Regret that a person acts unreasonably by not listening to the advice of others.

• ⚜ White light given free rein
• ⚜ To the free will, to the walking path
• ⚜ Your own will, your own share (the share depends on the will)
• ⚜ God's will you won't overpower (you won't overpower)
• ⚜ You want it as you want; if you don’t want to, it’s your choice again

In expression since the times when serfdom in Rus' it was just being formed. At that time, peasants were divided into freemen and slaves (slaves).

Free peasants could change their place of residence, land plot and so on. Thus, the expression emphasized that a person has the right to choose, freedom of action.

That is, the free will (can do as he wants), the saved is paradise (who lives not according to his own will, but as God commands, will be saved). You can also find this version of the proverb:

• ⚜ The free will, the saved is paradise, the wild is a field, the devil is a swamp

The inspector turned to Kartashev and, pointing to Borisov, said:
- I advise you to stay away from this gentleman...
“He thanks you for your advice,” Borisov answered, “and asks you to allow him to be guided by his own considerations.”
The inspector... replied:
- Free will.

Nikolai Georgievich Garin-Mikhailovsky. "Engineers"

Free will (saved heaven)

Regret that a person acts unreasonably by not listening to the advice of others.

Freedom for the free, heaven for the saved

those. free will(can do as he wants) heaven for the saved(whoever lives not according to his own will, but as God commands, will be saved)

Your own will, your own share(the share depends on the will)

Wed.(Are you in a hurry) to the settlement? Do you feel like going to the gallows? To the free will, heaven to the saved!.

Gr. B. Tolstoy. Book Silver. 27.

Free will in the literal sense - about the right of free people (not slaves) to enjoy complete freedom of action and movement from one place to another.

Wed. Des Menschen Wille ist sein Himmelreich.

Man sees his bliss in free will.

Wed. Sebastian Frank. Sprichwörtersammlung. No. 16. 1832.

Cm. don't live the way you want .

Russian thought and speech. Yours and someone else's. Experience of Russian phraseology. Collection of figurative words and parables. T.T. 1-2. Walking and apt words. Collection of Russian and foreign quotes, proverbs, sayings, proverbial expressions and individual words. St. Petersburg, type. Ak. Sci.. M. I. Mikhelson. 1896-1912.

See what “freedom is free, heaven is saved” in other dictionaries:

The white light is given free rein. There is freedom for the free, heaven for the saved. See WILL NAVOLY...

The free will, the saved is paradise, the wild is the field, the devil is the swamp. See WILL NAVOLY... IN AND. Dahl. Proverbs of the Russian people

Wed. So much for gratitude for your love and affection... Well, the Lord is with him, free will, walking the path, it is not a loss to us that for no apparent reason he recoiled from us. Melnikov. On the mountains. 2, 10. Wed. Wer nicht kommt, braucht nicht wegzugehen. Cm.… …

Women given to a person arbitrariness of action; freedom, space in actions; absence of bondage, rape, coercion. Creative activity mind, Khomyakov. To each his own will. Your own will, your own share. The king’s own will (self-will) is greater. In a person... ... Dictionary Dahl

He sulked, but didn’t puff out. I'm exhausted. You can’t, you won’t be able to handle it; but if you strain yourself, you won’t be able to help. What will happen to him: you won’t be able to take off his hat (from the old custom of disgracing someone by taking off their hat). You can't take his hat off. Bribes from him are smooth. The camel lay down, so... ... IN AND. Dahl. Proverbs of the Russian people

- (the share depends on the will) The free will, the saved is heaven. The free will (can do as he wants), the saved is paradise (who lives not according to will, but as God commands, will be saved) Cf. Des Menschen Wille ist sein Himmelreich. A person in free will sees his own... ... Michelson's Large Explanatory and Phraseological Dictionary

We, the sorceress and the sorcerer from the Bear family, talked and came to the conclusion: it is not right to leave the received knowledge between us. With his permission, I will share it with you, Slavs. I divided the text of the conversation into semantic parts and numbered them.

1: How is such speech understood in a sound word? What do the WORDS of the title tell us?

WILL = “B” (direction inwards) + “OL” (the world of a person’s mind - his experience of life in the world) + “I” (his Spirit). It turns out: WILL is the desire of the human mind to act in accordance with his Spirit.
FREE = a person who acts in life only at the behest of his will, that is, according to the manifestation of the world knowledge of his Spirit.
THE SAVED is a person who lives according to the LAW OF THE SAVIOR: You do not owe anything to the one who saved you, since he acted of his own free will, saving you. But in reality, the person feels like a DEBTOR.
SPAS = "C" (together, together...) + "PAS" (space of debt) = "LIFE IN THE SPACE OF DEBT, AN OBLIGATED ACTION TO SOMEONE").
PARADISE = "RA" (the place where the source of light, knowledge, knowledge is located...) + "Y" (limiter of the spread of what was stated earlier) - "a limited place of light-knowledge-knowledge" - belongs as part of the egregor of the Russian Orthodox Church.

2: WHAT IS MY WILL AND TO WHOM DOES IT BELONG IN ME?

