Sins before God - meditation and yoga, various spiritual practices and astral projection

[Raskolnikov]

Posted by Russian Bear (here)
I want to tell you about the Russian soul; the Russian soul is contained in the Orthodox faith. Dostoevsky also possessed an Orthodox spirit; all his books are imbued with this spirit. Russia has also given the world more saints than any other country. Therefore, you can acquire the Russian spirit, like the American Seraphim Rose. Seraphim Rose is an American, but for every Russian, he is a brother and a Russian (he is greatly loved and respected in Russia). If you are Orthodox and follow the truth, you have already acquired the Russian soul and are my brother in Christ. This is precisely why Russia is a spiritual country, and the Russian spirit is present here. We are a people who have accepted the true teachings of Christ and defend our faith. Regardless of your nationality, our common spirit unites us. If you are not against us, then you can be one of us.

Now that reminded me of those quality Russian novels my friend. I believe we are all brothers in Christ once the scales fall from our eyes. I'm sure you're still working on it but hoping to hear your response to a_o's excellent questions.

Posted by arjunaloka_official (here)
Russian Bear, I have a few more questions:

1.
Do you believe hell is eternal? If so, how can one deserve an infinite punishment in a finite period of time—would you call that loving/forgiving, or at least balanced?

2.
I agree that humans can be possessed by demons.

Be that as it may, we observe the linearity of existence in the sense of "grandfather – father – child". That wouldn't be considered demonic, would it? Then why should the linearity of personal existence, i.e., reincarnation, be demonic? Also, would a truly loving father give you just one chance to pass a test, i.e., one life?

3.
Is the Bible 100% God's Word? If so, do the Ten Commandments consist largely of negatives, e.g., "Thou shalt not kill"? If so, can the human mind process negatives? If I tell you NOT to think about a pink elephant, you actually can't NOT think about that elephant, can you? Isn´t "kill, steal, lie" what goes to your subconsciousness, if one uses negations? Would a loving and forgiving Father chose negations, if your brain cannot digest them, even though he knows exactly how your brain works? Even if your brain could digest negations, why would He focus on the negative instead of the positive, like "honour life", "honour truth", etc.?

4.
In this "reality," do you observe that life nourishes life? Don't humans eat animals and animals eat plants, and plants minerals? Would you describe this as a divine concept based on love and forgiveness - to have to destroy to avoid your own destruction?

May the Lord protect you!

[Russian Bear]

Posted by Raskolnikov (here)
Now that reminded me of those quality Russian novels my friend. I believe we are all brothers in Christ once the scales fall from our eyes. I'm sure you're still working on it but hoping to hear your response to a_o's excellent questions.

Understood

[Russian Bear]

Posted by arjunaloka_official (here)
Russian Bear, I have a few more questions:
1.
Do you believe hell is eternal? If so, how can one deserve an infinite punishment in a finite period of time—would you call that loving/forgiving, or at least balanced?

God created the laws of the universe, both spiritual and physical. And on Earth, they work like clockwork.
The Lord gave people the commandments of love, so they would love one another. Deviating from these commandments violates these laws, and a person commits sin. Thus, by sinning, a person harms themselves, both spiritually and physically, and this can also cause pain to others around them. Thus, a person creates the kingdom of Hell or the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth and in their soul. A person can live in both Hell and Heaven on Earth. This is a state of mind.

2 Peter 2:19 - King James Version (KJV)
<19> While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.

When a person commits a crime under demonic influence and their own will, they go against God, themselves, and humanity. And thus, the Grace of the Holy Spirit departs from a person.
When a person commits evil: murder, violence, torturing children… then the blood and tears of these people cry out to God for help, justice, protection, and retribution for murder or violence. No matter what happens, a person is obligated to forgive the offender, and in doing so, they submit the judgment to the Lord. The Lord is long-suffering and will await the repentance of a sinner who has deeply hurt someone (for example, killed someone's daughter). And if they do not repent for their sins, they will go to hell for eternal torment.

