Incipience of the Spiritual School
Once being in Moscow, I visited for the first time the Tretyakovskaya gallery. The picture “Christ in desert” had a special impression on me. On it the artist I.N.Kramskoy portrayed Jesus deciding to go, despite the threat of Calvary, to save people by preaching to them the Heavenly Father and the Path to Him — the Path of Love.
I stood before this picture-icon for a long time making the same decision. And asked God to help me in this. I felt that my prayer was accepted.
But how to realize this in the conditions of total spying, in the country governed by a criminal gang — this I could not imagine.
After coming back to home I felt the urge to describe the methods of spiritual work based on the techniques that had been developed already: exercises of relaxation, of dynamical meditation, for chakras and meridians, for refinement of consciousness, and of course conversations on ethics.
When I finished it, God told me:
“Dress and let’s go walking. I’ll guide.”
I dressed and went outdoors. He led me through the streets to a blind people’s home.
“Do you want,” He asked, “to help these people?”
“Yes.”
And in few days, “all of sudden”, I became acquainted with an instructor of a circle in a blind’s house of culture. He helped me to get employed there as an instructor of autogenous training.
In this way a broad approbation of the new methods started. I gave lectures on ethics, practical psychology, taught the methods psychical self-regulation. A lot of people attended these studies — the blind, their sighted friends, simply those who come to know about them.
The word chakras was forbidden for publications at that time in USSR. The official position of politicians, who were in control of the science then, consisted in the statement that “existence of chakras is not confirmed by the science”.
But I managed to find for the first time in USSR correct and at the same time “scientific-like” words by using which it was possible to legalize the problem of work with chakras. I denoted them as reflexogenic zones of the emotional-volitional system.
Indeed: movement of the concentration of consciousness in one or another of these reflexogenic zones results in stable, repeatable, and achievable by all successful students psychical states.
This is why it the work with chakras that gives the most striking transformation of a person at the initial stages of mastering the psychical self-regulation.
The most important in our work was considered the anahata chakra — the initial “dwelling” of the spiritual heart, the structure known in ancient times to Orthodox mystics Hesychasts as well as to adherents of other religions. These exercises develop the capability for cordial emotional love. On our courses people “unfroze”, cried of joy, learned subtle emotions.
After several years we published excerpts from responses of our students. It was the book Complex System of Psychical Self-regulation, which is available in main scientific and medical libraries. But one should read it paying no attention to “camouflaging” turns of speech that we had to use to make this material publishable at those years. Let me cite some statements of these students:
“During five months of taking the course I observed how my mood changes: the state close to neurasthenia changed to joyful attitude to life, pleasure of communication with other people; my capacity for work has increased significantly… Irritability and languor went away as well as painful reaction to variations of the air temperature and barometric pressure that distressed me very much. This obvious for me success I relate solely to exceptional effectiveness of the course of psychic self-regulation.”
“It was a big change in me from the point of view of ethics and morals. My attitude to the outer world and people has changed significantly. I understood that he can be truly happy whose life is for all society and not for oneself.”
“Who was I before taking the course? A 34 years old egoist, who could justify any own weakness and forgive oneself any unethical (putting it mildly) deed. The “conditions” provoked me for drinking wine weekly (or even more often), though I was sure that can stop it any moment (yet this went on for 15 years). It was the same with smoking. Moreover, so often I could not (and did not want) to stop my outbursts of anger, boorishness; I could humiliate, intentionally inflict pain. Subduing other people for the sake of satisfying my whims became naturalness of my life justified by the philosophy. A little more — and there would be no way back for me…
I am afraid to tell that all this and many other things have been changed and corrected. I got the possibility to reappraise this and, having been terrified, began the work on transforming oneself. I see no other way for myself and hope to use the strength gained from this work for helping other people. Most of them live now as I lived before…
I can only wonder at the fact that so much good, right knowledge was lying in me athwart because of the absence of the foundation.
I don’t want to claim that others are the same monsters as me, but since I was able to get it, it was helpful to the others all the more…”
“My old ailments were osteochondrosis, intercostal neuralgia, tracheitis, laryngitis, gastritis, and some other troubles. Gradually all they go away; I got an appetite; at present there is no pain anymore; I became more cheerful and active on work. The last months I am in a good mood…
This course brings love, good, generosity, unselfishness, honesty, scrupulosity, endurance, and many other positive qualities essential to every human.”
“… After a lot of emotional troubles I broke down. I didn’t want to see people; I wanted just to withdraw and keep silent. Often I didn’t want even to stay at home, so I run away somewhere…
Now I’ve overcome this problem. I am not ill. During the course I watched myself and felt as with every day of exercises I became more confident and strong… I am so glad that I became a human again! I see the life in a different light now. I want to live!”
“… The main thing — sunny, joyful, youthful experience of life has come to me!… If I had been told about this a year ago, I would not have believed it.”
“I came to the course for the sake of health — and gained it indeed: got rid of a stomach ulcer and hypertension. But we were taught more important things as well. We’ve learned how to take off physical fatigue and stress; we were given the methods of physical, mental, and spiritual training; we’ve learned how to find ethically correct decisions in conflict situations. We were taught to love the nature, to see harmony and beauty in it, to love and conserve it. This made my life much richer. We have mastered the important skill of coming to an understanding with other people. We were taught the art of communicating with others — an indispensable part of the spiritual culture of a person. The life became more joyful, more harmonious, became filled with love and beauty.”
“I am 22 now. At 19 I saw neither purpose nor interest in life. I forgot what it means to be joyful. I felt only cold and pain in the soul. In childhood the spring awakening filled me joy, but in later age it could only emphasize the gloomy darkness of my inner world. I felt disharmony with life; I saw no meaning in it; I saw no light any more…
Now I feel that I was born again. I have come to a new path, the only correct one. I gained again the light, the joy of life. I am able again to see the beauty of the world, nature, art. Now I know that I have to share the highest I have with other people, to serve people, to try to change this world to better — only in this case one can achieve the highest happiness and the highest harmony with the outer world. One has not to take from people but to give. And now I have that which I can give to everyone!”
“The awful feeling of depressing loneliness has gone away… The feeling of wonderful happiness has come.”
“I was diagnosed with ischemic heart disease, atherosclerotic cardiosclerosis, stenocardia. In addition to it: spondylosis, lobe density, frequent bronchitis, chronic pharyngitis, otitis etc. Also: chronic insomnia, hypertension. I constantly took erinit and other medications for heart pain and for edema of the face and legs. Chronic renal insufficiency. I breathed mainly through the mouth due to chronic nasopharyngeal diseases. Memory impairment. The mood is bad most of the time.
After the course: insomnia went away after the first lessons; I became stably calm, even, restrained; there is no high blood pressure even at physical activity; to be honest, sometimes I got out of breath when going upstairs to the fifth floor; headache, vasospasms, edema of legs went away. At the beginning of the course pains in the heart remained for some time, but I feel no pain in the heart for more than one month. I take no medicine: there is no need for it…”
“My state half a year ago: bronchial asthma (5 years), frequent asthmatic attacks, short breath; I was depressed, short-tempered, unsociable. I lived on medicine and “ambulance”… Due to this — difficult situation in family, bad relationships with the husband, children annoyed me…
Now there are no problems with breathing. I sleep without a pillow (before I could sleep only in the sitting position). I want to take care about children, seek creative activity. Children now feel much easier at home… I like to be with people, feel myself good with them. Thank you very much!”
“After the course I am in wonderful spirits as if the soul and heart are washed. I feel love to everything around me, and this is so wonderful…”
“Since 15 years old I suffer from severe pains in the head, which sometime drove me to vomit; the fits lasted for several days… During the last months after the course I feel good…”
“Before the course my state was awful: I was exhausted of unbearable pain in the spine, despair, asphyxia… Now — revived!”
“The life in the communal flat became very quiet. Before the neighbors irritated me a lot. Sometime I hated them only for that I have to see them every day.”
“My body that was very ill, almost disabled, has lost 28 kg of weight; it became lively, mobile, lissome, agile. There was no serious sickness during the last year! Before I was sick three-six months yearly. All ominous symptoms, that frightened my physicians and predicted me blindness and paralysis in the near future, have gone away by now…”
“The course has given me so intense joy of communication with nature and people that my only desire is to master perfectly the ability to share it with other people in order to help them with realizing their dreams about harmonious and happy life.”
“The world around has changed to better, and now it’s so wonderful to live in this world; there are so many good, kind people around; and I want to give them warmth and joy.”
“We think that such course should take everyone.”
“Now I know: the meaning of life is in serving to people, making good for them, dedicating own life to this. Only for this purpose it makes sense to perfect oneself and develop own abilities.”
There were hundreds testimonies like this. But one should take into account that the students did not write about their religious motives: one could not write about this at those years.
… I managed to give in this house of culture several courses until two incidents took place almost simultaneously.
First, a son of a drunkard took our course and told the father is not going to drink with him any more. The father became indignant at this and complained to the direction of the house of culture and to the district committee of the Communist Party that I “destroy families”.
Second, as always I tried to heal all the sick whom I met. In particular, I decided to “wash” with the energy the eyes of a blind student, who could not distinguish between even light and darkness. After the first seance he exclaimed:
“Oh! I see: this is a window!”
I did the same to another blind, a friend of the first one, and he immediately saw my face for the first time.
But… the first one came to hate me for reminding him… how it is good to be sighted. It became senseless to continue the healing seances. And to the second my face seemed too attractive for women, and his hatred grew from envy… They teamed up and wrote a complaint to the director that I distribute religious literature.
I was dismissed.
… Yet the foundation of the work was laid: I became confident in my abilities and in the value of the methods, and the methods themselves became famous.
I was promptly invited into another house of culture.
There were more and more students.
Special exercises allowed the atheists to experience themselves as souls, as lumps of consciousness. This fact prompted them to searching for the religious truths.
All students successfully advancing during the course received also baptism of the Holy Spirit through the meditation Pranava.
Galina Vaver developed an esthetical program that supplemented and consolidated mine. Thus the second course was formed.
Let me give some meditations from it, which were alternated with many other variations of meditations and exercises:
“Let’s feel the Earth below our feet as a living organism.
The huge mass of the Earth, and we are on its surface.
The Earth — carrying on itself so many units of life!
Let’s submerge into the depth of its body, feel the pulsation, the rhythm of the Earth.
Become resonant with this rhythm…
It fills the whole body, reverberates in each particle of the consciousness.
Together with the light of the Sun it nourishes with the energy of life all plants growing on the Earth’s surface.
Experience the world of plants.
Flood over the fields and meadows permeating into the life of grass and flowers.
Feel the melody of the waving of wind.
Experience the green crowns of trees.
Hear the twittering of bird…
Look at the forests, fields, rivers and lakes, rising sun…
… Fly into the mountains.
Contemplate the mountainsides, rocky ledges, piled stones.
Penetrate into the character of mountains, experience their steadfastness, firmness, steadiness.
Each mountain has its own character
and its own song.
It’s possible to hear it if one flies on the top and then submerge into the center of the mountain.
The mountain sings from within when it’s warmed by the sun, fanned by the wind.
Each mountain has its own song.
Fly from one mountain to another, see their tops aimed up — to the subtle harmony of the heaven.”
“See endless sand of the desert
and experience ourselves in all its grains...
Feel warm, velvet moss
and sink in its soft carpet…
Become waving steppe grass…
Turn into trees
and rustle with green leafage…
Experience ourselves a young birch…
Turn into a branchy maple…,
into a tall pine filled with evening light…,
into a big, flat, covered with green moss stone under a tall birch…
Feel relaxation, calm, coolness…
The stone lied down to take a rest under a tree.
Nearby — a little stone, “a child”. Feel it.
In it there is reserved energy, spryness, and curiosity.
The little stone is firmly connected with the large one: they are family.
In full harmony the large stone teaches the small one about life…
Let’s fly to a seaside.
In shallow water there are a lot of stones.
Smooth, with sleek backs,
they are basking in the sun…
Soft lap of waves, cries of gulls, and voices of stones
talking to each other…”
“We are on the seaside.
Early morning.
Slightly waving surface of the sea.
Through clear water one can see smooth stones, delicate seaweeds soaring in the volume of water…
Submerge into the pleasant coolness, feel its soft touch to the skin…
Dissolve in the water, experience ourselves in every bit of the sea…
… Light wind is blowing, it is touching slightly the surface…
Feel its tenderness…
We like the wind and want to become like it…
We slip out of the water and become a wind…
Rise to the heights of the sky, experience the expanse…
Dissolve in the blue sky…
… The wind blows flocks of white clouds on the sky.
We approach a cloud and become it…
Approach a group of other clouds and join their united dance-flight…”
“Spring. The snow has almost melted away. The fragrant ground appeared.
We are in the forest hearing the merry sounding of a creek.
It merges with songs of birds into a single spring symphony.
Everything has awaked in the forest.
From the unfrozen ground first blades of grass appear.
Buds are swelling…
Inhale the fragrance of the spring morning forest!
Experience the subtlest emotions in the smells, sounds, colors of spring!
Get imbued with the spring freshness!
… Let’s turn to summer.
A summer morning, the sun is warming.
We are on a meadow full of flowers.
Butterflies are flying one after another, bumblebees are humming, bees are collecting nectar in the flowers.
Flowers and grass are drinking the sunlight.
The air above the meadow is permeated with summer languor…
Breathe in — and fill ourselves with the fragrance of the sweet-scented grass!
Flood as this scent over the meadow
and get imbued with summer…
Autumn has come.
The trees in the forest are dressed in festive attires.
The forest scents have become more pungent, they allure and excite those who like to gather mushrooms…
Autumn is rich and generous!
Enjoy the play of the colors of leaves…
In the light of the setting sun and in the cries of migrating birds hear the autumn melody…
The forest colored by the bright sunset bewitches
and immerses
us into contemplation…
… Winter.
Tenderness and purity of the white decoration gold-tinted by sun gives us subtle joy.
Quietness.
Firs are wintering cozily under the fluffy caps of snow.
Skis are creaking.
On the face — reflection of the deep joyful calm permeated deeply everything around and inside — down to the heart...”
* * *
In 1984 I was proposed to publish the methods of the first course. Thus my first book The Art of Being Happy [20] appeared. It was a sensation in those years. Samizdat increased its circulation by several times.
But KGB awakened, at last, and we were fired.
This was followed by a writ to appear in a prosecutor’s office. There was present also a newswoman from a newspaper — a spiteful aggressive communist, one of those who seek to hate others.
They made for me a “cross-examination”: how did I dare to write such a book with the word Love with a capital letter, who permitted me to publish it, how could I recommend not to eat meat, why do I call all this nonsense “spirituality” while everyone knows that “spirituality” means to visit cinema…
I defended myself by giving excerpts from the Program of the Communist Party. The prosecutor “diagnosed” me: “utopian communism”. He let me go. Good man!
But the newswoman published a dirty “denunciatory” article. She edited our dialog so that my words looked like sayings of a moron.
I decided not to distract to “vindicating my honor”, but to go further.
I felt pity only for the mother: she read it and was very upset.
An atheist or a skeptic may ask: “And what about your God — why didn’t He help you, didn’t save, didn’t protect?”
But it was He who created these cataclysms by directing the actions of people capable of dirty deeds. It is just that the situation had to change and we had to get new impulses for further development.
God planned to create the third course of our system.
… We lived without job and money, stored mushrooms, dried herbs for winter, collected and sold for recycling empty bottles.
Suddenly we were invited by our acquaintance to take a course in Tibetan lung-gom (meditative running). In Russia this technique was introduced by Jan Ivanovich Koltunov, a founder of a well-known spiritual School in Moscow.
The main point of the technique was that the meditations or pranayamas are set not to standing, sitting, or lying students, but to a group that runs in a park or forest. This makes running more easy and joyful and makes it possible to work with some meditations on a more favorable, higher energy level.
We mastered this technique, modified it to “our taste”, supplemented with winter swimming and new exercises for work in a room — and just in that time we were offered a job in a youth club headed by an enthusiast of the work of saving the people of our country from spiritual ignorance — Vladimir Vladimirovich Mikhailov. It is interesting that this club was called Cosmos even as the club created by Koltunov.
We invited our old students who took the first two courses and began the work on the new place.
At that time our students grew up so that we could entrust them the initial stages of instruction. The work based on our methods expanded over the city. The new students bloomed like spring flowers…
They were not only adults who bloomed and got healed but also children taken by parents to the forest. Winter swimming healed children from a number of diseases, including such typical and serious ailment as nocturnal incontinence of urine. These facts made me to pay more attention to spiritual work with children. Soon we began in the School various kinds of training for children including healing ones conducted in a psychoneurological child sanatorium. The experience accumulated in this work was summarized in the form of articles and published in the book [32].
