П. П. Что такое аскетизм?

(According to the teachings of St. Basil the Great, in response to modern judgments and rumors) 744 Asceticism is a phenomenon of human life, which at the same time can be called an old and a new phenomenon: old because the beginning of its history is lost in the extreme antiquity of the human race, several centuries before the birth of Christ; the name of the new is acquired by him because rumors about him continue to exist to this day, becoming more and more intensified and more and more affecting the heads of both common people and people with a philosophical mindset. In the ancient world, Indians were representatives of asceticism, which is why to this day India is considered the birthplace of ascetics, the cradle where the worldview known as the worldview of Indian fakirs was especially developed and formed. Shortly before the Nativity of Christ the Savior, there were a large number of ascetics in all countries of the then world, but there were especially many of them in the Egyptian deserts; The ascetics who inhabited these places were called therapists either because they, like spiritual doctors, observed the souls of people who came to them and healed them of evil passions, or because they “served God with pure and sincere service” 745. With Christianity, with the spread of the universal and saving “power of God,” asceticism became even more developed and widespread. The place where ascetic life especially developed and is developing, flourished and is flourishing are monasteries, built both in deserts and in villages. Even in deep Christian antiquity, the glory of ascetics, people who completely renounced the world and its charms and practiced virtue, was enjoyed by Saints Paul of Thebes, Anthony the Great, Pachomius the Great and others. In the patristic period (from the 4th century), almost all the pillars of the Church of the Lord, and among them especially Saints Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, Isidore Pelusiot and others, embodied the commandments of self-sacrifice, non-covetousness and following Christ. Following the example of the Eastern Church, our Russian Church also put forward several men who sought salvation through the ascetic path, persons who were also distinguished by complete non-covetousness and endured many exploits, completely similar in nature to those exploits that befell the Eastern ascetics. In this case, it is enough to remember Saints Anthony and Theodosius, the saints of Pechersk, St. Sergius, the miracle worker of Radonezh, Seraphim, the elder of the Sarov desert, and the recently deceased Bishop Theophan, an ascetic by vocation and by life. All of the people listed and similar ones belong to the monastic hierarchs, undergoing the feat of asceticism in monasteries or deserts, but along with them there were people in the “secular rank”, who lived in the same conditions as the vast majority of the human race, and, nevertheless, waged a struggle with the flesh. Many such examples can be seen in St. Irenaeus 746, Origen 747, Saints Cyprian 748, Epiphanius 749, Jerome 750 and others. Due to the fact that asceticism is a widespread phenomenon, which has left traces in both the pagan and Christian worlds, is a fact that depends and is conditioned by both the Gospel and any other religion, one would think that there should be no doubts or bewilderments regarding it, that the question of the ascetic way of life should have been resolved long ago in a positive sense. Meanwhile, in reality this is not the case. And now, as before, regarding it, one might say, there are as many opinions as there are thinking individuals; and now, as in the time of Basil the Great, asceticism is either completely rejected or disputed, and the independence of Christian asceticism is especially disputed. But what are the private perplexities and views regarding asceticism? The first category should include those people who are hostile to asceticism as a special kind of life. Being opponents of asceticism, these people cite the following points to substantiate their opinion. Firstly, asceticism, according to their concept, is too selfish and individualistic; it represents the direct opposite of altruism, and even directly excludes the totality of feelings that could motivate and dispose a person to social activity and the good of others. The golden rule - to live for others - is alien to the ascetic, he either does not know it, or, knowing it, deliberately tries not to follow it, which is not in accordance with either human nature, which itself strives for society, or with the conditions in which a person is born and raised and which themselves attract the latter not to a lonely, self-enclosed life, but to work for the benefit of his neighbors, even if they help him in his education and contribute to his development self-awareness. Secondly, as a result of the above, asceticism is unreasonable and, finally, thirdly, it completely contradicts the natural sense of self-preservation, which manifests itself both in relation to the soul and in relation to the body. Contrary to the teachings of asceticism, the sense of self-preservation does not tell us that we exhaust the body, but, on the contrary, in every possible way and at every opportunity, it reminds us every now and then that great attention must be paid to the body, that it requires great care, etc., all of this motivated by the fact that mens sana in corpore sano (“a healthy spirit in a healthy body”), that the body is an instrument of the spiritual principle and physical activity of a person. But the contradiction of asceticism is even more apparent in its relationship to the soul and its needs. Natural impulses and passions are essentially everything that determines and should determine the direction and content of human life. Good is what corresponds to the natural needs of a person, and everything that follows from these needs and is determined by them is always good in itself and should not be constrained. Human life would be extremely poor if passions did not exist; it owes to them that it rises above mere vegetation. Suppression of passions leads to the fact that all the charm and real dignity are taken away from life. This opinion regarding asceticism is expressed by people of a materialistic and, moreover, Epicurean way of thinking, and among them especially Feuerbach and Strauss 751. Another group interested in the question of ascetic principles and ascetic life consists of people whose essence of worldview does not concern the denial of asceticism in itself as a known kind of life and activity, but concerns the independence and originality of Christian asceticism. Adhering to the theory of borrowings, according to which Christianity does not represent anything new, being only a fragment or collection of one or another religious views that existed before and simultaneously with it, the defenders of this trend say the same in relation to Christian asceticism. The latter, in their opinion, is not an independent and completely original phenomenon. If, they continue, we delve more closely into the internal mechanism of Eastern religions, especially Buddhism, then it turns out that the content of Buddhist asceticism is completely identical to Christian and the borrowing of the latter from the former is not surprising. This is all the more possible since Buddhism began to exist before Christianity. In order to be demonstrative in their reasoning and not to turn out to be people basing their thoughts “on air,” representatives of the presented way of thinking, along with this, also draw a parallel between Indian and Christian asceticism. The point of departure, so to speak, the source where Buddhist asceticism arises and flows from, is the awareness of the heaviness and misfortunes of human life. The ideal and teacher of Buddhists is the Buddha, a rather mythical figure, and his followers firmly adhere to this position. When asked what prompted the Buddha to leave the world and go into the desert - pride or something else, the Buddhist Catechism directly states that he was prompted to do so by “the image of a very elderly husband, burdened with the burden of years, the image of a sick person, the image of a decaying corpse” 752 and in general “the desire to find the cause of our disasters and a means to destroy them.” Such a means of liberation is the renunciation of the “will to live”, “self-torture”, a passive, indifferent attitude towards the world and everything around us as evil. This path is too difficult and cruel in its degrees. It is composed of eight parts, this includes: a) true understanding, b) true thinking, c) true use of words, d) true action, e) true life, f) true desire, g) true knowledge and h) true immersion 753. But, despite all these “thorns”, a Buddhist should not lose heart, should not return from halfway through the feat; his support in this difficult task is the coveted nirvana - a state of perfect peace, without any desire, without deception, without any sorrows, a state in which everything that concerns the physical person is destroyed. Until a person has achieved nirvana, he is subject to constant temptation and rebirth, “but if he has achieved nirvana, then he is not reborn” 754. And we really see that this nirvana, this, so to speak, omega of Buddhist asceticism, constitutes the desideratum (“object of aspiration”) of the life of every Buddhist, and from here he draws all the fortitude and courage when enduring his ascetic deeds (Indian fakirs). Bearing in mind the stated concept of Buddhist asceticism, people who cast a shadow of doubt on the independence and originality of Christian asceticism say that the latter is nothing more than a copy of the first. After all, in Christianity, as in Buddhism, the source of asceticism is the consciousness that the world and the human body are evil; after all, here, as there, ascetic life is considered a yoke, an unbearable burden; after all, finally, Christianity, like Buddhism, promises peace to ascetics who have labored in the struggle against the world and the flesh. But isn't this analogy superficial? We'll see below. V. S. Solovyov 755, A. Schopenhauer and many others form the third group of people on the issue that interests us. The ascetic views of this circle of people, both in character and in inner dignity, are radically opposed to the two above-mentioned directions on the issue of asceticism. Without joining the first group, that is, without denying asceticism as a special