St. Cassian of Rome says: "It is useful to reveal one's thoughts to fathers, but not to any one, but to spiritual elders who have discernment, to elders who are not according to their physical age and gray hair. Many, carried away by the outward appearance of old age and expressing their thoughts, instead of healing, received harm from the inexperience of those who hear" (I, 491).

"The Monk Nilus of Sorsky never gave instruction or advice directly from himself, but offered to the questioners either the teaching of the Scriptures or the teaching of the Fathers. When... he did not find in his memory a sanctified opinion on any subject, so he left the answer or fulfillment until he found instruction in the Scriptures. This method is evident from the writings of the Hieromartyr Peter of Damascus, St. Gregory the Sinaite, St. Xanthopoulos and other Fathers, especially the later ones. It was held by the hieroschemamonks of the Optina Hermitage, Leonid and Macarius... They never gave advice from themselves... This gave the councils their power" (I, 489).

"Every spiritual guide must lead souls to Him (Christ), and not to himself... Let the teacher, like the great and humble Baptist, stand aside, acknowledge himself as nothing, rejoice in his humiliation before the disciples, which is a sign of their spiritual progress... Guard against addiction to mentors. Many did not beware and fell into the snare of the devil together with their mentors. Addiction makes a loved one an idol: God turns away from the sacrifices made to this idol with anger... And life is lost in vain, good deeds perish. And you, teacher, guard yourself against sinful beginnings! Do not replace God for the soul that has come to you. Follow the example of the holy Forerunner" (IV, 519). Such is the voice of the Holy Tradition of the Church, that is, of the Holy Spirit Himself, who speaks to us today through His saint.

About one of the most common reasons for falling into self-conceit and delusion, St. Ignatius writes as follows: "It is not without reason that the state of self-deception and delusion is attributed to the state of spiritual disposition of those monks who, having rejected the exercise of the Jesus Prayer and mental activity in general, are satisfied with outward prayer alone, that is, unfailing participation in church services and unfailing fulfillment of the cell rule, consisting exclusively of psalmody and prayer, oral and vowel... They cannot avoid "opinions"... Verbal and public prayer is fruitful when it is associated with attention, which is very rare, because we learn to pay attention primarily through the exercise of the Jesus Prayer" (I, 257-258). Naturally, this remark applies not only to monks, but also to all zealous Christians.

However, it is wrong to think that prelest is a phenomenon that arises only on specifically Christian, especially Orthodox, soil. In his article "On Prelest," St. Ignatius writes directly: "Prelest is the state of all people, without exception, produced by the fall of our forefathers. We are all in delusion. Knowledge of this is the greatest protection against delusion. It is the greatest charm to admit that one is free from delusion. We are all deceived, all deceived, all in a false state, in need of liberation by the truth. The truth is our Lord Jesus Christ" (I, 230).

Therefore, we will give several illustrations of charming states from different "worlds". First, from the non-Christian.

Buddha, for example, inspires his followers: "Do not seek support in anything but in yourself: shine on yourselves, leaning on nothing but yourself." He says of himself: "I am omniscient, I have no teacher, no one is equal to me; In the world of men and gods, no creature is like me. I am sacred in this world, I am a teacher, I am alone – the absolute myself – the Buddha. I have achieved peace and received nirvana."

The famous preacher of Vedanta, the most popular modern system of Hinduism, Suomi (teacher) Vivekananda (+1902) recommends the following spiritual attitude to his followers: "A reminder of our weaknesses will not help; we need treatment... Instead of telling people that they are sinners, Vedanta teaches the opposite: "You are pure and perfect, and all ... what you call sin is not yours..." Never say, "I don't have it," never say, "I can't." It can't be, because you are infinite... You can do anything, you are omnipotent." "The best man is the one who dares to say, 'I know everything about myself.' Or, "Hear day and night that you are the Soul. Repeat it to yourself day and night, until this thought enters your blood, until it resounds with every beating of your heart... Let your whole body be filled with this one thought: "I am the unborn, immortal, blissful, omniscient, eternally beautiful Soul..." Assimilate this thought and be imbued with the consciousness of your power, greatness and glory." "Feel as Christ, and ye shall be Christ; feel like the Buddha, and you will be a Buddha." "You are God, and so am I... and I would rather worship you than any temple, image, or Bible... Vedanta says that there is no God but man... The only God to worship is the human soul or human body."

