Unconscious prodigal manifestations in a dream from spiritual activity. What does the phrase "prodigal son" mean?

How is it necessary to fight against the accidental infliction of a prodigal image or one that can lead to a prodigal thought? Let us give an example of how to react to a prodigal image that a person saw unexpectedly in transport, on the street, on TV, etc.

The state of sleep must be considered only because we spend a third of our lives in it.
The Holy Fathers see in sleep and awakening images of the death and resurrection of man.
The direct purpose of sleep is rest, restoration of physical and mental strength.
It is rightly noted that our thoughts are reflected in dreams in an altered form. past life and what occupies us every day in a cheerful state.
However, the content and meaning of dreams is not exhausted by this alone.
In a dream, the soul does not sleep, but continues to live its own life, which differs from the state of wakefulness.
A feature of sleep is that the mind stops its work, or acts in short bursts.
Together with the mind, self-control and the coherence of thoughts are lost, which can no longer form any long logical chains.
Feelings and passions continue to live, not restrained by reason, and find their expression in images, not only in black and white, but also in color, which move, act, making fragmentary pictures, and sometimes complex plots.

Fallen spirits have free access to the sleepy state soul, not protected by prayerful thoughts and the memory of God. Demons use sleep time to confuse, intimidate, defile the soul of a person, develop his passions.

Who among us is not familiar with the nightmares that are part of the arsenal of demonic insurance?
They are experienced by children from a young age. school age. The most common insurance topics are: the appearance of monsters, snakes, wild animals, villains, unclean animals, stalking with attempted murder, feeling causeless fear, falling into the abyss, deformations own body, natural disasters with the danger of drowning, burning in the fire, being buried alive. Evil spirits they will not miss the opportunity to torment a Christian in a dream with the experiences of what he fears most, the death of relatives, the loss of objects of affection, plunging his soul into sorrow and despair in a dream. If sleep is a type of death, then nightly insurances are a type of hellish torment.

Demons try to prophesy about the future in dreams, predict the imminent death of us and our loved ones, show acquaintances in an unsightly way, including clergymen and even a confessor, appear in the form of deceased relatives. In a dream, they show seductive pictures to our soul and through this draw it into fornication, vanity, anger, greed, inconspicuously cultivating these passions and defiling the soul. “Demons, having access to our souls during our wakefulness, have it also during sleep. And during sleep, they tempt us with sin, mixing their dreaming with our dreaming.

The question arises: “Is it necessary to confess sins committed in a dream?”
If in reality the soul is occupied mainly with thoughts, then in a dream their place is occupied by images. The appearance of a thought is not considered a sin until the soul accepts it.
Likewise, the appearance of an image, even a sinful one, in a dream is not a sin.
At this stage, we are still only spectators tempted by demonic bait.
But as soon as the sleepy soul with desire is attracted to the subject of temptation, we suddenly turn from a spectator into a participant in the scenario, and the soul is defiled by the corresponding passion and needs to repent.
First of all, what has been said concerns prodigal sins.
However, a sin committed in a dream, when the mind is inactive, cannot be equated with a sin committed in an ordinary state.
One should not even retell the content of these dreams in Confession, but only say that, in addition to other sins, they sinned with impure and prodigal dreams.
Penance for them, as a rule, is not assigned. But after prodigal dreams, in which we were not only spectators, but also participants in the scenario, it is advisable to do a few prostrations and read prayer from night pollution from the Canon or Prayer Book.
Going to bed, it is recommended to overshadow the room on all sides sign of the cross with the prayer "Let God rise again ..." or with the troparia "Which we protect with the Cross ..."
This simple measure will greatly reduce demonic temptations in a dream.
The ancient Christian custom of sleeping in underwear serves the same purpose.

And now we move on to the most important.
It turns out that even in a dream the soul can resist demonic temptations.
For example, not to accept seductive images if he has a genuine inner disgust for them, not through the action of reason, but through the action of feeling.
In this case, the soul remains in relation to such "pictures" an indifferent or hostile spectator.
I have already mentioned that the mind in a dream can act in short flashes. Often, a believer during demonic fear in a dream suddenly remembers prayer, and this happens not only with saints, but also with ordinary believers, especially if, in a cheerful state, they set themselves up to pray and make the sign of the cross in a dream.

