13. Истинное счастье человека – жизнь по духу. Тончайшая оболочка души, служащая посредницей между ею и телом и средством общения душ между собою и с миром святых и Ангелов. Светлое и темное состояние оболочки души

I wanted to answer the question placed at the end of the last letter, but the day of your Angel approached, and it occurred to me to express my good wishes to you on this occasion. First of all, I wish you health, because it is a condition for both acquiring all the goods that a person considers good, and enjoying them, or tasting them. What pleasures are possible for a sick and weakened person when all his senses are in an abnormal state? An exception must be made only for spiritual consolations. They are not subject to such dependence on the state of health and can be present despite physical suffering. During the most torment, the martyrs truly rejoiced, truly, and not only with their tongues they said that they were rejoicing. And what do you wish for this? Usually they wish for happiness. I wish you happiness too. But what exactly is desired here?! After all, no one has yet determined what happiness is or who is truly happy. As I understand it, the one who feels happy is happy. So this is what I wish for you, wishing you happiness! I wish you to always feel happy. Why and how? People have so many different concepts and tastes about this that you can’t figure it out. I’ll tell you little by little that as long as you don’t live in the spirit, don’t expect happiness. Mental and physical life, with a favorable course, gives something similar to happiness, but this is a fleeting ghost of happiness that soon disappears. Moreover, with them, that turbulent environment, formed between the soul and body and stirred up by passionate thoughts, desires and feelings, is always strong, and with it, due to the poison of passions, only intoxication is possible, forgetting suffering, as happens with opium, but not the absence of suffering and heart pain. Heart pain is an integral part of that life. The spirit hovers beyond all worries and takes the one living in it there and, giving him to taste its blessings, which always remain, makes him truly and lastingly happy. What then? Is that the end of the good wishes? No, I think that this is not enough. If our life ended with this life, then, of course, it would be enough to say: be healthy and happy. But since it does not end like this, but continues beyond the grave and is only a decisive life there, then for the completeness of my good wishes I cannot help but wish you that you will be worthy to be blessed there too. May you be blessed there too. I wish this with all my heart and most of all for you and earnestly pray to the Lord that He will lead you comfortably through this life and after it will bring you into His all-blessed Kingdom. At the same time, of course, very harsh conditions appear in your mind. There are, of course, decisive conditions, but are they harsh? To this I will say in general for now: both yes and no, judging by how someone is positioned from childhood; and judging by this, I present that they are not harsh for you. You are already doing them. Just be careful and don't back down. Another thought comes to me to send you some candy for your holiday, but I don’t know if I can put it together. I'll try. If you haven’t forgotten, I once started talking to you about some subtle, subtle element that is thinner than light. Her name is Ether. And let it be: it’s not about the name, but about recognizing that it exists. I admit that such a subtle element exists, it penetrates everything and passes everywhere, serving as the last facet of material existence. I believe that in this element all the blessed spirits - Angels and saints of God - hover, being themselves clothed in some kind of clothing from this same element. From this same element is the shell of our soul (understand with this word also the spirit, which is the soul of our human soul). The soul itself is spirit, immaterial, but its shell is made of this subtle immaterial element. Our body is coarse, but that shell of the soul is the subtlest and serves as a mediator between soul and body. Through it the soul acts on the body and the body on the soul. But I talk about this in passing. Just keep in mind that the soul has the thinnest shell and that this shell is the same for our soul, as for all spirits. From this it is not difficult for you to draw the conclusion that that universal subtlest element from which these shells and in which all spirits soar is a mediator for the mutual communication of our souls and the spirits of those. Now take a break from this idea and turn your attention to the usual affairs between us. You now live in Moscow, sit within the walls of your apartment, surrounded by buildings everywhere, and wherever you turn your eyes, you encounter obstacles everywhere: many objects block the keenness and farsightedness of your eyes. But if you were to rise above Moscow on some kind of balloon, you would unhinderedly see not only all of it, but also its surroundings. If you climbed even higher, you would see what is around you. Strengthen your vision and take you higher and higher - you can see St. Petersburg, Paris, London, etc. All this is because your vision has become sharper and there are no obstacles to seeing. Go now again to the saints of God. The element we are talking about passes everywhere and does not encounter any hindrance anywhere. A ray of sun passes through the glass, and that element passes through the glass, and through the walls, and through the earth, and through everything. But just as it passes through everything, so those who hover in it can pass through everything when necessary (as the Savior went into the upper room where the apostles were, “with a closed door”) (John 20:26). They live in a certain place, but when they are commanded or allowed, they are immediately transported wherever needed by that element and not only do not encounter any obstacles, but they do not see them either. When necessary, they are transferred, and when there is no such need, staying in their place, they see in all directions, what is where and what is going on where. And when their eyes turn to the earth, that is, to us sinners, they clearly see us, only not this rough body of ours, which they have nothing to do with, but they see our soul itself, as it is, not directly, but through the shell of the soul, akin to their shell and the element in which they live, for the state of the soul is truly reflected in its shell. Now, please imagine: two people are sitting and talking, while the soul of each is configured in its own way. Each of them does not see what is in the other’s soul, because of the rough curtain of the body behind which the soul hides; and Angels and saints, if they turn their gaze to them, will see their soul as it is and what is in it, for what it is and what is in it is reflected in its shell. If it contains holy thoughts and feelings, the shell is light, and with each holy feeling it is light in a special way. And if her thoughts and feelings are not entirely pure, then her shell is not light and from each unclean feeling it is darkened in its own way, appearing sometimes like fog, sometimes like the darkness of the night. If you ascended to heaven and perceived angelic vision, having, of course, stripped off this body, then, looking at the earth, you would see, instead of a diverse mass of people, certain shadows, light, half-light, foggy, gloomy, and it is not surprising that those dressed in light would seem gloomy to you if their soul is bad, and those dressed in rags would seem light if their soul is pure. And this is how the inhabitants of heaven see us and, judging by how they see us, they rejoice over us or mourn. Let me ask you: how does the saint whose name you bear see you, and especially now, when she takes a closer look at you so that you turn to her more diligently? How does the Guardian Angel, who is always with you, see you, and the Lord Himself, sitting with His body at the right hand of the Father (Ps. 109:1, Mark 16:19), but also promising to be with us “always” (Matthew 28:20)? The way they see you is the way you really are. I warn you that with such a question I do not think to embarrass you and thereby darken your holiday; on the contrary, tea will bring you spiritual consolation and joy. For I cannot expect that from the sky you will be seen gloomy or foggy. You have not yet become foggy, so you are visible in the light. At least my sincere wish for you on the day of your Angel is: may you and remain always such that the inhabitants of heaven always see you as bright. Then from this life you will go straight to them there. This is what I wish for you with all my heart. You might be interested in: