. This can be compared to a system of esoteric teaching. Since ancient times, schools and various crafts began their development in churches and monasteries.

Esotericism and self-knowledge, as a secret art, also took place at the temple. However, now all positions are clearly defined and divided into divine and diabolical. There is no third. People at any time improved, exploring life, and from time to time they encountered something inexplicable. These are manifestations of different aspects of existence that can be difficult to comprehend.

But a person still tries to explain the inexplicable - reads various literature, gets acquainted with thematic films, looks for answers to emerging questions on the Internet. When the answer is found, a person often treats it with excessive confidence and does not think about who provided it. It happens that people begin to know God from the point of view of the occult teachings of representatives of Roerich or Blavatsky, instead of turning to the Holy Scriptures.

Esotericism and self-knowledge- concepts that must have the correct meaning. Everyone has the right to choose it for themselves individually. An Orthodox Christian must spiritually educate himself throughout his life. The point is that occultism is the open worship of Satan.

He often offers what is harmful to the soul in the form of good, seduces and deceives a person. To summarize, it can be noted that, getting to know yourself, from the point of view of Christianity, it is necessary to familiarize yourself with the Bible. The apostles and prophets who wrote the Holy Scriptures were guided by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, there should be no doubt that these texts will benefit our soul and help us to know ourselves.

Take it for yourself and tell your friends!

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Question No. 1211

What is your attitude towards esotericism?

Marika , Rostov-on-Don, Russia
30/01/2004

Glory to Jesus Christ.
What is your attitude towards esotericism? and how can you help a person who believes that he is an esotericist and convinces others of this by telling all sorts of fables?

Answer from Father Oleg Molenko:

Glory to our Lord Jesus Christ forever and ever!

What is now called esotericism or esotericism om (means: internal), and was formerly called hermeneutics or hermeticism om (means: closed) and occultism om (means: hidden), has three main and different definitions, which depend on three different sources: the true revelation of God, supporters of esotericism and the opinions of scientists and other sages of this age who are not involved in esotericism. God's servants expose esotericism as a demonic phenomenon created to ensnare people to their destruction. Defenders and supporters of “secret or hidden knowledge” are confident in its benefits and divine origin. Scientists reduce it to an objective historical phenomenon or category of closedness (dedication of only special people) of a part of any teaching, religion, etc. phenomena. In this case, followers and scientists falsely perceive this very dangerous phenomenon and, one way or another, justify it. In this way they serve the demons and participate in sowing temptation and the destruction of human souls.

My attitude towards esotericism is extremely negative and accusatory. He and his followers are vile in the eyes of God.

Most people have the vaguest idea of ​​esotericism. Today, alas, esotericism is respected by the majority. As soon as someone throws out a few phrases about karma, Hermeticism or astrology, the attention of the crowd is guaranteed. Everyone has heard and knows about the existence of esoteric “knowledge”, a certain “wisdom”, above which nothing in the world can be, although stores are littered with books with this secret dregs height.

Esotericism is incompatible with revealed faith and truth. Holy Scripture clearly confirms that in Christianity there is not and cannot be any esotericism or Hermeticism:

From Mark the holy gospel. Chapter 4. Verse 22:
There is nothing secret that would not become obvious, and nothing hidden that would not come out.

From Luke the holy gospel. Chapter 8. Verse 17:
For there is nothing secret that will not be made manifest, nor hidden that will not be made known and not revealed.

From John the holy gospel. Chapter 18. Verse 20:
Jesus answered him: I have spoken openly to the world; I always taught in the synagogue and in the temple, where Jews always meet, and I did not say anything secretly.

From Luke the holy gospel. Chapter 12 Verse 2:
There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing secret that will not be known.

From Matthew the holy gospel. Chapter 10. Verse 26:
So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing secret that will not be known.

Book of the prophet Amos. Chapter 3. Verse 7:
For the Lord God does nothing without revealing His secrets to His servants, the prophets.

