Among Christian clergy at all times there were people who were not satisfied with the generally known and universally accepted religious dogmas. That’s why they sought to break the foundations. They were missing something, and their inner spiritual dissatisfaction haunted them. Our contemporary, Abbot Evmeniy, belongs to the category of such people. According to him, he is constantly in search of meaning, wanting to find answers to his non-standard questions. Although there are enough of his co-religionists who claim that this “Orthodox guru,” as they call him, seeks to confuse people by offering them false paths of self-improvement and enlightenment.
Biographical information
Evmeniy Peristy is a native of Ukraine, Donetsk region, where he was born in 1969, on May 19. Already at the age of 14, he began to come to the idea that he would connect his life with faith in God. But he was able to take monastic vows only in 1989, after serving in the army. This important event for him took place in the Kiev Pechersk Lavra.
Then his life for more than a decade was connected with the Makarievo-Reshemsky Monastery, located in the Ivanovo region, in the village of Reshma. There he was first appointed rector, and later finally approved for this position, receiving the rank of abbot. Evmeniy carried out fruitful activities here. He actively worked with young people, was involved in the rehabilitation of drug addicts for seven years, and led a publishing house and an Educational Center, which bore the same name, “The Light of Orthodoxy.”
Views
According to Abbot Evmeniy himself, he has no education whatsoever: neither secular nor ecclesiastical. At the very beginning of his journey, he had the most conservative and traditional Orthodox beliefs. However, I soon realized that this teaching does not give a person comprehensive answers to many questions, in particular those related to human sexuality, the social laws of society and family relationships between spouses. And the rules that are customarily established for the average Orthodox Christian, and the framework into which they are driven as a result, do not allow the individual traits of each of the personalities created by the Almighty to be fully revealed.
Eumenius himself, briefly conveying his views, says that he has such ideas about God that simply cannot disappoint anyone.
Hegumen Evmeniy is wrong in preaching non-Orthodox ideas within the Church
The biography of Hegumen Evmeniy does not make a repulsive impression. The reader has the right to ask: what happened to him that the Orthodox Church has a negative attitude towards this positive and reasonable person? Well, he has his own way, isn’t it bad?
No, not bad. It's his business, after all. The only problem is that Father Evmeniy continued, and perhaps continues to support his ideas with the clergy of Orthodoxy.
Evmeniy's views differ from those preached by the Russian Orthodox Church.
It is unacceptable and dishonest for her to act and publish books as if she were her representative. Evmeniy Peristy has the right to express and preach in his own name whatever he wants. But he would have done the right thing if he had not preached this sermon in the bosom of Orthodoxy.
Otherwise, he simply misleads listeners, who may trust the priest’s rank and receive a distorted idea of the Orthodox tradition.
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Self-education
This person claims that he educates himself, that is, he reads, listens and perceives only what is personally interesting to him. He talks to people who, from his point of view, can tell him useful information, and not to those whom he is forced to listen to. Hegumen Evmeniy considers such a path of spiritual search to be the only useful and correct one, because a person should come only to those whom he values and respects, undoubtedly, recognizing only such people as his teachers. He is not afraid of spiritual interaction with dissidents: Catholics, Buddhists and others. I am sure that no one should impose their understanding of the laws of the Universe on others, while presenting a limited picture of the world.
NLP - the practice of Abbot Eumenius
It would seem, what could the Orthodox Church have in common with the suggestive psychotechnology of neurolinguistics or, simply, with programmed hypnosis? However, on the last page of the NLP Bulletin, under a photograph of a laughing long-haired man in a sweater, there is the text: “Hegumen Evmeniy (Feathery) - abbot of the Makariev-Reshemsky Monastery of the Ivanovo region, editor of the publishing house "Light of Orthodoxy", author of several books on pastoral psychology, spiritual leader Enlightenment, NLP practitioner (highlighted by I.A.). “He sees his mission as the integration of working approaches of practical psychology into the context of pastoral work.” Indeed, numerous statements by Abbot Eumenius, published in his book “Pastoral Care for the Mentally Ill,” testify to his frank commitment to the theory and practice of this modern trend in Western psychology.
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It would seem, what could the Orthodox Church have in common with the suggestive psychotechnology of neurolinguistics or, simply, with programmed hypnosis2? However, on the last page of the NLP Bulletin, under a photograph of a laughing long-haired man in a sweater, there is the text: “Hegumen Evmeniy (Feathery) - abbot of the Makariev-Reshemsky Monastery of the Ivanovo region, editor of the publishing house "Light of Orthodoxy", author of several books on pastoral psychology, spiritual leader Enlightenment, NLP practitioner (highlighted by I.A.). He sees his mission as the integration of working approaches of practical psychology into the context of pastoral work”3. Indeed, numerous statements by Abbot Eumenius, published by him in the book “Pastoral Care for the Mentally Ill,” testify to his frank commitment to the theory and practice of this modern trend in Western psychology4. In the chapter “Using the Laws of Linguistics” we find a brief description and “religious interpretation” of the NLP system. The same practical goals are declared on the Internet site of the Makariev-Reshem Monastery, dotted with anchors: “The activities of this kind of Center in Russia are unique and have no analogues. One of the basic tasks of the Center is to combine the theoretical basis of modern psychological schools with knowledge of Orthodox anthropology to create a new, completely unique model of psychotherapeutic assistance to people, including the spiritual, mental and physical aspects of human problems”5. Of course, for an Orthodox person, first of all, the question arises about the nature and admissibility of such integration in pastoral leadership.
On the ideological banner of the educational center under the leadership of Hegumen Evmeniy (Piristy), the name of the main American NLPer R. Dilts turned out to be inscribed today: “As a theoretical platform, we take as a basis the Model of Logical Levels, formulated by one of the prominent representatives of modern psychotherapy, Robert Dilts, which claims that a complete solution to any human problem is impossible without agreement with the level of “Spirituality”, i.e., ultimately, with God, in the sense in which a person accepts this concept”6. Proclaiming in the preface to his publication in the NLP Bulletin a special veneration for the “genius of Milton Erickson,” Fr. In conclusion, Evmeniy expresses special admiration for the followers of the innovative hypnotist, who “instructed” the author-priest himself on the path in his pastoral ministry. He writes the following: “...I learned about the existence of two wonderful people, who, by the very fact of their existence, radically influenced the fact that for the purposes of Pastoral Psychology we chose this particular direction. The names of these people are Robert Dilts and Judith Delozier. I carefully keep two precious metaphors in my heart, like two diamonds: Judith’s autograph on the handout of her training: “To Father... Thank you for your courage and love,” and Robert’s words, spoken at the end of his Moscow seminar: “I am often asked: Am I praying? I think that if a person says “Thank you” to God from the bottom of his heart at least once in his life, that is enough.” Thank you, Robert and Judy, for being you!”7. What remains strange here is the greatness that the abbot of an Orthodox monastery was able to discern in the verbal “diamonds” of today’s NLPers. And no less strange is the meaning of this “thank you,” which Dilts once says to his concept of God, and Abbot Eumenius says to Dilts.
Of course, we have no reason to suspect the abbot of the Reshem Monastery of insincerity, malicious intent, deliberate sabotage of the Church and the like. It is quite possible that Fr. Eumenius was motivated by a good desire to thus attract these people to the Church, to Orthodoxy, and at the same time, so to speak, to dispel the myth “about the conservatism and inertia” of the Church, about the “obscurantism and obscurantism” of its ministers, etc. Perhaps the head of the center was appointed and a more global strategic task to church modern psychology, including NLP, and therefore he outlined such an approach to his “stars”. And at the same time, the tactics were chosen to speak in a language they understand, in accordance with the approach of the Apostle Paul: “To the Jews I was as a Jew, (...) to the weak I was as weak, in order to win the weak” (1 Cor. 9, 20-22). But to carry out such a truly titanic task obviously requires enormous spiritual strength, experience and, most importantly, a special blessing. We know from the teachings of Rev. Barsanuphius and John, how dangerous it can be to dare to rush to the salvation of souls deeply mired in sin, and even those who themselves do not desire their own salvation. Even the Optina elders could not do anything with some inveterate sinners, especially former occultists, although they came to them asking for help. A modern preacher, Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh, warns us against similar recklessness in his sermons and conversations.
How far Dilts’s concepts of spirituality are from the concepts of a believer is quite eloquently evidenced by the definitions of the minister of positivist magic himself. The sixth level of his model Dilts formulates as follows: “Spirituality is related to the fact that we are part of a larger system that extends beyond our individuality to family, community and global systems. Answers the question for whom/what?”8. That's all spirituality is! At the same time, the same author’s attitude towards Christianity is well illustrated by the following list of his: “A deeper study of such historical characters as Socrates, Abraham Lincoln, Karl Marx, Adolf Hitler, Mahatma Gandhi and Jesus of Nazareth allowed me to formulate what I called patterns "Tricks of the tongue..."9. It seems that for a Christian belonging to any denomination, putting the Savior on a par with Marx and Hitler will look like nothing more than outright blasphemy. However, nowhere in his books does Dilts refer to Jesus as Christ at all: either simply “Jesus” or “Jesus of Nazareth” - this is also very typical. So the attempt to present NLPer Dilts as a person striving for genuine spirituality and, especially, close to the Christian faith, looks like Fr. Evmenia is, at best, wishful thinking.
