Parable about the Good: 

Accomplished Good and Undone Good

        In a provincial town, situated on the bank of a large river, there was a monastery. An elder, who was revered by many people as a saint, lived in that monastery. His name was Zosima. It was said that wonders happened by his words, that people’s lives changed for the better, and the souls became transformed!
        One wealthy merchant, whose daughter was miraculously healed by Zosima, built a free hospital in that town. A lot of people came from far-off places to have a conversation with the elder, to ask for his advice. The help of God came to many through the words and actions of the elder and a large number of people, after conversing with him, changed their lives before the Face of God, trying to do good…
        Yet another life existed in the same town. There were bars with drunken parties and murders. There were also those things that should not even be mentioned… And people multiplied their woes because they did not know the meaning of lives of souls in the bodies… They did not even think about this!… People — by their unjust lives — caused harm both to themselves and to others. And they passed by, without looking at other people’s troubles and did not think about what they were doing…

* * *

        Once a young woman came to that free hospital.
        In a reception room, she said that she needed to talk with the most important doctor.
        A nurse who kept records said in response:
        “You, my dear, must not go to him! We have another doctor for pregnant women! She is also very good, so you have nothing to worry about! She came here from the capital! Doctor Fyodor is very busy! He is a surgeon and performs very difficult surgeries. Now he has a heavy patient. So we shouldn’t distract him!
        “No, I must talk with him,” — the young woman said, dropping her eyes. — “I can wait…”
        “All right, I will book for you an appointment with him. What’s your name?”
        “Nadezhda Veresova.”
        In this moment, a tall handsome and broad-shouldered man in a white coat appeared in the doorway.
        “Doctor Fyodor, you are just in time. Here is a woman looking for you!”
        “Okay, let’s go to the room!
        “Sit down. I’m listening to you! I hope it will not take too much time. I have a surgery soon.”
        Doctor Fyodor sat in front of the woman and looked at her.
        She, embarrassed, was crumpling the ends of her shawl, which covered her shoulders and very big belly.
        “I need an operation, I cannot give birth to this child… I will lose my job at a hotel of Taisiya…”
        She forced herself to say these words, turning pale and blushing, since it was well known that the so-called “hotel” was a famous place in the town where carouses took place. And, undoubtedly, the doctor knew this.
        She expected a reaction of condemnation and contempt for her words, but it didn’t happen. The doctor was looking at her calmly, so Nadezhda continued:
        “I went to Angelina. She always helped every one of us in such situations. But she sent me away, saying that it was too late and that she was not a killer…”
        “So you came to me as to a ‘killer’, didn’t you?”
        “No… I’m not saying this… Forgive me, please, forgive me!… But I have no choice! Help me!… I thought that he would really marry me, that a new life — different and pure — would start for me… That is why, I waited for so long!… I supposed that he was deceiving me. He just did it on a bet with his friends… I didn’t want to admit this… And now… I even saved some money! I’ll pay you! if it is not enough — then I will give you more later, how much you will say…”
        “My dear, do you understand what you are suggesting to me? You offer me that which is contrary to my conscience and for which I will be put into jail! Do you want this hospital to be shut down after I commit this crime? Do you want me to take the life of this child who may be born very soon probably?
        “Besides, you wanted this baby!…
        “There are other ways out! You said that you had saved some money; this means you will have enough for the first time…
        “I’m not good at carrying on edifying conversations. But I have no right to do what you are asking for! I simply can’t do this and do not want to…”
        At that moment, someone knocked at the door:
        “Doctor, we are ready for the surgery! We are waiting only for you!”
        “Yes, I’m coming!”
        “Sorry, I’ve understood this… Sorry…” — the young woman whispered with her lips that turned pale and went to the door…
        Doctor Fyodor started walking towards the operating room with a fast pace, but suddenly the voice of the elder Zosima sounded inside him:
        “And who will be responsible for the good that you haven’t done?”
        Doctor Fyodor looked back at the exiting woman.
        He understood her thoughts. He dealt many times with those who were pulled out from the noose at the last moment or saved after self-poisoning…
        He turned back and, with a brisk pace, came up with the departing woman, took her shoulders and slowly turned her around. He saw her pale, but very beautiful face, her hopeless eyes…
        “Wait! Listen to me! Now I have no time, but promise me that you will wait for me here. After the operation, we will talk. Or shall I lock you up so that you can’t do anything bad to yourself? We will find some solution! Be sure! If you want — I’ll allow you to work here: to clean, to take care of the sick… There are no hopeless situations, but just spiritual blindness! And life is given to us by God for a very important purpose! And we need to find that important purpose and accomplish it! You are so young and beautiful! You must understand this right now! Sit down here — and wait for me! And do not try to leave!”
        “I’ll wait…” — Nadezhda whispered in a trembling voice, and tears rushed into her eyes.

* * *

        The operation was successful, and the thoughts of doctor Fyodor turned back to the problem posed for him by the young woman:
        “Well, what will happen if I allow her to work here? She will give birth. Then she will try to start love affairs with doctors, with patients… Then she will leave her child and come back to her former life…
        “Will I be able to bring up this child as mine? Will I have strength for this? I myself could not create my own family yet because no woman could accept my way of life, in which the hospital has turned into my most important ‘beloved’…
        “Yet a child requires care and love!
        “Maybe, of course, this woman would change herself, but would she want to?
        “I do not know how to explain such things to people but I should. Right now I must find the appropriate words… The elder Zosima can explain how to find the right way out of a blind alley. Once he saved me too…”

* * *

        Memories flooded doctor Fyodor:
        It was ten years ago. He was a young and very successful surgeon in one of the famous clinics of the capital. But suddenly a patient died on the operating table…
        Fyodor was not officially accused by anyone. His colleagues tried to comfort him, saying that this happens to all doctors, that it is their inevitable life experience…
        But Fyodor could not stand it. He left his job and moved out of the capital to a place where no one knew him… There he began to drink incessantly… It was the end: no vestige of hope was left, darkness was from all sides…
        He didn’t remember who told him about the elder, but Fyodor suddenly decided to visit him.
        When he came to Zosima, he expected to hear some comforting words, to receive the forgiveness of his sins…
        However, he heard something opposite:
        “Do you ask to forgive your sin? But who will answer to God for the good that was not done by you?”
        … Fyodor again recalled clearly with details everything that happened then. He bluntly said:
        “I killed a person…”
        He poured out these terrible words and lapsed into silence… He felt pity for himself and for his ruined life…
        “Yes… How could you be a good doctor if your hands are shaking because of vodka…” — the elder replied quietly.
        Then he looked so kindly into his eyes — as if he addressed a man who had worked as a doctor, who had seen a bright future ahead and dreamed about saving people…
        “How do you know that I’m a doctor?”
        “No, you are no longer a doctor! You are now like a coward who pities himself and who has betrayed his work!…”
        “I have come to get your advice, but you….”
        “I’m just telling you the truth! Are you scared of it? Are you drinking vodka in order not to see the truth?
        “If we start covering with vodka every one of our sins — a multitude of even more terrible sins would only grow!
        “Will you listen to me or have you just come to get some consolation from me?”
        “I came to confess… I don’t know how to live with such a sin…”
        “Then confess: what do you think your sin was?”
        “It was my mistake! If I had not made this mistake — that person would have survived!… But he… died right away…”
        “And if you had not performed that surgery — would he survive?”
        “No, he would die too… But not right away…”
        “… He would be dying for a long time and in agony…”
        “Maybe. But if I had done everything alright — he would have survived and would have been healthy… So it turns out that I am a killer.”
        “God determines the time when the soul should leave its body! And you, as a doctor, had many chances to see how patients who should not survive according to all medical rules survived and recovered! Or, vice versa, a patient who should recover died suddenly because his or her heart had stopped or something similar had happened. Sometimes even healthy people die and sometimes even terminal patients recover.
        “Nothing happens without God’s Will for this! This Will is carried out, among other ways, through different — good or bad — people: through their work, their feats, their crimes or their errors.
        “The feeling of one’s own guilt is useful for the soul since regret comes in this way. Yet afterwards this person should keep living and correcting that which can be corrected!
        “But if, instead of this, one digs a grave for oneself out of one’s own guilt and put a tombstone on it, it will be great harm both to this soul and to everyone around.
        “People are accustomed to blaming themselves only for that evil which they have done. But we also must answer to God for that good which we might have done but didn’t do!
        “So decide now: the Lord will be able to bring many people who need your help to you if you overcome your weaknesses and your pity for yourself and begin to do again that service for which you were called!”
        … Fyodor saw some pictures floating in front of him: many people — children, young ones and old ones — become healthy thanks to him…
        Zosima continued, as if he knew what Fyodor had seen with the eyes of the soul:
        “They all are people who will die before the term if you do not come back to your work! Your fault before God will be great if you do not save those to whom you could help but wouldn’t do this, because you have left your most important service!
        “Now you can easily ruin yourself by drinking and indulging your worthlessness! It is easy for you to betray your vocation! It is much easier not to change yourself, leave everything as it is and cry until the end of your days since ‘everything is so bad’! But it is similar to the situation when one does not treat a disease of one’s body! In this case, this disease will inevitably become worse and worse! As a result, this body will die soon!
        “The same happens when someone does not treat a disease of the soul.
        “This problem then will remain unresolved even after the death of the body because the soul is immortal, and it will have to hold the answer for its life before God!
        “If you do not transform yourself and do not save yourself from such fatal flaws as fear, sadness, lack of willpower or others — your destiny will become worse and worse!
        “No matter how strongly someone tries to ignore the problem put before that person by God, he or she inevitably will have to understand it and resolve it in the future!
        “Hurry to help yourself and others! Don’t spill in vain the ‘water of life’ given to you by God for important service!
        “People think that only the evil that they have done is a sin before other people and God. But the undone good is also a sin!
        “For example, one man is drowning in a river, and another man capable of helping him sees this. If he doesn’t save a drowning man, then without a doubt the undone good will result in death.
        “Another example is when some children are suffering from hunger in a nearby house or when a cruel person does an injustice.
        “If we look around with attention — we will see so many woes of people! Those woes they carry inside themselves or create and multiply around… Souls are drowning in their woes! Some people see those woes, some don’t… When we live being concentrated only on our own sorrows, we do not see suffering around us, suffering that we can relieve!
        “On the contrary, when we seek to help others, God’s Help comes to us!
        “Still we shouldn’t do good foolishly, but with discernment! We need to learn this discernment! Maybe, during our entire lives we have to master it!…
        “To do good doesn’t mean only to pull someone out of a river or heal some terrible disease. Sometimes even a word said in time can prevent someone from committing a terrible deed! Sometimes we just need to listen silently to someone, and this person will understand even without our help where the good is, where the evil is, and where the truth or falsehood is!
        “Jesus could speak with people in that way.
        “God can help someone rise even from the very depths of vices and sins! For example, Paul the Apostle was a murderer and persecutor of Christians. But he recognized God in Jesus, Whom he heard once, and managed to change himself!
        “There is the highest purpose in our lives: to rise to the state of Christ!
        “Not everyone can start living like this immediately, but everyone can try to cleanse and transform oneself!
        “Besides, everyone has a possibility to help his or her neighbors!
        “Every soul has its vocation in the earthly life. Some can heal diseases, some can build houses, some can teach children, some draw pictures, some compose songs or music.
        “When a person finds that vocation which can bring the most love and kindness to other people — this person becomes happy because of his or her work! And there is a lot of benefit to everyone around from the work of that person, even if he or she only bakes bread or cleans the streets! The one who cultivates land or lays out gardens is also happy and righteous before God! The same is with the one who can hear by the soul the Divine music and tries to convey it to people. The same is with the one who raises children and gives them education.
        “And your lot is to heal people from diseases! And if you do not fulfill this purpose of your life — then it will be your great fault before those who could be saved and rescued through you!
        “Do you want me to help you now?”
        “Yes, I do.”
        “A rich merchant built a hospital in our town. He pays salaries to the doctors and nurses, and everything should be free for all patients. This hospital may become very good if a good doctor heads it. It’s true that here is not a capital and that person would not be able to reap a lot of glory… Do you agree to head this hospital?”
        “I am?… Will I be able to manage it?”
        “Alone — you won’t, but with God’s Help — you will. It won’t be easy! But it may become good! Additionally, I impose penance on you for your sin: you must never drink any alcohol until your death!
        “Now choose by yourself either you dig your own grave or save others from death!
        “Have you decided?”
        “I will try to fulfill it!”
        “Do you understand what is necessary for all this to be accomplished? God’s Will? Yes. But not only that! Your work, your daily efforts are needed! In other words, by your hands — God can create here many wonderful things!
        “If you do not start this work, then who will do it instead of you?”
        … Fyodor remembered how the elder spoke with him: in some moments sternly, in some moments gently, like a mother with a small child…
        Zosima succeeded in turning him to a new life! He was saved from the hellish nightmare and born again, so to speak! Since then he never drank alcohol! And the faith in himself and in God came back! And the hospital had been working well for ten years already! And hundreds of lives were saved! And how many good people were brought by God and worked now with him!