It is also important to understand that there are sins that lead to death, and sins that do not lead to death. There are sins that cry out to God. For example, murder, fornication, perversion, occultism and magic, witchcraft, suicide... And if a person dies with such sins without repentance (the sacrament of Confession) and does not enter into the New Covenant through the holy sacraments of the Church and the Eucharist (the blood and body of the Lord), they will instantly go to hell... without even undergoing the Aerial Toll-Houses: (I also recommend reading this article: Orthodox teaching on the soul after death (the Aerial Toll-Houses):https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...=1#post1664206). There are sins that do not lead to death, for example, a person, out of ignorance, accidentally said a bad word once and he sinned by this, committed a sin, this is a minor sin, if such a person dies instantly, this sin can be covered by good deeds. (Of course, if a person kills someone and says, "I didn't know," ignorance of the law does not exempt them from responsibility, either in the spiritual world or in the earthly realm.
But if a person constantly speaks bad words, these sins accumulate and turn into an obsessive addiction, like a snowball accumulating and turning into a mortal sin. This is a demonic addiction to sin. A person is enslaved by the demon of foul language.
But we must also understand that any sin is spiritual death or, depending on its severity, leads to it. Even a sin that does not lead to death is spiritually dangerous; by committing any sin, a person loses grace. For example, smoking one cigarette is not a mortal sin, but if a person is addicted to this sin and smokes without being able to overcome this addiction, it is a mortal sin. Any addiction and sin can only be overcome with God's help. Man is weak in himself, and his willpower can falter. It is the Lord who provides the guarantee of perfection and protection. It is important to cleanse the soul for grace through confession, and through Communion we enter into the New. We make the covenant and receive the grace of the Holy Spirit. Prayer is also spiritual food for the soul every day, just as we feed our bodies so that we have the strength to work and live, so that we can protect ourselves. Otherwise, the body will lose strength from hunger and may even die.

What does the Church say about this?

What is sin to death and not to death?