In his theoretical premises, the head of the Reshem Center is essentially trying to defend two serious positions. Firstly, the idea that M. Erickson’s techniques of controlled hypnosis are essentially similar to ascetic and spiritual practice: “The testing method developed in Ericksonian therapy has numerous analogues in Orthodox asceticism”10. This idea comes up quite often with Fr. Evmeniy and in other places of the same work. And secondly, the usefulness and even the necessity of artificially mastering numerous techniques of psychoanalysis, which, according to the author, lead to the level of old age: “You can learn the art of correctly constructing a phrase, the art of consoling, pacifying a person with a word through special knowledge and many years of experience”11. “Special knowledge”, placed in first place as a means of teaching this art, presupposes, according to Fr. Eumenia, nothing more than mastering the techniques of neurolinguistics: the study of predicates from three representative systems, body language and gestures (access key), nominalization, implication, anchoring (fixation of mental states associated with past emotional experience) and other similar things. The author insists that “... without providing a person with information on all representative systems (and what it looks like, and what they say about it, and how they feel), from the point of view of the laws of neurolinguistics, we cannot count on complete understanding. (...) The shepherd should be able to express his thoughts and desires not in the way that seems correct and meaningful to him, but in a psychologically acceptable language for the flock, that is, in the language of his primary representative system, using appropriate words and conceptual blocks”12.
It would be unreasonable to reproach the author for the terminology itself and even the conceptual system that he uses in his works. In the end, in Orthodox asceticism, with certain reservations, it is possible to designate the radiation of a person’s psychic energy and the severity of voluntary sins by such elements of the occult lexicon as “aura” and “karma”. True, it is not clear why this is necessary, but this is a different question. Let us suppose that, by overcoming the grinding sound of phrases with the ear of piety, one can also come to terms with the applications of neurolinguistics in the retellings of the lives of saints. For example, with such statements that Rev. Ambrose of Optina was engaged in adjusting to the representative system of his spiritual children, and Elder Nektarios, practicing anchoring, generated consolation in the souls of the suffering. But the trouble is that behind the facade of terms and concepts in the very position of Abbot Eumenius there is an essence that is completely unacceptable for Christian psychology. A Russian folk proverb says: “Even if you call it a pot, just don’t put it in the oven.” But it is precisely this “planting in the oven” of the treasures of the Orthodox elders, where pots of modern psychotechnologies are already being boiled, that is observed in “Pastoral Help” by Fr. Eumenia.
With the same success, for example, based on the general point of inadequacy of social behavior, one can place the feat of Christ for the sake of the holy fool in the same cell with the rituals of the Buryat shaman, and the miraculous healings performed by the Savior and the Holy Fathers - with the tricks of modern extrasensory perception. How, then, does the grace-filled healing of stroking the hand and running a finger over certain parts of the body of a sick person by the Optina elders differ from the passes of the current masters of the biofield? Apparently, the overwhelming majority of churchgoers, in different variations, will answer this question essentially the same way. The path of magic and the path of religion are opposite paths. The goals and spiritual guidelines behind some of the seemingly similar means of expression of the two paths are irreconcilable, and therefore the means themselves are incompatible. Therefore, however, it is advisable not to mix the terminology. Otherwise, when saying, for example, that Elder Ambrose practiced passes, it will be necessary to clarify that the word “passes” refers only to external movements, behind which, unlike occult manipulations, there is a completely different energetic basis. Likewise, the psychotherapeutic aspect of Orthodox eldership is completely opposed to the corresponding aspect of the neurolinguistics system. In one case, the Holy Spirit, through the elder-man of prayer, often even beyond the mind of the mediator himself (as St. Seraphim of Sarov testified), speaks and does everything necessary for the spiritual order of a person. In another case, a psychotechnologist charged with knowledge, in his own name, calling on the spirit of flattery, fulfills her egoistic order in the client’s soul, thereby leading her back from spiritual health. And, forgive the rhetoric, what does Christ have in common with Belial? (2 Cor. 6:15).
In passing, it must be said that Fr. Evmeniy calls for integrating into the context of pastoral and spiritual practice not only NLP methods, but also in general all the “achievements” of modern schools of secular psychology: “Today, we think, not only the opportunity has arisen, but also the need to combine the efforts and knowledge of the priest, with one on the hand, and a psychiatrist - on the other, in combining the patristic understanding of man and the diseases of his soul with psychiatric knowledge of symptoms, the possibilities of psychotherapy and psychopharmacology, knowledge of existential analysis, Gestalt therapy, the Rogerian approach, the Milton Erickson method, NLP, family counseling, group therapy and other psychotherapeutic approaches"13. In the chapter “Psychological Defenses” of his same book, he invites priests to adopt in their work with people a lot of specific concepts that qualify their mental state: repression, projection, transformation, sublimation, identification, displacement, care, transference, shielding, compensation and other similar things from the arsenal of psychotherapy of Freud, Horney, Berne and other psychoanalysts. And further in the next book, “Spirituality as Responsibility,” the abbot of the monastery, using examples, including from his own practice, gives unique illustrations of the use of psychoanalytic methods in Orthodox clergy. One gets the impression that the author is intensively trying to shake up, mix until the consistency of a homogeneous mass, a kind of colloidal solution, the experience of Orthodox ascetics and the techniques of modern psychotherapy in order to convince the reader of their identity, of the indistinguishability of one from the other. However, first of all, the very title of the book causes bewilderment, reducing spirituality (the goal of Christian life according to the teachings of St. Seraphim of Sarov) to only one of the spiritual virtues - responsibility. It is obvious that every spiritual person is responsible, but it is equally obvious that not every responsible person is spiritual. However, it turns out that Abbot Eumenius picked up this idea from the outside: he refers to some unknown mentor who ordered the entire brethren of the monastery to write down the apodictic identity: “spirituality is responsibility”14. Well, we can only rejoice that such “spirituality” still somewhat exceeds the sixth level of the Dilts model.
Strange and even tempting for the Orthodox consciousness is the considerable list of psychosomatic parallels between bodily illnesses and mental passions, given in the same work on spirituality “from the books of famous experts in the field of psychosomatics.” Its author claims that “if the disease is psychosomatic in nature (and this is 80% of the total number of diseases),” then: heart disease occurs from a lack of love and security; hypertension - from vain work without rest; asthma - from insincerity and mistrust; constipation - from an excess of accumulated feelings and experiences, heartburn - from repressed aggressiveness, diabetes - from the inability to assimilate love, caries - from weakness, etc.15 In this regard, first of all, I would like to ask what healers of souls do in this case , St. Did the fathers, who sometimes carried many ailments in their flesh, differ from those whom they spiritually healed? And then the question naturally arises about confirming such analytics “from the books of famous experts” with facts.
It would seem that after the conclusion about the complete incompatibility of NLP psychotherapy and other psychoanalytic methods with Orthodox psychology, we can no longer consider the second stated position of Fr. Eumenia, calling on the pastors of the Church to master these methods. But it still makes sense to linger here a little. Let us assume that we are talking about actual techniques in communicating with people that were used by the great Orthodox ascetics and elders. Can we already in this case indulge in training in such psychological arts in order to quickly master the work of old age? But first, let’s pose a similar question: is it worth engaging in linguistic analysis of the prophetic texts of the Old Testament in the hope of quickly becoming a prophet or studying the language of body movements and gestures of Christ for the sake of holy fools in order to take on the corresponding feat? It would be absurd to imagine that one of the holy fools or prophets would open courses on the transfer of external experience. But for some reason the elders did not share their skills with the new novices, but directed them, as is known, along a completely different path - many years of painstaking cleansing of the inner cage of their hearts. However, there have been and still are those who acquire self-inflicted money, for the sake of pride, foolishness, prophecy and senility. Judging by the lives of God’s actual chosen ones, we can say that in acquiring the Holy Spirit of God, they least of all cared about mastering external techniques for analyzing people and expressing their behavior. Everything necessary is provided by the Spirit Himself, which inhabits a person who has completely surrendered himself to Him: “Do not worry about how or what to say; for in that hour it will be given to you what to say, for it is not you who will speak, but the Spirit of your Father who will speak in you” (Matthew 10:19-20). And therefore, the desire to master the external technology of clergy, which itself is organically acquired from above by the shepherd as his spiritual experience progresses, leads exclusively to the acquisition of false knowledge
and young apeism (in the words of Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh).
Ultimately, the idea of Fr. Evmeniy should at least somehow be crossed or, better said, anchored
Orthodoxy with psychoanalysis, and even more so with NLP and its principles, contains a radical spiritual substitution, usurpation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit through psychotechnology.
In this position, one can see another type of construction of the “Tower of Babel”, when God is thought of as just one of the conventional abstract concepts. This is an attempt to get to heaven, to God, but without God
. Here the search is obvious not for the Kingdom of God and its righteousness (Matthew 6:33), but for what is promised as a dowry to its seekers. Such an attitude actually embodies distrust of God, ignorance of His spiritual gifts, perversion of the Orthodox ascetic tradition and proper heart dispensation in the knowledge of God.
Turning to the third work of Abbot Evmeniy, “A Ray of Light in the Drug World,” one cannot help but pay tribute to the depth of its author’s penetration into the essence of the problem of drug addiction and the sincere search for its solution. The material collected in it and its analysis represents a serious appeal to those who stand at the crossroads of two worlds, as well as to the pastors of the Church caring for those affected by drugs. However, the last pages of the book persistently cast doubt on the beneficialness of the methods of getting rid of drug addiction, which in fact, apparently, are proposed by the author. On these pages there is a kind of advertisement for the same educational 16. The content of the Center’s advertising program is not much different from leaflets calling for all kinds of seminars and trainings on NLP, as well as invitations for those wishing to be coded from serious vices. Its overview, application and main areas of work accordingly include, for example, the following points:
— thematic seminars and trainings are held for teachers, doctors, clergy, social workers with the invitation of leading practical psychologists; — (range of application): from people who have difficulty forming relationships in their reference group, to those who, due to their position, should be a leader, but do not know how to develop leadership qualities in themselves; — in June-August 2001, the Center successfully held seminars and trainings on various topics and areas: self-awareness, skills for effective successful speaking, healing through history, leadership and team building17.