* * *

        “Lord, help me to find right words!” — Fyodor thought and with a deep sigh went to the place where his morning visitor was waiting for him.
        Suddenly he saw the gentle eyes of Zosima and relaxed completely. Such calm usually descended upon him before difficult operations. In these cases, the rush of thoughts disappeared; everything inside him became gathered into one single state and every action was accurately determined by his intuition.
        He entered the room where Nadezhda waited for him.
        She was sitting near a window, and her face was shining with amazing beauty and tenderness.
        Fyodor realized that she had already made her decision: she would give birth and bring up this child. No matter what he would say now, the main thing was already decided!
        He sat down in front of her. The weariness of the operation receded, but he still did not know what to say…
        She lifted her eyes of amazing beauty and quietly asked:
        “How was your operation? Is everything all right?”
        “Yes, I hope that everything will be all right.”
        “I, too, will be all right!” — she said smiling affectionately to something new, yet unknown and beautiful. — “Thank you, you helped me a lot! I will find some job by myself! I will sew at home or find something else…
        She smiled again gently:
        “I will go…”
        “Wait a minute! Will you marry me?”
        She looked at Fyodor probably as Mary Magdalene looked at Jesus when people wanted to stone her but He stood up for her…

* * *

        Soon after the wedding, in the family of doctor Fyodor and Nadezhda a daughter was born. She was named Sophia. Zosima baptized her and that is why, perhaps, everyone began to call this girl affectionately Zosya…
        But that’s another story…

Parable about the Temple

       
        There was a small monastery in a provincial town. An elder called Zosima lived in that monastery.
        And the rumor about him reached even the capital. The elder was known because of the Divine miracles that accompanied many of his acts and words, and his advice helped many people to a great extent.
        One day the prior of the monastery, archimandrite Ignatius, received information that a minister would visit the elder. That man was not only a minister, but a person close to the monarch!
        The prior called Zosima and told him:
        “Tomorrow a minister will visit you. You, Zosima, try to do your best! It would be great if he donated money to our monastery, so that we can build a new temple! Don’t let him leave you without this!”
        Zosima lowered his head and said quietly:
        “What are you saying, Ignatius? Why do you think like this? We still do not know if we will be able to help this person, but you already are looking for some gifts of gratitude from him…”
        Ignatius was not accustomed to hearing any objections to his words and replied quite sternly:
        “Are you going to teach me, Zosima? In this way you are caring about the good for the monastery! Do you want to achieve the glory of the disinterested miracle worker for yourself only? Have you forgotten how you came to this abode like a beggar? Do you remember how you were received here kindly in memory of our former friendship? Do you understand that with my permission you live here ignoring some of our strict regulations?”
        “I haven’t forgotten, Ignatius! I haven’t forgotten our friendship! And how you received me — I also remember! I always remember all the good and forget all the evil and bad, as if it hadn’t happened…”
        “So if you remember, then you could repay me and the abode that received you!
        “I know how you act and think! If you had authority, you would give away all the property of the monastery! Look, what a hospital we have built thanks to the donations! But we still don’t have a new temple!
        “This, Zosima, may be the dream of my life — that a new temple will remain in the monastery after my administration! We both are not young anymore, so we need to think about what we will leave on the Earth after us!”
        “I can’t ask him about this… You yourself can tell him later if everything succeeds… You will invite him for a dinner and tell him about your dream.
        “I’ll go…” — Zosima said this even more quietly, almost in a whisper.
        He lowered his head as if in shame and was at the point of walking towards the door.
        “Promise, at least, that you will try to do your best with the minister!” — the prior said, already mildly.
        “Sorry, Ignatius, I can’t promise you anything! All this will depend on that man and on God… You and I are only His servants, only the instruments of His Grace…”

* * *

        The next day a fuss started in the monastery because never before had a visitor of such a rank come there.
        A monk ran up to the elder Zosima and said that the minister had arrived!
        However, Zosima said:
        “Let him wait. Let him sit in the room where everyone waits. God had brought other people before him, so I must listen to them first.”
        “What are you saying, Zosima?! Are you crazy, or what?! This is — a minister! How can you make him wait?! Just yesterday you were informed that he would come!…”
        “And what? A minister is not a human? And what is a human? A soul that lives before God, being dressed in a body… And what grades are assigned to that body is not interesting to God! He differentiates people in other ways! So, let him wait for his turn.”
        “But how can I tell him this? You, Zosima, go and tell him yourself!”
        “I’ve already told him,” — Zosima smiled…
        In fact, the minister was standing at that moment in front of the open door, being accompanied by another monk, and heard everything that the elder, who spoke loud deliberately, had said…
        To the surprise of everyone, the minister bowed to the elder Zosima and quietly said:
        “It’s all right, I’ll wait… God in the next world demands from people other than here, in this world… Show me where I can wait.”
        Zosima calmly prepared himself to listen to his visitors.
        The minister was accompanied to the room where other people were waiting to be received by the elder.

* * *

        The minister had a big and tall body of about a fifty year old or more. He already had some grey hair and was wearing a black frock-coat instead of a full-dress uniform. It was evident that he had been preparing himself for this visit and had been thinking a lot…
        When the monk who accompanied him began saying that he would report to the prior and the latter would make the elder receive him, the minister calmly objected:
        “Don’t! Let him do his work! Don’t disturb him! I’ll wait. How many people each day wait in lines for my audience!… So now it’s my turn to wait in a line for the grace of God!”
        He sat on a bench next to a small wizened old woman of about eighty years old…
        She was knitting a sock very quickly, moving skillfully her knitting needles and at the same time, without even looking at her handiwork, saying tenderly comforting words to her neighbor who was wiping her tears with a handkerchief:
        “Do you remember I told you that they would not send us away?! God is real! And the elder will receive every one of us!”
        The minister was not stupid and understood that “they” wanted to send all the visitors away so that the elder would listen only to him.
        He looked with curiosity at the old woman.
        She also, in response, paid attention to him:
        “Don’t worry, my dear man! I will not delay you! I will be back in a moment! The elder has helped me a lot, and now I only want to give him some socks and mittens so that he could give them to good people!”
        She pointed at a canvas bag full of her handicrafts: small ones for kids, big ones for adults.
        “Do you want, my dear man, that I give you my socks as well? They are warm! You will put them on for the night and sleep very well!”
        With these words, she pulled a pair of wool socks out of her bag and handed them to the minister.
        He took these socks with a slightly trembling hand…
        “Let me buy them! In this way, you will get some extra money,” — he said handing a large banknote to her.
        “What are you saying? This is a monastery, not a market! Take the socks for your health!”
        They were silent for a while, and then the minister asked:
        “Tell me, if it’s not a secret, how did the elder help you?”
        “Yes, many afflictions happened to me… The Lord took all my family, but left me, the old one, here. I was sitting near the graves of my relatives but had no tears to cry… I became grey because of sorrow… I did not know how to ask the Lord to take me to Him as well… It was not possible to live: I had no means for this and what for! But death was not coming!
        “Then one pilgrim took pity on me and brought me to the elder.
        “He taught me how to live joyfully with God so that my relatives in another world would not be sad looking at my tears! He also advised me to get a nanny goat, my Marusinka! This is how we live now. She is my ‘breadwinner’!
        “In the summer, we go together to pick mushrooms, berries, and medicinal herbs. In the winter, I spin yarn from her wool and knit mittens and socks for children and adults. They all are like family to me!…
        “The last time the elder hinted that I would not have to wait too long: I will pass away soon, thank You, Lord! That is why, I hurry to give away all that I have made, for the winter is soon!
        “My neighbors promised to take my nanny goat so my Marusinka will not perish!…
        “Oh! It’s my turn already! I probably have bored you with my talk, my dear man! Forgive me!…”
        She quickly picked up her knitting and bag and hurried to the elder.

