What are the types of moral suffering? What is moral suffering

There should be a place for suffering in the life of every decent young lady. This kind of real suffering - deep, strong and genuine. The main thing is to go through this time stoically. Or not. It depends on which stars aligned over the sufferer on her birthday.

Cancer

Cancers suffer in silence. So that no one would notice, but everyone would understand, yes. They sob bitterly in the bathroom, turning the tap on full blast. They walk around the house with wet eyes, but no amount of torture can knock out the answer to the question “What happened?!” Because if you answer what happened, you will have to interrupt the internal movie about the apocalypse at the most interesting point. Yes, the Cancer young lady is showing herself a fascinating blockbuster about how everyone will die, and she too. A painful, disgusting death. And no, no Bruce Willis will come and save the Cancer young lady’s world from disaster. Because she herself is Bruce Willis and now she will fix everything. It's a movie with a happy ending, she just hasn't finished watching it yet.

Fish

Pisces suffer spectacularly. The Countess with a changed face runs to the pond, oh yes. She runs to drown herself, of course, because suffering THIS way is beyond her strength. The main thing is that at that moment there should not be some nasty Virgo near the pond, who will definitely say: “Why are you killing yourself like that? You won’t kill yourself like that!” No, let there be understanding people nearby who will not prevent Rybka from suffering. I mean, enjoy it. How subtly she feels, how deeply she worries, have you all seen?! "Oh, fateful night!"

Scorpion

Scorpios don't suffer at all. In principle. Because there is no force in the world that could make Scorpio suffer seriously. And this, in fact, is the problem. Because Scorpios are still living people (we ourselves are shocked, but it’s true), and they are unable not to react to the world around them. So instead of suffering, they get angry. And this, you know, oh. Because Scorpio in anger is worse than Godzilla. It's worse than Godzilla with PMS, if you know what we mean.

Taurus

Taurus suffers on a large scale. That's it - can you hear?! - everyone should know how bad she is. Therefore, first of all, Taurus writes a giant sheet of text on cozy Facebook, in which he skillfully, but pedantically lists all his troubles and sorrows. And at this very moment, troubles and sorrows begin for everyone else. Because if you try to give a suffering Taurus practical advice, then “who asked you at all, that you are minding your own business, you stupid people.” And if you write “Well, hang in there,” you might get a ban, because “they couldn’t come up with anything smarter, right?!” And if you don’t write anything, they will write you down. Mortal enemies. Because you are an indifferent bastard.

Capricorn

Capricorns suffer humbly. And actively. Capricorn never thinks: “Oh, why should I do this!” Capricorn thinks: “Well, ok. Let's take this too. What, I wonder, can be learned from this? Useful, of course. And, imagine, he extracts it. And not only life experience and a lesson for the future. Any fool can do that. Capricorn will also extract a magical kick. In the sense - a previously hidden internal resource.

Twins

Geminis suffer verbosely, flowerily and obscenely. Well, that is, Geminis not only suffer, but generally live: the Gemini young lady constantly conducts a fascinating dialogue with all her inner subpersonalities, and suffering in this picture of the world does not change practically anything. In addition, the suffering Gemini young lady moves from dialogue to monologue and begins to conduct it out loud. At the same time, she does not need listeners: Geminis can express all their complaints to anyone - even their best friend, even their dear Universe. But if you suddenly see a suffering Gemini young lady, it’s better to stop and listen. She won’t appreciate your participation, but you will learn a lot of new words.

Lion

Lionesses simply cannot afford to suffer. Suffering is for mere mortals, and she is a queen. And queens, as you know, not only do not fart, but also do not cry. But, since the Lioness is still a living person (and not a mystical entity, like Scorpio, for example), she has to suffer. But you have to keep your face up somehow! Therefore, the Lioness quickly chooses some scapegoat among her vassals and blames him for all her troubles. This is how suffering turns into noble, righteous anger, which, you see, is a completely different story. By the way, being a scapegoat with a Lioness is very pleasant: the Lioness understands that in fact the unfortunate person is not to blame for anything, so she quickly exchanges righteous anger for the highest mercy, and thus calms down, pleased with herself. And the goat will get some goodies.

Aries

Aries suffer in isolation. They retreat into themselves and lock the door behind them with four bolts. And at this moment the most important thing is not to try to knock under any circumstances. Because the Aries young lady accepts suffering as a challenge, and at this moment a mortal battle flares up inside her, a bloody fight with a shadow. She simply didn’t bother to hang a sign on the door “Don’t get in, she’ll kill you,” but still, adults themselves should understand! No? Well, sorry. Aries will then pour into a beautiful bag the handful of ashes that remain from the comforter. Definitely.

Scales

Libra suffers with gusto. The Libra young lady is a fatalist, and she sincerely believes: a blow from fate in the forehead means that her kicks in the ass did not have an effect, which means, “Fedya is necessary, it is necessary.” But accepting suffering for nothing is unbearable: Libra cannot live in peace without balancing evil with good. Is suffering evil? Evil. This means you need to do something nice for yourself as soon as possible. Well, at least eat. You can also get drunk in good company. And give yourself something unnecessary, but beautiful, because when else, if not now, right? In general, when family and friends finally get to Libra to hug, console and feed delicious food, they usually find that there is no one left to console. Because the Libra young lady went to the Maldives in the company of a cinematically handsome brunette and with a suitcase full of new dresses, in a beautiful hat and with a bottle of Madeira under her arm. Our poor thing.

Aquarius

Aquarians hate suffering. It is easier for Aquarius to die than to suffer. And therefore this is exactly what she does: she takes a farewell look at everything that has brought her such suffering, sighs quietly and, without saying anything, goes behind the sofa. Die. But usually no one sees this, because Aquarius knows: in this world a person cannot even die in peace, someone will definitely pester you with stupid questions. Therefore, those around them are sure that Aquarians are generally incapable of suffering, that they are always cheerful and cheerful. But in fact, Aquarius died today. Five and a half times. And resurrected, yes. This is Aquarius.

Sagittarius

Sagittarius suffer meanly. No, it's true. In all other cases, Sagittarius is the very nobility, the very courage and the best friend of all children, but suffering unsettles Sagittarius. And then the unfortunate Sagittarius young lady calls all her friends to her, promising them delicious cocktails and unbridled fun. And he’s not lying. About cocktails. And the “unbridled fun” is as follows: Sagittarius will whine for a long time and verbosely about her difficult fate, and her friends should not just console her, but analyze the situation. And analyze again. And again. In general, Sagittarius will pour from empty to empty until the morning, and then perk up and calm down. At that moment, when even Capricorns and Virgos fall under the table, completely exhausted. This is the power of suffering, this is what we understand. Power!

Virgo

Virgo suffers like an owl. He pouts and blinks his eyes. At the same time, no one understands whether she is suffering now, or whether she has always been like this, because the devil can sort her out, this strange bird. We reveal a secret: Virgo always suffers. 24/7. The imperfections of this world deeply wound her granite heart, reinforced concrete soul and bulletproof brain. And since the imperfection of the world is the only thing that remains unchanged in this very world, Virgo does not pay the slightest attention to her suffering. Do you notice how you breathe? Same thing.

If you don't want to be wise, suffer.

Proverb

Why does a person suffer? Should he suffer? Is it possible to avoid suffering? If possible, then what needs to be done for this? Let's take a step towards the truth and look for answers to these questions. It is important to do this right now, during the transition to a new era.

To answer the first question: why does a person suffer, it is necessary to clarify: has a person always suffered? There are different opinions, but many sources say that at the beginning of human history there was no suffering. Remember the biblical stories about Adam and Eve who lived in Paradise? Daniil Andreev in the book “Rose of the World” wrote: “There were times when a person did not suffer, when he was not punished, and the forces of light eliminated mistakes for people and taught them.”

What happened? Why has man's position changed? The Bible says that a person violated the prohibition and committed some illegal act. Whose ban? Who undertook to limit the freedom of man given to him from the very beginning? Religion says: Creator, Creator, God, that is, parent. Parents also impose certain prohibitions on their children: don’t do this, don’t take that... But everyone knows that it is better not to prohibit a child, but to arrange his life in such a way that it is safe for him and for those around him. This is one of the tasks of parents: to remove knives, matches, medicines from the child’s eyes, and later teach him how to use them correctly.

Why did the all-good and all-seeing God leave the tree of good and evil in the Garden of Eden, after tasting the fruits of which a person could suffer and even die? “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou shalt eat; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat from it; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”

Knowing such consequences, God still left this tree next to man. So it was necessary! That’s why the serpent appeared and said: “No, you will not die; but God knows that on the day that you eat of them, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil.” And further, when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, God confirmed the words of the serpent: “And the Lord God said: Behold, Adam became like one of Us, knowing good and evil...»

It turns out that man was destined to do all this, and God knew it. Why did the Creator get so angry, dress people in “leather clothes” and drive them out of Paradise? And why did God put the seal of sin on a person’s actions? “And he said to Adam: cursed earth for you..." And he told his wife that she would give birth in illness, and her husband would rule over her. And many other curses were said.

The answer to such strong anger of God can be found in another phrase of the Bible: “... And now, lest he (Adam) stretch out his hand, and neither did he take from the tree of life and didn't taste it and didn't live forever"(Emphasis added by me - N.A.) This is what the gods were afraid of: that man would learn the secret of eternal life and become like them. “And he drove out Adam, and placed a cherubim and a flaming sword that turned to guard the way to the tree of life at the east of the garden of Eden.” (All these excerpts are from the Bible, Genesis, chapter 3.)

From all this we can see perhaps the most important cause of suffering. The man resignedly accepted the punishment and subsequent suffering as a result of his sin! And he allowed himself to be convinced of this throughout all generations! Not only has man accepted this suffering, he constantly seeks justification for it, creating theories, religions, and philosophies. Many go even further, declaring suffering a blessing and leading hundreds of millions of people along this path! For example, N. Berdyaev wrote: “Suffering and the torment of life is a great religious school that humanity goes through.”

Almost all religions adhere to the statement that human suffering is nothing more than punishment for sin, payment for committing evil, and accepting suffering is atonement for sin. Thus, suffering was equated with sinfulness, which made it possible to exploit a person, turn him into a slave, destroy him, convincing him that he deserved it.

Sometimes a person is called a “vessel of evil”! No religion is capable of saving a person from suffering, therefore it declares them to be obligatory and inevitable elements of existence.. And to console oneself in suffering, one looks for something positive.

Let's assume that man is initially free ! Having freedom allows a person to do any step, he has the right to do so. A person's steps can also be wrong. Having freedom makes a person person, and not a biorobot programmed for error-free actions.

Freedom includes the right to make mistakes. This conclusion is extremely important! A person has the right to make mistakes! Thanks to this, a person can be creator ! And no one has the right to label a person’s mistakes as “sin”! The right to make a mistake is a necessary condition for creativity, and the mistake itself is an element of creativity!

Another thing is that most people do not realize responsibility for their thoughts, feelings and actions and strain the World. Many live by the proverb: “We are dark people: we don’t know what sin is, what salvation is.” The narrower the consciousness and the less love a person has in his actions, thoughts and feelings, the more tension he creates, which, in turn, can return to him with problems and suffering.

For example, a person builds a house, feeling indifference to his neighbors or having conflicts with them. This, as a rule, will result in difficult relationships with them, minor and major troubles. There is a popular wisdom: “a gentle calf sucks two queens.” She talks about what a good person creates around himself space of love, in which his actions do not create tension and become creative, attracting to him everything positive from the World.

Thus, the tension that arises, and especially the suffering, after one or another step of a person is a signal that in this step, in the actions not enough love. Therefore, the error must be corrected as soon as possible. That is, suffering must be seen as signal to action, to find errors, to correct them, to move to something new state of love!

Yes, suffering as a signal to action, to love can be called a blessing, but as a means of purification, “working off karma” - this is clearly not a blessing, at least it is not the best means! Unconditional acceptance of suffering leads to the fact that a person does not learn from mistakes, does not benefit from them and, therefore, becomes increasingly immersed in suffering. In the end, he comes to a state where it is quite difficult for him to get out without outside help, and he starts asking.

The stigma of original sinfulness presses on us and helps us plunge even faster into suffering. And now a person is already asking for help from a doctor, from the state, from some otherworldly forces, from God. Suffering can morally elevate both the individual and the nation, but only to a certain limit. This can only be a certain stage, and a very individual and short one at that. Further suffering destroys both the individual and the nation.

Richard Bach writes in his story “The One and Only”: “At birth, each of us is given a block of marble and a sculptor’s chisel. We can drag this block behind us (like our cross), and without touching it, we can crush it into small crumbs, but we have the power to create a great creation of beauty from it.”

A person comes to Earth to transform himself and the World, to gain experience of the soul. This can be put into practice both through suffering, through self-sacrifice, and through joy, through happiness! Who chooses which path? In my opinion, a person needs to reject life with suffering and take as a basis the identity: life is happiness!

Suffering most often embitters a strong person and mentally devastates a weak one. “Pain or other suffering, if it continues for a long time, causes depression and reduces the ability to function” (C. Darwin). True, there are cases when people are programmed by some idea, and then they can accept suffering joyfully and consciously go to death. There are many such examples in history.

A religious worldview can also reject the “sinful flesh” and deliberately send a person to suffer. It is not for nothing that most of the saints are great martyrs. Religions say that suffering elevates the soul, helps “break the shackles of the mortal world and reach God.”

In all cultures, suffering plays an important role in education (through punishment). In all states, significantly less money is spent on educating a person than on maintaining the apparatus of punishment (courts, prisons, security forces...).

The state and religion simply need a suffering person, otherwise who will they care about? But for this concern, through labor, taxes, tithes and donations, they create luxury and benefits for the entire religious and state hierarchy. A happy person does not need all these add-ons to a large extent.

Suffering can have various functions. They can be passive or active, causing feelings of depression or a desire to overcome suffering. The experience of guilt can lead to learning lessons, to self-improvement, or to self-torture, which increases the spiritual crisis and the cycle of suffering. Based on this, the entire volume of suffering can be divided into several components.

Firstly, severe forms of suffering of the soul and body associated with illness and death. This form of suffering is more harmful to a person, generating in him a strong surge of negative feelings and thoughts. D. Andreev spoke about such sufferings, that they are the food of demonic forces. Agree, the premature death of loved ones, accidents and catastrophes, natural disasters and wars, severe forms of diseases that claim people’s lives do not contribute to the growth of spirituality, joy and happiness. There is no excuse for such suffering. They shouldn't exist on Earth! Learn to say “No!” such suffering!

Secondly, there are lighter forms of suffering, which most often arise when making mistakes and incorrectly reacting to signals from the World. Often a person increases the suffering of himself and his loved ones by having certain misconceptions, including religious ones. This suffering can be used for learning, for gaining experience, but whoever does not do this can move on to severe forms of suffering.

Unfortunately, most people widely use this form of suffering in their lives. Having missed signs and signals about erroneous steps that strain the World, a person continues to go in the same direction and gets problems. A certain amount of spiritual literacy is required sensitivity of perception Peace and the desire to escape from suffering. Gradually, each person needs to gain experience of the soul not through suffering and solve their problems without sacrificing their health and happiness.

Thirdly, there is also a form of suffering caused by the pain of others, the suffering of people, and nature. This is the so-called compassion. Compassion is a necessary quality of a person, based on his kindness and love for people. Very often, seeing the suffering of others, a person experiences it himself. He suffers, gets upset, worries, and tells others about this suffering. But you can’t help in this way, and if there is help, it will be insignificant. Happening redistribution suffering between the sufferer and the compassionate.