Such an attitude can also arise involuntarily when reading stories from the life of St. Fathers who used these remedies against evil spirits.
If we overshadow what frightens us with the sign of the cross with the prayer “In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit” or “In the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ”, then the subject of insurance usually disappears, if not the first time, then the third or the fourth, or there is an awakening. Sometimes inside the dream it is felt that the hand for the sign of the cross is not raised, it has to be raised with great effort, with the help of the other hand. If the fingers do not bend as they should, it is enough to depict the Cross with the whole brush. If this fails, you can blow crosswise, and even imagine the Cross with your mind - it acts in any form. This remedy, however, does not help the unbaptized and those who have unconfessed mortal sins on their consciences. Why is understandable: the power of God works through the Cross. The former have not yet entered into a covenant with God, while the latter broke it of their own free will. Sometimes other prayers are remembered in a dream: to the Mother of God, the Cherubic Hymn, Easter hymns, lines from the Psalms, and they also help to resist the enemy.

The appearance in dreams of insurances and demons in their own form, as well as in the images of snakes, unclean animals and monsters, and after them the spectacles of hellish torment - common occurrence in the life of every zealous Christian who is not indifferent to his salvation. They do not contain the danger of falling into delusion, but they activate the spiritual life, strengthen in faith, encourage fervent prayer, and assure of the power of the sign of the cross. Such dreams can no longer be considered ordinary dreams. The soul then passes into special condition- the state of vision. It is characterized by the fact that the body is in a state of sleep, and the consciousness begins to work very clearly. What is seen remains in memory for long years, often for life, leaving a strong impression, while ordinary dreams“empty and disorderly”, and we can’t always remember them in the morning.

The state of vision should not be confused with the borderline state that sometimes occurs upon awakening: the body continues to sleep, and the consciousness begins to clear up. We fragmentarily hear and understand the surroundings, but we cannot move. However, there is no object of vision. Despite the strange sensations, this state does not carry anything related to spiritual life and does not leave significant impressions after itself.

The transition to the state of vision occurs more easily in a dream than in reality, therefore it is not surprising that visions came to the prophets for the most part during sleep. The dreams of the prophet Daniel, Joseph the Beautiful, the forefather Jacob, as well as the pharaoh, the baker, the cupbearer and Nebuchadnezzar, although they are called dreams in Scripture, were actually visions. Visions happen different strength. What we see is hardly different from simple sleep and belongs to the lowest category. Visions differ in their origin. They can be from Grace and from demons. To see evil spirits in their vile guise is, in a sense, a gift from God, just as simple sight is a gift from God, with the help of which we see both bad and good. For all their frightening ugliness and horror, these visions correspond to the truth and give us the opportunity correct behavior and correct assessment of what is happening.

Much dreams are more dangerous with the participation of the Lord, the Mother of God, angels or saints. These visions can be caused by demons and contain lies. We have not seen real celestials, so it is difficult for us to identify a fake. At the same time, bewilderment also arises: is it possible to overshadow them with the sign of the cross, like demons? What if they are real, and our action will look like an insult? In this case, the sign of the cross with a prayer should be overshadowed by oneself, and the person who appeared should be asked to glorify the Holy Trinity. After that, the demon will no longer be able to harm our soul, although events can develop in different ways. Visions caused by demons, the elder Paisios of Athos aptly called "demonic television." You need to be firmly convinced that the Lord, Mother of God The angels, although they care about all Christians, are not new beginnings. It is not useful for beginners, first of all, because of their uncontrollable pride. How many years will it take for a neophyte to notice his pride, to understand its depth, to find means of combating it and to drive it into at least some kind of framework? Such phenomena occur as isolated exceptional cases when a person converts to faith or when he is miraculously saved from mortal danger.

Moved to Orthodox faith from other religions often do not want to recognize themselves as new beginnings, but consider their Christianity a continuation of what they did before. This is deeply mistaken. Orthodoxy is not compatible with any other religions, because it considers them delusions and heresies. uniqueness true faith and the true Church are dogmas Orthodox Christianity. Truth cannot be a continuation of delusions. Such people need to start their journey from the very beginning, that is, from the parish church, and not from the monastery. And the more “successes” they managed to achieve in their previous religious practice, the more difficult it will be for them in Christianity.