* * *

        The minister’s turn came.
        Zosima welcomed him kindly:
        “Come in, Alexei! I am glad that you were waiting calmly! It has helped you already!
        “Now tell me, what is your fear?”
        “It is some stupidity! A shame to say! But I cannot overcome this fear…
        “Once a fortune-teller foretold that I would be killed by a revolutionary terrorist…
        “And now I suspect that every unknown person is my murderer and that this person is going take out a gun and shoot me! Or I see in someone’s hands a suspicious package and immediately think: ‘A bomb!’ I doubled my guard! I fear leaving my house! I cannot sleep because of nightmares!…
        “I’ve already confessed and took communion… I asked to sanctify my house… I went to the doctors… I am taking sleeping pills… But nothing helps!
        “I understand by my mind that all this is nonsense, that one can’t escape one’s own fate! And I know that the death can happen to everyone at every moment and that there is the Will of God for everything!
        “Nevertheless, this fear keeps torturing me! I live like in hell!… Help me! I do not know what I should do!…”
        At this point, the elder suddenly got up and threw something at the minister… This something hit him in his chest…
        The minister, fainting from fear, fell heavily on a bench…
        … He saw his body from above… And the object thrown at him by the elder was slowly rolling across the floor…
        The Living Light — caressing, gentle — was all around! And Alexei was allowed to enter this Light… It was so good there, impossible to express with words!
        Then he felt that something gray, as if a heavy burden, pulled him out of this Light. He saw what this burden, which didn’t allow him to stay in the Light, was…
        He saw his entire life: his significant faults before the Face of God and that good which was already done by him and which could be done in the future…
        … When the minister found himself again in the body, the elder Zosima was standing near him and holding out a cup of water:
        “Drink some, Alexei!”
        The minister started drinking this water in sips, realizing slowly what had happened to him.
        The elder sat down near.
        Words were unnecessary. The understanding was penetrating into the soul.
        They were sitting like this for a long time, being immersed into the silence in which God’s Presence is so vivid. Inside that silence, the understanding comes without words.
        “You will not have this idle and stupid fear anymore since you have known your death. But don’t forget in the bustle of a worldly life what God has shown to you! If you correct the evil inside yourself and do that good which is not done by you yet — then you will live your life on the Earth not in vain,” — Zosima said slowly after a long period of silence.
        “Tell me, elder, what did you throw at me instead of a bomb?”
        “It was the ball of wool yarn that old Matrona forgot here; you see how it served us!” — Zosima smiled tenderly.
        … The minister went to lunch with archimandrite Ignatius.
        And other visitors began entering the elder’s cell again…

* * *

        The minister indeed started trying to do many good things.
        He fulfilled what archimandrite Ignatius had asked him to do and sent a lot of money for the construction of a new temple in the monastery.
        … One day the novice Nicholas, observing the process of the construction of the new temple, asked Zosima:
        “How would you spend this money if it was given to you?”
        “It’s not my affair to decide this! For our prior this temple is great joy! For many monks too! For the congregation it is also important…”
        The elder smiled and added:
        “Ignatius was right: I would never be a good prior of a monastery! I would probably give this money to Aksinya, who once sent you to me. Then she could open an orphanage and a temporary shelter for people in troubles. She can discern people and — through her attention — provide necessary help to everyone.
        “It’s not only through earthly temples that people can come closer to God! The Presence of God can be felt everywhere! And everyone should always fulfill His Will!
        “One of the main tasks of the soul that lives on the Earth consists in building the Temple inside it — the Temple for the Living God!
        “This Temple should be raised in the spiritual heart full of love! In this case, God can live in this Temple built for Him! God lives then in the spiritual heart of such a person! And this person becomes gradually inseparable from God! This soul becomes God’s Soul!
        “Such Souls are Those Who are invited to the Eternal Life!
        “On the contrary, those people who are not looking for God in their earthly lives cannot find Him after the death as well!… It turns out that they have lived in vain: they have pursued wrong things and acted in a wrong way…”
        “Does it mean that their existence on the Earth was completely useless?”
        “God does not create anything useless. Everything has its use and purpose. This is true for the life of every creature, whether it be animal, tree, grass, or ear.
        “Yet the predestination of each being is different, and the benefit that God obtains from their earthly lives is different too.
        “It is important for people to understand the meaning of their lives!
        “People are distinct from other creatures, which cannot understand their predestination, although they have it. In other words, they can’t comprehend what benefit they can bring by their lives…
        “But people can comprehend this!…
        “Here is an example for you:
        “Do you see those people who are building the new temple right now?
        “Among them, there are those who just think about their work as about something during which they carry stones.
        “There are also those who think that they do this work for which they will get some money and live well.
        “Besides, there are those who put their efforts into this activity because they believe that they are building an earthly temple for God, and they consider this as the most important. For this reason, such work brings them joy!
        “Like in this example, we can live, as if we were carrying heavy stones, without seeing the meaning of our lives. And such an existence brings neither light nor joy to us! And there is little benefit for us from it!
        “We also can live doing our work as some obligation, some duty for which we get money: if we work well, we get lots of money; if not, only a small amount.
        “Besides, we can live being aware of the meaning of our lives before the Heavenly Father! In this case, our lives change completely!
        “When we live in this way, we do everything, whether it is a small task or a large one, with love for God! Every day of life then becomes important since each day we put new ‘bricks’ in the construction of us as souls. Each good deed becomes such a ‘brick’!
        “And love grows in our spiritual hearts! And we perceive ourselves more and more before God! Then God becomes for us — during every action — the Assistant, Advisor, and Friend!
        “Then we begin to build the Temple for God — in our spiritual hearts!
        “… Earthly temples are necessary. But they are only symbols that remind us about the fact that God also lives here, on the Earth, and that He is always looking at us. Earthly temples remind us about Heaven, about another life, and about our Heavenly Father!
        “Nevertheless, in any earthly temple, we can stand as an emotionless wooden statue, without feeling the Presence of God.
        “Or it could be the other way around: in every place, where we find ourselves, we feel God in the Temple built in our spiritual hearts. In this case, we are inseparable from God. And the Path to Heaven is open!
        “To transform oneself as a soul, to become the soul similar to a huge burning candle, which shines and scatters the darkness, is also that work which is done for God!
        “It implies to transform oneself-soul into the Fire of God’s Love that illuminates the Temple of the Heart and all the space around!
        “Not everyone considers this as work…
        “But this is the most important work in a human life because it is done for God!
        “… The light of a candle is not big. But hope is born when we look at its light: as if the darkness has no more power in that place where a candle burns…
        “On the other hand, the Fire of Love kindled in the spiritual heart can be huge!
        “… Everyone can live a life of light and joy, illuminated by the love of the spiritual heart!
        “Why does the light appear in the spiritual heart? And why does it happen sometimes that there is no love in the soul?
        “The Presence of God in the spiritual heart kindles the Divine Light in the soul!
        “God’s Love flows from the heart of such a person and begins to kindle other hearts with this Light-Fire!
        “And then the Fire of Love in the souls can become stronger and stronger!
        “Have you heard the word ‘hearth’? People say this about that house where love reigns. Yet this cannot be said about the house where there is no love.
        “People in whom the Love of God has become strong can be the Fire That warms, feeds, and protects everything and everyone around!
        “And it is not necessary for such people to live as one family in one house. It’s possible to build such a relationship with anyone in the same way if we remember that all people are the children of God: brothers and sisters to each other!
        “These people can carry the Light of God and be It!
        “If the Fire of Love burns in the hearts stronger and stronger, then these people cognize what it means to have the Heart of Christ! In this case, they cognize the All-Embracing Love of God!
        “And from that time on the Source of the Inextinguishable Love of God shines in the souls! It’s like the Sun! The Sun illuminates equally all creatures and warms them!
        “Thus the Temples of God should be built and illuminate! And then we should shine from It serving in this way to God and people!”

Parable about Humility and 

Monastic Life

        “… In lowliness of mind,
        let each esteem the other better than yourself.”
        Phil 2:3
       
        “If disgrace befell over you, be glad,
        for if it is unjust, then your reward will be large;
        and if it is just, then, having learned from it,
        you can avoid the retribution.”
        From “Ascetic Directions”
        of Nilus of Sinai

       

        “Those of lowly mind are never in a hurry or confusion; they have no hot and superficial thoughts; but they always stay in peace. There is nothing that can make them amazed, confused, terrified… On the contrary, all their joys are in what is pleasing to the Lord.
        When they touch the forehead to the ground and direct the sight of the heart to the Holiest of the Holy,… they dare to pray only thus: whatever is going to happen to me let it happen by Your will!”
        From “Spiritual Directions”
        of Isaac of Syria

       
        In a small monastery, located in a provincial town situated on the bank of a large river, an elder Zosima lived.
        With the Support of God, he had been helping people for many years, and numerous miraculous healings were carried out by God through that elder.
        Many other things also happened thanks to his work, although people often did not consider them as miraculous signs. Those who talked with the elder obtained faith, hope, and love and learned to live consciously and in harmony with God’s Providence.
        The elder had a disciple — a novice Nicholas.

* * *

        Nicholas once asked the elder:
        “Zosima, why did you decide to become a monk? Have you ever dreamed about having a family and about children? Or from the very beginning you dreamed only about God?”
        “No, not from the very beginning. Everything has happened in my life…
        “Yes, I’ve dreamed about children. But God had made it so that all His children became my children, and thus I had an opportunity to care not only about the children of my own.
        “There are people who live on the Mother Earth like orphans, without feeling God the Father! They live in their loneliness and pray to God, Whom they consider as a ‘Terrible Incognizable Judge’, to be merciful with them! They do not perceive the One with Whom they are trying to talk. They do not feel His Great Love and do not give Him their love in response!
        “It seems that people have forgotten about wonderful opportunities given to them by God! They have forgotten how to see, hear, and understand their Heavenly Father! They have forgotten how to work miracles of God…
        “Why do people live as if God does not exist? Why do they immerse themselves into hell while living on the Earth in their bodies?
        “This happens because they have lost the purity of souls! And in order to return to this purity, one should wish this first!…”

* * *

        At this time, a young novice came to the cell of the elder Zosima. He crossed himself, bowed to the ground, and wished good health to Zosima and Nicholas.
        Then he asked:
        “How can I learn to hear the Voice of God?”
        “You tell him, Nicholas, and I’ll listen.”
        The story about the sick monk healed by Nicholas increased greatly the respect of other people towards him. And many were ready to listen to him, even though he hadn’t accepted a monkhood yet.
        Nicholas began:
        “In order to hear God’s Voice, we should learn to stay in the silence of the spiritual heart; that is, the silence of the mind submerged into the expanded spiritual heart. In this state of the heart, opened by inner love and filled with warmth and tranquility, we understand the Lord! We can ask Jesus to come to such a purified and opened for Him spiritual heart.
        “Initially, a spiritual heart is limited by the volume of the chest of the body. But it is so only at the beginning, while the love of the soul has not learned yet to expand and merge with God’s Love, which has no boundaries!
        “The Heart of God is endless! It contains everything and everyone, embracing them with Its Love!
        “To begin with, inhale and exhale slowly several times. Feel that space in your chest which becomes filled with the air. This is the place where the spiritual heart is located.
        “Try to send love to all creatures of God from this center — towards all directions.”
        “How so? I’ve heard that love can lead to the sin!”
        “That is not love but lust! Real love is a ladder that leads us to Heaven! Love is the lamp of the soul that allows us to see the right path in the midst of darkness and evil!
        “Moreover, we should not consider as lust that desire which appears in a man towards a woman or in a woman towards a man. This desire is destined to teach souls to love and care about each other! For people who live in the secular world, this is a great means that helps them to develop their ability to love!
        “Only the life by one’s own bad desires should be called lust! And it doesn’t matter whether a man has desired a wife of another person, sinful food because of his gluttony, or that which another person can’t give him.
        “Love, as opposed to the lust, is when one thinks, wants and does good for the others, but not for oneself…
        “You can learn to look forward from your spiritual heart so that your sight of the soul will be caressing kindly all that you see — like a ray of sunlight!
        “You can also learn to look back from your spiritual heart, to that space where God can always be seen.
        “When you start seeing the Unearthly Light with the eyes of the heart — come to me or to Zosima. We will teach what to do next.”
        At that moment, they saw through the window how a dead body was transported to the temple for a funeral service.
        The young novice asked the elder:
        “Can you, Zosima, like Jesus, bring that person back to life?”
        “No, I can’t. God doesn’t need to prolong the life of that man in that worn body.
        “You may recall that Jesus didn’t heal everyone and didn’t return all the dead to the life on the Earth. The purpose of His work was not to make disabled people walk and blind people see! He didn’t work either in order to return the souls, which were already given to death, to their bodies! If He only had healed the sick — people would not have remembered about Him for thousands of years. The Power of God was revealed through Jesus so that we could comprehend the Teachings of God and learn to live according to these Teachings!
        “Each one of us is the soul that doesn’t die with the death of the body! This soul can learn to live in Unity with God during the life in its body.
        “Here is a dead body lying in a coffin. It is the same as during its life: it has arms, legs, head, and a heart… But it’s not alive! It is so because God took the living soul out of it!
        “Thus, by God’s Will, the soul is united and separated from its body.
        “Therefore, that is important what a person has time to do while God fills his or her body with life. This depends on what we direct our strength and thoughts.
        “You, for example, want to become a monk. This desire is commendable! But who is a monk? It is that person who lives one to one with God and does everything for Him!
        “You want to hear God’s Words and Advice. It is good! It is important! The easiest way to do this is to start listening to the voice of conscience.
        “Conscience is the manifestation of the Voice of God in us — the very first manifestation. And thanks to an attentive attitude towards it, the Voice of God can become quite clear for us.
        “If we try to ignore the pangs of conscience, do not pay attention to the problems posed before us and act against conscience because of our self-interest — then its quiet voice gradually ceases. And the soul then stops perceiving the problems that are to be solved. In this way a person can fall into the abyss of sins, and then he or she lives without conscience, without God! Such a person is called — unconscionable.
        “If, on the contrary, we listen carefully to the voice of conscience and try to behave in a way that we have nothing to reproach ourselves for — then, quite soon, we will be able to hear the Voice of God, Who is always ready to give us advice!
        “Learn to observe with attention how you live before God! Try to maintain the purity of the soul — and then everything will be easy: you will be able to feel your spiritual heart and later God!”

* * *

        When Zosima and Nicholas stayed alone, they continued talking about a monastic life. They talked about this many times but again touched this theme:
        “Now you should make the choice that not everyone has a chance to make. The knowledge and skills that you already have are gained by others usually only after several years of a monastic life. You, on the other hand, have learned a lot already: you can feel God’s Will and hear God’s Advice. Now you can start doing in the secular world what you have learned from me. You will remain a monk before God, and you will be able to speak freely about Him before people.
        “Soon I will leave this place — and it will be difficult for you to be here: your life can take different courses…”
        “Are you testing me again? My decision is firm: I don’t want to go back to a worldly life. And the austerity of the monastery will reduce pride in me and give me more humility…”
        Zosima became silent, as if he was looking with the inner sight at the path passed by him… He recalled how he was persecuted and humiliated, how he was accused of being attracted to diabolical machinations because he could… hear God! Nevertheless, through those difficulties, he united even stronger with the Will of God…
        He did not tell Nicholas about all this.
        The latter guessed but did not try to clarify. Instead of this, he asked about another thing:
        “May I ask you now why you don’t administer this monastery? You could change many monastic rules… And why don’t you teach other monks that which you’ve taught me?”
        “These are good questions. It seems to me that in the future you yourself will be responsible for everyone in this monastery…
        “As to your second question, I need to explain that in order to teach someone something in the spiritual field — the desires of both parts are necessary: of the one who teaches and of the one who learns.
        “Sometimes it happens that a person comes to the monastery and is accepted there. Because of this mere fact, this person begins to believe that he or she has come closer to the holiness. It seems to this person that avoiding the temptations of a worldly life is a great feat in itself…
        “Often such a person thinks that now the prior will be responsible for him or her before God, that the prior will edify him or her and give the absolutions of the sins and that the life in a monastery by itself will bring him or her closer to God… But this is not true! It’s possible to live in a monastery as in the secular world, being fettered by the passions!
        “Only a person alone can change himself or herself! It is he or she who should cleanse the soul of the vices! Only to that person who lives so, God allows to approach Him! Even if a teacher full of holiness is near, that teacher won’t be able to make clean the disciple who does not keep himself or herself pure!
        “The task of the teacher who can see better the flaws of the soul consists only in explaining what the vice is and how to correct this defect.”
        “You’re right. I also often rely on you more than on myself and on God. I think that I can make mistakes in understanding the Will of God…”
        “… You also believe that I am never wrong and that I will save you from all your errors…” — Zosima added, and they laughed in unison.
        The elder again rejoiced inwardly at the ability of Nicholas to listen attentively to each one of his words. He also was happy that through these words, his disciple not only came to the understanding of the problems of other people, but also found in himself even the smallest traces of wrong thinking. “It was not in vain that God led him to me! It is not in vain that I teach him! Maybe he indeed will manage to perform the true and great service! Maybe later the whole monastery will be under his guidance…”
        They continued their conversation:
        “Many people believe that if someone’s sin is absolved by a priest — then it disappears. But this is not true. And it’s important that you learn to explain this to people!
        “The defect of the soul will disappear completely only when every sinful act provoked by that defect becomes repulsive for that soul! In other words, then that person will stop wanting to do those types of indecent things and will no loner be able to! Only then he or she will be free from that vice or defect!
        “Among our brethren there are those who could master the inner silence with the help of the Lord. They began to learn the heart love. But not all of them have understood that only this is necessary, that only the spiritual heart, opened for God, allows living a truly monastic life! Only the heart full of love allows us to cleanse the souls and to do everything as a service for God!”
        Nicholas listened attentively and then said:
        “But I still can’t always subdue my mind… Sometimes I condemn what is bad. I still have unanswered questions. When I see evil and hear spiteful words, rejection raises inside me!”
        “To see and understand that something is bad is not the sin of condemnation! If you can’t see evil in someone — you can’t help him or her!”
        “Yes, I understand this, but I still can’t discern this totally.
        “In my youth, I saw only the good in people, and many times I was wrong about them and betrayed by my best friends… After that I, on the contrary, started noticing only the bad in people — only the filth and dirt in them. And then despair came, and I even lost faith…
        “Now I am learning to see everyone as you see them. That is, I try not to condemn, but to seek the light in every soul, even if it shines only slightly, and appeal to this light, and not to the darkness of vices that are trying to extinguish it.”
        “Yes, this is exactly what you need to do. It is essential to see all the vices and problems of the soul, but also to find that light which is still shining in it. If we appeal to the best in someone — then there is a chance that this person will feel the Hand of God, always stretched out to him or her! And if that person feels the Presence of God and holds His Hand — then he or she can begin to get out of the abyss of vices. Of course, it will be possible only if this person is capable of understanding the meaning of this work on the transformation of the soul.”
        “I understand all this with my mind. But sometimes I keep condemning others… For example, when they say unfair words about you…
        “Just yesterday our prior called you again… He probably lectured you and humiliated you in every possible way, as he always does! Why do you listen to his accusations, as if they were fair? You never object the slander, said against you! God speaks through you and the miracles happen through you, glorifying this monastery, but you, it seems, even don’t have a right to object?”
        “Don’t judge someone precociously when you don’t know everything about him or her…
        “It is easy to see flaws of that person who is in full view of everyone and undertook to administrate people…
        “Comprehend, Nicholas, nothing ever happens to anyone that isn’t necessary for God! Only those events come to our lives through which we can become wiser and purer or through which our neighbors can realize something important!
        “Even if a person who is reproached unjustly is not guilty, then — through this — others can see their own flaws!
        “But this can happen only when a righteous soul is in the state of peace and gentleness, similar to the smooth surface of a lake in calm weather.
        “On the contrary, when one tries to object and prove one’s rightness — nothing but debate will result from this. And there is little benefit from a debate because the debaters always hear only themselves and try to prove only their own rightness. Even if you hold the objections within yourself and do not say a word — even in this case such inner state will hinder you from helping another person.
        “It is necessary to look at all situations from deep calm and together with God! From this deep calm — the words rise that are proposed by God and that can be said aloud.
        “Moreover, only from the calm that exists in the depths of your expanded spiritual heart, can you perceive God clearly and communicate easily with Him, as well as see distinctively the difference between the good and the evil!
        “… Nevertheless, sometimes there is no reason even to talk with an unreasonable person full of vices: words won’t change anything in him or her… This means the time to understand hasn’t come yet to this person… it’s not possible to help everyone right away…
        “Our prior is a good man: he is strong and persistent. We had been close friends for a long time, dreaming of a pure life before God and of spiritual accomplishments… Afterwards our destinies parted. When I came here, he already had been a high-ranking head of the monastery and already had done a lot here. I, on the other hand, was persecuted by everyone… and had nothing but God in my heart…”
        “So, probably, he accepted you here because of the miracles you perform, in order to bring glory to the monastery?”
        “I don’t think so — he didn’t know about this at that time. I already knew that God could manifest His Power through me, but he didn’t know this fact, yet he helped me…
        “Ignatius is not envious! Still the earthly holds him tight and doesn’t let him go towards the Freedom of God. It’s a pity because he might have achieved a lot, since his power of the soul is great!…
        “When someone has risen high above others — it’s not easy for him or her to start perceiving himself or herself as the ‘small one’ and start learning! It’s not easy for such a person to replace completely his or her own will with the Will of God! It’s not easy to deny everything perishable in oneself!
        “For a person who aspires to live for God, it is also difficult to humble the pride and become the instrument of God’s Providence!”