The Savior said: "Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven to men, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven to men; if anyone speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but if anyone speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, neither in this world nor in the world to come" (Matthew 12:31, 32) That is, our Lord Jesus Christ tells us that there are such sins that directly lead the soul to eternal destruction – to hell. And it is often synonymous with the word "death", not in a specific physiological sense, but in a spiritual sense. If a person commits a mortal sin and does not bear the fruits of repentance, then he kills, deadens his own soul. She goes to hell after death, where she indulges in eternal torment.
The Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian also tells us about the sins of mortals and non-mortals: "If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin not leading to death, then let him pray, and God will give him life, that is, sinning a sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death: I am not saying that he should pray. Every unrighteousness is a sin, but there is a sin that does not lead to death" (1 John 5:16,17).
What is sin?
This is a violation of the Divine law by an intelligent creature, spirits (Satan and demons), as well as by man.
There are also detailed definitions:
1. a thought, thought, desire, decision, attraction, action or inaction contrary to the Divine moral law, God's commandments, commands, religious and ceremonial norms;
2. original sin: the corruption of human nature, both in soul and body, morally manifested in the fact that all descendants of sinful ancestors (with the exception of the Lord Jesus Christ) are born with a tendency to evil, amenable to the influence of fallen spirits on them.
It is noteworthy that in Greek, the word "sin" is "missing the target, a miss." Based on this concept, St. Maximus the Confessor defines sin in this way: "Sin, identified with evil, is the unreasonable movement of the natural forces of a creature, based on an erroneous judgment, towards something other than a goal." St. Isaac the Syrian says the same thing only in different words: "Sin is the fall of a creature from the mundane world," i.e., movement beyond the goal.
Professor Vladimir Nikolaevich Lossky defines sin very precisely, vividly and convincingly in his book "Orthodox Theology": "... evil has its origin in the sin of one angel. And this position of Lucifer exposes to us the root of all sin – pride, which is rebellion against God. The one who was first called to deification by grace wanted to be god by himself. The root of sin is a thirst for self–worship, a hatred of grace. Remaining independent of God in his very being, for his being was created by God, the rebellious spirit begins to hate existence, he is seized by a violent passion for destruction, a thirst for some unthinkable non-existence. But only the earthly world remains open to him, and therefore he tries to destroy the Divine plan in it and, because it is impossible to destroy creation, at least to distort it. The drama that began in heaven continues on earth, because the angels who remained faithful invincibly close heaven to the fallen angels."
The Devil tempts the first people with his "you will be like gods." Their fall is being committed. What are its consequences? Vladimir Lossky discusses this: "The spirit had to live by God, the soul by the spirit, and the body by the soul. But the spirit begins to parasitize the soul, feeding on non-Divine values, similar to the autonomous kindness and beauty that the serpent revealed to the woman when he drew her attention to the tree. The soul, in turn, becomes a parasite of the body – passions rise. And finally, the body becomes a parasite of the earthly universe, kills to feed, and so finds death."
Based on these quotes, it seems to me that the definition of sin is clear.
What is sin to death and not to death?
What is most valuable to God here is the quality by which sin was committed by demons and humans. Free will, which is the expression of a being's personality. When creating Angels and humans, the Lord endowed them with free will, the will to turn to good or evil. And it is the human will directed towards Him that is most valuable to the Lord. This is repeatedly stated in the Holy Scriptures. For example, "Son, give me your heart" (Proverbs 23:26).
And it is the direction of a person's will that is the criterion by which sin is determined to die or not.
An example from the Holy Scriptures.
The devil and the demons finally fell away from God after the war in Heaven. Their correction is impossible. They are condemned to hell. Why? Because no one seduced them. Lucifer and the demons hated the Lord of their own free will and were overcome with pride. Of their own free will, they began to do evil.
People were seduced. Yes, they also sinned. But the holy forefathers Adam and Eve realized their sin. They lamented him. The theology of the hymnography of the beginning of Great Lent can generally be titled as "The Lament of Adam, and with him of all mankind, at the closed gates of Paradise."
Mortal sin is when a person consciously goes into rebellion against God, hating the Creator with all his soul and heart.
Let us recall the Gospel verses quoted at the beginning of the article (Matthew 12:31, 32). Why is blasphemy against the Son of Man forgiven? Because Christ came in human flesh. Yes, it was possible, according to the Jewish or pagan tradition, to doubt that He was the Son of God. That's how a man is brought up. Suffice it to say here about the holy first-born Apostle Paul. But blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. Why? Because the Holy Spirit is God. And the man knows it. And if he blasphemes Him, he does it consciously in a God-defying manner.
Therefore, the list of deadly sins includes schism, heresy, witchcraft, fortune-telling, apostasy, sodomy, robbery, murder, adultery, cruel, inhuman insult, sacrilege, suicide, and so on. Because a person goes to all this consciously and often precisely with a God-fighting purpose.
And there are sins that a person does as if by accident, as the holy first-born Apostle Paul wrote.: "I don't do the good that I want, but the evil that I don't want, I do. But if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me" (Rom. 7:19, 20). For example, the neighbors were condemning someone, and I came up and unwittingly became involved in the condemnation. But if non-mortal sins become an ingrained habit, a passion, when a person, knowing that it is bad, does not fight them, but, on the contrary, becomes their final slave (which is called "plopped into the mud with his head and found pleasure in it"), then sin does not become mortal to death. because he consumed the human soul. And this is also akin to God-fighting.
What to do, how to get rid of sin?
Let us turn to the remarkable words of the ascetics of piety of recent times.
St. Paisios of Svyatogorets said that three things are enough for a modern person to be saved. The first of them is to teach people the truths of the faith of Christ, and especially relatives and children. The second is to live the life of the Church, to participate in divine services and the Sacraments of the church. The third is repentance.
Father Paisii once uttered a wonderful phrase that if he could, he would confess every day.
Let us hurry, brothers and sisters, to the saving surgical table of the confessional lectern. Without false shame, without hiding sins, but with the fear of God and contrition for sins. We will try to improve ourselves with God's help, weeding your garden of hearts from sinful weeds. And this is an important work both during the Christmas Fast and right up to the grave. This is the life-saving battle that we need to fight.
St. Basil the Great said that the end of all sin is death, and the end of fulfilling God's commandment is eternal life. That's what we're going to do.
Mortal sin is an attempt by a person to overthrow God from his heart altar. Virtue is also the beginning of eternal life – when a person places the icon of the Lord on the throne of his spiritual temple, when God becomes the center of his life, the center of his life's aspirations, the desired goal of his path. This is the beginning of our salvation, healing from sin and eternal bliss!
https://pravoslavie.ru/117790.html

Hell is eternal, but not for everyone; there are legal nuances. Originally, Hell was created only for demons. Demons are unforgivable because no one tempted them; they chose war against God consciously and voluntarily. They were consistent in goodness, but chose evil when they listened to the devil. Angels witnessed everything from the beginning; they knew and saw the true God, yet despite this, they betrayed the true God. Apparently, they wanted something more—perhaps the devil promised them something, or perhaps the angels wanted more power and glory. One-third of angels betrayed God and became demons; God's grace abandoned them.

