Symptoms of Delusion

Professor N.E. Pestov. "Modern practice of Orthodox virtue".

Professor N.E. Pestov (1892-14.1.1982)

The beginning of delusion can be determined on the following grounds:

1) Self-confidence, following own will, unwillingness to subordinate own will to the elder or spiritual father and to the authority of the Church’s consciousness.

2) Self-direction – also called "self-centeredness" or "autoeroticism" – is egoism with lack of love, gentleness and forbearance to the surrounding people (except, perhaps, the closest family members).

3) Keeping the attention on certain statements (thoughts) of the spiritual sphere; the deluded people are mainly guided in life by these thoughts, ignoring the basic commandments of God and the teachings of the Church. These ideas can be taken from the Holy Scriptures, but they are isolated from the general spirit of the Holy Gospel. Then they divert the deluded person from the main virtues - love, humility, obedience and gentleness.

How to protect yourself from delusion:

1) It is obvious that the most radical remedy is to be in obedience to the elder or spiritual father, and if one can not have them – then to be guided by the views and advice of those Christians who succeeded in spiritual wisdom.

2) At the same time, each Christian must study the Scriptures and the works of the Holy Fathers of the Church.

3) Everybody should be keep from having opinions that do not agree with the general church consciousness.

4) We should always be sensitive to the views of friends and associates, be attentive to their judgments and carefully analyze our disagreements with them. We should remember that the Lord often rebukes us through the mouth of our loved ones.

http://oprelesti.ru/index.php/what-is-spiritual-delusion/629-symptoms-of-delusion

Mental Illness Due to Unconfessed Childhood Sins

Letters of St. Ambrose of Optina. Letter 390.

St. Ambrose of Optina

You write about your brother who suffers from mental illness of suspicion, as if the secret police is chasing him everywhere and through everyone, so he suspects evil intents and connections with the secret police in the people closest to him. This mental disease had occurred to him due to the fact that he was ashamed, or simply did not want to repent of his childhood sins considering them unimportant. But conscience – the incorruptible judge – reminded him with its reproaches of the need to repent, suggesting that he is wrong and is to blame; but he, instead of repenting, turned the reproaches of the conscience into a police pursuit. When this was joined by unbelief and long refusal of the communion of the Holy Mysteries, it further strengthened his mental illness of unfounded suspicion.

You are afraid that he will become completely mad... But it is the lightest evil and misery. In this case, at least, his life would be saved, if he is in the insane institution, and a man in madness is no longer responsible for what he does in this condition. Of course, he shall bear responsibility for the previous deeds.

It will be good, if you could manage to bring your brother to the monastery of St. Sergius and to serve with him a prayer service in the caves before the miraculous icon of Our Lady of Chernigov, having arranged beforehand a good confessor for your brother. After the prayer before this icon, the mentally damaged people came to the common sense and confessed well and were healed through it.

http://oprelesti.ru/index.php/concealment-of-sins-in-confession/630-mental-illness-due-to-unconfessed-childhood-sins

Understanding of Delusion among the Holy Fathers

St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov)

St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov) (1807-1867) clearly explained the teaching of the Holy Fathers about delusion for the modern readers. This teaching is summarized in the article about St. Ignatius in the Orthodox Encyclopedia as follows:

St. Ignatius believed that the main danger in the spiritual life is falling into delusion. The saint devoted large portion of his works to analysis of this phenomenon. By definition of St. Ignatius, "delusion is the wounding of human nature by falsehood" (On the Jesus Prayer: Conversation of an elder with a disciple // Complete set of works Vol. 1. P. 212). The devil used lies to tempt Adam and Eve already in the Paradise. Progenitors of the human race considered false words of the tempter to be true and doubted the words of God. As a result, they broke the commandment given by God and fell away from the source of life. Being affected by sin, human nature in the descendants of Adam and Eve was more eager to the evil than to the good, taking pleasure from communicating with the evil. Such deception is caused by the fact that the strength of the human soul - will, feeling, mind - are perverted by sin. "We are born such”, St. Ignatius said, “We can not be others: because all of us, without exception, are in a state of self-delusion and demonic deception" (Ibid, pp. 213). Lord Jesus Christ saved people from this deception, which all the mankind succumbed to. Lord Jesus, who himself is the Truth (cf. Jn 14: 6) proclaimed this truth to the world. The freedom is given to persons to obey either God or the devil that tempts each person. "He is trying to seduce and deceive us, basing on our state of self-delusion; he sets in motion our passions - these painful craving; he makes their adverse claims look like plausibility, increasingly inclines us to the satisfaction of the passions"(Ibid, pp. 214). Those who do not resist the temptation using the teachings of the Gospel, according to St. Ignatius, become totally subordinate to the devil and go from self-deception to the state of demonic delusion.

Patriarch Alexy II about False Healers

Patriarch Alexy II

From an interview for "Profile" journal, 2000.

Your Holiness, our society today is simply sick with interest to various kinds of folk healers. How justified is the sharply negative attitude of the Church to healing, when you consider that many of the healers are religious? It is known, for example, that Gregory Rasputin successfully treated Tsarevich Alexei. Many saints possessed the gift of healing. Is it possible today to separate the orthodox healers from charlatans?

Alexy II: Yes, many saints healed –with the prayer in the first place. They also helped the sick with spiritual advice, because very often our illnesses come from the sins, from poor lifestyle choices. Similarly, there are now pastors and laity sometimes endowed with the gift of prayer for the sick and the gift of instruction. However, the phenomenon of healing must be approached very cautiously. If there is magic, there is any magical manipulation with icons, crosses, pictures, we usually face charlatanry abusing the authority of the Orthodox Church that has unlimited confidence. As a result, people may initially feel some relief, and then even more suffer spiritually and physically.

70-years Old Ascetic Fell into Fornication and was not Able to Confess it

Schema-archimandrite Abraham (Reidman). "The good part." From the conversation about self-pity and overconfidence.

Schema-archimandrite Abraham (Reidman)

Once I read the book of Archbishop Anthony (Golynsky-Mihailovsky) about the Jesus prayer. This interesting book is supplemented with short memories about the author. He suffered a great hardship, for many years he was in jail, he had several sentences in prison camps, but at the same time he was an ascetic: first, he prayed a lot with Jesus prayer; secondly, every day he read daily liturgical round, no matter what the circumstances were, even on the road. And he forced his spiritual children to do the same, and that is besides praying by beads. He died very hard, and he explained the cause of it. One day, a woman came to him and confessed her sin and the sin of her confessor. She sinned with her spiritual father, who was then nearly seventy years old! And before that, he was known as a famous ascetic and faster. He did not dare to confess this, and already dying, asked her to repent for him. This woman begged Bishop Anthony so much, that he could not resist and took this sin over him, and that’s why he died so hard. Just imagine, if a seventy-year-old person after the ascetic life fell into fornication, why thirty-year-old guys think that they are safe?! It is not known how the rest of the life will come about and what will happen next, what temptations and trials he will meet. Today, the devil does not touch you, because, may be, you do not touch him, but tomorrow you pray a little, and this may cause battle – you will want to do the same as Pygmalion. So you should not go into premature excessive calm and think that everything is in order. Overconfidence makes man think that if he lives in security and relatively quiet for some time, by the grace of God, so it always will be like this. In fact, this conclusion is totally groundless.

http://oprelesti.ru/index.php/concealment-of-sins-in-confession/627-70-years-old-ascetic-fell-into-fornication-and-was-not-able-to-confess-it

About False Unceasing Prayer

Schema-archimandrite Abraham (Reidman). The good part. Conversations with the monks. 44. About delusion.

Schema-archimandrite Abraham (Reidman)

I am coming to a very serious issue, and it is important for me that you understand me right: I mention only the most common, I cover only theoretical issues, and you need to solve specific cases with your mentor. What other outward signs of delusion one can mention? Sometimes a person can even imagine about himself that he has unceasing prayer. I recently read interesting memories of Archimandrite Raphael about elder schema-archimandrite Seraphim (Romantsov) from the Glinsk Hermitage. The book about ascetics of 50-60s of XX century "In the Caucasus mounts" by monk Mercury tells about one very young schema-nun, who had secret schema, and who was thought to have the unceasing prayer. And it turns out that this schema-nun once came to schema-archimandrite Seraphim, a highly experienced elder, whom I can not mistrust. The elder gave her some instructions, none of which she accepted, and he realized that she was in delusion and she did not have the unceasing prayer for a single day. The one who gave her schema was also in delusion. Fr. Seraphim said that there is such a state (this time he meant the another monk), which to some prayerful person seems as he has unceasing prayer, but in fact it's just a state close to delusion, because he is accustomed to the incessant repetition of prayer as others are accustomed to the bad language, that is, it is not a gift of grace and only a habit. An inexperienced person who does not know what unceasing prayer actually is, who does not even have the correct theoretical idea of it, begins to imagine that he has it and starts telling others. If such inexperienced Christian encounters an experienced spiritual person and begins to tell him about his spiritual state (this applies especially to eldresses), the latter should ask him in detail because some seemingly insignificant trifle can show that the person, in fact, simply does not understand what he tells us about, he only fantasizes about his experiences. One speaks about himself out of ignorance Heaven knows what, and believes that his state is spiritual, and the other, on the contrary, after reading the Holy Fathers and having no idea what they actually mean, identifies it, due to his highly developed imagination, with his own state. He speaks with the words of the Holy Fathers that he has read and understood in the book and not his own experience. It turns out that he was deluded and is misleading others, even spiritually experienced. Therefore, when dealing with someone who talks about some of his spiritual experiences, you need to have special attention and carefully question even about small things. One does not know how to describe - and explains the proper spiritual condition wrong, and the other, on the contrary, represents a delusional or just imagined experience as something significant, because of learned and internalized terms. We must be extremely careful not to get lost in such subtle and at the same time vital subjects.
http://oprelesti.ru/index.php/what-is-spiritual-delusion/622-about-false-unceasing-prayer

