There are many ways to approach questions of a metaphysical nature. As I’ve written about before, the metaphysical gold standard lies in the mystical experience itself. Mysticism is the actual applied process to spiritualism in the same way that doing katas are the applied praxis of Karate or mixing stuff in beakers is the applied practice of chemistry.
So, any question of a metaphysical nature, can, in theory, be explained by taking a mystical fact-finding mission.
But there are other methods that have traditionally been used to draw conclusions about higher metaphysical realities that most of us are somewhat familiar with for one reason or the other. Take augury, for example. The innards of animals were read by priests who then made predictions about the future or interpreted the mood of the heavens. It seems silly to us now, but the principle that these people were working with was something that we recognize and apply to this day which is, “as below, so above”.
We make observations about things on the micro level and extrapolate to the macro level. We even do the same in reverse sometimes. The principle is so common in our inherited methods of thinking that few people even realize that we engage in it. Most questions related to metaphysics and our inner nature are like that, and discussions related to these questions go about the same way as a metaphorical conversation in which a fish is asked what water is, unfortunately. In other words, most people aren’t good at looking at reality around them and deriving insights that can be applied to questions of a metaphysical nature.
So, with all that out of the way, I will re-ask the question I posed in the title of the article.
Do the Gods or does God really love Russia?
Imagine for a moment that you actually believe in all of this religious, mystical mumbo-jumbo. Pretend you believe that there’s something out there that is beyond the perception of our 5 earthly senses. How would you go about answering this question?
Chances are, you’d look around at how things are going for Russia and use the old “as below, so above” method in your deductions. You’d look at Russia’s history, say, the events of the 20th century, for example, and make some conclusions about Russia’s standing with God or the Gods based on that.
You’d probably look at the mountains of corpses produced by WWI, and then the revolution, and then WWII, and then the continued repressions, and then the 90s. Then you’d ask: surely, a country favored by God would not be subjected to calamity after calamity as Russia has?
Well, let me share with you how the pros in the Russian Orthodox Church explain the unfortunate history of Russia in the 20th century. Apparently, God needed more martyrs in heaven, which is why he allowed the Bolshevik plague to descend upon Russia. It was a literal 5 or maybe even 6D move to own Satan. It was all about bringing Judgement Day closer, one mass grave of Russian peasants at a time. So are the subsequent calamities for that matter.
Don’t like this explanation? Well, neither do I.
Let’s instead apply the same heuristic to another country and see whether what progress we can make towards answering the question that way. Let’s take the United States of America as our example.
Could we not say that the good ol’ US of A is a country blessed by God?
Consider: first, they become the richest country in the world, then they destroy and militarily occupy West Europe. Then, they defeat the East without having to fire a single shot. No country has ever achieved such levels of material prosperity in so short a time. Even now, with this war, America is bankrupting its European colonies, getting Slavs to massacre themselves and reaping the profits.
They seem to be doing very well for themselves indeed.
Using this criteria, I am forced to conclude that America is a nation loved by the God that it worships. Could you in all honesty disagree with my assessment?
Naturally, I would then ask why America is so loved by its God. I’d take a look at the dominant strain of religious expression in America which is Old Testamentarianism of a fundamentalist character. In fact, I find myself agreeing with the Evangelicals who preach about blessing Israel to be blessed in turn simply because I can’t argue with the results. Ever since America started its drift towards embracing Christian Zionism in the first half of the 20th century, things have started going the way of America’s elites, for sure, wouldn’t you agree?
Now, the Russian’s preferred method of metaphysical coping has been to resort to the sanctification of suffering. As a matter of fact, this was Dostoevsky’s response to the line of inquiry I raised in this article. He concluded that there had to be something holy about being allowed to suffer. You can see why someone working with the metaphysical givens of Orthodoxy would be forced to come to this conclusion because the only other conclusion is to come to the conclusions that Russians are cursed, is it not? Don’t you see - to avoid coming to this conclusion, the suffering of the Russian people has to be a form of divine blessing in disguise.
There, I saved you hours of trying to wade through D’s long-winded tomes. Feel free to use my concise summary of his thought at the next cocktail party you attend.
I contend that if Russia’s elites want to be as materially blessed as America they should become Evangelicals. Or, alternatively, Russians ought to consider the possibility that Yahweh doesn’t like them that much. Certainly, his neocon chosen children have done everything in their power since the times of Khazaria to bring the great white horde to its knees.