People voluntarily turn away from God and serve demons. But they have a chance to change.
People began to kill, rape, and steal. And thus, according to spiritual laws, such people who live in sin fulfill Satan's will, and thus they become accomplices to evil. Sinners cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Imagine a mother with an only minor daughter who was raped, brutally abused, and then murdered by criminals! The mother died of such grief; she suffered a heart attack. Wouldn't society wish death on such murderers? But God will wait for these sinners to repent of their sins; He does not wish death on them. God loves people (sinners), but He does not love their sins. If a sinner does not repent of their sins, they receive what they deserve, and that is fair. But if people are found who will pray for the souls of such sinners, God can pardon them through the prayers of the righteous. The more serious the sins, the harder it is to pray for forgiveness.

What does the church say about this?

With God, all are alive. Our faith and our spiritual life are strengthened by the living awareness, the feeling that our departed continue to live after death, only in a different form, and are not deprived of spiritual closeness with those remaining on earth. Therefore, the Church Militant's prayerful connection with them never ceases.

While a person is alive, they are capable of repentance and good deeds. After death, this ability disappears, and all that remains is hope in the prayers of the living, in their good deeds in memory of the deceased. Saint Paisios the Athonite said: "Just as, when visiting prisoners, we bring them refreshments and the like, thereby alleviating their suffering, so too do we alleviate the suffering of the departed with the prayers and alms we offer for the repose of their souls."

We ease the suffering of the departed with prayers and alms, which we offer for the repose of their souls.
After the death of the body, the soul stands on the threshold of either eternal bliss or eternal torment. This depends on how life was lived on earth. But our prayers for the deceased are also of great importance. Church history has preserved many examples of sinners' posthumous fates being eased through the prayers of the living, even to the point of complete justification.

* * *

The custom of praying for the dead also existed in the Old Testament Church, as evidenced by Holy Scripture. During the war of liberation in the days of the pious Jewish leader Judas Maccabee, when the bodies of fallen soldiers were collected, pagan talismans were found under their clothes. And it became clear to everyone why they had fallen. So, everyone glorified the righteous Judge, the Lord, who reveals hidden things, and turned to prayer, asking that the sin they had committed might be completely blotted out (2 Macc. 12:40-42). Judas himself, having collected two thousand drachmas of silver, sent it to Jerusalem to offer a sin offering. He acted very well and piously, considering the resurrection. For if he had not hoped that those who had fallen in battle would rise again, it would have been superfluous and futile to pray for the dead. But he considered that an excellent reward was prepared for those who had died in piety—what a holy and pious thought! Therefore, he offered a propitiatory sacrifice for the dead, that they might be freed from sin (2 Macc. 12:43-45).

The Church's fervent prayers ensure that the good beginnings, the seeds of new life with which our loved ones departed, if these seeds did not have time to blossom sufficiently here on earth, develop under the influence of prayer and God's mercy, just as good seed develops in the earth under the influence of the sun's warmth and moisture. But nothing can revive rotten seeds that have lost the beginning of plant life.

If our departed loved ones reach the Kingdom of Heaven, they respond with answering prayer for us.

* * *

The life of Saint Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow, contains the following incident[1].

A document was submitted to the Metropolitan for signature, suspending the priesthood of a certain priest who abused wine. For some reason, Metropolitan Philaret hesitated to sign the document. That night, he dreamed that strange, ragged, and miserable people surrounded him and pleaded for the guilty priest, calling him their benefactor.

This dream recurred three times. The next morning, the Metropolitan summoned the culprit, questioned him about his life, and asked for whom he was praying.

"There is nothing worthy in me, Vladyka," the priest answered humbly. "The only thing that rests on my heart is a prayer for all those who have died accidentally, drowned, died without burial, and are without family. When I serve, I try to pray fervently for such people."

"Well, thank them," Metropolitan Philaret said to the offender, and, tearing up the paper banning the offending priest from serving, he dismissed him only with an exhortation to abandon his weakness.
Saint Paisios the Athonite spoke of prayer for the departed [2]: "Those condemned in hell—those with a modicum of piety—feel guilty, repent, and suffer for their sins. They cry out for help and receive substantial assistance from the prayers of believers. That is, God is now giving these condemned people a favorable opportunity to receive help until the Second Coming."

In life, an earthly friend of the king can intercede with him to help a certain condemned person. Similarly, if a person is a "friend" of God, then he can intercede with God through his prayer and obtain a transfer for the condemned dead from one "prison" to another—to a better one, from one "cell" to another, more comfortable one. He can even obtain a transfer from a "cell" to some "room" or "apartment."