True compassion is not only in feeling the pain of another, but, most importantly, in the desire to alleviate or remove it! Create an ever-increasing space of love around yourself- this is the task of a compassionate soul. And in this space of love, all suffering will decrease or disappear altogether.

Fourthly - the suffering of love and the torment of creativity. This is high suffering, but sometimes it leads to more serious suffering and even death. If there is suffering in love, for example, jealousy, resentment, aggression, then, consequently, love is not fully revealed, and there are “impurities” in it. As love grows, suffering will go away. This also applies to creativity.

There is no need to lump together all types of suffering and, based on the resulting assortment, draw conclusions about the necessity or unnecessaryness of suffering. Each type of suffering must be considered separately, and for each person the boundaries between types of suffering are different. And then it will be clear which sufferings are the food of demonic forces, are an obstacle on the path to the Truth, and which ones give birth to “unspeakable light” and become a step towards its comprehension.

There is another aspect of suffering to consider, which is revealed when the question is asked: who benefits from this? It turns out that there are structures, individual entities and people for whom the suffering of others, and often their own, becomes a source of life. If there is a lot of suffering, then not only does one become accustomed to it, it can lead to sadism and masochism.

Thus, structures are born that live off the energy of suffering and experience pleasure from suffering. As they say: the worse, the better. This is what some politicians and parties do, for example, creating tension in society, causing discontent and negative emotions, the energy of which they feed on and develop their activities on this basis.

Unfortunately, there are still many forces interested in increasing suffering. These include religions. Agree, people most often look for consolation and relief from pain and suffering in church. A happy person rarely goes to church. Hence the desire to convince a person of his original sinfulness, of the inevitability of suffering and even of its usefulness.

Ramakrishna said: “Some Christians and Brahmanists see the whole religion in the concept of sin. Their ideal of piety is the one who prays: “O Lord, I am a sinner, have mercy, forgive my sins!” They forget that the concept of sin distinguishes the first and lower stages of spirituality... people are not aware of the power of habit. If you always say, “I am a sinner,” you will remain a sinner forever.”

How can you alleviate your suffering? How to learn to live without suffering? Let's consider several psychological techniques, a kind of household psychotechnics that can alleviate suffering. Thus, analysis and explanation of the situation, encouragement, and sometimes thoughts about more serious situations (“it could be worse”) help to overcome fear. These methods allow you to achieve the desired behavior in critical situations, but do not eliminate the causes of suffering.

There is an “everyday” way to overcome grief - crying, which discharges self-pity. This is a very common form of protection, but it is an illusion of self-love. Self-pity simultaneously paralyzes the will and ultimately exacerbates loneliness. Probably the only positive aspect of self-pity is that there is a release and separation from the situation. Self-love is an extremely important part of spirituality, but it should not turn into pity, but should form the basis for active self-help.

The easiest way to overcome suffering is to get away from it, to be distracted. Most often, this is work, drinking, entertainment, and also following the aphorism “time heals” - patiently waiting for the suffering to dull. There is also a positive element here, but such techniques, again, do not eliminate the cause of suffering.

There is a common way to overcome suffering - self-justification. The negative aspect of self-justification is self-deception, that is, a lack of internal honesty to call a spade a spade. Thus, a person evaluates what is happening biasedly, narrows his field of vision, does not find the true cause of the situation, which causes wrong actions and lays the foundation for future suffering.

All the options considered do not eliminate suffering, but only soften its severity. In order to gradually move away from suffering in your life, you need an active position towards it. The first thing to do, especially in difficult situations, is to get out of the state of depressive paralysis.

It is necessary to understand that it is useless to waste energy on negative experiences. You need to rise above the situation, look at it, as it were, from above. When assessing a situation, you need to understand whether it is real or far-fetched. For example, a frightening situation may not occur. Why “die” in advance? We must also remember that fear attracts danger, and that in any situation there is an opportunity to alleviate it.

Second - remember that a person always has the strength to overcome any problem, to solve any task!

Third. To get rid of suffering, the ability to put an end to it is very important. An unfinished situation entails continued suffering. For example, when experiencing feelings of guilt or regret about missed opportunities, thoughts are constantly spinning in your head: “How should you have behaved?”, “Or maybe it was like this...?”

To stop this self-flagellation, it is necessary to remember that you have the right to make mistakes! But at the same time, it is necessary to quickly comprehend what happened, find the cause and draw conclusions. Remember: man is the creator of his own destiny !

Let's consider the sequence of actions when some problems and suffering arise. It is necessary to realize that You made mistakes, which led to this state. First, try to find mistakes in your relationships with those closest to you (husband, wife). Analyze how the relationship developed a month before the event, six months, a year. Perhaps some difficulties grew, there were breakdowns, serious offenses were committed... (This way of putting your rear in order is always necessary, for any problem: be it in health or finances...).

Found reasons, and there may be several of them, must be corrected. How? Sometimes it’s enough just to realize the mistakes you’ve made, and the problem will go away. Sometimes, you need to ask for forgiveness for what you have done, move towards rapprochement, and show love in some form. That is, use all opportunities to improve the couple’s relationship. Such steps will definitely pay off handsomely!

If you have not found any noticeable reasons in the couple’s relationship, then you should consider the second circle - relationships with children. Here you also need to analyze the events and eliminate any errors found. Next, you need to look for mistakes in relationships with parents and relatives. The problems may be long-standing, for example, recently memories of some events related to parents have arisen (even if the participants in those events are no longer in this world).

