For example, in the most popular Hindu system, Vedanta, in order to achieve nirvana, asceticism, liberation from passions, attachment to the worldly is necessary. Silence is considered important in spiritual life. There is such a practice: the guru says to the grown disciple: "You are a brahmana." The student does not answer. And they part. The disciple walks in silence for several years and then returns to his guru and says, "Yes, I am a brahmana."

Barsanuphius the Great (a Christian ascetic of the VI-VII centuries) has the following words: "Silence is better and more amazing than all narratives. He was kissed and worshipped by our fathers. And they became famous for him."

In general, hermits of all times and religions have come to the conclusion that the purest and clearest knowledge comes when all the senses are silent. And the "ratio" itself...

If all religions seem to say the same thing, which one should we join, which one is the true one?

Three Proofs of the Unearthly Origin of Christianity

Christianity is the only religion that has objective arguments confirming its non-human, unearthly origin, that is, Divine. There are many such arguments, I will name the main ones.

1. The first argument is the simplest, not requiring special knowledge, historical. Unlike other religions, Christianity began with monstrous persecutions. With the crucifixion of Christ Himself, with the execution of all the apostles (except John the Theologian), with the most severe persecutions. Until the year 313 there were ten powerful waves of the most terrible persecutions. Read the first-century historian Cornelius Tacitus: Emperor Nero ordered Christians to be tied to poles in his gardens, to be burned at nightfall, and to be lit at night instead of torches. The most popular was the exclamation: "Christians to the lions." Let's try to imagine a similar picture now. I have a question: who will go to this religion? Who would want to sacrifice their lives for a religion about which almost nothing is known?! How could Christianity survive? Let the historians try to explain. The Acts of the Apostles describe what happened to those who sincerely accepted the faith: many of them immediately received the gift of miracles, prophecy, and healing. But the most important thing is that they received such a knowledge of God in their souls that removed all fear of torment. The Great Martyr Eustratius said to the Lord: "These torments are joy to Thy servants." Without the recognition that God Himself acted in this religion, revived and spiritualized these people, it is impossible to understand the existence of Christianity.

2. The second argument is doctrinal, it is the most extensive. The basic Christian truths are fundamentally different from all analogues of Judaism and paganism of the era in which Christianity was born. The doctrine of the Trinity differs from the pagan triads; The Incarnation of God is from the incarnations of Jupiter and Zeus. I will not dwell on this now. Although I have been explaining these differences to my seminary students for a whole year. The fishermen (the authors of the Gospels) simply stated that they saw, what they heard, what they touched. They ascertained, not invented, often not understanding what was happening. The Evangelists were not very literate. Do you remember the painting "Hunters at Rest"? Simple hard workers... And the fishermen were very much like them. And suddenly they say truths that have puzzled philosophers and thinkers of all ages. Another question: where did these truths come from? He declared openly and with stunning clarity: "We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews; madness to the Greeks."

3. The third argument is spiritual and moral. We can ask the question (no matter what religion): "From a religious point of view, who will be saved?" But this is not the case in Christianity. What requirements did the thief fulfill when he was on the cross next to Christ? A scoundrel, a criminal - and the first to go to heaven. In this sense, Christianity is an anti-religious religion. Think about it, where is this from? All students are Jews brought up in the Law. Where does such a sermon come from?!

These are objective things, which are not superfluous to think about, no matter whether I believe in Christ or not. Yes, perhaps, the roots of Christianity are elsewhere, anywhere, but not on Earth.

Why Orthodoxy?

Christianity asserts that the main obstacle facing a person on the path of cognition of God, through Whom and in Whom true knowledge of oneself, another person, and the surrounding world is possible, is a certain thick (or subtle, depending on the state of the person) opinion about oneself. If you like, a false perception of one's Self, when the Self is considered as something almost self-sufficient. A false understanding of what we call human dignity. When we say "human" - great, when we say "my dignity", lies begin. We all feel good. I'm a good person. I can tell you what faults I have, but at the same time I feel and have no doubt that I am a good person. And I, a good one, do not understand the words of Macarius the Great: "Lord, cleanse me, a sinner, for I have done good before Thee (since I have done nothing good)." How can I see, understand that "I am not a very good person," that I am corrupted, that the Creator's plan for me is damaged in me?

We don't know ourselves. Orthodoxy directs our gaze to itself, to the cognition of the damage that is inherent in man as such. And only on the path of self-knowledge can I turn to Christ. Being sinners, we do not see that we are perishing. The Monk Peter of Damascus said: "The first sign of the beginning of the health of the soul begins the vision of one's sins." With the realization of the impossibility of eradicating passions by one's own efforts, of defeating illnesses, begins the path to the recognition of Christ, to faith in Him. This is where real Christianity begins.

All the attention of Orthodoxy is focused on the knowledge of the mortal disease that Christ came to heal. The next analogy: when I cut off my finger, I will not go to the surgeon, but I will anoint it with iodine. If the wound is deeper, then I will go to the nurse. When will I go to the doctor? When I have something more serious. And when the disease is already such that even doctors cannot cope, I will call the luminaries of the world to me. Pay attention: prophets, saints came to mankind... God Himself has come! This means that our illness is such that God Himself had to come to heal it.