/lit/ - Literature

For centuries the people were brought up on the oppressive, stern, and joyless teaching of the church about the insignificance of man before a mysterious force which governs his fate arbitrarily and unaccountably, and that this teaching was affirmed as vividly and strongly as possible by all the conditions of social existence created by the senseless oppression of the Russian monarchy.

This teaching, affirming the impotence of man's reason and will, makes on his reason and will the greatest demands for deeds of virtue and, threatening him with eternal punishment in the fires of Gehenna, it could not and cannot be a stimulus of active energy directed toward the organization of an earthly life, toward the creation of happiness and joy in accordance with man's will and reason.

Submerging man in the dark abyss of the realization of his own insignificance before God, this teaching found excellent illustrations of its formal logic in all the conditions of the socio-political life at the head of which stood the Tsar.

This teaching, while disparaging man, not only tied up the energy, the initiative, and the independent activity of the people, but also penetrated deeply into the soul of the intelligentsia, pervaded Russian literature in its finest models, and covered our whole life with a veil of hopelessness, quiet melancholy, and elegiac submissiveness to fate.

The intellectual ferment and the open struggle which our intelligentsia courageously and heroically carried on against the obsolete ways of living and thinking were prompted not by the allegedly humanitarian clerical and monarchist ideas, but, of course, in spite of them, by the instinct of self-preservation—a pagan instinct which created the Renaissance and has always served as a stimulus to the rebellion of man against his own, human conception of the invincibility of fate.

To continue this rebellion, intensifying and deepening it, is the sacred and heroic task of the intelligentsia. The revolution, the only one which is capable of freeing and ennobling man, must take place within him, and it will be accomplished only by cleansing him of the mold and dust of obsolete ideas.

>>19189808
St. Ignatius Bryanchaninov's "On prelest". He says that prelest is the post-fall condition everyone of us is subject to in differing degrees. It's understood as the corruption of human nature by falsehood. The only weapon and only way to genuinely see truth as is is fighting against the passions (both bodily and intellectual) and being cleansed by Christ's grace, fixing our broken fallen mode of being. There's a general spiritual rule of not accepting any spiritual experiences, but not denying them either until you understand more. You may have had genuine experience (the chance of this is almost zero if you're not Orthodox or didn't come to Orthodoxy as a result of this experience), but you should not dwell on it as a beginner since you are still easily susceptible to elaborate deceptions.

Article - https://oprelesti.blogspot.com/2012/01/bishop-ignatius-brianchaninov.html
You can also listen to some of his writings read by this guy - https://youtu.be/ywrt0dkmUTo

>>19189889
Thy mind was deluded: it tasted the fruit forbidden by God. The fruit seemed to be beautiful with a curious, careless glance at it; the fruit seemed to be beautiful for the ignorance, inexperience, innocence; the malicious and sly counsel persuaded the eating of it; the eating of the fruit struck the one who ate with the death. The bitterness of the poisonous eatable still foaming at thy mouth; thy inside is tormented of acting of poison in it. Confusion, bewilderment, clouding, disbelief comprehend thy soul. Exhausted, frustrated by sin, you look back, being before directed to the kingdom of God ... (Luke VI, 62. Lam. 1.)

Disciple. Give an accurate and detailed concept of spiritual deception [prelest, delusion, illusion, spiritual delusion, spiritual deception – all these English words in the article mean the same]. What exactly is this condition?

Elder: Spiritual deception is the wounding of human nature by falsehood. Spiritual deception is the state of all men without exception, and it has been made possible by the fall of our original parents. All of us are subject to spiritual deception. Awareness of this fact is the greatest protection against it. Likewise, the greatest spiritual deception of all is to consider oneself free from it. We are all deceived, all deluded; we all find ourselves in a condition of falsehood; we all need to be liberated by the Truth. The Truth is our Lord Jesus Christ (Jn. 8:32-14:6). Let us assimilate that Truth by faith in it; let us cry out in prayer to this Truth, and it will draw us out of the abyss of demonic deception and self-delusion. Bitter is our state! It is that prison from which we beseech that our souls be led out, that we may confess the name of the Lord (Ps. 141:8). It is that gloomy land into which our life has been cast by the enemy that hates and pursues us. It is that carnal-mindedness (Rom. 8:6) and knowledge falsely so called (I Tim. 6:20) wherewith the entire world is infected, refusing to acknowledge its illness, insisting, rather, that it is in the bloom of health. It is that “flesh and blood” which “cannot inherit the Kingdom of God” (I Cor. 15:50). It is that eternal death which is healed and destroyed by the Lord Jesus, Who is “the Resurrection and the Life” (Jn. 11:25). Such is our state. And the perception thereof is a new reason to weep. With tears let us cry out to the Lord Jesus to bring us out of prison, to draw us forth from the depths of the earth, and to wrest us from the jaws of death! “For this cause did our Lord Jesus Christ descend to us,” says the venerable Symeon the New Theologian, “because he wanted to rescue us from captivity and from most wicked spiritual deception.”