It is necessary to understand as honestly as possible, to realize their errors. The next circle is friends, work colleagues. There may be some reasons for your problems in your relationship with them. Remember extraordinary events, unexpected encounters that preceded your problems - there may also be reasons there.

In some cases, it is also necessary to check the influence of cycles with a periodicity of 1, 3, 5, 7. In some cases, there is also a cycle with a periodicity of 2. What does this mean? For example, a person has an accident. Do you need to remember what happened a month ago, two, three, five, seven? Then: a year ago, two, three, five, seven? Perhaps you will find some errors there.

Having analyzed your relationships in this way, circle by circle, you will probably discover mistakes that have become the cause of your problems and suffering. The more sincerely and honestly you realize the causes of problems in yourself, the faster you will feel relief. It can occur immediately, at the moment of awareness, or after some time. The longer the suffering lasts, the longer it usually takes to go away.

Natalya Smirnova talked with Viktor Petrovich Lega

Why is this world full of suffering? Is there an explanation for why the all-good, all-powerful and all-knowing God does not free our world from suffering? It turns out that God doesn’t want this?

God knows about suffering, can change and wants to, but does not save us from them. And it's hard for people to understand why that is. After all, even any person would consider it the height of selfishness not to help his friend if he is suffering and asks for help. Therefore, atheists believe that the only way to solve the problem of suffering in the world is to assume that God simply does not exist. There is no other way. If there was a God, then He, as omnipotent and good, would do everything so that we would not suffer. Diderot said that this problem, like no other, has given rise to more atheists. You can often hear that a person would believe in God if there were not so much evil in the world.

How is this problem solved in Christianity?

In Christianity, the answer is very simple: evil does not come from God, but from our freedom. Man was created in the image of God, created free. If God deprived man of his free will, then he would deprive man of his essence, and man would cease to be man. Therefore, if a person remains a person, then he can choose between good and evil. And if he chooses between good and evil, then he can choose evil. Otherwise he is not a man, otherwise he is not free. Thus, God is not responsible for the evil done in the world, but only man is responsible for it.

But there is also a very important factor, without taking into account which this explanation of the origin of evil in the world becomes heretical. After all, Pelagius thought about the same thing. The dogma of the Fall is also necessary.

We all know that the original sin was that Eve ate fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and gave it to Adam. But what is the essence of this story?

To understand this, let's figure out why God gave man the commandment “You shall not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” It is usually said that this was the first commandment of fasting. Yes, that's true. But why can’t you eat from this particular tree? After all, God does not give meaningless commandments, and we, in turn, are not horses who pull a cart, not knowing where and why. The rider and the horse are fundamentally different creatures, and the horse is not required to know where the rider is directing it. Why was this particular commandment given?

Maybe Adam and Eve were not supposed to know what good and evil were, but when they ate from this tree, then good and evil appeared?

The Fathers of the Church clearly reject this version. St. John Chrysostom, for example, recalls that Satan committed his fall from God long before the appearance of Adam. Evil was already in the world, and man knew about it, and when he met Satan, he knew who he was talking to.

The reason for this prohibition can be understood if you think about the meaning of the word “cognition”. The commandment “not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” meant not to know good and evil. It would seem a very strange command. On the contrary, a person must know what is good and what is evil in order to do the first and not do the second. But in the Old Testament, knowledge did not mean knowledge in the usual sense of the word, but, as it were, “possession.” When we say “know,” we mean some kind of knowledge detached from life, just information. For example, a person can pour out his soul to us, tell us how bad he feels, and we listen and calmly say: “Thank you, I took this into account.” And we think to ourselves: “Well, that’s your problem and it doesn’t concern me.” For the Old Testament man, as for the ancient man, and also for the Christian, knowledge is the possession of the truth, unity with it. If a person has come to know the truth, then it is as if he has become consubstantial with it. From here we can understand the meaning of the first commandment given to man: he must remember that he is not the creator of the world, but a creation. The world was created for man and given to him entirely, which is symbolically expressed in the phrase “from every tree in the garden you will eat.” Everything was given to him except the moral criterion. Adam and Eve had to understand that the criteria of morality, the criteria of good and evil are not in them, but in God. This indicates that good and evil are the most important concepts for a person: he can do everything at his own discretion, except what relates to the area of ​​morality. Here's what it means. And when our ancestors ate this fruit and violated the prohibition given to them, they seemed to say: “Sorry, but we don’t agree. We are the criterion of good and evil. Good is not what God tells us, but what we ourselves choose.”

In other words, Adam and Eve were given a choice, having been told what criterion to use, and they said: “But we know better. Yes, God said “don’t eat,” but we thought and decided that this was wrong. We choose what we need." This is the position of all humanity after the Fall. If we look at how modern debates are going on on any issues: political, moral, any other, you read newspapers, watch TV or just talk with people far from the Church, then you see that a person is always based on his own ideas. Can you take any situation, for example, to get a divorce or not to get a divorce? A person begins to think: “On the one hand, I’m tired of my wife, and I can’t see her anymore, but on the other hand, I feel sorry for the children, so maybe it’s better not to get a divorce. Well, what about the children? The children are already adults, they will understand.” A person begins to figure it out for himself, based on his own ideas. He does not use any objective criterion; all his ideas are subjective. And all people after Adam began to base all matters on their own ideas.

