ELDER THADDEUS OF VITONICA, SERBIA
A MONK OF THE SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH
Elder Thaddeus was one of the most renowned spiritual guides in the twentieth century. As a novice he lived in obedience to Elder Ambrose of Milijkovo Monastery, a disciple of the Optina Elders. Fr. Thaddeus learned the Prayer of the Heart (The Jesus Prayer) and the selfless love that came to characterize his whole ministry to the suffering Serbian people. Born in 1914, Elder Thaddeus lived through all the suffering endured by Serbia in the twentieth century. Over the course of two World Wars, during the Communist takeover, and through the NATO bombings of 1999, he co-suffered with his people. He taught, counseled, and prayed for all who came to him in pain and sorrow. His words of love and hope provided spiritual balm for people from all classes of society. In 2002 Elder Thaddeus reposed leaving behind a large collection of his teachings, preserved by his faithful spiritual children. His life, teachings, and spiritual conversations are presented for the first time in English.
THE SPIRITS AND PRINCIPALITIES BELOW THE HEAVENLY
REALM SPREAD CHAOS IN THE WORLD
The following text is taken from a conversation between the late professor Zoran Saramantits and Holy Elder Thaddeus.
“The topic is about the spirits and principalities that dwell below the heavenly realm. These spirits spread dissension in the world. We are the human race. Our ancestors were created from spiritual matter. But after the fall the essence of our bodies changed and death stealthily crept into them. It is now very difficult for mankind to return to his pristine condition when he was first created. Why is this so? It is so because in the realm of human thought, in the spiritual world, the first to fall was Satan. Along with Satan a myriad of other angels fell with him for they were influenced by their archangel Lucifer. All of these angelic beings were separated from the source of life and now they wander about without any sense of peace or tranquility. They organize themselves in their own realm of existence just like we humans do here on the earth. The energy that these spirits generate is negative. Because of their pride they became spirits of evil. But God is all love. As you know, He came Himself into the world to lead us back to our original state of being. This was so because there was no one else who could bring us back to our pristine condition. Only He who created us could do this. This is why a person who lives with Christ is born again. He becomes a new creation, a new being. Up until the day of the Last Judgment life in this world will have one purpose, the salvation of our souls.
In so in spite of our separation from God, the ability has been given to all of us to return to the source of life and be united with it. You can see for yourselves how humanity today is tumbling down the slop to spiritual destruction. We have sown our seeds of sin and we also shall now reap the fruits of our thoughts and desires. It was because of this that the first generation of humanity before the time of Noah needed to be destroyed in the great flood. Only Noah and his family were saved from the flood because of their righteousness. And it is from this family that the human race was restored again. So now, just as before the flood evil is increasing again. This is so because the spiritual beings below the heavenly realm continuously are at work misleading us and we are not aware of this. Man believes that evil thoughts are generated from within himself. He does not realize that he is under the influence of demons and the evil spirits. As soon as negative thoughts manifest themselves within us they destroy our sense of tranquility.
All of these things are very obvious to us but we do not comprehend it. This is the way that harmony is disrupted within us and it shatters the mirror of tranquility. Man must recover from this and understand that he must discover the spirit of inner harmony. Unfortunately man does not understand that he is able to succeed in acquiring inner harmony. Yes, this can be done because God is present everywhere. But now we are limited by time and space. How is it possible us to accomplish this? But there is a way for us to understand these issues since God is love. Today many people have left the right road that leads to the source of life and consider themselves atheists. But let the truth be told that there are no people who do not believe in God. Such people do not exist. Many people believe that they do not believe but in reality they believe a great deal and thirst for God. This is so because there is no rational being that exists on the earth that does not long for life. We all long for life. All people long for absolute love, a love that changes everything and is eternal. This longing is universal. All people long for justice. All people desire that absolute justice will prevail eternally.