Already here the category of leadership, which is very dubious not only for asceticism, but also for Christian morality in general, is brought to the fore. However, it is precisely these qualities, as a kind of special virtue, that the trainings of the educational center try to develop in a person. It would be strange to imagine an Orthodox elder-ascetic training leadership abilities in his novice or spiritual child. We know how categorically many of the saints warned us. Fathers from the spirit of primacy and competition. But then, once again looking at the Internet site of the Reshem Center, one can observe an even more depressing picture, which, unfortunately, causes the harshness of its assessment to increase by another tone. Having demonstrated to the viewer the blessing of the ruling Bishop, the center’s management gives the following advertising brochure:
— the uniqueness of our Center lies in the fact that we combine psychological assistance at the level of the latest word in science, contextualize it within the framework of a two-thousand-year Orthodox spiritual tradition, which has no analogues in the world.
Goals and objectives for the next 5 years
-…the Center’s entry to the global level; — issuance at the end of the express course (24 days) of a certificate “Orthodox Psychologist”, at the end of 4-5 day seminars — certificates for thematic trainings; — staff of the Center conduct on-site thematic trainings with the issuance of certificates18.
For the sake of originality, “there are no analogues in the world yet”, for the sake of a kind of “zest”, “spicy sauce”, with this “ last word of science”
“The two-thousand-year-old Orthodox tradition is also combined as
a context
- a frame, a background. Hinduism, Buddhism, shamanism and so on - all these contexts already existed, were combined back in the last century and set everyone’s teeth on edge, but Orthodoxy did not yet exist; this has not yet been combined. It is not clear how the abbot of an Orthodox monastery cannot feel what an insult to the Orthodox faith and the Church lies behind these scientific expressions and terms. It seems that Dilts would undoubtedly be very pleased with such a find in the advertising of his system. Lewis’s “troublemaker” would have been no less pleased here, who managed not only to pair Christianity with one of the products of civilization, but also to place it in a second, auxiliary place19. At the same time, the question arises: why not cross Orthodoxy, for example, with Scientology? “Orthodox Scientology” - what’s bad: those who want to achieve success in business or career by laying their soul on Hubbard’s altar can do this “with God’s help” by lighting a candle in the Church?
There is no doubt that the director of the center assumes in his approach a reference to the practice of the Apostle Paul to speak in terms of concepts familiar to his interlocutors. Moreover, is the Church obliged to oppose the progress of science? If, according to Fr. Andrei Kuraev, Christian sites somehow neutralize all kinds of pornography and other garbage in the global trash heap of the Internet, then why should we farm out such a psychological invention as NLP to non-Christians? If you suggest (hypnotize) people, you need to do it with “Orthodox patterns”, otherwise the same thing will be done with much worse fillers. This logic, while attractive on the outside, is just as flawed on the inside. Isn’t that what so-called white magic essentially says to Christians: do magic for the sake of good, so that evil does not conjure, that is, black magic? But here it is precisely that we need to remember the scientific approach, which at all times the intuition of the Church involuntarily adheres to, decisively rejecting all colors of magic. Technology and its progress are the realm of the external; the human soul and methods of influencing it are an internal area. And the Orthodox consciousness must remember this clear line, just like the line between created and uncreated. Yes, it is not a sin for a church person to use both the computer and the Internet, as well as the perfections of book printing; but it is a grave sin to use various shades of modern occultism, just as it has long been a sin to discourage a wandering husband from a grandmother-witch. And if modern pastors are sounding the alarm about the temptations for some of their parishioners from Lazarev’s diagnosis and karma cleansing, then we can firmly say that the occult quality of NLP is in no way lower than Lazarevism20.
In addition, concepts and principles
- far from the same thing!
Does speaking a foreign language mean, in accordance with the Russian proverb, “howling like a wolf”? I wonder what would have happened to the Church if the apostles had switched in their preaching and life to the theoretical platform of those peoples to whom they preached, taking some pagan model as a basis? Yes, perhaps it is appropriate for Orthodox priests to make efforts to bring “all the ends of the earth” to Christ, but for this we are still not required to open “Orthodox” casinos and organize “Orthodox” corps de ballets. And in the absence of proper spiritual experience, in the pursuit of the churching of secular psychology, one can reach the point of “ psychology
” in the Church.
And, unfortunately, such a tendency to become infected from within by the psychotechnological spirit of this world is clearly observed in the educational center of the Reshem Monastery, at least in the style of its self-promotion. Therefore, here we are talking about danger, according to Rev. Georgy Florovsky, spiritual intoxication
of the Church.
Possessing the title of a certified NLPer, the director and scientific director of the center, apparently, has the legal right to distribute the appropriate certificates after one or another course of various trainings. Surely there will be those who want to acquire such a certificate, who will not be embarrassed by its abstraction from the state system of science and education: but this is a matter of taste - such “central specialists” are now, as we know, a dime a dozen. The highlight here is something else. After all, the certificate calls its owner not just a psychologist, but an “Orthodox” psychologist, and it was issued not just anywhere, but in a monastery of the Russian Orthodox Church by the real abbot of the monastery, the abbot. It turns out that this sanction for “NLPism” is given by the Diocese itself, and, consequently, by the Moscow Patriarchate. I remember that not so long ago, many healers made a lot of efforts in order to gain at least some kind of legitimization from the Church, sometimes they even composed similar certificates for themselves. And here it’s just a gift: 24 days of rigmarole - and you are an official, “recognized by the Church,” coder for alcoholics and drug addicts. This moment, perhaps, to a greater extent causes sorrow and at the same time the impossibility of passing over in silence the very unsightly shadow falling on the Church and on the ruling Bishop from the “light of Orthodoxy” emanating from the Reshem psychological center.
Alas, even this degree of frankness about. Evmeniy in his books and on the Internet site is enough to imagine what happens during NLP trainings and sessions in this educational center. In this case, only one serious question arises: what evil is less for a person - to become a victim of drug addiction and alcoholism or the suggestive tricks of “Orthodox” programming hypnosis? It seems that the father, the author of these developments, is sincerely interested in the effective method of coding psychotherapy, but is very poorly aware of what he is dealing with and how expensive it all costs. And if the parents of NLP, as indeed most of its epigones, are completely transcendental and indifferent to the other-dimensional beings behind this brainchild21, then such indifference can hardly be understood and justified for the shepherd of the Church. But let us still hope that a sincere search for ways to save the perishing and, first of all, his own soul, will lead Father Eumenius, with the help of God, from all the temptations of “Orthodox” NLP and other psychotechnologies.
1. This article is a shortened, adapted version of “Conclusions on the activities of the educational, under the leadership of the abbot of the Makariev-Reshemsky monastery, abbot Evmeniy (Peristy).” The conclusion was made on the basis of printed materials and texts posted on the Internet site, and was presented by the Department of Theology of the Ivanovo Theological Seminary at the request of the Ivanovo Diocesan Administration. 2. Detailed coverage of some significant aspects of the theory and practice of neurolinguistic programming in the context of the question of their acceptability in Orthodox pastoral psychiatry is given in two previous articles in the same section of the almanac: “Psychoanalysis through the prism of occult psychology” and “Orthodox priest before the temptation of modern psychotechnology.” 3. NLP Bulletin. Issue 1. M., 2001, p. 383. 4. Hegumen Evmeniy. Pastoral care for the mentally ill. // Light of Orthodoxy. Christian interlocutor. Publication of the Makariev-Reshem Monastery. Issue 48, 1999, p. 282-337. 5. www.light.orthodoxy.ru. “Anchor” is one of the key concepts of NLP, implying a certain external stimulus for association with the emotional experience experienced. Here about. Evmeniy sees a “link” between neurolinguistics and Christian symbolism, which used the outline of an anchor in ancient times. “The anchor is a symbol of the mission of our Center, called upon to integrate Orthodoxy and practical psychology in a single semantic and practical field” (Hegumen Evmeniy. A ray of light in the drug world. // Light of Orthodoxy. Christian interlocutor. Publication of the Makariev-Reshem Monastery, p. 254). 6. Ibid. 7. NLP Bulletin, p. 315, 382. 8. Robert Dilts. Tricks of the tongue, p. 235. 9. Robert Dilts. Modeling using NLP. SPb., 2001, p. 16-17. 10. Hegumen Evmeniy. Pastoral care for the mentally ill, p. 331. 11. Hegumen Evmeniy. Pastoral care for the mentally ill, p. 308. 12. Hegumen Evmeniy. Pastoral care for the mentally ill, p. 306. 13. Hegumen Evmeniy. Pastoral care for the mentally ill, p. 18-19. 14. Hegumen Evmeniy. Spirituality as responsibility. // Light of Orthodoxy. Christian interlocutor. Publication of the Makariev-Reshem Monastery, 2000, p. 119-122. 15. Hegumen Evmeniy. Spirituality as responsibility. // Light of Orthodoxy. Christian interlocutor. Publication of the Makariev-Reshem Monastery, 2000, p. 7. 16. Hegumen Evmeniy. A ray of light in the drug world. // Light of Orthodoxy. Christian interlocutor. Edition of the Makariev-Reshem Monastery, p. 254. 17. Hegumen Evmeniy. A ray of light in the drug world. // Light of Orthodoxy. Christian interlocutor. Edition of the Makariev-Reshem Monastery, p. 252-253. 18. www. light. orthodoxy. ru. 19. In the famous fairy tale of the English writer C. Lewis “Letters of a Screwtape,” the senior devil-troublemaker advises his ward demon-gnus to instill in a tempted person the desire to consider Christianity and talk about it exclusively in the context of some general phenomenon or concept, such as: “Christianity and gardening”, “Christianity and business”, etc. The main thing was to prevent a person from considering Christianity in itself. Lewis felt this “religious” tendency of the Western world to mix Christianity with anything else he wanted especially keenly. See his work Mere Christianity. 20. See the article by Hierodeacon Hilarion (Sokolovsky) “Orthodox diagnosis of “Diagnostics of Karma”.” 21. See about this in Art. Hegumen Anthony (Loginova) “Psychoanalysis through the prism of occult psychology.”
https://ermolino.nm.ru/articles/nlp.html
Conflicts with fellow believers
Hegumen Evmeniy received his first serious negative assessment of his activities from fellow believers in 2006, in February, when a special commission, having conducted an inspection of his activities in the monastery entrusted to him, revealed that he was not coping with his duties. The certificate compiled by the inspectors noted that daily services are not held in its churches, and one of them is maintained in unsatisfactory condition; There is a clear misunderstanding between the monastery abbot and the population. And although Evmeniy’s educational activities were appreciated quite highly by his co-religionists, he was nevertheless relieved of his position according to the decision of the local diocesan council.