It is often said that it was Adam who sinned, not me, so why should I suffer and be responsible for someone else's sin?

Yes, this is a well-known position: I didn’t sin, why should I be responsible for Adam’s deeds. But in reality, each of us always, every day, several hundred times makes the same choice. Even we, Christians, extremely rarely, if we delve into ourselves, set ourselves the task of acting only as the Church says. It’s good that if it comes to meat during Lent, then we can stand firm, but when it’s a little more complicated, it begins: “Yes, I’ve already done a lot, I haven’t eaten meat for two weeks, but from me here they still require something. Well, no, this is already for saints, for ascetics, but for me it’s enough to give up meat and cottage cheese.” Therefore, there is no need to say that we are saints, we constantly commit the same original sin.

Yes, it's really unclear. For example, I tell my children: “Don’t take the candy,” but they didn’t listen and ate it. What am I? I’ll tell them: “Get out!” So that you don’t set foot in my house!”? Is this what we should do? Is this the real Orthodox position? Why then are we commanded to forgive, countless times? But God did not forgive. Well, this is necessary, he tells us - farewell, but he himself has not forgiven. Almost immediately he kicked me out.

To understand this question, one must realize what the consequences of the Fall were for human nature. Man, disobeying God, took a step away from Him. God is life, therefore, man, having taken a step away from life, thereby took a step towards death. In fact, disobeying God is an act of suicide. This is why man was told, “You will die if you eat the fruit of the tree.” That is why “with sin death entered the world.” Is there a place for death in heaven, in the Kingdom of God? Certainly not. Therefore, the exile was not in the literal sense an exile, although the Bible directly says: “And he drove out Adam, and placed in the east by the garden of Eden Cherubim and a flaming sword that turned to guard the way to the tree of life.” But, of course, this must be understood figuratively, allegorically. Man became mortal, his essence became different in comparison with the nature of the Kingdom of Heaven, so man simply could not remain in paradise. This would be a violation of the harmony of the Kingdom of God. Violation of the commandment led to a change in human being. When we forgive a child or even a murderer, we can forgive because their sins have not changed their nature. What happened to Adam is more like a fairy tale about how Ivanushka did not listen to his sister Alyonushka, drank some water and became a little goat. And after that, Ivanushka no longer had a place among people. Here is a stable for you and live in it. The nature of man has changed, and his habitat must be different. That is why the world has changed. Man changed, and his habitat changed along with him, because the world was created for man, for man. Paradise, of course, has not changed, but the created world has changed. This is the interpretation of the dogma of the Fall. And in this case, it becomes clear why God cannot stop evil and suffering in the world. Original sin became possible because man was and remains free.

But what happens, God expelled man from paradise and does nothing to bring him back? Maybe the time has come to forgive humanity for original sin? But here we get a paradoxical situation. On the one hand, God cannot return a person to paradise, because this requires complete correction of the person; the person must actually become a saint, like Adam before the Fall. But people continue to sin and are not going to correct themselves. But God cannot force a person to be sinless, because then He would make a person an unfree being, and a person would cease to be a person. But, on the other hand, God cannot put up with such a plight of man and wants his salvation. And then He Himself becomes a man, dies and is resurrected, and conquers death. Christ Himself becomes the sinless Adam and tells us that our salvation is possible, that He forgave us, Himself atoned for our sins, and only one thing is required of us - to believe in Christ, that He is truly the Son of God, who suffered and rose again for us. That is, God solved a problem that was insoluble for us: without violating our freedom, He again opened the gates of heaven for us. Therefore, to say that God does nothing to save us from evil and suffering means not understanding anything about Christianity.

What to do with the fact that God, when creating man, knew in advance that he would disobey Him and be forced to leave heaven?

God's entire plan for the world is possible only under the conditions that man has freedom and the opportunity to realize this freedom, that is, he has a choice. According to St. Augustine, God created man who could sin and could not sin, and man had to achieve perfection - such a state when he could no longer sin, that is, he would actually become the second God. But man abandoned this path; he could have sinned - and he did.

That is, in other words, if God deprived a person of choice, protected him from temptation - the forbidden fruit, then a person would not be able to realize that quality of his that distinguishes us from animals - freedom?

Yes, man is the image of God, a free being, and any violence against man is his murder, the transformation of man into an animal, into a machine.

But one more question remains. So far we have spoken only about evil, but not about suffering. What is suffering? It is always some state of wrongness. If a person gets sick with something, then the person understands that it needs to be treated. Mental or physical pain is a signal of the need for treatment. Violation of the commandment of obedience to God in paradise, refusal of God, became a refusal of life and a step towards death. Therefore, suffering naturally appeared. Any person understands that illness and the accompanying pain are a symptom of death - if left untreated, the illness will end in death. Why was it said that a man will earn bread by the sweat of his brow, but his wife will give birth in pain? This should not be understood as a cruel punishment for disobedience. A normal, decent atheist who does not know dogma simply makes his hair stand on end. I have repeatedly heard atheists say: “And you love this God? Who condemns you to torment and death for the slightest disobedience? Do you want to live with Him in heaven?!” And the problem is solved very simply. This is not a punishment, but rather a statement of fact, because the person himself chose this path, he himself departed from life, and therefore he himself left heaven. And God, like a doctor, states this fact.

