Metropolitan
Nikolaos of Mesogaia and Lavreotiki
Every
one of us is a potential saint, even if we do not believe right now!
Metropolitan Nicholas (Khadzhinkolai) of Mesogaia and Lavreotiki, a hierarch of
the Greek Orthodox Church, considers disbelief the most valuable experience in
the spiritual life.
“I
didn’t need someone’s stories and arguments about Christ; I was looking to
experience His presence”
—Despota
Nicholas, why does disbelief have meaning and value for you? It is, quite
frankly, paradoxical to hear from a metropolitan…
—Because
the Lord reveals Himself only to those who sincerely doubt His existence. I
doubted. When I was seventeen, I straight out said, “I am an atheist.”
—Did
it last long?
—About
until I was twenty-two. I still believe it’s better to humbly doubt from the
sidelines than to boast of being within the Church’s enclosure [when you don’t
actually believe]. My best teachers in the faith were not “savvy” theologians
and hereditary clergymen, but those who underwent the novitiate of unbelief.
—It’s
all the stranger to hear from a Greek—it’s more like something from recent
Russian history…
—Greece
truly perceives itself as being within the two-thousand-year continuous
tradition, and with you [Russians—Trans.] everything is indeed being born
again! This explains the inexpressible color and freshness of Church life. It
is a revolution of the Spirit! It’s unique in the history of mankind and
indicative for Orthodoxy throughout the world, because our faith is not of this
world. That’s why I didn’t want to believe in my youth simply “because you have
to.” I didn’t need anyone’s stories and arguments about Christ, I was looking
to experience His presence. But He didn’t come. And I confessed: “I don’t know
anything about Him.” The true God is the One without Whom it’s impossible to
live. The Church lives by Him, because He isn’t a certain sum of opinions about
Him by certain people; He is Life itself.
Since
you’re already physicists… First lessons on Athos
—Even
St. Paisios the Athonite was infected with disbelief in his adolescence. Did
you meet Elder Paisios while you were still an unbeliever?
—Yes,
and I didn’t understand him. I can even say I was scared. He was obviously able
to unfurl my life—I felt it but didn’t succumb. I tried to get out from under
his influence. I thought, let him train on others.
I
remember when I first went to see him in his kalyva with my brother, he asked: “What
do you guys do?” “We’re physicists,” we answered. “Listen! Since you’re already
physicists, you have to achieve the main thing—the disintegration of the atom
of your own self. Then subtle energy will be released, by which you will be
able to escape the Earth’s gravity and embrace the contemplative Sun, which is
Christ.”
I
really liked how, using the language of science familiar to us, he opened
spiritual horizons to us. Over time, these horizons became significantly more
interesting even than cosmic heights for me.
In our
first visit to the elder, I heard how some high schooler asked his blessing to
become a novice and the elder joked: “Have you finished college?!” and when he,
downcast, said he was still only in high school, the elder said: “I only take
those with a university diploma!” I remember that…
Do you
know what else he interested us in in our first visit? He said: “I don’t know
what sciences you’re studying there, in your universities, but if you come
here, to the Holy Mount Athos, then understand that here we study only one
natural science—holiness. If someone loves God above all, then he feels that
his skin is softening, and he melts all over like wax, receiving the fire of
God’s blessing. Thus is the human soul freed…”
This
was incomprehensible for me at the time… But the elder continued.
“There’s
one man,” he said (I think about himself), “who is sometimes transported to
other places on the planet.” Can you imagine what it was like for physicists to
hear this?! “During his prayer here, on Athos, the Lord enraptured him and
carried him to the region of the Caspian Sea… and gave him a commission. When
he fulfilled it, God carried him back. How could that happen? And what proof is
there that it really happened? When he returned to his cell he suddenly saw in
his hand a flower that only grows in the Caspian region…”
I
didn’t believe him then. I perceived everything too rationally then. I still
don’t know how much I have managed to split the atom of my self; but at least
now I don’t have a problem perceiving such stories.
“You
no longer ask: Does God exist? You see Him!”
—Then
you were even able to live next to Elder Paisios?
—Yes,
my college degree helped [laughs]. I really went and showed him my diploma and
reminded him of his words… But he generally wasn’t taking anyone to himself.
I’ll
tell you, these are completely different things: To hear something about a
saint, to read about his works, to meet a saint, and to live together with a
saint. When you find yourself near such a person, like Elder Paisios, you are
assured: The Lord lives. He’s real and you communicate with Him. You no longer
ask: Does God exist? You see Him!
—That
is, knowledge in the Church is always experience? And this in particular is the
difference between faith and scientific knowledge?
—The
power of faith expands your consciousness beyond its inherent rationality. God
is bigger than our conceptions of Him. Those who seek Him with their reason
will not find Him, because such a God does not exist. There is no God Who can
be deduced from the equation of life and proved logically. The true God is born
in the heart in the experience of faith, and thus death is overcome.
I
really envy in a good way those youths who entered the monastery before being
poisoned by skepticism, pragmatism, and rationalism. Their nouses have not fallen
to the ground. Otherwise, such reason would impede the search for God. It’s
impossible to comprehend God with such a mind.
God
can reveal Himself. And He does it only if you humble yourself, recognizing
your mind as nothing. And then, having already experienced God, you can turn to
your mind to tell others something about the Creator. But not anything more
than what God Himself revealed to you about Himself.
In
academic life we try to understand something and make a discovery at all costs.
But our spiritual life reveals to us that some things are impossible to
understand in principle.
Humility
is the whole essence!
—Is
that how a man humbles himself?
—Humility
is the alpha and the omega of the spiritual path. For God resisteth the proud,
and giveth grace to the humble (1 Pet. 5:5). The great St. Gregory Palamas
constantly prayed: “Lord, illuminate my darkness.” Humility—in it is the whole
essence!
This
fully applies not only to the spiritual life, but also to academics. The skills
of honest scientific research help us to see God as if through a person and the
visible cosmos—and to humble ourselves. When an academic reaches the unsolved
mysteries of existence in his scientific search, he stops, feeling his
powerlessness to learn anything more. Then he begins to humbly do his work.
This is “humility”—the whole point of true science.
—Then
why, having made your greatest discovery, didn’t you continue humbly doing your
work, but instead became a monk?
—When
you have the opportunity to fly to Heaven, you can’t bear to wander along the
earth.
—Despota
Nicholas, what should those who haven’t yet had the experience of such
spiritual levitation do?
—Pray.
If we don’t notice miracles, we don’t see them only because we don’t know how
to pray. If we want to see great miracles, we should become people who know how
to pray.
In
prayer, our heart unites with Christ
—How
can we learn to pray?
—This
world tries in every way to divert us from prayer, cramming our minds with
various supposedly necessary knowledge and information. Ignorance, in fact, can
be as valuable as the experience of unbelief. Empty your heart of all worry.
Learn to minimize attention to that which scatters. Abba Isaac the Syrian said
that in prayer all external feelings are killed, while the internal ones
awaken. Sometimes it’s like the resurrection of Lazarus the Four-Days-Dead:
Come forth!—in prayer the soul hears the voice of the Savior and goes beyond
the mortal frame of this world.
“It’s
probably difficult,” you’ll say. “Difficult, but necessary. And it’s not
impossible,” I respond. We have to start with the small things: Maybe you won’t
read all the morning prayers at first, but we have to pray at least a little.
—On
the contrary, neophytes often want to undertake great podvigs immediately.
—It’s
a problem if there is such a desire. Even drivers know that we can’t start from
fifth gear—only from first.
—Do
you have a recommendation for how it’s better to begin learning prayer—with
diligence in home or church prayer?