A Priest Became Demon Possessed Because of Conceit

Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain. "Athonite Fathers and Athonite Matters"

Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain

Hieromonk N, the victim of temptation because of his pride

(translated from Russian)

Once there lived a monk in a monastery, who outwardly seemed to be pious, but there was hidden pride inside. He was exemplary all over, polite, he worked with zeal and gave spiritual instructions to others, because, among other things, he was educated. But he did not receive anyone's instructions himself, since out of respect for him no one dared to tell him about something bad that noticed in him. Not only others, but he himself had a false opinion that he was the most pious monk in the monastery.

Once a demon-possessed man was brought to the monastery and the abbot ordered this hieromonk to read a prayer of exorcism over him and said to the brethren to pray with prayer beads for him. Naturally, the demon was curled up because of all this, and he cried out "Where are you sending me, unmerciful!"

The demon said it deceitfully, so that the monk thought that it is him who expels the demon. And he said to the demon: "Come inside me."

Bishop Pankratios about Delusion

From an interview with Bishop Pankratios (Zherdev) of Troitsk, hegumen of Valaam monastery.

Bishop Pankratios (Zherdev)

Does life in a skete promote the gift of prayer?

You know, brethren often seek for life in a skete or even solitary. In some cases, this corresponds to the Providence of God about these people, and then it is really good and saving for them to be there. But sometimes this desire is due to the fact that in the sketes, especially those with few people, there is more freedom, more opportunities to live according to your own will. In the monastery, of course, life is not easy: you have to get up at a certain time, to come to the church, you must perform obedience, to endure grief, resentment, injustice ... But all that is necessary. Why is that? Some of the Fathers cited the example of pebbles on the beach. When they rub against each other, the angles are erased and the pebbles become round. You may have noticed that even the bottle fragments have the sharp edges erased. The same occurs in our case, if a monk complacently undergoes grief and resentment that are inevitable in a cenobitic monastery, he develops humility and ability for a deep heartfelt prayer. Otherwise, you can fall into delusion, because pride is still very strong. As it is said: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble". When there is no grace, a man easily succumbs to the tricks of the enemy. Such things have happened here, we saw the state of delusion when a brother began intensified prayer on his own, neglecting obedience.

How Do I Know Whether Clairvoyance is from God?

St. Joseph of Optina

From the life of St. Joseph of Optina.

The Elder [Ambrose], and Father Joseph were asked the same question about how to find a clairvoyant person, "one meets a man, apparently clairvoyant, and yet it feels there is something wrong, how do you know whether his clairvoyance is from God?" Both ascetics said the same: "Recognize these people by humility. Because the enemy can give clairvoyance to a person, but he never gives humility - it burns himself".
http://oprelesti.ru/index.php/what-is-spiritual-delusion/623-how-do-i-know-whether-clairvoyance-is-from-god

The Devil is Very Afraid of Confession to the Elder

Archimandrite Ephraim of the Holy Mountain. "Fatherly advices".

Elder Ephraim of Holy Mountain

The voice that you heard and that said to you: "Christ has cleansed you from the sins and killed your passions" – comes from the devil. This is the first step that leads a man to delusion and death. If one listens to the devil, turns his attention to the devil, if his heart enjoyed the words and agreed that the devil’s words are truthful, then Satan comes immediately more appreciably and step-by-step takes dominion over the man. Then one should do a great work to get rid of him.

Therefore, my child, you have done well that you did not pay attention to it and then chided yourself. Another time, if you hear something like this, say:

- I'll pass it to the elder, and will do as he advises me.

The devil is very afraid of confession to the elder, because he knows that this will destroy all his nets!

You should be aware, my child, that a thought of conceit has sprouted in you, i.e. of pride, that is why it happened to you. Be careful, have a lot of humility, pray every day that God gives you the spirit of humility. As nothing can grow on the trodden path, no delusion can grow on the "path" of humility.
http://oprelesti.ru/index.php/what-is-spiritual-delusion/619-the-devil-is-very-afraid-of-confession-to-the-elder

Delusion is a Result of Pride and Self-conceit; Delusion is Reduced Through Menial Jobs

Letters of St. Joseph of Optina

St. Joseph of Optina

Your Mavra, as it can be seen from your description, is in delusion. - What to do? It happened and is happening sometimes here as well. Our deceased elders recommended menial jobs for such deluded persons. As delusion is a result of pride and conceit, the damned pride is reduced, at least to some extent, through menial jobs. You should make Mavra help in your kitchen with anything she can, for example, cleaning potatoes or washing the dishes, and so on. She should not be allowed to lead a solitary life under any circumstances. For, as you have noticed, she will become crazy. She should not take the Holy Communion often as well. Let the confessor first to persuade her to humility and self-abasement.

***

Novice Evstolia, a prayerful person, is afraid of falling into delusion. - Let her keep the God-pleasing humility, believing herself in her heart to be the most sinful of all the persons, and then she will not fall into delusion. For, according to the remark of Holy Fathers, "humility cannot fall".
http://oprelesti.ru/index.php/how-to-avoid-or-get-rid-of-spiritual-delusion/618-delusion-is-a-result-of-pride-and-self-conceit-delusion-is-reduced-through-menial-jobs

About False Clairvoyance

From a conversation with schema-archimandrite Abraham (Reidman).

Schema-archimandrite Abraham (Reidman)

- Where do people with supernatural abilities - psychics, prophets, seers – take their powers from? Are their gifts from God or from the devil?

- Psychics are in delusion. They often believe themselves to be in communication with God, with the cosmic energies or to be able to extract some force from themselves and thus to help other people. But, in fact, it is necessary to live a special spiritual life, a holy life to do miracles from God. From the Orthodox point of view, psychics are in communication with the evil spirits. If they seem to heal, these "healings", firstly, do great harm to themselves, and secondly, can damage those they treat - mentally and even physically. Of course, we cannot seek the help of psychics, it's like asking help from the demons themselves who seek only our death.

As for the gifts of prophecy and clairvoyance, they, of course, can come from God as well – but nowadays they are extremely rare. Another phenomenon is found more often, and it is false clairvoyance, false prophecy. Indeed, the demons are named seducing because they know how to cheat. They imitate in their actions the influence of Divine grace, trying to forge consolation of grace as well, consolation of the Holy Spirit. They can show visions; being very perspicacious, they can guess the future. They can create false clairvoyance: to inspire some thought in one person, and reveal it to another, for whom they want to create the glory of being a seer. Often, they show to such a "seer" the sins of others - and who knows sins if not a demon himself who provokes to them? Therefore, we should be very careful when meeting with some person believed to be a prophet.

An acquaintance of mine told me how she went to a certain "clairvoyant" priest, who actually turned out to be in delusion. So, when he talked to people, their body temperature raised to 37, even to 38 degrees, they felt as if glowing. At the same time, they had no consolation in the heart, no repentance, no determination to improve their lives; they have only such a sensation. And, having no experience in these matters, they decided that this man has the grace. But, in fact, what was here from the grace? Well, one feels hot - and what of it? There was such a characteristic case in the presence of that person. Several people were waiting for him. He named them their sins, and coming to a laywoman he asked, "Why don’t you think of anything?" And she was sitting and praying the Jesus Prayer silently. What does it mean? This means that she by means of the prayer drove away the thoughts that demons inspired to her, and this "seer", of course, could no longer say anything.

http://oprelesti.ru/index.php/what-is-spiritual-delusion/617-about-false-clairvoyance

The Consequences of Concealment of Sins Before the Priestly Ordination

Letters of elder John (Krestiankin).

Elder John (Krestiankin) (1910 - 5.2.2006)

Dear Father P.!

In Pochaev, they made you an accurate diagnosis of your disease. And the reason is clear for you. God is not mocked.

It is absolutely necessary for you to confess to your ruling bishop, because the sins mentioned by you, starting from concealing them before the ordination, are a canonical impediment for your service before the altar. You have to choose, because if you do not confess to the bishop and continue the service, the consequences could be dreadful in relation to both your illness and your future fate. A priest can not solve your problem, he has no such power.

May God give you wisdom and help you realize that you are in the toils of dark forces.

***

Servant of God S.!