>>19189894
Disciple: I do not sufficiently comprehend your explanation. I need a simpler explanation, more in keeping with my understanding.

Elder: The means whereby the fallen angel brought ruin upon the human race was falsehood (Gen. 3:13). For this reason did the Lord call the devil “a liar, and the father of [lies]… a murderer from the beginning” (Jn. 8:44). We see that the Lord closely associated the notion of falsehood with the notion of murder; for the latter is the inevitable consequence of the former. The words “from the beginning” indicate that from the very start the devil has used falsehood as a weapon in murdering men, for the ruination of men.

The beginning of evil is in the false thought. The source of self-delusion and demonic deception is the false thought. By means of falsehood, the devil infected mankind at its very root, our first parents, with eternal death. For our first parents were deceived, i.e., they acknowledged falsehood as the truth, and having accepted falsehood in the guise of truth, they wounded themselves incurably with mortal sin, as is attested by our ancestor Eve, when she said: “The serpent deceived me, and I ate” (Gen. 3:13). Thenceforth, our nature, infected with the poison of evil, has, voluntarily or involuntarily, inclined toward evil which, to our perverted will, distorted reason, and debauched heart, presents itself as good. I say voluntarily because there still remains within us a remnant of the freedom to choose between good and evil. And I say involuntarily because that remnant of freedom does not function as complete freedom, but rather under the unavoidable influence of the wound of sin. Thus is every human born and cannot be otherwise; and for this reason we all, without exception find ourselves in a state of self-delusion and demonic deception. From this view of man’s state with regard to good and evil, the state which is necessarily characteristic of each human being, we arrive at the following definition of spiritual deception which explains it satisfactorily: spiritual deception is man’s assimilation of a falsehood which he accepts as truth. Spiritual deception first acts upon one’s way of thinking; on being accepted and having perverted one’s thought processes, it is forthwith communicated to the heart whose sensibilities it distorts; having mastered the essence of man’s being, it seeps into every one of his activities and poisons the very body which the Creator has indissolubly joined to the soul. The state of spiritual deception is the state of perdition or eternal death.

>>19189900
From the time of man’s fall, the devil has had free access to him. The devil is entitled to this access, for, through obedience to him man has voluntarily submitted to his authority and rejected obedience to God. However, God has redeemed man. To the redeemed man He has given the freedom to submit either to God or to the devil; and that this freedom may manifest itself without any compulsion, the devil has been permitted access to man. It is quite natural that the devil makes every effort to keep man in his former subjection to him, or yet to enslave him even more thoroughly. To achieve this, he implements his primordial and customary weapon — falsehood. He strives to deceive and delude us, counting on our state of self-delusion. He stimulates our passions, our sick inclinations. He invests their pernicious demands with an attractive appearance and strives to entice us to indulge them. However, he that is faithful to the Word of God will not permit himself to do so; he will restrain the passions and thus repulse the enemy’s assaults (see Jas. 4:7); struggling against his own self-deception under the guidance of the Gospel, subduing his passions, and thus gradually destroying the influence of the fallen spirits on himself, he will by stages pass from the state of deception to the realm of truth and freedom (see Jn 8:32), the fullness of which will be given through the overshadowing of divine grace. He that is not faithful to Christ’s teaching, who follows his own will and knowledge, will submit to the enemy, and will pass from a state of self-deception into a state of demonic deception, will lose the remnant of his freedom, and in the end he will become totally enslaved to the devil. The state of those who are demonically deluded varies, depending upon the passion by which the particular individual is deluded and enslaved, and corresponding to the degree to which he is enslaved by that passion. And all those who have fallen into demonic delusion, i.e., those who, through the development of their own self-delusion, have entered into fellowship with the devil and have been enslaved by him, are temples and instruments of the demons, victims of eternal death, of life in the dungeons of hell.

>>19189808
"Orthodoxy" is Satanic, Christians do not have "priests", Christ is our only mediator between us and God. Yes, the notion of "prelest" is Satan's way of stamping out genuine communions between us and God. They try to tell you that only their prescribed thoughts, exactly as they prescribe them, are allowed, and anything else is "bad". Do not listen to anything else the Catholics or "Orthodox" have to say, they are of Satan. They pray to Mary and saints, talk about true prelest.