It seems that the sound speaker himself (knowing by the sound of the WORD) has already answered everything quite transparently.
My will belongs to my Spirit in me (he is my essence). If I consider myself free, then I must act in reality (in the world of the Universe), listening to the CONS of my Spirit and only it (my Spirit is part of the Rule). That is why FREE is realized -WILL.
The saved debtor = SLAVE (and of course, I MUST!) does not have a Path to Rule after death. The error is corrected by realizing it, that is, by KNOWING that “to the free will” (the law of the Spirit).

3: WHO ELSE CAN MY WILL BELONG TO ME?

To the one to whom I handed it, that is, by whose CONS I live. I have:
“I” - my Spirit - my true NATURAL ESSENCE. - THE POWER OF NATURE is in me (I, a part of nature in unity with other similar parts, make up its integrity), - my power of GOD, creative = birthing power. With it I create = I GIVE BIRTH to the world Reveal. I AM THE GOD OF REVEAL. Spirit is a part of the Rule in me, manifested in Reveal as a MAN (object, being).
“EGO” is my artificial essence, my GENERATION in the form of a PERSONALITY. EGO = “NOT ME”, my MASK.
“PERSONALITY” - my FACES (faces of another me, that is, my role-masks that I created for myself) + “SPINE” (the bone-axis on which they, the masks, are held in me). The essence of personality- plurality-many faces. The essence of the EGO is the unification of these faces into a single essence in me “NOT ME”.

4: THEN WHAT IS THE SOUL?

SOUL = “D” (sign of the parameter of antiquity as time) + “U” (near, close to...) + “SHA” (POWER in the form of the will of the spirit of the Subtle World SHA-essence from Navi in ​​the form of an insidious serpent-tempter, strength, separating the world into man and all other objects. The force that divided the single NATURE into separate objects in Reality, the knowledge of which reveals this illusion and helps to find the interactions of man and the forces of nature in the acts of BIRTH to them REVEAL. For the knower, SHA = DAY will connect Reality with Rule and Navya into the TRINITY-THREE WORLDS, and he will receive the capabilities of a creator god. To the ignorant, Dey will slip pseudo-knowledge that will never unite anything and will lead a person along the CREATURE CIRCLE OF LIFE. In short, the SOUL is just emotional energy without a clear direction of action. Dey-Dy steals vitality a person, wasting it on empty emotions, or maybe gather energy together, powerfully enhancing the actions of the Spirit in the world-creation of Reveal. He cannot act on his own. He needs the WILL OF HUMAN.
Pre-Christian Rus' did not know the concept of SOUL at all. It was introduced into our worldview (not to be confused with worldview) by Christians. The soul is an illusion, a veil that prevents us from seeing reality. A person, carried away by emotions, is not able to sense at this moment the real state of affairs (reality). Remember yourself in moments of anger or sadness. How your PICTURE OF THE WORLD changes in an instant.
By introducing the concept of SOUL, Christians radically changed the Slavic picture of the world. Instead of children of the gods, we instantly became slaves of the Christian gods. From creators, we became “trembling creatures”, afraid of nature and dependent on it. Those who think will continue on their own. We, the children of our gods, were born (realized themselves) in a world where everything was in abundance to support our existence (food, water, plants, fertile land). And Christianity arose in a DESERT REGION, where all this was in short supply and therefore the servant of God is man. Psychology of perception of the world ours is fundamentally different. Christians split man (his unity of Spirit and body) into a trinity: Spirit, Soul and Body. And everything is separate!

5: HOW TO UNDERSTAND the words FREE WILL? IS MY WILL FREE?

Hence, our vocabulary has changed (with the introduction of the concept of soul). What kind of FREE WILL does a slave have? He only has the free will of his master, the slave owner. Remember, serfs were sold and killed like CATTLE (movable property). But in the early days there was no slavery for the Slavic people I didn't know!
In the 21st century, we all imagine ourselves to be free people. But look around, look around: this one has gotten rich and insolent, and I’m bending my back on him and am afraid of quitting (I’ll get lost!). A drunken husband beats up his family. How can I leave him: I’LL LOSE, no one needs! (Doesn’t she need herself or what?). Here are the consequences: SLAVERY OF THE SOUL. And the substitution of concepts: SLAVERY OF THE SOUL IS SPIRITUAL SLAVERY (when we voluntarily do not live according to the LAWS OF THE SPIRIT = THE LAWS OF RULE, but live according to the LAWS.
That is why WILL is confused with PERMISSIBILITY, and FREEDOM IS BARGAINED (they will give or they will not give).
FREEDOM = “C” (see above) + “B” (see above) + “RIM” (the world limited by the RIM-HORIZON LINE around you, the world around you) + “A” (see above).... ..
FREEDOM - “together and deeply connected I am with the world around me” (A-energy Yin - soft, mobile, like a wave. WAVE OF LOVE - ACCEPTANCE of the world).
FREEDOM OF WILL is a complete taftology for a person who lives according to the WILL OF HIS SPIRIT (LAW OF RULE), like “butter.” But for a SLAVE, it is a meaningful phrase. I’ll ask my question: WHO DETERMINES whether you are a slave or free (+ free)? Isn’t it you yourself, huh? Who replaced your Spirit with your soul? We, the Magi, offer you a toolkit for your own removal of shackles. Or a cure for slavery... It’s whatever you like, Slavs: YOUR CONSCIENCE, it’s called!
CONSCIENCE = CONSCIENCE...We told you, we gave you the message from the KON OF THE SPIRIT OF RULE,
They brought it and put it on the floor in front of you. If someone picks up the instrument, he will know the LAW of “WILL”. And whoever doesn’t... will know the LAW of “FREEDOM”.
For us, Magi, the instrument CONSCIENCE suggests that in the FREEDOM OF THE WORLD (and man is part of this world, that is, part of the same FREEDOM and is ALWAYS FREE according to his SPIRIT) there is human WILL (as the power of his Spirit).

