Why we resist humility and what is its real value. About humility and vigilance

I'm lucky to good people. Every day there is a new acquisition. Natasha is one of them. An altruist, a “communist at heart,” who, without having her own family, tries to be useful to others. I went around all of Tbilisi in search of volunteers to join their ranks and live according to the words of Pavka Korchagin: “so that it would not be excruciatingly painful for the years spent aimlessly.” It turned out that volunteers are needed in the Salvation Army, but even there they are paid a meager salary.

Then Natasha had the idea to work with autistic people. Naturally, completely free. And so, we sit in the lobby of our inclusive school and discuss the details of its plan, sometimes straying into more abstract topics. I’ll add that Natasha is a well-read person; she even studied the works of the holy fathers. Somehow the conversation took such an unexpected turn.

“I like everything about Orthodoxy, except for one nasty word,” she tells me. “If it weren’t for it, I would have joined church a long time ago and would not have missed a single service.”

– I beg you, what kind of word is that that is the main brake? – I strained my brains.

“Humility,” he answers. “I saw it everywhere and it especially irritated me.” It needs to be replaced. And then many people like me will join the Church.

-For example, what?

-Well, at least with “modesty”...

-But these are not synonyms. I can’t even imagine Orthodoxy without humility. It has been said that without all the virtues you can be saved, but without humility you cannot.

In short, we talked and parted ways. But for some reason this conversation never got out of my head and gave rise to a new question: how to distinguish true humility from false one. One of the holy fathers said something like this: “If you want to test how humble a person is, hit him. Whatever is inside will come out.” And I wanted to listen to people smarter than me with practical experience.

This is what they wrote to me.

Nina:

– An example of false humility: a wife must obey her husband, as stated in the Gospel. In addition, a person needs to come to terms with his fate. The husband does not love, does not care, sometimes even engages in assault, and the wife endures out of false humility. Such is fate. And there’s really nowhere to go. No stake, no yard. Do not deprive children of their home and father. True humility: the wife still leaves such a husband. Alone, with two children, going nowhere. Hoping and believing in the Lord, that is, truly humbled. Silently and without complaining, he does his job - works, toils, prays, believes. He carries his cross. And in the end he buys a house, puts his children on their feet, and raises them to be pious people. And one more important point: a woman enjoys life, despite life circumstances. This is very important - to accept life as it is - this is humility, and not at all the exhausted, sorrowful face of a person who “humbly” has to endure hardships.

Natalya Arzhantseva:

– False humility is for show. Or according to your (very vague) ideas about what humility is. The little head is bowed, looking at the floor, won’t open its mouth, stupidly “forgive me, bless me.” Or even an imposed (observed) model of behavior. A type of subculture. True humility is the fruit of spiritual work, not behavioral, but internal, ingrained in a person. It is cultivated in parallel with other virtues and, it seems to me, cannot live separately from them. Peace and tranquility emanating from a person - for example, such signs can serve as a criterion. And also, in my opinion, it is important: humility is not idolatry, not jumping on tiptoe in front of some person, not psychological dependence and not mindless submission to everything and everyone. The problem is that there is a lot of talk about humility and a lot of calls for it. Meanwhile, a person cannot enter this state by call or at the request of himself or someone else. He can only portray it clumsily. Humility is one thing, our idea of ​​it is another. It is very important not to confuse serving people with idolatry in the face of people, fulfilling God’s commandments towards people with the desire to indulge all their whims. Humility begins within a person; it is his internal state, which is projected onto his neighbors secondarily. Because the light can't help but shine. But the center of the glow is always somewhere inside.

Julia:

– We had a nanny, a very advanced lady, who worked as the regent of the left choir in our cathedral. Doctors forbade her to walk because she had some problems with her legs. It was expensive for her to take the bus, so she rode a bicycle. But she couldn’t put on pants - the elders said that a woman shouldn’t wear men's clothing. And it was an enchanting sight: November, snow and rain, a bike was driving along the roadway, and our nanny was riding on it in a fluttering long black skirt... Or another story about her. She had a difficult relationship with her daughter. One day she comes in very sad and says: “Oh, my daughter said such hurtful words to me! How she offended me! You can’t do this to your mother - it’s probably demons! But it’s okay, the Lord sees everything, her girls are also growing up, the cat will shed a mouse’s tears!” I ask what actually happened. She says: “I just politely told her that no man could ever live with her!” I don’t remember what the problem was, whether the house was in order, the cooking, or my daughter’s character. The remark hit the nail on the head. She divorced her first husband with a wild scandal, at that moment she was marrying her second, everything was very shaky, she became pregnant... And her mother very tactfully supported her daughter at a difficult moment. And she was very offended by the harsh words in response.

Vera Mambauer:

-True humility is when it really hurts a lot (well, if a person offended you greatly, it’s so offensive that after talking with him you go to get a cardiogram), and then you still forgive him. Never. Simply because the Lord commanded so. Because He himself forgave his offenders. And you pray that He will enlighten that person, you even send a small gift.

Max:

– False humility is a state in which you are confident that you have finally achieved humility. True humility is confidence in the opposite, and this state is not felt by you personally. True humility is the state of God (a person, even confident in his own lack of humility, is still cunning).