* * *

        Zosima fell silent for a long time. He recalled what united them in their youth with Ignatius: their high dreams, their desire to serve God… He also recalled how, many years later, he came to the monastery. God then said to him: “This is the place where you will live and work for the Glory of God till the last days of your body. Here you will be able to do a lot of good things!”
        Ignatius then looked at him as at some miserable person that couldn’t manage to achieve anything in life… He began telling Zosima about his important plans and affairs… He did not send the miserable away but allowed him to live in the monastery…
        It was good, although from that moment Zosima had to do a lot of almost useless things for all day long or even work on something completely meaningless…
        During this time he passed through numerous lessons of patience and humility and learned to be in Union with God, no matter what his body was doing. He reaped a lot of benefit from these humility and patience tests.
        Zosima recalled how later Ignatius saw for the first time the Power of God manifested through Zosima.
        At that time, a blind boy was healed. God did this for all to see.
        Ignatius realized what had happened and turned pale…
        Then they talked in private:
        “From what time could you do this, Zosima?”
        “It happened for the first time long ago, about ten years… I didn’t understand then how all this worked… But at present I know the Will of God and follow It relentlessly. And God can do through me what is necessary for His Glory! Without Him, I can’t do anything.”
        Ignatius then assigned a special cell to Zosima and allowed him to receive people. He also allowed him to ignore some rules of the monastery.
        And he himself drifted apart, retired into himself, thinking, ‘God has not given me this…’
        He did not begin learning what he could master.
        Afterwards, there was another moment when Ignatius could make progress…
        Zosima recalled how he hoped that he would be able to help Ignatius to cognize God…
        Ignatius fell very ill then. He was in pain, could barely stand on his legs or speak but did not stop the liturgy…
        After that — monks carried him on their hands to his chamber. However, he did not call Zosima, did not ask him for help…
        Zosima then came himself.
        Ignatius lay on his bed, being pale because of pain. In spite of this, he was suppressing his moans…
        “Is it time to die?” — he asked.
        “No, not now, Ignatius. It is just kidney stones coming out. Soon you will feel better. Forgive me, God does not allow me to remove your pain completely…
        “When you feel very severe pain, recall all the evil that you thought and did, ask God for forgiveness! In this case, together with these stones, all that is dirty and heavy will leave you! You will be well! You will even outlive me! God has sent this to you for the purification of the soul!”
        “Forgive me, Zosima! I was unfair to you… Maybe it was envy… I believed that only I was right and righteous before God… But He works miracles through you, He chose you…”
        All that week, Zosima was with the prior.
        During this time, Ignatius became softer, listened attentively and did a lot…
        But then he again changed. He decided to experience the Power of God in himself; however, it did not work… He tried one time, another time, but nothing happened… And then it was as if a door was shut… He himself chose this: he himself stopped trying to build a new life with God from the very beginning… It seemed that he kept feeling the resentment about his incapacity…
        It is not easy to let only love rule over you! The mind impedes this! Human selfishness impedes!
        In spite of everything, he could have done this…

* * *

        After a pause, Zosima continued their conversation:
        “Ignatius helped me a lot. Thanks to his help, I also could help other people. But I still couldn’t help him much…
        “From our every conversation he obtains a little understanding each time… He also permitted me to teach you! And not just to teach as I teach other people, but to prepare you so that you can replace me when I leave…”
        “What are you talking about? Who can replace you?”
        “Well, replace or not, but you will have to do my work after me!
        “I said many words to people from the peace of the heart, where the Creator dwells. But now to be silent is more appropriate for me than to speak.
        “Sometimes one should first hear the words in order to realize what God’s Love is and how to experience His Great Silence and His Presence in it.
        “And you should learn to speak in such a way that the Silence of the Creator, our God the Father, becomes apparent behind your words. Now you should learn, whether you are speaking or staying silent, to convey the Presence of God to that person who has come to you for advice and help.
        “It can be often heard and read that Jesus — Living and Resurrected — is now with us and that the Heavenly Father is Omnipresent, Omnipotent, and Omniscient! But as long as the soul hasn’t experienced this by itself, as long as God’s Love hasn’t touched the heart, these words will remain just words, repeated over and over again in prayers or in empty sermons…
        “It is important how you keep silent, how you speak, how you listen! All this determines whether or not God’s Presence will reach the spiritual heart of the person with whom you talk, whether or not the door to the innermost sanctuary of the soul will be opened!
        “Now it is your turn to give spiritual help to people. Now you, instead of me, will listen to everyone to whom I’ll point.
        “So many people come every day… I’m tired… I’m tired of human wanting…
        “If they realized that we live not for ourselves but for God — then, maybe, they would come to their senses… But it’s not easy to explain this to people… How much has been said already about the love for our neighbors…”
        Zosima sighed and offered:
        “Let’s go to the garden… People brought me a cherry sapling. Let’s plant it together!”

* * *

        The next day a middle-aged couple came into the cell of Zosima.
        Nicholas sensed that they did not trust him. It was not surprising, since they surely came to get advice from Zosima, and not from a novice whom no one knew!
        However, this didn’t disturb Zosima at all. He greeted them kindly and said:
        “Now you will talk with him, and God will give you advice through him.”
        “But how is that? We came to you…”
        “Not to me, to God!”
        God’s Silence fell upon them all. Soft and transparent Peace embraced them and filled them from inside.
        Nicholas could not figure out whether he could create this state of God by himself or if it was Zosima who helped make God’s Presence so palpable. Maybe it was God Himself Who manifested His Help…
        The visitors started their story:
        “We came here to ask God about a baby. We have been praying for many years but without any result. We still have no children. In the Bible, there are stories when God let people in old age give birth to a child… But maybe we are not worthy of this grace. How can we find this grace? What should we do to deserve it?”
        Nicholas immediately felt what he should say in response. He was picking his words for some time, then said:
        “Why do you want necessarily to have a child of your own? A lot of children are already born; they live in orphanages and don’t have parental care.
        “Take a child from there and bring it up. In this case, you will receive happiness and a child will find caring parents!”
        “We thought about this as well… But what if we fail to love a child that is not our own? What if its character is difficult and we can’t cope with it?”
        “Doesn’t it also happen with one’s own children? Doesn’t it happen so that parents can’t cope with the upbringing of their own children?”
        “We thought the Lord would help us…”
        At that moment Zosima entered into their conversation:
        “God indeed helps, but only when you listen to His advice! Will you be able to accept His Help with humility? Will you be able to help another person?
        “A hundred miles from your estate, there is an orphanage. A girl Tanya of twelve years old lives there. She is thin and a bit sickly. But when she lives with you, she will get stronger in the fresh air! This girl could have been born by you, but you didn’t want children at that time. Now she is an orphan and you are alone… Nevertheless, it’s easy to fix this situation. She can become your daughter…”
        “Maybe we should take a small child so it wouldn’t know that it was adopted. We have dreamed so much…”
        “You’ve come to ask for advice and help from God…
        “Now think and decide by yourself what to do further.
        “Many people are willing to adopt little children. But if you adopt Tanya, this can change a lot in her destiny! It also can change a lot in your life! Everything will begin anew… And what concerns nursing — you will nurse grandchildren…”
        Zosima smiled in a special way. He did so when God allowed him to look at the beautiful future:
        “You indeed will get that miracle about which you asked God! You can do this in accordance with His Will! Now go…”
        The couple bowed to the ground and went.
        Outside the woman quietly asked her husband:
        “Will we go for Tanya right now?”
        Nicholas did not know if he heard those words or just understood what was happening in the souls. But joy and tenderness flooded him!
        “Did it work?” — he asked the elder Zosima.
        The latter smiled gently:
        “Don’t you understand it yourself?”
        “I understood. Still I can’t do it as you do. Until you said it, I hadn’t seen the girl…”
        “Don’t worry! You will learn to penetrate deeply into every situation with the help of God!”

* * *

        Nicholas could not feel God in all the occasions when people addressed him their questions and concerns.
        Only when they were together with the elder Zosima, everything was easy. But when Nicholas was alone and people came to him with their sorrows, he felt that the whole responsibility lay only with him, and sometimes nothing happened! So after a few serious failures, he said to Zosima:
        “It is clear that I am not ready yet! Don’t force me to do something that I am not ready for…”
        Zosima did not object.
        It was hard for Nicholas! He felt unworthy, did not know what to do and suffered…
        One day Zosima handed him a thick notebook with pages yellowed by time:
        “Take it. I haven’t written sermons, and I haven’t written down all that I’ve heard from God. I didn’t think that it would be useful for someone… Still it is something. Maybe it will serve you.”
        Nicholas took it with reverence, thanked Zosima and went to his cell.
        He opened the notebook at random and read:
        “Despondency means the absence of God in your life.
        “If you are despondent — this means that your love for God has cooled and that your love for your neighbor has diminished too.
        “If you keep God in your heart, if your heart generates love, light, and warmth every second — then sadness can’t arise.”
        Nicholas read these words and they scalded him! He thought that he was already firmly established in the field of spirituality, but it turned out he was not.
        He kept reading:
        “Why does weakness appear? Because the will-power has become weaker in a person. The previous aspirations of this person have become less appreciated by him or her. And the most important reason it happens is that this person does not see the need of God for his or her work!
        “How did the Apostles perform their great deeds? They — by Their love for Jesus and the Heavenly Father — opened access for the Power of God to flow through Them! And They directed that Power to those people to whom They were trying to help.
        “They strove to leave for people the knowledge received by them from Jesus!
        “The world of people condemns, judges and punishes…
        “God, on the contrary, does not do so. He loves all His children. He loves even lost ones. And He wishes the good to everyone and is ready to show everyone the Path to the happy life in the Light!
        “This is the essence of the forgiveness of God!
        “Human courts should be on the Earth to stop the evil of those who are blind and deaf because of their hatred and other vices…
        “And what is ‘God’s judgment’? It is when we, perceiving ourselves before God, see our flaws and our future destinies…
        “The one who services God should master God’s forgiveness: God’s unconditional Love, which, like the Light of the Great Sun, flows equally to everyone!
        “For every human soul, sent by God to the Earth, there is a feasible task. And to fulfill this task may constitute a great feat of transforming oneself and all around!
        “Even if the work entrusted by God to the soul is not great yet — it will be very good if one does it happily!
        “It will be fine if, out of the aspiration to do good, we start to act in accordance with the Intention of God!
        “It is important not just to say comforting words to a person. Such words are easily forgotten — and then this person will again start seeking the comfort from other people…
        “Apart from this, we need to see what would be good for that soul and show that person the possibility of resolving with joy and understanding the problem posed by God!
        “Why do you condemn the folly of your younger brothers?
        “Everyone will come to the understanding in his or her own term!
        “It is said, ‘from love to hatred there is one step’. It is not true! The one who can hate one’s neighbor, whom, as one thought, one loved before, did not love that neighbor at all!
        “Love forgives the offences!
        “It is said, ‘God commanded to endure…’
        “And a stupid one will suffer and endure while others are doing bad things with him or her…
        “But the wise will step aside from the evil that they cannot correct and change.
        “If your hands suddenly become dirty — you need just to wash them.
        “There is no need to wait for the dirt to fall off by itself.
        “And don’t ask for the help of God for this.
        “In the same way, it is necessary to keep the soul clean!
        “One should cleanse everything in oneself through one’s own efforts — including the body, the mind, and the emotions! And this cleanliness should be maintained! Without this, it’s impossible to perceive the Most Beautiful One or, in other words, to hear and feel God!
        “How can one rid oneself of the resistance to God’s Will?
        “Sand allows water to pass through it; clay doesn’t. Natural properties of matter are different.
        “Why does the matter of the body become ill? Normally, because bad properties of the soul affected it.
        “It is necessary to transform those soul’s qualities.
        “And then the disease of the body will leave, and the soul will shine with purity!
        “When the soul does not love — it is dying, so to speak!
        “We can lift ourselves out of the abyss of sins, vices, and suffering, and rise, ascend to the life in purity and God’s Love!
        “Silence of the spiritual heart becomes filled with the Words of God — and then the understanding penetrates the soul!”
        Reading again and again these notes of Zosima and recalling everything that he had already learned from him, Nicholas again and again raised the state of the soul to the perception of the Holy Spirit. He was mastering the continuous Union with God.