kind of life, and without setting out to undermine the authority of Christian asceticism by citing the fact that the latter is nothing more than a copy of Buddhist asceticism, the advocates of this direction want to build their own asceticism. As a defender and preacher of autonomous morality 756, which has a basis only in the human spirit itself, Vladimir Solovyov tries to follow his basic principle in solving the problem of asceticism. Ignoring the data of the Christian religion (except, however, some terms), where ascetic life, in addition to the subject, is also made dependent on its object - God, Vladimir Solovyov, in determining the meaning and dignity of this life, pays attention only to the human soul with its various properties, abilities and feelings. Analyzing these abilities of the soul, especially feelings, he finds - and, it must be said, quite successfully and originally - among them one feeling, which can serve as the “principle of asceticism” 757. This feeling is shame. If you look more closely into the feeling of shame, you can easily notice that it is composed of two elements - from “I” and “not-I”, from the affirmation of human dignity and the denial of what is not in harmony with this human dignity and does not correspond to it. The concept of the latter, that is, that which is denied by self-consciousness and the inner voice of a person, includes everything that is thought of under the name of “flesh”, which very much strives to attract spiritual power to itself, to involve it in its process in order to “resolve it into oneself and become stronger at its expense” 758. It is the struggle with such and such a beginning, the sting of man, that constitutes the grain of asceticism and at the same time the arena for ascetic deeds. The slogan of these exploits are the words: “Animal life must be subordinated to the spiritual” 759 - firstly, by protecting the spiritual principle from the grasp of the carnal and, secondly, by completely conquering the realm of the flesh, completely turning animal life into a means for the activity of the soul. The purpose of all this struggle between the spirit and the flesh is the affirmation of the moral dignity of man, combined with the eradication of such vices as “gluttony, drunkenness and debauchery” 760. If Vladimir Solovyov, on the basis of his ascetic theory, can be called a representative of subjective asceticism, then Schopenhauer, on the contrary, is a representative and herald of objective asceticism; if the first “principle of asceticism” tries to be found in man himself - in the feeling of shame, then the last, on the contrary, is outside of man - in the force that produces the world and whose name is will. Analyzing the latter, he finds that it, being the source of all existence, is at the same time the source of all disasters. Every desire - both worldly and human, since both are reflected in human consciousness - in itself always carries with it suffering, because it arises from need, lack, and although it sometimes achieves fulfillment, the feeling of satisfied desire is always short-lived and meager, while desire lasts a long time and, moreover, for one fulfilled desire there are many vain ones. Even the most final satisfaction of desires is only apparent; a fulfilled desire immediately gives way to a new one: the first is already realized, the second is a not yet realized delusion. No object of desire can provide lasting, complete satisfaction (for the world will, such an object is, for example, human life itself, and for the human will, these or other “products of the world”). He (the object), on the contrary, is eternally like only alms thrown to a beggar, which today supports his life in order to prolong it until tomorrow's torment. If the world will is in such a sad state, if, consequently, the will of man as a manifestation of the world will is subject to the same fate, then, according to Schopenhauer, the only way of life must consist in a complete renunciation of the desire for existence, life, and pleasures. This path is best achieved through asceticism. Schopenhauer presents the concept of this asceticism picturesquely and in detail in the image of an ascetic 761. It is no longer enough for the ascetic to love others as himself, and to do as much for them as for himself; an aversion arises in him to being itself, the expression of which is its own appearance, to the will to live, to the grain and essence of that world, which he recognizes as unhappy. He therefore denies this existence manifested precisely in him and already expressed by the body itself, and his actions expose his own appearance in the world of lies and become an open contradiction with him. But being in essence nothing more than a manifestation of the world’s will, the ascetic decides not to want anything at all, is careful not to attach his will to anything, and asserts in himself a mournful indifference to all things. His body, powerful and healthy, expresses sexual urge with his genitals, but the ascetic denies the will and convicts the body of striving for evil: he does not want sexual satisfaction under any form. Voluntary, complete chastity is the first step in asceticism or denial of the will to live. It denies by this the confirmation of the will that goes beyond the limits of individual life and thereby indicates that along with the life of this body the very will that created it is canceled. Asceticism is expressed, further, in voluntary and deliberate poverty, which arises not only per accidens (“as a secondary property”), from the distribution of property to satisfy the suffering of others, but here becomes an end in itself, having to serve as a constant mortification of the will, so that the satisfaction of desires and the sweetness of life do not re-awaken the will to being, from which the knowledge of the sorrows of the world has turned the ascetic away. He who has reached this point still, as an animated body, as a concrete manifestation of the will, feels disposed to desires of all kinds; but he suppresses them deliberately, forcing himself to do nothing of everything that he would like, but, on the contrary, doing everything that he would not like, even when there is no other goal than the killing of the will. Since he himself denies the will manifested in his own person, he will not resist if another causes him harm: he is glad of every suffering that comes from outside, by chance or through someone else’s malice, every harm, every shame, every insult; he willingly accepts them as a new opportunity to convince himself that he does not confirm the will, and joyfully takes the side of every enemy of the manifestation of this will, which created his own person. Therefore, he endures such shame and suffering with inexhaustible patience and meekness, repays evil without boasting about good, and just as little allows the flame of both sin and lust to awaken in himself. Just as the will itself, the ascetic also kills its visibility, its objectification - the body: he feeds it meagerly, so that its magnificent flowering and success at the same time would not revive and arouse the will, of which it is only an expression and a mirror. So, he resorts to fasting; he even seizes on self-flagellation and self-torture in order to, through constant deprivation and suffering, more and more crush and kill the will, which he recognizes and hates as the source of the painful existence of his own and the world. When death finally comes, allowing this manifestation of the world will, the essence of which, however, has long since died here, with the exception of a weak remnant that appeared in the form of the revival of this body, then death, as a longed-for redemption, is extremely gratifying and is accepted with joy. With her the whole life of the ascetic ends 762. We have outlined three modern trends in the question of asceticism as a known type of life and activity. The first of these views can be called negative, since it tries to reject asceticism in principle; second, casting a shadow on the independence of Christian asceticism by indicating that it supposedly represents a break from Indian asceticism; and to the third direction, in all fairness, the name philosophical should be applied, since it tries to find the source of asceticism in certain data of reason, without any evidence of religion. We will try to consider the views presented, relying on the authority of St. Basil the Great, who both in life and in teaching was a true ascetic of the ancient Christian Church. The question of asceticism was for St. Basil the Great, the urgent need of the spirit, was the main element and subject of his studies. Introduced by the conditions of his upbringing and the natural gifts of his soul into a life of abstinence, asceticism, Basil the Great, naturally fascinated by this form of life in his youth, did not leave it until his old age - until his death. The works in which the judgments of St. Basil on asceticism, the following: “The purpose of asceticism”, “The ascetic word and exhortation about renunciation of the world and about spiritual perfection”, “Words about asceticism” - first, second and third, “Ascetic regulations for ascetics in the community and in hermitage”, “Rules set out at length in questions and answers”, “Rules briefly set out in questions and answers”, “Moral rules”, letters “To the Caesarea monks”, “On the perfection of monastic life”, “To the abbot of monks” and others. All of the listed works have as their goal a direct, so to speak, special clarification of ascetic views, but Basil the Great has works, and there are many of them, which, although they do not directly set themselves this task, in which, nevertheless, a lot of thoughts about asceticism are scattered. And this is quite understandable: asceticism, as noted, interested the holy father from an early age, was his spiritual element, and it is known that everything dear is expressed not only when prompted by necessity or request, but also when there is no such need, and only one simple case presents itself, so to speak, “by the way,” “by the way.” From works of this kind we can point out the interpretive works of St. Vasily; there (in the Holy Scriptures), where the ideal of life, its meaning and conditions are discussed, the holy father always dwells on this and tries to see its meaning in asceticism. For his views on asceticism, as a set of thoughts indicating the path to a virtuous life, St. Basil, in all fairness, is called one German