Vladimir Antonov

Spiritual Heart

Translated from Russian by Mikhail Nikolenko

So, the bonfire… in good or bad weather, be it rain or snow… but we build a bonfire in the forest, and it makes the place cozy — creates a feeling of a hearth, as if we are in the home.

But one should build a bonfire in a way to make no harm to the forest or to any living being. Plants, too, are living beings. Therefore, it’s better to build a bonfire on an old fireplace or on a place where no plants grow; on a sandy road in the forest, for example.

And one should never build a bonfire under big fir trees in dry weather, because under fir trees usually a lot of needles are accumulated; these needles begin to smolder… the roots of the tree get burned… the fire spreads further over the soil…

The flame of a bonfire can be of two kinds, two types. While the fire is flaring up, the flame is bright, intense, sometimes raging… But after the flame sinks, when a lot of coals are formed, then the flame is soft, bringing calm… then it’s very good to attune to such a flame; such a fire heals.

It’s also very important to learn to look at the flame of a bonfire not with the physical eyes, as people usually do it, but with the eyes of the spiritual heart… Like this…

There is an expression “it warms the soul”. And in this case, the bonfire will warm the soul, will warm the spiritual heart — the most important in man. Staying near such a bonfire, contemplating it can be considered an important spiritual exercise.

Let’s talk about all this in more detail.

There is the Greek word HESYCHIA, which means inner quietness, inner calm.

The ancient Christian direction Hesychasm was named after it.

This direction is based on two methodological principles, which are closely related to each other: achievement of HESYCHIA — inner quietness and “opening” the spiritual heart…

And then the development of man as a spiritual heart takes place.

Have you ever thought about for what purpose we live on the Earth? What is the meaning of our lives?

If you have never thought about this, then maybe it makes sense to do it right now: because many people, having found no right answer to this question, doom themselves to fatally wrong deeds, to degradation and suffering.

But don’t think that I am going to tell you that the meaning of our lives consists in avoiding the “everlasting torments of hell” and attaining the “eternal bliss of paradise”. No! We are going to discuss this subject seriously, from the scientific standpoint, from the standpoint of biology. For I am a scientist-biologist and with my colleagues studied this problem for several decades and have studied it in great detail.

Let’s talk about the evolution.

For sure, all we have heard this word, know about the theory of species formation of Darwin and Wallace. What they taught is true if one adds to their concept the modern knowledge about how genetic mutations occur.

It is not only biological species that evolve, but also, on the whole, planets, stars, galaxies, and the entire material universe…

But now let’s focus on another important problem of biology — on the evolution of Consciousness.

Let’s forget for a while that it’s a sunny day and imagine a starlit night. The sky full of stars… The stars are grouped into galaxies; in each galaxy there are a great many stars…

Around the stars there are planets… On some planets there is life, as on our Earth.

On our Earth also there are billions of various living beings, from microorganisms — to us, people…

But if one considers this problem — the problem of life — from the most general biological grounds, then there is more to it. The point is that the space is really multidimensional.

There are seven main strata of multidimensionality; they differ by the level of subtlety-coarseness. The most coarse spatial dimension is hell; the subtlest one is the Abode of the Creator.

In Greek, spatial dimensions are called eons; in Sanskrit — lokas; but also they are called planes of multidimensionality. At that, they can be really, really cognized by a developed human consciousness.

All these dimensions are inhabited by various forms of consciousness. In the subtlest dimension, abides boundless in size and eternal Primordial Consciousness, Which is called by people Creator, God-the-Father, Sabaoth, Jehovah, Yahweh, Primordial Consciousness, Adibuddha, Allah, Svarog, Odin, and by other names.

Some other eons are inhabited by individual consciousnesses or souls of different age and different qualities.

There are also eons filled with “building material” for formation of the well-known to us physical matter and for souls as well.

What is paradise? Paradise is the eon closest to the Creator’s Abode. But this eon is inhabited not by winged angels and archangels, but by those evolving souls that, during the life in the embodied state, became accustomed to living in such emotional states (that is the states of consciousness) as love-tenderness, love-care for other beings.

