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."

The same mysticism can be seen in the great Catholic saints Catherine of Siena (14th century) and Teresa of Avila (16th century), elevated by Pope Paul VI (+1978) to the highest dignity of teachers of the Church, and in many others.

Teresa of Avila, for example, exclaims before her death: "O my God, my husband, at last I will see You." This extremely strange exclamation is not accidental. It is a natural consequence of the entire "spiritual" feat of Teresa, the essence of which is revealed at least in the following fact. After his many appearances, "Christ" says to Teresa: "From this day you will be My wife... From now on, I am not only your Creator, God, but also your Spouse." "Lord, either suffer with You, or die for You!" – Teresa prays and falls down exhausted under these caresses, rolls her eyes... and a shudder runs through her whole body..." – writes D. Merezhkovsky. "The soul is called by the Beloved with such a shrill whistle that it is impossible not to hear it," Teresa recalls. "This call affects the soul in such a way that it is exhausted with desire."

It is no accident that the American psychologist of the beginning of this century, W. James, assessing Teresa's mystical experience, wrote that "her ideas about religion were reduced, so to speak, to an endless love flirtation between the worshipper and his deity."

The experience of another of the great pillars of Catholic mysticism, the founder of the Jesuit order, Ignatius of Loyola (XVI century), is also very indicative. His book "Spiritual Exercises" directly calls for what is categorically forbidden by the universal experience of the saints – to the imagination of God, the crucified Christ, the penetration into the world of His feelings and sufferings, the representation of the Virgin Mary, the saints, etc.

Here are some illustrations from this "guide" to the spiritual life. The exerciser must "... to imagine how the Three Divine Hypostases looked upon a world overflowing with people, and how, seeing that everyone was going to hell, they decreed in Their eternity that the Second Person should become incarnate for the salvation of the human race." It is recommended "... to imagine the entire vast expanse of the earth... Separately to see the house and the room of the Lady... in the city of Nazareth", and "... to look upon the Most Holy Virgin and the Angel who greets her, and to meditate in order to derive some benefit from this spectacle." Then it is suggested that "listen to the words. To listen to what people say among themselves: how they swear and blaspheme, etc., and also listen to what the Persons of the Most Holy Trinity say: "Let us make redemption for the human race"; finally, what the Angel and the Most Holy Virgin say. Then I will think about all these words in order to extract some fruit from them for myself."

The following contemplation is also recommended: "Survey the path from Nazareth to Bethlehem, imagining its length, breadth, whether it was level or went through mountains and valleys. In the same way, to survey the place or cave of the Nativity, whether it was vast or small, low or high, and how it was arranged... To see the persons involved: the Holy Virgin, Joseph, the maidservant and the Child Jesus..." At the same time, one must "taste and smell the infinite goodness and sweetness of the Divinity... To touch with a mental touch, for example, to hug and kiss the places where these persons dwelt, always trying to get some spiritual fruit from this."

Loyola also advises us to think "about two banners: one of Jesus Christ, our supreme Leader and Lord, and the other, of Lucifer, the mortal enemy of the human race." First it is necessary "to imagine the place: here to see a huge clearing in the vicinity of Jerusalem, where there is ... Jesus Christ; and another field in the vicinity of Babylon, where Lucifer leads the enemies." "To imagine in this vast field of Babylon the leader of all enemies as if sitting on a throne of flame and smoke, and he himself looks terrible, disgusting." "To see how Christ our Lord stands in a great field in the vicinity of Jerusalem, on a level place, beautiful and blissful."