The spiritual connection between Abba Isaac the Syrian and F.M. Dostoevsky

Speaking about St. Isaac the Syrian and Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, you involuntarily begin to understand that it is better to shut up and give them the opportunity to testify about themselves. St. Isaac the Syrian, as well as Φ. M. Dostoevsky in his creations conveys to us not something ordinary, transitory, achieved through simple labor or talent, but something unique and eternal. This is admiration given to them from above as the fruit of long labor and patience. That which surpasses everything visible and fills the world with true hope. The creations of Abba Isaac are experienced as a spiritual manifestation of peace and joy, which were granted to him after a long ascetic struggle in the inner desert, in complete dedication to God. One can see how the saint’s entire being burns with divine love. Everything flows in the burning of the Spirit, which directs his life, builds his gospel, puts every word in the right place. Abba Isaac knows everything through love and preserves everything, giving what he knows to everyone. He is led by God, constantly shaken by the pulsations of divine phenomena. And everyone accepts the message of spiritual harmony and polyphonic silence from Abba Isaac according to the tune of the strings of his receptivity. There is no reproof or edification in his word. His word is confession. He conveys to the reader the feat of his life. He gives his all. He reveals all the trials that he had to endure during his long struggle: how many temptations he was exposed to “on the right hand and on the back” and to countless blows 1 . He talks about the temptation of darkening the mind, which fills the soul with indecision and fear, and further tells about the delight of ascension into the abode of light. In the first case - completely immersed in the darkness of despair; in the second - completely filled with the divine gift, filled with the joy of the future age. You experience a special feeling of reverent fear of someone who surpasses you both with incredible feats of asceticism and the inexpressible joy of paradise. Abba Isaac is filled with amazing sincerity and courage. His presence is both a reproach and a consolation. He calls for the courage of confession, for enduring life's trials, because Someone is always nearby. The branches of Abba Isaac's divine knowledge reach to heaven precisely because they are nourished by the bitter roots of difficult trials. “...God does not give a great gift without great temptation” 2 . All the words of Abba Isaac come from his life experience. They constantly change him, transfer him to an area of ​​ever greater spiritual maturity and freedom. The monk talks about knowledge, but also about faith, which transcends knowledge. Natural knowledge gives rise to fear. Faith is a power that bestows that which transcends human nature. And man, as the likeness of God, can create new worlds. Abba Isaac talks about prayer and the contemplation of God that is born from prayer. His mind admires and is transported to the gates of the Holy of Holies, to the Most High, whose radiance blinds the eyes of the seraphim and brings all the heavenly powers into reverent silence. At moments when Abba Isaac’s entire being is filled with indescribable bliss and joy, he does not feel the difference between soul and body, temporary life and eternal life. He feels that what he is experiencing is nothing other than the kingdom of God of the next century. Everything that was necessary for spiritual growth - freedom, feat, prayer - is now abolished. All human movement and action stops. When the power of the Spirit descends on a person, freedom is taken away from nature. And man “is guided, but does not guide,” his nature “is guided... it doesn’t know where” 4. He reaches the highest ignorance, which is greater than knowledge 5. And to greater captivity with freedom. The saints in the future life do not pray, but are raised with amazement in their joyful glory 6 . Abba Isaac notes: God grant that out of thousands at least one will be able to transcend the boundaries of created nature and partake of this sacrament. Abba Isaac is completely transformed. Therefore, it is both very close and very far to us at the same time. Our weaknesses prevent us from approaching him, but his love brings him closer to us. We are of the same nature as him, therefore we partake of his heavenly experience. Overshadowed by divine grace, Abba Isaac acquired a special gift of movement. While in his cell, he is simultaneously in other places. “And in the absence, not visible to anyone, he talks as if he were present” 7. He gains everyone. Everyone accepts it as a true blessing. Abba Isaac achieved a burning heart, which, like God’s mercy, accepts into its embrace all creation, even the enemies of the truth, even the devil himself. He is unusually sensitive. He cannot see the suffering of even the smallest creature. Weeping, he offers a prayer for all creation. At the same time, he is free from partiality: his dispassion is such that even if the heavens fall to earth, he will not be indignant. It is impossible to give any