Or a morally neutral color.

Examples of sinful laughter are found many times in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. As a rule, the reasons that caused the laughter are also indicated there.

So, Sarah's laughter during the visit of Abraham by three Angels () was caused by the mistrust of God's promise about the birth of her long-awaited heir. Despite the fact that she had an inner "justification" for herself (after all, she was not only sterile, but also old), her laughter caused a reproach from the Angel and a wound of conscience ().

The laughter of the Jews over the mocked and Crucified was associated with unbelief, inner malice, arrogance, envy, hatred of Christ.

In everyday public life laughter often borders on the mockery of some people over others, ridicule of human weaknesses and shortcomings. At the same time, the laughing person puts himself above the one at whom he mocks and whom he humiliates with his ridicule. Very often, such bullying is picked up by the environment. In its most acute manifestations, ridicule turns into bullying, often leading to tragedies. This kind of laughter is called outrage.

A biblical example of the use of laughter (ridicule) for the sake of mockery is Goliath, who reviled the Jewish people, and then David came out against him. It is well known how this confrontation ended.

Quite often, laughter is driven by the desire for fun.

By and large, fun, as a state of a special psychological mood, can also be caused by a godly disposition of the heart, for example, the joy associated with a Christian celebration. But it also happens in another way, when a person seeks fun in idleness, sinful entertainment and pleasures, which not only distracts him from pious pursuits, but also serves as a bad example for others.

Is it possible to argue that laughter is bad as such?

Contrary to popular belief, laughter is not always evaluated negatively.

In some cases, laughter can help a person get rid of an oppressive state: blues, despondency, despair.

It happens that laughter prompts a person to look at himself from the outside. It was for this purpose that Aesop composed his fables, exposing human passions and vices.

It should be noted that laughter is inherent even in sinless, innocent babies. Children's laughter often symbolizes joy. Moreover, the absence of laughter in a child's life can serve as an indicator of ill health, a serious reason to see a doctor.

In this regard, we understand: "to laugh or not to laugh?" there is an incorrectly posed question. As such, laughter cannot be categorized as unambiguously moral. As for the theological assessment of laughter, much here depends on the specific conditions and circumstances.

Old Sarah, having given birth to a son of Isaac from Abraham, a hundred years old, says: God has made me laugh, whoever does not hear about me will laugh ”(). Here one can see the self-irony of Sarah - “she became a laughing stock in her old age”; humorous self-assessment of an unusual situation: "they will laugh at the hearing that the old woman has given birth."

In the New Testament, in the epistle of St. The apostle Paul to the Ephesians already has an indirect rejection of laughter: "Also, profanity and idle talk and ridicule are not befitting of you, but on the contrary, thanksgiving" (). The faithful of the "First Christian times", the "little flock" to which the apostle addresses, were redeemed at too high a price - the death of the Lord on the Cross, to indulge in "ridicule" in particular and entertainment in general. Awareness of the time in which the holy apostles live is an energetic, active expectation of the imminent Second Coming of the Savior, the time of the eschatological expectation of the end of history, therefore one should not relax, be distracted by the earthly, by the insignificant - one must rush to the Kingdom of Heaven!

2.

When, later, eschatological expectations were dulled, partly cooled, and the world did not come to an end, but on the contrary, spread throughout the entire universe with the triumph of the Christian empire, the worldwide triumph of Christianity, then, in these very years, many Christians leave cities, families, abandon their careers and flee into the Egyptian and Palestinian deserts. This is the beginning of monasticism and asceticism. Seekers of solitary exploits flee from a world in which the heat of salvation has cooled down too obviously, the feeling of the exclusiveness of Christianity and communion with God has dulled. The Christian teaching, spreading throughout the universe, thereby merged with the world, introduced the ordinary into itself, and at the same time, it became a way of life, everyday life, weakened and dulled, like an incessant joyful feeling of everything new brought into the world by the gospel message. Seekers of desert dwelling leave the world, sharpening the opposition of sin and holiness in a new way, earthly kingdom and the Kingdom of Heaven, the riches of a transient, perishable and inexhaustible spiritual treasure. With these oppositions comes a rethinking of the phenomenon of laughter. Our task is not to consider the "story of laughter", it is too immense for this. But we can try to focus attention on two opposing categories: "laughter as a sin" ("both laughter and sin") and "spiritual fun." This opposition is felt and explained by the experienced spiritual practice of monastic asceticism and monastic holiness. "Holiness" and "sinfulness", "God" and "demonic" became the two extreme poles of understanding laughter in Eastern Christianity, and in this way they were assimilated in Russia. We still live in this tradition. In Russian, as noted, “the monosyllabic, abrupt, phonetically very expressive“ laugh ”systematically rhymes with the equally monosyllabic and abrupt“ sin ”. The proverb says: "Where there is laughter, there is sin" (options: "Small laughter, but great sin"; "Brought to sin, and even left to laugh"; "And laughter leads to sin") ". In Russian Orthodoxy, according to A.A. Panchenko, “there was a ban on laughter and fun. This was a literal interpretation of the Gospel commandment: "Woe to you who laugh today, for you will mourn and weep" (). The scribes of the Middle Ages referred to the fact that in the Scriptures Christ never laughed (this was noticed by John Chrysostom, who was especially revered in Russia). It is no coincidence that for laughter, caroling, for a feast with a dance, etc. different severity of penance were imposed: "If anyone speaks himself, although laughter is a people, let him bow down to those days 300". Actually, obeisances were already imposed for the fact that people laughed at the said joke, for joking. And those who laughed also fell under the penance: "He who laughed to tears, fasting for 3 days, dry food, bowing 25 a day ..." "Laughing to tears" was directly identified with devilry. Folk fantasy painted as a place where sinners "howl in sorrow", and their groans are overlapped by the rolls of devilish laughter. This tradition of "devilish laughter" is reflected in a small poem by A.S. Pushkin, entitled "Imitation of the Italian", about Judas, the traitor of the Lord:

As a traitor disciple fell from the tree,
The devil flew in, pressed to his face,
I breathed life into him, soared with his stinking prey
And he threw the corpse alive into the larynx of smooth hell ...
There are demons, rejoicing and splashing on the horns
Received with a laugh the world's enemy
And noisily carried to the accursed lord,
And Satan, having risen, with gaiety on his face
I burned my lips through with my kiss,
On the treacherous night, they kissed Christ.

The devil is often described as a "mocker", which does not mean that he is a fan of practical jokes and fun. "Devilish laughter", or "the joy of Satan," are figures of speech found both in poetry and in the writings of ascetics, which do not mean that laughter or humor is inherent in the forces of evil. Infernal laughter is an expression of extreme frenzy in which the dark forces abide. In this sense - they do not and cannot have normal reactions, but only one extreme - ultimate anger, mortal hatred, mad laughter, etc. Everything that is characteristic of a person - sadness or joy, sorrow or laughter, irony or humor - at the extreme poles of the devilish anti-world receives its perverted embodiment. In the actions of the possessed, villains or madmen, we can sometimes observe what the usual properties of human nature are embodied in. Laughter, if it is inherent in demons, is not real - for nothing but evil (which itself is - distortion, cunning, curvature - damage to good) is not characteristic of them, nothing but hatred. It is no coincidence that more than a thousand years ago, it was the word "evil" that was chosen when translating the prayer "Our Father" from Greek in Slavic. Its root is onion. The bow is a weapon, a vegetable. The ancient Russian scribes called the coastal bends Luka, hence the curvature - the sea bay. The bow is the curved part of the saddle. Onion is the top of the temple. What do these things have in common with Satan? The answer is simple: a curved shape. Curvature is a common feature of everything "evil". That is why in the prayer "Our Father" the devil is called the evil one. In Greek, wicked (ponhroj) means "bad, spoiled, thin, mean, evil." One of the first angels, light bearer ( lucifer), once distorted himself, having fallen away from God, and since then has been striving to draw a person into this curvature, and through him the whole world. A fallen spirit is a liar. He distorts God's creation by displaying it in a crooked mirror. Hence the possibility of unkind laughter, mockery and blasphemy. Its limit is laughter at God.

The devil is called “the monkey of God,” but it is a laughing (or laughing) monkey. The devil laughs not because he is happy or cheerful, but his laugh is a consequence of his madness, his apostasy from God, the greatest obscurity. Fallen away and thus excommunicated from the holiness of God, he reveals His insignificant opposite, "topsy-turvy". What is sacred in God is turned inside out in the devil, therefore it is characteristic that matting, bast, straw, birch bark, bast had a special role in laughter, carnival dressing up. These were, as it were, "false materials", beloved by mummers and buffoons. It is noteworthy, as noted by D.S. Likhachev, that when the heretics were exposed in Russia "it was publicly demonstrated that the heretics belonged to the anti-world, to the tiny (hellish) world, that they are" not real. " Archbishop Gennady of Novgorod in 1490 ordered to put heretics on horses facing the tail in a twisted dress, birch bark helmets with bast tails, crowns of hay and straw, with the inscriptions: "Behold Satan's army." It was a kind of debunking and undressing of heretics - their reckoning to the original, demonic world. In the same system of oppositions, buffoons were called "clerks" and even "priests of laughter." An old Russian proverb: "God created the priest, and the devil created the buffoon." In the popular consciousness of antiquity, buffoons seem to "compete" with their buffoonery service to laughter with the pious ministry of the priesthood. As one ancient author put it, people "make weddings and call priests from crosses for marriages, and buffoons from duds." In the old Russian story "About a certain merchant a reckless man" tells about a merchant who went to hell after death. His wife and children grieved and cried over his fate. Help appeared in the face of the buffoon, who ordered to make a cradle and lower him on ropes into the hellish abyss. At the bottom, he saw a coffin, and around him "the whole demonic face." The demons showed him the soul of a merchant, “burning in a fierce flame,” revealing that it can be delivered from eternal torment if the widow and orphans distribute the unjustly acquired property to the churches and the poor brethren. The buffoon was curious about his afterlife. "They showed him a temple, full of a great stench, and a scorching fire" - "this is your dwelling." Further, the story tells how the buffoon led the demons around his finger, resorting to the help of a pious priest, to whom "he fell with prayers and warm tears," praying to him, may he receive him with repentance ...