But followers of esotericism are trying in every possible way to cover up their demonic essence and origin with false references and interpretations of certain passages of Scripture. Referring to Scripture in this way, they invent fables about Christianity, which supposedly contains esoteric knowledge for a small circle of initiates. With such lies they are trying to give weight and significance to their nonsense and false teachings, as well as to unite through the term “esotericism” all the world’s religions and philosophical systems, as parts of supposedly some “single secret knowledge.” The “knowledge” of occultists is indeed kept secret, for there is no knowledge, although they falsely believe and assure others that they possess “higher knowledge.” In fact, esotericism is not knowledge in itself. He is inseparable from himself carriers - demons and people seduced by them, and their internal relationships. This is a complex system of deceit and lies one of psychological techniques for controlling the consciousness of people and students through hypnotic convincing them that the guru or teacher has knowledge that can have a super-impact on society or nature. This hypnotic belief forms people of a certain type of consciousness, who are tools of demons in carrying out the ideas of esotericism. These ideas, practices and secret (hidden) knowledge, which contains one secret - that the source of esotericism is demons, was taught to the antediluvian people by unclean spirits. They then passed on this “knowledge” and its practice to post-flood people, especially idolaters, priests, magicians, astrologers and pagans. Esotericism has nothing to do with science. An experienced esotericist does not go into “battle” with his accusers, but is engaged in creating such an atmosphere and such psychological conditions under which his criticism or direct verification would not be possible. For this purpose, both hypnosis and violence are used, and it is customary to get rid of critically thinking students. Thus, along with some parascientific knowledge, esotericism also combines psychological methods of influencing a person, in which its bearers really know a lot.

As a rule, esotericism comes down to the subordination to the will of a teacher of a certain number of students from among eccentric women or humanitarian intellectuals who do not master the methods of logical analysis. The activity of a teacher of esotericism is made easier by the fact that in society there is a certain percentage of people who psychologically need this kind of apprenticeship. As a result of his lectures or practical classes, the esotericist does not teach his students anything, although he speaks for hours. Everything he tells his students is - to call a spade a spade - pseudo-scientific, near-medical or near-religious nonsense. The “teacher” demands a high degree of respect for this nonsense, because what is said is presented as truth of a high order. In fact, we have to admit that nonsense is not suitable for teaching, and teaching itself is not the goal of the teacher. The purpose of this nonsense is not to convey knowledge, but to properly formation of consciousness students. Accordingly, the best student is not the one who develops in the way that is commonly understood in scientific institutions, but the one whose consciousness turns out to be more pliable and begins to change under the influence of delirium. Of course, this nonsense itself may have the character of a high art of mental processing of human consciousness - here, as they say, there is no limit to improvement, which the coming Antichrist-beast will fully show. The term used - "nonsense" - is quite conventional for many people who are not rooted in the true faith. The one who carries it often well understands and controls the brainwashing that he arranges for his students. The ultimate goal of the “teacher” from esotericism is to subordinate the will and consciousness of people to demons.

There are also other cases that do not allow us to classify all esotericism as banal quackery. There are many esotericists who believe in what they claim - which, however, is not an excuse for them, because objectively Their activities most often come down to the picture given above. The nonsense of all esotericists is built from an endless set scraps logical chains connected to each other by the inertia of thinking or random, associative, aesthetic connections. The shift in the student’s consciousness occurs precisely when these connections are understood, as a result of thinking out what cannot be logically thought out. In this independent work, the student approaches the critical point of his consciousness: either he begins to understand that the teacher is delusional and leaves him, or he begins to delirium himself - he begins to generate incoherent logical chains, repeating in them the same breaks that the teacher does. In this case, a complete illusion of understanding the entire “world spiritual process” arises for the student. This does not happen because this process is captured in the unity of its understanding - in fact, it is contradictory and cannot be reduced to a single doctrine, for it is comprehended by faith and revelation. It’s just that “everything is clear” to a maturing esotericist in his inner world, in which logical connections are destroyed . This is what is called demonic logic. From the outside, this is always clearly visible: the student gives the impression of a delusional person - this, in fact, is the criterion for “the presence of esoteric knowledge.” These methods of “training” are used both by esotericists speculating on “superknowledge” and by totalitarian sects (for example, the “Moscow Patriarchate” is a totalitarian sect that uses similar esoteric methods of suppressing the will and psyche of its members and forms in them a false Orthodox consciousness and a false spirituality), where instead of knowledge, a false religious dogma or idea is elevated to the rank of the highest value, i.e. lovely. The fruits of such experiments with people's consciousness are always sad. Those who believe in occultists or charmers, and those who practice their attitudes, experience mental breakdown, despondency (so-called deep depression), dissatisfaction with life, thoughts and desires of suicide, a tendency towards alcoholism and drug use, a tendency to sexual perversion, a predisposition to obsession, mania. and mental illness, and many other negative phenomena. These bitter fruits of demonic communication affect the third and fourth generations of occultists. Thus, through a passion for esotericism (occultism, astrology, magic, theosophy, eastern philosophical teachings and practices - yoga, meditation, martial arts, etc.) the soul is destroyed and ancestral corruption is formed.