6:THEN WHAT IS BONDAGE?

BONDAGE = “NOT” (negation) + WILL - this is for the SLAVE OF GOD. He really does not have his own will “Everything is in the will of God”! - have you heard that? For a free person there is NO BONDAGE (even in marriage, in work at a specific enterprise, in love and hatred). Since he KNOWS (psychologists have already eaten the dog at this!): the prefix NOT- the subconscious (Spirit) does not perceive. This is what it means: “I don’t love you?” This is understood: “I love you, but I’m afraid that I’ve lost my will in you" (in plain sight I deny love, but secretly I only think about you. That is, I send you energy as if I loved). So what does a person really think about the object of his HATE? And here’s what :I am so dependent on you that I have become your slave and I don’t want to have my BONDAGE from you, but I admit that I have.”Stupidity? -not at all. Remember (the sorcerer reminded me, and I reminded you): in the film - a fairy tale about Marya the Artisan: She, being in MOROC (a trance state of obsession, a confused state) says: “What is WILL, what is BONDAGE, IT’S ALL THE EQUALITY.” remove the CONSCIENCE from the Spirit of WORRY and think about our words before throwing away the article in anger. WE RECOGNIZE and completely! The smell gives off a rotten smell. Remember the SMELL OF SLAVERY.

7: WHAT IS THEN “HEAVEN IS PARADISE FOR THE SAVED!” ?

Any place that has a LIMITER is essentially a TRAP. A kind of mousetrap. And cheese? - “Salvation of the Soul” - a kind of cheese is called. We’re not joking at all. PARADISE is a sweet trap for your Spirit. I’ll give you one well-known parable: if you don’t get it in the head , - it will hit the forehead.
A fisherman is sitting on the shore with fishing rods. He has already caught a lot of fish. A hungry man walks past.
-Fisherman, save me! I’m dying of hunger!
A stupid fisherman will give a hungry fisherman a fish (PARADISE is called a fish). A smart fisherman will give him a fishing rod so that he can catch a fish himself (it’s called SALVATION OF THE SOUL AND SPIRIT IN HER. It will give, but it’s only useless. But because everything is not fully said .A wise fisherman will give you a fish (after all, a hungry passer-by is a passer-by, IT IS THE LAW OF RIGHT TO FEED THE HUNGRY) and a fishing rod (he will keep the will of the SPIRIT according to the LAW OF FREEDOM, he won’t want the hassle) and he will also teach how to use a fishing rod so that he will always be well fed (he will tell THE POKONS RULE). Now it’s time for them to part. And for us to continue the conversation. The sweet nightmare called PARADISE no longer bothers us? The spirit in paradise is the same consumer. Where can we CREATE REALITY! Develop the world!
PARADISE is a place for slave owners (everything is for you, and you are nothing for anyone) OBLIGATION OF THE SPIRIT in yourself creating, creating, giving birth Reality! - That’s what PARADISE is. In Buddhism, this is called SAMADHI (a trap for GODS), which They just can’t remember why they were born. Read, people, it’s useful!).
I’ll throw in another question of my own: What is blood pressure then?
A hungry man is walking along the road. A fisherman is sitting on the shore and a fish soup is boiling. Are you ready? To continue? HUNGER is eternal, and satiety is a means of prolonging hunger, but after a while. I would drown myself! Yes, there is no rope and there is cold water (autumn is in the yard). You would like to come to a warm house, but there is no home. No fishing, no fishing rod, no ability to fish, no building a house, no... and continue.
HELL is a mirroring of the word “YES”, that is, ON THE OVERSEAS: “YES” ON THE OVERSEAS is “NO”, Slavs! Torment and pain are eternal. For a hungry person it is HUNGER, for example. HELL is also a TRAP FOR THE SPIRIT, where everything is the OPPOSITE of what it is in HEAVEN .When the SOUL is in pain, it does not think about will (and is busy with pain: it will not remember that its SPIRIT was never a SLAVE).
Okay, I’ll tell you another saying: “THE BULL IS GOING, SWINGING. HIS LEGS ARE NOT GOOD.” Oh! The board is running out, now I’m going to fall!” Please note: no one is chasing him, no one is forcing him. He himself, dear, is going to destruction. Apparently, the desperation of his will is stronger! And he would look around, stupid: five meters across the river there is a bridge, so strong, so spacious! This bull looks like the RESCUE one from the beginning of the article. The one who saved him forgot to think about it (my will was there and nothing, he says, you - the saved one doesn’t owe me), but the SAVED one is always itching: how to pay off the debt, huh? Should I bring money or a gift? Or should I become a rescuer for other “drowning bulls”?! You can get out of the Savior’s death only by ACTION: stop thinking about the debt (sitting in spiritual hell) and feed the savior with gifts (put him in spiritual paradise), and grow wiser and live according to the WILL of your SPIRIT. For such, the WOLKH BEAR gave an explanation: someone, saving you, did GOOD to you and your family (Veda will add: AND TO HIS OWN TO THE KIND TOO), so “DO GOOD FOR GOOD” (do GOOD DEEDS in Reveal, my friend, yourself, of your own WILL). Living “IN THE HIGH” (paradise) and living “IN THE HUNGRY WELL” (hell) is equally bad! OUR ANCESTORS: “Pay for Good with good, and for Evil with justice!”
8: WHO ARE YOU, SLAV: A MAN OR A TREMBLING CREATURE?
The question of Alexander Nevsky is relevant for everyone to this day.
I think again we can’t do without a parable. I’ll just tell you a true story, it will be clearer.
There are many symbols of our faith in Rus', Slavs! And one of them is the Sin-stone near Pereslavl Zalessky on Lake Pleshcheyevo. The fact has been repeatedly proven: the stone was drowned several times in depths of the lake, and he crawls onto the bank and continues to crawl steadily straight towards Yarilina Hill (he was an altar at the Slavic temple on the top of the mountain). He crawls BY HIMSELF, no one helps him to reach his goal and so on for hundreds of years. Neither Christian prayers nor curses helped him DIE. Others , obedient stones, lie to themselves and lie, and this one CREEPS towards its goal. So the altar was buried in the ground a long time ago (the stone monoliths are BURIED) and the cross looms on the top, and all the monasteries in the area are ringing the bells: REFUSE, GO TO SLEEP IN THE WORLD.
And Yarilin’s mountain is calling! And the stone is creeping. As long as our faith lives (OUR GODS AND DEATHS), it will CALL your Spirit with CONSCIENCE AN ALARM! Show, O free one, your will: Are you going to the right (The way up), to Nav (serve, commit suicide or sit in darkness, celebrate Christian slavery, etc.).But the Spirit chooses the PATH, and man realizes it! The future of your KIND and YOURS is the GOAL for such a Path!
Remember, other people's roads will always lead to someone else's threshold and to other people's goals. There is only one Path to your Spirit - YOUR OWN and we, the Magi, know what it is called:
"TO THE FREE - WILL; TO THE SAVED - PARADISE!"
REQUEST from us to you, reader: DO NOT HURRY, sit down and think. Write the answer in the comments if you want. Write as FREE: what you think, and not what is ordered by whom.

Alexander Rakov
TO THE FREE WILL, TO THE SAVED PARADISE

His voice is not that of a monk. The voice is such that it can inadvertently put a faint-hearted person out of his mind. peace of mind. Meet Father Gerasim, hierodeacon of St. Vvedensky convent in the city of Ivanovo, inhabitant of the Sergius Hermitage. For two or three years I asked him to tell readers about his path to God. And having received the blessing of Fr. Ambrose, we are talking in his cell. Father Gerasim begins the conversation like this:
- Firstly, I must say sincerely that I used to be a non-believer, and that is why I committed a lot of serious - no, not even misdemeanors, but crimes - which led me to prison. Now I am 47 years old. The last time I received seven years for robbery (Article 146 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). In total, I had to serve about 17 years of strict regime.

TERM
Don't ask: "Why?"
don’t ask: “When?”
Sit, sit, don’t give in to grief,
After all, time is a climb up a mountain,
With which the years open.

Occupy yourself with the significance of little things,
Pay attention to any sound.
You will comprehend this wise science,
Then you will understand that your time has come -
nobody's

And dreams will be free again,
And what the fault is, as before, is unknown.
And, falling into the starless darkness of the abyss,
You will wake up feeling guilty.

And this means: there is a law in life.
We are all sitting, not understanding the deadline, -
The supervisory authority is with God, -
And everyone will be released to have a dream.
Kirill Podrabinek, b. 1952 (No. 3, 157)

I came to God while serving my final sentence - as I already said, seven years for robbery. It was then, in the camp, that I began to think about whether there is a God or not and why inexplicable things happen to us, but, apparently, not by chance... I then met one believer, a former criminal, who had taken the path of correction... I asked he says: “What do you think: is there a God or not?” He answers: “Believe it or not, but a week before my release...” And he told such an amazing story. It so happened that upon his release from prison, the commission assigned him administrative supervision. This means that, being released, he must report to the police every 5th, 15th and 25th, stay at home from 8 pm to 8 am and lead a lifestyle that is quieter than water, lower than the grass. He decided (fairly decided, it must be said) that in this case such a resolution is illegal, and he tells the commission that he does not agree. They answer: “We don’t ask you whether you agree or disagree - we made a decision, and you sign.” He refuses to sign. They: “Then we will write that you refused to sign.” And he: “In that case, I’m going on a dry hunger strike until the supervisory prosecutor arrives and protests your decision, because I have Lately There are no offenses, and I have the right to appeal your decision.” The head of the colony told him: “Are you scaring us, or what? Handcuff him, take him to the isolation ward!” So he goes to the isolation ward and thinks: “I’m a fool, a fool! Why did I give free rein to my tongue? After all, now I have to go on a dry hunger strike - not to eat or drink!.. And I, as a proud man, will not go back on my words - I’ll rather die here ...
The air smells sadly of spring. Drops fall loudly from the roof. I'm lying in solitary confinement, damp, on a cold prison bed. I lie there and count the hours... I am not guilty of anything, believe me! I'm waiting for the scales to sway, the weights to tremble - life and death. I'm waiting for my heart to stop beating among the gray stones. The weight of death, alas, is heavier, but it will outweigh the weight of life. I lie there, and the window bars cut my sky into pieces. I'm lying... And the silence of my narrow, damp loner is silent.
Nikolay Domogarov, b. 1963 (No. 3, 104)