Angelika Kamilova:

-Oh, yes, we have a lot of “strainers.” A friend’s daughter is studying at a theological school, that’s where the bullying is! A girl is washing the floors and a teacher walks by. I didn’t like the quality of obedience - for “humility” a bucket of water was overturned... And so on at every step. Or there is a man on duty in the temple, evening service ended, all the employees are in a hurry to go home, everyone has left except the duty officer, who is waiting the only man, which is applied to the icons. The attendant dared to hurry him up; she still had two buildings to clean. The man defiantly takes off his backpack, puts it on the floor and begins to walk around and touch the icons again, even went up to the choir and walked around the entire second floor... At the end of this pilgrimage, he gave her a lecture about humility.

Zoya Chistikova:

– Humility – acceptance of any life situation with peace in the soul, without indignation, indignation and other quickly arising impulses. A little story on the topic of. Having learned that fasts exist, I decided to observe them. A terrifying thought immediately arose in my head: this is for life! And so it came Lent. At that time, I did not yet know that there was Typikon and all its delights, and therefore I did not eat only dairy, meat and eggs. My relationship with my husband at that time was very difficult. The war was fought to the death and without a break for lunch. And so, a week of fasting has passed, and I suddenly realize that there is no war. It stopped, and without any effort on my part. And as soon as I noticed this, an attack immediately followed from my husband’s side, very strong and offensive, as always, but a miracle: nothing stirred in me, I didn’t go into a tailspin, as usually happened, I just smiled quietly this. I didn't recognize myself. I looked at my husband, who was trying to get me, with calmness, love and quiet regret that he was saying this. I wasn't offended, I was sorry. There was no quarrel. I was in heaven. Peace, such a desired and long-awaited peace. The post is over, everything is over. If only someone had told me then that it was the Lord who visited me with humility! He showed me what it is, how beautiful it is. Almost 10 years have passed since then. The war is not over, it returns from time to time, I understood a lot. I know what humility looks like. But I can't achieve it. It doesn't look like obedience, patience, a good relationship. This is different. It's from heaven. This is a gift from God. A priceless gift. How beautiful it is - humility.

Herself Natasha, at whose suggestion this dispute began, believes:

My personal opinion is this: true humility lies in not putting up with what offends the image of Christ, not only in oneself (although one must start with oneself), but also in the world and in man. You just need to be able to express criticism in decent ways. Straightforward and simple. And have the courage to do it. Plus you need to be able to be fair and objective. But we all have a problem with this.

False humility means pretending, including to yourself, that you don’t see, don’t hear, don’t understand anything. This is not my business, they say, my house is on edge.

She also quoted the words of A.S. Khomyakov, Orthodox thinker and poet XIX century:

« The humility of a person, just like the humility of a people, can have two meanings that are completely opposite. A person or a people is aware of the holiness and greatness of the moral or spiritual law to which he subjects his existence; but at the same time he admits that this law has been demonstrated in his life insufficiently or poorly; that his personal passions and personal weaknesses had corrupted a beautiful and holy cause. Such humility is great; such recognition elevates and strengthens the spirit; Such self-condemnation involuntarily inspires respect for other people and other nations. But this is not the humility of a person or a people who recognizes not only their own powerlessness, but the powerlessness or incompleteness of the moral or spiritual law that underlies their life. This is not humility, but renunciation. A person breaks all ties with his past life, he ceases to be himself; and if he speaks on behalf of the people, then by doing so he renounces the people».

What do you think?

P.S. While the article was being written, a case came out. One of our parishioners shared his know-how.

-Look, my friends are all priests or experienced laymen.

I looked through his friends’ feed – my eyes were filled with hoods and beards. Avatars with scarves came across like rare cornflowers in a spring field.

“I,” says Gregory, “collected them specially.”

-Why specifically? - I ask.

-Firstly, they should learn from experience, but first I give them a test of humility.

-How is that?

-The elders say that if you humiliate a person, he immediately shows his insides, begins to respond to the offender, freaks out, bans. So I tease them a little, write critical comments and watch their reaction. But the main thing here is not to overdo it. And so, I’ll tell you a secret, ten percent pass the exam, the rest are cut. And on simple things. They believe that only their opinion should reign on their page. And friends only have to admire and like.

–Did you give me such checks for lice too?

-Certainly. Many times.

-Well?..

-You endure, but you still don’t have humility. I’m telling you this as an expert...

So don’t rush to post icons and views of churches, otherwise you won’t pass Grisha’s humility exam and you won’t even know that you’ll end up on the list of poor students. Gregory recently left Facebook because... It’s not a spiritual thing to hang on the Internet. But, judging by some commentators, who seethe with anger at someone’s remarks, his business is alive and well. So before you write a harsh response to someone or ban them, think: you may be under Mueller’s surveillance.

Humility is the opposite virtue of pride, and pride is the source of delusion. Therefore, getting rid of delusion is primarily associated with acquiring humility.

That's what he says about humility Dictionary D.N. Ushakova:

HUMILITY, humility, plural no, cf. (book).

1. Action under Ch. humble-humble. Humility of pride.

2. Awareness of one's shortcomings and weaknesses, combined with a lack of pride and arrogance. “I did not disguise the evil pride in words of humility.” Khomyakov.

|| Meekness, humility.