This is the essence of “secret knowledge” - esotericism and these are its terrible fruits for the people bound by it. But esotericism is dangerous not only for its followers. He poses a threat to society. The social danger of esotericism lies in the fact that its “teachers,” pursuing their own selfish goals, sometimes strive to influence people occupying key positions in society. Therefore, a certain number of mystics and esotericists always revolve around deputies and other government officials or influential persons in society. Sometimes such influence is successful. And when an entire esoteric organization comes to power in this way, it leads to great disasters. Typical examples of this are Freemasonry and the “Black Order” of Nazi Germany.

Any “secret knowledge” always goes hand in hand with what can be called sin or villainy.

What does the secret knowledge of esotericism consist of? From anything. This is not of fundamental importance, as long as it is knowledge for which social tradition recognizes the relevance and scope of action of “secret forces.” Esotericism uses the teachings of ancient India, and the heritage of antiquity, and the superstitions of astrology, alchemy, Kabbalah, magic, shamanism, palmistry, elements of world religions, the mystical developments of Pythagoras, Plato, Hermes-Trismegistus, Paracelsus, Nostradamus, Blavatsky, Gurdjieff, Ouspensky, Helena Roerich, etc. This army of demon servants, whose name is legion, constitutes the anti-system called esotericism.

It is very difficult to help a person steeped in esotericism, since strong guardian demons stand behind him. Without the strong desire of the seduced person to break out of the demonic networks and his requests for help from God in this, it is almost impossible to help.

When we moved into our current apartment, right opposite the balcony, twenty meters from us, an amazing artifact was discovered, the so-called dolmen - an ancient and mysterious structure. Several such dolmens were found in Crimea, but in Simferopol there was only one and, it must happen, it was in the courtyard of our house. For reference: a dolmen is a prehistoric, presumably Bronze Age, megalithic structure, the purpose of which scientists are still arguing about. Outwardly, it looks like a box made of massive stone slabs. Some believe that this is a crypt where the bones and skulls of the inhabitants of the local community were kept, while others believe that dolmens are religious objects, the true purpose of which we can only guess due to the almost complete loss of ideas about the traditions and rituals of the peoples who lived in those old times.

Having become interested in this issue, I read a lot of interesting things about megaliths, but basically it all resembled the “fantasy” genre. For example, that ancient people, going into dolmens, plunged into eternal meditation. At the same time, their etheric bodies separated and, traveling through different levels of existence, learned the truth. There, in the dolmens, these people somehow left an information trace of their knowledge for posterity. I also learned that under no circumstances should dolmens be destroyed, but not because it is wrong to destroy historical and cultural monuments, but because an irresistible force will certainly take revenge for such vandalism. Attached to this warning was the story that once upon a time (apparently at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century) somewhere in Russia a church was built from the slabs of 44 dolmens. And in 1917, the Bolsheviks brutally tortured exactly 44 clergy who participated in the construction of the temple... And also at our Simferopol dolmen, a certain servant of God Ivan once asked why the organic farming movement was weakly developing in Crimea. And just imagine, he finally received an answer...