3.

What is the opposite of "demonic laughter", or rather, a distorted reflection of what spiritual category is "laughter"? We find the answer to this question in the words of the holy fathers. Laughing, indecent, "stupid," as Ecclesiastes put it, laughter is an expression of graceless mirth. Laughter is a kind of mirror in which all our emotions are reflected and transformed, as if doubling the “space of the soul,” the researcher notes (L. Karasev). Hence the variety of shades of laughter, which defies exhaustive enumeration. Laughter plus pride and laughter plus anger give us new pride and new anger. And humility plus prayer, meekness and temperance plus joy give that ineffable state of grace that St. greet everyone who comes with the words "My joy".

“There is humility out of the fear of God, and there is humility out of love for God. Some are humble by the fear of God, another is humble by joy, and a humble person by joy is accompanied by great simplicity, a growing and irresistible heart, ”says St. ... “When the time draws near to resurrect in you spiritual person, then a mortification is awakened in you for everything, joy is kindled in your soul, which does not resemble creatures, and your thoughts are contained within you with the sweetness that is in your heart ”(he is). The Holy Father writes about "pleasure emanating from the heart, captivating the mind entirely," speaking of the spiritual joy brought by tireless prayer: with this remembrance will not be revered as dust and futility. For this delight emanating from the heart sometimes in the hour of prayer, sometimes during reading, and sometimes also as a result of incessant engagement and duration of thought, warms the mind. And this joy most often happens without these reasons, and very often during simple work, and just as often at night, when you are between sleep and awakening, as if in a dream and not in a dream, awake and not awake. But when he finds this delight on a person, beating in his whole body, at this hour he thinks that the Kingdom of Heaven is nothing else, but this is the same. " The acquisition of grace is, as a result, an unceasing stay during earthly life in the Kingdom of Heaven, and this stay of the soul in union with the Lord is also joy and joy, which the holy ascetics and fathers try to convey in their writings.

Showing by Himself the fullness of love, the Lord radiated unceasing joy for those around him, being Himself a source of joy. Joy is a reflection of spiritual experience, catharsis, delight, and ultimately truth. We see this in many biographies. “Once upon seeing Saint Gregory Sinai, leaving his cell with a joyful face, I (the saint's biographer) in simplicity of heart asked him why he was glad. He replied: "A soul that has clung to God and is consumed by love for Him, ascends above creation, lives above visible things and, being filled with the desire of God, cannot hide in any way." After all, the Lord also said: "Your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly" (); and again: “So let your light shine before people, so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Heavenly Father” (). For when the heart rejoices and rejoices, the mind is in pleasant agitation, then the face is also joyful, according to the saying: “The heart rejoices - the face blooms” ”(Athos patericon).

On the faces of the monks of the monastery of Abba Apollonius, wondrous joy shone, a kind of divine delight that you will not see in other people on earth ... If someone sometimes seemed darkened by grief, Abba Apollonius immediately asked about the reason for the sorrow. Often, if a brother did not talk about the cause of grief, the Abba himself revealed what was hidden in his soul ... Abba Apollonius said that those for whom salvation is in God and hope is in the Kingdom of Heaven should not be given over to grief. Let the pagans mourn, let the Jews mourn, let the sinners mourn - the righteous deserve joy! If those who love everything earthly rejoice in corruptible and unreliable objects, should we not be aflame with delight if we only truly expect heavenly glory and eternal bliss? Isn't that what the apostle teaches us: “Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. Thank you for everything ”(). (The life of the desert fathers).

5.

Don't forget that laughter is therapeutic. A person needs him to withstand, not to despair in this world. Why is it dangerous to take things too seriously? The fact that we may have gray glasses in front of our eyes. Through them, the world appears to be bleak, hopeless, and therefore hopeless. In these cases, laughter is vital.

And even fasting implies joy. As the confessor Sergius Fudel wrote: “If fasting is understood as, first of all, abstinence from non-love, and not from butter, then it will be a light fast and its time will be“ a time of merry fasting ”(Stanza on“ Lord, I have cried out ”on Tuesday evenings 2nd week of Great Lent) ".

One must be able to laugh at evil. The "all-laughing hell", about which the canon at Pentecost tells, is, translated from Greek, "all-laughing hell." Ridiculous in his pomp, the devil is powerless in his malice and mediocre in his emptiness.