But now they are fighting hunger strikes - they are using artificial feeding: some kind of tubes are inserted into the esophagus...
- Now the system is such that it is unlikely that anyone will do this. Maybe they won’t let him die, but the person will leave prison already disabled. He goes to the isolation ward, and suddenly this thought appears to him (probably sent by the Guardian Angel): “Pray to God!” He begins to pray like this: “Lord, if You really exist, help me, help me out. I don’t know what to do, what to do...” I came to the cell and didn’t eat or drink for five days... I don’t feel like eating, but I want to drink very badly... The coating in my mouth was as if I was chewing toothpaste. He again: “Lord, help me! Why such torment? I honestly served the entire sentence...” And on the ninth day... And I heard doctors say (I don’t know if this is true or not), if a person does not drink water, then on the ninth day his liver spontaneously begins to secrete acetone and destroys itself . He remembered this and again prayed: “Lord, if You exist, help me!..” And suddenly he seemed to fall into oblivion: he realized that he was lying in a cell, but there was no ceiling. And from heaven, as if on a ladder, Jesus Christ comes down and carries a cup: “Here, take a sip!” He took three sips and plunged into deep dream. And when I came to my senses, I no longer wanted to eat or drink. And there is such joy and lightness in my soul, as if I had drunk a glass of good wine. Controllers and doctors started walking around and measuring his blood pressure: why isn’t he complaining, lying calmly, still smiling?.. They say: “You stop mocking us!” The prosecutor arrived, signed the order to cancel it... And so, upon being released, my friend changed his lifestyle and went to a monastery.

In the prison yard on a birch tree,
All in the dawn from the belly to the eyebrows,
Criminal life is like a rose
The nightingale sings songs.

The conversations have long since ceased.
And, with my soul catching every sound,
Robbers and thieves are listening
The golden throat of a nightingale.

The nightingale sits on a blue branch -
Ice melts on a cold heart:
A man sits in an iron cage
And the soul sings with joy.
Priest Leonid Safonov (No. 5, 110)

