In the late eighties - early nineties of the last century in the USSR suddenly started talking about … "Russian yoga". Rather, they started talking about it, probably much earlier. But then in some narrow circles of amateurs. In the early nineties, "Russian yoga" became a fairly widespread fad. Interest did not arise by itself, but on the wave of general interest in everything mystical and incomprehensible, "spiritual" (sometimes having nothing to do with the truly spiritual) - in general, to everything that goes beyond ordinary ideas.
Kashpirovsky, Blavatsky and others
Let's remember that period in a wider time frame. Here and Anatoly Kashpirovsky with his television sessions of healing, and Alan Chumak, "charging" water in three-liter bottles through the same TV, and the general interest in Theosophy from Helena Blavatsky, and the rediscovered "rediscovered" Nicholas Roerich, and even the passion for "Baby" from the "Russian God" Porfiry Ivanov.
This can also include all kinds of "tantric teachings", and homegrown Zen Buddhism, and yoga …
Gradually, all this came to naught, returning to the normal level of interest in such phenomena in any stable society. But the post-Soviet society in those years could hardly be called stable.
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And on the fragments of autocracy …
Indeed, then it was not just the collapse of the state - the USSR. Then there was a breakdown of some of the deeper foundations of society, which had formed on a vast territory - one-sixth of the land, as they said at that time.
This global catastrophe has driven many to some extent crazy. Someone got involved in politics, although they had never done anything like this before, someone "signed up as bandits", someone "ran away into mysticism." Most were simply stunned and tried to somehow survive. Let's not go into all this. Let us just note for ourselves the presence of this breakdown, this atmosphere of total instability, when people were ready to grab at any straw. Straw, often served by outright swindlers, and sometimes outright criminals of a more serious kind.
Let us recall, for example, the self-styled "Mother of the World Maria Devi Christos" (Marina Tsvigun) with her suicidal (and not only "self") extremist "White Brotherhood". Lucky for those who just went to an Orthodox church or found themselves in another traditional religion. Whether it's Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, it doesn't matter. The main thing is tradition.
Russian yoga
In the wake of all this, the phrase “Russian yoga” surfaced in the mass consciousness, in the sphere of public interest. It was funny to see how tired of looking for practical application for the then fashionable works of Castaneda and Richard Bach, young people rushed into "Russian yoga", suddenly seeing something of their own, dear, but no less mysterious and, perhaps, much more practical than incomprehensible oriental meditations, twisting the body into a bagel and other "table-turning".
Lord, you have come
It would be appropriate here to mention one hippie with many years of experience, who embarked on a pilgrimage to monasteries. He looked, I must say, was quite Christian "authentic". Torn trousers, a stretched sweater, long, unkempt hair to the shoulders and goatee. This is how the “non-canonical” Jesus Christ is sometimes depicted. At the courtyard of one of the monasteries, this played a cruel joke on him. Seeing such a colorful character next to her, one old woman naturally fell to her knees, grabbed his hand and whispered: "Lord, you have come!"
He also took a great interest in "Russian yoga", then went through Osho, Buddhism and, it seems, finished Bon dzogchen.
Although not a fact. Maybe his "mystical journey" led him to something even more exotic.
The most reading country in the world
It soon became clear that "Russian yoga" is not yoga at all. And she turned out to be only partly Russian, as well as Greek, and Serbian, and Romanian … In general, Orthodox. It was actually called “smart doing”, and sometimes with an emphasis on the second syllable in the word “smart”. And the spread of interest in this Orthodox practice was facilitated by the massive reprinting and introduction into wide circulation of church and near-church literature. It was not for nothing that the Soviet Union was called the most reading country in the world. People are used to reading. Previously, they read Gorky and The History of the CPSU, then they began to read Solzhenitsyn and the Bible. At that time, the book "The Stranger's Frank Stories to His Spiritual Father" enjoyed particular attention, one might say popularity.
author unknown
The author of this truly unique book remains unknown to this day. Anyone else was credited with her authorship. And to the abbot of one of the monasteries of the Vladimir (and maybe Nizhny Novgorod) diocese, and to the elder Ambrose of Optina. Sometimes it was said that the author was … Bishop Theophan the Recluse of Vyshensky. The main advantage of this book is that in it a purely Orthodox subject is presented in a language not churchly, but secular. The book is not even devoid of literary merit, although the presentation seems at times too corny. It was published in pre-revolutionary Russia. In 1911, an addition was even published in the form of the fifth, sixth and seventh stories (before that there were only four). It is clear that in Soviet Russia the book did not and could not have circulation, returning to the reader only after the fall of the USSR.
Pray, pray and pray again
But, as they say, God be with him, with the author, whoever he is. The main thing is the content of the book. And the content in it is really worthwhile. This content is based, no doubt, on such a monumental Orthodox work as "Philosophy". No more, but no less. Let us remind here that Philosophy is a collection, to put it in a secular way, of “spiritual works of Orthodox authors of the IV-XV centuries”. And for a person immersed in the Orthodox tradition, this book is a real source of intimate knowledge. One list of "authors" of this "Philosophy" is impressive. There are saints and saints everywhere. In short, this is patristic literature of the highest level. So, in "Frank Stories" in an accessible form is given, as it were, a squeeze, the quintessence of what is called "unceasing prayer", "mental abuse" or, as written above, "clever doing."
What is smart doing?
Of course, “smart doing” is not yoga, much less yoga turned into spiritual fitness. This is not a way to achieve worldly benefits, including physical health. If you want physical health, go in for physical exercise. "Smart doing" is communion with God through the incessant repetition of the Jesus prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." Moreover, this happens in the very heart of a person, at times, at the highest levels of practice, even without words and without any effort, when the prayer, as it were, moves by itself, turning into a “self-propelled” prayer. Why is this practice also called "mental abuse"?
An incessant battle with myself
This Orthodox practice is called "mental abuse" because a person seems to be incessantly struggling with himself. With his unfit, sinful thoughts and feelings, with his laziness and, above all, with his egoism, based on the idea of divine separation, pride, and the wrong interpretation of the freedom of will given to a person. It's very, very, very hard work. It is not for nothing that "smart doing" is often called a spiritual feat. This practice has many levels, and not everyone has access to all levels. On her way, a person lies in wait for many dangers, such as a possible fall into "delusion", when the desired seems to be valid, into depression, when the realization of his worthlessness simply crushes. This is not a joke or a pleasant pastime.
And any competent priest will tell you that you should not deal with this unprepared person and you should not try to go this way without a guide. The first step on this path is to come to the temple. The rest will follow.
Mark Raven