That's what he says about humility Philosophical Encyclopedia:

HUMILITY, humility is a virtue that can arise from the consciousness that perfection (divinity, moral ideal, sublime goal) to which a person strives remains infinitely distant. Humble behavior towards to the outside world excludes untrue humility, which is actually self-abasement and slavish submission. True humility constitutes moral pride, the meaning of which is to measure one’s strength against the unattainable.

That's what he says about humility Bible Encyclopedia:

Humility(Prov. XV, 33) - the opposite virtue of pride, and one of the most important virtues in Christian life. It consists in the fact that a person does not think highly of himself, nourishes in his heart the spiritual conviction that he has nothing of his own, but has only what God gives, and that he cannot do anything good without God’s help and grace; In this way he counts himself for nothing and resorts to the mercy of God in everything. In St. In Scripture, this virtue is especially prescribed and commanded to all followers of Christ. Nevertheless, as you submit to one another, clothe yourselves with humility, says St. ap. Peter, because God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. And so, humble yourself under strong hand May God exalt you in due time(I Pet. V, 5, 6). In this, as in all other respects, the earthly life of the Divine Savior represents the most perfect example and model for all of us. He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even to the point of death, even death on the cross.(Philip. II, 8), says the apostle about Him. Paul. Priest Scripture is replete with promises of God's grace and mercy for the humble, and threats of various punishments for proud people.

Humility in Orthodoxy is the opposite virtue of pride. The Power of Humility in that it allows a person to overcome devilish pride if the believer strives to become perfect.

Humility can be defined as the Apostle said: God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. This is the essence of this Christian virtue.

We need to learn to recognize ourselves as sinners, unworthy and unable to do anything without God's help. Everything good that we have is from God. We have accumulated all the evil within ourselves.

Therefore, having performed a good deed, we are not proud and do not attribute it to ourselves, but we thank God for giving us such an opportunity to do good, giving us the strength to do good deeds, giving us the good will to do it.

St. John Climacus speaks about humility like this:

“Humility is a nameless grace in the soul, only called by those who have experienced it. This is indescribable wealth, God’s naming and alms.”

These words indicate that humility cannot simply be defined, since it is given and called by God, and we comprehend it through our own spiritual experience. In fact, all Christian virtues are contained in the humility of Christ (in Christ). And what more people He humbles himself, the more grace he receives from God.

It is enough to allow at least a few humble thoughts in your own self-awareness, and the Lord will already return the gift of his favor to you.

And at the same time, church ascetics have always noticed that it is not such a big thing to work miracles, to see angels, to contemplate the spiritual world, but a great thing is to see one’s own sins and shortcomings. He who feels his sin well is superior to the one who resurrects the dead through prayer.

In the Holy Gospel, humility is also called poverty of spirit. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for of them is the Kingdom of Heaven”. Those who are aware of their own spiritual poverty are humble people. It happens that, due to their weakness, many people cannot perform long periods of prayer, fasting, bowing, vigils, however, humility - poverty of spirit - replaces all bodily feats.

Saint Theophan the Recluse of Vyshensky said:

“Success in spiritual life means greater and greater awareness of one’s worthlessness.”

But at the same time, a believer, realizing his own worthlessness, should not lose heart, become discouraged and be burdened by his Cross, since our Lord Jesus Christ Himself tells us:

Come... and learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart(Matthew 11:28-29)

A humble person can easily acquire all other virtues. But anyone who tries to gain spiritual experience without humility risks falling into delusion - a deceptive state when all exploits are performed for the sake of vanity. An example can be the so-called young elders - confessors who have received spiritual life from a ton of books they have read, but who have no life practice.

The same can be said about the so-called psychics who operate with the Name of God to achieve their own goals, human praise and dubious earnings. As the Lord Himself said, if a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.

Pskov-Pechersk elder and confessor schema-abbot Savva, who performed his feat of humility back in Soviet times, said:

The essence of pride is to close oneself to God, and the essence of humility is to let God live within oneself. This means listening to the voice of God and doing His holy will.

What salt is to food, humility is to virtue. Humility alone can lead us into the Kingdom of Heaven, albeit slowly, and good deeds without humility do not save the soul, and gifts without humility can even destroy it!

The Power of Humility Another thing is that it is . It is hated by the evil one, because it makes peace among people. If we remember the Redemptive feat (Cross) of the Savior, then in the face of the Lord a humble person is completely free from the power of evil forces, and peace, grace, joy, and tranquility reign in his soul. And he prays a prayer that is free from idleness and empty dreams. Really.

It should be remembered that the soul receives its perfection not in itself, but in Christ. A humble person does not seek praise from people, does not want to seem great, he perceives life as it is, as from the hands of God, and does not deny his weaknesses and shortcomings. However, this does not free him from continuous work on himself.

And humility is stronger than prayer.

Any of us living on earth is obliged to build our lives as the Lord God commanded. But by no means the way you thought it would be.

Where do all kinds of sects come from? From pride, from non-recognition of the will of God and the institution of salvation established by Him on earth - Saint Orthodox Church. And as you know, to whom the Church is not a mother, God is not a Father. This was noticed by the ancient Christians.

Therefore, we need to build our spiritual life, first of all, on the principles of humbling ourselves before God and people. In addition, humility kindles the gift of prayer in our souls, brings God closer to us, facilitates our difficult earthly labors and worries, kills anger, eradicates passions, helps us calmly endure everything that befalls us, leads to repentance and forgiveness, brings us closer to us people.