>>19189914
Oh, and as for book recommendations on this subject, the Holy Bible. They will try to tell you that all of the bullshit they made up outside of the Holy Bible is what you need to know, and that only they can tell you what the Holy Bible is even saying. All of that is Satanic.

read it

>>19189914
>Christians do not have "priests"

>>19189808
>By this standard every spiritual experience of God I’ve ever had has been demonic activity
>everything which I dislike = demonic
t.orthodog
>are there any books on how one is able to discern genuine spiritual experiences from demonic deception?
The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times, The Spiritist Fallacy

>>19189925
>The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times, The Spiritist Fallacy
Why follow a confused 'seeker of truth' who went into 15 different cults and got initiated in every one? He was also a pozzed mason by the way.

>>19189918
>a literal demon on the cover art
But anon, he didn't ask for books leading him into spiritual deception.

>>19189923
Right, the sacrificial system ended with Christ's crucifixion and now Christ is the priest of each actual Christian.

>>19189914
This. Invisible "church" is the only "truth". All of the bishops ordained by the apostles in Acts immediately went apostate and their successors too.

>>19189954
No one in Acts served as sacrificial mediators between God and man.

>>19189960
Yes, Christ is the only mediator who works through the priest's hands. It's still only Christ's priesthood.
>>19189960
Just because Acts does not write it down, doesn't mean it did not happen. Their successors wrote about it though and the imaginary group of sola-scripturists you posit did not exist then, because there was no New Testament.

>>19189917
>the Holy Bible
given to you by people who believed in and were themselves priests who participated in New Testament sacrificial priesthood...

>>19189970
How about you geniuses of Satan figure this out. If the original church had "priests" administering "The Eucharist", then how were people overeating and getting drunk, and Paul wrote telling them to eat before they go to church. Obviously it was self serve, and an actual meal. Face it, you are in a Satanic counterfeit church of Babylon literally praying to Mary to save you.

>>19189995
>then how were people overeating and getting drunk
Because in earlier times it was also an actual meal with food, not only Christ's body and blood. People abused this by getting drunk and overeating and the form of the meal was later changed only to include worship and breaking the bread. If you believe it is just metaphoric, please explain how people are dying from it by partaking of the meal unworthily? Why did nobody believe in your specific views until much later?
>Obviously it was self serve, and an actual meal
Just like the last supper, which Christ presided over as both an actual meal and a liturgical event.

>>19189914
>Christians do not have "priests"
Christ gave His apostles the power to remit and retain sins. If all believers are exactly the same, can you remit or retain my sins?

>>19190009
>later changed
So not the way Christ and the Apostles started out. Thanks for confirming that your religion is not what Christ founded, and is something else from the minds of mere men, and not legitimate tradition. Fucking finally.

>>19189942
he is exposing it in that book you douche, the cover art is irrelevant

St. Augustine was a massive fag

fuck St. Augustine, Pelagius was more spiritually based

>>19190022
Forms of worship can change (even in your silly view, since there was no New Testament which you could read and preach from), but nowhere did I imply in that post that anything else changed in the beliefs themselves of what the meal was.

>>19190050
Obviously there was no priest doing elaborate ritual with the bread and wine then handing them out, all of that is pure *innovation*. Your "church" is a lie.

>>19189950
>>19189950
In Luke 22, at the institution of the Eucharist, Christ says, "do this in remembrance of me." This doesn't mean to simply "think" about it. The word in Greek is "anamnesis," used both in Luke and in Numbers to mean a sacrificial offering. It didn't end the sacrificial system, it fulfilled it. Now instead of sacrificing animals or grain, the Eucharist is the offer presented to God at every Liturgy.

>>19190089
>"Obviously" there was no priest
There was always a liturgical element to the Eucharistic meal with a priest presiding over it. If you were actually interested you would look into what early Christian writers write about it. Also you did not answer any of the questions I posed to you.

>>19190092
>anamnesis
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/anamnesis

>>19189935
based

>>19189935
midwit

>>19189918
Summary:

He basically goes through all of the modern spiritual currents of his day (it was first published in the late 20s but updated frequently up to the early 70s before his death) and he explains his position in relation to all of them. Specifically, theosophy, mysticism (seances to "talk to the dead" which were very popular in his day), psychic research, Freud (who he rips apart, which I enjoyed) and Jung, Crowley, Satanism/LaVey, and where they all go wrong from the Traditional standpoint. He also talks about Nietzsche and Dostoevsky (specifically Kirillov in Demons), so you get an introduction as to where he stands in relation to Nietzsche. He ties this all this into esoteric laws and influences of what he would later call the "occult war". He also explains some of the philosophical and spiritual dangers modern man encounters, and how to effectively confront them, which I found particularly insightful and helpful. Near the end he focuses on initiation and magic, and some modern currents that he saw as being on the right track. He also talks about Catholicism and how it stands in relation to his worldview, and how it might be rectified to save the West. He was very anti-Christian when he was younger but warmed up to it more later which this book shows.