learned man of action in comparison with Saints Gregory the Theologian and Gregory of Nyssa, of whom the first is considered a representative of the word, oratory church art, and the second is a representative of thought, Christian philosophy 763. Considering the views of St. Basil the Great on the ascetic life, we find that the holy father had the highest opinion regarding it. He called this path “the royal path” 764, which name he attached to it, firstly, because it is the most important path, following which a person not only does not deviate to either side of the temptations of the world, but, on the contrary, is their king; secondly, because our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, the King of heaven and earth, followed it when He took upon Himself human flesh, and, finally, thirdly, because this path leads to the King of all - God. Another epithet that St. Basil the Great of ascetic life, the one that this life is “angelic life” 765. The basis for such a rapprochement is, firstly, that the ascetic, like the impassive Angels, tries to completely suppress every thought about passions and, secondly, without being entertained by them and not submitting to carnal lusts, “he constantly immerses himself in the sight of God.” Hence, woe to the ascetic if, forgetting the dignity of his feat, he becomes defiled by human passions; then he will be “like” the skin of a lynx, whose fur is not completely white and not completely black, but is mottled with a mixture of different colors and is not classified as either black or white” 766. Defining the task and essence of asceticism as a path to salvation, St. Vasily sees it “in the renewal of a living union with God through cleansing from passions.” Man was created in the image and likeness of God, and sin, drawing the soul into passionate desires, changed the beauty of the image. But God, who created man, is true life; therefore, whoever has lost the likeness of God in himself has also lost communication with life; and whoever is outside of God, it is impossible for him to be in a blessed life. So, the holy father concludes, let us return to the original grace, to which we made ourselves alien through sin, and again adorn ourselves in the image of God, dispassionately becoming like the Creator 767. Touching in more detail on the foundations of asceticism, St. Vasily outlines two kinds of motives that determine the existence of asceticism, its rationality, or, more precisely, its desirability 768. These motives can be called negative and positive. Among the first are his views on the devil and the passions as enemies of our salvation, as conditions of our existence that tend to move away from them rather than submit to them and be carried away by them; the second includes the teaching of the holy father about God as the source of our true and immortal life and about the rational soul. As is easy to see, these motives form an opposite parallel: on the one hand - the devil, on the other - God, there - the passions, here - the rational soul; A person must pass through such and such a parallel in life, directing all his forces towards it - mind, will and feeling. Although a person in the Sacrament of Baptism is denied Satan and all his works, even after this the enemy does not give up his attempt to rule over a person. The devil is the “prince of this age” 769, the father of lies, envy 770 and all deceit. As such, he tries at all costs to plant tares in God’s field, sown with pure wheat: to introduce the spirit of self-interest into a society animated by the pure spirit of love; where love of truth, sincerity, and sincerity are established in mutual relations, send the spirit of double-mindedness and deceit; to desecrate piety itself with Pharisaic hypocrisy - that is, it seeks to damage Christian life at the very root. The main means by which Satan seeks to realize his goal in practice are demons and especially passions. In accordance with the harmful influence that passions have on the development and education of a person’s Christian character and on his affirmation in virtue, St. Vasily calls them by one name or another. In his opinion, passions are “disorderly and arrogant dogs” over which there is no overseer; they bark at the soul, and each passion considers it its task to torment it in every possible way, separating for itself a part of its vital force 771. Another characteristic name for passions is that they are “cunning snakes”, which, luring a person with one or another imaginary beauties of existence, in essence “take him away from contemplation and careful examination of praiseworthy objects” 772. There are an innumerable number of passions in a person; in this case, his soul, in all fairness, is like a labyrinth. Here there is gluttony, and self-indulgence, otherwise called voluptuousness and self-love, covetousness, and anger, and intemperance, and in general a host of other passions. But of all of them, in terms of the significance they have in life, undoubtedly, the first place belongs to the first two passions, namely gluttony and pride. In their effects on a person, these passions are inversely proportional. While self-love most of all relates to the soul and through this already captivates the body, gluttony, on the contrary, having to do with the flesh itself, then, through its mediation, darkens the soul. Self-love destroys sincerity and warmth in us, kills every living feeling. Our morality becomes lifeless and dead, cold and motionless. Mercy, meekness, kindness and compassion, the desire for our neighbors only goodness, joy and happiness - these precious qualities are little by little driven out of our hearts. Sublime, ideal aspirations and self-sacrifice are considered selfishness, childhood dreams, not characteristic of a person with a sound mind and a sober outlook on life. Guided by pride, a person tries to avoid any work and exploits for the benefit of his neighbor; He prefers personal peace and freedom from worries and worries regarding everything that does not concern him to living activities, guided by selfless love, which sets no limits in doing good to one’s neighbor. The free and boundless law of Christian morality is deprived by a proud person of a living soul - love; she does not inspire him, does not warm his heart with holy feelings that give joy and peace to the soul. The egoist calms his conscience with decency of external behavior 773. But even more masterfully depicts St. Vasily is a manifestation of gluttony. Adhering to the rule that “what is said must be supported not only by verbal exhortations, but also confirmed by examples of activity,” 774, the Holy Father, in depicting the passion of gluttony, actually first expresses general provisions, and then confirms these latter with examples. “Just as water, divided into many channels, makes all the places lying near the channels green, so the passion of gluttony, if it has spilled into your heart, saturating all your feelings and planting a forest of vices in you, will turn your soul into a dwelling of passions. Adam's gluttony put him to death and brought destruction to the world. Because of gluttony, Noah is ridiculed, Ham is cursed, Esau is deprived of his birthright and intermarried with the Canaanites, Lot becomes the husband of his daughters, and his own son-in-law and father-in-law, the father becomes the husband and the grandfather the father, in both respects violating the limits of nature. Gluttony made Israel a worshiper of idols and brought the Israelites to the point that their “bodies” fell “in the wilderness” (Num. 14:29). Gluttony even turned one of the prophets, sent by God to expose the wicked king, into food for a wild beast. And to whom King Jeroboam could not harm, with all his royal power, he, caught by the deception of the womb, suffered a miserable death (1 Kings 13:23-24)” 775. These are the enemies of our godly life! We deliberately dwelled on this in more detail, because the doctrine of passions - and especially of pride and gluttony - constitutes one of the main links of asceticism. But if, therefore, the devil and passions are the main enemies of our life, slowing down and preventing the success of virtue, then, the question arises, where to go, where to draw a source of peace and tranquility, where to look for an ideal that would guide all our behavior? The answer to this question is from St. Vasily is the idea of ​​God and the spirit as the rational principle of man. But, answering this way, the holy father does not express any dry, theoretical truths about the Supreme Being, no, but, like a wise and experienced psychologist, he tries to present Him in a form that could touch the most living strings of the human heart. Love and beauty are, as we know, the essential aspirations of all living things. Wherever we look - whether in the animal kingdom or in human life, everywhere we demand them, wherever we notice them, we like them and attract us to themselves. In accordance with such constant aspirations of human nature, St. Basil says: “What is more wonderful than God’s beauty? What idea is more pleasant than God’s splendor and His love?.. Truly indescribable and indescribable are the lightning-fast brilliances of God’s beauty; “no word can express, no hearing can contain,” but only with the heart can it be somewhat felt. All the saints sought to be participants in this beauty, they prayed that the vision of the beauty and goodness of God would extend throughout eternal life, 776 and we, like them, should pursue the same. But since like is known by like, it is natural that the ineffable beauty of God can be comprehended by our soul only when the latter also carries within itself the makings of beauty, and this leads to the fact that the desire to be a participant in the beauty of God determines at the same time the need to maintain in itself the beauty of the spirit, which is nothing other than its rationality. Reasoning about God as the source of life and immortality and about the rational soul constitutes motives of a positive nature. To put it briefly, the motives for asceticism represented by St. Vasily, can be formulated in this form: beware, man, of passions, fight against them and strive most of all to establish your human dignity through knowledge of your inner world and the beauty that the Divine carries within Himself. Taken from the side of feasibility and implementation, asceticism obviously represents a difficult feat, a yoke that is not easily tolerated. Indeed, how much