Let us remember that it is humility that fills our souls with joy in the Lord, giving rise to all the gifts of the Holy Spirit: love, spiritual experience, wisdom, patience and self-control, sincerity and prudence, prudence and mercy.

So let us make more efforts to acquire and preserve this great virtue, this holy treasure - humility, so that the Lord God will give it to us.

The Power of Humility great!

God bless you!

We welcome your notes and comments. Save me, God!

Published by the publisher Sretensky Monastery, is dedicated to the most important topic of the spiritual life of a Christian - the daily ascetic feat of fighting passions and purifying the heart for the sake of gaining the Kingdom of God.

Anyone who has begun an internal battle needs every moment of humility, attention, confrontation and prayer. For he must, with the help of God, take possession of the mental Ethiopians and drive them away and break them at the doors of his heart, as babies on stone(cf. Ps. 136:9).

To wage the internal struggle it is necessary to acquire humility, because the proud God resists(cf. James 4:6). Attention is necessary in order to immediately notice the enemy and protect the heart. Every enemy must be met with counteraction as soon as he is recognized. But without me you can't do anything(John 15:5), therefore prayer is the basis of all our warfare.

Let it be an instruction for you next example.

With your attention you detect the enemy approaching the door of your heart, for example, the desire to think evil about your neighbor. By resisting your will you avoid this temptation. But the next minute you fall into the trap of a pleasant, self-satisfied thought: how attentive I am! Your supposed victory turned out to be a defeat; she lacked humility. By prayer, you seem to transfer the struggle into the hands of God, and you will no longer have a reason for complacency. And soon you will be convinced that there is no stronger weapon than the name of the Lord.

The fight must be carried on continuously

This same example shows that the struggle must be waged continuously. Enemy thoughts rush in like a stormy stream, they must be stopped as soon as possible. The Apostle Paul in his Epistle to the Ephesians compares evil thoughts to red-hot arrows of the evil one(cf. Eph. 6:16), who sends them non-stop. Our prayer to the Lord must also be continuous, because our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against authorities, against the world rulers of darkness of this century, against the spirits of wickedness in high places(Eph. 6:12).

First, the idea of ​​a thought or an object arises—a preposition, the fathers explain. When we begin to sympathize with the pretext, this is already a combination. The third step is consent (commitment) and the fourth is committing a sin. These four stages can instantly follow one another, but they can also change gradually, so that you have time to distinguish one degree from another. Thought knocks on the door like a peddler. As soon as you let him in, a conversation begins about the goods on offer and it is difficult to show a person the door without buying anything from him, although you see that the goods are bad. This is how you reach an agreement to buy, often even against it own desire: We were defeated by the enemy's temptation.

David says about adjectives: From early morning I will destroy all the wicked of the earth, so that I will root out from the city of the Lord all the workers of iniquity.(Ps. 100:8). No one who acts deceitfully will live in my house.(Ps. 100:7). And Moses speaks of addition: do not make an alliance with them(cf. Exodus 23:32). The first verse of the first psalm contains the same thought, say the fathers: Blessed is the man who does not follow the counsel of the wicked(Ps. 1:1). It's important to start talking with enemies at the gates(Ps. 127:5). Since the influx of enemies at the gates of your heart is great, know that Satan himself takes the form of an Angel of light(2 Cor. 11:14). Therefore, the saints advise us to cleanse our hearts of excuses, random moods and dreams, whatever their kind. It is not humanly possible to distinguish between evil and good motives; only the Lord alone can do this. Therefore, let us place our trust entirely in the Lord, knowing well that If the Lord does not guard the city, the watchman watches in vain(Ps. 127:1).

Still it depends on you beware that wickedness does not enter your heart thought(cf. Deut. 15:9), and make sure that the heart does not become a place of a fair, where, like waves, all sorts of impressions change until you completely lose control over what is happening. The fair is a favorite place for robbers and thieves, but not for the Angel of Peace you are looking for. The world, and thereby the Lord of the world, avoids such places.

Therefore He told us through His apostle: correct your hearts(James 4:8) and He Himself calls us: Look, stay awake(Mark 13:33). For if He comes and finds our hearts unclean and us sleeping, He will say: I don't know you(Matt. 25:12). And this hour is always here, if not at this moment, then at the next, for both the Kingdom of Heaven and the hour of judgment are always in our hearts.

This means that if the guard does not watch, then the Lord will not protect, but if the Lord does not protect, the guard will watch in vain. Therefore, let us watch at the doors of our hearts, vigilantly calling on the Lord for help.

Do not direct your gaze at the enemy, do not enter into an argument with him, because you do not have the opportunity to resist him; with his thousands of years of experience, he knows enough tricks to disarm you. No, stand guard over your heart, and let your gaze be directed upward; then the heart will be protected in every possible way: the Lord Himself will send His Angels to protect it.

Understand it this way: if you are exposed to temptation, do not engage in examining and weighing it or thinking about it; By doing this you will darken your heart and waste time, which is what the enemy strives for. Instead, turn without delay to the Lord with the prayer: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” (cf. Luke 18:13). And the sooner you turn your thoughts away from temptation, the sooner help will come.