* * *

        Time was passing, but Zosima still did not call Nicholas to help him with the visitors.
        That day Nicholas was busy, chopping wood for the monastery. He loved such work, and it was delightful to watch his robust and strong body wielding an ax.
        Unexpectedly, he was called to the elder Zosima, who said that there was an important task for Nicolas.
        In the cell of the elder, there was a boy of about fifteen years of age. His right arm was hanging like a whip. It was evident that he had come to ask for the healing.
        Zosima said to Nicholas:
        “Here is some work for you: you can heal Paul!”
        Immediately, Nicholas sensed what he should do. He didn’t need even to think about this for a long time. The Light of the Holy Spirit embraced him like the Flow of the Great River!
        He said cordially to the boy:
        “Let’s go: you can help me to chop wood for the monastery! I stopped this work and ran here.”
        The boy replied sadly:
        “I’m a bad worker: my right arm has been paralyzed for a long time. I don’t feel it at all…”
        “It’s doesn’t matter! We will look at it! Let’s go!”
        While they were walking, Nicholas felt clearly and strongly how the Holy Spirit was flowing through their bodies. He only slightly directed this Flow, Which was coming from the Depths, to the spine of the boy and to his injured arm…
        He was observing those Streams of God’s Light, merged as a soul with Them and heard, as if from far away, how the boy was telling him that he was ashamed of his weakness, that he liked one girl, but couldn’t court her because of his defect… Besides, what can a man do in a village without an arm?…
        When they came to a woodpile, Paul with surprise moved the fingers of his right hand:
        “I have some strange sensations in my hand… Look! Fingers are moving!”
        Nicholas did not give him time to keep thinking about this:
        “If they move — then take an ax! Help me! I am already exhausted! Not like this! Hold it with both your hands! With one hand, you won’t do much!”
        They worked for about an hour, taking turns: working with an ax and then making a woodpile. All this time, God’s Light flowed through their bodies.
        “Well done, my friend! You’ve helped me a lot! We did it quickly together! Tomorrow your arm may have some pain, but don’t worry! It is because it was without work for a long time. Go to a bathhouse to warm up! And ask the elder Zosima to give you some medicinal ointment.”
        They went to the temple. The service had not started yet. It was very quiet.
        “Paul, thank God for your healing!”
        “I don’t know many prayers… Which one should I use?”
        “Say it in your own words! Don’t use a prayer! God hears any words and even thoughts!
        “And remember that since God restored the strength of your arm, you should always do good with it! Never do evil!”
        Nicholas was standing next to the boy and could not find words to express his gratitude to God…
        On the way back to the cell of the elder, they met a kitten. In the monastery, there were a few cats that regularly brought a fair offspring.
        Nicholas took this gentle and purring animal into his arms and said to Paul:
        “Stroke it!”
        Paul gently touched fluffy fur with the palm of his recovered arm…
        “It’s so nice!… Once, when I was a child, I was forced to drown some kittens. I didn’t want to, I cried, but in spite of everything did this. Since then, I had never stroked any cat, feeling guilty before them…”
        “Maybe your beautiful girl will be glad to get such a gift.”
        “Yes, sure! Can I?”
        “Of course! Take it! For the luck of both of you!”

* * *

        When the door of the cell closed after Paul, Zosima praised Nicholas:
        “Well done! And you were saying that you couldn’t work! With God — everything is feasible!
        “But how to determine where the limit of human capabilities is? The reality is the following: when you come to the limit — God opens before you new gates, giving you new possibilities for new achievements. He offers new tasks for the soul!
        “The mind united with the spiritual heart and illuminated by God’s Love cannot anymore be obscured by anything! In this case, God directs the will of the person who entirely devoted herself or himself to the service for God! And each time, those words arise which can help another soul! And the Power of those words is great!
        “God fills those words with His Power through your opened and expanded spiritual heart!”

Parable about Death and Resurrection

       
        In a small provincial town, there was a monastery. The elder Zosima lived in that monastery. He was highly respected by many people for the wonders of God that accompanied his words and acts.
        Yet there were also those deeds of the elder about which only a small number of people knew, and the greatness of those deeds was hidden from the rumors of others.
        The elder was able to nurture and cultivate, softly and gently, kindness and love in human hearts. And then that love blossomed and bore fruits.
        In that town, there was also a free hospital, founded by a rich merchant whose daughter was healed by Zosima. Much was done in that hospital due to the donations of those people whom the elder helped. The head of the hospital was Doctor Fyodor.

* * *

        In the family of Doctor Fyodor, a daughter was growing up. The girl was named Sophia, but usually people called her affectionately Zosia. Perhaps they called her so because the miracle of her birth, known to a few people and related to the elder Zosima.
        Zosima paid pecial attention to the upbringing of this girl.
        When Zosia grew up, she became a frequent visitor of the elder.
        She loved to ask him questions. She loved to listen to his answers or just to sit quietly in that particular silence which always was in the cell of the elder.
        In the last case, everything became calm inside her. Her joy — alive, radiant, and shining to all sides — turned into a special state of tender light, gentle calm, and the concentration on the Presence of God.
        The parents of Zosia dedicated almost all their time and effort to the work in the hospital.
        Playing with dolls or race-and-catch with other children could not capture Zosia’s attention for long. And her role in the life of the hospital grew year after year.
        Just as a ray of sunshine slides and touches gently everything with its warm light and remains pure no matter what it touches but rather, on the contrary, makes everything more beautiful — so Zosia ran through the hospital wards as if she was doing her own ward round. Sometimes she stayed for a long time with one or another patient. Sometimes she told fairy tales to sick children. Sometimes she cheered up adults.
        At first, Doctor Fyodor tried to guard her, at least, from the communication with the severe patients. He wanted to prevent the girl from being scared by the human suffering. But once he found Zosia near a moribund patient, whom he could not help by any medical means. He saw the girl talking with that patient and how the state of that patient suddenly changed…
        That person then told Doctor Fyodor:
        “I was granted God’s mercy: an angel came to me! And now I am not afraid of dying!”
        From that time, it was no longer prohibited to Zosia to visit even seriously ill patients. She was always ready to give water, to call a nurse, or to simply say a kind and gentle word and give a sunny smile.
        When a novice Nicholas appeared in the monastery and was accepted by Zosima as a disciple, Zosia and Nicholas became great friends quite soon. Nicholas taught Zosia to read and write. When she learned this — she was given a special privilege: she carried notes from some patients with their requests or questions to the elder Zosima and delivered his answers back to them.

* * *

        Once Zosia came, as usual, to the cell of the elder and asked him:
        “Tell me why some people are kind while others are not. Why is it so? Isn’t it possible to change something so that everyone becomes kind?”
        “You, Zosia, can look at different plants. Some are strong and healthy; they grow well and turn towards the sun. Others, on the contrary, are stunted. There are also plants with crooked trunks… It depends on many factors: on the quality of the seed, on the type of soil where the seed fell, on the environment in which the plant grew…
        “It is the same with people.
        “Any plant will grow better if we begin to look after it correctly. Yet it’s impossible to make straight the trunk of the tree that grew crooked for a long time…”
        “Yes! I understand! Just now we have such a patient with a ‘crooked trunk’.”
        Zosia thought by herself for some time and then told the elder about the new patient who was causing big troubles to the entire hospital:
        “She is very noisy and shouts at everyone, as if she is the only one in the whole world! She wants everyone to take care and attend only to her! And she considers everything to be wrong: kasha is cooked wrong, a prick is done painfully, the bed is hard, and a nurse doesn’t come quickly! She’s a rich landowner, and she lived alone for many years with a lot of servants who fulfilled her every whim… She is used to the situation when everything was only for her… And she speaks as if a swarm of gadflies is in her mouth! She sees only bad in everything around! She rails and condemns everyone and everything! She thinks that all around her are stupid, lazy, and clumsy! She believes they cannot treat her and do not know how to please her!… This woman was brought to our hospital by her personal doctor because he didn’t know how to help her. And the saddest thing of all is that it’s impossible to help her since she will apparently die soon. Her disease is incurable and her age is very advanced. Nevertheless, she doesn’t even think about the death of her body, as if this can’t happen to her. And we do not tell her either. She causes only problems to people around her…
        “My dad asks how we can help her in this situation.”
        “She has to been told that her time has come… It will be good practice for you, Nicholas! Today you can accompany Zosia and then talk with this woman.”
        Zosia was happy because it was always interesting for her to be with Nicholas.
        Being glad to the promised support, she gave Zosima those notes that she brought from patients.
        “Well, Zosia, let’s get to work!” — the elder said.
        Zosia sat at a desk, took a pen and ink and prepared to write the answers.
        Zosima chose the first note, read it, looked with the inner sight at the destiny of the person who wrote the question, and gave this note to Zosia. She turned the sheet of paper to write the answer.
        Pronouncing words slowly and clearly, Zosima formulated two short sentences. The girl carefully and accurately wrote the words of the elder.
        Thus they answered all the notes.