courage and perseverance is needed in order not to fall under the influence of one or another passions, which are often very tempting, how much foresight and “self-collection” is needed in order not to stray from the path that has the goal of moral perfection. All this was clearly foreseen by St. Vasily, and therefore, wanting to prevent the ascetic from falling, he naturally, along with discussions about the motives of asceticism, touched upon those leaders who could in this case provide him with great service. Such leaders are, firstly, the human mind itself (a subjective leader) and, secondly, a man experienced in holy life (an objective leader). Calling the mind the spiritual eye and clarifying its meaning in ascetic life, St. Vasily successfully compares it with a material eye. Just as the eye, when a speck hits it, begins to feel awkward in vision, so the mind, feeling overwhelmed by passion, begins to recognize the struggle between itself and passion, ideal and reality, truth and lies. Just as the eye, further, wanting to get rid of torment, feels the need for help that would remove the objects that cause it pain, so the mind, at the first onslaught of passion, should strive to eradicate it with the help of either its own powers, or through the grace of God. Just as the eye, finally, when the thing that irritates it is not removed from it, can lose the ability to see, so the mind, which does not strain its efforts to destroy the passions at the root, can eclipse in itself the features of the image of God, and this is spiritual death; spiritual death is undesirable. Another leader of the ascetic life should, in the opinion of the holy father, be a man experienced in virtue. “Try to find a husband with great care and thoughtfulness,” we read from St. Basil, - who would have infallibly preceded you in the way of life, was well able to lead those marching towards God, was adorned with virtues, in his own deeds had evidence of his love for God, was knowledgeable in the Divine Scriptures, not absent-minded, not a lover of money, not preoccupied with many things, silent, God-loving, poor-loving, not angry, not bitter, strong in edifying those close to him, not vain, not arrogant, not flattering, not changeable, did not prefer anything to God" 777. The choice of such a husband is based on the completely understandable rule that “good teachers have good lessons” 778. How high did St. look? Vasily’s attitude towards such leaders is evident from the fact that, firstly, in the matter of ascetic life he placed them in second place after God and, secondly, he advised, forgetting his own will, to obey them in everything. “The first, most true father is the Father of all, and the second after Him is a mentor in spiritual life” 779. If you find a mentor, adorned with many virtues, “hand over yourself to him, imputing yourself to nothing and throwing away all your will,” 780 says the Holy Father. The consequence of such behavior will be that the spirit of zeal for pleasing God, which initially represents one spark, will gradually smolder over time and ignite the heart for greater and greater deeds. Then the strength and desire to live in God, like fire (Luke 12:49), will completely cleanse the soul of passions or, like salt (Mark 9:49), protect it from corrupting elements. But this state of soul is achieved and especially clearly revealed only when a person, together with the consciousness of the impulses for asceticism, begins to put into practice one or another set of exercises as necessary means of asceticism. Thus, we have reached the means that contribute to the achievement of moral perfection and through this lead to a living union with God. In looking at these means, St. Vasily is deeply at odds with adherents of Judaism and even with Catholic theologians. While the latter tried to see the means of asceticism in the performance of external and often scrupulous rituals without paying attention to the spiritual mood with which these rituals are performed, St. Vasily, on the contrary, both in his view of the essence of asceticism and its means, held a completely different point of view. In his opinion, you first need to pay attention to the soul, and then to the body; Since the soul is superior to the body, it should be considered more by man. As the father of the Eastern Church with a speculative mindset, in contrast to the father of the Western Church, whose predominant feature of thinking is practicality, St. Vasily, in indicating the means of asceticism, concerns not so much the external as the internal side of life. Bearing in mind this nature of ascetic means, Bishop Theophan rightly noted that the distinctive feature of the Rule of St. Basil the Great is that he goes little into the details of external life, but rather clarifies the inner side of various manifestations 781. But what are these means of asceticism? The name means means a set of pious exercises that have as their goal, through the struggle of the spirit with the flesh, to lead a person to moral perfection. Abstinence and self-collection (or vigilance of the spirit over oneself) are the two main means for successfully completing the ascetic feat. About abstinence as one of the most important means of asceticism of St. Vasily, naturally, mentions it not in one, but in many places in his writings, where only a convenient opportunity presents itself 782, and, on the other hand, he tries in every possible way to prove the importance and necessity of this wise rule. Defending the last thought, in its favor he not only presents the fruits of abstinence, but also cites data from Revelation, life and science. “But it seems to me,” we read from St. Basil the Great, - that this activity [medical art] greatly contributes to abstinence. For I see that it cuts off voluptuousness, does not approve of satiety, rejects as something unhealthy, variety in foods and excessive ingenuity in seasonings, and in general calls insufficiency the mother of health” 783 . Turning to reality, St. Vasily saw an example of abstinence in the saints. Having been given in the paradise state of our first parents (an indication of the commandment not to eat fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil), this law of abstinence 784 has since constantly manifested itself in the lives of saints [of God]: the whole life of saints and blessed people, the example of the Lord Himself in His coming in the flesh, teach us abstinence 785 . But even more so, abstinence becomes a necessary rule of life because it is accompanied by good consequences for a person. “Abstinence,” we read from the holy father, “is the extermination of sin, alienation from passions. the beginning of spiritual life; it prepares eternal blessings, destroys the sting of voluptuousness, because voluptuousness is a great bait to evil; by it every soul is drawn into death, like milk of milk...” 786 As for the essence of abstinence, the concept of this by St. Vasily expresses it this way. “Abstinence,” he says, “we call, of course, not the complete abstinence of oneself from food (this would be a violent destruction of life), but the abstinence of oneself from sweets...” 787 A big mistake, according to the holy father, is made by those people who want to reduce the essence of abstinence to the smallest consumption of food, which even causes damage to health. Abstinence, on the contrary, “should be determined for everyone according to his bodily strength, so as not to stop at what is below the strength that a person has, and not to extend to what is above strength” 788. Moreover, it is necessary to keep in mind this reasonable rule that excessive abstinence will lead to a weakening of the body, and this last circumstance will serve as the reason and obstacle to enduring the feat and performing virtues, because a sick body is not able to work 789. As is easy to see, abstinence’s direct task is to eradicate or at least regulate the passion of gluttony, although at the same time other passions are not forgotten; in this respect, abstinence differs from another means of asceticism - self-collection or vigilance of the spirit over itself 790, as a principle that puts in the foreground the eradication of pride, however, without forgetting gluttony and similar vices. Self-collection is such a state of mind when a person is able to pay positive attention to all aspects of his spiritual nature. In such a mood, the spirit of a person can rightly be called a focus, where all mental movements flock, from the highest to the lowest, and where they find their trustee and guardian. The mind is such a believer. As such, the human mind never allows this or that passion to overwhelm a person, or for this or that vice to enslave the individual, making him not a king, but a slave of the flesh. Knowing all the harmful consequences of passions that bring a person to the state of an animal, he tries in every possible way to eradicate them both by natural and grace-filled means (repentance, for example). But especially in a state of self-collection or vigilance, a person’s attention is drawn to pride or egoism. Taught - whether from one’s own experience or the experience of others - that this passion is the most harmful passion, producing abnormalities in life and in people’s relationships, where under its influence hatred and selfish happiness are relied on instead of love and the common good, the mind is constantly working on how to root out from the soul this source of evils of the human race. And it must be said that a semblance of this state is sometimes achieved by ascetics, especially in a prayerful mood. This is why prayer, in all fairness, is called the ideal expression of self-collection, when the spirit is not only busy contemplating objects of a higher order, but when it also completely cuts off from its being the principles that interfere with the holy prayerful mood. We have indicated two means of asceticism - abstinence and self-collection. We considered it necessary to present only these particular means because, firstly, they are the most important means and, secondly, that they serve as a source of secondary rules of ascetic life. Thus, abstinence not only determines the extent of gluttony, but also concerns the tongue, eyes, ears and other senses of a person in general, defining the limits of indulgences for them. In the same way, self-collection, confining consciousness in a person’s heart and dealing with pride, at the same time makes it possible to relate in one way or