Self-confidence is a bad friend: the less you rely on your strength, the stronger you stand

Never rely on yourself. Never make a good decision thinking: of course, I can handle it! Never rely on your strength and ability to resist any temptation, be it big or small. Think the other way around: I myself will not resist if I am subjected to temptation. Self-confidence is a bad friend: the less you rely on your own strength, the stronger you stand. Feel weak and completely unable to resist even the slightest wave evil spirit, then you will be surprised to notice that he has no power over you. For, having chosen the Lord as your refuge, you will soon be convinced that no harm will happen to you(Ps. 91:10). The only misfortune to which a Christian is exposed is sin.

If you are annoyed that you nevertheless fell into temptation, and therefore you beat yourself up and decide never to do this again, then this is a sure sign that you are on the wrong path: your self-confidence is wounded.

He who does not rely on himself is gratefully surprised that he has not fallen deeper; he praises the Lord for the timely help He gave, for otherwise he would not have risen even now. Quickly rising up, he says a prayer, starting it three times: “Blessed is the name of the Lord.”

A spoiled child, having fallen, lies and cries for a long time. He is looking for sympathy and affection to calm him down. Don’t feel sorry for yourself, no matter how much it hurts you. Rise now and continue to fight. In the struggle they always get injured. Only Angels tend to never fall. But pray to the Lord that He will forgive you and not allow you to fall into negligence again.

Do not follow the example of Adam and do not blame the woman, or the devil, or any external circumstance. The reason for your fall is in yourself: at that moment, when the owner was not in your heart, you allowed thieves and robbers to enter and dominate there. Pray to the Lord that this will not happen again.

“What are you doing there in the monastery?” - they asked one monk. He replied: “We fall and rise, fall and rise, and fall and rise again.”

For few minutes pass in your life without you falling at least once. So pray to the Lord that He will have mercy on all of us.

Pray for forgiveness and mercy, for mercy, as a criminal sentenced to death asks, and remember that only by grace we are saved(cf. Eph. 2:5). You have no right to demand freedom or pardon; imagine yourself in the position of a runaway slave who lies at the feet of his master and asks to be spared. This should be your prayer if you want to follow Isaac the Syrian and immerse yourself from sin, so that there, inside, you can find the ascents along which you will ascend.

Anonymous: Father, is it right to act humbly all the time?

O. Seraphim: “Satan takes the form of a bright Angel; his apostles take on the image of the Apostles of Christ (2 Cor. 11:13-15); his teaching takes on the form of the teaching of Christ; the states produced by his deceptions take the form of spiritual, grace-filled states: his pride and vanity, the self-delusion and delusion they produce, take the form of the humility of Christ.”

A sense of humility without prudence can turn into false humility, people-pleasing. Humility is a virtue that must be practiced before God and in each individual case follow only the will of God, depending on the circumstances. Humility, first of all, is an inner feeling that brings true spiritual peace and tranquility. The outward manifestation of humility is not necessarily to always yield to everyone in everything. – In each specific case, you need to comprehend the will of God - what it is. And if, in accordance with the will of God, in a particular case, you give in, do not contradict, then you must do so. And if in accordance with the will of God - do not give in, contradict, do not follow the lead, show disobedience - then you must do so. That is, in each case you need to see what the will of God is and follow it. And for this, purity of the spiritual eye and prudence are necessary. Only the one who follows the will of God - in each specific case, depending on the circumstances - has humility before God.

The concept that humility must always submit and yield in everything is not Christian. This concept is most likely borrowed from eastern pagan teachings, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc. This concept of humility will lead Christians, Orthodox Christians, who follow it, to accept the Antichrist. This is a false concept already in modern times led many Christians, Orthodox, into complete submission to the authorities, which came in the spirit of Antichrist. But the virtue of humility is in the midst of pride and people-pleasing. That is, in some cases humility gives way, and in others it does not.

“Whoever does not pay attention to himself and does not strive, easily deviates from virtue: because virtues are the middle, he royal way... the middle ground between excess and deficiency. And Saint Basil says: “He is right in heart, whose thoughts do not deviate either into excess or into deficiency, but are directed only towards the middle of virtue”... That’s why we said that virtues are the middle: so courage is in the midst of fear and arrogance; humility in the midst of pride and people-pleasing; also, reverence is in the midst of shame and shamelessness, like this and other virtues... And whoever does not pay attention to himself and does not protect himself, easily deviates from this path, either to the right or to the left, that is, either into excess or into deficiency, and produces within himself an illness that constitutes evil” (Venerable Abba Dorotheos, Teaching 10).

False humility is external humility, in the absence of an internal sense of humility before God. External humility does not have prudence, does not comprehend the will of God in each specific case, but acts based on its own conceit and spirit of self-confidence. And by showing external compliance and humility, he thinks that he is showing humility, acts in humility, and acquires it. But in fact, this is people-pleasing, humility before the human will, and not before God. Through false humility, spiritual voluptuousness develops and false peace is sought, in the depths of the soul, based on the feeling of one’s correctness and righteousness, which are perceived as humility.