All of us long for these things with all of our hearts. And God is love, He is life. He is all these things. He is just and love. But we cannot on the one hand long for Him with are whole heart and on the other hand oppose Him by being disobedient to Him. That kind of behavior in of itself harms us. This is so because as soon as we entertain negative thoughts, we destroy the harmony that is within us. For an example, when a person considers himself to be an atheist, he immediately loses a sense of inner peace. And when someone prays to God he regains inner peace. A person who continuously thinks of himself as an atheist is a complainer and is bothered by people who pray. This means that his conscience is not at peace. On the other hand, the person who prays to God has a sense of peace and tranquility. He understands that God is everywhere and even within him. A person who prays realizes that we are not masters of our own lives. He realizes that divine tranquility can be acquired through the love of God. He realizes that divine energy is within us because it was given to us in the creative act of God.
Today there are more than five billion souls living on the earth. These five billion human beings do not have the energy (spirit?) inspired by God that unites us. You see, if all human beings were in agreement with one another, if all human beings had positive thoughts everything would change in our world. The unity of human thought would create an enormous energy force. Now we see that all things are in disharmony. This is happening because the thought processes of human beings are not in harmony with one another. The evil spirits that dwell below the heavenly realm are spirits are the ones who influencing us. They have separated themselves from God. They have removed themselves from Him and that is why they do not enjoy tranquility and peace. These spirits are teaching the human race these same feelings. They are teaching us to be divided one from the other, scattered here and there without any harmony of thought. Do you understand where we human beings find ourselves today?
I will now share you the words of Saint Isaac the Syrian. Saint Isaac the Syrian is one of the Holy Fathers of our Orthodox Church which would quality him to be a psychologist today. Saint Isaac says: “Dear fellow human beings do not lose the calmness in your lives in this world. Do everything in your power to avoid losing your tranquility. Be reconciled with your own self then you will be reconciled with heaven and earth.”
The Elder says I am against all politicians and all political thought; all politicians have their own agendas. They all look to the materialistic aspect of their political agenda. They look to benefit themselves not the people who have placed them in their position of political leadership. When a monk is excessively tied to political issues, he then loses all understanding of monasticism. He even becomes confused about the purpose of his life as a monk. All those monks who have chosen the celibate life without first freeing themselves from worldly political thought make a big mistake.
The Elder now talks about emperors and kings in the past that spent the last years of their lives as monks.
The Elder says that different conditions prevailed then and other conditions prevail today in the world of politics. In the twentieth century there are different philosophical and political schools of thought. These thoughts have poisoned the human race. These political thoughts tear asunder the thoughts of humanity. They have led human beings to pull in different directions. They lead each person to take different sides on important issues of life. In the Middle Ages and in the Byzantine era there were fewer political agendas and political philosophies than there are today.
The Elder says there is nothing that is lost in life. All things simply change form in which they existed. Simply said, each atom has its own unique place. For example, each leaf on a tree has its place. This also applies to eternity, nothing is lost. The only thing that happens is that all things change their condition and their form. The condition in which we find ourselves in the world today is one of turbulence that hinders our thought processes. And because of this the whole universe is found in a state of turbulence. All of nature today has lost its benevolent touch. Originally the material world was completely different in the universe. It had another form and found itself in another dimension. This was so because at the time that matter was created it was formed from divinity. It is because of this that on Judgment Day all beings will be transformed. In other words all things will take the form and the condition as when matter was created at the beginning of time. Saint Paul the Apostle says: “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.” (1 Thess. 4:16). The Lord created all things and He will change all things for the sake of humanity. He will make all things new again. The human race will be just like it was when it was first created. Jesus did this for us by taking upon Himself human nature. The Incarnation of the Lord transfigured human nature and restored it to its original condition and form. Only Jesus was able to restore humanity to its archetypal condition. No one else was able to do this, only He who created us.