another to other passions, especially closely related to pride (for example, the passion for pleasure, wealth, etc.). With this concept of abstinence and vigilance of the spirit over oneself as the basic rules of asceticism, the ascetic is not entangled in all sorts of networks of the Pharisaic character that determine his path of life, but, left to the principle, he himself must apply it to various cases of his behavior. The reasonableness of such a technique in determining the rules of life, when only the principle is put in the foreground, and not all possible circumstances of life are exhausted, is obvious. The ascetic only has to delve into the spirit, character and meaning of the basic rule, and then he will understand what needs to be done and what cannot be done. That which is not in accordance with the principle, of course, must be rejected, and that which is in harmony with it, or at least does not contradict it, can be tolerated in life. Here, on the other hand, freedom, prudence, and the courageous mood of the human spirit are preserved. The ascetic does not slavishly fear if, due to human weakness, while undergoing his feat, he willy-nilly omit some external expression of it, but tries to look at his life from the point of view of whether it is directed according to the spirit of the general rule. And this, in turn, is accompanied by the fact that the ascetic develops in himself the mood not of a prude who pays attention only to appearance, but of a free, prudent Christian, for whom the inner side of life constitutes his constant element. Now the question is about what state of a person does asceticism relate to - virginal or marital - or for whom is it obligatory: for people who have taken upon themselves the form of monastic life, or for those who have entered into marital cohabitation? Previous discussions about asceticism already partly prejudge this question in the sense that asceticism is desirable for both of them, that is, for both virgins and people living in marriage. Passions, as has been said, are the enemies of our Christian life. But who is free from them, who does not care about them? The clear answer is that every person, and therefore, obviously, for every person, be he in any position, needs asceticism and a means to combat them. St. Basil, indeed, asserts that asceticism as the struggle of the spirit with the flesh with the help of certain natural and grace-filled means is necessary or, more accurately, desirable for all people, no matter what their state. There are two kinds of life, he says, virginal and married life; but both of these families are not alien to temptations and therefore both need support 791. The humane God, “who cares about our salvation, gave human life a twofold direction, that is, marriage and virginity, so that those who are not able to endure the feats of virginity would enter into cohabitation with a wife, knowing that he would be required to account for chastity, holiness and likeness to those who lived holy in marriage and in raising children” 792. Continuing this same thought, that is, that asceticism as a struggle of the spirit with the flesh is desirable for all people, the Holy Father points out that “the Gospel is given to all people - both virgins and married people” and that “it will require an account of the virtuous life of all people, whether they are monks or live in marriage” 793. In general, “know,” says St. Vasily to the married man - that you cannot avoid the struggle with the apostate and you will not win victory over him without many efforts to guard the gospel dogmas" 794. Thus, considered from the point of view of importance, asceticism as a set of pious exercises in the struggle of the spirit with the flesh is desirable for all people, in whatever condition they may be. But St. expresses somewhat different thoughts. Vasily, when it comes to the situation in which asceticism seems more comfortable to wear and more convenient to perform - in virginity or marriage. In this case, the sympathies of the holy father lean more towards virginity than towards marriage, and this is quite fair and understandable. The fact is that a virgin is a “lonely” person 795; not burdened by a family, he can freely direct all his energies to serving God. True, he has a “sting” - a sexual instinct, victory over which is achieved through a very long and difficult path; but if it is not easy for a virgin, removed from the world and its delights, to fight the flesh, then even more so for a worldly person, burdened with family and various worries, this victory should constitute a knot difficult to break, a task difficult to solve. “For how is it possible,” says St. Vasily, “to give up warfare with the enemy, leading life in the field of warfare itself?” 796 “To improve your salvation, you need more work and caution, because you have chosen your home among snares and under the power of apostate forces, you have incentives to sin and all your feelings are strained day and night to lust for them” 797. While a single person will take care “only of himself and his own bodily needs, or perhaps neglect them,” devoting the rest of his time to serving God, a married person with children in his care, on the contrary, is no longer the master of his own will and, of necessity, cares more about worldly things than about heavenly things (1 Cor. 7:33) 798. This means that asceticism, being a phenomenon desirable for all humanity, is more conveniently practiced in virginity than in marriage. But it is important for us here both that asceticism is a kind of life desirable for all people, and that St. Basil the Great, in favor of virginity, does not condemn or deny legal marital cohabitation, as is done, for example, by some modern wise men who imagine themselves to be leaders of the people. That the Holy Father really does not disparage marriage as a path, like virginity, also leading to salvation, this can be confirmed, in addition to the above, by the following data. Firstly, following the example of the Apostle, he advises persons who cannot endure the feats of virginity to enter into legal marriage as a state in itself that is pure and does not interfere with the cause of holiness; secondly, looking at marriage as a desire for the birth of children, he orders it to be celebrated in church, which St. Vasily would not allow it if he were an enemy of marriage, and, finally, thirdly, when speaking about marriage, he tries to show it as an ideal. He sees his ideal in the marriage life of holy men. From the Old Testament men of St. Basil mentions Abraham, Job, Samuel, David, and from the New Testament - the Apostle Peter and other apostles 799. In connection with this question, the question of the place where the feat of asceticism should be performed is easily resolved. It is clear that asceticism can be practiced anywhere - both in the world, and in hermitage, and in the environment in which the majority of the human race lives, and where only a select few go. But again, considered from the point of view of ease of implementation, asceticism is better implemented at a distance from worldly vanity. This is why, by the way, monasticism has produced a much larger number of ascetics, persons engaged in a struggle between the spirit and the flesh, than “secular cohabitation”; that is why, on the other hand, St. Vasily speaks more about those ascetics and the asceticism that goes through monasticism than about ascetics living in the world. When studying this or that life, it is usually customary to talk about its meaning, so we will say a few words about the meaning of asceticism. Apparently, this issue should be resolved very easily. Asceticism, according to St. Vasily, is so intelligent that there can be no doubt about his significance in life. In fact, who will take upon himself the task of blaming and denying the struggle of the spirit with the flesh, who will not like the attentiveness of a person to himself and his actions that characterizes the ascetic? The ascetic delves into himself, rummages into the depths of his soul, looks for principles there that hinder his moral progress, and tries to uproot and destroy them all. In his lifestyle, he believes in prudence in everything; love is the motto of his activities. Every act that could offend his fellow man, every glance, every word against his neighbor is not included in his concept of life. However, we would allow a gap if we limited ourselves to the stated indication of the meaning of asceticism. The fact is that there are people in whose opinion this concept of the meaning of asceticism is one-sided: it exhausts only the personal perfection of a person, but does not concern the totality of those relationships that are obligatory for him as a public figure, as for a unit in a mass of other units. This view is especially common in the present century, when, forgetting about the personal perfection of a person, they preach more about his social responsibilities 800 , as if the latter were possible without responsibilities to oneself. Consistently pursuing their thought, the so-called social activists are not even averse to saying a word about the uselessness of asceticism, if only not about its direct aimlessness. But, not to mention the fact that, according to St. Vasily, asceticism does not necessarily require the ascetic to be removed from society into the desert, allowing him to undergo this feat in the world, in the performance of his public duties, we also find in the holy father thoughts that directly resolve this perplexity. These are thoughts that determine the attitude towards society of ascetics who undergo their feat away from the world - in deserts or monasteries. Characterizing the ascetic hermit, he, by the way, among his merits, puts in the foreground non-covetousness, almsgiving, and especially the spiritual and moral teaching of people. “...Give birth to souls and raise children spiritually,” we read from the holy father 801. True, in this case, the importance of ascetics for society is limited more to the spiritual guidance of humanity than to the material, although the latter cannot be denied. Ascetics are lights in the darkness of ignorance, they are lamps burning in the darkness, as people with a sound outlook on life who do not fall into one extreme or another always look at them. They are strong not so much in words as in deeds, not so much in dry discussions about moral norms, but in the living embodiment of these norms in their lives. The example of their