“Vanity and its children - false spiritual pleasures, acting in a soul not imbued with repentance, create the ghost of humility. This ghost replaces true humility for the soul. The ghost of truth, having occupied the temple of the soul, blocks all entrances to the spiritual temple for Truth itself.
Alas, my soul, God-created temple of truth! - having accepted the ghost of truth into yourself, bowing to lies instead of Truth, you become a temple! An idol was erected in the temple: opinion humility. The opinion of humility - the most terrible kind of pride. Pride is driven out with difficulty when a person recognizes it as pride; but how can he cast her out when she seems to him his humility? In this temple there is a woeful abomination of desolation!”(St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, vol. 1, ch. 54).

“An arbitrary, self-created humility consists of countless varied devices with which human pride tries to capture the glory of humility from a blind world, from a world that loves its own, from a world that exalts vice when vice is clothed in the guise of virtue, from a world that hates virtue when virtue stands before his eyes in his holy simplicity, in his holy and firm obedience to the Gospel.
Nothing is more hostile to the humility of Christ than self-willed humility, which has rejected the yoke of obedience to Christ and, under the cover of hypocritical service to God, sacrilegiously serves Satan.”(St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, vol. 1, ch. 54).

Anonymous: What to do if strangers at work are trying to push their work away from you. I can help if there is time, but people understand that it is easy to use you, since you are in the process of spiritual guidance, but they do not know about this and apparently will never know. And sometimes those who once received this help are then charged with it as a duty, and constantly. This is what torments me, it’s shameless to lay down my responsibilities, but it’s very hard for me to bear. So what should we do? tolerate? Well, it doesn't always work out.

O. Seraphim: You have a false concept of humility. So you feel embarrassed and act like that.

In your case, you can help a person who is really in need, for some very good reason. And when people just on a whim don’t want to do their job and use you because you don’t say no. Then they commit a sin, and you follow their lead, thinking at the same time that you are committing the virtue of humility. But in reality it is an illusion. Because in reality: you are not practicing the virtue of humility, but cultivating in yourself the passion of people-pleasing. And you do this either because of incorrect concepts at the mental, rational level. Or because they are obsessed with false peace, spiritual sensuality, and for their sake they are ready to commit human-pleasing.

And under your circumstances, you need to look for humility as an inner feeling before God, so as not to give in to passionate feelings. And outwardly, refuse and say: sorry, but do your job yourself. But if a person is really, really in need, then in that case we need to help him.

Anyone who perceives humility in such a way that one must always yield in everything, not contradict, not refuse, agree, do as they ask or tell you, has no idea about the virtue of humility. And he perceives his false concept of humility as the virtue of humility. In fact, he cultivates in himself false humility and people-pleasing. And from here one falls into spiritual voluptuousness and false peace. And he perceives this state of spiritual delusion and self-delusion as humility.

According to patristic teaching, this is prelest - the opinion of humility. That is, a person perceives his obsession with false peace and spiritual voluptuousness as the virtue of humility. - He perceives his obsession with passions as a state of virtue.

This is the property of spiritual delusion and self-delusion - it perceives the darkness of passions as the light of virtue; perishing, he thinks that he is being saved.

Anonymous: Tell me what to do if the soul follows the lead of evil, gives itself over to all sorts of passionate thoughts. When I see sins, I surrender to them, and if not, then does it make my soul feel heavy?

O. Seraphim: You need a feeling of contrition and crying about your sins and passions. We must not give the attention of our mind to all these passionate thoughts, and bear the sorrow that will come from this, resigning ourselves to it in our spirit. Passions control a person only because he does not want to humble himself and bear the sorrow that arises from the action of unsatisfied passions.

A person surrenders to passions, trying in this way to escape from sorrow and suffering. But this is an illusion. There is only one way to escape from grief, suffering and mental heaviness - not to follow the lead of these passions, not to give the attention of your mind to them, and to bear the heaviness-sorrow that arises from this, resigning yourself to it in your spirit.

Anonymous: Father, no matter what direction you look, no matter what you do, no matter what you undertake, HUMILITY IS NEEDED EVERYWHERE. AND IT SEEMES YOU READ AND A VOICE SAYS IN YOUR INSIDE AND IT’S STILL THAT SUCH HUMILITY IS NOT UNDERSTANDABLE... THERE IS AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE BASICS OF HUMILITY BUT THEY ARE NOT ENOUGH.. IT IS CLEAR THAT BY EXPERIMENTAL ETC. BUT I WANT TO KNOW MORE. Alexey Ilyich Osipov - Russian Orthodox theologian, teacher and publicist, Doctor of Theology, claims, citing the Holy Fathers, that humility is a vision of one’s sins.....

O. Seraphim: He is in a state of enchantment, and leads those who follow him to the same place.

He does not have correct concept about internal work. And the humility that he teaches is a false humility, man-pleasing. And if anyone cultivates humility according to the teachings of Osipov, then he will cultivate in himself a false peace or a feeling of humility dissolved by spiritual voluptuousness. And he will perceive this passionate state as a state of virtue, as true humility. And this is self-delusion, spiritual delusion.

“Sin keeps a person enslaved solely through incorrect and false concepts. It is equally obvious that the destructive incorrectness of these concepts consists precisely in recognizing as good that which in essence is not good, and in not recognizing as evil that which in essence is murderous evil” (St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, vol. 4, ch. 26 ).