Christ, having descended into hell, laughed at Satan, crushed all his plans and saved people.

Christ is Risen! And we celebrate Easter with "jolly feet." These lines of the Easter Canon set a new dimension of joy and joy. Spiritual joy and spiritual fun are possible. Joy expresses itself in action, in a smile. From joy you can start dancing. It is no coincidence that the more emotional peoples of Ethiopia and Egypt dance rhythmically during the liturgy. This is not a reason to follow, but one of the arguments in favor of laughter. In the litany for the consecration of water in the Epiphany, we ask: "About the hedgehog existence of this water galloping into eternal life ..." , roused themselves with all the creature, anticipating the accomplishment of liberation. - Here last call in the lesson before summer holidays. What will happen to the students? They will jump, chatter, throw up briefcases, rush along the corridors. - Here it is, the state of the waters, the state of fun and joy! The Redeemer came, God appeared in fullness, a voice came from heaven ...

The stories of the first monks, collected in "Ancient Patericon", "Spiritual Meadow" and "Lavsaik", are dedicated to the ridicule of the devil's intrigues. These collections are valuable because they were compiled in the 4th-6th centuries, in the era of the inception of monasticism, and fully convey its spirit. For example, let us turn to the Spiritual Meadow, to the description of the exploits of Abba Stephen, presbyter of Iliots:

“They also told about him that he once sat in his cell and read - and then again a demon appeared to him in a visible way and said:
- Get out of here, old man, here it will be of no use to you.
- If, as I well know, you want me to be removed from here, then make it so that the chair on which I am sitting begins to walk.
And he was sitting on a wicker chair.
Having listened to the words of the elder, the devil made it so that not only the chair, but the whole cell entered.
- You are dexterous! - said the elder, seeing the cunning of the devil, - but I still won't leave here.
The elder made a prayer, and the unclean spirit disappeared. "

And the founder of monasticism, the monk, himself a strict ascetic and ascetic, resorted to laughter for pedagogical purposes:
“Someone, catching wild beasts in the wilderness, saw that Abba Anthony was jokingly dealing with the brethren, and he was tempted. The elder, wishing to assure him that sometimes it is necessary to give relief to the brethren, tells him: "Put an arrow on your bow and draw it." He did so. The elder again says to him: "Stretch still." Tat pulled it on again. The elder again says: "Stretch still." The catcher answers him: "If I stretch too much, the bow will break." Then Abba Anthony says to him: “So it is in the work of God - if we overload the brethren, they will soon be crushed by engagement. Therefore, it is sometimes necessary to give at least some relief to the brethren. " Having heard this, the catcher was greatly touched and, having received great benefit, left the elder. And the brethren, having established themselves, returned to their place. "

“Internal orientation,” we will end our article with the words of the already quoted Fr. Mikhail Pershin, - gives the highest meaning to every human action. So the Christian culture, rather, welcomes laughter, but kind. The only thing that is unacceptable is solidarity with the forces of evil. The ridicule of someone else's grief, God's beauty, goodness turns laughter - God's mercy - into a path to emptiness.

It happens that laughter is devastating. It happens that it inspires. There is a time for crying, and there is a time for fun. There is a "time to mourn" and "a time to dance" ().

You just need to learn to distinguish. "

Hieromonk Seraphim (Paramanov). “The Law of Love. How to live in the Orthodox way. " Artos-Media. Moscow 2007

Satire is, in general, a dangerous temptation for any writer. It's so easy to accustom yourself to a distorted view of the world. It's all about measure. You can use some remedy in small doses, you can abuse it too much - then the medicine turns into poison. Many satirists have experienced this.
MM. Dunaev

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These temptations are manifested in different ways. According to the holy martyr Diadochus, "demons do not at all want people to somehow make sure that they are nesting in them, so that the mind, knowing this correctly, does not arm itself against them with an unceasing memory of God." For the most part, taking, according to the word of the apostle, the form of an angel of light - "And it is not marvelous: Bo Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light"(), - dark forces influence a person through his brain, trying to inspire him that this or that vision is sent from God. In fact, this turns out to be only an enemy action.

But the most dangerous thing in this case, according to the Reverend Nile, is the following: since a person “is not disturbed by fleshly impure passions, but he is purely in prayer, he does not think that there was any hostile action here, and he assures that this is exactly a Divine phenomenon, while it came from a demon who, using extreme trickery, through the brain, as we said, changes the light coupled with the mind and forms it itself (it gives it an image, or both makes one imagine) " ...

13.2. Temptation from demons through the sensation of "light"

But temptations in prayer are not always only through thoughts. Sometimes perfect people experience temptations of a different order, such as the appearance of light, knocking, etc. Usually, according to the testimony of the ascetics, the first sign of delusion (the devil's seduction), felt physically, is "light like sensual fire", "visible with bodily eyes "," fire formations "," light at night ", etc.