If these states became habitual states of consciousness during the life on the Earth, then it is in these states that one continues to live after the death of the body. Thus, for sure, he or she will live in paradise.

There is an opinion that it is deeds that predestinate the place where we will live after the death of the body. This is wrong.

Deeds form the destiny or karma, but this is a different matter…

The essence of this phenomenon is that God, as our Main Teacher, weans us away from… — by creating for us various difficulties — weans us away from ethically wrong deeds, that is the deeds which cause harm, suffering to other beings.

And if we do not reform and continue to behave egoistically, then we get adversities, pain, suffering from God, from our Divine Teachers.

People who have developed the habit of living in coarse emotional states (such as irritation, chronic annoyance over the behavior of other people, grief, anger, hatred, despair, jealousy) — such people after leaving the body find themselves in hell, among other beings like them.

And every one of us has the possibility to choose: in which eon to live. This is what constitutes our freedom of will — the possibility to choose for oneself the eon where to live in the future.

Man is not a body. People are not bodies. Man is a consciousness or soul. Therefore, it’s wrong to say “my soul” or “his/her soul”. It’s body that can be someone’s: mine or someone else’s. But I am a soul.

Souls incarnate into physical bodies with the purpose of growing, developing. This is what constitutes the meaning of our lives.

Yet, incarnations into human physical bodies happen not in the beginning: the development of each soul starts with incarnations into bodies of microorganisms, plants, then — into bodies of different animal species, and only then — into human bodies.

That is, there are two parallel lines of the Evolution: the evolution of physical bodies of various species and the evolution of individual consciousnesses.

And the meaning of human life consists not in “earning paradise”. It’s much greater! The meaning is that we are to settle in the Abode of the Creator and thus to enrich Him with ourselves. But for this one needs to do much more than just to learn living without coarse negative emotions, emotional states of consciousness. In other words, we have to become perfect individual consciousnesses to gain the right to settle in the Abode of the Creator and become His integral Parts.

So we have remembered that man, as any other incarnate living being, is not a body but a consciousness, a soul. With the death of the body, every one of us does not die but continues to live. Yet, what this life will be, what will be the quality of this life depends on how one has lived the life in the material body, what one has made of oneself.

We have discussed already that there is God and that He is cognizable for the people who have developed themselves in the qualities of the souls to the necessary level.

But one of the problems is that almost all people of the modern society have not even the slightest idea of what is God and where to find Him!

First of all, we have to define such concepts as Creator, Absolute, Holy Spirit, Messiah (or — what is the same in other languages — Christ, Avatar).

Absolute is “absolutely Everything” existing in the universe, probably except for hell. Why? Because Jesus called hell the outer darkness. Outer in relation to what? — In relation to the Absolute.

Hell is a kind of cesspool, the place to which the waste of the Evolutionary Process in the Absolute is expelled.

It’s correct to view the Absolute as a One Living Organism, and we are a kind of Its moving cells, like blood leukocytes which are capable of moving and developing, and also have the freedom of will. And our freedom of will gives us the right to choose in what part of the Absolute we want to continue our existence.

The Creator is the main Part of the Absolute. He calls Himself the Spiritual Heart of the Absolute. He is not an old man sitting on a cloud, but a boundless Ocean of Perfect Consciousness. He is present everywhere, in every point of space, but just in His spatial dimension, in His eon.

One should understand that the material Creation is infinitesimally small in comparison to the Infinite Creator. It looks like small islets in the infinite, immense Ocean of the Universal Absolute; whereas the Creator is the Infinite Foundation (or “the basic layer”) of everything existing.

Everything taking place in the Creation is in accordance with the Will of the Creator.

And what is the Holy Spirit? A pigeon or a waft? Of course, not! It is Divinely Perfect Consciousnesses, humans in the past!

The Holy Spirit is an aggregate concept: in reality, there are many Holy Spirits. And all They have human appearance, but a giant one, when They appear before embodied people.