Nowadays, dolmens have become for many a kind of “place of power”, an object of magical attraction

One way or another, in our time of a special predisposition of wide sections of the population towards mysticism, the “magical” version of the origin of megaliths began to prevail, and dolmens became for many a kind of “place of power”, an object of magical attraction. And I was no longer surprised when from time to time I noticed strange people near the fence of our dolmen who were performing some mysterious actions of an obviously “mystical” nature.

I will not talk about all the supposed “sacred” properties of dolmens, but one thing I can say for sure is that our Simferopol dolmen fulfilled its “amulet” function one hundred percent. Moreover, he performed this function, so to speak, flawlessly. How this happened, I will tell later, but now, sighing sadly from the depths of my soul, I want to talk about what I started with - about the craze of Russian people for the occult and esotericism, and not even in the deepest, but in the everyday, but that’s why in a less dangerous way.

We will talk about those who use all kinds of magical fetishes in their lives, hoping that they will bring good luck, profit, protection, provide spiritual enlightenment, as well as career growth, material well-being and prosperity... I, perhaps, would not talk about this speak if we were talking about convinced pagans. You never know what a modern person, devoid of “prejudices,” believes in, with all his soul directed into the arms of the aborigines of Africa, Oceania and the Amazon... What kind of madness and nonsense, absurdities and nonsense you don’t see and hear in our time! What can I say - freedom, you know, and everyone is free to believe in whatever they want.

Frogs with coins in their teeth, magic bells, African masks, frighteningly cheerful “brownies”... What can you find in the habitats of our Orthodox brothers and sisters!

But I want to talk about baptized people, in their houses, cars, offices, on whose chests, clothes and accessories all kinds of fetishes, symbols, signs, amulets and amulets of magical, esoteric and occult content flaunt. All kinds of peepholes And", frogs with coins in their teeth, magic bells with mysterious inscriptions, Kabbalistic, Taoist signs, papyri, African ritual masks, Egyptian spells, "lucky" brooms and frighteningly cheerful "brownies"... What can you encounter with amazement in the habitats of the brothers and our Orthodox sisters! And none of them, it seems, doubts the normality of such surroundings, does not think about the fact that it is inappropriate to keep all kinds of evil spirits in an Orthodox home. Moreover, many do not consider all this paraphernalia to be evil spirits and are even willing to tell how oh fetish from what misfortune it protects and for what kind of “luck” this or that little thing is intended. Believe it or not, without hesitation they presented me, and more than once, in a brocade box with gold pins “against the evil eye” for consecration...

In short, there is a reason to once again talk about a simple but important thing: the attitude of the Orthodox to magical objects.

The very idea of ​​using otherworldly forces to solve one’s everyday and everyday problems is pure magic and is not compatible with Orthodoxy. By the way, treating the requirements as some kind of magical rituals is also a blasphemous and magical attitude. And such an attitude occurs at every step. That is, people naively (but also criminally) hope to “use” God for their needs, without intending to change one iota themselves. They ask the priest to perform some “more mysterious” ritual with all the attributes: reading “spells” (prayers), burning incense, sprinkling water, and so on... Most often, they “order” the consecration of a house, but by this action they mean almost “cleansing the aura ” or “correcting karma,” but they don’t always talk about it directly.

We have to explain that everything the Church does, it does for the sole purpose of sanctification and salvation of man. And this does not at all equal his, a person’s, carefree well-being and successful life. Moreover, when we pray to God, we ask Him to “intervene” in our lives and give us what is useful for our salvation and eternal life. And these may be things that are exactly the opposite of what is expected...