The apparitions of light are followed by the apparitions of demons in different forms and types. To people who have attained a certain spiritual height, they appear in the form of angels or even Christ Himself in order to mislead them and make the person praying think that he was worthy of contemplating heavenly visions and thereby draw him into pride, which is the beginning of the fall.

13.3. The appearance of demons in the form of angels or even Christ Himself

If these phenomena do not produce the desired effect, that is, if a person, out of humility, does not accept the vision as divine, then temptations change. Demons, according to St. Anthony the Great, when they cannot seduce the heart of the ascetic, they attack again, but in a different way, namely: different types and take on the images - wives, animals, reptiles, giants and many warriors ", making" noise, stomping, screams and curses. "

13.4. Intimidation by demons through various ghosts

During such temptations, according to the instructions of the holy ascetics, one should maintain complete peace of mind and not succumb to fear, since evil spirits can only threaten, but they cannot do anything else. "Such ghosts should not be afraid," says St. Anthony the Great, "because they are nothing - and immediately disappear, as soon as anyone protects himself with faith and the sign of the cross." Although they are impudent and extremely shameless, one should not be afraid of them, "even if they seem to be advancing on us, even if they threaten, because they are weak and can do nothing more than threaten."

13.5. Reasons why you shouldn't be afraid of demonic intimidation

Saint Simeon the Pious also teaches not to be afraid of demons and their temptations: “When you pray, whether fear will attack you, or a knock will rise, or light will shine, or whatever happens, do not be embarrassed or timid; but stay in prayer much longer than usual. Such confusion, insurance and horror happens from demons, so that, bewildered and relaxed, he would leave prayer, and when such anxiety and abandonment of prayer due to cowardice turn into a habit, to completely take you into your own hands and push you around. "

The Monk Nilus of Sinai said similarly: “Although the one who strives to keep a pure prayer will hear the noise, and stomp, and cries, and curses from the demons, he will not fall in thought and will not betray it to them, saying to God: "I will not fear evil, as you are with me"() etc" .

13.6. Signs that allow you to distinguish the visit of the grace of God from the temptations of the evil one

But such phenomena (like, for example, light) do not always come from the evil one. Saint Simeon the Reverent says that sometimes it happens that some other light will shine while you perform your prayer, “which I cannot portray in a word, from which the soul is filled with joy, the desire for the best is revived and mother-in-law's tears begin with tenderness; then know that this is a Divine visit (visit - "Igum.V.") and an offensive. "

Since it is difficult for a person, especially not yet experienced in this matter, to determine whether he receives visions from God or from the evil one, the holy ascetics advise, in this case, to always seek advice from the elder-leader, whom everyone who wants to follow the path of spiritual development should have. ... More details about eldership will be discussed below. Now let us cite the words of Saint Callistus Tilikuda concerning this. “If sometimes the mind sees the light without any search for it, let it not accept it or reject it, let it ask the elder about it. If he does not find such a thing, then it is better not to accept, but, out of humility, surrender the matter to God, considering himself unworthy of such a vision. "

In general, how general rule, one should bear in mind the instructions of the holy fathers not to be carried away by visions and not to consider oneself worthy of them, even if it were the appearance of Christ Himself or an angel. "When, doing your job," says St. Gregory of Sinait, "you see a light or fire outside or inside, or some face — Christ, for example — or an angel, or someone else, do not accept that you do not suffer harm."

Sometimes inner feeling tells a person that this or that vision is not from God, but from the evil one. “Everything that comes into the soul, - say the fathers, - whether it is sensual or spiritual, as soon as the heart doubts it, not accepting it, is not from God, but sent from the enemy”. "The true beginning of prayer is warmth of the heart, burning passions, joy and joy, instilling in the heart with unshakable love and affirming the heart with undoubted certification."

But nevertheless, it is very difficult for a person, especially at the first steps of his spiritual achievement, to tackle the question: from whom does he receive this or that vision? St. Gregory the Sinaite, speaking of the signs of delusion, testifies that "for many, due to the multitude and variety of her wiles and crimps, she is unrecognizable and almost incomprehensible." Therefore, as already mentioned, the praying person will not be mistaken if in this case he follows the path of humility, considering himself unworthy of visions and revelations.

13.8. The charm that comes from imaginations in the mind of spiritual objects

It should be noted that not always any images or phenomena enter the consciousness of the person praying from the outside. Often he himself is the cause of their occurrence. This happens in those cases when the praying person begins to sensually imagine spiritual phenomena or persons in his imagination. The ascetics revolt especially ardently against this, as against a serious obstacle to prayer. “When you pray, don’t give the Deity any appearance,” says the Monk Nilus of Sinai, “and don’t allow your mind to be transformed into any image ... (or that some image is imprinted in your mind), but insubstantial come to the Immaterial, and you will get along with Him. "

Saints Callistus and Ignatius speak about the same, referring to the following statement of Saint Basil the Great: “Just as the Lord does not live in man-made churches, and not in any imaginations and mental constructions (fantasies), which are presented (to attention), and as a wall surround the spoiled soul, so that it does not have the strength to look purely at the truth, but still holds on to the mirror and fortune-telling. " “Knowing this,” the holy monks add from themselves, “and every hour, with God's help, force yourself dreamlessly, without imaginations and images, to pray purely with all your mind, with all your soul and with all your heart”.