* * *

        Soon Zosia with Nicholas went to the hospital. That day they still had to do a lot.
        The hospital was close to the monastery. The road passed on a sloping hill towards the river. There was an extraordinary beauty all around!
        Nicholas, who had been inside the monastery walls for a long time, was happy to see the majesty of the powerful river carrying gently its waters, the green hills, and the expanse of the blue sky with light clouds.
        Little and warm palm of Zosia in his hand filled him with tenderness…
        Zosia was walking next to him, being too full of joyous delight:
        “I love this place so much! It is always so beautiful here, during the winter and during the summer… And I always feel so happy when I visit this place! It is as if I can push myself off the ground and fly above the earth! I even play sometimes like this: I imagine that I am a flying bird and can see everything from above…”
        When they came to the hospital, Zosia said to Nicholas:
        “This woman, her name is Lizaveta, I think she is very unhappy. And she is very afraid of death. That is why, she tries not to think about it at all…
        “I also have asked myself whether I am afraid to die or not. Now it seems to me that I will be not afraid if my body has to die. Of course, if it’s not very painful. The soul can’t die…
        “Have you thought about this too?”
        “I’ve thought a lot, Zosia. I believe I won’t be afraid either if God calls me to Him. But how to tell this to another person, I still don’t know…”
        They kept walking in silence. Zosia just squeezed his hand tighter with her own little hand as if trying to show her support for him.
        They entered the ward.
        “Ah, Zosia! You’ve come, at last! You are always not here when I need you! I have been waiting for you for four hours! I want you to read me that book! I sent someone to look for you, but he couldn’t find you anywhere!”
        “Today I am not going to read for you. I brought him…” — Zosia pointed to Nicholas.
        “And who asked you about that? He is going to beg alms for his monastery! I know these people! Do you want my money? You won’t get it! Or do you want me to confess? They can’t heal me! At last, her soul will be saved if she gives all her money to the church? This is what you think, right? I’ll be saved for my money! Yes? And if I don’t donate — then I will go to hell, right? I hate priests!”
        “I can’t confess you, Lizaveta: I’m still just a novice. Zosima sent me to talk with you. And if you, in fact, want to confess and receive communion, it will be easy to organize.”
        “Do you want to bury me here? You are talking as if I were dying!”
        “This is true: your illness is incurable. And when the hour of death comes — God decides… And it is better to be always prepared for this hour.”
        Lizaveta became pale and, with a trembling voice, but quietly and not loudly as usual, asked Zosia:
        “Is it true, Zosia? I know you can’t lie. Is it true?”
        Zosia nodded.
        The silence felt, in which only the heavy breathing of elderly, corpulent woman was heard, woman whose days in this body were numbered…
        Zosia left quietly and closed tightly the door of the hospital ward.
        “Do you want me to leave, Lizaveta?” — Nicholas asked.
        “No… Sit down if you have come. Begin your sermons! But know that you won’t get any money from me!…”
        Nicholas felt the Presence of God and, suddenly for himself, began to speak about how he had come to God. He spoke frankly and simply:
        “I came to this town especially because no one knew me here. I thought this would be a good place to end my earthly life, from which I didn’t see any benefit… I thought that God doesn’t exist since so much evil is all around! And this evil often reigns over the good. And we can’t change anything in this world…”
        Nicholas kept telling her his story about how a good woman Aksinya saved him from such an end, about how she asked him to carry a sick boy to the elder Zosima…
        Then Nicholas spoke about the elder, about the purity of the soul, about Living God…
        He thought that the woman, being shocked by the news of her impending death, was not listening to him at all… He thought she just wanted that someone to be nearby, so that it was not so frightening to die.
        However, everyone crosses the threshold of death alone…
        When Nicholas paused, Lizaveta, unexpectedly for him, asked:
        “So now you want to become like that elder, right?”
        “Yes, I would like to learn to help those who can be helped…”
        “But I see that it is already too late to help me… So why has your elder sent you to me?”
        “For you to have time to do what you still can do.”
        “And what is that?”
        “You yourself need to think about this… I, on my part, would say that the time you still have might be used for a great benefit of the soul. I am not talking about money. You are the one who decides what to do with your own money. You can make a will.”
        They stayed silent for a while…
        “You know what I’ve thought up, Nicholas! I will bequeath all my property to Zosia. Although I am a bad and nasty old woman, I understand something in people: I have seen many of them during my lifetime… Zosia can do good! Do you think God guides her? If you want, I also bequeath some of my money to your Aksinya. You, probably, didn’t thank her for real! Will she be able to manage it correctly?
        “There was little use of my life… So, at least, there will be some benefit of my death…”
        … They continued talking for a long time…
        Because her last hour was close, many things became clear to Lizaveta: what is important and what does not really matter…
        From that day, she changed significantly. She stopped pestering everyone around with her whims and fancies, put in order her earthly affairs, and drew up a detailed will.
        Her state also changed greatly since she perceived herself as the soul before God and began to prepare herself for the transition to another life.

* * *

        One day, when Zosima and Nicholas were alone, the elder said:
        “It’s time for me to leave…”
        He said it quietly but clearly.
        “Where?” — Nicholas did not understand.
        “To the other side… Where Heavenly Father is calling me now…”
        “Why are you saying this? You’re completely healthy!”
        “Why does one always have to leave in suffering and pain? It’s possible to do it happily and being ready for another state of the soul — for the life without a mortal bodily shell!
        “The infirmities of the body are often given to a person in order to facilitate the transition of the soul. In other words, it is done in order to convince the soul of the fact that the separation from the body will be good for it, and in order to stop the soul clinging to the life in the body and turn it completely to the life in another world.
        “But if the soul has subdued the whims of the mind and body and if God is always near — then you can happily accept the death of this mortal shell!
        “Let me go now, Nicholas…”
        “But how? And what do you mean in saying ‘let me go’? Don’t I let you go? And how can I stop loving you and start wishing you death?”
        “You are used to loving me in this body, hearing words that come out from it, feeling God’s Love flowing through my body, embracing this corporeal frame of mine in response…
        “You are saying: ‘I can’t stop loving you!’. But can the death of the body be an obstacle for love? When I leave, will you stop loving me? And I won’t stop loving you either.
        “Why do people shed tears when the body of a person they loved dies? Because they do not see the soul, can’t hold it, can’t talk with it… They understand the death of the body… as separation.
        “Another case may be when they feel sorry for themselves because they have stayed alone…
        “However, for the early Christians, for example, the death was not a tragedy, as people often perceive it now! They expected the happiness of the reunion of the soul with God beyond the threshold of the death!
        “They were waiting for this union with God, Whom they learned to love with all their heart! They learned to love Him more than everything else in their earthly lives!
        “The first Christians accepted the baptism not because everyone around was baptized and it was the tradition! In those times, all people around, on the contrary, lived in other traditions… Those who wanted to receive the baptism did it because they wanted to build their lives according to the Teachings of Jesus! They wanted to live in the new spiritual purity and beauty, keeping the commandments of Jesus!
        “You have already learned a lot, and when I leave — you will learn even more… Love that exists between us will teach! God will teach!”
        “How do you know that it’s time?”
        “God said! He is calling me…”
        “Should I tell this to the prior?”
        “No, don’t tell anyone…”

* * *

        Someone knocked at the door…
        “Here’s our joy! The Lord has led Zosia to us!” — Zosima smiled.
        The girl ran into the cell, shining with radiant joy, freshness, and tenderness! Locks of white-goldish hair came out from under her kerchief… She was holding a basket full of cranberries in her hands…
        “I brought you some berries! I picked them by myself! Look how many!”
        Zosima took some berries. He ate slowly, with a blissful expression on his face, as if taking his last communion. He embraced the girl tenderly:
        “Thank you! You’ve made us happy with these delicious berries!…”
        Zosia wanted to leave all the berries to Zosima and Nicholas, but the elder objected:
        “Please, leave only some for us. You can put them into the plate. And carry the rest to the hospital. Tell them that the elder ordered thus: these berries will bring health to them.”
        They were sitting together for a long time, surrounded by the Presence of God. There were no conversations or questions… It was as if they, as souls, embraced one another!
        When Zosia was about to leave, the elder said:
        “Tell your father and mother that tomorrow they will hear the news and that they should accept it with great joy. Will you remember it?”
        “I’ll pass it word for word! You’ve taught me how to remember important words exactly! So, then I go?”
        “Go, Zosia… Go with God!”

* * *

        Zosima died…
        This news quickly spread around the small town…
        Nadezhda, the mother of Zosia, could not hold back her tears. Her husband, Doctor Fyodor, was stroking her head, embracing her tenderly. Nadezhda kept saying through her tears:
        “How it is possible? Zosima died… He was absolutely healthy!…”
        Their daughter ran up. Nadezhda, wiping her tears with a handkerchief, said:
        “Zosia, the elder Zosima died yesterday…”
        Zosia stood still, as if a radiant golden sun, which always tried to finish all its affairs in constant motion, stopped its movement for a while:
        “So this is what he was talking about yesterday. He said that you would receive some news and should rejoice… I did not understand then…
        “Mom, dad! He knew about this yesterday! And he wanted you not to cry about him, because he is with God and should feel good! And we should be glad for him!”
        With these words, Zosia embraced her parents with great warmth and love, as if she were older, wiser, and stronger than they were…
        Fyodor lifted her in his arms, and the girl hugged again her most beloved people. They stood in silence for a long time, embracing each other.
        Then they went home…
        Influenced by non-childish words of their daughter, Fyodor and Nadezhda were looking at their Zosia.
        Nadezhda said:
        “Don’t you feel sad, Zosia, that you will never come to the elder’s cell? To whom will you ask your questions now?…”
        “It's a bit sad…” — Zosia replied. — “But I think he will find how to answer my questions so that I could understand! When I was very small and silly — he always invented new ways to explain to me in such a way that I would understand. And now he will think up something!”
        “Mom, dad! Look! Here is he walking next to! He consists of Light!
        “Do you know what he is saying? He is saying: ‘God is always near us! And God will answer all the questions, we just need to learn to love and listen to His Advice!’
        “It turns out that now I can hear and see him! But… why then do people say that he died?”