The habit of using magical fetishes and rituals, widespread among baptized people, is nothing more than a violation of one’s own faith and hostility against God

But let us return to the topic of our conversation, to the widespread habit among baptized people of using all kinds of magical fetishes and rituals, believing that all this can coexist with Orthodoxy. So: such a practice is nothing more than a violation of one’s own faith and enmity against God, no matter how scary it sounds. God calls us to faith and fidelity, to piety and constancy in good deeds, so that, working in this life, we place all our trust in God and gratefully accept everything that He gives us. This is the model of Christian life and Christian prosperity, the possibility of which is not rejected, but which must be the consequence of a good life in harmony with God. Magic is dangerous because a person, neglecting the laws of spiritual life, hopes for some idols and statues . But demons are hidden behind idols, this is said many times in Scripture. That is why the use of “innocent” fetishes for seemingly innocent “luck” can be not only a sign of lack of faith, but also (we must speak frankly) idolatry. What is considered the gravest sin in Orthodoxy.

It happens that they say: “Yes, it’s like that, it’s just... I don’t really know what it is. Friends gave it to me... my son-in-law brought it... my daughter bought it... I thought, let it be for myself...” It turns out that the man himself seems to have nothing to do with the magical object. But this does not mean that the presence of such objects does not affect the life of the individual. O person. Objects serve as the embodiment, material expression of certain ideas, worldviews, and certain energies. With regard to ritual objects, this statement is one hundred percent true. Consequently, even if a person does not understand what this or that inscription, this or that sign or object means, he still attracts into a person’s life certain energies associated with the functioning of these objects, writings and signs, and in the case of magical objects, these energies - definitely demonic. So it is better not to tempt the Lord and not to keep at home even objects and symbols that are dubious from the point of view of magical use, not to mention objects that are directly and obviously intended for such use.

If a person notices that such fetishes actually “act” in his life, this is a real disaster, because this means that, by God’s permission, a dangerous connection has been established between man and demons. This is the worst thing that can happen, even if the consequences of such communication (bitter and deplorable) do not appear for the time being, but on the contrary, everything “settles out” very well in the everyday sense. It is a disaster if this happens, because it means that the Lord has left man to “walk in the ways of his heart.” And these paths are often the paths of carnality, sin and the pain and horror that follows. The Lord usually leaves a person for stubbornness and pride, when a person does not hear, does not want to hear, the warnings that the Lord gives him, pointing out through some sensitive “stumbling blocks” to the danger of the chosen path.

So if fetishes “don’t work” or don’t help, this can be considered a good sign of God’s mercy. This means that the Lord does not allow demons to act, does not allow the law of cause-and-effect relationships between demons and humans to take effect. The law according to which a person, using certain “benefits” from unclean spirits, increasingly falls into a harmful dependence on them, sometimes not noticing his disastrous situation. And this unconscious stay in captivity of demons can continue even until death, when the history of monstrous deception and catastrophe is revealed in all its terrifying completeness, which can no longer be corrected.

So let us, dear brothers and sisters, treat all magical fetishes, these “helpers” and “protectors” with pious wariness, rejecting them as the machinations of malicious demons. Let us sanctify our lives and the life of our home by calling and fulfilling His commandments, by living in harmony with Him.

Well, in the end, as promised, I will reveal the secret of our Simferopol dolmen. I will explain why I consider it a valid, real and even in some sense infallible “amulet”, an exception to the general rule that was discussed.

So, recently I met the old resident of our house, a complacently talkative old man. And this is what he said:

“I built this five-story building myself and have been living here for forty-two years now.” And opposite, twenty meters away, they were going to build another house, a nine-story building with four entrances. It turned out that it would completely block the sunlight for us. Naturally, no one wanted this, and the head of our cooperative, a man with the eloquent surname Friedman, undertook a brilliant adventure.

At that time, a branch of the local history museum was located in the basement of our house. And Friedman, I don’t know how, agreed with the museum workers to have a real dolmen brought disassembled to our yard from Kerch. They finally brought it, and they also poured some prehistoric bones inside. But the main thing is that the dolmen was surrounded by a fence, and next to it they placed a column with a cast-iron tablet, on which it was written that this dolmen is an archaeological monument and is protected by the state. Naturally, the designers and builders did not argue with the state (after all, it was still the Soviet Union) and, as you can see, we still have free space in front of our house... And the sun now makes us happy in the mornings!