—They
are different things: When we pray in church, we ascend to an orbital station
and move along a trajectory already verified by the Holy Fathers, and when we
pray in private, we create our own means of transportation and set off on a
journey! Both are important. Ten minutes—is that a lot? Five minutes? Only,
from your whole heart! You just have to calm down, detach yourself from the
vanity of the past or the coming day, and pray from your whole heart!
—And
if prayer is done mechanically, is there no point in such a morning or evening
rule?
—No,
you still have to “read” them. Even mechanically. Generally, of course, we need
to pray correctly. That would be better! But you shouldn’t only eat in
restaurants, but also cook yourself sometimes. Do you understand? It’s also
humbling. And then, we need to constantly remember that there is a large
difference between what is called “reading prayers” and “praying.” Prayer is
when your heart begins to move in a certain direction, set by the Gospel
commandments, and unites with Christ. We must learn to trust God.
We
were standing before the burial shroud not long ago… The Lord wasn’t crucified
for us so that we would rot alive in many cares. Pascha is not exhausted by the
days of Bright Week.
Principles
of life for those striving for holiness
—Despota
Nicholas, share with us, please, some secrets of mastering the science of
holiness.
—I’ll
name four Greek words that are the basic principles of life for the Athonite
monk-hesychast, and for any person striving for holiness.
Aνάτασις—ascent!
Let us lift up our hearts! Our soul has the possibility of reaching the most
unimaginable heights. A man who has experientially felt that this is so is
already more like an angel than a man. His condition is more consistent with
being in the Kingdom of Heaven, it’s already incomparable with the state in
which the rest of the people on Earth live. He doesn’t need to protect God and
the Church in discussions anymore; people around him don’t have any questions
anymore. This is because his soul has risen so high. This is part of the capabilities
of our souls!
Έκστασις—ecstasy.
In all of our actions there must be a surmounting impulse. We’re doing
everything for God’s sake! After all, is there anything more important than
God?! We trust our logic, science, and the news we hear every now and then, so
why can’t we trust God?! It is always beyond the limits of fallen human nature.
It doesn’t mean the essence of man is overcome, but we are called to go beyond
the bounds of our habits, passions, and sins.
For
this to happen requires έντασις—tension, which comes from the experience of the
ascetic struggle. We must labor ascetically with perseverance. The kingdom of
heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force (Mt. 11:12).
And
this tension is resolved in έκτασις—the stretching of human nature beyond its
capabilities.
We
ourselves don’t know what’s hidden within us
There
are unlimited possibilities hidden within every one of us—they’re just
sleeping. Watch and pray (Mt. 26:41), we are commanded in the Gospel. The
university of the Church allows us to discover these possibilities. When we
free them, our soul can be in constant compresence with God. This is what Elder
Paisios spoke about it in our first meeting, but I couldn’t understand it then…
But in
fact, all the saints, any man of God, until he begins to lead an ascetic
lifestyle, doesn’t know that he can pray so long and fast, so much and so
simply, and so on. If God hadn’t revealed to him that this is all already
within his capacity, he himself wouldn’t know.
—Indeed,
capacity, they say, is from experience…
—That’s
why we need to start living with God, so all the depth of the possibilities of
our nature would be revealed before our eyes are closed. Every one of us is a
potential saint. It’s a pity to die without having tried anything like that,
don’t you agree?
The
whole life of the Church is filled with examples of the courage of people who
decided to live with God. Imagine, the world couldn’t know Sts. Sergius of
Radonezh or Seraphim of Sarov, and they themselves wouldn’t know what forces
are hidden in their souls if not for the experience of the Church!
However,
the meaning of life is not in achieving extreme goals, but in humility—and
through humility the Lord gives the opportunity for our soul to open up in the
measure and direction that is pleasing to Him.
Olga
Orlova
spoke
with Metropolitan Nikolaos of Mesogaia and Lavreotiki
Translated
by Jesse Dominick
Pravoslavie.ru
5/15/2019
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