This story surprised me very much, but it cannot be said that I immediately came to God after it. Everything was a little more complicated. I met another person (he is now a priest). I tell him: “I’ve been having troubles lately - I don’t know why. I have never worn a cross in my life, but once I put on a cross and then gave it away in the detention center. It was after this that the troubles began. Isn’t that why I gave away the cross?” He answers: “Yes, from this.” I ask: “What is this cross, why can I get into trouble because of it?” He: “The cross is a weapon, God gave it to us against enemies invisible and visible and sanctified it with His blood; so you just need to put on a church cross, and all attacks will stop.” I put on this cross and asked: “Well, if He is God, then why was He nailed to the cross?” He, as best he could, explained to me the meaning of the Sacrifice of the Cross. I say: “So, God can help now?” - “Of course it can! Not only that it can, but that it truly helps all people.” - “How can you come into contact with Him? I can talk to a person, ask him, but what about Him?” - “You can talk to Him too. You can turn to Him mentally, you can speak out loud and you can whisper... But preferably in such a way that no one sees, no one hears, because you may be considered abnormal.” - “What words should I use to address Him?” - “Yes, the most in simple words: Lord, so and so, help me! If you want, I’ll give you a prayer book, and you can pray according to the prayer book. And you will see ambulance" I say: “So this is the same Jesus Christ who is on our icons? AND Mother of God? - "Yes. There is Jesus Christ, there is the Mother of God, St. Nicholas the Pleasant, Sergius of Radonezh - all our saints. This is pure power. Eat devilry, but there is pure, holy power, our protection and our help, which is always and everywhere, which will not shame you if you turn to it.” I think: okay, I have to try it. I went into the storeroom, closed the door... There was only one left... I said: “Lord, if You exist, help me! You know, I have such and such problems...” I began to turn to Him, and He began to effectively help me. I think: “Wow!” If, for example, I didn’t have something necessary, it immediately begins to appear after prayer. Where? And so unexpected, and so inexplicable, so... It is clear that this is not accidental. And the more I turned to Him, the more He helped me. But sometimes he didn’t help... I went to that person and said: “Why doesn’t He always help?” He replies: “You’d better meet Father Ambrose, he and his mother Joanna travel to prisons. They will tell you which direction is best to go.” I must tell you that just the other day a large poster appeared near our dining room: they say that the confessor of the Ivanovo Holy Vvedensky Monastery, Archimandrite Ambrose (Yurasov), is coming, and everyone who wants to confess can sign up. I then read this poster and laughed: “What fools! We found something to report! Which of us will go to confession?!” But I didn’t think that the Lord looked at me at that moment - and it turned out that I myself was the first to run to this confession. I was waiting for this confession, during the day I was already walking near the barracks: when will the archimandrite arrive?.. To be honest, I was afraid to confess for the first time, because the devil is a lot various fears inspires. Maybe this Ambrose has a tape recorder built into his cross somewhere, and that my entire confession will go to the KGB, because all priests are registered, especially if they go to prison...
- What year was this?
- I think 1995... How can it be? I’m afraid to talk about everything, and if I don’t talk about everything, the meaning of confession is lost... And these four days before the arrival of Father Ambrose, I was in constant thought. We didn’t have any work then, and I walked around and only thought about it. And then I decided: “Be that as it may, if there is a God, He will protect me. And if He is not there, then there is absolutely no meaning in life. The Lord gives us eternal life, which is why temporary life takes on meaning. And if you live like a dog: he died and was buried, then why be born at all?”
- Did you think so then or are you saying so now?
- I already thought so then. In general, I made up my mind. When Father Ambrose read the prayer before confession, some kind of inspiration came over me and I told everything as it was. And then asked him for spiritual guidance. He told me how to behave from now on and what to do, what literature to read and how to further move towards God. And this is exactly what I was interested in: how to get closer to God, because it felt like I was standing in one place and couldn’t get closer to God, as if He wasn’t letting me in. And the priest tells me: “This is the case here. Imagine: a person asked you to borrow 100 rubles. You gave him a favor. A day later he asks again, still not paying off the old debt. You lent him again. The next day - the same thing, and on the third, and on the fourth... But this cannot continue endlessly!..” I say: “Well, what does God need from me? How can I repay my debt to Him? “He needs you to confess and bear the fruits of repentance: for starters, quit smoking, stop watching TV, don’t swear, dress normally, and behave like a decent person. And you will see what a difference it will make.” I think: “Is this really so? Need to try!" But I was overcome with embarrassment: it seemed like I was making a deal with God - I am one thing for Him, and He pays me for it with miracles... Then they explained to me that there are three stages of ascension: the first stage is when a person is in the state of a slave and does everything for the sake of that he is afraid of future punishment; the second stage is when he is as a servant and serves God for payment, and the third is when he is as a son, and one must try to achieve this sonship, but one cannot immediately rise to the third stage.
We created an Orthodox community, begged a room from the administration, and I spent whole days in this prayer room: I liked it there so much!..
- How did the unbelieving prisoners treat you?
- Everything is different. Some thought I was crazy. But after talking with me, seeing that I was sane and thinking even more sensibly than before, they were perplexed. And others didn’t even try to understand. Still others neglected...
- Was there no aggression?
- There was no aggression, because I myself had a fair amount of weight in the criminal world. No one could make any claims against me, because they knew that I had my own head on my shoulders. The administration greatly changed its attitude towards me: on the one hand, it began to hinder me, and on the other, it began to help. So little by little five years passed. When five years were already coming to an end, I said to myself, standing in front of the icons: “Trust in God. As the Lord directs, so be it. I’ll ask the first priest who comes to us what I should do after my imprisonment.” Father Ambrose was not allowed to visit us at that time. I left prison and went straight to a priest I knew, Father Mitrofan, and he immediately put me on a minibus, and we came to Father Ambrose. Mother Ioanna also came out, and Father Ambrose was there... But that time I did not end up in the Holy Vvedensky Monastery, but became a resident of another Ivanovo monastery. Monastic life did not bother me, but the spiritual practice that was customary in that monastery did not suit me. There, the monks, led by the abbot, were engaged in mental programming. That’s what I said to the abbot: “I think this is a harmful practice!” Everyone was alarmed... The brothers told me: “Are you really smarter than all of us? This is your pride speaking in you! We, twenty people, three hieromonks, two hierodeacons, advise you to follow this path, but you do not listen to experienced people. Yes, brother, you are delusional and proud!” I lived there for a whole year, worked in the refectory, cooked porridge for them, but tried not to go to classes. Nevertheless, the abbot tells me one day: “Let me tonsure you.” I decided to first consult with Father Ambrose. Father says: “You don’t need to get your hair cut there!” I reported this to the abbot, and he told me: “You either listen to Ambrose or listen to me.” - “I will obey Father Ambrose.” - “Go to him, and don’t show up with us again!”
I left and first ended up at the Romanovskoye Compound. Here he began to engage in construction. I had never been involved in construction as a professional before; I didn’t have such a specialty. But I'm understanding. I studied normally at school and didn’t see anything so complicated in it: it was enough for me to explain it once for me to understand. That’s what happened here.

MONK'S PRAYER
[SERGIEVSKY COMPOSITION] IN new house Yours I leave without noise.
God! Yes, waste it into the fog
Meager affairs, a worn fur coat,
The body of a wretched caftan.

Let your stink go to the simple
A new hair shirt, so that
I could bring you to Your throne
Truly incorruptible gifts.

The faces of the righteous look sternly
In the semi-dark incense warmth.
- There are no great feats in the world,
Unavailable time and darkness.