Many complaints arose against Abbot Evmeniy, and he was relieved of his post
But the activities of Evmeniy Peristy were not flawless. On February 10, 2006, the diocese gave her a not very good assessment. The following negative results of the abbot's leadership were noted:
- there are only two people in the brethren;
- religious services are not held as they should be on a daily basis;
- one of the two temples is in poor condition;
- local residents are dissatisfied with the activities of Abbot Evmeniy.
At the same time, the diocese did not forget that as an educator, Abbot Evmeniy coped well with the responsibilities assigned to him. Therefore, they made a decision to release him from the position of rector. We waited until the end of the year for permission from above, and finally it came.
Activities in Moscow
But what happened did not break Evmeny’s determination to continue his missionary work. Therefore, he moved to Moscow, where he systematically gained popularity as a publicist. He also organized seminars, which he named “Alpha Course”. And they brought him more and more fame.
In 2008, in connection with his activities by the Missionary Department of the Russian Orthodox Church, he was officially removed from participation in the work of the Moscow St. Nicholas Church of the Patriarchal Metochion, losing the position of cleric to which he had once been appointed. And authoritative priests and sect scholars criticized his seminars. His movement was denounced as intra-church sectarianism and false teaching.
The books of Abbot Eumenius (Piristy) were also subjected to fierce attacks. He was criticized for introducing Eastern practices and Hindu mysticism into Orthodoxy. It was noted that they bring confusion into hearts and minds, and therefore do not at all contribute to the spread and correct understanding of the Orthodox faith. Some of the many books of the rebellious abbot will be discussed further.
[03.06.2014] New adventures of Evmeny (Peristy)
“Moreover, if someone proved to me that Christ is outside the truth, and it really were that the truth is outside Christ, then I would rather remain with Christ than with the truth.”
F.M. Dostoevsky
Recently, the All-Ukrainian Apologetic Center named after. St. People increasingly began to turn to John Chrysostom asking him to explain the activities of the so-called abbot Eumenius. We are asked what kind of “Christian meditation” is this that he teaches for a lot of money?
* * *
Increased attention to this phenomenon arose due to the fact that Abbot Evmeniy began to “tour” with such practices in the cities of Ukraine more and more often. Our employees, as a rule, are not surprised by posters with promises of enlightenment, self-improvement or the revelation of the harmony of the Universe, but to see a poster with an Orthodox monk instead of a guru who promises the above... It was discouraging. Such tricks are traditionally resorted to by all sorts of occultists, and not by clergy of the Orthodox Church (even if they are ordinary ones).
Who is this strange abbot from the posters about enlightenment?
Hegumen Evmeniy (Piristy) was born in 1969 in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, became a monk at the Kiev Pechersk Lavra in 1989, and from 1992 to 2006. was the rector of the Makaryevo-Reshemsky monastery of the Ivanovo diocese. He begins his vigorous activity in Moscow, where he moves over time. Here he becomes known as a publicist and organizer of “progressive” seminars called “Alpha Course”.
However, already in 2008, by order No. 2/3 of February 6, the chairman of the Missionary Department of the Russian Orthodox Church, Archbishop John (Popov) of Belgorod, he was removed from missionary activities, relieved of his post as cleric of the St. Nicholas Church of the Patriarchal Metochion in Otradny, Moscow, and sent out of office. [1]
Why was Abbot Evmeniy sent away?
According to a statement by the press service of the Synodal Missionary Department of the Russian Orthodox Church, Evmeniy’s books “Parables of the Orthodox Missionary” are published without the blessing of the clergy, and their text contains “dubious examples and comparisons that bring confusion into the minds and hearts of newcomers and cannot serve the main purpose of missionary work - the spread of the Orthodox faith.” faith." Therefore, it is recommended to refrain from using these texts in missionary work.[2]
Famous Orthodox missionaries, sect scholars and priests criticized his “Alpha Course”. The attempt to create a wave of essentially charismatic renewal in an Orthodox wrapper earned him bad fame. This movement was regarded by experts as false teaching and intra-church sectarianism.
How did an ordinary cleric become an Eastern guru?
However, no one expected that Eumenius would become so deeply immersed in Hindu mysticism and Eastern practices. It all started when photographs of travels published by the would-be missionary became available to the public, in which he poses hugging various idols and flaunts himself against the backdrop of Hindu temples in the company of various gurus. Later, photographs appear where he is already with a tilaka (red dot) on his forehead or in the lotus position in a meditation cape.
And today it can be seen on color posters in many cities of Ukraine. Hegumen Evmeniy invites Ukrainians to immerse themselves in “Christian meditation”...
And what exactly does “guru” Evmeniy preach at his training seminars?
Our employee also attended one of the introductory meetings.
Eumenius explained that any religion is a shackle for a person from which one must get out. He compared religion to an open door, around which thousands crowded, but through which they did not enter (for some reason). In general, he hinted in every possible way that there is a person who escaped from the shackles, walked through the door and now knows how to get through it for others too...
He also knows how to use simple yoga methods to harmonize your inner world, establish relationships with people and gain self-confidence. In a word, the lessons of Indian gurus were not in vain for Evmeny. Even for a number of esotericists and yogis, it became a curiosity. When did a monk in a cassock and with a cross spread occult nonsense, and instead of the Gospel quoted the Vedas?
It's all about the price, or how much is the “new teaching”?
But such “uniqueness” is worth a lot. The most important secrets were not revealed during the free lesson; they could be learned by paying only 2000 UAH.[3]
A few “bright thoughts” from the “teacher’s” speeches
We offer several popular sayings of Evmeny from his speeches in the neo-Hindu community “Divya Loka”, which is located in Nizhny Novgorod, and is known, by the way, for being suspected of having connections with Aum Shinrikyo.
“I enjoy going to an Anglican temple or a Zen meditation classroom. And I listen with my heart, I am enriched and filled. And when the wave is accepted by the heart, then I understand the scripture of this tradition. What about your heart? When I love that state and those people who are carriers, then I understand those formats, those theories and those practices.”
“My dogmatic beliefs say that there is only one way into this Divine dimension, called Christ! And these are dogmatic truths of which I am convinced, and I was convinced, and so on. When I see you (yogis), for example. I hear in my heart the same resonance and the same taste. From the texts that I come across, I see the same resonant answers that are known to me from the Holy Scriptures. And here I, as a Christian, am faced with the question of whether to return to my dogmatic ways, or to trust the novelty of the meeting, which in terms of resonance makes me and you related. I choose the path of the heart!”…
What can such “missionary work” lead to?
One can try in different ways to explain this man’s “prayers” with heretics, rituals with Gentiles and various kinds of occultists. Some try to justify such actions, calling them, although peculiar, missionary work. Allegedly, this is how Evmeniy tries to introduce people far from Christianity to Orthodoxy, but it looks exactly the opposite.
An unemployed abbot in a cassock confirms the heresies of those gathered at his lectures. And after such “missionary work” it will be almost impossible to explain to a person who is far from the true teachings of the Church that such practices cannot in any way be correlated with Orthodoxy. And it would be much sadder and more tragic if an Orthodox Christian, not strong in faith, trusting the authority and advice of Eumenius, begins to resort to such occult-esoteric experiments. “Woe to the world because of temptations, for temptations must come; but woe to that man through whom temptation comes” (Matthew 18:7). After all, any innovation that does not have firm roots in the tradition of the Church is alien to it and should not be accepted by us.[4]
His training seminars are of particular concern
Eumenius, using body-oriented psychotherapy, imbues his practices with the deadly poison of the occult and presents all this as the teaching of the Orthodox Church. Such developments, taken from occult practices, can negatively affect the human psyche and body, and it is even more unacceptable to associate this with Christianity.[5]
The path from monks to guruism lies through...
So, what could prompt the abbot to leave Christian asceticism, theology and go on a spiritual quest into occult and mystical practices?
People who personally know Evmeniy explain this by saying that at one time he was greatly offended by underestimating his talent and missionary aspirations. But it seems that this is not the whole truth; the reason must be deeper.
There are a number of similar examples of the emergence of sectarian tendencies in different religions. Leaders of such movements tend to constantly adapt to the changing demands of society. As a rule, followers of such intra-church movements cease to see the relevance of existing religious teachings in the reality around them, so they begin to search for new “living” forms of religious experiences and interpretations. At first they try to find these new forms within the framework of the doctrine and practice of their Church. If what they are looking for is not discovered by them, then they can take the initiative to change the tradition, thereby beginning the process of developing sectarian tendencies.[6]
It is likely that Evmeniy lost the adequacy of his perception with his attempt to introduce such a dangerous movement as the “Alpha Course” into Orthodoxy.
The rest of his transformation into a guru seems to be due to the need to adapt to the new reality and find his niche in it. And I must admit, he found her.
An occultist in a monastic robe – esotericists are delighted!
The guru offers non-Christian practices in Orthodox attire and with a pectoral cross on his chest. Just think: a monk who has occult knowledge! This is the eclecticism that many occultists expected and referred to when they said that “monks hide secret knowledge in monasteries and do not tell ordinary people about it.”
And one can expect that as soon as the topic of “Christian meditation” and “Orthodox yoga” is exhausted, a new wave of reincarnation of the abbot will follow in line with “Orthodox Woodism” or “Orthodox Dervish dance.”
