On Delusive Charms [PRELEST-s]: Ascetic Experience
About this ebook
Pleasure without conscience
Science without humanity
Knowledge without character
Politics without principle
Commerce without morality
Worship without sacrifice.
https://vidjambov.blogspot.com/2023/01/book-inventory-vladimir-djambov-talmach.html
Before going away...
Disciple. Give a more precise and detailed notion of PRELEST [delusion, beauty=charm]. What exactly is PRELEST?
Elder. PRELEST is damage to human nature by falsehood. PRELEST is the state of all men, with no exception, which has been made possible by the fall of our original parents [forefathers]. We all are in [a state of] PRELEST [delusion] [1]. Awareness [knowledge] of this [fact] is the greatest protection against PRELEST. The greatest PRELEST is to consider oneself free from PRELEST. We all are deceived, deluded; we all are in a condition of falsehood; we need to be liberated by the truth. Truth is our Lord Jesus Christ [2]. May we come to know this truth by having faith in It, may we cry out with prayer unto this Truth – and it will take us out of the abyss of self-deception and delusion [seduction] by demons. Our state is grievous! It is a prison, from which we pray that our soul be brought out, that I may praise thy name [3], oh Lord. It is that gloomy land onto which our life has been cast by the enemy that hates [envies] and persecutes us [4]. It is carnal mindedness [5] [philosophizing], and vain babblings [6] [knowledge falsely called so], wherewith the whole world is infected, refusing to acknowledge its illness, declaring it [rather, to be] the bloom of health. It is the flesh and blood that cannot inherit the kingdom of God [7]. It is eternal death, [being] healed and destroyed by the Lord Jesus, Who is the resurrection, and the life [8]. This is what our state is like. And the perception thereof is a new reason to weep. With tears let us cry out unto the Lord Jesus that He may bring us out of prison, that He may pull us out of the depths of the earth, that He may wrest us away from the jaws of death. For this cause did our Lord Jesus Christ descend to us – says St. Simeon the New Theologian – for He willed to snatch us away from captivity and from the most evil [wicked] PRELEST-s [charms, delusions] [9].
To All the Weak, the Feeble,
and the Little Ones (like me) [С нами Бог]
With love dedicated
to M., and to M.
Know that: /you better come to realize that:/
- You do what your father does - all the worthy things he does - you do, too! - You need only remember him with GRATITUDE every night and every crisis (at least) - and all his sweetness, strength, and riches - are yours (for the asking).
[I hear some of you saying they know not their father! - They may well not know him - but their heart does! So you, too: ]
You just listen:
- GRATITUDE / БЛАГОДАРЕНИЕ ...
You hear out (again and again):
- GRATITUDE / БЛАГОДАРЕНИЕ ...
And you experience:
- GRATITUDE / БЛАГОДАРЕНИЕ ...
At first it seems [as if] you were giving thanks - No! The second or the third time around you already know Who the Giver of all is - all you have to do is attune your heart, and let it FEEL the GRATITUDE /БЛАГОДАРЕНИЕ/ - and you experience the downpour of all mercies, goods (kindness), and all the merits of the Giver of all (ВСЕПОДАТЕЛЯ Христос) Christ - Who gives everything - TO ALL - hears everything and first responds to GRATITUDE / БЛАГОДАРЕНИЕ...
And – yes! – you do what your Father does!
With heart-felt GRATITUDE / БЛАГОДАРЕНИЕ...
what used to be nothing more but mimicking or 'play'
is all too real! You are still weak, feeble and little
but you really do what your Father does!
Слава Богу за все! С нами Бог!
Glory be to God for everything! The Lord is with us!
About the author
(1807 - 1867)
On the Prayer of Jesus. Brianchaninov, I.
He wrote a large amount of material, mostly about the spiritual life and prayer. Although his writing was intended primarily for monks, his works are highly recommended for lay Christians by leading Orthodox figures.