God wants to help the departed because He grieves for them, but He doesn't do so because He is noble. He doesn't want to give the devil the right to say, "How can You save this sinner, since he didn't work at all?" However, by praying for the departed, we give God the "right" to intervene. It must also be said that our prayers for the departed bring greater "tenderness" to God than for the living.

Elder Paisios the Athonite: "Requiem services and funeral services are the best advocate for the souls of the departed."
Requiem services and funeral services are the best advocate for the souls of the departed. Funeral services possess such power that they can even lead a soul out of hell."

"I know cases," the elder continued, "that testify to the benefit the departed receive from the prayers of spiritual people." A man came to me in the kaliva and said weepingly, "Geronda, I stopped praying for a deceased friend, and he appeared to me in a dream. 'You,' he said, 'haven't helped me for twenty days. You've forgotten me, and I'm suffering.' And indeed, I forgot about him exactly twenty days ago, overwhelmed by my many worries, and in those days I haven't even prayed for myself."

* * *

"If you pray for the deceased," Elder Paisios said, "then pray for the other deceased along with him. Why should a train travel such a long distance with only one passenger? It could take others. Do you know how many deceased need prayer? The unfortunate ones ask for help, and they have no one to pray for them!"

When you pray for a relative, pray also for others—those you don't know and have never seen: they ask for our prayers.
It is precisely to these departed, who no longer have relatives or friends on earth to pray for them, that the Church dedicates two special memorial days—two ecumenical Saturdays: Meatfare Saturday and Pentecost, when we, the living, are invited to offer memorial prayers, first and foremost, for all the departed. The Church thus reminds us that, in addition to our beloved relatives and friends, we have many more brothers in Christ whom we must love even if we have never seen them, and for whom, even without knowing their names, we must pray.[3] "If the abyss in which the souls of the departed were to open before us now, we could see a touching picture of their silent prayer to the living members of Christ's Church—a plea that we help them with our prayers," said Archimandrite Kirill (Pavlov).

"The time will come when we will see them. How joyful it will be to hear from them a word of gratitude for our prayer! They will say, 'You remembered me, you did not forget me, and you helped me in my time of need. I thank you.' And conversely, how bitter it will be to hear the reproach of one who did not pray for the dead: 'You did not remember me, you did not pray for me, you did not help me in my hour of need—I reproach you.'"

Pray for the dead, so that they, too, when they attain a blessed life, will pray for you.

https://monastery.ru/bog-i-chelovek/...-za-usopshikh/

After the Second Coming of Christ and the end of the world, it will no longer be possible to pray for souls from hell. Hell, with its demons and the devil, will go to fiery Gehenna. This is the second and most terrible death, from which there is no escape; it is an endless state of soul in fire and torment. Some sinners in hell will be justified but will be deprived of many blessings. Each will receive a reward according to their spiritual development and the filling of themselves with Grace. The majority of sinners whose sins are grave will not find salvation and will go to fiery Gehenna. Everything is decided on Earth. God has given each person a conscience. And He will judge each person fairly, taking into account all the living conditions in which they found themselves.

In short, no one knows what the final judgment will be, but it will be truly terrifying, as many souls will go to hell for eternity. I have a book in Russian in which there is a tradition of a saint's vision about what the final judgment will be like, as revealed to him by God. It is truly terrifying. For example, it describes how children killed by their parents in the womb (via abortion) will emerge from hell on the Day of Judgment and will judge their mothers and fathers for killing them in the womb and depriving them of the life they had first given them, for depriving them of the grace of sanctification in God, and for depriving them of holy baptism and the holy sacraments. The children will condemn their parents to eternal hell. Abortion is a terrible sin; it is better to give birth to a child, baptize it, and then slaughter it than to have an abortion. In the first case, the soul of such a child will go to heaven, and the sin of the parent who killed the child will drag it to hell. But in the second case, the child is killed without receiving the sacrament of baptism, and the child's soul goes to hell until the Last Judgment. In this case, both go to hell. But if the murderer offers full repentance to God for the sin of murder (abortion), then God takes the child's soul from hell to the Kingdom of Heaven, and the mother who offered repentance to the Lord no longer has any sin on her soul. There are spiritual laws, understand. Jesus answered: "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God."
John 3:5
Under the Old Testament, all souls, including the righteous, went to hell. There was a special place in hell for the righteous called "Abram's Bosom." There, souls were not tormented but remained in peace, like in a waiting room. But after Christ's crucifixion, the Lord's soul remained in hell for three days in the heart of the earth, where he defeated Satan. The prisons were opened, a sermon was preached to all the souls tormented in hell, and those who accepted the sermon were saved, and hell was emptied. "Abram's Bosom" was destroyed. Matthew 12:40: “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

Let me tell you a parable:

A Parable of St. Paisios the Athonite.
Do Not Tempt God's Fate.