* * *
It is very sad to realize that Abbot Evmeniy himself is marching toward destruction and is serving as a temptation to others. In this connection, it is especially important in our time to be on guard - to keep your mind from all kinds of false teachings or “religious vinaigrette”, which such craftsmen prepare from time to time for fragile minds.
It is important to clearly understand that it is absolutely unacceptable and dangerous to introduce into the river of church teaching innovations that are alien to the spirit of Orthodoxy, nested in the occult, in Eastern religions, and sometimes of an openly demonic nature.
Vladimir Rohatyn All-Ukrainian Apologetic Center in the name of St. John Chrysostom Iriney.ru
_______________________________
[1] The missionary department of the Russian Orthodox Church made an official statement about the absence of ties with the former priest of the Belgorod diocese, Hegumen Evmeniy (Peristy) https://apologet.in.ua/apologetika/psevdopravoslavnye-sekty/igumen-evmenijj-peristyjj/1128-missionerskijj-otdel- rpts-sdelal-ofitsialnoe-zayavlenie-ob-otsutstvii-svyazejj-s-byvshim-svyashhennikom-belgorodskojj-eparchii-igumenom-evmeniem-peristym.html
[2] The Synodal Missionary Department issued a statement regarding the distribution of the book by Abbot Eumenius (Piristy) “Parables of the Orthodox Missionary” https://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/360750.html
[3] In Nikolaev, a cleric removed from missionary activity offered for 2000 UAH. teach “Christian” meditation and yoga https://novosti-n.org/news/read/67658.html
[4] About the current activities of Abbot Evmeniya https://apologet.in.ua/apologetika/psevdopravoslavnye-sekty/igumen-evmenijj-peristyjj/5228-o-nyneshnejj-deyatelnosti-igumena-evmeniya.html
[5] It’s time to stop Evmeniya (Peristy)! https://ruskline.ru/news_rl/2013/04/19/pora_ostanovit_evmeniya_peristogo/
[6] Martinovich V.A. Introduction to the conceptual apparatus of sectology / V.A. Martinovich. - Mn. : BSU, 2008. – 36-45 p.
About parental love
Many, even good parents, approach the upbringing of their children without delving deeply into the subtleties, at first believing that there is nothing complicated about it. Although with age, everyone understands more and more that this process is very difficult. After all, here they are dealing with a developing personality, and therefore mistakes in this matter can have a serious impact on the fate of the child, on his moral formation and harmonious mental development. A book called “Anomalies of Parental Love” by Abbot Evmeniy tries to give answers to many controversial questions. It helps, according to the author, to distinguish true things from false and destructive ones in this topic.
The book is written in an accessible, simple manner and seeks to tell about the most important thing: about the breakdown of family ties and ways to correct distorted relationships between parents and their children, and restore peace in the family. The author of this work also conducts a conversation with the reader about restoring the connection with God - the main Father of all humanity.
Hegumen at the "Cape of Love"
And I objected: “It turns out that this will be an attempt to take it unceremoniously.”
“No,” answered Evmeny, “first we will get acquainted, that is, we will give some signs to each other.”
I decided to accept these rules, to disarm him with my openness, so I offered to ask any questions and thus establish contact. - To whom? - Evmeny was surprised.
The students laughed again. - To me: after all, I arrived, a stranger, and I immediately started asking questions. Therefore, if you want to know something about me, please. “I’m interested in you influencing me.” So that you leave, and I remember you. Because it happens that I remember the name, but don’t remember the face. Or vice versa - I remember the face, but not the name. And sometimes a person leaves - and out of sight, out of mind.
This is how the priest answered me, but I still tried once again to turn the conversation to Evmeny himself. “I’m not sure that even those present know very well about your life before your ordination.” As far as I remember, you were ordained in Kyiv.
Now Evmenius himself laughed. “You know, this is approximately how I treat those people whom I don’t remember by name or face, this is how I treat my past self.” I'm not there, that's it. I'm here. -Who was there? - Legally, physically - me. - Of course, I understand, but what kind of person was this? - If I compare that person who doesn’t even exist with my current self, then this is a useless job. - This is important in order to understand what led you to your current state. After all, it doesn’t happen that at the snap of a finger a person is transformed and becomes a spiritual mentor who has followers and disciples...
Evmeniy interrupted me: “If I’m somewhere in my memory, then I’m already a historian.” Some people are writing an autobiography, “My Life in Christ,” but I’m not exactly a historian, and I know for sure that if I’m in a love affair with images of the past, past ideas, then I’m depriving those people who are here. If you manage to hypnotize me, then I will go into the past, I will talk to myself, but the sense of contact will be lost. Somewhere out there, in the Akashic fields (The concept of the Akashic Chronicles appeared in the theosophical movements of the 19th century, and in the 20th century, with the development of the New Age movement, it became one of the dominant concepts of the philosophy of this movement. Since the end of the 20th century, it is often used in the same meaning descriptive scientific term “unified information field of the Earth.” - Author’s note.
), there is a special heavenly porridge there, it’s all there, and I can go there. But I’m interested in you, and not as a carrier of information, some kind of flash drive, but as a human being.
The stool swayed more strongly, the noose tightened tighter, but I didn’t stop: “The thought that I was trying to express: a person who talks about his past like that cannot be objective about himself, because you can’t judge the world without going beyond limits of one room.
Evmeniy, who had previously been kindly, peace-loving and even patronizing, said quite harshly: “Oh, you’re annoying me now, I’ll go to the mental level with you now, I have a lot of weapons here.” You talk about objectivity, but in what sense did you mention the word “objectivity”? What does objectivity of journalistic material mean if any description is nothing more than a subjective interpretation? Even statistics are a subjective point of view. How much do we have for Putin? We even make a selection for these statistics based on preferences and objectives. Any book, even a photograph, is subjective. Let us remember quantum physics: the observer determines the observed. Do trees fall with a sound when there is not a single person? — Definitely with sound. — Definitely not: if there is no one who registers, we cannot confirm the presence of sound. “Then there are no things in the world that you simply know nothing about?” - For me, yes, of course. I assume so, but I do not deny that there may be people somewhere that I don’t know about.
It became more and more difficult to breathe; at some point, his students also joined our conversation with Evmeniy. Evmeniy himself wanted the merger of our souls and completely refused to “undress in front of me while I sit fully dressed.” - Why did you decide that you would come and it would be convenient for you, but uncomfortable for me? Don't you think discomfort is something you brought with you? You got what you brought, my dear. “He was clearly losing his temper.”
Evmeny wanted to preach his ideas, but not talk about himself. It became clear that he no longer saw the difference between the image of a wandering philosopher he had created and his personality. Or pretends that this difference does not exist.
Eumenius always wanted to become a leader: in his book On Overcoming Christianity, he used the word “leader” as many times as the word “faith.” He nurtured leadership in himself: having not received any education, he, however, attended psychological courses, then came into contact with Protestants, Charismatics and Pentecostals - and eventually grew out of his cassock, although for some time, out of inertia and to attract an audience, he continued wear it at your seminars. If at the beginning of his spiritual path, and this was the nineties, he simply did not know about some dogmas of Orthodoxy, for example, about the 19th canon of the Trullo Council (the prohibition of interpreting the Gospels with one’s own mind, only the interpretation of the Holy Fathers is true), then later he became more and more moved away from them - and was eventually removed from the staff. Ultimately, he was removed from the Father's house of the church, so he built his own and was wary of uninvited guests. Yes, he himself said that he had lost interest in missionary work: whoever needs it will come to him.
Evmeniy’s last remarks in our conversation were no longer friendly at all, and the look in his wide open eyes did not promise anything good. Thus ended the forty minutes that Evmenius had allotted for talking with me - he stood up and invited his students to dinner. — I really don’t want to go to Moscow! - Natasha laughed, going down the stairs, meaning that the real world and similar conversations awaited her in Moscow.
About responsibility
The book, called “Spirituality as Responsibility” by Abbot Eumenes, was born, according to the author, not from some speculative theory. All the material for this publication was taken from life itself.
On the pages of the book, he considers it necessary to share with the reader his experience in solving many spiritual and material problems that simply cannot be considered relevant. The bulk of this paper is devoted to thinking about responsibility. Hegumen Evmeniy also notes that as he wrote, he had to supplement his previous views with new facts and reflections, because life managed to make its own adjustments to even what had already been stated. But the main idea of the book is that a truly spiritual person must always be responsible for any of his actions.
To whom and for what is a person responsible?
Hegumen Evmeniy (Feathery)
One of the signs of irresponsibility is a person’s lack of understanding of the need to account to anyone for his actions, the inability to respond adequately and constructively to criticism and comments.
So, to whom is a person responsible? First of all, to yourself . For the fact that he refused to carry out the assigned work, from the obligations assumed, for the fact that he transgressed the line of the spiritual law, the commandments of God, finding himself outside the boundaries of the moral, ethical, spiritual norms that he himself consciously and voluntarily accepted . As a rule, after committing this trait, few people find the courage to repent and go back. “Having lied once, you have to be cunning, and having betrayed the truth, you have to remain silent...” Betrayal is the logical result of irresponsibility. God initially placed a grain of responsibility in the spiritual nature of man.
When a sin is committed, conscience begins to demand an answer, to signal that the law of truth has been violated. Man's sinful nature tries to persuade his conscience or silence it. Each of us knows from our own experience how often one sin entails a host of others. The more irresponsibility in our lives, the more often the voice of our conscience is silent. Having committed an unseemly act, we try to hide it, sometimes from ourselves, thereby multiplying the sin. Very often this lie goes so far that the integrity of the individual is violated. The split takes on painful features, which often manifests itself externally in mental or even physical illness, which we will discuss in more detail later.