They are those (in the past) people who developed Themselves to the state of Divinity and attained the eternal dwelling place in the Abode of the Creator.

And now They come out from the Creator’s Abode to us, embodied people, to help us move further on the spiritual path.

By the way, among the Representatives of the Holy Spirit we see both sexes.

And what is a Christ, Messiah, Avatar? This is a Representative of the Holy Spirit incarnated into a human body.

This helps Them to communicate with us; to provide better help to us.

I want to stress that Christ is not the second name of Jesus, as many people believe. Christ is rather a status. And the words Messiah, Avatar mean the same, just in other languages.

So, how should we build our lives to live them with the maximum good for ourselves and for the Evolution of the Universal Consciousness?

First of all, we have to understand that the Perfection consists of three components: Love, Wisdom, and Power.

We begin to master the component of Wisdom through studying in schools, universities, through gaining life experience in various fields of activity; and the more these fields diverse, the better.

Power, in this context, means not the physical strength, but the power of the consciousness. Yet, the power of the consciousness can be connected only with a healthy and developed physical body. This is why the healthy way of life (including correct nutrition), manual labor, physical culture and sport — all these are of great importance for the correct development of man.

Now, about the aspect of Love. What is Love?

Many people understand this word only as sex, but this is not correct. (Of course, sex is not bad, though, with certain reservations, about which you can read in our books.)

It’s correct to understand the word Love as corresponding emotions. There are several variants of such emotions. They are:

emotions of love which unite, merge loving people into one;

or love-care toward children;

or love-respect toward the one who deserves such attitude;

or love-compassion, which does not allow us to cause pain and other kinds of suffering to other beings;

or love leading to self-sacrifice for the sake of helping others;

love-admiration, delight at subtle beauty;

and, of course, love to God, which impels us to serve Him, to merge into Him, to become One with Him…

… All we have heard the words of Jesus: “God is Love”.

This means, first, that God loves with His Love-Care all of us, all His children — incarnate and non-incarnate, people, animals, plants… (By the way, plants are also beings with souls, and so they should be regarded).

Secondly, the main quality, with the help of which we can become closer to the Creator, is love that we develop in ourselves — love with all its manifestations — those mentioned above and many others.

And now, the question comes: how to master all this?

For this purpose, we have to consider the structure of the human organism — not in the view of anatomy and physiology, but from the same standpoint as we considered the structure of the Absolute.

The point is that the human organism is multidimensional as well as the Absolute. And every one of us has one’s own “potential representation” in the Abode of the Creator. In the New Testament, this is called “God’s Spirit, which dwells in us”. The same representation is called Atman or Higher "I" of everyone, which we have to cognize.

At that, this Higher Self is coessential to the Creator.

But how to get there?

Firstly, one has to understand that successful advancement toward the Creator is possible only for those possessing the ethical purity which God suggests for us (more detail about this can be found in our books).

Secondly, for advancing successfully toward the Abode of the Creator, one has to keep to two main principles of Hesychasm: achieving the inner peace and making efforts on developing oneself as a spiritual heart.

The Higher Self can be cognized only inside the developed spiritual heart. And inside this heart one attains peace.

One may say that God can be cognized only through these methods and principles of Hesychasm. (Though, I should note that analogous methods of spiritual work, spiritual development were found by seekers of other religious trends.)

So, let’s consider in more detail how the spiritual heart can be developed. How to know it, to open it? Where is it located, and what to do with it then?

Now it’s time to talk about chakras.

The chakras are not located in the spinal column, as it’s written in some books. Every chakra occupies the whole segment of the body, which corresponds to it.

Inside chakras there are no petals — this is people’s fantasy; there are no other fantastic structures inside them.

And in no case should one “color” the chakras, as it is recommended in some books. Chakras should have inside themselves tender white-goldish light.