explanation of his personality. We remain silent, standing in awe of the holiness that he acquired through sacrificial love. When we stand before him, we feel something sacred, we acquire a blessing that changes and purifies us. Just as he remained silent before the Holy of Holies, so we remain silent before him who is the very manifestation of God. His love both judges and nourishes you. We stand before the mystery of the silence of the future age, which silently leads us into the Holy of Holies. Dostoevsky is different, a manifestation of the rebellious spirit. He longs for freedom. He is condemned to death. Lives in hard labor. Describes the life of the dead. Describes the thirst of the “underground” person to free himself from everything, to free himself from the belief that two and two are four. Dostoevsky learns what happens in the soul of a person - both a saint and a criminal. He is not at all embarrassed to describe their states. He amazes the whole world with his insight and authenticity of description. He describes the hell of human passions and a corrupt soul, but also the joy of salvation and finding heaven. He reveals the secret movements of the human soul, its contradictory moods and inclinations. But Dostoevsky does not stop at a simple description. He discovers a certain germ of life and hope growing out of sorrows, and a certain hosanna of praise arising from trials. All suffering, like roots, feeds the tree of life, growing towards the light of freedom. Dostoevsky does not limit himself to simple human observation, does not offer any obvious solutions, popular opinions, or seeks a relationship between them. He knows and reasonably presents the arguments of all sides more powerfully and clearly than the representatives of these sides themselves. Everyone is perplexed, many criticize him. It is studied by psychologists, psychiatrists, analysts, each from their own point of view. They are amazed by his omniscience. They themselves know a lot, understand a lot, but many of them did not know or experience the event of the Resurrection. That is why some consider Dostoevsky to be mentally ill, others - a prophet with his own religion. But he is not the founder of the theory of nihilism and atheism. He is far from his own interpretation of the Gospel, from the creation of his own Christianity. He lives in the Orthodox Church. He achieves the resurrection of Christ, by which death is overthrown, corruption is dispelled, and the dead are raised. Everything is filled with light. Everyone is called to joy in the Lord, to the feast of faith. In the end, Dostoevsky proclaims: “I desire Christ, not the truth.” Many are shocked and do not understand what we are talking about. Who captured his heart?! This is the risen Christ Himself, as the Church knows and confesses Him. This is Christ, Who is the Church itself. Dostoevsky confesses this in a letter to Natalya Dmitrievna Fonvizina (August 20, 1854), the woman who gave him the Gospel at the time of his exile in Siberia: “I will tell you about myself that I am a child of the century, a child of unbelief and doubt to this day and even (I know this) to the grave... And yet, God sometimes sends me moments in which I am completely calm; in these moments I love and find that I am loved by others... and in such moments I formed within myself a symbol of faith in which everything is clear and sacred to me. This symbol is very simple, here it is: to believe that there is nothing more beautiful, deeper, more sympathetic, more reasonable, more courageous and more perfect than Christ, and not only is there not, but with jealous love I tell myself that it cannot be. Moreover, if someone proved to me that Christ is outside the truth, and it really were that the truth is outside Christ, then I would rather remain with Christ than with the truth” 8 . Dostoevsky suffered all his life. He went through the hell of the most difficult trials, but he never complained. And he was given the miracle of faith. He found the truth just as “unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; and if he dies, he will bear much fruit” (John 12:24). This great fruit born in him is not the volumes of his works, but his confession: “I desire Christ, and not the truth.” This is an explosion of timeless light, illuminating and revealing all his affairs and his entire life, previous and subsequent. Many note that Dostoevsky describes negative heroes more realistically and authentically: atheists, criminals, depraved people. The stories about true believers and saints are rather short and vague. However, this is not entirely true. When we look at the completeness of his testimony, we see something whole. He himself experiences and describes the hell of human passions, he endures. And at some point a ray of divine light overshadows him, illuminating everything that has happened, truly revealing and explaining everything. Dostoevsky never admired his talent, and the trials did not lead him to despair. He has Christ above everything. Above all is the mystery of the incarnation of Love, which “endures everything for the salvation of all” (service of Holy Week). He has lived his whole life to reach this moment