A person is responsible to loved ones for unprovided help and unheard requests. There are people who do not dare, do not dare, cannot, due to their modesty (or, perhaps, false modesty; perhaps, having already had the sad experience of turning to us with their needs) ask for what they need. Are we sensitive? Are we ready to hear the requests or emotional movements of others?
We are responsible for how we communicate with people, how comfortable they are with us. Only a loving person can see in his beloved the beauty of the God-created image placed in him by the Creator. Many people have grown morally, spiritually and intellectually only because someone believed in them, because they had a teacher, mentor or confessor who saw in them what they were potentially capable of and gave them this advance of faith . How many people, having made full use of this advance, met their expectations?
We are responsible for our lack of faith in our own children, which can destroy a person close to us and perpetuate his lack of adaptability, ineptitude, and awkwardness. This is expressed in statements like: “ You always nothing , nothing will come of you !”, “What kind of fool would need such a husband, How are you?". How often do parents, without realizing it, destroy their own children, turning them into helpless puppets of their parents’ will, who can hardly be called adults even after reaching adulthood. Children raised under the overbearing heel of their parents risk remaining incapable of anything for life. Not trusting their children, controlling their every move, constantly interfering in their affairs, they raise children too dependent on mom and dad.
You can often hear an objection from your mother:
– But I have to raise him, I have to control him!
Dear mothers, do you want your children to respect you? Gradually give them responsibility for their lives. Control only causes resistance, that is, a reaction opposite to what you would like to see. You must teach children to be responsible. There is no need to order them. Give them the opportunity to be independent, and do what they cannot do yourself. Both your authority and moral influence will increase.
The older the child gets, the more responsibility should be delegated to him. In no case should education be an imposition on children of an adult vision of the world, our understanding, our life attitudes. The task of the parent is to help the unique and unique flower - the soul of the child - to open up. And if parents can pedagogically competently reveal their values to the child, share their understanding of life, their experience, testify to their faith, he will hear them, since the key to a relationship is mutual love, acceptance and respect.
Gradually, as he grows and develops, a child, developing in a harmonious atmosphere, will be able to take on more and more responsibility. Of course, he will not learn to tie his shoelaces if his mother or grandmother is always at hand to do it for him. The student does not need to remember about his homework himself if his parents, when they come home, first ask: “Have you done your homework?” A teenager will not develop the habit of helping around the house and taking care of the cleanliness of his clothes or room when he can count on his mother for this. After all, you can endlessly grumble about his laziness and carelessness, but you will still do it for him!
Of course, you can use your chronic unhappiness to try to change him. If we suffer enough, the people around us will do what we want. We all have experiences where sadness or anger at a spouse, child, parent, or boss caused that person to change their behavior. Children learn this kind of blackmail from their parents. “You make me nervous when you come home too late, and last week you kept me up all night,” “I had to blush for you at a parent-teacher conference,” “I’m cold, put on a sweater,” “I’m so happy.” when you study well! Through such remarks and statements, the child understands that he is responsible for his parents’ feelings. He is free to agree with this thought or discard it (or at least reconsider it at an older age).
And if he once believed that he really had to be responsible for the feelings of others, then he grows into an equally manipulative adult.
It is often easier for parents to do something for their children; it seems that it will be faster and better. But the child does not gain useful experience. For example, he cannot dress himself - and his parents begin to dress him; the child cannot learn to use cutlery - and the parents begin to feed him with a spoon. And this can go on for quite a long time. If parents do not grow to a certain level of parental wisdom, they continue to raise their children at thirty and forty years old; children who already have children of their own, continuing to decide for them, think for them, always being “on hand.”
We would be horrified to see the damage caused by teachers who, over several school years, did not believe in the abilities of their students, sealing their disbelief with phrases like these: “He is not capable of more than a C minus,” “And this girl Are you going to college? But such statements are deposited in the depths of the soul, spreading to other aspects of life.
A very important step in life: to name a specific priest as your spiritual father, to name a specific woman as your wife, to name a specific newborn as your daughter or son. How many remain faithful to their choice? Circumstances?.. Their infidelity, dishonesty, dishonesty, irresponsibility?.. - But how did this prevent you from remaining faithful, honest, decent, responsible? After all, it was your choice and your word.
Man is responsible to the world around him , to nature for what he does with it. The situation is painfully familiar to everyone: we went into the forest, walked around to our heart's content, threw in cans, bottles, bags, newspapers, hastily put out the fire and left. But this touch, like a wound, like pain, remained. Are there many people who courageously realize their irresponsibility in this act?
Finally, a person is responsible before the Lord for the destruction of the saving and gracious actions of His careful and wise Providence in his life and in his soul by careless words, rude actions, unclean thoughts that destroy not only relationships with God, but also the inner spiritual world. The internal conflict that has arisen between my momentary “I want” and my previously chosen moral values becomes a source of constant tension for a believer. The levels of our “I want” and the levels of those heights of spiritual life to which the disciples of the Incarnate God are called are too different.
There is responsibility for deeds , both completed and unfulfilled. And refusal to act is also an act that requires a responsible decision.
There is responsibility for words , for everything spoken and created verbally.
There is a responsibility for the thoughts and experiences that occur in a person consciously or unconsciously, regardless of whether a person desires it or not, “for as he thinks in his soul, so is he” (Prov. 23:7). Therefore, we repent of sins “voluntary and involuntary, even in knowledge and ignorance.”
All these actions, words, internal mental states are continuously poured out by each of us into the world and return to us as troubles or successes, adversities or joys, losses or finds, depending on their nature.
When we say that we are responsible for what happens to us, this is simply another way of saying: we reap what we sow. If I decide to plant a vegetable garden and want to harvest carrots, potatoes and turnips from it, then, accordingly, I must sow them. If I sow something else, then, of course, I will reap a different harvest. This is easy to understand when you talk about physical laws, but the concept of harvest applies to other laws, and laws exist in all areas of life.
Everything we throw comes back to us. Every action causes a reaction, a reaction causes the next action, and so on. An effect is an external manifestation of an internal cause. That is why we can constantly use images of the external world to describe and understand what is happening in the inner world.
Most people complain about their poor harvest and believe that external factors are to blame. Everyone can say to themselves: “I am responsible for what I sow, and all I have to do is wait for the harvest.” The Holy Scripture says: “Whatever a man sows, that will he also reap” (Gal. 6:7). Moreover, “he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly; and whoever sows generously will also reap generously” (2 Cor. 9:6).
However, continuing this metaphor, I would like to note that we are responsible not only for what we sow, but also for how we care for and how we cultivate the crop. If I sow kindness, love, compassion, tolerance and take care of what I sow, water it, fertilize it, cultivate it, then I will reap it. More conscious people listen to themselves and ask: “Do I like my harvest?” If the answer is no, they should start sowing something else. Let me give you a few examples:
* As a rule, parents want children who are able to take responsibility. But what are they sowing? Instead of sowing lessons of responsibility, they decide everything for themselves.
* What about the wife who wants her husband to do housework, but she wastes her time complaining to everyone that he doesn’t do anything? By constantly paying attention to what he doesn't do, she will most likely get him to do it less and less.
* Now let's look at a person complaining about a lack of love. If he doesn’t have enough of it, then why doesn’t he sow it? He has only to offer it without expectation to all those around him and he will reap it.
* People who strive to live in abundance and are always worried about money, fearing that they will not have enough, express their thoughts about scarcity, and this is what they reap.
* A person who wants to be accepted by others, but constantly criticizes everyone and everything, does not sow what he wants to reap.
* A father who beats his son because he beat his neighbors' child will himself reap only the violence emanating from his son.
These examples illustrate very common situations in our everyday life. Thus, we should realize and visualize how we reap certain situations, accidents and other people's reactions to our actions. This responsibility lies in the hands of each of us.
Responsibility and Obligations
The concept of “ responsibility ” can also be defined as “the moral obligation to accept the consequences of one’s choices.” The main responsibility for a person’s personal growth lies with him: that is, each of us is responsible for how much he will fulfill his life purpose. Thus, only we are responsible for our decisions; we are also obliged to accept the consequences of our actions and reactions.
As long as we have even the slightest doubt that this is so, we will not be able to change our lives. In order to become strong enough and be able to independently control our lives, we must realize our share of responsibility, the responsibility to wisely think through the strategy of our lives and trust God to do what does not depend on us: “The heart of man ponders its path, but the Lord controls his procession" (Proverbs 16:9).
If the consequences of the decisions we make do not bring us happiness, we can change our decisions. Only we are the authors of our lives, but the Lord is ready to be a Co-author, but only if we invite Him to participate in this! Once we fully understand this, we will also understand that other people are responsible for their own lives. Let us not prevent them from bearing this responsibility for their benefit and ours!
Violation of physical and other natural laws leads to quite obvious consequences. For example, a person drinks a glass of poison without knowing that he is drinking poison; an acute reaction of the body will not take long to occur. A natural law has been violated, the effectiveness of which does not change depending on whether one believes in it or not. The same thing happens with the law of responsibility. Each of us is responsible for ourselves, for our existence, for our belonging. Feeling responsible for the actions and feelings of other people can lead us to experience unjustified feelings of guilt. The result is disappointment, anger, a state of depression - everything that leads to suffering, illness, and self-destruction.
Every situation we encounter in our lives provides us with an opportunity for growth and personal development. We need to take responsibility and recognize that we have chosen our environment and chosen it for a purpose. Otherwise, we will have a lot of problems with others; we will not understand why they give us so much “trouble.”
The decision to bring a child into the family automatically imposes obligations on future parents. When we establish certain relationships, the obligations are already set. Now I will explain this in more detail.
We are not responsible for the happiness of those around us, be they friends, family members or co-workers. What we are truly responsible for is our reaction to how people treat us. It’s not for nothing that they say: “Judge a person not by what others say about him, but by what he says about others.” When others are unkind to you, unrestrained, critical, or, on the contrary, show love towards you, it is because you have given them a reason to be so. Other people are our mirror. Their reaction to us is determined by how we feel about ourselves.