Chakras are bioenergy structures. Among their functions are storage, conversion, and redistribution of the bioenergies inside the organism (these energies can also flow between chakras or between a chakras and the organs which are inside the sphere of influence of this chakra. The channels through which the bioenergies flow are called meridians. Perhaps everybody knows this.)

It’s desirable, that all chakras be always pure and developed. There are special methods for this purpose, described in our books.

If a chakra is contaminated and, thus, cannot carry out its functions properly, then chronic diseases of the corresponding organs may occur. And cleansing such a chakra results in very quick, sometimes immediate, recovery from the disease, which may have lasted for years and could not be cured by drug therapy.

In total, there are seven chakras. Let’s begin considering them from above.

The upper part of the head is the sahasrara chakra.

In the middle part of the head there is ajna chakra. Its name is translated as “non-wise”. “A” means negation, “jnani” means “wisdom”. “Ajna” means “non-wise”.

Vishudha is at the region of the neck down to the bottom of the interclavicle dimple.

Anahata occupies the whole chest down to the solar plexus.

Manipura is below, down to the navel, the solar plexus included.

Down to the level of the share bone is svadhistana.

And below, at the level of coccyx is muladhara.

Apart from the functions of distribution of the bioenergies, chakras have other functions, which are no less important.

Sahasrara is responsible for strategic thinking.

Ajna is responsible for tactical thinking. This is an indispensable chakra, but it is this chakra that contains the lower self, in contrast to the Higher Self.

Vishudha is responsible for aesthetic perception.

Anahata is responsible for the functions of love.

Manipura — for the vigor, efficiency.

Svadhistana — for the reproductive function.

And muladhara is important for us, because through this chakra the body is connected by special channels to the energy of kundalini.

Kundalini is not located in the coccyx or in the muladhara chakra, contrary to what is written in some books. It’s located outside of one’s body. Kundalini is Atmic energy, which is very important for one’s spiritual development. On a certain stage of development, spiritual warrior raises kundalini through the body, transforming the matter of the body by this, healing the body. Then he or she unarchives the kundalini energy. This is one of the important methods for moving later into the Abode of the Creator.

The main one of all chakras is the anahata, because it is with the help of this chakra that we can realize the main purpose of our lives, i.e. spiritual self-development.

How to develop the anahata? There are some methods for this. In ancient times, Hesychasts used so-called Jesus Prayer. There were several forms of it, but its essence consisted in inviting Jesus into the spiritual heart. However, the efficiency of this method was quite low: it would be appropriate to invite Jesus into the developed and cleansed anahata. So one has to prepare it accordingly!

Thus, we can offer you the following preparatory methods which can help to make the anahata worthy of inviting God into it.

The first exercise can be the following. One has to sit down on the heels, holding the spine straight. This is called the student posture. Then we enter into the states of peace, calm, bliss…

We try to feel these states inside the chest. And then radiate these states, first forward:

 

“May all beings have peace!”

“May all beings be calm!”

“May all beings feel bliss!”

 

Then we radiate them to the right…

Then backward…

To the left…

Up…

Down…

 

The second exercise can be so-called Reconciliation.

Raise the right hand above the head and draw with it a sinusoid. Sinusoid symbolizes harmony. One can extend the hand infinitely, experiencing it infinitely long. We are bringing harmony to the space…

Repeat this movement again and again… One can do it to all sides. The eyes of the body can be closed; the eyes of the soul are open; the eyes which allow one to see the infinite hand, which is bringing harmony to the space.

 

Then we do the exercise Awakening.

We feel ourselves in the early morning as if we came out from the house into a garden or forest. Feel the morning freshness everywhere around and above the body.

And we ask the Holy Spirit to concentrate above our bodies and invite Him by moving hands down… invite Him to “shower” Himself through our bodies. Repeat these movements again and again.

This is called psycho-physical exercises, because the physical component contributes to achieving the psychic state, the psychic effect.

We repeat these inviting movements again and again. We ask the Holy Spirit to “shower” Himself through our bodies. With the morning freshness and Divine Grace we wash ourselves: both bodies and souls.