13.9. The second type of charm, which originates in voluptuousness

In addition to the described type of charm, originating from the personal dreams of the praying person, there is another kind of charm, which also originates in the person himself. According to St. Gregory the Sinaite, “the second image of delusion ... has its origin in voluptuousness, born of natural lust. From this sweetness the irrepressibility of unspeakable impurities is born. By inflaming her nature and darkening the mind by combining with dreamy idols, she drives him into a frenzy with intoxication from her inflammatory action and makes him mad. In this state, the deceived one undertakes to prophesy, gives false predictions, makes as if he sees some saints, and conveys the words as if they were spoken to him, being intoxicated by the fury of passion, having changed his temper and outwardly becoming like a demoniac ... fire, drives them crazy, dreamily introducing them to some of the saints, letting them hear their words and see their faces. "

Some of the Russian sectarians, who fall into ecstasy of the indicated character on their own, can serve as a life illustration of the above words. A description of this can be found in the study of D. G. Konovalov "Religious ecstasy in Russian sectarianism", as well as in his brochure "Psychology of sectarian ecstasy" (1908) (speech delivered before the defense of his dissertation).

In those cases when a person, who has already acquired the gift of prayer, is exposed to temptations during it, then he is allowed, in opposition to this, standing up, to stretch out his hands to help against temptations. But even in this case, there should be moderation and caution, and the holy fathers warn against enthusiasm. Let in that case, Saint Gregory the Sinaite teaches, “he does not do this for a long time for charm, and he sits down again so that the enemy does not deceive his mind by showing some kind of ghost. For to have a mind, even safe from falling and grief, and down, and in the heart, and everywhere, safe from harm is characteristic of the pure and perfect. "

Likewise, the holy Elder Simeon the Reverent teaches that if the prayer had to be worthy of a Divine visit, manifested, for example, in a blessed light and caused tenderness and tears, then in order not to fall into pride, one should transfer his thought to some another subject and thereby humble yourself. “If such a state persists for too long,” said Saint Simeon, “so that because of the abundance of tears you will not appear before you as anything more than what you are in reality, turn your mind to something bodily and thus humble yourself ".

All the warnings cited and similar to them about avoiding deception or, as the holy ascetics say, delights in prayer, have their deep foundation and extreme necessity. These warnings are caused by those sad and extremely dangerous consequences for a person who entails delight. He who walks without prudence and guidance along this path is exposed to various dangers, from vanity to madness.

13.11. Instructions of the holy ascetics on how to distinguish between the manifestations of delusion and grace

For a person who is far from "science from sciences and art from arts", the real lines may seem strange and incomprehensible. But, if you give yourself the trouble to delve deeply into psychological foundations deed of prayer, then everything will be clear. We repeat that all the arguments of the authors of "Philosophy" are the fruit of their own experience, that is, what was experienced by them and what they witnessed, observing the people around them, both secular and religious.

13.12. Description of spiritual prayer, free from all notions and imaginations

Now it should be said about the measures to combat these temptations. The main means, according to the teachings of the holy fathers, in this case is prayer. "During such temptations," says the Monk Nilus of Sinai, "continually use a short but intense prayer." How strong the believer is and what effect it has on the demons can be seen from the comparison of Saint Elijah Yekdik, who says that “the one who threatens the dogs with a stick irritates them against himself, and the demons are irritated by the one who forces (compels -“ Igum.V. ”) himself purely pray. "

But, before embarking on such a prayer, it is useful and necessary to say a few words against the spirit of malice that tempts the one who is praying. Saint Evagrius teaches: “In times of temptation, do not first approach prayer, as having spoken a few angry words against the tempter. For when the soul is qualified (filled - "Igum.V.") with bad thoughts, then its prayer cannot be pure. But if you say something with anger against them, then by this you will confuse your opponents and destroy their suggestions. "

Exactly what words should be pronounced in such cases is indicated by the Monk Nikita Stifat. Speaking about blasphemous thoughts - one of the types of temptations - he explains that “the spirit of blasphemy, when we pray and sing psalms, sometimes belches out oaths on us and verses of psalms and words of prayer. But against him, when he utters something like that with our lips or all in our thoughts, we must turn the word of Christ, saying to him: "Get Away From Me, Satan"(), filled with all stench and condemned to eternal fire; let your blasphemy fall on your head. " Having said this, immediately forcibly, like a captive, let us turn our minds to some other object - Divine or human, which will come to mind, or with tears we will lift it up to heaven and to God.