One important thing that is made very clear is the difference between spiritually ascending to the "superpersonal" ("supraconsciousness," divine intuition) and descending to the subpersonal (dissolving of the ego and handing it over to subtle forces which usually do not have the best intentions, which is the case for mystics), the latter being more common in our times. So this was good at showing where the real spiritual dangers are. He talks about possession, whether conscious or unconscious, and possible ways of this occurring today (losing yourself to "negro jazz" lol). I wish he could have written about computers and the internet and AI, because I know it would be relevant to the topic.

It differs from Revolt considerably, since it is focused on these modern currents and the dangers to be aware of, while the focus on ancient Traditions is minimal and political/economic issues are basically ignored. I wish I had read this before Revolt (which was only published a few years after this) since it clarifies his core spiritual concepts, like the idea of spiritual virility, which is the force conducive to the aforementioned "ascending" path, which was a key to understanding Revolt. And as I said before, this provides some very good guidance for modern man, whether he is delving into spirituality or facing existential or nihilistic dilemmas.

>>19189918
>>19190124
PDF:

https://largepdf.net/the-mask-and-face-of-contemporary-spiritualism/

>>19190103
Look at how the word is used in Numbers 10:10 in the Greek. It refers to a sacrifice.

>>19190103
>>19190173
This.
Anamnesis or remembrance in Holy Scripture is not just thinking "of yeah there was this thing before".

>>19190173
Also about remembering the holy days and the Sabbath.

>>19190195
Right. This is an example of a modern person reading their presuppositions in instead of taking the Scripture as it is. It's the same reason people think of "faith" as a solely mental activity. No ancient Christian would have thought of faith and works as separate. Knowing that throws the whole dichotomy that exists in Western Christianity out of the picture

>>19189808
get spooked nerd
AHAHAHAHA

>>19190210
Is it enough to remember the holy days and the Sabbath or what it be understood to participate in those days as well? What good is remembering the Sabbath if you're going to break the rules? Point being that the word points to more than mental activity

>>19189808
>but are there any books on how one is able to discern genuine spiritual experiences from demonic deception?

No because it’s so simple it doesn’t need even a paragraph.

>does it affirm my religions teachings? if yes God if no demons

>we should only rely on theology based on rational inquiry for our spiritual needs
>this same rational inquiry has produced modern horrors like the idea that a man can become a women because *technically* there's nothing intrinsic about being a woman besides feeling it

While prelest is a genuine concern, I don't accept the argument that theology based purely on human logic is the way to avoid it. There is no reason that the acceptance of one doctrine over another could not be influenced by prelest

>>19189935
only your religion is a cult since you reject everything else
>he was a mason
based

Reading Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future now

>Jews, Muslims and Christians don't worship the same God because Abraham worshipped the Trinity instead of their unipersonal god

Wat

>>19189808
"Spirituality" is entirely made up and there are no rules. If you can't figure that out, there's no hope for you and you will 100% be a useful idiot for someone much more intelligent than you.

>>19190703
>entirely made up and there are no rules

>>19190038
>>19190048
I think you meant to say BLESSED Augustine.

>>19189808
>By this standard every spiritual experience of God I’ve ever had has been demonic activity
no demonic activity will ever be to bring you closer to God, this is just retardation. if it got you closer to God then its not a demonic activity by definition

>>19189918
Evola is a Satanist. Just look at that book cover

>>19189942
>Evola decided the cover art of the english translated copy 60 years later

>>19189808
If anything brings you closer to Christ and is in accordance with scripture and the character of Jesus, it is not demonic. “Muh prelest” is retarded. Don’t let some dead monk make you believe that every experience of God you’ve ever had is demonic

>>19191099
>If anything brings you closer to Christ and is in accordance with scripture and the character of Jesus
The problem is that the demons can make you tricked into believing something is in accordance with scripture, when it is not. That is prelest.

>>19191109
And how would they do that? Always use discernment, no matter what.

>>19191125
The how is a deep question, but no Christian can really deny that they do this as observed in the existence of schisms. No matter what views you hold, if they are remotely Christian (that you believe salvation is through faith in Christ and that heresy/schism is sin as St. Paul says), then either Orthodoxy (Roman Catholicism, Protestantism) is truth or it is a demonic deception.

From what I know, the demons use our disposition towards intellectual pride to lead us into thinking that our own false view of scripture is true. This is how they created Arianism and Nestorianism, etc. This is how they continue to create all heresies and delusions.

>>19190471
>>does it affirm my religions teachings? if yes God if no demons
extremely based.

>>19191079
>>19189942
Retards. Is the movie Jaws selling you on the benefits if getting eaten by a giant shark just because it has a giant shark on the cover?

My assumption is that is Pan, a lunar/dionysian figure that characterizes modern spirituality which is all about precipitous emotional trips rather than actual transcendence. Which is indeed what he is aiming to expose and criticize in this particular book.