“By substituting concepts, the Truth is darkened to the extreme, especially under plausible pretexts. And this is, in essence, “Satan, appearing in the form of an angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:14). Thus, by the time of the Antichrist, Truth will be completely destroyed on earth in life and in concepts - and even then unnoticed by people. Among those who are being saved, only those who continuously monitor themselves to see if they have fallen into some confusion of concepts will be able to escape this snare. Self-confidence can easily be robbed and become entangled in the networks of confusion” (St. Philaret /Drozdov/, Metropolitan of Moscow, Commentary on the works of St. Gregory the Sinaite).

Seeing your sins is a vision. It can be natural, grace-filled, and it can be demonic. Many perceive the demonic vision, as if of their sins, as a blessing.

And humility is a FEELING, a sensation. Humility is a natural feeling of humility dissolved by Divine grace. And this happens when the natural feeling of humility is cleared of the admixture of the spirit of selfishness, spiritual voluptuousness and false peace.

The virtue of humility is born from prudence, like any other virtue, and is located between two extremes - between pride and people-pleasing.

“The virtues are the mean... between excess and deficiency... humility (is) in the midst of pride and people-pleasing... whoever does not pay attention to himself and does not protect himself easily deviates... either into excess or deficiency, and produces in himself an illness that constitutes evil.” (Venerable Abba Dorotheos, Teaching 10).

All rational explanations about humility at the mental, rational level are approximate, they provide guidance for the mind. And it is born only from correct internal activity, by the gift of Grace. This is where the correct concept comes from.

“The Divine mystery of humility is revealed by the Lord Jesus to His faithful disciple, who continually sits at His feet and listens to His life-giving words. And open, it remains hidden: it is inexplicable by word and earthly language. It is incomprehensible to the carnal mind; incomprehensibly is comprehended by the spiritual mind, and, comprehended, remains incomprehensible” (St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, vol. 1, chapter 54).

“Humility is the nameless grace of the soul, the name of which is only known to those who have known it through their own experience; it is unspeakable wealth; God's naming; for the Lord says: “learn” not from an Angel, not from a man, not from a book, but “from Me,” i.e. from My dwelling and illumination and action in you, “for I am meek and humble in heart” and in thoughts and way of thinking, “and you will find rest for your souls” from battles, and relief from tempting thoughts (Matthew 11:29)” (Ven. . John Climacus, Degree 25, ch. 4).

Anonymous: Can I say HUMILITY.. Someone wants to quarrel. I try to calm him down, even admit my guilt (even if I’m right), calm him down. Thinking about GOD HELP GOD. cope with the spirit of anger?

O. Seraphim: It all depends on the circumstances of the case, the case.

In your case, if you humble your feelings - dissatisfaction, resentment, indignation, irritation... - and have feelings of humility, compassionate love and good nature, then this will be humility, in in this case and the moment.

But if, after you have succeeded, you have a spirit of complacency or sit on the feeling of your correctness and righteousness, then in the next moment you will already change the humble feeling. And this will already be a spirit of self-affirmation, a self-proud spirit. This will be the next temptation that will need to be properly fought.

Anonymous: It is difficult in life to build relationships in such a way that a friendly attitude is not perceived as agreement with wicked deeds.

O. Seraphim: The reason for this difficulty is within ourselves. The fact is that we lack experienced knowledge of our weakness, humility, kindness, compassionate love, and hence spiritual simplicity. The passionate spirit, in others, carries us away and we are attracted. The reason is sympathy for this passionate spirit that is within us. This sympathy must be broken, and this is only possible through temptation. For it is necessary for temptation to pull out the passionate feeling that is inside us, and we must enter into the struggle for the opposite feeling, calling on the Lord for help.

And so that our calling is dissolved in a humble attitude of spirit, for this the Lord leaves us to sweat in the struggle, so that we come to an experienced sense of our weakness and, thus, would humble ourselves not at the level of just the rational, but in the mood of the spirit. And from this mood they would cry out to God for help. Like the Israelites, when crossing the Red Sea, when they saw that Pharaoh (passion, demon) was overtaking them, then they felt their helplessness, weakness and, in this mood of spirit, cried out to the Lord for salvation. – So that He would protect and deliver from Pharaoh (from passion, the demon), and then the Lord came to the rescue and drowned Pharaoh in the waters of the sea. Waters represent tears, contrition of spirit, a feeling of weakness. This is where passion is drowned, and the Lord comes to the rescue, delivering us from its effects.

It is necessary to learn not to agree with wrongs, in the spirit of meekness and kindness, in the spirit of spiritual simplicity. And in the future, after this disagreement, meet with the person as if nothing had happened, in spiritual simplicity. For the goal is not to show one’s disagreement by maintaining a spirit of dissatisfaction, resentment and hostility, but to help one’s neighbor. And you can only help with a spirit of kindness, good nature and spiritual simplicity. Only this spirit disposes a person, because it is important not to help him at the mental level, but at the level of cultivating the right mood of the soul, the right feelings. And for this it is necessary that he himself wants it, voluntarily, of his free will, chooses it.

Salvation occurs only voluntarily, by free will, by which a person chooses virtue and subsequently fights against manifestations original sin inside myself, for her. But by force, apart from a person’s internal will, it is impossible to save him. You can outwardly force a person, but his will will not agree with this. And before God he will be what he is in his heart, in his free will. – This is an illusion of salvation, self-deception.