behavior is more contagious than any debate about the meaning of life. They (if one can compare and express it this way) work more on the soul of humanity, as opposed to public figures, whose primary attention is paid to the body. While the latter cultivate the material side of life, the former pursue more the spiritual interests of man, the interests of a higher order. Therefore, it is extremely wrong to cast a shadow on the dignity and significance of asceticism only on the basis that ascetics are more spiritual leaders. Then science and its representatives should have fallen into disgrace: after all, scientists spend more of their lives in the office than in the cycle of life, discovering certain truths there. In general, the meaning of asceticism is twofold: while promoting personal perfection, at the same time, through ascetic monks, it infuses spiritual life into the body of humanity, serving as a light for it, and through lay ascetics it streamlines the relationships of people among themselves, building them on the principles of truth, peace and love. Therefore, there would be a wonderful picture of life if every person carried out the feat of asceticism: while fighting passions, people would at the same time, willy-nilly, destroy evil, establishing a semblance of paradise on earth. Delving once again into the ascetic views of St. Basil the Great, we find that asceticism, according to his concept, is that kind of Christian life where the goal and task is the struggle of the spirit with the flesh to renew the living union with God. The slogan of this struggle is victory over evil, contrary to Buddhist asceticism, where the end of it is considered only simple liberation from the world and its temptations and where, because of this, the ascetic represents himself and plays the role of a cowardly fighter rather than a courageous ascetic. As a person pursuing victory over evil, the Christian ascetic is quite rightly compared by Basil the Great to a “warrior” 802. The basis for this analogy is the following points of contact between the warrior and the ascetic. Just as a warrior, entering the service of an earthly king, completely renounces his will, making an oath promise to obey him in everything and serve faithfully, so an ascetic, a servant of the Heavenly King, having taken upon himself a feat, undertakes to fulfill it as the will of the Heavenly Lord requires. “Where is King Christ? - we read from St. Vasily. - Of course, in heaven. That’s where you, warrior, should direct your gaze and direct the procession” 803. Just as, further, it is desirable for the king of the earth that his warriors should be distinguished by courage, bravery and patience and completely expel fear, fear and cowardice from their hearts, so it gives great joy to the King of Heaven if His ascetics fulfill the feat they have taken upon themselves with self-restraint and self-discipline, stand with an unshakable soul in the midst of danger 804 and do not deviate to either side of the temptations of the flesh. Just as a warrior, who has finally spent his time of service faithfully and honestly, is rewarded with royal favors, such as, for example, the fact that he is given leadership over the troops, so the ascetic, who has achieved complete victory over the passions, is installed in the house of the Heavenly King, receiving crowns from Him for excellent merits 805. Thus considered, the ascetic views of St. Basil the Great provides several data for discussing and assessing the above-mentioned opinions about asceticism in general and Christian in particular. Opponents of asceticism as a set of well-known pious exercises in the struggle of the spirit with the flesh include among their arguments that asceticism is selfish, aimed entirely at the life of the individual, it is the fruit of human pride. So be it; let a person undergoing the feat of asceticism pay more attention to his soul and its passions, but is this really the fault? Is the desire to cleanse oneself of all evils and vices really unreasonable? There would, however, be some truth in the judgment of opponents if the ascetics, preoccupied exclusively with themselves, treated their neighbors with disdain and abandoned them to the mercy of fate, if they, burying themselves in themselves, did not think of fulfilling the missionary calling of people - to be educators of humanity, either in deed or in word. But does this confirm the view of St. Vasily on the meaning of asceticism? On the contrary, the analysis of this last question showed us that the role that ascetics should play in the life of humanity is a high one. They are, we repeat, the lights of the world, reminding us that the possibility of moral perfection has not yet completely dried up for us. If they say that reality does not always justify the views of the holy father on the meaning of asceticism, that there are ascetics who treat the rest of the brethren with contempt, then we, like Archimandrite Anthony and Archpriest T. Butkevich, will answer that we must distinguish truth from lies, we must pay attention to the principle, and not to the admixtures of shallow human invention. People who are proud of their exploits are false ascetics; true asceticism, on the contrary, is accompanied by the requirement from its followers of humility and readiness to serve their neighbors. Equally untenable is the position of the opponents of asceticism that ascetics are gradual suicides of themselves, since they indulge in unreasonable abstinence and often endure cold and hunger to the detriment of their health. It goes without saying, and this thought can indicate several factual data as proof, but again the question here is what is this data - a true manifestation of asceticism or a false one? According to St. Vasily for abstinence, they must be called false. Not only that, in one, no, in several places of his writings, where he had to talk about abstinence, he always insisted that abstinence in food should be consistent with the human body, with his age and position or condition. Another thing is a child, another thing is a husband, another thing is a healthy state of a person, and a completely different thing is a person’s illness. Moreover, an ascetic will make a great mistake if, despite his health, he eats little or insufficient food; then he can reach the point where he completely weakens the body - this is the instrument of the soul - and through this he will not be able to continue his exploits. The reasoning of opponents of asceticism about passions as desirable impulses of life, it seems, does not require such refutations. This reasoning is absurd, clear in itself. After all, through what do streams of sweat and blood flow, what is the source of all sorts of abnormalities in life, if not passion? All reality positively stands for this. Therefore, we need to rejoice that asceticism preaches the eradication or, at least, the regulation of passions, and not their intensification. Equally, the opinion that casts a shadow on the independence and originality of Christian asceticism, calling it a copy of Buddhist asceticism, does not stand up to criticism. We have already had occasion to mention that in character these two types of asceticism are completely opposite to each other. Namely, the difference between them is seen in the fact that while Christian asceticism, with its slogan, aims at the victory of the spirit over the flesh, Buddhist asceticism is a simple liberation from the world and its suffering. Apparently the concepts of “victory” and “liberation” are identical, containing as if the same content, but in essence they are deeply different. The fact is that the concept of victory always contains elements of courage, dominance and perseverance; it is not the winner who, with a cowardly mood of heart, rejects danger from himself, but the one who is given this honorable name, who with a courageous heart tries to be the master of his enemies. Meanwhile, the concept of liberation for the most part is alien to the elements of courage and domination. You can also free yourself from danger by simply removing it from yourself or by rejecting yourself from it. Therefore, a Christian ascetic, having reached a more or less high degree of his asceticism, can feel within himself that he is a conqueror of passions. On the contrary, the Indian fakir can rather experience within himself the mood that he is a being who is only moving away from the world and its suffering. It also follows from this that, from the point of view of Christianity, asceticism can be done in the world (after all, victory can be achieved anywhere) and scientific data, for example medical data, are desirable for it, as long as they contribute to the success of asceticism; whereas from the point of view of Buddhist asceticism, life in the world and the pursuit of positive science are reprehensible for ascetics, since they lead them into a cycle of suffering. But the even more inconsistency of the opinion under consideration will be revealed when we pay attention to the motives and purpose of both asceticism, that is, Buddhist asceticism and Christian asceticism. According to the Indian view, the motive for asceticism is mainly the concept of the world and the body as evil in itself. St. has the wrong motives. Basil the Great. The struggle of the spirit with passions and the primordial enemy of the human race in the name of renewing a living union with God - this is the original beginning of Christian asceticism, as it poured out from the lips of St. Vasily. True, they may suspect us of insincerity and manipulation of the judgments of the holy father, that is, that, in presenting the views of Basil the Great, we touched only on those motives of asceticism that are favorable to our task, and completely ignored those that do not correspond to our intention. To put it bluntly and briefly, we will not be averse to being accused of deliberately lowering our gaze to St. Vasily on the world and the human body, views, the essence of which, perhaps, is that the human body and the world, according to the view of the holy father, are also evil in themselves, causing us suffering. To avoid such a misunderstanding, we consider it necessary to dwell on this in more detail. What really is St. Vasily did not look at the world with the same eyes as the Indian fakirs look at him; this is evident, firstly, from the name that the holy father gave him, and, secondly, from his idea of ​​​​the creation of the world, which was completely