Step to the Skies: A Documentary on the Valaam Monastry in Russia

[Colonel Frank Grimes]

Some things Americans won't understand. How could they comprehend the spiritual tradition 2-3 times older than their whole country?

I see that spiritual tradition has served Russians very well. When was life not miserable in Russia? It's the only European nation that had serfs until the 1860s (the rest got rid of that centuries before) and with the approval of your church.

Everyone loves a good soul crushing tradition.

[Colonel Frank Grimes]

How can something meaningless give meaning to anything? When we talk about meaning, we don't mean a lie we tell ourselves to feel better about ourselves.

That's ironic considering you believe in a superstition.

[Scholarios]

The most fulfilling life would be Buddhism or some Eastern or Amazon/Native religions. It is the closest one will get to the true meaning of life.

Abraham religions = Toilet paper material.

"Abahamic" is largely a term designated by modern comparative religion courses. Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxy share almost as many roots with Buddhist and pre-Buddhist thought as they do with Judaism, and possibly more.

Death to the World

[Danaan]

The entire concept behind monastic life is to escape reality.

Isn't monastic life part of reality too? If reality is 'the state of things as they actually exist' then definitely yes.

[Colonel Frank Grimes]

Isn't monastic life part of reality too? If reality is 'the state of things as they actually exist' then definitely yes.

When someone says others are looking to escape reality it means they're looking for ways to escape their problems instead of dealing with them directly. There can be a number of reasons why someone will want to detach themselves from society.

In the past, however, many people became monks because as Herr Abubu has pointed out monasteries owned a great deal of property and this attracted a number of less than pious individuals who welcomed the idea of not having to worry about an empty stomach in a world where there was no guarantee you would have food regularly.

[Herr Abubu]

That's ironic considering you believe in a superstition.

Do I? What's a superstition?

When someone says others are looking to escape reality it means they're looking for ways to escape their problems instead of dealing with them directly. There can be a number of reasons why someone will want to detach themselves from society.

These monks are dealing with their problems in the most real, most intimate, way possible. The problems around us are symptoms, not causes, that stem from our inner state. Then the most real way of dealing with one's problems is to deal with oneself. Monastics do exactly that.

In the past, however, many people became monks because as Herr Abubu has pointed out monasteries owned a great deal of property and this attracted a number of less than pious individuals who welcomed the idea of not having to worry about an empty stomach in a world where there was no guarantee you would have food regularly.

They didn't. You didn't even know the slightest about monasteries before I told you and now you're making claims about monasteries and the people who historically inhabited them. The monastic life is extremely difficult and strenuous. Furthermore, you have to prove yourself worthy of it, it takes years of great effort just to be allowed into the brotherhood. Unless the monastic institution itself is corrupt, corrupt people won't enter it. On the other hand, it's very easy to succeed in the world outside, one just has to do away with integrity and dignity.

[Lek]

Do I? What's a superstition?



These monks are dealing with their problems in the most real, most intimate, way possible. The problems around us are symptoms, not causes, that stem from our inner state. Then the most real way of dealing with one's problems is to deal with oneself. Monastics do exactly that.



They didn't. You didn't even know the slightest about monasteries before I told you and now you're making claims about monasteries and the people who historically inhabited them. The monastic life is extremely difficult and strenuous. Furthermore, you have to prove yourself worthy of it, it takes years of great effort just to be allowed into the brotherhood. Unless the monastic institution itself is corrupt, corrupt people won't enter it. On the other hand, it's very easy to succeed in the world outside, one just has to do away with integrity and dignity.

That's why everyone is successful.

[Skerdilaid]

You won't find the meaning of this life if you do not believe in God, and please do not answer me the usual "Love is the meaning of life" bullshit please.

Your statement doesn't even make sense. There is no meaning to life, you're just an organism passing by literally speaking - put that through your thick scull.

[Herr Abubu]

"Abahamic" is largely a term designated by modern comparative religion courses. Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxy share almost as many roots with Buddhist and pre-Buddhist thought as they do with Judaism, and possibly more.

Death to the World

Interesting site, I'll look into it.

On the topic of Judaism and Christianity, it's not baseless to speak of "Abrahamism". It is about the claim to a certain God-given tradition, spirit, that Christianity, Judaism and Islam make. We should also not forget that Judaism isn't the same thing as Old Testament belief and such. Judaism is in fact a younger religion than Christianity, being reliant on the Talmud.

Additionally, just because the Jews are central to the Abrahamic tradition doesn't mean that they are an authority on it. Many prophets were killed by the Israelites, God condemned them on several occasions and apparently the Talmud even claims that prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah are burning in hell for speaking against Israel. The red thread in the Old Testament is exactly that the Jews fell into apostasy at every other temptation.

A great irony I have noticed in the dealing of anti-Christians anti-Jewish thinkers is that their views on Christianity and the Abrahamic tradition is exactly Jewish in origin no different from what you see among philojudaic Christians in America.

Christianity is the true inheritor of the prophetic tradition, while Judaism is strictly in contradiction to it and God. Christianity has nothing to do with Buddhism in a genetic sense.

[Herr Abubu]

That's why everyone is successful.

Most people are in a limbo, too afraid to go one way or another. You succeed in the contemporary world by becoming a sociopath, or by severely compromising on yourself. This becomes obvious when you learn more about life.

Your statement doesn't even make sense. There is not meaning to life, you're just an organism passing by literally speaking - put that through your thick scull.

Do the words you say have meaning? And this should mean there's no significance in being Albanian, so why are you bitching about nationalism and such anyway?