For example, someone from your environment categorically disagrees with you and criticizes you, and you brand him as an intractable critic. But he is so disposed towards you because you yourself do not fully agree with yourself and are critical of yourself. This person is your mirror, he came into your life so that you realize your own attitude towards yourself. If you admit that you are really too critical of yourself, then “intractable critics” will no longer come across your path in life.
Changing your attitude towards yourself will give you the impression that those around you are changing. The whole point is that there is good in every person - whether you see it or not depends on you. You can only control yourself—other people are not under your control, but you can change your perception of these people.
Commitment can be defined as a vow made to oneself regarding one's position or course of action. Commitments can be verbal or written - they bind you to someone, be it your employee, spouse, or work partner.
To commit means to bind yourself to someone or something with a verbal or written promise. It is very important to remember that a commitment cannot be made on behalf of another person. For example, a spouse cannot accept a family invitation without consulting with her spouse and obtaining his consent.
Parents make a commitment to their children when they decide to bring them into this world. These obligations entail providing the basic needs of life, that is, food, shelter, love, respect, support, education. This does not mean that parents should provide everything the child desires on a material level. Anything extra is not part of the core commitment.
In terms of work, the performer undertakes to fulfill his work duties, and his employer undertakes to pay him a salary and provide adequate conditions for effective work.
When a person makes commitments to home, work or any other, for example, agreeing to meet someone at an appointed time, it is very important to honor these commitments. “As you sow, so shall you reap” (Gal. 6:7) is one of the important laws established by God.
We cannot absolve ourselves of responsibility for our lives, but we can reconsider previous commitments over time. Before doing this, it is necessary to evaluate the consequences, since they can become a source of problems in our relationships with other people.
You can expect something only when clear commitments are made. And to do this, tell yourself and others: “I will do it,” and not: “I will try to do it.” Clear commitments demonstrate confidence in action. Otherwise, we will face misunderstandings, lack of peace of mind, and complicated relationships with other people.
This also applies to our relationships with the people with whom we live. It is very important that each member of the household understands that he has obligations towards other family members, that he himself must bear his own burden. Everyone must contribute to the care and maintenance of the home. I would suggest meeting regularly as a family to divide up the chores and have an opportunity to evaluate how they are being done. An open discussion about housekeeping will ensure harmony and order. This applies to families, marital relationships, and roommates. Such negotiations can teach children a lot: how to truly run a home, how to interact with other family members by working together, and how to deal with the consequences. Before choosing a spouse, a job, or introducing certain changes in your life, slowly check what the consequences of these steps may be. Are you ready to be responsible for them? If the inner answer is positive, if you are able to take responsibility for all the consequences without panicking or illness and without requiring someone else to help you endure the hardships, then act! If the answer is no, allow yourself not to immediately meet your desire: after all, you know that since everything on this planet is temporary, then your desire is probably transitory.
As for obligations, before taking on them, it is important to realize your own capabilities. In the beginning, while you still don’t know yourself well enough, you will often have to be very careful about making commitments. But as you gain life experience, you will gradually learn to choose your obligations more wisely and responsibly.
Orthodoxy and peace
https://www.pravmir.ru/article_791.html
About the role of the Church
Abbot Evmeniy’s book “On Victorious Christianity” gives an idea of the author’s views on the role of the Church in modern society. The Orthodox faith, like its ministers, was in an insulted and humiliated position in Russia for about seven decades. But at present, the views of the majority have changed, and the public of our country has begun to demand the gigantic potential of spirituality, which is inherent in Orthodoxy and has been formed over many centuries.
But in order to increase its influence on people, according to the author, first of all the Church must change. It is necessary for wisdom to return to it, as well as intelligent, talented people. Evmeniy calls for prayer to God so that he would save his servants from dullness and dullness, awaken in them the desire to search, make them strong and honest. And only then can one hope that Christianity will become victorious.
Hegumen Evmeniy remains in Orthodoxy, but criticizes the modern Church
Hegumen Evmenius does not hide the fact that he is not satisfied with following religious dogmas. He puts experience above tradition, and therefore is constantly in search. He shares his findings with those who are willing to listen.
At the same time, Father Evmeniy emphasizes that he does not rely on secular or church education.
Hegumen Evmeniy relies only on experience and knowledge that interests him.
He simply doesn't have those. He considers them unnecessary because they do not provide answers to many of the questions that a person faces in life. This dissatisfaction is the main motive of his spiritual quest.
To lead them, Abbot Evmeniy himself is engaged in his own education: he listens, reads and watches only what can interest him. Moreover, the source of knowledge is not necessarily books or films. Even communication with one person or another can bring knowledge.
Hegumen Evmeniy is not afraid to communicate with people of other religions and believes that one can hear a lot of useful things from them. The main thing is not to impose anything on anyone:
“Often, due to differences in understanding the sacred texts, people start arguing and swearing with representatives of another religious system.
But spiritual books exist for creation, for discovering depth that can unite us.
To believe that only my group will “go to heaven” or “achieve liberation” is pure pride!”
Evmeniy
abbot
Each person’s picture of the world, from the point of view of Abbot Eumenius, is limited. Trying to impose it on someone, you squeeze the person into a framework. And this is not useful for development - neither yours nor another person.
Therefore, Abbot Eumenius never renounced Christianity. He is only trying to combine it with the knowledge and experience gained. Sometimes the conclusions directly contradict Orthodox ideas:
“Can I accept the idea that the Being who created everyone will punish for the imperfections that are inherent in our biological nature, in the eternal conflict of human manifestations and human ideas about the ideal?
Can I believe that the Creator is depriving me of the right to my own search, to experience, to experiment?
The Bible says that “a good tree cannot bear bad fruit.”
If God is the good tree, then we are the good fruit.
If we are bad fruits, what then is the tree on which they grew?
Growing up, we are no longer afraid to reason and pose these questions at the level of logic and heart.”
Evmeniy
abbot
Although Abbot Eumenius has his own special views, this does not prevent him from preaching Christian ideas, even without a blessing. In the book “On Victorious Christianity,” he writes that Orthodoxy has enormous spiritual potential, which is necessary for modern Russia.
But at the same time, Abbot Evmeniy evaluates the modern Orthodox Church negatively. He believes that wisdom has left it, there are not enough talented people. For too many years, enemies have tried to define Orthodoxy.
Reviews
Eumenius invites his followers to immerse themselves in so-called “Christian meditation.” And it is very difficult for people ignorant of religious matters to understand how to understand this call and how to relate to it. Although many of the readers (as evidenced by reviews of Abbot Eumenius) believe that his publications contain a lot of correct and sensible things. However, Peristy’s “Alpha Course” has gained a bad reputation, largely because visitors to these seminars do not understand why they are forced to pay huge amounts of money. And the revelations of this missionary are really worth a lot.
The Christian audience is outraged that in the photographs published in various sources of this Orthodox guru, taken during his travels, he is depicted against the backdrop of Hindu temples and at the same time flaunts himself in an embrace with idols.
It should be noted that recently Evmeniy has rushed to actively win followers in Ukraine. For some time now, posters with his images have been hung all over the country.
Alphabetical list of sects and cults
“Moreover, if someone proved to me that Christ is outside the truth, and it really were that the truth is outside Christ, then I would rather remain with Christ than with the truth.”
F.M. Dostoevsky
Recently, the All-Ukrainian Apologetic Center named after. St. People increasingly began to turn to John Chrysostom asking him to explain the activities of the so-called abbot Eumenius. We are asked what kind of “Christian meditation” is this that he teaches for a lot of money?
***
Increased attention to this phenomenon arose due to the fact that Abbot Evmeniy began to “tour” with such practices in the cities of Ukraine more and more often. Our employees, as a rule, are not surprised by posters with promises of enlightenment, self-improvement or the revelation of the harmony of the Universe, but to see a poster with an Orthodox monk instead of a guru who promises the above... It was discouraging. Such tricks are traditionally resorted to by all sorts of occultists, and not by clergy of the Orthodox Church (even if they are ordinary ones).
Who is this strange abbot from the posters about enlightenment?
Hegumen Evmeniy (Piristy) was born in 1969 in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, became a monk at the Kiev Pechersk Lavra in 1989, and from 1992 to 2006. was the rector of the Makaryevo-Reshemsky monastery of the Ivanovo diocese. He begins his vigorous activity in Moscow, where he moves over time. Here he becomes known as a publicist and organizer of “progressive” seminars called “Alpha Course”.
However, already in 2008, by order No. 2/3 of February 6, the chairman of the Missionary Department of the Russian Orthodox Church, Archbishop John (Popov) of Belgorod, he was removed from missionary activities, relieved of his post as cleric of the St. Nicholas Church of the Patriarchal Metochion in Otradny, Moscow, and sent out of office. [1]
Why was Abbot Evmeniy sent away?
According to a statement by the press service of the Synodal Missionary Department of the Russian Orthodox Church, Evmeniy’s books “Parables of the Orthodox Missionary” are published without the blessing of the clergy, and their text contains “dubious examples and comparisons that bring confusion into the minds and hearts of newcomers and cannot serve the main purpose of missionary work - the spread of the Orthodox faith.” faith." Therefore, it is recommended to refrain from using these texts in missionary work.[2]
Famous Orthodox missionaries, sect scholars and priests criticized his “Alpha Course”. The attempt to create a wave of essentially charismatic renewal in an Orthodox wrapper earned him bad fame. This movement was regarded by experts as false teaching and intra-church sectarianism.
How did an ordinary cleric become an Eastern guru?
However, no one expected that Eumenius would become so deeply immersed in Hindu mysticism and Eastern practices. It all started when photographs of travels published by the would-be missionary became available to the public, in which he poses hugging various idols and flaunts himself against the backdrop of Hindu temples in the company of various gurus. Later, photographs appear where he is already with a tilaka (red dot) on his forehead or in the lotus position in a meditation cape.