We, therefore, having been created from spiritual matter, will be returned to that condition on Judgment Day. We will then no longer be compelled to pass through the door of death as we do today. When the Lord comes, we will be changed in the twinkling of an eye. That which is corruptible will become incorruptible and that which is mortal will become immortal. “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.” (2 Peter 3:10). “Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” (2 Peter 3:13). “For behold I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.” (Isaiah 65:17). Time will cease to be. There will be no need for material light as we know it today. That is the light of the sun will no longer be necessary since God is light and all things will become light in His presence. Things will be completely different. Why must this be? This will happen because mankind did not remain as He wanted it to be. Mankind missed the mark as God had intended it to be.
As you well know man was the crowning jewel of God’s creation and man was the last of God’s created acts. The angels were created first. Some of these angels fell before mankind was created. Since all the spiritual beings below the heavenly realm are limited, their energy is also limited and negative. A part of that negative energy has been passed on to our human nature. The result of this is what we see happening today in the world. We see that neither justice is rewarded neither is injustice punished. But these things must come to past for God’s plan to be fulfilled. Each person must be rewarded according to his works. This means that which Saint Paul the Apostle says: “For we know that the whole of creation groans while men of prayer wait to be saved.” (Romans 8:22). And those who wait are us. In other words nature waits to be freed from corruption and catastrophe. It waits for this great change. This means that it waits for the day where there will be a new heaven and a new earth. God knew from before the creation of humanity that His rational creatures would not be able to bring about change in their lives. This is why He allowed so much time to pass before He took action. He knew then that all things would happen in the world the way they have happened.
He knew that His creation, humanity, would need to find itself, for it to wake up so that it could unite itself with God’s uncreated energies. And all these things will happen so that His rational creatures will return to that great joy of divine life. He who does not want to partake in this divine life will remain alone and isolated from God. This type of human being will remain alone in his own state of existence. (Do we create our own hell?) Naturally, it is very important that our spiritual condition on Judgment Day be there where God wants us to be. It is important for our souls to be on the right track on that day because the condition of our souls will pass on to all eternity.
Our life here in this world is very limited. Because of this limited time we must struggle with the help of God to live a good life. The Lord granted us His life, His divine life and His divine energies. We, with His help, must create a personality that is meek, generous, kind hearted, courteous, and compassionate. We must learn to do the best that we can do in life. We should try to follow the example of Jesus Christ. We should look to Him as an example for our lives because the Lord has shown us what kind of life we should live. First and foremost we must forgive our enemies. In the past, the moral was an eye for an eye. People in the past could not understand something that was good. It is for this reason that Jesus came into our midst and became the Savior of the world. He showed us the direction we should go. He showed the human race the road to salvation.
For example, when the Lord met the Samaritan woman at the well and spoke with her, she said to him: “Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, and the Jews tell us that Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.” (John 4:20). The Samaritans had separated themselves from the Jews. And Jesus said in response: “But the hour is coming and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4: 23-24). Then the Samaritan Woman answered him saying: “I know that the Messiah is coming, who is called Christ. When He comes, He will tell us all things.” (John 4:25). And then the Savior responded saying: “I who speak to you am He.” (4:26). People of the past did not know that God is everywhere and that they can worship Him in any place. When Jesus came He informed them of this truth.
One of the unusual characteristics of the Elder Thaddeus was that when was he talking about the stories in the Scriptures everyone had the impression that he was speaking about something that was happening at that very moment in front of him.
Professor Zoran Saramatits asks Father Thaddeus to explain to him the essence of the good angels and the bad angels.
These angelic beings both good and bad are pure energy. We are also are made up of the same energy. But we are energy in the form of flesh and bones. You see that energy is what invigorates our bodies and allows them to function. This is the same with the good angels and also with evil angels who dwell below the heavenly realm. In reality, all spiritual being move about with incredible speed. They move about faster than our thoughts. The speed of our thoughts are also unbelievable. As soon as we think about something it has already reached its destination. One of our saints to whom the Holy Mother appeared wanted to find out from her at what speeds our thoughts and our prayers travel. This saint wanted to know how fast our prayers would reach their destination during an emergency in our lives. The Holy Mother answered saying: “The speed is very great. Our thoughts have a profound level of speed and it is irrelevant how far away the destination is.” In other words, it does not make any difference how far or how close the destination is. At the moment a person prepares to send a thought, it already has reached its destination.