 

Then we can do the next exercise called Giving Away.

We open arms wide from the chest, and we send forth from the chest a wave of love — it can be that very love which we have just received from the Holy Spirit. Send it far forward. We may recall…

“May all beings have peace!”

“May all beings be calm!”

“May all beings feel bliss!”

 

And the last exercise of this series is Climbing Up.

Again we do stroke-like movement with the hands — from top downwards, and we hatch out of our corporeal envelopes. Stroke after stroke, we are swimming up, we are swimming to the source of light — the sun!

We can merge into the sun, get filled with it, become its light, the light of its love, turn with souls into this light… And then we can move down to the body and shine with this light! We are shining from the anahata chakra, shining with the renewed spiritual heart — shining to all sides, at all living beings, giving them our love — the love received from God.

And then one has to develop oneself as a spiritual heart to vast scales, to the universal scale, outside the body.

The spiritual heart can be grown to sizes million times larger than it was inside the anahata chakra in the physical body!

For this purpose, it’s good to come to expanse! Seaside is best of all, but if there is no such possibility, then come to fields, meadows, steppe…

And we necessarily feel the hands of the soul, the hands of the spiritual heart, which are coessential to the heart. With these hands we caress various living beings: plants, birds, fishes, frogs, butterflies… We give them our love, our power.

But if one develops the spiritual heart without loving sincerely God’s creatures and God Himself — then such gymnastics will result in nothing!

One cannot fall in love with the Creator without learning first to love His Creation!

In the beginning, it may be more convenient to flood from the anahata chakra onto the expanse backward from the body. But later it will be of no importance.

With such spiritual heart — with which we flood over kilometers — it’s very easy to converse with Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirits.

And by going deeper into such a heart, one can cognize the Creator in His Abode.

In the end, I would like to give some hygienic advice, which will help to master all this better.

The ethically correct nutrition (which is important also for health) is the killing-free diet, that is the one which does not contain meat and fish products (but it should necessarily contain enough amounts of protein supplied by milk products, mushrooms, nuts, soya, and so on).

One should avoid wearing clothes made of synthetic fabrics, which have close contact with the skin.

It’s better to go to bed early, not later than 10 p.m. And wake up early. And begin every day with spiritual exercises.

Let me say again about education. Studying in schools and universities is important and necessary! Moreover, we have to continue studying during the entire life: we have to learn from people we meet (not only how we should live but also how we should not live and behave!); learn from trees — their calm, from grass and flowers — their subtle and tender beauty, from animals — their simplicity in contrast to vain luxury that many people live in…

There is one more question: what does such spiritual work provide for intellectual development?

It provides one with the ability of thinking not with the brain, but with the developed large consciousness — and this ability remains even after the death of the body. This is called Wisdom. And such people are called Great Souls or Mahatmas.

It is They who become worthy of becoming Parts of the Creator, the Holy Spirits.

In this way — interestingly, beautifully — one can live on the Earth!

The opposite end is a primitive life at the level of animal reflexes, in ailments, suffering, alcoholism, drug addiction — and it is such life that programs people to hell…

We live and propose you to live — with God, for God with understanding fully for what purpose we live here and how we have to live!

We wish your success on this Path!

And try to stay in nature often!

For example, one can fill oneself with its harmony in this way: enter into anahata, expand with the spiritual heart — and meditation: “There is no me, there is only this beautiful forest!”

… or “There is no me, there is only this beautiful field!”

And when we learn to enter with the consciousness into the forms provided for us by the Holy Spirit, and then into the Abode of the Creator, we will say to ourselves there: “There is no me, there is only Him!” — and this will mean dissolution in Him, mergence with Him!

Once more I wish you success!

And be always heedful to the instructions of God! Rely on His guidance, His help! He is glad to help those sincerely aspiring to Him!

 

There where I can freely breathe,
Where there is expanse for the soul,
Where the sun is shining,
Where reed is wavering,

Where the sky is transparent,
Where there is calm and quietness,
In the blissful light
I am merging with You!