* * *

        The spring came and all the trees in the monastery garden bloomed simultaneously. They were covered with white and pale-pink flowers. Fragrance! Peace! Wondrous beauty!
        Nicholas was standing in the garden near the cell of the elder Zosima. Tomorrow he would take monastic vows and then continue doing what Zosima did.
        The prior, archimandrite Ignatius, believed firmly that all that had been done by Zosima should be continued. So Nicholas must receive the visitors, listen, and give advice…
        … He recalled how Zosima taught him to communicate with the visitors… Yes, he knew how to do some things already. But it was easy when Zosima was near. In that time, Nicholas knew that Zosima would not allow him to make mistakes that could cause harm. He corrected him and let him know if something went wrong… But now? Will I manage to do everything without Zosima?
        Or Zosima is here, but just can’t be seen?
        Nicholas thought about this, standing near the cherry tree, which they planted once with the elder. He admired its flowers, which appeared for the first time in the life of the tree, and stroked its still tiny trunk. There was no sadness in him. There was warmth in the heart, as during the conversations with the elder.
        He recalled what they were talking about while planting this cherry tree.
        Zosima said then: “When it flowers, I will not be here!”. He said it so happily!
        “So you can’t see it, right?” — Nicholas asked being upset.
        “I think I’ll see it! Why would God create the beauty in this world if He could not see it by Himself from His Abode or in some other way?…
        “Pythagoras, for example, called the whole universe with the word ‘cosmos’, which in Greek means ‘beauty’, ‘harmonious order in the world’!”
        “Have you read the works of the ancient Greeks?”
        “Yes, of course. And I got a lot of benefit from them. Many sages before Jesus wrote about God and about the purity of a human life. And, probably, people strive for virtue less right now because only a few of them read these works…
        “By the way, what is virtue? It means to do good and implies good thoughts, good words, and good deeds!
        “Did you really think that I had read only one book in my life?” — Zosima laughed youthfully and joyfully and continued:
        “I believe that those people who help God to create beauty on the Earth won’t be deprived of the opportunity to see it… However, it’s not so important! Great and wonderful blessings await those to whom God allows approaching Him! So, we have to work to multiply the good and create the beauty in actions and in souls… In this case, we will be worthy of entering the Kingdom of the Heavenly Father!”

* * *

        At this time Nicholas was called:
        “Some people have come with a blind boy. They do not want to go back: they don’t believe that Zosima is not here anymore…”
        “They are right when they don’t believe this!” — Nicholas replied happily. — “Call them!”
        A young, slim, beautiful, and richly dressed woman was walking towards the cell, holding by the hand a boy of about ten or eleven. She behaved as if she was trying to make every step instead of him so that he wouldn’t stumble or strike.
        Seeing a broad-shouldered well-built man in a dress of novice instead of a gray-haired elder, she made a displeased gesture…
        Nicholas invited them to enter the cell, saying:
        “Let’s talk for a while. Come in, sit down.”
        The woman made her son sit on a bench against the wall and sat herself. She directed her eyes towards Nicholas, but looked somewhere else, not at him. Finally, she said:
        “Well, speak if you know what to say…”
        Nicholas felt the state when the Light of the Holy Spirit allows seeing the souls and all that is happening to them.
        He saw that she came to ask for a miracle, but she herself didn’t believe in the healing Power of God and was a barrier to the healing of her son…
        He looked at the boy once more and saw that he felt sick, unhappy, and never dared to make a single step without support of adults… He couldn’t be healed right now… But his disease will go away quite easily if they change this situation…
        How to find right words to help her understand? She doesn’t want and is not ready to hear the advice… She wants the saint elder…
        Nicholas internally asked God to help these people and then entered more deeply in mergence with the Divine Light.
        At this moment Zosia ran into the cell — and it was as if the sunlight began playing and sparkling all around.
        She bowed and asked pardon for interrupting the conversation.
        “Zosia, can you play with the boy in the garden for an hour while we are talking with his mother?”
        Zosia happily agreed at once:
        “What’s your name?”
        “Kostya.”
        Kostya’s mom, like a bird that protects its baby with its wings, looked at the girl anxiously and said:
        “He is blind! He can’t see at all! Take care of him, please, so nothing bad will happen to him…”
        Zosia came to the boy confidently and took his hand.
        “Don’t worry about him! Everything will be all right!”
        Then she said to Kostya:
        “Come on, I’ll show you something!…”
        “How are you going to show me something when I can’t see?!…”
        “You will find out! Let’s go!”
        Kostya’s mother anxiously watched the children leaving…
        It took a lot of effort to make her not only hear his words, but listen.
        At first, he asked about the boy’s illness and found out that he lost his sight after he had slipped on some wet logs and hit his head. They went to many famous doctors, who said that although his eyes were not damaged, they couldn’t recover his sight…
        Nicholas himself saw with the developed vision of the soul that the damages of the nerve endings could be healed only with the help of God, and not by medical means… Yet he was not allowed to do this right now…
        Then Nicholas said that it was possible to return the sight to the boy. But for this it was necessary to change that “hothouse” style of life in which he was under the continuous care. To strengthen his body, it was necessary to teach him to swim, to run, to ride a horse… And the most important thing for Kostya was to begin to take care of others. Thanks to this, he would stop feeling unhappy, weak, and terminally ill, but, oppositely, would start doing everything he could, pushing himself to the limit. And the adults should try to raise the level of this limit more and more each time. And then…
        It seemed that the conversation was over…
        Yet Nicholas knew that he should say or do something else so that the words he said would really touch deeply this woman.
        Zosima, in such cases, usually gave some simple advice: “You have to do this and that”…
        Nicholas started examining the options: “To advise them to acquire a dog and it will become a friend to the boy… a horse may be even better… Probably, I need to ask the boy himself right now…”
        He opened the door of the cell and called:
        “Zosia, Kostya!”
        In the garden, happy children’s laughter was heard.
        “Come on, catch me!” — Zosia was running, and Kostya was running after her, avoiding confidently the trunks of the trees!
        Zosia, having heard the call, yielded and Kostya caught her!
        They walked side by side… without holding their hands!
        The boy’s eyes couldn’t see yet, but the miracle had already happened!
        Kostya entered first and went to his mother:
        “Mom, Zosia taught me to look and see in a very special way: with the soul! We even played tag — and I caught her! Now I can see you too! She said that I would be completely cured soon, because if the soul obtains the sight, then the eyes of the body also begin to see. Zosima taught her so!”
        Kostya’s mother burst into tears and hugged her son, while he kept trying to explain to her how splendidly Zosia taught him.
        “Here is a miracle.” — Nicholas thought and smiled happily…
        Later, when everyone calmed down a bit, Zosia said to Nicholas:
        “My dad sent me to you. Two days ago, we found a girl of about two years at the entrance of the hospital. She was abandoned. There was a note with her, saying that her parents died and no one wants to take care of the child. Her name is Olga. She is pretty and has blue eyes, golden curls, and a beautiful smile! The only thing is that she hardly speaks: she knows only a few words. Apparently, no one talked often enough with her.
        “My dad asked to find good parents for her to avoid giving her to the orphanage.”
        Then Zosia suddenly became radiant of joy because a great idea came to her mind:
        “Kostya, would you like to have a sister? Madam, the girl is so nice, healthy! My dad examined her, and he is a very good doctor! Let me show her to you! Do you agree?”
        Kostya’s mother, being astonished by all that had happened, agreed at once. Kostya said confidently that he would teach Olga to speak, so they should definitely take this girl.
        Zosia happily led the new mom and the brother to look at Olga…
        Nicholas knew that everything had connected perfectly in this chain of destinies guided by God. He sighed happily and thanked God for His wonderful care manifested through Zosia!
        Then he came out of the cell into the silence of the garden, where just a few moments ago the children’s voices sounded joyfully.
        He began to think about how much he couldn’t do yet…
        And then he saw gently smiling Great Face of Zosima consisting of Light. The elder said:
        “Work hard, My son! You already are doing everything very well with the Help of God!”

Recommended Literature

       
        1.    Antonov V.V. — Spiritual Heart — Religion of Unity. Bancroft, “New Atlanteans”, 2010.
        2.    Antonov V.V. — How God Can Be Cognized. Autobiography of a Scientist Who Studied God. Bancroft, “New Atlanteans”, 2009.
        3.    Antonov V.V. (ed.) — How God Can Be Cognized. Book 2. Autobiographies of the Disciples of God. Bancroft, “New Atlanteans”, 2008. (in Russian)
        4.    Antonov V.V. (ed.) — Spiritual Work with Children. Bancroft, “New Atlanteans”, 2008.
        5.    Antonov V.V. — Classics of Spiritual Philosophy and the Present. Bancroft, “New Atlanteans”, 2008.
        6.    Antonov V.V. — Ecopsychology. Bancroft, “New Atlanteans”, 2008.
        7.    Antonov V.V. — Forest Lectures on the Highest Yoga. Bancroft, “New Atlanteans”, 2008.
        8.    Antonov V.V. — Tao Te Ching. Bancroft, “New Atlanteans”, 2008.
        9.    Antonov V.V. — Anatomy of God. Bancroft, “New Atlanteans”, 2012.
        10.    Antonov V.V. — Life for God. Bancroft, “New Atlanteans”, 2012.
        11.    Tatiana M. — On the Other Side of the Material World. Bancroft, “New Atlanteans”, 2012.
        12.    Teplyy A. — Book of the Warriors of the Spirit. Bancroft, “New Atlanteans”, 2012.
        13.    Zubkova A.B. — Fairy Tale about Princess Nesmeyana and Ivan. “New Atlanteans”, 2007.
        14.    Zubkova A.B. — Dobrynya — Bylinas. Bancroft, “New Atlanteans”, 2008. (in Russian)
        15.    Zubkova A.B. — Dialogues with Pythagoras. Bancroft, “New Atlanteans”, 2012.
        16.    Zubkova A.B. — Divine Parables. Bancroft, “New Atlanteans”, 2012.
        17.    Zubkova A.B. — Book of the Born in the Light. Revelations of Divine Atlanteans. Bancroft, “New Atlanteans”, 2008. (in Russian)
        18.    Zubkova A.B. — Parables of Lao Tse. Bancroft, “New Atlanteans”, 2012.
       

Video Films

       
        1.    Immersion in the Harmony of Nature. Way to Paradise. (Slide show). 90 minutes (on a CD or DVD),
        2.    Spiritual Heart. 70 minutes.
        3.    Sattva (Harmony, Purity). 60 minutes.
        4.    Sattva of Mists. 75 minutes.
        5.    Sattva of Spring. 90 minutes.
        6.    Art of Being Happy. 42 minutes (HD-video).
        7.    Practical Ecopsychology. 60 minutes (HD-video).
        8.    Keys to the Mysteries of Existence. Finding Immortality. 38 minutes (HD-video).
        9.    Psychical Self-Regulation. 112 minutes in 2 parts (HD-video).
        10.    Yoga of Ancient Russians. 105 minutes in 2 parts (HD-video).
        11.    Yoga of Jesus Christ. 128 minutes in 2 parts (HD-video).
       
        You may order our books at Lulu e-store:
        http://lulu.com/spotlight/spiritualheart
        and at Amazon:
        http://astore.amazon.com/spiritual-art-20
       
        You can also download for free our video films, screensavers, printable calendars, etc. from the site:
        www.spiritual-art.info
        See on the site www.swami-center.org our books, photo gallery, and other materials in different languages.
        Our other websites:
        www.philosophy-of-religion.org.ua
        www.teachings-of-jesus-christ.org
        www.pythagoras.name
        www.atlantis-and-atlanteans.org
        www.path-to-tao.info
        www.new-ecopsychology.org
        www.meaning-of-life.tv