A certain ascetic, seeing the injustice existing in the world, prayed to God, asking Him to reveal to him the reason why pious and righteous people fall into misfortune and suffer unjustly, while the unrighteous and sinful become rich and live peacefully. As the ascetic prayed for revelation of this mystery, he heard a voice say, "Do not test what your mind and the power of your knowledge cannot comprehend. But since you have asked to know, descend into the world and sit in one place, and pay attention to what you see, and from this experience you will understand a small part of God's judgments." Hearing this, the elder descended into the world and came to a meadow through which a road passed.
Nearby there was a spring and an old tree, in the hollow of which the elder hid well. Soon a rich man rode up on a horse. He stopped at a spring to drink water and rest. When he'd finished, he took a purse containing a hundred ducats from his pocket and began counting them. Having finished counting, he was about to put them back, but he didn't notice, and the purse fell into the grass.
Soon another passerby came to the spring, found the purse containing the ducats, took it, and ran across the fields.
A short time passed, and another passerby appeared. Tired, he stopped at the spring, filled it with water, took some bread from his kerchief, and began to eat.
While the poor man was eating, a rich horseman appeared and, his face twisted with anger, attacked him. The poor man, unaware of the ducats, swore he had never seen such a thing. But the man, in his strong state, began to whip and beat him until he killed him. After searching all the poor man's clothes, he found nothing and left, distraught.
The old man saw everything from the hollow tree and was amazed. He regretted and wept over the unjust murder, praying to the Lord and saying:

"Lord, what does this Thy will mean? Tell me, I beg Thee, how can Thy goodness tolerate injustice?" One lost ducats, another found them, and yet another was unjustly killed.

While the elder prayed tearfully, an Angel of the Lord descended and said to him:
"Do not grieve, elder, and do not think out of vexation that this happened against God's will. But of all that happens, some are by allowance, some for punishment (education), and still others by the will of the household."

So listen. The one who lost the ducats is a neighbor of the one who found them. The latter had a garden worth a hundred ducats. The rich man, being greedy, forced him to give him the garden for fifty ducats. The poor man, not knowing what to do, asked God for vengeance. Therefore, God arranged for him to be doubly rewarded.
Another poor man, weary, having found nothing and unjustly killed, once committed murder himself. However, he sincerely repented and spent the rest of his life in a Christian and God-pleasing manner. He continually asked God to forgive him for the murder, saying, "My God, grant me the same death that I committed!" Of course, the Lord forgave him from the moment he showed repentance. Thus, hearing him, He allowed him to die violently—as he had asked—and took him to Himself, even bestowing upon him a shining crown for his love of piety!
Finally, another, a covetous man who had lost his ducats and committed murder, was being punished for his greed and love of money. God allowed him to fall into the sin of murder so that his soul would be overcome and come to repentance. For this reason, he now leaves the world and becomes a monk.

So, where, in what instance, do you see God being unjust, or cruel, or merciless? Therefore do not tempt the judgments of God any more, for He does them justly. Know also that much else happens in the world by God's will, for reasons people do not understand.

JUSTICE CONSISTS NOT IN GIVING EQUALITY TO EVERYONE, BUT IN RENDERING TO EACH THEIR DUE.

St. Basil the Great


Conclusion:

Hell is torment from the influence of God's love.

For example, Saint Isaac the Syrian wrote: "Hell is the scourge of divine love." According to him, God's love extends to all people, but acts in two ways: it torments sinners and brings joy to the righteous.

Posted by arjunaloka_official (here)
2.
I agree that humans can be possessed by demons.

Be that as it may, we observe the linearity of existence in the sense of "grandfather – father – child". That wouldn't be considered demonic, would it? Then why should the linearity of personal existence, i.e., reincarnation, be demonic? Also, would a truly loving father give you just one chance to pass a test, i.e., one life?