Let's imagine a situation: two friends are sitting in a restaurant: one ordered vodka and kebab, and the other ordered semolina porridge.

-What are you doing? - asks the first one.

“Yes, you know, the doctor doesn’t allow it,” the second one answers.

– My doctor didn’t allow me either. But I gave him a thousand dollars, and he allowed it.

This absurd dialogue shows that the doctor exists not to allow or prohibit a sick person from drinking vodka, but to make a correct diagnosis and cure, and for this the patient himself must limit himself to certain products. So God states the human condition: “Sorry, but you are terminally ill, and your life will be full of suffering.” This is not a punishment, it is a statement of fact.

Suffering in the world both from the first man and from each of us, because we commit sin every minute and every second, and live in death and suffering. But if we believe in Christ, then we understand that this is the path leading to true life, because the Savior said that “I am the way and the truth and the life.” And when we choose this path leading to life, then we find that same pristine state.

How then can we explain that more righteous people often live in suffering, while evildoers and sinners live in bliss?

Christ told us that the path to the Kingdom of Heaven is a narrow path, that is, this path in itself already implies some suffering. Why such a difficult path, why do you have to enter through narrow gates? The fact is that suffering is a necessary companion to any work. Thomas Edison once said that genius is 1% talent and 99% perspiration. If we want to achieve something, then we must make efforts, and that is why it is said that the Kingdom of Heaven is taken by force. But we must also understand that there is suffering in the name of good, in the name of love for God and one’s neighbor, and there is senseless suffering. If I deliberately pinch my finger in a door, then I will not get closer to God or to heaven.

In general, suffering is a measure of whether we live correctly. If we do not have suffering, then we must think: something must be wrong. And when there is suffering, we understand that we are on the right path. That is why we often hear that God really sends trials to those who love Him, although due to our weakness we naturally do not want this.

Let me give you this comparison: there are two athletes, one talented, the other not so much. What will a coach say to a more talented athlete? Naturally, he will force him to train several times a day, will constantly find fault with him, and demand better results. And to another he can say: jump, run, swim for an hour and you can go home. He gives the first one suffering, and he might be offended, but he understands that this is hard for him now, and then he will become an Olympic champion. And the second, at best, will improve your health. A person first has to force himself, and then suddenly he begins to enjoy the same thing. But this is only if you are going in the right direction.

It is still difficult for the human psyche to accept that more suffering is allowed by God for those who love Him.

It is important to understand that God uses our mistakes for our salvation and good. God does not create evil in order to use it as some kind of instrument for salvation. Such an understanding would be a form of Manichaeism. But God uses our own mistakes for our own benefit. It is in this regard that we can say that suffering is the path to salvation. God is not so heartless. He Himself became a man and He Himself suffered, not only physically, but also mentally, because he was betrayed by both his disciples and all of God’s chosen people. He experienced all the suffering that one can imagine, both physical and mental. Therefore, God is not a detached being, indifferently watching His creature suffer.

You can often read in classical Russian literature that suffering ennobles a person, but a person who lives without suffering, in bliss and luxury, deteriorates. As the Apostle Paul said, “When sin abounded, grace abounded all the more.” And what’s amazing is that the modern writer Varlam Shalamov, who spent 25 years in the Kolyma camps, actually repeated the words of the Apostle Paul. He learned from the camps that in inhumane conditions good people become better and bad people become worse. The more sin there is in the camps, the more human goodness there is in them. In this sense, suffering ennobles a person.

There are people who know how to overcome themselves, who know how to rise above their adversity and overcome their own nature, their own illness. And we respect, love and adore such people. Or people who overcome the illness of other people by feeling compassion for them. The very word “co-suffering” means suffering together. Someone is suffering, but I’m fine, I’m healthy, but I have compassion for him.

The great poet A.S. Pushkin has this phrase: “I want to live in order to think and suffer.” Why, it would seem, is it to live to suffer? Some kind of masochism. But no. No suffering - no life. Because life is struggle, improvement, moving forward, and it is always accompanied by some effort. The path to the Kingdom of Heaven is the path upward. To climb a mountain, you need to make a huge effort, but to fall from a mountain, you don’t need any effort. It's always nice to fall, especially if you don't know what awaits you below.

I recently read an interview with an American rock singer who criticizes Western civilization for creating a cult of immortality. That is, a person lives as if death does not await him, a person lives for pleasure. And for pleasures to be absolute, one must imagine that they are eternal and that there will be no retribution for them. Therefore, it is not customary either in literature or in films, especially in Hollywood, to talk about death as some kind of suffering. It is not customary to talk about death as a metaphysical terrible problem that one must always think about. Our civilization is a civilization in which suffering is sought to be eliminated.