But this is not the end of the world.
Russians have to consider the possibility that Yahweh doesn’t like them. In all probability, he hates them.
This is not the end of the world because this particular deity isn’t a good one. He offers material rewards to his loyal followers, true, but a people that is spiritually inclined has no need for such things.
…
I’ve always been struck by Christianity’s betrayal of his most loyal adherents. The Russian Revolution always stuck in my craw and I could never buy the material justifications that the Communists gave for it or metaphysical justifications for it that the Church did as well.
Like Dostoevsky’s characters, I find myself questioning whether or not I can sign onto a plan that involves the death of millions of my own people so that Judgement Day can come and evil can finally be checkmated by God.
I see this as the original 5D cope that led to all the others.
I find myself looking back more and more to the pagan world, which saw the Gods as capricious and cruel and the esoteric traditions that asserted the same thing. I look all around me and I extrapolate up. As all around me, so above me, I’ve come to conclude.
All this begs the questions: is there a God that is actually on the side of the underdogs? Christ, as he was conceived of by the Gnostics, certainly seems to be a sort of Promethean archetype - a deity willing to risk the wrath of the Gods to side with souls trapped on this plane of grief and suffering. I hear echoes of the esoteric Mithraic teachings in this divine archetype as well.
Is there an actual spiritual teaching that might preserve our people? One that might rekindle their connection to the divine and inspire them to resist the power of the Demiurge, his archons and his Chosenites agents in this world?
It’s worth thinking about, at the very least.
Excellent essay. I too am Eastern Orthodox and while there are some positive aspects of the church. They get countered with head shaking palm to face pronouncements. The idea that a good and unconditionally loving God (that's what we're taught) would condemn millions of his creations to suffering, torture and death, to get a leg up on the demiurge is not just lunacy but frankly disgusting. As I've said many time here, "God" is not "religion". Jesus said there are only two commandments in the new covenant, worship the heavenly Father in spirit and in truth and love your neighbor as yourself. Though I think this is a bad translation from the Greek. Better would be treat others as you want to be treated not the word love = agape in Greek which has a variety of meanings. That's it no footnotes, addendums appendixes do this and your ticket is punched. I believe God helps those that help themselves. Through prayer, mediation and quiet contemplation you can harness insight intuitiveness and strength. Then use your own life experiences and will to face life and all it's challenges. The issues with most western theologies is a continual stream of negativity. You can't do this, you can't do that, can't eat this and can't eat that, you can eat this, but not at this time, everything is you can't ,you can't, you can't. So what can you do? Blindly obey, wear a hair shirt and eat a vegan diet forcing thoughts from your mind. This is not what I believe Christ had in mind. Self discipline absolutely but our lives change moment to moment and we must be able to adapt. Be fair in your dealings, but never let yourself be used or abused. Russia is an amazing country. It's history is filled with great triumphs and horrific tragedies. God is with Russia and the people. Russia is the only western white nation that has not succumbed to the degradation, collapse and decline that much of the west has, she is the bastion of Eurocentric greatness left in the world. Despite all that's happened and the clowns in Russia you write about, Russia is still the vanguard of a resurrection of Eurocentric nationalism. May God by whatever name we call him and however we acknowledge him bless preserve and keep Russia.
You are, once again, too pessimistic. It's a typical Russian doomer trait I guess. I too might have been qualified as a Russian doomer, despite being French. But I don't agree with you. Russia is not cursed. Russia is a wonderful country. Except that its beauty isn't on the outside, but on the inside. The sincerity, the warmth of the people, their naive ignorance of most of Western tricks and manipulations. In France, people are corrupt, they have lost connection with the Divine. I am sure that it is the same in the USA. As of England, they seem to actively act in order to destroy this connection. None of that is the case in Russia.
Russia might look bad on geopolitical reports, economical analysis, or even on pictures. But none of that can really catch the atmosphere here, the genuine simplicity. Even I have to get accustomed to it. Coming from the West, it is hard to be as genuine as a Russian can be. But it's wonderful.
It seems to me as if Westerners were compensating their lack of inner beauty by trying make everything around them beautiful. But Russians don't feel this need, somehow, or less. And once again, what's beautiful in Russia, is the people. It's priceless and it overcomes every single one of your statistics or GDP per capita ratio.