God has an individual approach to each person. He sends trials for a reason, but because He knows what is beneficial for the salvation of the soul. God chooses the cross for each person: for some it's illness, for others ruin, for others slander, for others poverty, for others a difficult life. (Some are tested for sins, others for virtue; God's ways are inscrutable.)

On the other hand, God always offers a chance for a new life, no matter how many mistakes a person makes or strays from the righteous path. God forgives a person's actions and gives them the opportunity to improve, repent, bring their actions and thoughts into proper order, and live with a clear conscience and thoughts in accordance with God's rules.
I published a short post:
The question of why God did not punish Satan remains one of the most intriguing in religious thought. The answer lies in the context of biblical events, from the Garden of Eden to the Book of Job. The Garden of Eden: A Challenge to God In Genesis 3:1-6, Satan challenges God's authority, arguing that man can be happy without God. This idea challenges the very essence of divine governance and calls into question humanity's faithfulness. Satan and Job: A Test of Faith In the Book of Job (chapters 1 and 2), Satan challenges again, arguing that man serves God only for profit. This situation becomes a crucial test for Job, who demonstrates his devotion even in suffering. Why doesn't God intervene? God could immediately remove Satan, but that would be ineffective. Like a teacher who gives a disobedient student a chance to prove his point, God gives humanity a chance to understand the true nature of evil. Human history shows that attempts to live without God's guidance lead to destruction and suffering. A Future Without Evil. Despite Satan's temporary reign (1 John 5:19), the Bible promises that evil will soon be eradicated. Daniel 2:44 speaks of the coming of the Kingdom of God, which will replace corrupt human governments. Revelation 21:4 foretells the end of suffering and the restoration of God's original purpose. Thus, the history of the struggle between good and evil is not yet over. We are simply entering a new phase where truth and justice will triumph. God also examines human choices and hearts for good deeds, as well as for their devotion and love for God. So that everyone receives what they deserve, in accordance with their work.

Earthly life is but a shadow of the joy that awaits each person in the Kingdom of Heaven with the Lord. If, of course, a person accepts the Lord.
You asked, why did God allow people to live only once on earth? 1. So that people would understand what good and evil are and make a choice. And there would be no more revolution in the kingdom of heaven. So that people would understand that evil brings suffering, and good brings joy. And the angelic world bears witness to this: those angels who stood firm in the truth also saw that the devil tried to deceive them with promises of a better life.
2. So that each soul would test its capabilities, and each soul would choose its own measure of happiness. Roughly speaking, the rank a person will receive in the spiritual world depends on the individual and how they live on Earth. For example, one person will experience happiness and joy equal to that of a small bush, while another will experience that of a huge, multi-story tree. This is fair. Because one person labored spiritually for God, while the other labored not and lived in sin, but at the end of their lives, they repented and accepted God. Each receives according to their labors. "On some features and details of the structure of the Kingdom of Heaven in eternal life"
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...=1#post1687331
Those who pray for the departed will save many souls and receive a reward unlike any other. (One should not pray for suicides, sorcerers, or witches, as they directly serve the underworld, and suicides voluntarily rejected the gift of life and did not turn to God for help). Although there are prayers for suicides and sorcerers, only saints can perform them. Did you know that praying for someone is like shedding blood? Demons attack you because you pray, and you'll have health problems or problems in life. I know someone who prayed for a sorcerer and developed health problems. And if you pray for fornicators, the demon of fornication will attack you, and you could fall into sin. To pray, you must be spiritually prepared, you must regularly confess and receive communion in church, pray and fast, and not sin, living righteously.


People who pray for the departed will save many souls and receive a reward that no one else will have, except him. It is clear that those who did not pray on earth and if they enter the kingdom of heaven will not receive such a reward. Understand that everyone will receive according to the measure of their labors on earth.

You decide on earth what position and rank you will occupy in heaven. Monks receive the highest reward.

And everyone who has left houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.

Matthew 19:29

But it is not given to everyone to become a monk.

Matthew 19:12 - King James Version (KJV)
<12> For there are some eunuchs, who were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, who were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.

3.God replenishes the empty spaces of the holy abodes of fallen angels with the souls of people. That's why demons envy humans because people receive the joy they lost.