It is often believed that God sends us suffering as punishment for some of our sins. Even the apostles thought so and in a paradoxical form asked Christ a question about a man blind from birth: “... who sinned, he or his parents, that he was born blind?” How could someone who was not yet born sin? “Jesus answered: Neither he nor his parents sinned, but this was so that the works of God might be revealed in him.” So suffering has some other reason, and is not simply a punishment for sin. There is a book in the Bible that is entirely devoted to the problem of suffering. This is the book of Job. Righteous Job, as we remember, does not agree that he suffers for some kind of sin. But his friends constantly tell him: “You suffer, that means you have sinned.” Job says: “Let God answer me why I suffer. I am pure before God." And God reveals himself to him and says: “Gird yourself like a man,” that is, get ready for a duel, if you consider yourself equal to Me. And then God asks Job several questions in this duel, the essence of which boils down to one thing: “You say that there is a lot of bad things in the world. But can you create at least the same world? Isn’t it better, at least the same?” “No,” Job answers. - “But if not, then what are you talking about then?” There is a phrase: it’s easy to criticize, do better. We all see the speck in someone else's eye without noticing the beam in our own. So here, if Job says that the world is bad, then it means he knows how to make it better, and if he doesn’t know, and especially cannot, then he must live in the one that God created. And when Job understands and agrees, he accepts the world as it is, that is, he understands that the criterion of good and evil in the world is not he, Job, but God. And then everything returns to its previous state. This is precisely what the Fall consisted of, when Adam said: “I am the criterion of good and evil.” This was precisely Job’s forgiveness when he said: “Yes, it is not I, Job, who is the criterion, but God.” Therefore, evil and suffering in the world are a necessary consequence of the present world, corrupted by original sin. And we must accept the world as it is, thanking God for everything that He created and did for our salvation.

In this article I would like to talk about several methods that allow you to get rid of psychological suffering. Before this, there was already an article “” on the site. However, the methods proposed there were more likely to relate to a different way of life. Here, we will look at fairly specific practical techniques.

Breathing method

It is necessary to take several deep, conscious breaths. As you inhale, you seem to realize that you are inhaling your life energy, happiness, health and all the best. As you exhale, you breathe out suffering and pain. If you can’t feel it directly, you can simply imagine that you can do it. As a rule, it works almost instantly. Just two or three inhalations and exhalations are enough. The effectiveness of this method is explained by the fact that breathing is directly related to energy. We breathe in energy to live. Awareness of breathing in this way binds experiences to the flow of breath energy, and during exhalation, you will actually get rid of everything unnecessary. If you are a materialist, you can explain this effect to yourself by self-hypnosis. After all, in essence, psychological suffering is also just self-hypnosis.

Relaxation

The practice of relaxation is one of the most important and has been described on the site more than once. To be brief, the point is that the cause of any suffering is blocks in the psychic channels through which life energy moves. During tension, where there should be movement, the energy is stopped, which causes suffering. The cause of tension is rejection - the refusal to live one’s own experiences, which as a result of such blocking go to the subconscious level. Accordingly, thanks to relaxation, we go through an aggravation of suppressed experiences, and gradually free ourselves from them, while experiencing relief, as if something heavy and unnecessary had fallen off and it became easier to live.

Turning off internal dialogue

It is necessary to take this method as simply and practically as possible, and to carry it out simply and specifically. This is a real method thanks to which you can endure any psychological pain. Turning off the internal dialogue is a start. Then you need to turn off fantasizing and thinking about any specific useless topics. It is best if this happens through relaxation. Otherwise, intense suppression of thinking can lead to thoughts “attacking” the mind with a vengeance. Psychological suffering is largely caused by judgments coming from the mind. Heavy thoughts, with which suffering comes into friction, make one experience rejection of life and subtle psychological stress. We can say that rejection of life is one of the facets of suffering as such. Relaxation of the mind leads to the dissolution of painful reflection. When the mind turns off, the inner evaluator goes away, and psychological pain goes away with it.

Contemplation of "I"

Patience

Understanding the meaning of what is happening gives patience. It must be remembered that suffering develops and strengthens the personality - that is, it makes us stronger. Monks who patiently endured difficulties became saints. Of course, this should not turn into masochism and self-flagellation. But every person in life at certain periods needs to take bold steps and patiently cope with difficulties.

Prayer

This method, if you can call prayer a method, helps in the most difficult life situations. When nothing can help, a person is saved.

Communication

Ordinary communication on worldly topics is what helps to distract from reflection and absorption in heavy thoughts. However, communication has a much more powerful effect in a situation where consciousness cannot find any support. If an unwary mystic somehow jumped over the necessary stages of development, and he was brought into a state where the personality is not able to find support, but still needs it, communication magically quickly returns consciousness to the usual tracks.

Method of immersion in suffering

This is perhaps the most radical and difficult method. As you know, in order to get rid of any experience, sometimes you just need to intensify it and fully live it. Then the experience burns out, exhausts itself and the person experiences relief, catharsis. Sometimes on a physical level this can lead to dizziness. If you feel nauseous at this time, perhaps the best way is to drink a liter of warm water and induce vomiting.

Setting up for love

This method attracts positive, harmonious energy, a state in which all suffering dissolves. If, for example, the cause of your suffering is the action of another person, you need to take a radical step for your pride and wish Love and warmth to the offender. Sometimes it is extremely difficult. However, there is a practical way to approach this. Ask yourself: do you need suffering? With resentment and anger, you only make things worse for yourself. If you wish warmth and love to a stranger, by doing this, you, in essence, bring warmth and love to that area of ​​​​your being where you felt the suffering associated with this person. If there are no external reasons, simply feel that the source of love is in the heart of your being. If you can't feel it, just imagine it. This method can be used even when everything is fine. Masters say that the only way to go through life without psychological stress is to love all living things.