consistent with Christianity. As a Greek by birth and education, St. Vasily called the world a cosmos, which was especially characteristic of the entire Greek nation. The basis for such a name was the order, the harmony, harmony and expediency that dominate the world and which completely expel pessimistic views of the world from our heads, serving, on the contrary, as a source of optimistic ones. An optimistic view of the world became even more strengthened in the consciousness of St. Basil the Great, when he carefully studied the biblical story of the creation of the world (Six Days). This last legend completely convinced the holy father that the world, by origin and purpose of its existence, as the creation of an all-good God, is good and not evil, and if evil exists in it, it is as a random phenomenon, and not a substantial, necessary one. Along with the idea of ​​the creation of the world, St. Basil, like the Apostle Paul, added to his thoughts the idea of ​​redemption, which extended not only to the human race, but also to the physical world with all its creatures (Rom. 8:19–23). The same character of the judgments of St. Vasily’s view of the world is also characteristic of his ideas about the body, that is, that the body is not evil in itself. A classic passage confirming this idea is his famous analogy, where he compares the soul to a driver, and the body to a horse. This passage is all the more powerful for us because it is directed against the false opinion of those “who think poorly of the body” 806. “Beloved, a beautiful thing is a horse, and the faster and hotter it is by nature, the better; but it is necessary to keep him in check and rule him, because he is not endowed with reason. If the driver is on it, then he will try to take advantage of the horse’s natural properties. Therefore, if the driver properly manages the aspirations of the animal under his belt, uses it for his own benefit and achieves the intended goal, then he himself will remain intact, and the animal will turn out to be very good in use. If the driver drives the young horse poorly, then the horse repeatedly strays from the main road and ends up on an impassable road; falling from the rapids, sometimes taking the rider himself with him, and the driver’s negligence endangers both. So talk about the soul and the body. The body has received natural aspirations, which are not completely unsuitable, but, without a doubt, are good and useful for something; but it did not receive its share of reason, so that the soul would be honored with the advantage of reason. If the soul manages the aspirations of the body as it should, then the body is saved and the soul is out of danger. If, however, it neglects management and, overwhelmed by the sleep of carelessness, ceases to keep the body in check, then the body itself, as having no reason, is led astray from the straight path, and the soul plunges into falls equal to its own, not due to its own damage, but due to the negligence of the soul. For if the bodily passions were such that the soul could not tame them, then in justice the body would be to blame. But if they became submissive to many who tried to overcome them, then the body cannot be accused by those who try to denigrate it, calling it the first culprit of vice; the soul is worthy of reproach for negligence, having weakened its power over the body, but also not by its very nature having evil in itself, but having placed itself in evil through the impoverishment of good in it; because vice is nothing more than the impoverishment of virtue” 807. These are the words of St. Vasily, from which it is clear that in his concepts there is no shadow [of thought] that the body is evil in itself! This also includes those passages in the writings of St. Basil the Great, where he talks about the wonderful structure of the human body 808, about its participation in the future life, about the fact that it is the best tool and means both for acquiring knowledge about the external world and for demonstrating the activity of the soul. After all that has been said, it would be the greatest misunderstanding to think that Christian asceticism looks at the world and the human body in the same way as Buddhist asceticism, that is, considers them to be evil by nature, causing us nothing but suffering. This view does not exist in Christianity; according to it, everything is good that came from the hands of the all-good Creator and that is aimed at glorifying His all-holy name. Let us finally turn to the goal pursued by Christian asceticism on the one hand and Buddhist asceticism on the other. Nirvana (a state of perfect peace without any desire for existence, a state in which everything that concerns a living person is destroyed) is the ultimate goal of the Buddhist ascetic. But who will not see the radical opposition between this goal and the goal of the Christian ascetic, which is based in a living union with God as the source of all being? There is insensible, spiritual death, here is eternal and conscious life; here there is a living union with God, there, on the contrary, there is immersion in something mysterious, completely unknown to the ascetic himself... Thus, it turns out that Christian asceticism and Buddhist asceticism are nothing more than two opposite poles, completely different types of life from each other in character, motives, and purpose of activity. And this naturally leads to the fact that Christian asceticism is a completely independent, original form of life and not at all copied from Buddhist asceticism. The latter could be allowed only when complete identity was seen between them, and since this identity does not exist, it means that the assertion that Christian asceticism is a copy of Buddhist asceticism is the fruit of lies and self-deception. As for the ascetic views of Vladimir Solovyov, the following must be said regarding them. As the fruit of philosophical and, moreover, abstract metaphysical thought, these views deserve full attention and should rightly be called original. In fact, the well-known feeling of shame is taken, skillfully analyzed, and the result is the most convincing conclusion, namely, that the dignity of an individual must be protected by all means, and that which is condemned by a person’s inner voice as unworthy of him must be trampled upon in every possible way. Such resourcefulness and mental work are rare 809 . But we are forced to give a different assessment to Solovyov’s ascetic principle when we bring it down into life itself, putting it, so to speak, face to face with reality itself. Then Solovyov’s autonomous asceticism - without religious elements - appears before us in all its insufficiency. The Achilles heel here is the question of the purpose of the struggle between spirit and flesh. Why and why, in fact, should an ascetic strain all his strength to destroy the passions that are so essential in his being? According to Solovyov, the answer is that this is necessary to enhance one’s personal dignity; the answer is, without a doubt, correct. But, further, why this personal perfection? Of course, in order not to become like animals and, most importantly, to set a good example of life and moral success for your neighbor; the conclusion is again correct and wonderful. But the mind extends its curiosity forward and forward; The thought of death involuntarily appears before his consciousness, and so he asks: “So, with death my ascetic activity will end and, like a drop in the sea, will disappear into eternity?” This is where the weak side of Vladimir Solovyov’s asceticism is revealed: it does not solve this issue, and cannot solve it, because its author, as a follower of Leo Tolstoy, expounding and clarifying his ascetic doctrine, proceeded not from the principle of the meaning of life, but from the principle of the good of life, wanting, like his teacher, through asceticism to achieve only that “all people” were “brothers” and everyone was “in peace with others, enjoying all the blessings of the world for the period of life that is allotted to him" 810. Meanwhile, Christian asceticism, on the contrary, gives a completely satisfactory answer to this problem. According to St. Vasily, the ascetic feat is not destroyed without a trace and without purpose, but, as a transitional stage, it makes it possible to be a participant in heavenly bliss, putting a person into a living union with God. In the same way, the asceticism of Schopenhauer cannot be placed on the same level with Christian asceticism; Moreover, this latter should be completely ignored in favor of the former as a pessimistic kind of life, which radically kills a person’s mood in life. In order to see the inconsistency of pessimistic asceticism, we will not touch on Schopenhauer’s basic metaphysical teaching about the will as the source of all being - this would take us too far, but we will present only in the clearest possible terms the self-consciousness that is experienced by the pessimistic ascetic, and then compare this self-consciousness with the self-consciousness of a Christian ascetic. The contradiction of being is the source of pessimistic asceticism. It is remarkable that this contradiction is seen positively by the ascetic pessimist in all the conditions of his life. Whether he thinks about the source of his being - about will, whether he delves into his soul and human relationships, whether he decides to imagine the end of life - everywhere he encounters one disappointment, oppressing him with all his might. The will appears before him in the image of a formidable and capricious tormentor of the human race. Without delivering or promising any consolation in life, she laughs maliciously and sarcastically at her works, looking at them as toys that, having given her one fleeting pleasure, but not satisfying her forever, should be left to the mercy of fate. The heart of a pessimist bleeds from such a consciousness, but this wound will be opened even more when he, along with this consciousness, descends into the depths of his being. Like a drowning man, he would be glad to find some straw in himself that, if it did not save him, would at least cherish him with the hope of calm. But - alas! - to his misfortune, he finds there instead of friends only enemies in the form of, for example, passions. At the same time, the pessimist goes into human life, looking for peace and happy activity here too, but it is here, in the cycle of life, that he is personally convinced of the validity of the