Since the temptations of the evil one, leading to a state of delusion, are not always in a coarse and noticeable form, the holy ascetics give a number of instructions on how to distinguish between the phenomena of delusion and grace, which from the outside can sometimes resemble one another, especially in the eyes of an inexperienced in this. human business.

The Monk Maxim Kavsokalivit, comparing grace and beauty, expresses himself in the sense that hallmark grace is a special state of peace of mind with tenderness and contrition for sins. A person is filled with meekness and humility, and his soul is enveloped in spiritual joy. “When the grace of the Holy Spirit enters into a person,” he says, “it collects his mind and makes him attentive and humble, brings to his memory his sins, future Judgment and eternal torment, fills his soul with contrite emotion and subjects him to weeping and tears. , makes his eyes meek and full of tears, and the more he draws closer to a person, the more he pacifies his soul and consoles him with the holy sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ and His boundless love for man, and the mind fills with lofty contemplations of the unthinkable power of God ... Then the mind of a person delights in the Divine by this light and is enlightened by the light of Divine knowledge, the heart becomes quiet and meek and abundantly exudes the fruits of the Holy Spirit - “Joy, peace, patience, goodness, mercy, love, humility "() and so on, and his soul will receive inexpressible joy."

On the contrary, when a person has fallen under the influence of the tempter and is in a state of delusion, then his sensations will already be different, opposite to those indicated. At first, a subtle vanity appears, then turns into pride. He lacks humility and peace of mind. "When evil spirit delights, - says the Monk Maxim, - approaching a person, then disturbing his mind and making him wild, the heart hardens and darkens, induces fear, and fear, and pride, distorts the eyes, the brain disturbs, the whole body trembles, shows ghostly before the eyes the light is not bright and pure, but reddish ... and the mouth makes you speak obscene and blasphemous words; the one who sees this spirit of delusion, for the most part is angry and filled with anger, does not know at all about humility, nor true crying and tears, but always boasts of his virtues and is proud of them, when, without restraint and fear of God, he succumbs to the movements of passions, finally comes out of mind and comes to complete destruction. "

So, a person who is in a state of delusion is, first of all, deprived of peace of mind and true affection - these sure signs a blessed state of mind. In addition, it lacks three basic virtues: humility, love and mercy, "without which no one will see the Lord."

By pure prayer, without charm, according to St. Gregory of Sinaite, there will be one, during which “the mind is seen as formless and neither itself nor anything else does not represent even for a moment, being distracted from the senses by the light acting in it. For then the mind becomes detached from everything material and luminous, inexpressibly joining in one spirit with God. "

As Saint Hesychius says, this is due to the fact that “every thought reproduces in the mind the image of some sensible object, for the Assyrian (enemy), being himself an intelligent force, can only seduce, but using something sensible familiar to us. .. And since every thought enters the heart through the imagination of something sensible (the sensible interferes with the mental), then the Divine light of the Divine then begins to shine on the mind, when it is abolished from everything and becomes completely formless (not representing any kind and image) ... For this lordship is manifested in a pure mind, under the condition of its impoverishment from all thoughts. "

Therefore, in the life of the Monk Barsanuphius, compiled by Nicodemus Hagioritus, where it is reported about that admiration for God, which the monk was honored in prayer, it is emphasized that he ascended to God “not on the dreamy wings of thought, but in the ineffable power of the Spirit, believing ascent to God in his heart. "

In accordance with this, throughout the "Philosophy", nowhere is it said about the development of mental, cerebral, energy, since this is not only unnecessary, but extremely harmful and even dangerous for the person praying, for it leads to pride and downfall. The whole center of gravity rests in the development of the feelings of the heart, because in spiritual prayer, clean from all ideas and imaginations, the intellectual side does not play a role.

13.13. The danger of wanting to quickly acquire the higher gifts of prayer

About laughter

From the book of Archbishop John (Shakhovsky) published in the series released Sretensky monastery v2006 year

There are two laughs: light and dark. They can be distinguished immediately by their smile, by the eyes of the laughing. One can distinguish it in oneself by the accompanying spirit: if there is no light joy, subtle, softening of the heart, then the laughter is not light. If the chest is hard and dry and the smile wrinkles, then the laugh is dirty. It always happens after an anecdote, after some kind of mockery of the harmony of the world. The distorted harmony of the world distorts the human soul, and this is expressed in the contortion of facial features.

Woe to you who laugh so now, for you will weep (see: Luke 6:25). Cry! Because you will see that you have attached joy not to what you can attach to, but to what is worthy of torment.

A blissful smile is a mirror of the found harmony. The saints smile without laughing. Laughter as the fullness of pure joy is the state of the century to come. " Blessed are those who weep today, for you will laugh "(Luke 6:21) . The ascetic experience of lightening and transforming a person advises even smiling without opening your teeth (a little less joy is better than at least the most fleeting impurity in it!).