Eat! Send skill and strength
Defeat the evasive darkness.
Let me penetrate into the unspeakable fire,
Beyond our minds.
Yuri Klyuchnikov, Novosibirsk, b. 1930 (No. 1, 9)

How can you strengthen your faith?
- One day a person said to me: “I read books, but I have never seen a person who would give everything to the poor and go to God. This doesn’t really happen.” I answer him: “And I’m sitting here and thinking that there are no mushrooms in the forest. They can’t be there - I’m sure of that, although I didn’t go into the forest. And you haven’t even gone into the forest yet, but you already confidently judge what is there and what is not.” I think such questions bother any Orthodox Christian, but any Orthodox Christian must keep his spiritual life secret, do everything in secret and discuss his affairs only with his confessor. But everyone must do good deeds, because it is through such deeds that our faith is strengthened. That’s why the Gospel says: where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Now I am engaged in obedience construction...
- You have built a lot here - and it’s so beautiful!..
- Did I really build this? This is all God’s grace, this is through the prayers of Sergius of Radonezh, the prayers of Father Ambrose...
- Of course, but without human hands nothing would have happened anyway.
- There are many people who were busy here, and they have no less merit than me.
- This is your humility speaking. This is good.
- No, not humility. If you appoint me as a mason now, I won’t be able to do anything. Or for the construction of a barn... What can I do there?..
- But you can lead and organize! Discovering ability in a person is a big deal.
- And again I will answer you that all this is given by the grace of God. And if I start to talk and think in detail about my talents, then the Lord can take them away from me. It’s better not to think about it: it works out, and it works out, and glory to You, Lord! Of course, you want something good to remain in the world after you, but the devil sometimes sends different thoughts... I like to work, because when you work, you see with your own eyes the fruits of your growth. And before that, I lived here for two years, constantly went to church, made bows, akathists, read canons, but I didn’t see any results: no matter how hard I worked, it was like I was falling into a bottomless barrel... And I even became despondent...
-You are a doer more than a prayer book.
- Yes. And when I started construction, another problem came... I even confessed this to the priest... I serve at the altar, and extraneous thoughts come into my head: how much brick needs to be brought, how much sand... I tell the priest: “I’m confused in my head - about all sorts of nonsense I think, just not about service!..” He says: “This is due to our weakness... It’s not a problem that you think about construction: construction is your obedience, so your thoughts are occupied with obedience. But you won’t have something to do, and things will pop into your head that God forbid...” Nevertheless, I try to pray. But here, too, I must say: I remember spiritual advice, which I heard when I was a beginner... They then told me: “You really shouldn’t rely on your prayer.” - “How to understand this? Why shouldn’t I pray?” - “You need to pray, but think about who you are? You are a sinner. On church prayer hope it will be more accurate. Ask your brothers for their prayers, from priests, from righteous people - and little by little they will beg you. But pray yourself, work yourself, don’t despair.” And since then I have been trying to do both work and prayer at the same time, because I know: if I build a temple, it means that the brethren are praying for me, and God hears their prayer and gives me grace. How? It happens that you are exhausted from work - it is at such moments that the Lord helps. Last year, for example, the Lord vouchsafed me to go to Jerusalem. I visited Jerusalem, Nazareth, Bethlehem and gained such grace there that I had enough for another whole year. And last year my soul became sad again. I say: “Father, that’s it, I can’t!” And the Lord took it and controlled it so that I ended up on Athos. He was on Mount Athos, in Greece, in Meteora, and served as a deacon in Bari with St. Nicholas. And again I brought so much grace...
- I, Father Gerasim, told you about Roman Rudin, a prisoner from the “Black Dolphin”... He wrote to our newspaper, accused the whole world of his own sins, complained that they had treated him unfairly - with him, who killed four people with his own hands!..
- Maybe he just doesn’t understand something? If he read the lives of the saints, his head would become clearer. Where do we draw spiritual strength from, if not from lives? Without spiritual reading, an Orthodox person cannot rise. He also needs to meet this church man, whom he would respect. Or can he only respect himself?
- I think he only loves himself.
- Well, you just need to stop communicating with such a person! Or maybe he is sick? If a person doesn’t listen to anyone, doesn’t respect anyone, if he notices only himself in the whole world, then this is actually a sign... Doesn’t he have a confessor, doesn’t he have a spiritual mentor?
- Well, I really doubt it...
- Then what to talk about! Then I am absolutely sure that the devil is trying to impose his will on him. I think that in this case this person needs to be even more strictly protected from communication with others. Or, perhaps, prescribe him an appropriate course of treatment?.. Or, if possible, find a confessor - a person who will be able to explain something - since this guy does not understand human words.
- Father Gerasim, dear!.. You cannot impose a confessor, you know.
- Well, just introduce me: if the confessor is real, he will immediately be able to touch the soul, - your prisoner will be drawn to him... And from myself, I would tell this Roman this... I hope these words will be useful to many. I was not a monk before, I was a criminal serving a sentence... I languished in captivity - and, of course, I was eager to be free: I wish I could be free! I wish I could! quickly!.. And now I understand one amazing thing: for Orthodox man, especially for a monk, it is much easier in prison than even in a monastery. This is often true. Yes, imagine: often! I would even be glad to change places with him. Much worse than the most severe imprisonment is to suffer from the passions that devour us: that’s what’s truly painful, that’s what I wouldn’t wish on my enemy. I want to convey this to Roman and all your readers.
- Thank you very much for the conversation, Father Gerasim. I must tell you that I found something soulful in your words. It was not in vain that this meeting took place, not in vain!
***
...And Father Gerasim also writes poetry. For example:

Volga! How much have you hidden within yourself?
Childhood barefoot beauty!..
Free spaces beckoned
Loud childish voices.
Volga! That's a lot of willpower!
Volga! This is a song for the soul!
But I had to drink a bitter share
From a well in the camp wilderness.
It's a pity if life goes on without meaning,
If bright days contrary.
Why does everyone see me only as a wolf?
Will life take a turn soon?
But if God saves the tramp,
If I am destined to be free,
I'll lie down on the shore like a boy,
I will kiss the Volga and drink.