Up until recently we only knew about the speed of light. But now we know that there is a speed that is faster than the speed of light. This speed is the speed of our thoughts and the speed of our prayers. The energy of thoughts and prayers instantly connects with the life-giving source, with the energy of God. It is for this reason that I repeat this message to you. If human kind, which numbers more than five billion souls harmonized their thoughts, if people had the same positive thoughts everything around us would change. All of nature would change. This would happen because a profound divine energy would unite us all together. Unfortunately all things around us are in disharmony. Just about all human thought today is not in agreement with one another. Why? This is so because the evil spirits under the heavenly realm do not allow us to agree with one another. The Lord says: “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am amongst them.” God is present everywhere. Unity of thought banishes the powers of Satan.
Professor Zoran Samamitits asks Father what you can tell us about other worlds beyond the planet earth. Can you tell us if there are extraterrestrial beings?
Yes, they exist, but they exist as only energy of thought. It is not material energy as we human beings understand it. Beings such as us human beings do not exist in the universe. This is so because only the human race has been blessed to populate the planet earth that God created. Just as God said “multiply and subdue the earth.” (Genesis 1:28). The world of God that He created is not only the small earthly sphere which appears like a small dot in the universe. The world of God is the whole universe. When the evil spirits that dwell beneath the heavenly realm saw mankind being created, they realized that man must dwell on the planet earth. They also realized that if this happened there would be no place for them to dwell. This would mean that the fallen angels would be marginalized here on the planet earth. Because of this they set out to destroy this new creation which was just in its embryonic state. They also knew that if humans violated the commandment of obedience catastrophic consequences would follow suit. Man was created of matter and he is a whole universe because within this crowning jewel of God’s creation was found thought, mind and logic. The demons therefore urged Adam and Eve to violate the directives of God. As soon as Adam and Even disobeyed God, they realized that all things around them changed. Even matter changed from which they were created by the spirit.
The fall of mankind had a profound impact on the whole universe. It was catastrophic for the whole world. Fr. Thaddeus would often say: “Through disobedience we were thrown out of paradise and through obedience we are returned to paradise.” The disobedience of Adam and Eve dealt a heavy burden to the whole material world. It had a heavy burden in the world of thought into which entered the negative energies of the evil spirits which dwell under the heavenly realm. It is because of this that God sent His Son who came to show His love for man by sacrificing His life. He came into this world and brought hope. From the moment that Jesus came into our midst we have been able to talk to Him. Since God is energy that exists everywhere and surpasses all things, it is impossible for anyone to see God in all His power. How can someone that is limited, see that which is unlimited? We can see Him only to the extent that He reveals Himself to us. It is because of this reason that Jesus came into the world.
He came so that we can converse with Him. Isn’t that so? Since God is all love, His Son did not want to take upon Himself the angelic nature but He wanted to take upon himself human nature. It is because of this revelation that humanity is greatly blessed. It is because of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ that human nature entered the mystery of the Life-giving Trinity. Can you understand just how significant that is? Unfortunately, many people today cannot understand this. (Our Muslim friends) The gift of life which God has given us is unbelievably great. Because of this truth mankind exists at a higher level in creation than the angels. He is superior to the angels. Human nature entered the mystery of the Life-giving Trinity. The angelic state did not enter into the mystery of the Life-giving Trinity, human nature did.
Translated from the Greek by:
+Fr. Constantine (Charles) J. Simones, Waterford, CT, USA, cjsimones300@gmail.com March 7, 2014.
Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια:
Δημοσίευση σχολίου