That, in fact, is the whole story.

In one of His sermons, the Lord praised a person who is savvy in the everyday sense and said that in spiritual life we ​​must show savvy and insight in achieving the main goal of life - (Luke 16: 1-9). That man, a carnal one, did good deeds so that in difficult times he would not lose a good attitude towards himself and gain benefit, but we must do good in order to be partakers of the Good and All-Perfect God.

The Lord gave man a lot: freedom, reason, and will. And if we, keeping our conscience, show ingenuity and perseverance, hard work and constancy, the Lord will certainly give us everything we need for life. And we don’t need any amulets, totems, penates or fetishes for this... Moreover, all this deprives us of God’s help, and without God we certainly cannot do or achieve anything good in life.

Moreover, in spiritual life we ​​need to make efforts, kind zeal, pious care with humility, in order to become partakers of the Divine light, to be worthy of seeing the Sun of righteousness, Christ our God. And let the experience of the enterprising “son of this age” serve as an example and edification in this good endeavor of ours.

Annie Besant

Esoteric Christianity, or the lesser mysteries

In continuing our consideration of the mysteries of knowledge, we will remain faithful to the worthy and honored rule of tradition, beginning with the origin of the universe, establishing those main features of physical research that must be preceded, and, removing everything that can serve as an obstacle in our path; so that the ear is prepared to receive the tradition of gnosis, and the soil is cleared of weeds, becoming suitable for planting a vineyard; for conflict precedes conflict, and mysteries precede mysteries.

St. Clement of Alexandria

Let this example be sufficient for those who have ears. For there is no need to reveal the mystery, but only to point out what is sufficient.

St. Clement of Alexandria

He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

St. Matthew

Preface

The purpose of this book is to offer readers a series of thoughts regarding the deep truths underlying Christianity, truths that are either too superficially accepted or even denied altogether. The generous desire to share with everyone what is most precious, to widely disseminate priceless truths, not to deprive anyone of the light of true knowledge, resulted in indiscriminate zeal, which simplified Christianity to the point that its teachings took a form that both revolts the heart and is not accepted by the mind. The commandment to “preach the gospel to every creature,” which can hardly be recognized as a genuine commandment, was interpreted as a prohibition against imparting gnosis to a few, and it supplanted another, less common saying of the same great Teacher: “Do not give what is holy to dogs and do not throw away your pearls.” before the pigs."

This unreasonable sentimentality, which refuses to recognize the obvious intellectual and moral inequality of people and, due to this, strives to reduce to the level of understanding of the least developed people teachings accessible only to a highly developed mind, thus sacrificing the higher for the benefit of the lower to mutual harm - such sentimentality was alien to the courageous the sanity of the early Christians.

St. Clement of Alexandria says quite definitely: “And even now, as it has been said, you should not throw pearls before swine, lest they trample them under your feet and, turning around, tear you to pieces. For it is difficult to express pure and transparent words concerning the true Light to swinish and unprepared listeners.”

If gnosis, this true knowledge, having been reborn, again formed part of Christian teachings, such a revival would be possible only under the previous restrictions, only when the very thought of leveling religious teaching to the level of the least developed would be abandoned decisively and forever. Only by raising the level of religious truths can the path be opened to the restoration of sacred knowledge and to the teaching of the minor mysteries, which must precede the teaching of the great mysteries. The latter will never appear in print; they can only be conveyed to a student “face to face” by the Teacher. But the lesser mysteries, that is, the partial revelation of deep truths, can be restored in our days, and the proposed work aims to give a brief outline of them and show nature that secret teaching that should be mastered. Where only hints are given, by concentrated meditation on the truths involved, it is possible to make subtle outlines clearly visible and, continuing the meditation, to deepen more and more into the understanding of these truths. For meditation brings to rest the lower mind, which is always occupied with external objects, and when it becomes quiet, then only is it possible to perceive spiritual enlightenment. Knowledge of spiritual truths can only be acquired from within, and not from the outside, not from an external teacher, but only from the divine Spirit, who built his Temple within us. These truths are "known spiritually" by that indwelling divine Spirit, that "mind of Christ" of which the apostle speaks, and this inner light is shed upon our lower mind.