Anecdotal laughter, with which they laugh in cinemas, theaters, at feasts and parties, with which they easily ridicule their neighbor, laugh at the weaknesses and at human dignity, at his conscience and at his sins, for amusement and for forgetting sorrow, without meaning and vainly laughing others, all this is - disease spirit. It can be said even more precisely: this is - symptom diseases of the spirit.

Unclean spirits live in the spirit world; they can be seen on faces rolling in laughter ... Angelic joy illuminates the face with a smile.

A good laugh can silently dispel the accumulated clouds of malicious disagreement, hatred, even murder ... Friendship and family hearth are restored with a good laugh.

Caustic laughter is not from God. A caustic smile, sarcasm of wit, this is a parody of the gospel salt of wisdom. A parody that twists into a smile.

The acuteness of the word always cuts the soul. But the sharpness, even being the same for two knives - surgical and robber, produces absolutely miscellaneous action... One, cutting, transmits the light of heaven and the warmth of the Spirit, or cuts out the festering, cuts off the dead; the other - graceless sharpness - cuts, shreds the soul and often kills.

Only the saints are sharp, and only the holy is acute. Dirty spirits parody sharpness, and many people in the world are sophisticated in expressing themselves through these witticisms.

The limit of the spiritual impurity of laughter is Homeric laughter, cackling ... Such laughter overtakes people not far from plentiful meals.

Watching yourself reverent before the secret of your life will look after his whole life, and your laughter. He will even keep his smile before God. Everything will be with him - help the invisible guardians of it - pure and clear.

The saints shone on the world with their weeping and their smile. As children. For only children and people who truly believe in Christ have the purity of life, visible with bodily eyes, even in the facial features.

Everything is simple and pure in children who have not yet touched a perishable spirit. Death has not yet manifested itself in the grin of their mortal nature, they are given the spring of life, as the beginning and as a memory of paradise; and behold, they look cleanly, laugh cleanly, speak uncleanly, cry easily, easily forget their cry ...

“If you don’t turn and become like children, don’t you will enter the Kingdom of Heaven "(Mt 18: 3) ... Clearly - why.

How is penitential crying different from crying hysterics?

Hysterical crying - unwelcome, evil, bitter. And when a person repents of sins and cries, then at this time he has sweet, repentant tears. The soul is washed at this time. This can be clearly explained by the following example: two cars are going one after the other; from the first car, dirt flies from under the wheels and hits the windshield of the second car, making it blind. How do I clean the glass so I can look ahead at the road? It is necessary to turn on the wiper blades, and they will clean the glass. But sometimes they can't handle the dirt. Then you need to add some water. And as the water gets on the glass, you look - the wipers quickly clean the glass from dirt. Here, exactly the same on life path our soul is defiled by the filth of sins. When we begin to repent, it is of little use if we simply "dry up" our sins, listing them. Here tears of repentance are needed, then the soul will quickly be cleansed.

Is it okay to cry while praying?

Can. Tears of repentance are not tears of evil and resentment, they wash our souls from sins. The more we cry, the better. It is very valuable to cry during prayer. When we pray - we read prayers - and at this time on some words we stayed with our mind (they penetrated into our soul), we do not need to skip them, speed up the prayer; return to these words, and read until the soul dissolves in feeling and begins to cry. The soul is praying at this time. When the soul is in prayer, and even with tears, next to her is the Guardian Angel; he prays next to us. Any sincerely believing person knows from practice that the Lord hears his prayer. We turn the words of prayer to God, and He, by grace, returns them to our hearts, and the heart of the believer feels that the Lord accepts his prayer.

My mom while reading morning or evening prayers always cries and remembers her sins from childhood. This torments her, and she gets upset, and thinks: "What are these tears, maybe they are from the enemy?"

When a person reads prayers, an akathist, a Psalter and cries with tears of repentance, feels how great his sins are before God, then these tears are gracious.

The Lord also showed me, a sinner, what repentant tears mean. I studied at the seminary, and during the holidays I went to the Pochaev Lavra. I got up at the early liturgy under the choir - and suddenly something like that came over me! .. Never in my life had I experienced it! The grace of God came down and I cried. He wept not only for his sins, but also for the whole world lying in sin, in darkness. Thus the entire liturgy passed. Of course, I wanted this state to last longer, but I studied, and in the classroom you can't retire anywhere. This is how my tears stopped: there are people all around, and my soul cries when it feels about itself only One God. God comes in silence.

Let the person cry as long as there is enough repentance. This is a special state of mind, it must be preserved both by the neighbors and by the person himself. Tears wash, whiten our soul from sins. A person prays and cleanses himself from filth, and the prayer of his righteous soul will preserve his relatives. And this is also one of the signs of humility.