Posted by arjunaloka_official (here)
3.
Is the Bible 100% God's Word? If so, do the Ten Commandments consist largely of negatives, e.g., "Thou shalt not kill"? If so, can the human mind process negatives? If I tell you NOT to think about a pink elephant, you actually can't NOT think about that elephant, can you? Isn´t "kill, steal, lie" what goes to your subconsciousness, if one uses negations? Would a loving and forgiving Father chose negations, if your brain cannot digest them, even though he knows exactly how your brain works? Even if your brain could digest negations, why would He focus on the negative instead of the positive, like "honour life", "honour truth", etc.?

The Bible was written by people, and it does not correspond to the idea of God's word as something perfectly formed and delivered from heaven without human intervention. God inspires the human authors of sacred texts in a special way and guides the entire process of their formation in such a way as to communicate to His people—and all subsequent generations—the truths necessary for our salvation.

That is, God wrote the Bible through His saints, to whom He gave the Grace of the Holy Spirit. In other words, God wrote the Bible through people and ensured that it reached humanity in its purest form. This is despite the fact that the Vatican has appropriated many additions.


Regarding denials
I think this way, a person immediately understands what's good and what's bad. For example, if instead of the commandment "Thou shalt not kill," it were simply "love and preserve life," it could be interpreted in various ways. But when it says "Thou shalt not kill," nothing can be added or subtracted. Everything is stated completely and clearly. For example, "Don't take a book"—it's all clear; how else could it be said? A person only has two answers: Yes or No; everything else is from the devil.

Regarding thoughts, demons pollute a person's cerebral ether.
When a person lives in God, they fill themselves with the Holy God. The sacraments, fasting, and prayer fill the soul with God, and you begin to think differently. When a person knows God, they know the taste of honey. If someone has never tasted honey and I try to tell them what honey tastes like, they still won't understand. The saints are an example of this; they are a different world; they think of nothing but God. Life in God gives joy and all the beauty in the world. Hope, salvation, love, the salvation of neighbors and family. Removal from evil and lies.

Posted by arjunaloka_official (here)
4.
In this "reality," do you observe that life nourishes life? Don't humans eat animals and animals eat plants, and plants minerals? Would you describe this as a divine concept based on love and forgiveness - to have to destroy to avoid your own destruction?

May the Lord protect you!

Eating animals is not considered a sin in Orthodoxy.

Man was originally created by God as vegetarians. But after the Fall, when human nature changed, God allowed the consumption of animals. This is stated in the Book of Genesis: "Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; just as the green herb I have given you all things" (Genesis 9:2-3).

However, there are some restrictions: for example, the prohibition on drinking blood and the prohibition on eating certain types of animals (pork, carnivores and rodents, reptiles, and others).

Orthodox Christianity has many calendar fasts, some lasting more than 40 days. We are forbidden to eat meat, milk, or even fish. We eat vegetables, fruits, and cereals. Try observing the Orthodox calendar. And you will understand that a person can be tempted to eat meat. In Orthodoxy, there are monks who never eat animal meat, but they also renounce the world. People are weak by nature, and not everyone is gifted with this. Sin has corrupted humanity. People have become more about surviving than living. Previously, God planted paradise plants that nourished people by providing them with their fruits. After sin, nature and animals rebelled against humanity. Man is forced to work the land by the sweat of his brow. I don't think man could survive long without meat, especially during crop failures. Meat provides many nutrients.

To help you understand, animals don't go to hell; their souls are born from the Earth. God created this mechanism. Animal souls automatically go to heavenly abodes; there's a philosophical theory behind this.

God created everything harmoniously on earth, but sin destroyed and distorted everything. Now we have what we have, and God maintains balance and harmony on Earth. But this world is not perfect and is tainted by sin. That's why, when the number of righteous souls approaches the end of the fallen angels, the time will approach the end of time. Everything also depends on human repentance. The more humanity becomes corrupted and unwilling to improve its lives, the more the Earth is consumed by evil, the closer the end of the Earth comes. This world will be destroyed, and God will renew the entire earth and recreate a new Paradise, ideal as it was conceived from the very beginning.


I translated the texts from Russian into English, so there may be inaccuracies and errors. Please take this into account, as I am Russian and do not know English. Information for those who did not know. Also, I am not a priest, I am an Orthodox layman and my answers are not comparable to the answers of a priest.

I also recommend reading this article: (Orthodoxy) Salvation of the soul. The meaning of life https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...81#post1664881

(Miracle) Holy Fire in the Holy Sepulcher on Orthodox Easter
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...08#post1664208