登陆注册
19593600000011

第11章

What was such an elder? An elder was one who took your soul, your will, into his soul and his will.When you choose an elder, you renounce your own will and yield it to him in complete submission, complete self-abnegation.This novitiate, this terrible school of abnegation, is undertaken voluntarily, in the hope of self-conquest, of self-mastery, in order, after a life of obedience, to attain perfect freedom, that is, from self; to escape the lot of those who have lived their whole life without finding their true selves in themselves.This institution of elders is not founded on theory, but was established in the East from the practice of a thousand years.The obligations due to an elder are not the ordinary "obedience" which has always existed in our Russian monasteries.The obligation involves confession to the elder by all who have submitted themselves to him, and to the indissoluble bond between him and them.

The story is told, for instance, that in the early days of Christianity one such novice, failing to fulfil some command laid upon him by his elder, left his monastery in Syria and went to Egypt.

There, after great exploits, he was found worthy at last to suffer torture and a martyr's death for the faith.When the Church, regarding him as a saint, was burying him, suddenly, at the deacon's exhortation, "Depart all ye unbaptised," the coffin containing the martyr's body left its place and was cast forth from the church, and this took place three times.And only at last they learnt that this holy man had broken his vow of obedience and left his elder, and, therefore, could not be forgiven without the elder's absolution in spite of his great deeds.Only after this could the funeral take place.This, of course, is only an old legend.But here is a recent instance.

A monk was suddenly commanded by his elder to quit Athos, which he loved as a sacred place and a haven of refuge, and to go first to Jerusalem to do homage to the Holy Places and then to go to the north to Siberia: "There is the place for thee and not here." The monk, overwhelmed with sorrow, went to the Oecumenical Patriarch at Constantinople and besought him to release him from his obedience.But the Patriarch replied that not only was he unable to release him, but there was not and could not be on earth a power which could release him except the elder who had himself laid that duty upon him.In this way the elders are endowed in certain cases with unbounded and inexplicable authority.That is why in many of our monasteries the institution was at first resisted almost to persecution.Meantime the elders immediately began to be highly esteemed among the people.Masses of the ignorant people as well as of distinction flocked, for instance, to the elders of our monastery to confess their doubts, their sins, and their sufferings, and ask for counsel and admonition.Seeing this, the opponents of the elders declared that the sacrament of confession was being arbitrarily and frivolously degraded, though the continual opening of the heart to the elder by the monk or the layman had nothing of the character of the sacrament.In the end, however, the institution of elders has been retained and is becoming established in Russian monasteries.It is true, perhaps, that this instrument which had stood the test of a thousand years for the moral regeneration of a man from slavery to freedom and to moral perfectibility may be a two-edged weapon and it may lead some not to humility and complete self-control but to the most Satanic pride, that is, to bondage and not to freedom.

The elder Zossima was sixty-five.He came of a family of landowners, had been in the army in early youth, and served in the Caucasus as an officer.He had, no doubt, impressed Alyosha by some peculiar quality of his soul.Alyosha lived in the cell of the elder, who was very fond of him and let him wait upon him.It must be noted that Alyosha was bound by no obligation and could go where he pleased and be absent for whole days.Though he wore the monastic dress it was voluntarily, not to be different from others.No doubt he liked to do so.Possibly his youthful imagination was deeply stirred by the power and fame of his elder.It was said that so many people had for years past come to confess their sins to Father Zossima and to entreat him for words of advice and healing, that he had acquired the keenest intuition and could tell from an unknown face what a new-comer wanted, and what was the suffering on his conscience.He sometimes astounded and almost alarmed his visitors by his knowledge of their secrets before they had spoken a word.

同类推荐
  • 清太祖武皇帝实录

    清太祖武皇帝实录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • The Golden Fleece

    The Golden Fleece

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 大宋宣和遗事

    大宋宣和遗事

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 人间词话删稿

    人间词话删稿

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 大明水记

    大明水记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
热门推荐
  • 盛世无邪

    盛世无邪

    始皇以道术建国历百余年至今盛世之下却暗流涌动二百年前九玄天之变亦再次浮现寒苦少年虽得金仙道宁做一凡人天意如此我不愿我命由我不由天
  • 重生之好好过日子

    重生之好好过日子

    上辈子的孟敏被渣夫抛弃,被小三抢走儿子,最后儿子只认小三做妈。重生后的孟敏带着空间,左手拽着方国良,右手拽着自己的娃,脚踢渣夫小三,向着康庄大道奔去!
  • 日月

    日月

    苏胜勇先生的长篇小说《日月》,以新中国成立前后直至改革开放初期晋南某地城乡生活为背景,以复转军人石永成一家及其所在皂荚树底下村为中心,交织了家、村、县各色人等政治、经济、情感生活错综复杂的矛盾纠葛,演绎了中国二十世纪中后期社会进程中一出人间悲欢离合的曲折而悲怆的悲喜剧。
  • The Law and the Lady

    The Law and the Lady

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 丑小鸭变身白天鹅

    丑小鸭变身白天鹅

    这是一个让人看了就想恋爱的故事,单身狗请在慎重考虑下观看。不知过了多少年,沙滩除了略微消瘦,没有太多的改变。光顾这里的阳光依然很温柔;在沙滩上觅食的小鸟还那样神情淡定,心无旁骛;清凉的海水依然保持一如既往的胸怀坦荡,也善于藏污纳垢。“嘿!”他气喘吁吁的跑到沙滩上。此时,他身前站着个身穿淡绛纱衫的女郎,转身向着他似笑非笑,一脸精灵顽皮的神气,鹅蛋脸,眼珠灵动,另有一股动人气韵。“你觉得我是那种能跟你过一辈子的人吗?”他看着眼前含着热泪的她笑了。
  • 钟馗日记

    钟馗日记

    故老相传,集齐七页《生死宝鉴》,可以召唤生死审判,进入生死殿修改生死簿。而融合生死宝鉴需要具备阴阳体质,当然,这只是一个传说。钟正南(钟馗)在星城靠装神弄鬼坑蒙拐骗为生,因为好友的蒙冤入狱,在调查过程中,竟然与真正的鬼神面对面……不一样的鬼故事,期待你翻开……
  • 飞扬:第十二届新概念作文获奖者范本散文卷

    飞扬:第十二届新概念作文获奖者范本散文卷

    本书主要收录第十二届全国新概念作文获奖者的精华散文作品,这些作品空灵隽秀、质朴绵长,表达着新概念获奖者他们卓越的思维、丰富细腻的情感和超强的文字驾驭能力。对于参加中考及高考的考生来说,本书可以当做作文“圣经”。对于喜爱青春文学的青少年读者,本书也是不错的青春文学阅读宝典。
  • 喜欢沉默习惯孤独

    喜欢沉默习惯孤独

    九十九个梦想,九十九个现实。记录并不完整的青春。一个臆想症患者,一个喜欢沉默,习惯孤独的伪伤感文艺青年。有天真,有无奈,有梦想,有现实。我总觉得我已经长大,事实上从来都没有。
  • 皇朝本记

    皇朝本记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 暗夜魔王

    暗夜魔王

    在学园默示录中明悟本性,在东京食尸鬼中体会人性与怪物的复杂情绪。吾乃弑杀神灵之人,亦是毁灭人类之梦魇。在我那不断跳动的心脏中唯一的软弱,是天真的爱情。或许,有一天我会死在这软弱。而现在,我却是虚幻世界中唯一的神。注:本书QQ群:317813221