that gives him everything. And he gives everything to everyone with the same act. This is precisely the distinctive feature of Φ’s personality and creativity. M. Dostoevsky. We experience everything to reach this moment: the divine touch and communion that sanctifies everything and everyone. All the sorrows we experience and endure prepare us for this. Just like the bleeding woman in the Gospel, in the pain of all-consuming despair, for one moment she touches the vestments of the Lord and finds salvation: “and in your mind feel with your body that you have been healed from the wound” (Mark 5:29). And Dostoevsky, having gone through the crucible of the most difficult trials and torments, comes to touch the mystery of embodied Love and is healed: “and feel with your body that you have been healed.” This shock of healing is transmitted instantly to the entire body of humanity. For “we, who are many, are one body” (1 Cor. 10:17). This shock eliminates the division of space, time and ideologies. It passes through a “closed door,” like the risen Christ, and finds everyone in pain and suffering. It finds “what is inside a person.” Dostoevsky was able to move a man like Kurosawa, who lived outside the Christian tradition, in Japan, deeply shocked by the death of his brother. A man like Nietzsche could sit at Dostoevsky’s feet—a tormented spirit who in his life reached the point of preaching the Antichrist. Dostoevsky’s testimony is not of this world; it, like a source of life, penetrates the whole world. Dostoevsky gives peace to those who thirst for valuable things. And vice versa, it rejects those who consider themselves righteous and pious. The first find consolation and stand in silence. The latter are confused and talk a lot. Dostoevsky gathers everyone around him, even those who do not talk to each other. A single force embraces and creates all his creations. Of course, one can look at Dostoevsky’s works as works of art, compare them with other masterpieces, and even classify them as a special group of literature. But in the end, one can notice that the peculiarity of this man and his creations is not in external signs or in the number of his works, but precisely in the flow of life that overcomes death. With bated breath, we follow all his descriptions, the milestones of his life. He takes everything to the limit. As a result, it comes to the lightning of Resurrection and liberation, where everything is resolved and renewed. Everything that came before and after is illuminated with a timeless light. We find the truth of Love that transforms the world. We watch how man and the entire human race are saved; how a believer is invested with special power; how he addresses everyone - both enemies and friends; how they all become his friends and brothers. We see how we can and how we should build our connections and relationships with everyone – both near and far. When we truly come to know Christ in the bosom of the Church, at the same time we come to know everyone, and everyone comes to know us. Abba Isaac and Dostoevsky give us the same testimony. The difference between them reveals the truth of God the Word incarnate, who unites them and makes them free. They talk about the enormous trials they had to endure to achieve indescribable bliss. They are filled with a peaceful spirit that cannot be expressed in words and that is not lost in time. Now their silence speaks of eternity. Their absence will fill everything and everyone with the confidence that it is Love that rules the world. Their testimony is comfort to the desperate and confusion to the frivolous. Abba Isaac is Dostoevsky who achieved holiness. Dostoevsky is Abba Isaac in the midst of spiritual warfare. Neither Dostoevsky stops at a simple description of vices, basing his own philosophy on human shortcomings. Neither Abba Isaac forgets the temptations and trials, through which he experienced indescribable bliss. When someone reads the works of Abba Isaac and Dostoevsky, he begins to feel that he is dealing with something unparalleled and extraordinary and that is at the same time ancient and close, with what is inside himself; begins to understand that he was waiting for this meeting so that through it he could consciously come to the light of freedom. Both of them seem to complement the image of the Resurrection, in which Christ, the Conqueror of death, raises all those captives from darkness to light. When a person’s existence is transferred beyond death, he passes into another, eternal life. Through this life he gains everyone, and everyone gains him. In the end, the message of these two heroes of the spirit is the same: wherever a person is, wherever he begins his life’s journey, he can achieve the delight of the Resurrection, where everything is renewed, finds true freedom and unites with each other. See Isaac the Syrian, St. Word 75 // Abba Isaac the Syrian Words of Asceticism / Ed. S.I. Sobolevsky. Sergiev Posad, 1911. P. 373. Word 78 // Ibid. P. 388. See Word 48 // Ibid. P. 214. Homily 16 // Abba Isaac the Syrian Words of asceticism. P. 64. Word 73 // Ibid. P. 369. Dostoevsky Φ. M. Letters // Collection. cit.: In 15 volumes. T. 15. St. Petersburg, 1996. P. 96.