This is the path of Divine Wisdom, true Theosophy. Theosophy is not, as some people think, a weak version of Hinduism or Buddhism or Taoism or any other specific religion; it is esoteric Christianity, just as there is esoteric Buddhism, and it belongs equally to every religion, but exclusively to none. In it is the source of the instructions that are given in this book to help those who seek the Light - that “true light” that enlightens every person who comes “into the world,” even if the majority have not yet opened their eyes to see it . Theosophy does not bring Light, it only says: “Open your eyes and look - here is the Light!” For so we have heard. Theosophy calls only those who desire to receive more than what external teachings can give them. It is not intended for those who are completely satisfied with external teachings, for why forcefully offer bread to someone who is not hungry?

For those who are hungry, let it be bread and not stone.

Chapter I. The hidden side of religion

Many, perhaps the majority, having read the title of this book, will react to it negatively and will dispute the existence of any teaching that deserves the name “Hidden Christianity.” There is a widespread belief that there is nothing at all in connection with Christianity that can be called occult teaching, and that the “mysteries,” both small and great, were a purely pagan institution. The very name of the “Mystery of Jesus,” which was so dear to the Christians of the first centuries, would cause nothing but amazement among modern Christians; if we talk about the “mysteries” as a specific institution of the ancient church, most likely one can only evoke a smile of disbelief. Moreover, it is a matter of pride for Christians that there are no secrets in their religion, that everything that Christianity has to say, it tells everyone, that everything it teaches is intended for everyone without exception. Its truths are supposed to be so simple that the most ordinary person, even if he is of little intelligence, cannot be mistaken in them, and the “simplicity” of the gospel has become a current phrase.

In view of this, it is especially important to prove that Christianity in its early period was in no way behind other great religions, which all possessed secret teachings, to prove that it also possessed its mysteries and guarded them as a priceless treasure, secrets revealed only to the chosen few who participated in the mysteries.

But before proceeding with such evidence, one should consider the question of the hidden side of religion in general, and be aware Why such a side must exist to give strength and stability to religion; if we clarify this issue, all subsequent references to the Fathers of the Church, proving the existence of a hidden side in Christianity, will seem natural and will no longer cause bewilderment. As a historical fact, the existence of esotericism in ancient Christianity can be proven, but it can also be confirmed by internal necessity.

The first question to answer is this: what is the purpose of religions? Religions are given to the world by their Founders, incomparably wiser than the peoples for whom they are assigned, and their purpose is to accelerate human evolution. To successfully achieve this goal, religious truths must reach and influence the consciousness of all individual people. But we know very well that not all people are at the same level of development; we know that evolution can be depicted as a gradual ascent, with different people at each point. The most developed stand much higher than the less developed, both in the sense of intelligence and in the sense of character; and the ability to understand and act correctly changes at each ascending stage. Therefore, it is completely useless to give everyone the same religious teaching: that which will help an intellectually developed person will remain completely incomprehensible to primitive man, and that which can raise a saint to ecstasy will leave a criminal completely indifferent. On the other hand, if a teaching is capable of exerting a beneficial influence on an unintelligent person, it will seem infantile to a philosopher, and what brings salvation to a criminal will turn out to be completely useless to a saint. Meanwhile, all people need religion, everyone needs an ideal to strive for, and not one stage of development should be sacrificed for the sake of another. Religion must be as gradual as evolution, otherwise it will not achieve its goal.

The question then arises: how can religions speed up human evolution? Religions strive to develop the moral and intellectual sides of people and help to reveal their spiritual nature. Considering man as a complex being, they strive to help all aspects of his being - they give teachings that meet all the various needs of man. Therefore, religious teachings must give an answer to every mind and heart to which they are addressed. If religion is inaccessible to a person’s consciousness, if it does not take possession of him, if it does not purify and inspire emotions with it, then it has not achieved its goal for him.