The issue of becoming a priest is usually finally decided on the confession. After all, there are some sins that forever impede the person, who committed them, the service before the God’s altar.

And I do not know you, so I cannot decide such an important issue. But I know some priests who did not disclose their background to the bishop before the ordination and, being ordained, began to fall into such states that they understood that they can not serve.

So solve your issue with the confessor, but first – with your conscience.

http://oprelesti.ru/index.php/concealment-of-sins-in-confession/616-the-consequences-of-concealment-of-sins-before-the-priestly-ordination

A Secretive Monk, Who Conceals Thoughts and Sins, May Go as Far as to Schizophrenia

From the book "Conversations with Archimandrite Ephraim, the hegumen of Vatopedi monastery on Mount Athos".

Archimandrite Ephraim of Vatopedi

Secretiveness is another thing you should pay attention to. This is the greatest weapon of the devil. A secretive monk, who has secret thoughts and sins, may go as far as to schizophrenia. Do not conceal anything! It is especially important for naturally shy people to remember it. The monk has to overcome himself and this very shyness. This would mean that he completely gave all his heart to God. And if the person does not disembosom himself, even due to his shyness, the devil will beat him like an octopus.

http://oprelesti.ru/index.php/concealment-of-sins-in-confession/615-a-secretive-monk-who-conceals-thoughts-and-sins-may-go-as-far-as-to-schizophrenia

In His Youth, the Elder Concealed a Temptation and Could Not Receive Communion

Elder Simeon (Zhelnin)

From the memoirs about the venerable Elder Simeon (Zhelnin).

The Father told: "When I was a deacon, I had a great temptation in a dream, and I was so embarrassed that I could not tell this to my confessor. So all the clergy started to partake of the Holy Mysteries during the Liturgy and I walked away and could not receive Communion. All were taking Communion and asking: "Where is Vassian, why did not he take Communion?" Then, Archimandrite Methodius began to call me before the whole altar: "Why do you cover up the enemy?! Repent, or he will do you more the next time". And I had to repent publicly, instead of repenting to one confessor. I felt better after Communion".

http://oprelesti.ru/index.php/concealment-of-sins-in-confession/614-in-his-youth-the-elder-concealed-a-temptation-and-could-not-receive-communion

Apostle Paul Expelled the Demon of Prophecy

Acts 16:16

16 And it came to pass, as we were going to the place of prayer, that a certain maid having a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much gain by soothsaying.

17 The same following after Paul and us cried out, saying, These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim unto you the way of salvation.

18 And this she did for many days. But Paul, being sore troubled, turned and said to the spirit, I charge thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And it came out that very hour.

 http://oprelesti.ru/index.php/what-is-spiritual-delusion/613-apostle-paul-expelled-the-demon-of-prophecy

No One Who Lives Carelessly Can Enter Heaven

John Moschus. "Spiritual meadow". 130. The teachings of Athanasius and his wonderful vision

Abba said: "Our fathers practised continence and poverty and detachment from all things up to the time of their death. But we have stuffed our stomachs and moneybags full."

He also said: "Our fathers made it their business to avoid distractions to the soul. But in our days we have them aplenty, as well as our manual work"

Abba Athanasius also told us this about himself:

"I was wondering once about what was worth striving for and what was not. And I went into an ecstasy, and someone came to me and told me to follow him. He led me into a place full of light and glory and set me in front of a doorway, the like of which it is beyond my power to describe, for we could hear inside a countless multitude praising God. We knocked on the door and someone inside heard us and called out:

"'What do you want?'

"'We want to come in,' said my guide.

"'No one who lives carelessly can enter here. But if you want to come in, go back and strive to be able to count all the vanities of the earth as nothing worth.'"

http://oprelesti.ru/index.php/what-is-spiritual-delusion/612-no-one-who-lives-carelessly-can-enter-heaven

On True and False Clairvoyance

The letters of schema-hegumen John (Alekseev), a Valaam elder. "On the devilish delusion and the clairvoyance of the saints".

Schema-hegumen John (Alexeev)

St. Paul says, "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood but... against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places" [Eph. 6.12].

It is this spiritual force that tempts us, the sinners, to the extent allowed to him by God. He raises different blasphemy through our thoughts: against God, against all the divine and the Holy Communion. Sometimes there occur such bad thoughts that one is even ashamed to look at the icons. Many other bad things may occur. Fathers did not want even to write about [this], I am not going to write [about] what I had heard from some people too.

Some people are very confused and think that these are our thoughts. But the Devil is a spirit, he mixes with our soul. Of course, not many people can distinguish, [set their heart] against these diabolical suggestions. The only way is not to pay attention to them and to ask God for help.