And then we met nun Pavlina, a resident of the Romanovsky metochion, with whom we have been friends for many years. And our friendship is special, monastic: I send her patristic books, “blades of epics” by chance or by mail, sometimes I write short SMS congratulations, and she prays for the sinful servant of God Alexander.
We walked past the apiary to sit somewhere comfortable and talk, and I was stung painfully by a guard bee. But we still talked.
And she came to the monastery, where there were no bees, but the heat seemed to press down to the ground. And we also talked from the heart. I brought a small fan with a clothespin for my friend, and I probably couldn’t think of a more useful gift for the hot summer again. Now, God willing, we will meet in the coming year...
P.S. I receive unexpected news from Mother Ioanna (Smirnova):
From the resolution of the diocesan council of the Ivanovo diocese dated December 9, 2011.
“The abbess of the Vvedensky convent in Ivanovo, Abbess Maria (Perepecha), must ensure the creation of a male monastic community in one of the monastery farmsteads by January 10, 2012;
include in the composition of this community all male persons (clergy, monastics, novices and workers) currently living on the territory of the monastery; Appoint the confessor of the monastery, Archimandrite Ambrose (Yurasov), as the senior clergyman of this male monastic community; To accommodate clergymen during their seven-week rotation in the monastery, the abbess of the Vvedensky convent in Ivanovo, Abbess Maria (Perepecha), must prepare a place of residence outside the monastery fence.”

Nun Ioanna: “I’ll explain - the order of Bishop Joseph.
The formal reason was that Hierodeacon Appellius allowed the teenager (with the consent of his parents) to spend the night in the monastery. The hierodeacon was transferred to another monastery - a men's monastery. And all of us...
Now we won’t be able to accept you either - entry is prohibited to all males.” Well, my many years of trips to my favorite monastery are over...

TO THE FREE WILL (TO THE SAVED PARADISE). It is said to the one (or about the one) who acts in his own way, without listening to advice, someone else’s arguments. - Eh, gentlemen! And I was just planning, contriving, planning to ask you for a cup of tea, and for Robertik... Well, what to do, free will, they say, heh! heh! heh! Grigorovich, Country roads. The inspector turned to Kartashev and, pointing to Borisov, said: “With this gentleman I’ll tell you I advise you to stay away... “He thanks you for your advice,” Borisov answered, “and asks you to allow him to be guided by his own considerations.” The inspector replied: “You are free.” Garin-Mikhailovsky, Engineers. . You can’t force him to forcibly collect Peter’s things. Mamin-Sibiryak, Ava. Do you want unity? Recognize the unconditional renunciation of liquidationism, the “struggle for an open existence”, recognize loyal submission to the majority. Don’t want it? - free will, but then don’t cry if in a few months you will be left completely without workers if you no longer become members of the party, but “near-cadet” intellectuals. Lenin, vol. 24, p. 312.- Free will. I'm not going to detain you! Dymov left. Karpukhin looked after him gloomily until Dymov disappeared behind the “candle”, near which Vadim’s team was busy. E. Vorobyov, Heights. - Have you already left? - Larisa asked sadly. “You promised... - A smoke break,” Matvey announced briefly. “Well, look,” she continued quietly." It was in Penkovo. Lebedev threw the savings book on the table. “In the morning the savings bank will open, you can get it. If you want to leave, you are free to do so, but I would advise you to stay.” N. Leonov, There are no free cakes. Moreover, in all disputes on your face and in your spontaneity such a ulterior thought was expressed and very clearly: “You may not believe me, you may not agree with me, the free will, the saved will have heaven, but in that case you are a vulgar.” Belinsky, Letter to M.A. Bakunin, Oct. 12-24, 1838. Nadezhda Nikolaevna looked at me carefully. “That’s how it is!” she said. Well, the free will, the saved, heaven. If you don’t want [to drink], you don’t need to. I’ll be alone. Garshin, Nadezhda Nikolaevna .- Please leave me! Chekhov, The Drowned Man.- I have no reason to wonder, we are simple people, and I won’t drink with you. And Barchuk realized that he couldn’t be persuaded. - Well, the free will, the saved are paradise. Stelmakh, Big relatives.
[Varlaam:] Why don’t you pull up and stretch? [Gregory:] I don't want to. [Misail:] Free will... [Varlaam:] And heaven for the drunk, Father Misail! Pushkin, Boris Godunov.
- Initially about the right of free people (not slaves) to enjoy complete freedom. See Mikhelson, vol. 1, p. 118; Maksimov, s. 151.
- Simoni: There is a will for the wave, a path for the walker; Dahl: The free will, the saved is paradise, the wild is the field, the devil is the swamp.