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Jun 29, 2022Liked by Rurik Skywalker

I believe in God but have never been a steady church goer mainly out of a lack of respect for most church leaders I have met. I have found I have the same reaction to Buddhist monks.

I was surprised to read orthodox and catholic Christians (especially recent converts) dismiss meditation as evil. Lowering the noise in my head has driven me closer to God not further away.

Underlying the demonizing of meditation (and yoga of course) seems to be a belief that Christianity should be approached in the same way that the left approaches Science! You passively listen to experts and don't question or actively seek.

Maybe that is a safer route but I find it alienating.

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founding
Jun 29, 2022Liked by Rurik Skywalker

I keep appreciating your common sense writing on metaphysics, far from the incomprehensible philosophical blather that it has become today.

Two comments. The contemplative orders of the Catholic Church have been under unceasing attack since the 18th century and its much praised Enlightenment. They have been perceived as of no social use, actually a waste of people and resources. In parallel took place a continuous deemphasis on spiritual life and spiritual development. That has left Catholicism as a purely faith-based religion with a large social presence. The hierarchy ended up noticing the nefarious consequences of the absence of spiritual life and has lately reintroduced orison, a simple form of meditation.

Reformation abolished mysticism in favour of studying the Bible. The Rosenkreutz of the 17th century and the Free Masonry of the 18th century are attempts at reintroducing mysticism in a Protestant world devoid of it but where a longing for it persisted. The original Rosenkreutz subsided. The Free Masonry degenerated into a convoluted ritualistic organisation where initiates aim at power over their societies instead of their own spiritual advancement. The worldly focus of Protestantism overwhelmed the founders purpose.

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Jul 4, 2022Liked by Rurik Skywalker

I appreciate your posts on spirituality. I've been researching Orthodoxy on my own and seeing in the old Orthodox writers something completely lacking in Western Christianity. Vladimir Lossky's "The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church" had a profound effect on me as I read it. In this age of "The Science", we've lost true spirituality and suffer greatly for it.

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Well written Mr Slavskiy. I appreciate your writings.

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