What is Passion?!

Introduction: This article is written on the basis of the article "Passion" from the Alphabet of Faith"
Wikipedia: Passion - in accordance with the Orthodox doctrine sinful the location and skill of a person, which leads him to the violation of the commandments God's.
And further: passion according to the "ABC of the Faith": sinful dependence, manifested in the strong attraction of a person to a certain form of sin.
The unnaturalness of sinful passion is revealed, in particular, in that it prevents natural unity with the Creator. Instead of enjoying communion with eternal God, a person seeks pleasure in their temporal earthly being, in the phenomena and objects of the transitory and non-permanent world.

As I understand it, the main passions are: 1. Gluttony 2. Forgive 3. Love of love. They are often accompanied by anger, sorrow, sadness, vanity, Pride.
The relationship of passions: For example, the passion of vanity can have in the basis of pride; the emergence and development of despondency can be the development of sorrow; the development of the passion of silver can be closely related to the development of the passion of vanity, and vice versa.

Source of Passion: The culprit of a person's degree in one's or another passion is the person himself, but he can contribute to this environment: parents, mentors, friends, colleagues at work, advisers and Pr. As the main and most dangerous of the passions is often called Pride. Note that the fallen spirits, seeing that one or another person is subjected to a certain passion, can contribute to the development of this passion in it, can also contribute to the fact that by developing this passion in it, to form others in it.

In the mind of a person, sinful thoughts can arise. Appearance and the development of these thoughts can occur at the initiative of the person himself, and also under the influence of the outside. If these thoughts are not given timely resistance, they can develop, and, in the end, can be implemented. If any sin is repeated by a person repeatedly, this can lead to the formation of certain sinful skills, and then - to the formation and development of sinful Passion. If, during temptation, a person begins to be able to sin the sinful This is the first sign of passion. Settling in the shower, Predation to the sinful image turns into an internal sinful A skill that leads to external sinful actions.

What does sinful passions feed on sinful passions? The effect of sinful passion can Increase under certain conditions. Passion of gluttony can arise from the habit of pleasing yourself, turning the care of the body into lust. Prodigal passion can nourish: idleness, laziness, multi-scopy, Eating, wine, obscene laughter, body decoration.

To overcome passion, a person must seek help from God. For Acquisition of the Divine Graceful Support He needs It is necessary to do prayer, to confront sinful thoughts, Availability and willingness to reject them. Pr. Arseny (Sebriakova) converts attention is not to wait for victory over his own passions: “A person is unfair to himself and sometimes demands from himself what Can't give it. He demands victory over his own passions and grieves. worried, indignant on himself when he sees that he is taken to power those The passions he decided to lag behind. But is this fair indignation on yourself?

A man with his strength can never defeat his passions: their The power of God wins us. This power is inherent in His commandments. When with God will be able to see them when they live in his heart. Then sin and passions weaken and completely cease to effect in heart. It is necessary to constantly revive in your heart the intention to live by the commandments of Christ, it is necessary to ask in prayer His help, you need to humble in their deviations, you need to tolerate your infirmity and not resent on yourself for her. After all, if I am not able to defeat it in myself, why do I demand from what only the Lord can give, and why grieve for himself, that Didn't get higher than himself. In such a demand for spiritual success affects our pride. We will expect from the One Lord and To be deeply humbled in their infirmities and sinfulness.”

In the fight against certain sinful passions, it is necessary to develop The opposite of virtues. For example, if to develop humility, fright will fade if the joy of The Lord will not be a place of sinful sorrow. Healing from Passion It often requires years of struggle.” A Special Case of Enslavement passion is a variety of chemical and psychological addictions human (for example, from the consumption of alcohol, narcotic drugs).

It should be noted that it would be a mistake to understand the overcoming of sinful Passions, like the destruction of the passionate (unreasonable) part of the soul. Such Action would be tantamount to fighting one’s own nature. For example, You need to learn to manage your anger, but do not try to get rid of Ability to show any form of anger at all. In this regard Grigory Palama states:

“Lovers of beauty do not kill the passionate ability (soul) and not lock it in itself in the inaction and stationary, because then they will have nothing to love good and hate evil, nothing to alienate from vice and Binding to God. They destroy only the domination of this force to evil, completely turning it into a love of God, according to the first and great “Love the Lord your God with all your strength.” lk.12:30), that is, all the force. What power? It is clear that passionate; It is in the soul that can love.”

According to the "Svyatogorsk Tomos" by dispassion should not be understood "the state of the necrosis of the passionate part of the soul", but "the state of its activities aimed at the better, when the passionate part of the whole turned away from evil deeds and turned to the good, losing bad properties and enriched with the good” and when “the passionate part of the soul has changed, He was sanctified, but she did not die.”

St. Gregory Palamas writes: “Off-entity is not a deadness the passionate power of the soul, and its direction from the worst to the better and its action in a divine state, when it completely turns away from the evil and turn to the beautiful; and he who is dispassionate to us who has delivered himself from bad fortunes and enriched with good deeds. Abuse of the Soul Breduates of disgusting passions, as an abuse of knowledge of things Turns wisdom into madness; but if a person uses them well, then through the knowledge of the being will come to God's knowledge, and through the passionate ability of the soul, striving for the purpose for which it created by God, will be the virtues. This will be achieved, I say, not the one who they will be killed, because he will then be indifferent and immobile for divine properties and states, and he who subdues the passionate force so that, obeying the mind, to his natural chapter, and obediently going to God, thanks to the unceasing memory of God, she consolidated herself divine disposition and rose to the highest state, that is, to love for God.”

Achieving dispassion is not a necessary condition for salvation (on a certain stage of spiritual life it may not even be useful, As it becomes a reason for vanity and pride; dispassion is condition of the state of perfection), but every Christian is necessary Fight against sinful passions and act contrary to them, because Neglect of this will lead a person to sins, which can destroy his soul.
“The natural and indiscriminate passions, according to the testimony of pr. John Damascus, - the essence of those who are not in our power, who entered the human life as a result of the condemnation caused by crimes, such as hunger, thirst, fatigue, work, tears, smoldering, evasion of death, fear, near-death torment, from which they occur sweat, drops of blood ... and so on that is inherent in all men.

Thus, the presence of unrequenched passions does not depend on the will Whether a person or not, living this earthly life, he cannot but justaking, not thirsty, can not become in principle inaccessible to diseases, can not but indulge in corruption. To some extent, it is able to influence the intensity of the inner manifestation of these passions. For example, having accustomed yourself to a postural lifestyle, tempered your body and the like.), but only to some extent. Natural Passion
was not confined to the first few people, while they were A union with God. Man will be free from unrequelled passions after The resurrection of the dead.

Quotes about passion: “Man cannot be free from [natural] Passions; he can restrain them, but he has no power at all. Svt. John Chrysostom.
“He who sees in himself some dominant passion must First of all, I will oppose her to arm themselves... for if we do not win this Passion, then from the victory over others will not be for us any benefit. John the Leaf Man. “We need to know which passion is most concerned, you need to fight it Especially. To do this, you need to check your conscience every day...” Need everything bad, and also the passions that fight us, to consider not our own, but from the enemy - Diabola. It's very important. Then you can defeat the passion when You will not count yours.” Nikon Optinsky