Usually, in life, when someone disagrees with someone, then feelings arise: dissatisfaction, resentment, irritation, hostility. And the enemy senses this, and he has the same feelings about it. And in the end, no one achieves anything. Everyone remains in a passionate mood. And this is what the demons need - fight for anything, but just cultivate a passionate spirit, and your soul will perish. That is, everyone is carried away by passions, and the goal is not achieved - this is the most stupidity. This is how passions make people stupid and insane.

Striving to achieve a goal, a person does not notice how he is carried away by passionate feelings and then the goal becomes their satisfaction. But the person does not notice this, since he has the same goal before his eyes, in his memory. But this goal becomes for him only self-justification - to justify passion. For passion darkens the mind and leads one out of reality. And he ceases to see and feel this reality correctly. - This, as St. Tikhon of Zadonsk says, is drunkenness without wine - intoxication due to the action of passion. As a person frees himself from the intoxicating effect of passions on his mind and consciousness, his mind sobers up, and he begins to see everything that is happening around more realistically, as well as maintain sobriety and prudence in a given situation.

Anonymous: It doesn't come out right away. At first it’s exciting, but then I just see it. I begin to force myself to feel humility, but it is not felt?

O. Seraphim: At the moment you saw that it was not working out, then at that moment begin to force yourself to have the right spiritual feelings, turning to God for help. If you do this every time you see it, then the vision will begin to come earlier. The main thing is to force ourselves to kindle a sense of humility - to do what depends on us by nature (going through grief in doing). And give the abundant sensation of feeling into the hands of the will of God - when He pleases, then He will give it. Our job is to work and do everything that is required of us. We must go through grief in struggle, resigning ourselves to it according to our spirit, then God will provide.

The feeling of humility is a continuous feeling of inner peace of mind and peace of mind combined with a satisfied conscience. In the beginning it is from time to time. But if you force yourself to come to him when you are tempted, you will begin to come more often. And then it will settle down as a permanent state of mind.

O. Seraphim: True humilityis brought up in the process of struggling with its dominant passions.As sympathy for them is broken, humility before God is formed.

When a person rejects passion and does not follow its lead, then sorrow arises from this. This is the sorrow that arises from the action of unsatisfied passion. We must reconcile our spirit with this grief, since through it sympathy, attachment to passion, and a selfish and proud spirit are torn apart. And if you go through such grief in this way in a humble spirit, then the attachment to the passionate feeling will be broken and, little by little, freedom from passion will come.

When passion is unsatisfied, then because of its dissatisfaction it produces sorrow. We must, at this moment, thank God for grief, accept it with joy, as a medicine that cleanses the soul from a passionate state. This will be the humility of the soul before God’s Providence and its entry into the mainstream of God’s will, according to the mood of the spirit, in this moment, in specific circumstances. For only to the humble does God give redeeming Grace.

“All sorrow for God is an essential matter of piety” (St. Mark the Ascetic, “On the Spiritual Law,” ch. 65).

“The essential work of piety” is “grief for God.”

“Grief for God” is when a person, in the mood of his spirit, resigns himself to the sorrow that arises from the action of unsatisfied passion. And most of all this concerns the fight against dominant passions. And without this sorrow for God, the “work of piety” will not work.

Since, “Whoever abides in his virtue without sorrow, the door of pride is open to him” (St. Isaac the Syrian, f. 34). That is, whoever acquires virtue without this sorrow for God, then it is not legitimate - there is no humility in it before God, it is based on a selfish and proud spirit.

But another question is what is true humility? - They may bring me some specific cases indicating that they are showing humility, but at the same time there will be trampling and burning of conscience. This only shows that people do not understand what we are talking about.

True humility will never trample and burn its conscience; it will always strive to acquire purity of feelings, according to the mood of the spirit. This work is not external, but internal, in the mood of the spirit, in cultivating the right feelings and sensations. St. John Climacus says about this feeling that only those who have it know humility. This is not about humility. natural to man, but about the humility that a person acquires when this natural feeling of humility clears away the admixture of the subtle spirit of selfishness and pride (imputation to oneself, in sensation).

« Humility is the nameless grace of the soul, the name of which is only known to those who have known it through their own experience; it is unspeakable wealth; God's naming; for the Lord says: "learn" not from an Angel, not from a man, not from a book, but from Me, i.e. from My infusion and illumination and action in you, “for I am meek and lowly in heart” and thoughts, and way of thinking, "And you will find rest for your souls" from wars, and relief from tempting thoughts(Matt. 11:29)” (Ladder, Homily 25, ch. 4).

St. Makim the Confessor felt the Truth within himself, and therefore She testified to him about the satisfaction of his conscience. Therefore, external confession at that moment in time, for him, was associated with the correct inner mood of the soul and a sense of faith, with the satisfaction of conscience and the preservation of the Truth not just at the mental level, but in the mood of the spirit, in feelings and sensations. For him, this was the fulfillment of God's will.

St. Isaac the Syrian says about this:
“Truth is a feeling for God, which only a person tastes in himself through the sensation of the feelings of the spiritual mind”(sl. 43). That is, Truth is not a mental concept, but an internal sensation that comes from the purity of feelings and a satisfied conscience. And the mental, rational concept is putting It into verbal form. The same is true for Its external expression in words, on paper or by any other external means - this is all the external expression of the Truth, but not the Truth itself.