And today it can be seen on color posters in many cities of Ukraine. Hegumen Evmeniy invites Ukrainians to immerse themselves in “Christian meditation”...
And what exactly does “guru” Evmeniy preach at his training seminars?
Our employee also attended one of the introductory meetings.
Eumenius explained that any religion is a shackle for a person from which one must get out. He compared religion to an open door, around which thousands crowded, but through which they did not enter (for some reason). In general, he hinted in every possible way that there is a person who escaped from the shackles, walked through the door and now knows how to get through it for others too...
He also knows how to use simple yoga methods to harmonize your inner world, establish relationships with people and gain self-confidence. In a word, the lessons of Indian gurus were not in vain for Evmeny. Even for a number of esotericists and yogis, it became a curiosity. When did a monk in a cassock and with a cross spread occult nonsense, and instead of the Gospel quoted the Vedas?
It's all about the price, or how much is the “new teaching”?
But such “uniqueness” is worth a lot. The most important secrets were not revealed during the free lesson; they could be learned by paying only 2000 UAH.[3]
A few “bright thoughts” from the “teacher’s” speeches
We offer several popular sayings of Evmeny from his speeches in the neo-Hindu community “Divya Loka”, which is located in Nizhny Novgorod, and is known, by the way, for being suspected of having connections with Aum Shinrikyo.
“I enjoy going to an Anglican temple or a Zen meditation classroom. And I listen with my heart, I am enriched and filled. And when the wave is accepted by the heart, then I understand the scripture of this tradition. What about your heart? When I love that state and those people who are carriers, then I understand those formats, those theories and those practices.”
“My dogmatic beliefs say that there is only one way into this Divine dimension, called Christ! And these are dogmatic truths of which I am convinced, and I was convinced, and so on. When I see you (yogis), for example. I hear in my heart the same resonance and the same taste. From the texts that I come across, I see the same resonant answers that are known to me from the Holy Scriptures. And here I, as a Christian, am faced with the question of whether to return to my dogmatic ways, or to trust the novelty of the meeting, which in terms of resonance makes me and you related. I choose the path of the heart!”…
What can such “missionary work” lead to?
One can try in different ways to explain this man’s “prayers” with heretics, rituals with Gentiles and various kinds of occultists. Some try to justify such actions, calling them, although peculiar, missionary work. Allegedly, this is how Evmeniy tries to introduce people far from Christianity to Orthodoxy, but it looks exactly the opposite.
An unemployed abbot in a cassock confirms the heresies of those gathered at his lectures. And after such “missionary work” it will be almost impossible to explain to a person who is far from the true teachings of the Church that such practices cannot in any way be correlated with Orthodoxy. And it would be much sadder and more tragic if an Orthodox Christian, not strong in faith, trusting the authority and advice of Eumenius, begins to resort to such occult-esoteric experiments. “Woe to the world because of temptations, for temptations must come; but woe to that man through whom temptation comes” (Matthew 18:7). After all, any innovation that does not have firm roots in the tradition of the Church is alien to it and should not be accepted by us.[4]
His training seminars are of particular concern
Eumenius, using body-oriented psychotherapy, imbues his practices with the deadly poison of the occult and presents all this as the teaching of the Orthodox Church. Such developments, taken from occult practices, can negatively affect the human psyche and body, and it is even more unacceptable to associate this with Christianity.[5]
The path from monks to guruism lies through...
So, what could prompt the abbot to leave Christian asceticism, theology and go on a spiritual quest into occult and mystical practices?
People who personally know Evmeniy explain this by saying that at one time he was greatly offended by underestimating his talent and missionary aspirations. But it seems that this is not the whole truth; the reason must be deeper.
There are a number of similar examples of the emergence of sectarian tendencies in different religions. Leaders of such movements tend to constantly adapt to the changing demands of society. As a rule, followers of such intra-church movements cease to see the relevance of existing religious teachings in the reality around them, so they begin to search for new “living” forms of religious experiences and interpretations. At first they try to find these new forms within the framework of the doctrine and practice of their Church. If what they are looking for is not discovered by them, then they can take the initiative to change the tradition, thereby beginning the process of developing sectarian tendencies.[6]
It is likely that Evmeniy lost the adequacy of his perception with his attempt to introduce such a dangerous movement as the “Alpha Course” into Orthodoxy.
The rest of his transformation into a guru seems to be due to the need to adapt to the new reality and find his niche in it. And I must admit, he found her.
An occultist in a monastic robe – esotericists are delighted!
The guru offers non-Christian practices in Orthodox attire and with a pectoral cross on his chest. Just think: a monk who has occult knowledge! This is the eclecticism that many occultists expected and referred to when they said that “monks hide secret knowledge in monasteries and do not tell ordinary people about it.”
And one can expect that as soon as the topic of “Christian meditation” and “Orthodox yoga” is exhausted, a new wave of reincarnation of the abbot will follow in line with “Orthodox Woodism” or “Orthodox Dervish dance.”
***
It is very sad to realize that Abbot Evmeniy himself is marching toward destruction and is serving as a temptation to others. In this connection, it is especially important in our time to be on guard - to keep your mind from all kinds of false teachings or “religious vinaigrette”, which such craftsmen prepare from time to time for fragile minds.
It is important to clearly understand that it is absolutely unacceptable and dangerous to introduce into the river of church teaching innovations that are alien to the spirit of Orthodoxy, nested in the occult, in Eastern religions, and sometimes of an openly demonic nature.
Vladimir Rohatyn All-Ukrainian Apologetic Center in the name of St. John Chrysostom
_______________________________
[1] The missionary department of the Russian Orthodox Church made an official statement about the absence of ties with the former priest of the Belgorod diocese, Hegumen Evmeniy (Peristy) https://apologet.in.ua/apologetika/psevdopravoslavnye-sekty/igumen-evmenijj-peristyjj/1128-missionerskijj-otdel- rpts-sdelal-ofitsialnoe-zayavlenie-ob-otsutstvii-svyazejj-s-byvshim-svyashhennikom-belgorodskojj-eparchii-igumenom-evmeniem-peristym.html
[2] The Synodal Missionary Department issued a statement regarding the distribution of the book by Abbot Eumenius (Piristy) “Parables of the Orthodox Missionary”
https://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/360750.html
[3] In Nikolaev, a cleric removed from missionary activity offered for 2000 UAH. teach “Christian” meditation and yoga https://novosti-n.org/news/read/67658.html
[4] About the current activities of Abbot Evmeniya https://apologet.in.ua/apologetika/psevdopravoslavnye-sekty/igumen-evmenijj-peristyjj/5228-o-nyneshnejj-deyatelnosti-igumena-evmeniya.html
[5] It’s time to stop Evmeniya (Peristy)! https://ruskline.ru/news_rl/2013/04/19/pora_ostanovit_evmeniya_peristogo/
[6] Martinovich V.A. Introduction to the conceptual apparatus of sectology / V.A. Martinovich. - Mn. : BSU, 2008. – 36-45 p.
Sermons at training seminars
Eumenius explains to his audience: any religion should be considered a bond for people. He also teaches his followers methods that help them gain self-confidence and learn how to establish human relationships, bring harmony to their inner world, but not with the help of Orthodox prayers, fasting, repentance and sacraments, but with the help of yoga. Moreover, he presents his point of view from such an angle that sometimes even followers of occult teachings and esotericism are surprised.
Adherents of Orthodoxy - authoritative priests argue that in such psychotherapy everything is focused on the physical side of a person, and not on the spiritual. And those of his co-religionists who were well acquainted with Evmenios in past times give an explanation for the transformation that took place, the miraculous rebirth from a traditional Orthodox Christian into a priest with an occult bent, first of all, through a deep-rooted resentment towards the leaders of Orthodoxy. After all, at a certain period he was underestimated, as was his missionary work, and no one noticed his bright talent as a preacher.
Hegumen Evmeniy is nicknamed the “Orthodox guru” for his love of Eastern teachings
Hegumen Evmeniy has a positive attitude towards any religions. He claims that it makes no difference which of them is taken as the basis for spiritual life. During his trainings, he himself uses a technique that he calls “Christian meditation.” He was even nicknamed the “Orthodox guru.”
Hegumen Evmeniy practices “Christian meditation”
Hegumen Evmeniy - “Orthodox guru”
On official pages on the Internet, Abbot Evmeniy publishes photographs and images that confuse the Orthodox audience. Those who are well acquainted with the views of the abbot are not surprised that he is photographed against the backdrop of temples of other religions. We're used to it.
Football icon, blasphemous material according to the Russian Orthodox Church, which Abbot Evmeniy published on the Internet
But the “Football Icon” with the image of the Virgin Mary and the baby Jesus Christ is already blasphemous material.
On the other hand, it was not abbot Evmenius who wrote and consecrated this “icon,” so it is unfair to blame him for its existence.
Abbot Eumenius's sympathy for Eastern teachings is well known, but for some people meeting such a priest comes as a surprise.
Speculation on the Internet
There is more than enough information on the Internet about Eumenius Peristom. These are mainly statements critical of his activities. But despite the abundance of information, in fact, little is known about the Orthodox guru, and his personality is shrouded in darkness. In particular, it is not clear to Internet users whether he is the same Orthodox monk who invented and patented a new beehive design. Hegumen Evmeniy, who is the author of this invention, is known to have successfully used it in the apiary of a monastery located in the village of Avdotino, Moscow region.
But guesses about successful activities in beekeeping, and especially innovative discoveries in this area, are not confirmed. Hegumen Evmeniy, who came up with the interesting design of the hive, as it turns out, is called Evgeniy Lagutin in the world. The place and time of birth of these two people do not match. And although they are approximately the same age in age, Lagutin is also known for his publications on practical psychology, but no other connection, other than the similarity of names, is clear between them.
