11. Воздействие духа на душу человека и происходящие отсюда явления в области мыслительной, деятельной (воле) и чувствующей (сердце)

I take up what was interrupted, namely, what came into the soul as a result of its union with the spirit “who is from God” (1 Cor. 2:12). From this, the entire soul was transformed and from animal, as it is by nature, became human, with those powers and actions that are indicated above. But that’s not what we’re talking about now. Being as described, she reveals, in addition, higher aspirations and ascends one degree higher, becoming an inspired soul. Such spiritualization of the soul is visible in all aspects of its life - mental, active and feeling. In the mental part, from the action of the spirit, the desire for ideality appears in the soul. Actually, mental intelligence is entirely based on experience and observation. From what is learned in this way, fragmented and without connection, she builds generalizations, makes suggestions, and thus obtains basic principles about a certain range of things. This is where she should stand. Meanwhile, she is never satisfied with this, but strives higher, seeking to determine the meaning of each circle of things in the totality of creations. For example, what a person is is known through observations of him, generalizations and inductions. But not content with this, we ask the question: “What does man mean in the totality of creation?” Seeking this, another will decide: he is the head and crown of creatures; another: he is a priest - in the thought that he collects the voices of all creatures praising God unconsciously and offers praise to the Almighty Creator with an intelligent song. The soul has an urge to generate thoughts of this kind about every other kind of creature and about their entirety. And it gives birth. Whether they answer the point or not is another question, but there is no doubt that she has the urge to seek them, seeks them and generates them. This is the desire for ideality, for the meaning of a thing is its idea. This desire is common to everyone. And those who do not value any knowledge except that of experience - and they cannot resist being idealistic against their will, without noticing it themselves. They reject ideas with language, but in reality they build them. The guesses that they accept and without which not a single circle of knowledge can do, are the lowest class of ideas. The ideal image of view is metaphysics and real philosophy, which have always been and will always be in the field of human knowledge. The spirit, always inherent in us as an essential force, contemplates God himself as the Creator and Provider, and beckons the soul into that invisible and boundless region. Perhaps the spirit, in its likeness to God, was destined to contemplate all things in God, and it would have contemplated if not for the fall. But in every possible way, even now, those who want to contemplate everything that exists ideally should proceed from God or from the symbol that God has written in the spirit. Thinkers who do not do this are, for that very reason, not philosophers. Not believing the ideas constructed by the soul on the basis of the inspirations of the spirit, they act unfairly when they do not believe what constitutes the content of the spirit, for that is a human work, and this is Divine. In the active part, the action of the spirit is the desire and production of selfless deeds or virtues, or even higher - the desire to become virtuous. Actually, the work of the soul in this part of it (the will) is the arrangement of a person’s temporary life, may it be good for him. Fulfilling this purpose, she does everything according to the conviction that what she does is either pleasant, or useful, or necessary for the life she arranges. Meanwhile, she is not content with this, but leaves this circle and carries out deeds and undertakings not at all because they are necessary, useful and pleasant, but because they are good, kind and fair, striving for them with all jealousy, despite the fact that they do not give anything for temporary life and are even unfavorable to him and are led to his expense. For others, such aspirations manifest themselves with such force that he sacrifices his entire life for them in order to live detached from it. Manifestations of this kind of aspirations are everywhere, even outside of Christianity. Where are they from? From the spirit. The norm of a holy - good and righteous - life is inscribed in the conscience. Having received knowledge about it through combination with the spirit, the soul is captivated by its invisible beauty and greatness and decides to introduce it into the circle of its affairs and its life, transforming it according to its requirements. And everyone sympathizes with this kind of aspirations, although not everyone completely indulges in them, but there is not a single person who would not from time to time devote his labors and his wealth to affairs in this spirit. In the feeling part, from the action of the spirit, there appears in the soul a desire and love for beauty, or, as they usually say, for the graceful. The proper business of this part in the soul is to perceive with feeling the favorable or unfavorable states and influences from the outside according to the measure of satisfaction or dissatisfaction of mental and physical needs. But we see in the circle of feelings, along with these selfish - let's call it that way - feelings, a number of unselfish feelings that arise completely apart from the satisfaction or dissatisfaction of needs - feelings from the delight of beauty. I don’t want to take my eyes off the flower and my ears away from the singing, just because both are beautiful. Everyone organizes and decorates their home one way or another, because it is more beautiful. We go for a walk and choose a place for the sole reason that it is beautiful. Above all this is the pleasure delivered by paintings, works of sculpture, music and singing, and above all this is the pleasure of poetic creations. Fine works of art delight not only with the beauty of their external form, but, especially, with the beauty of their internal content, intelligently contemplated, ideal beauty. Where do such phenomena in the soul come from? These are guests from another realm, from the realm of the spirit. The spirit that knows God naturally comprehends the beauty of God and seeks to enjoy it alone. Although he cannot definitely indicate that it exists, but, secretly carrying its destiny within himself, he definitely indicates that it does not exist, expressing this indication by the fact that he is not content with anything created. To contemplate, taste and enjoy the beauty of God is the need of the spirit, it is its life and the life of heaven. Having received knowledge about it through combination with the spirit, the soul is carried away after it and, perceiving it in its own spiritual image, either rushes in joy at what in its circle seems to be a reflection of itself (amateurs), or it itself invents and produces things in which it hopes to reflect it, as it presented itself to it (artists and performers). This is where these guests come from - sweet, detached from all sensual feelings, elevating the soul from the spirit and spiritualizing it! I note that of the artificial works I classify in this class only those whose content is the divine beauty of invisible divine things, and not those that, although beautiful, represent the same ordinary mental-physical life or the same earthly things that make up the ever-present environment of that life. The soul, led by the spirit, does not only seek beauty, but expression in the beautiful forms of the invisible beautiful world, where the spirit attracts it with its influence. So this is what the spirit gave to the soul, being combined with it, and this is how the soul becomes spiritual! I don’t think that any of this will make it difficult for you; I ask, however, not to skim through what has been written, but to discuss it carefully and apply it to yourself. Is your soul spiritual? After all, you sing and play music too! Someday you and I will criticize this side of you according to the stated requirement that the fine arts should represent. You might be interested in: