It is these questions that I.A. Ilyin reflects on in his text. In it, the writer poses the moral problem of the spiritual poverty of man.

The author, arguing on this topic, relies on his own reasoning. Nowadays, many people strive for material well-being, forgetting about the spiritual world. The writer is concerned that a person who sees the meaning of life only in wealth, in difficult moments of life "can no longer help the art of enduring hardships and allowances", in this case "a person is poor, really poor."

We come to the conclusion that it is impossible to make the pursuit of money the goal in our life, otherwise, having lost it, we will lose ourselves. Many people who do not have much material wealth are able to see this world as bright and colorful. The prose writer admires people who are content with what they have, and "the so-called deprivation" is easy for them, because "the objective size of the state cannot solve the issue of existence in poverty." I.A. Ilyin makes us think about the fact that human spirituality is not determined by material well-being, it depends on the inner state of the soul.

The position of the author can be formulated as follows: the misfortune and danger of today's world lies in the coldness of rich people, but spiritually poor, to poor people, deprived of everything necessary for a normal life.

One cannot but agree with the point of view of I.A. Ilyin.

Indeed, real spiritual poverty lies in a person's lack of understanding and compassion for other people, an indifferent attitude towards the whole world around him, which can lead to the death of a person as a person.

A vivid proof is the work of N.V. Gogol "Dead Souls". The protagonist Stepan Plyushki was a stingy and suspicious person. After the death of his wife, he lost all interest in life. His soul was filled with anger, greed for others. This is a hero personifying the fall of a strong and bright personality, and most importantly, the fall of the human spiritual world. This example illustrates to readers the importance of preserving the soul, moral qualities and moral principles.

Confirmation of this problem can be found in I. Bunin's story "The Gentleman from San Francisco". The protagonist strives all his life for a luxurious and rich life, without thinking about the true values ​​​​of life. Even during a long journey, the man could not learn to enjoy simple little things. He believed that having a lot of money, a person becomes happy. The author in the personality of the protagonist shows us the lack of spiritual qualities in a person.

Thus, the problem raised by the prose writer makes each of us think about the importance of spiritual poverty. When purchasing material values, one should not forget about the inner world of a person.

Updated: 2017-06-26

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In memory of Elena Obraztsova

“I dream of singing in the temple to be a little closer to heaven”

The Queen of the Opera Elena Obraztsova is gone. In 2004, 10 years ago, during our interview with her, the singer said that the whole next season would be devoted to her farewell to the role of Carmen, that she had already agreed with several theaters in Russia and foreign countries, which she would travel with a farewell tour. “Hopefully this isn’t a farewell to the stage at all?” - “What are you, I would like to die first, and only then say goodbye to the stage ...”, - the singer answered.“When I pray in the morning and in the evening, I always ask: I want to die first, and then finish singing,” Elena Obraztsova said in her last interview. She died on January 12, 2015 in Germany, and on January 14 she said goodbye to her native stage of the Bolshoi Theater, where hundreds of people came. She was 75 years old. On January 15, 2015, at 9:00 am, her funeral was held at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Singing, funeral… She sang, they buried her. It is so symbolic that she was buried in the main temple of Russia, the symbol of which she was and will remain for people from many countries of the world ...

“You sang on all the main stages and concert venues of the world, and performed sacred music. Did you have to sing in the temple?” I asked the great singer a decade ago. “No, I have never sung in an Orthodox church,” she replied. - I can imagine what happiness it is. I dream of singing in the temple and I hope that this is still ahead of me. When I sang Pavel Chesnokov's "May My Prayer Be Corrected" in concert with the Minin Choir, it seemed to me that I had become a little closer to heaven.

During her lifetime, she lived not only an earthly life, but also a heavenly one. After all, it is far from accidental that among the minor planets of the solar system there is a planet number 4623, named after her. Planet Obraztsova was discovered on October 24, 1981. There is no death. It's just that the soul of the singer passed into Eternity, from where she will continue to shine on us and give moments of real happiness - the happiness of merging with God through music. Now she is there - in heaven, where our souls were carried away, listening to her unearthly voice.For many years I was going to visit her for a new interview and ask her if her dream to sing in the temple had come true. late…

There are meetings that leave an indelible mark on your soul. You thank God for them and lament that they could have continued, but something got in the way... After the death of a person, you understand that you have lost this hypothetical opportunity forever... It is useless to scold yourself... I just want to remember our conversations with Elena Obraztsova in 2003 and 2004, in memory of which I have only one of her autographs, and even that was not intended for me ... I thank God for meeting a woman who is the color of the nation, our national treasure, our pride.

“If I were the Minister of Culture, I would introduce a classical music lesson at school”

Of the Russian singers, perhaps only Fyodor Chaliapin can be considered her predecessor, who shone in the operatic sky among world stars. She worked with outstanding conductors, sang at the best opera stages in the world - at the Bolshoi and Mariinsky Theatres, the Marseille and Vienna Operas, the Liceu and La Scala, Covent Garden and the Metropolitan Opera. And at the same time, Elena Vasilievna played in dramatic performances, sang jazz, was not at all afraid to experiment ... It is a pity that she did not become the Minister of Culture. 10 years ago, to my question whether it is necessary to instill in young children a taste for good music, literature, painting, Elena Vasilievna answered: “If I were the Minister of Culture, the first thing I would do would be to introduce at school not just a singing lesson, but a classical music lesson. I would also make it so that at the drawing lesson the children not only draw the sun, cats and houses, but that they study the work of artists ”.

I was introduced to the work of Elena Obraztsova by my work boss Tatyana Grekova, who knew everything about her favorite singer, traveled from Kharkov to Moscow to many of her concerts. She took me to one concert. The singer's voice bewitched, subdued. I bought her records, read a lot of articles about her and several books. But my personal acquaintance with Elena Obraztsova, which took place in the fall of 2003 in her native Leningrad and then continued in Moscow, I owe to the outstanding opera singer Zurab Sotkilava.

Obraztsova and Sotkilava proved that not bloodsuckers live in Russia

In 1966, in Italy, he trained at La Scala. “There lived a Spaniard doctor, and we went with him to the stadium to watch football ... we were together for two days, and when we parted, the director of the hotel, with whom I was friends, called me. The Spaniard told him: "Listen, the Russian is a good guy (for them and the Georgians, since from the Soviet Union, it means Russian), but I thought that the Russians were cannibals." At that time, there was such propaganda in Spain that in Russia everyone is a bloodsucker,” Zurab Sotkilava told me during an interview.The Spaniards were able to make sure that this was not the case when, in 1970, Elena Obraztsova and Zurab Sotkilava became the first Soviet singers to perform at the very difficult International Vocal Competition. F. Viñas in Barcelona. They received gold medals and an invitation to stay in Spain.

My interview with Sotkilava was published in Student Meridian magazine. It was read by one of Elena Vasilievna's fans and assistant, after which I was invited to cover the Third International Competition for Young Opera Singers from the Moskovskaya Pravda newspaper. It was a gift from God, since I had never written about music before, and my journalistic experience was minimal.

It was at the very beginning of my churching, when for the sake of "daily bread" I left my scientific work on the study of my beloved Dostoevsky. The soul suffered during that very difficult time financially. My husband and my little daughter and I were in poverty, but it was then that real miracles began to happen - each of my appeals to God ended with amazing gifts - meetings, trips, acquaintances. Such a gift was the acquaintance with the scientist Sergey Kapitsa and director Krzysztof Zanussi on the Greek island of Rhodes, where I was invited by the staff of the St. Andrew the First-Called Foundation, such were trips to different countries of the world and meetings with many outstanding people of our time...

But the very first gift from above was an absolutely fantastic trip to the III International Competition for Young Opera Singers of Elena Obraztsova. The competition was held from 18 to 30 August 2003 in the Great Hall of the St. Petersburg Academic Philharmonic named after D.D. Shostakovich, where I took a picture with Elena Vasilyevna and her friend Valentina Tereshkova. And although I tried not to miss the important events of the competition, by some miracle I still managed to visit the museums of Pushkin and Dostoevsky, other memorable places in St. Petersburg and even see the famous Chizhik-Pyzhik on the Fontanka. But the competition itself and the conversation with Elena Obraztsova were, of course, the strongest impression.

Unburned autograph of Exemplary

Later I was told that she was very pleased with the interview that someone filmed on a video camera (if only I could find this recording!) And I saw an open, intelligent, believing woman. I witnessed the listening of one girl, whom her father brought from the province. Elena Vasilievna charmed me and conquered me with her love for Dostoevsky… And then there was another no less interesting interview.

On the eve of the anniversary, which was celebrated on July 7, 2004, Sergei Biryukov asked me to interview Obraztsovaya for the Trud newspaper. Although, according to the singer, she lived on an airplane (“Movement, flight is my natural physical and spiritual state”), I was very lucky: I managed to “catch” Elena Vasilievna between tours in her Moscow apartment in the famous house with lions near the Patriarch's Ponds. It was a great success and a great honor. I took my first steps in journalism, I was shy and was not yet a “paparazzi” with a camera at the ready. I still regret that I did not dare to take a picture of her at home. Then she gave me her photo for publication against the background of the portrait of her late husband Algis Zhuraitis, which she asked to return ...

And I so wanted to have something that belonged to the singer, that I kept dragging on and on, then forgot about my promise ... On January 29, 2013, this photo burned down along with those photographs in which Elena Obraztsova and her friend Valentina Tereshkova and I are posing at a reception at the end of the competition in St. Petersburg.

After the fire, I was going to call Elena Vasilyevna and ask her for help in organizing a charity concert to raise funds for me as a fire victim and my brother, who needs a kidney transplant.I am almost sure that Elena Obraztsova would not have refused and kept her word, unlike the young opera singer, who promised us to transfer part of the funds from the charity concert, but did not give us a penny, using my misfortune to publicize three of his concerts ... God be his judge .

By the way, he was supposed to participate, but did not come to that competition in St. Petersburg, with which Elena Vasilievna was very pleased. There was an incredibly strong line-up of performers, amazing voices... Interestingly, among the winners was a tenor from Buryatia, Chingis Ayusheev, who won the Grand Prix of the Romansiada-2002 competition held by the Trud newspaper. Genghis then snatched victory from the same singer who, many years later, deceived the expectations of my sick brother. Later, Elena Vasilievna signed our interview with the singer in the Student Meridian magazine. I don't know why I never gave him this magazine. The most incredible thing is that it was this number with a photograph and an autograph of the great singer that survived the fire. This is the only memory I have of her.

"The quarries of Elena Obraztsova"

That was the name of the interview with the singer in the Student Meridian magazine, which is now problematic to find. I hope that readers will be interested in reading excerpts from several of my conversations with Obraztsova.

Elena Vasilievna, perhaps the members of the jury of the competition can be compared with gold diggers? Indeed, in the hope of finding a few precious voices, they are forced to listen to dozens of singers.

There is work that is harder. So many years ago, I was on a train with two women and some uncle who had just terrible hands. He was, to put it mildly, ugly, and I was afraid - how are we going to spend the night with him in the same compartment - just the passion of the Lord. Women recognized me: “Oh, Elena Vasilievna, tell me how you live ...” I began to complain: I don’t see my family, I don’t communicate with my child, I’m always on the road, leaving and coming, climate change, time zones, endless rehearsals - it’s hard , very hard ... And the uncle sat and sat, then we had some kind of pause, and suddenly he would say: “Don’t you want to work in the quarries?” And everything immediately fell into place! It was the first serious lesson that I received "in life".

And the second lesson?

I had the most terrible, infernal migraines (apparently, the consequences of hunger in besieged Leningrad). Once, when I was already attached to the Kremlin medical department in Moscow, I called the doctor to the house to give me injections (there was high blood pressure). Such a powerful aunt arrived ... And I lie on the sofa and lament: “Lord, why did You give me such suffering? I have never done harm to people ... "Suddenly she hands on hips:" Oh, you shameless woman! I almost fell off the couch: “Why are you talking to me like that?” She: “Do you know that people have been screaming in hospitals for years in pain, and you will scream in two or three hours - and everything will pass! Whenever something hurts, say: “Lord, thank you for only this!”. This was my second life lesson. By the way, after the visit of that woman, my migraines somehow began to disappear ...

Not every person can say about himself publicly as you do in your poem: “I am a great sinner…”

Yes, this is simply the duty of an Orthodox Christian - to clearly realize what he is guilty of before the Lord. And God is always in us, as one very good preacher, Father Anthony from London, likes to repeat. By the way, this is a man of absolutely amazing fate: he lived in Paris, was a prosperous surgeon and once heard a voice calling to leave the world. He spent a year in the forests, then again he heard a voice: "You must enter the spiritual academy." Now he is in charge of the entire Russian Orthodox Church in England. I fell in love with his sermons, I have collected them all.

Your life is filled with many interesting events.

I hope this continues to be the case! After Madrid, I managed to give concerts in Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, Tashkent. In Hungary, she sang "The Queen of Spades" in a concert performance. After a two-week break, I will go to Japan for the Summer School, where I have been going to give master classes for many years. In September, a trip to the Far East is planned, where I will take the winners of my competition. My concerts will be held in Vladivostok, Ussuriysk and Khabarovsk. In October - early December, as always, I give concerts and master classes throughout Japan. At the end of December, I sing jazz with Igor Butman at the Moscow House of Music. There are many plans. I conceived a grandiose festival of arts in Peterhof - on the model of Salzburg. I want to revive the Peterhof Opera House and invite Zeffirelli to the production.

With Franco Zeffirelli, you did Rural Honor at the La Scala Theater and a film based on this performance, after which he said that there were three discoveries in his life - Anna Magnani, Maria Callas and Elena Obraztsova.

I am happy that he has such an opinion about me, and I pray that our new work, a feature film, will take place. Franco has already called me several times, saying that he is looking for a plot.

“Even a pause should be such that the audience does not look in their pockets for wardrobe numbers”, or the Elena Obraztsova Competition for Young Opera Singers

How do you manage to deal with your brainchild? For the first two rounds of the third competition, tickets for the public were free. It was a generous gift for lovers of singing. The founders of the competition are the Committee for Culture of St. Petersburg and the Cultural Center of Elena Obraztsova. Does the state help?

Well, if only the state would give the ruble, it would help me! I walk with outstretched hand and ask sponsors for money. And until the last second I am never sure that the competition will take place. But it's also impossible! I am doing this not for myself, but for young people, for their professional growth, so that great musicians can share their experience with them. All my life I have worked on the greatest stages with the greatest conductors, directors, singers, I know a lot and I want to pass on my knowledge to young people. And I can’t even find people with whom I could talk about this topic. The secretaries won't let me see the responsible bosses in the office! I am surprised. It turns out that no one needs my knowledge or my desire to do something. It is terribly insulting that I, who have lived all my life in Russia and served it, no one wants not only to help, but also to listen. Almost all the money I earn goes to the competition, to the restoration of two halls located in the house number 65 on Nevsky Prospekt. The Elena Obraztsova Support Center for Musical Talents has also been established in Moscow. The Moscow government helped to expand the building of the art gallery of Alexander Shilov. We, like Shilov, who donated his paintings to the city, are also patriots. But, unfortunately, our competition does not have the support of the authorities and exists thanks to sponsors. There is not a single leading theater on the planet in which our singers with unique voices would not sing. But we want their skill to become even higher. Therefore, we will invite to master classes the largest singers of our time, professors who teach foreign languages.

The greatest singers in the world - Joan Sutherland, Renata Scotto, Fedora Barbieri, many other outstanding singers and musicians from the USA, Italy, Australia, Japan, Germany, Romania, France, of course, and from Russia and Ukraine. Thanks to this, there was not a single mistake at the competition: all the performers who received the awards went on to a great musical life. These are Ildar Abdrazakov, Lyubov Petrova, Hayk Martirosyan, Mikhail Kazakov, Marina Poplavskaya, Mikhail Shtoda, Irina Lungu, Tatyana Mazurenko, Eduard Tsanga, Methodie Bujor...

What advice would you give to young people who devote themselves to singing?

Maybe it will seem strange to someone, but I would advise you not to focus on one vocal. You need to live a full-blooded life, feel it, absorb its joys, sorrows - love, suffer, hate. You can’t lie on a soft feather bed and wait for an invitation to an opera performance or a chamber concert... When a spiritually poor little man enters the stage, who does not know history, literature, painting, world music, who does not know life itself, he has nothing to say to people. Even a pause should be such that the audience does not look in their pocket for numbers in the wardrobe, but waits for what you say next. In a pause, we continue to live in the image, to conduct an internal monologue ... Singing gift - from above. When the Lord gives a voice, He expects us to learn more. Otherwise, what we sing cannot be called music - so, bare notes.

“I have read all of Dostoevsky and fell in love with him”

Once you admitted that the chief artist of the Bolshoi Theater, an extremely interesting person, Vadim Ryndin, revealed Dostoevsky to you with his extraordinary stories of the life of the human soul ...

Yes, he brought me his books in a certain sequence - first "easier", then deeper in philosophical content. As a result, I repeatedly read all of Dostoevsky and fell in love with him.

It is probably not by chance that one of your “crown” works is the role of Granny in Prokofiev’s opera The Gambler, written based on the novel of the same name by Dostoevsky?

Yes, this is one of my favorite roles - very bright, juicy. I usually imagine the great actress Faina Ranevskaya in this image of Dostoevsky. Grandma does not feel sorry for the millions spent in the casino, because she is at least a gambler, but not a greedy person. After all, with the rest of the money she builds churches ...

In his book, the famous director Boris Pokrovsky said: “If I were a monarch or president, I would ban everything except opera for three days. In three days, the nation would wake up refreshed, smart, wise, rich, well-fed and cheerful.” Of course, this is a hyperbolic image, although the idea is clear: classical art can spiritually lift people to good deeds. I wonder what you would do in the place of a hypothetical monarch?

And I would feed all the old women and old people first. I would pay tribute to the people who believed in the communist utopia, laid on its altar their whole honestly lived life - like my father, who not only lived, but worked for the sake of the future. And I loved my father for it ...

“Thank God my parents are dead!”

What hurts your soul?

Now many people are thinking about the division of power, land, and influence. And who will think about our old people who have lived a very difficult life, and now they don’t know what to live on at all? I'll tell you the most terrible thing - thank God that my parents died! I am happy that they did not live to see the destruction of their ideals, dreams, their faith in Russia, which they served. They brought me up on classical music at a time when television and radio were broadcasting live classical music from the best concert halls. Now people are more and more captured by money, commerce. They do not think about what to leave to the future generation. And those parents who now grow up without classical music will not be able to pass on these treasures to their children.

How can a person achieve what he aspires to?

Just hard work and perseverance. Whatever I conceived in life, I always achieved, because if I set a goal, I can no longer be led astray. Such is my daughter, who dreamed of singing since childhood, but at first I resisted - after all, this is hard labor ... And she became an excellent singer. This is her mother's in her: to go ahead, in spite of everything ... Although she was, like all children, both a hooligan and an outrage. But from the age of five she knew the entire repertoire of conservatory students who came to my house to study - she sat under the piano and listened to all our lessons. She is also a drunken reader, ruining her eyes. French classical literature knows, in my opinion, almost by heart.

“Following the opera, I master jazz”

You have tried a lot in your life - music, poetry, theater ... Do you weigh for a long time before giving in to a new hobby?

It's like someone is guiding me through life. I’m walking, walking, walking in the usual way, suddenly bang - books get into the house, suppose, on Eastern philosophy, and I unexpectedly begin to get involved in the East, write poetry in the Eastern spirit, go to exhibitions of Eastern art ... Or then suddenly bang - Viktyuk theater. From time to time, Roman Viktyuk starts to rehearse with me "Venus in Furs" and "Don't Shoot Mom" ​​- performances that we have already played. Rehearsing - then quitting, rehearsing again - quitting again...

Elena Vasilievna, I was lucky to see you in Viktyuk's dramatic performance based on the play by R. Mainardi "Antonio von Elba".

Yes, I played Amalia, an aging opera diva in love with a young man. And once I became interested in jazz. She sang Kurt Weill's zongs, which are very close in spirit to the melody of the musical. And through this style, I suddenly entered jazz, felt it not just as entertaining music, but as a manifestation of Negro religious consciousness. Good jazz is earthly and divine at the same time. Just like any real music. I was happy to meet the jazz audience. I sang with saxophonist Igor Butman in the Great Philharmonic Hall in Leningrad. We performed Gershwin, Kern, Ellington - jazz classics of the 20s and 30s.

"Peak..." Countess

In 2003, when the singer's 40th anniversary was celebrated, I managed to attend Tchaikovsky's opera The Queen of Spades at the Bolshoi Theatre. Her Countess is a masterpiece! She sang the Countess at the very beginning of her career - twenty-five years old. Forty years ago, a cheerful, young, beautiful girl suddenly - as if by magic - turned into an "eighty-year-old hag" - outdated and fallen in love with Moscow Venus. But the singer looked great even at 75. How she amazed the audience with her ability before our eyes - often without makeup and costume, in a concert dress - to turn into an old woman leaning on a stick with shaking hands and twitching her head. According to the singer, she herself did the role of the Countess, she did not want to share it with anyone. Creating this strong tragic character on stage, Obraztsova internally became so old that she "even wanted to be young."

Elena Vasilievna said: “Then I came to my senses for a whole week, my hands and legs were trembling. - When Tchaikovsky wrote the scene of the death of the Countess, his hair stood on end - he was so scared. And he sobbed. This is how the people in the room should feel. Hair on end! .. "

She found her authorship in her way of being on stage. She represented the Countess not speculatively, but sensually, and she never sang it just like that. “Endless associations! The Countess recalls her youth, life in Paris. And, remembering the past with its series of balls and love stories, he begins to sing a French romance from the era of the Marquise Pompadour, leaving for the golden dream of his youth, ”said Obraztsova, who was in a constant creative search for ways to exist on stage. She did not tire of surprising us with her discoveries, presenting even well-known works as some kind of fascinating and exciting mystery.

Here is what the singer told about her tour in Madrid, where at the Real Opera House she participated in the performances of The Queen of Spades more than once with Placido Domingo:

- In Madrid "Teatro Real" this huge production was transferred from Los Angeles. In it, Domingo and I came up with an innovation (for the first time in all 40 years of my creative activity!): when the Countess sings her song, she returns to the days of her youth and, falling asleep, remains there. In Herman, she sees another lover who asks her for love. She dances with him, and in the dance her youth, her dreams of love are revived. But he says: "You are old, and you will not live long." Then the Countess realizes that this is the one who came for her life, for the secret of the three cards, she must die from him, she has been waiting for him with horror all her life. Realizing this, she dies, and Herman, realizing that with the death of the Countess, the secret of the three cards on which he bet his whole life has gone, goes crazy. He grabs the dead body of the Countess and, dancing with him, repeats: "She is dead, but I have not learned the secret." This is so scary!..

Do you sing a duet with your daughter?

We have given joint concerts many times - in Leningrad, Yaroslavl, Madrid... She is a wonderful performer of baroque music. In addition, she sings in the opera, she has many engagements with Montserrat Caballe. Lena lives in Spain. I miss her and my grandson very much, but I will never leave Russia. If she hadn't left before, now even more so. Abroad, sometimes, they are met even more enthusiastically, but in terms of the depth of feeling for music, our listener probably has no equal.

Are you more comfortable on stage with Russian partners?

Certainly. Volodya Atlantov, Evgeny Nesterenko, Yuri Mazurok, Tamara Milashkina were amazing partners. And what a singer - Irina Arkhipova! Avdeeva, Leonova, Nikitina - we had an amazing mezzo-soprano group at the Bolshoi.

Is your grandson going to continue the musical dynasty?

Can you imagine, he has absolutely no hearing! At one time he really wanted to become a veterinarian, but by the age of 16 he became interested in sports - football and karate.

For many years your husband, conductor of the Bolshoi Theater Algis Zhuraitis, has been gone. Does time heal pain or exacerbate it?

No, it did not change anything in my feeling: I loved Algis, and I still love him. He was an extraordinary person, a man... Elegant, passionate, gentle. As a wonderful musician, he is still remembered by many vocalists and orchestra players.

What helps you stay in shape?

You have to sit on a protein diet: meat, fish, seafood, eggs, lettuce, a little bit of soy and pineapple. That's all I eat. Well, an artist who constantly works on stage simply does not need additional physical activity: there is already a crazy return of energy.

What is the main wisdom you have learned in your life?

And there is no other wisdom but love for people, for God's world, and there is none. You wake up in the morning and see the sky, the sun, the rain, the trees, the flowers, and it delights you. You wander around different cities, sing and listen to music, watch great paintings, read talented books, admire ancient architecture - all this is also love for the creations of human hands. In love for children, a man, a friend - the greatest wisdom.

Photo from the archive of Elena Obraztsova

Christ's Sermon on the Mount is the focus of Christianity - a faith that, according to the words of the Apostle Paul, "is a stumbling block for the Jews, but madness for the Greeks."

"Blessed are the poor in spirit." The falsity or inaccuracy of the interpretation of this commandment is indeed capable of turning into both "madness" and "temptation." For people who are far from the Church, the words about “poor in spirit” sound scandalous: if Christianity is the religion of the weak and miserable, and I am not, then it is right that I am not a Christian. Within the church community, the misunderstood ideal of spiritual poverty from time to time causes madness in the form of the so-called “concept of salvation through sin”: if you don’t sin, you won’t repent; if you don't repent, you won't be saved; therefore, if you do not sin, you will not be saved.

Meanwhile, already a simple philosophical analysis of the concept of spiritual poverty turns out to be quite sufficient for its clear definition. This analysis consists in distinguishing poverty and poverty: the poor is the one who does not have more; a beggar is one who does not even have what he needs. The beggar is not able to cover the irreplaceable "zero" needs - for drink, food, medicine, protection from the weather. The poor man lives modestly, but calmly - the beggar dies restlessly and immodestly. That is why his name is thirst, his being is struggle and prayer. The instinct of self-preservation of a fading life acts against the will, overcomes inertia, laziness and resistance of personal dignity, forcing one to look for the necessary - something with which one can make up for the fatal insufficiency of life, and in the case of spiritual poverty - the inferiority of being.

A beggar in this sense can also be called a banker who discovered that his expenses inexorably exceeded income during a crisis. A great artist, who is convinced that his canvases do not capture even a tenth of his inspiration, may turn out to be thirsty.

Spiritual poverty is the presence in the structures of human existence of some unfilled vessel: such is a woman who has not yet become a wife and mother; such is the righteous man who discovered in his life a law not filled with love; such is a Spartan from among three hundred, sent to Sparta with a report from King Leonidas and therefore missed the opportunity to die heroically in the brilliant and tragic battle of Thermopylae ...

The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle argued that "nature abhors a void" and strives to fill it. It is commonly believed that "poor in spirit" refers to the weak. But spiritual poverty in the language of dynamics is, on the contrary, potency, or strength, that is, the cause of any movement.

First, it is a force that produces a culture-forming movement. Neither the spiritually poor Arkhangelsk fellow fishermen, nor the spiritually rich noble children of Moscow understood Lomonosov, who had come on foot from Arkhangelsk to the capital, to the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy. None of them, self-sufficient and static, was destined to be inspired to dare in science and found the first Russian university. To understand the passion for knowledge that drove the first Russian academician until his death, only one who himself stood before the greatness of Truth, feeling his own inferiority and poverty, can understand.

Secondly, it is the force that initiates the movement towards God. The poor in spirit, about whom the Gospel speaks, is a person whose spiritual thirst is not quenched by anything earthly - neither by the tragedy of the theater, nor by the spirit of music. Spiritual poverty is a need that the rationalizing complexity of science, the artistic fantasy of literature, and even the comforting wisdom of philosophy succumb to. By the inexhaustibility of his own spiritual thirst, a person guesses that he is a microcosm, that is, the image of the One Whom "even heaven cannot contain." The inexhaustibility of thirst for anything earthly makes one seek the heavenly and reach the heavenly spheres. This is subtly noticed by Pushkin in the poem the prophet:

Spiritual thirst tormented,

In the gloomy desert I dragged myself

And a six-winged seraph

Appeared to me at a crossroads...

"Spiritual thirst" - an expression of poverty - becomes an indispensable condition for the "appearance of the seraphim." And a diligently praying person can freeze in perplexity: why are prayers not fulfilled? Is it possible that the All-good and Almighty God does not want or cannot give what is asked? But the difficulty arises not with the giver, but with the petitioner: there is a gift, it is offered, but the person has nothing to carry it away. Therefore, truly “blessed” are those who have a vessel filled with nothing - they can really “move mountains”. Thus, spiritual poverty turns out to be the very essence of faith.

Supporters of “salvation through sin” should note that the prayer of the gospel publican was fulfilled not because he “pleased” God with his sins, but because he was able to survive his own spiritual poverty as poverty. The spiritual wealth of the Pharisee overwhelmed him, created the illusion of personal ontological completeness and completeness, depriving him of the opportunity to perform a miracle through prayer.

Doctors point to a good appetite as one of the main signs of health. The loss of the ability to thirst turns out to be an external reflection of the pathology - the Pharisee is so spiritually ill with a feeling of satiety that overwhelms him. Having created the human soul in His own image, God created a being that is complementary only to Himself, capable of being completely filled only with divine Infinity and Fullness. Therefore, a person torn off from the Creator, capable of being filled to satiety with spectacles, theater, literature, arts, science or empty entertainment, betrays his own nature. He is fake, sick, wrong.

It would be wrong to identify spiritual poverty with personal weakness of character, and its bearers with outcasts. Regardless of the amount of talent and virtue, wealth and social success, the poor in spirit are just genuine people who are able to feel their lack of self-sufficiency in the face of divine perfection. This poverty is expressed in the strength of the thirst with which the soul seeks rest in its Creator, for the time being comforted by the creation of culture, like the great Song of the Lost Paradise.

Sometime in the past, we were hammered into the head with the idea that the richer a person, the further he is from spirituality.

On the other hand, the poor man is spiritualized right to the point of disgrace. Such, as a rule, excuse themselves by the fact that happiness is not in money.

This begs the question: “How does he know this?”

He wasn't rich either.

Yes, he is poor and not particularly happy.

False spirituality is what undeveloped people hide behind.

A rich person gives 10% to charity every month, which is millions of dollars that help millions of people.

Whom can a poor "spiritual man" help?

Yes, he is not able to help himself, rather than others. The rich know 2 sides of life: the poor (since they rose from scratch) and the rich.

I want to note right away that according to statistics, the children of millionaires who inherited wealth, and did not raise it themselves, cannot rise and succeed. It is even difficult for them to keep the wealth left behind by rich dad.

The exception is those who have been taught to be responsible since childhood, but there are only a few of them.

Big money is like a magnifying glass that magnifies our attachments and character traits.

It is energy in material form.

If a person is bad by nature, then, having received a million, he becomes worse a million times.

If it's good, it gets even better.

For a bad person, money can ruin life completely.

There are 2 kinds of people: those who develop and those who degrade. There is no middle.

It follows from this that money will intensify development for a developing person, and for a degrading person it will intensify degradation.

The usual envy of the poor towards the rich suggests that a person longs to be in his place, but does not want to do anything for this. Poverty gives such a person the motivation to somehow move, work.

This is the psychology of a poor irresponsible person.

The result is obvious: we have not grown and realized ourselves, and he has long been a banker. There is another such friend with whom we drank, walked, and then our paths parted, and he soon became a successful businessman.

I would also like to be in their place, but I did not want to spend my life in the here and now on the prospects for the future. Patience, the ability to cultivate and receive dividends are inherent only to successful people.

Therefore, people with a poor man's mindset, who do not want to wait and work for the good of their future, are chasing quick results.

Source:
Noel Bukharmetov and Natalia Berilova
Chapter from the book "Hedgehog in the Fog or Way to the Goal - 3"

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How we got out of poverty and changed our lives

When we talk about money, a lot of indignation is awakened. Like sex, this topic is taboo. We have many fears and complexes, experiences and beliefs...

When I talk to people, I overtly or covertly hear:

• Money is evil

• Money is dirt

• Asking for money is bad

• You can only earn by hard work.

• Only thieves get rich easily

• The rich are evil and unhappy

• Wealthy families are fragile

And this makes life very difficult for them.

Because then life turns into running away from money. And it seems that I want my own house, to eat something, the dresses are beautiful.

But the way they come to me - I consider dirty and unworthy.

What will happen then?

We all know this from experience.

Money will become less and less. The salary will be miserable, it will be barely enough.

Look for opportunities, not freebies

Freebies will make you poorer. Free - Bes pays.

All those situations where the law of balance "Take" and "Give" are violated lead to the complication of all life.

Everything that you take for free and without spending any effort is worth nothing. Such knowledge is not valued. Such things quickly break down and do not bring joy.

Sometimes we spend a lot of time trying to get something for free. It would be possible to direct the same efforts to earn the required amount. When we have some kind of training that we want to get into, we look for opportunities.

Not a problem - why is it unrealistic.

So it was in 2009 with Stephen Covey. $1,000 ticket plus travel and lodging. But we made up our minds and said yes to it. A week before departure, the entire amount came (we just made an effort in the right direction).

It was the same with the Psychology 3000 festival and other events. Everything lines up - when the vector is directed in the right direction.

Free is not appreciated.

You will not apply what you have learned for free. There is no motivation from outside, only willpower remains - and we usually have it weak.

Change your attitude towards money

It's easier said than done.

After all, you need to start not with meditation on pieces of paper - imagining how they fall from the sky. And with the attitude to those who already have money and wealth.

Are you sure that all millionaires steal?

That they are all dirty and terrible people?

Unhappy and evil?

It means that you do not know anything and do not want to know about this side of life.

Read the book My Millionaire Neighbor and you will find out that most millionaires are modest and family people. They work hard and help others, do not boast of their millions. They have something to respect.

Money and wealth is not the goal of human life. This is a tool that will help a person to make more transformations in this world.

In order to build a hospital or a temple, you need money. It takes money to feed the hungry. In order to teach children or even adopt them, you need money.

In our world, this is the tool with which you can change the life around. And in which direction - it is decided by the person who uses them.

Like electricity, you can kill a person, or you can give light to thousands of homes.

Like the Internet - you can sit on porn sites, or you can listen to Torsunov's lectures.

Money has no color - we ourselves give it meaning by how we spend it.

The more people you help with money, the more money you will have. Checked.

Change your attitude towards paying for services - including your own

Recently, I often meet people who, referring to Eastern philosophy, say that a psychologist should work for donations.

That asking for payment for your services is a sin.

But this misses another - more important part.

All scriptures say - Do not steal!

At the same time, nowhere is it written: "Work for free."

And the sin is not in asking for payment, but in not paying for the services of others.

Knowing this, a psychologist, teacher or doctor simply does not have the right to allow such a sin in his patient and client. And given our dissolute Kali Yuga mind, he himself must set the price for his services. Simply obliged.

To help a person.

And so that negative consequences do not catch up with him later.

If you provide services to others - feel free to set a price. One that will be comfortable for you.

Realize that money is the energy of God

When I fully understood and felt it, I felt better. They do not belong to me or to any other person.

This is the energy of God - and he distributes it.

According to today's desires and aspirations. In the Vedic tradition, money is called lakshmi.

By the name of the Goddess of Prosperity, the wife of the Lord.

Because this is her energy - and therefore the energy of God.

When we understand this, it is already easier to understand how and where to spend. For the common good.

For this, for example, a woman needs to eat delicious food and dress beautifully. Because in this way she becomes joyful - and can share this joy.

A hungry woman in burlap will no longer bring others so much happiness and pleasure.

A home for a family is needed not only for simple living and enjoyment. But also then, to receive and feed guests in it. Learn to serve others.

A car is not only a way to get from point A to point B, but also an opportunity to help friends and family.

Of course, here, too, you need to know the measure - and be able to refuse, so that no calluses appear on the neck. This is already talking about self-esteem and personal boundaries.

With the help of money, start changing the world for the better

Then it turns out that vice is not wealth, but vice versa. A poor person cannot change anything in this world, he would have to survive on his own. And even his own survival falls on the shoulders of someone else.

After all, the unemployed are paid benefits from those taxes that come to the treasury from those who work. Poor people need help and support - and it comes just from those who have money.

The question is where do we distribute them. Why do we earn them? How honest. And where do we spend it? If we do what we love with a soul and help people, there will be more money.

I know carpenters, plumbers, bakers, seamstresses, doctors, psychologists, teachers who stand in line.

They earn enough. And their products and work delight all customers - because they have a piece of the soul.

Businessmen who do charity work will definitely increase their wealth. After all, they are building a business not only for themselves!

Work on your family relationship with money

In my life, the debts ended after the arrangement on this topic - where there were quarrels over inheritance and housing, dispossession and much more.

And the debt, the amount of which did not change for five years, evaporated in 3 months. This is a very big topic - how the fears of our ancestors set boundaries for us. We talked a little about this in the course aboutgeneric scenarios

In their times, people were killed, exiled, and imprisoned for wealth. Therefore, it was beneficial not to stick out, to work like everyone else and get the same amount.

Many years have passed - and we continue to do the same - although in our time the principles are already different. And past installations are already very harmful.

Remove excessive anxiety and obsession with money

This is the other extreme - when we strive for them, we want to enjoy them. We see in each person - only his wallet. We evaluate our victories by the size of the salary ...

We seem to appropriate the energy of God. We say it's our money. My. I need. I want. Me, me, mine!

With this approach, there is even less money, and with it, relationships are collapsing. We passed this stage when we were engaged in the development of the Internet portal.

Over time, the motivation to help people changed to "pay the rent and buy food."

Clearly aware of this, we decided to withdraw from this project - and thereby preserve our values.

After this difficult decision, our income only increased, although nothing foreshadowed such result .

Help people

Let this be your prime mover.

Your main motivator.

Then earning money will not be contrary to spirituality.

On the contrary, they will finally come together and stop disturbing the mind with eternal conflict.

I wish you to get out of the vicious circle of the constant race for money!

The question of spirituality is currently considered very widely. Everyone understands in their own way what it means to be a spiritually rich person. For some, this concept is inextricably linked with faith in God, someone expands the boundaries of their soul and improves with the help of Eastern practices, and someone simply acts like they put the interests of others above their own, for example, as Mother Teresa did.

What does it mean to be spiritually rich?

A spiritually rich person is rich because he puts the needs of the soul, not the body, in the foreground. For him, it is not material values ​​that matter, but those that contribute to the improvement of the soul. Showing interest in religion, painting, music, and other forms of art, a person learns the environment and social phenomena. As a result, his inner world is filled, a person develops from different sides, becomes an interesting interlocutor, thinking, having his own point of view on everything.

A spiritually rich person strives for self-improvement. He learns new things, using the works and discoveries of famous artists, writers, poets. The actions and deeds of such a person are responsible and meaningful. Thoughts and motives always have a positive color, because he understands that the real treasure is not material values, but inner peace, fortitude and spiritual values. But for those who are interested in what a spiritually rich person should be like, it is worth saying that the fullness of the soul is achieved not only through knowledge. Most often, this comes through suffering. Tests change the worldview, as they say, turn the world upside down.

Those who wonder what it means to be spiritually rich should answer that a person can collect a wealth of knowledge all his life and still not achieve perfection, and suffering does it in a shorter period. It happens that a single event turns the whole mentality, crosses out the past life, dividing it into “before” and “after”. Often people then come to God, considering spiritual well-being as a relationship with the one Creator.

Distinctive features of a person with a rich inner spiritual world

1. Such people radiate some kind of inner light that seeps through a kind smile, a look of wise eyes and a desire to share their wealth with others.
2. High morality is what characterizes such people. They are endowed with honesty and responsibility, they feel dignity, which is expressed in a respectful attitude towards others, goodwill and devotion.
3. Such people do everything not from the mind, but from the heart. They understand the true meaning of God's commandment "Love your neighbor as yourself" and follow it.
4. Modesty and forgiveness - that's what distinguishes them. It is not only about forgiveness of other people, but also of oneself. They realize the full depth of their mistakes and first of all repent before themselves.
5. Peace and harmony live in their hearts. There is no place for base passions and emotions. They understand the meaninglessness of feelings of guilt, aggression or anger and bring only goodness into the world.

Of course, becoming a person with a rich soul is not easy. The combination of all factors plays a role here - upbringing, and piety. You can be a pious person, but still not understand what the meaning of faith is, or you can read and develop a lot, improve your intellectual level, but remain callous in your soul and hate everyone and everything. In general, spiritual wealth is inseparable from condescension, wisdom, patience and readiness to lend a helping hand to your neighbor at any moment. Only by giving, without demanding anything in return, you can get rich.