Gracious visions do not depend on the will of man. And vice versa: those visions that are caused by own will- not blessed. One should be extremely careful when approaching spiritual phenomena that are not accompanied by prayer and the sign of the cross. Visions that we do not dare to unequivocally attribute to demons must be "neither accepted nor rejected", postponing the final judgment of them for the future.

In many books on the spiritual life we ​​find the instruction "not to believe in dreams." What does this mean? Not believing in dreams means not being guided by them in life, not building relationships with your neighbors based on them, not looking for prophecies about future events in them, even if dreams sometimes come true. The fulfillment of dreams is not an indisputable proof of their blessed origin, this can also happen through the action of demons. But at the same time, from dreams, we can correctly judge the passions living in us, study the impact of fallen spirits on ourselves. “Dreams can be considered witnesses to our moral state, which in our waking state is not always seen. Dreams are such as our heart is. In a careless person, devoted to passions, they are always impure, passionate: the soul there is the plaything of sin. A person who has turned to the path of salvation and strives to cleanse his heart has both good and bad dreams, depending on what quality prevails in his soul or with what mood he falls asleep.

By how often we dream of churches, worship, clergy, sacred objects, how often do we remember prayer in a dream, resist passions and feel like a believer in a dream, one can judge how deeply we penetrated church life. It is dreams that often open our eyes to the love of sin and lack of faith living in the depths of our hearts, which in a cheerful state we hide not only from strangers, but also from ourselves.

A frequent guest in the dreams of a believer, along with a prodigal demon, is a blasphemous demon. He shows us in a perverted way what is connected with God and the Church. For example, in a dream we see temples without crosses, or when we go into a temple, we find ourselves in a cinema, on the icons, instead of the faces of saints, we see terrible faces. In such a dream, all people can freely enter the altar, the choir can sing modern songs, worship instead of a priest to perform a sexton, etc. Moreover, the demon arranges situations in a dream that force us to renounce the faith. In a dream, we can even endure torment for our faith.

Blasphemous dreams should be treated in the same way as blasphemous thoughts, that is, they should not be considered one's own. The need for repentance depends on whether we were spectators of the blasphemy or participants. In the latter case, at Confession, one must repent of blasphemous dreams, without, however, retelling their content. The confessor, however, can and should be told everything that we consider important and what he asks about, without hiding.

It is fair to say that the demon cannot fake the image of the Cross, but this only applies to the Cross correct form and proportions. Distorted and inverted crosses are good for him. Therefore, if in a vision we see a cross, it must be carefully considered. Having given ourselves such an attitude in advance, we can hope that we will distinguish a fake. If we have not considered the Cross, but simply remember that it was, this does not yet speak of the truth of the vision.

As we have already noted, sleep is the time special influence fallen spirits upon us. The bodily strength after a night's sleep is restored, but the soul is very upset by demonic influences in the morning. It needs to be sorted out with morning prayer and then get down to business. The state of the soul immediately after awakening refers to states of increased suggestibility, when prayer enters deep inside us and has an effect throughout the day. In the same way, sinful and vain thoughts act at this time. Therefore, experienced prayer workers advise immediately after getting up, before morning rule, already during washing and morning procedures, start reading Jesus or other short prayers.

What has been said in this chapter does not refer to the ascetics of piety, who already live according to the laws of the Spirit, but to contemporary Orthodox Christians. For beginners who do not have spiritual prudence, dreams, for security reasons, are better left unattended and forgotten, on the advice of Theophan the Recluse and St. Ignatius Brianchaninov.
However, not noticing dreams at all is hardly possible if we spend a third of our lives in this state.
Prayer of repentance is appointed in the Prayer Books for cleansing from the "unclean ghosts of the devil". Why would it be necessary if dreams have no meaning at all? Finally, some dreams, regardless of our desire, make such a strong impression that they cannot be forgotten for years.

St. Theophan and St. Ignatius included chapters on the life of the soul during sleep in their spiritual writings, apparently believing that this issue was of no small importance. One must think that they received information on this topic not only from the works of other authors, but also from their own observations of this state.

