Orthodoxy Agni Yoga The human soul is fundamentally different from the souls of other living beings The human soul is identical to the soul of any animal, the only difference being the degree of spiritual evolution that the soul of any living being has reached. 8. Repentance or "intelligent cooperation"?

Repentance is the most important concept of Orthodox theology, without repentance, from the point of view of Orthodox doctrine, salvation is impossible: "Consider those who have passed this life from the beginning of the world, and you will find that in those who are pleasing (to God) the mystery of piety was accomplished through repentance. No one was condemned if he did not despise him, and no one was justified if he did not take care of him."83

How does the teaching of Agni Yoga relate to repentance? "The word repentance is not in Senzar's dictionary.84 It has been replaced by the expression "reasonable cooperation" known to you. … For the people, it is easiest to show the essence of repentance by medical example. Through depravity of thinking, a person inflicts a wound on his fellow-man, but neither thoughts nor words can heal this wound. You will have to connect the torn fabric with a series of persistent actions. Reasonable cooperation will have to be shown to restore expediency. The consequence of an action can be healed only by action. No verbal statements, no oaths matter.

Whoever knows his foolishness, let him cover it with real reason. Foolishness can be exhausted by rational cooperation.

Is not the paid absolution of a repentant sinner a grave crime? Is not the monetary bribery of the Deity worse than the first times of fetishism? This frightening question must be sanctified in many ways, otherwise human linen is very dirty."85 As we can see, repentance is rejected. It is proposed to replace it with "reasonable cooperation". And then follows the classic indictment of occultism: "The consequence of an action can only be healed by action. No verbal statements, no oaths matter."86 This is typical when occultists attribute to Orthodoxy something that is not in it. What is repentance from the point of view of Orthodoxy? The most accurate Christian understanding of repentance is conveyed by the parable of the prodigal son: "And he said, 'A certain man had two sons; And the youngest of them said to his father, "Father, forgive them! Give me the next part of the possessions. And [the father] divided the property among them. After a few days, the younger son, having gathered everything, went to a distant country and there squandered his possessions, living dissolutely. And when he had lived through everything, there came a great famine in that country, and he began to be in need; And he went and joined one of the inhabitants of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine; and he was glad to fill his belly with the horns which the pigs ate, but no one gave him any. And when he came to himself, he said, "How many of my father's hired men have bread in abundance, and I am dying of hunger; I will arise, and go to my father, and say to him, Father, forgive him! I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no longer worthy to be called thy son; Accept me as one of your hirelings. And he got up and went to his father. And while he was still far away, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion; and running, he fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, "Father, forgive him! I have sinned against heaven and before Thee, and am no longer worthy to be called Thy Son. And the father said to his servants, "Bring the best garments, and clothe him, and give a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet; and bring a fatted calf, and kill it; Let us eat and be merry! for this my son was dead, and is alive again, and is lost, and is found. And they began to rejoice" (Luke 15:11-24).

The concept of "repentance" is found both in the texts of the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament and in the New Testament. The Hebrew "shuv" (to turn, to return, to regret something) in this case means a complete appeal to Yahweh, which is expressed in obedience to the Divine will, trust in God. The ancient Greek "metanoia" (change of mind, change of way of thinking)87 is associated with the willingness to change one's life. Unfortunately, occultists often proclaim that Christian penance is a purely technical act of writing off sins, but this is not true. Repentance is, first of all, the transformation of a person's inner world. In the sacrament of Repentance, the priest prays that the Lord forgive the sins of a person, but whether they will be forgiven largely depends on the sincerity of the penitent.

Can repentance be replaced by "reasonable cooperation"? In order for a person to agree to such "cooperation", serious motives are needed. It is wrong to interpret repentance as an act of purely verbal confession of one's sin, devoid of practical deeds. To illustrate once again the connection between faith and life, let us recall the example of the repentance of the publican Zacchaeus: "And behold, a man named Zacchaeus, the chief of the publicans and a rich man, sought to see Jesus, who He was, but could not follow the people, because He was small in stature, and running ahead, he climbed up on a fig tree to see Him, because He had to pass by it. When Jesus came to this place, he looked at him and said to him, "Zacchaeus! come down quickly, for today I must be in your house. And he came down hastily and received Him with joy. And all, seeing this, began to murmur, and said that He had come to a sinful man; And Zacchaeus, standing up, said to the Lord, Lord! I will give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have wronged anyone in any way, I will repay fourfold. Jesus said to him, 'Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is the son of Abraham, for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost' (Luke 19:2-10).

We see that repentance is not only a formal act of acknowledging the commission of a sin, in the final analysis, repentance is a change in all a person's life: "Faith and baptism will not deliver from eternal fire, without works of righteousness. If you have been married to Christ, keep His commandments, and if you believe in the future, try to earn eternal glory and fear the fire of fire. But if you do not keep the commandments of God, then do not call yourself faithful."88

Fundamental differences

Orthodoxy Agni Yoga Repentance is the foundation of spiritual life Agni Yoga rejects and distorts the semantic meaning of the Christian concept of "repentance"