Such illustrations from Hinduism could be cited as many as you like. They do not require comment: pride, godliness, the cult of the "I" are revealed here with complete clarity, testifying to the fact that the ancient deception "You will be as God" (Gen. 2:10). III, 5) remains, unfortunately, the essence and goal of life for many to this day.

An equally striking example of spiritual deviations is Roman Catholic asceticism. This is a large and special topic. Therefore, here we will limit ourselves to only brief illustrations that speak for themselves.

In the biography of the father of Catholic mysticism and one of the greatest saints of Catholicism, Francis of Assisi (13th century), it is told how once, during a long prayer, Francis "felt himself completely transformed into Jesus," Whom he immediately saw in the form of the six-winged Seraphim. After this vision, Francis developed painful bleeding wounds-stigmata. Francis told his disciple about another of his prayers: "During this prayer... Two great lights appeared before me. One in whom I recognized the Creator, and the other in whom I recognized myself." Towards the end of his life, he frankly said: "I am not aware of any sin that I would not atone for by confession and repentance." Francis's dying words were: "I have fulfilled what I had to do."

For comparison, let us cite a description of the dying moment from the Life of St. Sisoy the Great (V century). "Surrounded at the moment of his death by the brethren, at the moment when he seemed to be conversing with invisible persons, Sisos answered the question of the brethren: 'Father, tell us, with whom are you conversing?' – he answered: 'It is the Angels who have come to take me, but I pray them that they leave me for a short time in order to repent.' When the brethren, knowing that Sisoy was perfect in virtue, objected to him: "Thou hast no need of repentance, father," Sisoy answered thus: "Verily I do not know whether I have made even the beginning of my repentance."

Remarkable in their way are the revelations of the Catholic saint – Blessed Angela. Here are some of them. "The Holy Spirit began to speak these words: 'Be encompassed in me, and rest in me, after I have been contained in thee, and have rested in thee. I was with the Apostles, and they saw Me with their bodily eyes, but they did not feel Me as you do." – “... God said to me: "Daughter of Divine Wisdom, temple of the Beloved, delight of the Beloved, and daughter of peace, in you rests the whole Trinity, all truth." "Christ" turns to her: "My daughter, sweet to Me much more than I am to you, My beloved temple, you have the ring of My love, you have received eternally from Me..." – "And the angels said to the soul: "... Get ready to receive Him Who has betrothed you to Himself with the ring of His love. And the marriage has already been completed. Therefore, He wants to accomplish marriage and union in a new way."

Regarding these states of Angela, A. F. Losev writes in a harsh form: "Seduction and seduction of the flesh leads to the fact that the Holy Spirit appears to Blessed Angela and whispers to her such loving words: "My daughter, sweet to Me, My daughter, My temple, My daughter, My delight, love Me, for I love you very much, much more than you love Me." The saint is in a sweet languor, unable to find a place for herself from the longings of love. And the Beloved appears and appears and inflames her body, her heart, her blood more and more. The Cross of Christ appears to her as a marriage bed... What could be more contrary to the Byzantine-Muscovite austere and chaste asceticism than these constant blasphemous statements: "My soul was received into the uncreated light and lifted up," these passionate gazes at the Cross of Christ, nor the wounds of Christ and the individual members of His body, this forcible invocation of bloodstains on one's own body, and so on and so forth? To top it all off, Christ embraces Angela with his hand, which is nailed to the Cross, and she, all proceeding from anguish, anguish and happiness, says: "Sometimes from this closest embrace it seems to the soul that it enters into the side of Christ. And the joy that she receives there, and the illumination, it is impossible to tell. After all, they are so large that sometimes I could not stand on my feet, but I lay down and my tongue was taken away... And I lay down, and my tongue and the limbs of my body were taken away."