position that homo homini lupus est (“man is a wolf to man.” - Ed.). Everywhere before him spreads an immense sea of ​​completely aimless suffering!.. There would still be support for the ascetic pessimist in such a joyless state if he consoled himself with the thought of a future afterlife as a place of rest and living union with God, but, unfortunately, there is no such idea in his doctrine: with death his entire existence ends, and what happens after that, his teacher does not say. It is with such self-awareness, with such and such a view of life that the ascetic pessimist has to go through his asceticism: fate does not promise him even the slightest star that will somehow calm him down, except death. Already from this brief description of the self-awareness of an ascetic pessimist one can judge the contrast between Schopenhauerian and Christian asceticism. True, according to St. Basil the Great, the starting point of Christian asceticism is the same consciousness of the contradiction of existence and the associated denial of certain conditions of existence of the individual (for example, passions). But that consciousness of the contradiction of being and the negation of it associated with it, which we learn from the philosophy of pessimism, differs significantly from the Christian consciousness of the contradiction between the ideal and life and, because of this, the renunciation of this life. There, in pessimism, the denial of being is, so to speak, absolute, the denial of being itself, pursuing complete alienation from life and especially from its source - will; here, in Christianity, on the contrary, negation has the character of relativity. The Christian ascetic undertakes the feat of asceticism not because he wants to completely destroy life (there are no such pessimistic aspirations in Christian asceticism), but because he wants to get closer to the ideal of life by cutting off from his nature those impurities and imperfections (passions, for example) that hinder the achievement of this ideal. And since the ideal of Christian life is eternal life in God, it follows from this, in turn, that the Christian ascetic has a pier in the future to which he directs his fragile boat, contrary to the pessimistic ascetic, who cannot expect anything like that. Thus, it is clear that between Christian and Schopenhauerian asceticism there lies an impassable gulf that does not allow them to be brought together; and therefore our age, the age of nervousness and degeneration, acts extremely wrongly when it allows itself to be enchanted by pessimistic asceticism, of course - to its own destruction. As it is not difficult to deduce from all of the above, a general judgment about Christian asceticism, as it is among one of the representatives of the universal and saving “power of God” - St. Basil the Great, it should be like this. Asceticism is a form of life that is made up of the struggle of the spirit with passions, and a person lives among passions, but is not their slave, but their master. Because of this, asceticism is a completely reasonable, normal and desirable feat. By bringing a person into living communication with God, he can get along with both states of the first - both virginity and marriage, although virginity is more conducive to performing ascetic exercises than marriage. And, finally, the last thing: raising a person’s mind to the ideal of life - heavenly bliss, asceticism at the same time does not neglect the earthly conditions of his existence, precisely those that have the good of his neighbor as their direct goal. Reprinted by: Wanderer. 1895. No. 11. pp. 372–413. Eusebius of Caesarea. Ecclesiastical history II, 17. See: Eusebius of Caesarea. Ecclesiastical history V, 24. See: Origen. Against Celsus, VII. See: St. Cyprian of Carthage. “On charity and alms” and “On the clothing of virgins.” See: St. Epiphanius of Cyprus. Statement of Faith // Christian Reading. 1842. March. pp. 321–322. See: Blzh. Hieronymus of Stridon. Letter 18. To Eustochia; “The Life of Rev. Pavel of Thebes" and others. According to Archimandrite Anthony (Serving the public good and saving the soul // Questions of philosophy and psychology. Book 12) and so on. Butkevich (A Word on the Meaning of Monasticism // Faith and Reason. 1895. No. 3), the source of such a denial of asceticism lies in the false expressions of the latter. The fact is that there are so-called ascetics who reduce the entire essence of ascetics to one appearance, to a set of rules of the most scrupulous nature, treat with contempt people who do not share their way of behavior, and who, nevertheless, think through the fulfillment of one appearance to please God. So, seeing such and such ascetics, people of the materialist trend try to radically undermine and ridicule asceticism. Of course, all this can happen; but, however, Feuerbach and others like him do not yet apologize for this, as persons who do not want to separate the grain from the shell, truth from lies, the correct view of asceticism from the incorrect layers on it; however, detailed criticism is below. Buddhist Catechism // Faith and Reason. 1887. See the following works: Primary data of morality // Questions of philosophy and psychology. 1894. September; Ascetic beginning in morality // Questions of philosophy and psychology. 1895. January. See: Soloviev V. Fundamentals of Morality // Bulletin of Europe. 1894. See: Soloviev V. Justification of good. Ascetic principle in morality. P. 68. Soloviev V. Justification of good. Ascetic principle in morality. P. 68. See: Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung (Schopenhauer. The World as Will and Representation). pp. 452 et seq. See: Ibid. Wed: Lange. History of moral ideas of the 19th century (Schopenhauer. Chapter VI). St. Petersburg, 1888. See: Rupp. Gregor's, des Bischofs v. Nyssa, Leben und Meinungen. Leipzig, 1834. S. 58–59. See: St. Basil the Great. Ascetic charters // St. Basil the Great. Creations. T. 2. P. 334. See: St. Basil the Great. A Word on Asceticism (The Ascetic Word 13) // Ibid. P. 140. See: St. Basil the Great. Ascetic charters // St. Basil the Great. Creations. T. 2. P. 139. It should be noted that the “desirability” of asceticism is not the same thing as its “necessity.” There may be all the data to ensure that a certain action is carried out in practice, but it, however, is not able to become necessary, the reason for which is primarily the will. From this point of view, St. looks at asceticism. Vasily. Arguing that asceticism is a good thing, which has many reasonable considerations behind it, he still does not consider it an absolutely necessary phenomenon, leaving the final decision to the good will of man. He who can contain it, let him contain it (Matthew 19:12). Hence, on the other hand, asceticism is also called asceticism, as a type of life that is chosen at the discretion of the person himself. See: St. Basil the Great. Conversation on the seventh psalm // St. Basil the Great. Creations. T. 1. P. 473. See: St. Basil the Great. Conversation 9. About the fact that God is not the author of evil // Ibid. P. 952. See: St. Basil the Great. Ascetic charters // St. Basil the Great. Creations. T. 2. P. 329. See: St. Basil the Great. Rules, briefly stated // St. Basil the Great. Creations. T. 2. P. 240; Rules set out at length // Ibid. P. 210. St. Basil the Great. Ascetic charters // Ibid. pp. 335–336. St. Basil the Great. The ascetic word and exhortation about renunciation of the world and spiritual perfection // Ibid. P. 132. See: St. Basil the Great. Rules set out at length // St. Basil the Great. Creations. T. 2. P. 157. St. Basil the Great. The ascetic word and exhortation about renunciation of the world and spiritual perfection // St. Basil the Great. Creations. T. 2. pp. 127–128. St. Basil the Great. The ascetic word and exhortation about renunciation of the world and spiritual perfection // St. Basil the Great. Creations. T. 2. P. 128. St. Basil the Great. Ascetic charters // Ibid. P. 356. St. Basil the Great. The ascetic word and exhortation about renunciation of the world and spiritual perfection // Ibid. P. 128. See: Nikanor, bishop. St. Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia. St. Petersburg, 1894. P. 285, note. See: St. Basil the Great. Creations. T. 2. P. 130, 179, 222, 333, 335, 355, etc. See: St. Basil the Great. Rules set out at length // St. Basil the Great. Creations. T. 2. P. 222. See: St. Basil the Great. Conversation 1. A word about fasting // Ibid. T. 1. P. 866. See: St. Basil the Great. Rules set out at length // Ibid. T. 2. P. 180. St. Basil the Great. Rules set out at length // St. Basil the Great. Creations. T. 2. pp. 181–182. St. Basil the Great. Ascetic charters // Ibid. P. 333. See: St. Basil the Great. The ascetic word and exhortation about renunciation of the world and spiritual perfection // St. Basil the Great. Creations. T. 2. pp. 126–127. St. Basil the Great. The ascetic word and exhortation about renunciation of the world and spiritual perfection // St. Basil the Great. Creations. T. 2. P. 126. See: St. Basil the Great. Ascetic charters // Ibid. P. 321. St. Basil the Great. The ascetic word and exhortation about renunciation of the world and spiritual perfection // Ibid. P. 127. St. Basil the Great. The ascetic word and exhortation about renunciation of the world and spiritual perfection // St. Basil the Great. Creations. T. 2. P. 127. See: St. Basil the Great. The ascetic word and exhortation about renunciation of the world and spiritual perfection // Ibid. P. 126. See: Personal improvement and social life // Bulletin of Europe. 1892. Book. VI. St. Basil the Great. The destiny of asceticism // St. Basil the Great. Creations. T. 2. P. 123. See: St. Basil the Great. The destiny of asceticism // St. Basil the Great. Creations. T. 2. pp. 122–125. St. Basil the Great. Ascetic charters // St. Basil the Great. Creations. T. 2. P. 330. See: St. Basil the Great. Conversation 3 // St. Basil the Great. Creations. T. 1. pp. 890–891. True, if we translate the thoughts of Vladimir Solovyov into the language of Plato, it turns out that they are not new. Thus, Solovyov’s “dignity” of a person - “I” - can be put in parallel with Plato’s “reason” (νοῦς), and the denial of this dignity - “not-I” - with “unreasonable desires” (τὸ ἐπιθυμητικὸν). But, when making such an analogy, we must not forget that while Plato talks about these principles as ready-made data, Solovyov derives them from a sense of shame. Tolstoy L. What is my faith. P. 28.