St. Ignatius. PSS, vol. 5, p.347

Archim. Georgy Tertyshnikov. "St. Theophan the Recluse and his doctrine of salvation. M, 1999 p.218

The prodigal son has returned and repents

11 He also said, A certain man had two sons;
12 And the youngest of them said to his father, “Father! give me the next part of the estate for me ”And the father divided the estate for them
13 After a few days younger son, having collected everything, he went to a far side and there he squandered his possessions, living dissolutely. 14 And when he had lived all, there came a great famine in that country, and he began to need
15 And he went and attached himself to one of the inhabitants of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine
16 And he was glad to fill his belly with the horns that swine ate, but no one gave him
17 When he came to his senses, he said, “How many of my father’s hirelings have plenty of bread, and I am dying of hunger.
18 I will get up and go to my father and say to him, Father! I have sinned against heaven and before you
19 and I am no longer worthy to be called your son; accept me as one of your hired hands"
20 He got up and went to his father. And while he was still far away, his father saw him and had compassion; and, running, fell on his neck and kissed him
21 And the son said to him, “Father! I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son.”
22 And the father said to his servants, “Bring the best clothes and clothe him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.
23 And bring a fattened calf and kill it; Let's eat and be merry!
24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” And they started having fun.
25 And his elder son was in the field; and returning, when he approached the house, he heard singing and rejoicing
26 and calling one of the servants, he asked, “What is this?”
27 He said to him, “Your brother has come, and your father has slaughtered the fatted calf, because he received him healthy.”
28 He became angry and did not want to enter. And his father went out and called him
29 But he answered and said to his father, “Behold, I have served you for so many years and have never transgressed your command, but you have never given me even a kid to make merry with my friends.
30 But when this son of yours, who had squandered his possessions with harlots, came, you slaughtered a fatted calf for him.”
31 And he said to him, “My son! you are always with me, and all mine is yours
32 but you ought to have rejoiced and rejoiced because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” Gospel of Luke (15:11-32)

Conclusions from the story of the prodigal son

— Every person is dear to God as a son is to a father.
— You need to be able to forgive, to be kinder, more merciful, to respect not only other people's virtues, but opinions, even if they are erroneous. And although the act of the father is far from the abstract concept of justice (But the elder brother said in response to the father: “Behold, I have served you for so many years and have never transgressed your orders, but you never gave me even a kid to have fun with my friends, but when this son of yours, who squandered his possessions with harlots, came, you slaughtered a fattened calf for him"), sometimes it should be abandoned in order to show compassion for the one who needs him and cries out for him

The origin of Jesus' parable of the prodigal son is the Jewish idea of ​​repentance. The sages of the Talmud emphasized the importance of repentance for a person. Repentance was created by God, it reaches the throne of the Lord, prolongs the life of a person and brings deliverance from the pangs of conscience. God causes Israel to repent and not be ashamed of repentance, just as a son is not ashamed to return to his loving father.

"Wash yourself, cleanse yourself; remove your evil deeds from My eyes; cease to do evil;
learn to do good, seek the truth, save the oppressed, defend the orphan, intercede for the widow.
Then come and let us reason, says the Lord. If your sins be as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; if they are red like purple, they will be as white as a wave. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the earth."(Books of Isaiah, chapter 1)

"Return of the Prodigal Son"

Rembrandt "Return of the Prodigal Son"

The use of the expression "prodigal son" in literature

— « In general, I settled down ... Prodigal son, I'm returning home. Forty years ago I was brought here, and now some forty years pass, and here I am again!"(Andrey Bitov" Scattered light ")
— « It breaks into the "cultural" life of a wealthy family like a whirlwind through a bad closed window"he", the prodigal son, tall, gloomy and mysteriously dangerous, after an unknown seven-year absence"(L. D. Trotsky "About Leonid Andreev")
— « But there is a Hasidic version of the parable, and there - listen, listen, it's terribly interesting: it says that in foreign countries the prodigal son forgot native language, so that, returning to his father's house, he could not even ask the servants to call his father "(Dina Rubina "Russian Canary")
— « Silent Uncle Sandro sat next to his father, like a prodigal son who had not gone astray, driven by circumstances to his home and forced to remain in humility at the table.(Fazil Iskander "Sandro from Chegem")
— « Sudden death the old prince softened the hearts of the gods, and Sergei Myatlev, like a prodigal son, returned to the cavalry guard shelter "(Bulat Okudzhava "Journey of amateurs")