In daily life, man condemns himself to unhappiness on a daily basis. How many really happy people have you met? I do not mean a fleeting happiness from any purchase, but a constant state of peace, tranquility, grace. We do not often experience such feelings, although such a state is natural for a person. We can come to such a state only by loving God and coming to faith.
Few people know that discouragement, depression, and stress are all sinful. And what are we most often upset about, what do we worry about? Material disadvantage, quarrels, offenses. You can get rid of all these worries by starting to study the true doctrine. After all, it is these problems that demons create for us. A person who is close to God cannot be angry or resentful. When he crashes his car, he will not say that life is not fair to him. He will thank God that he was not injured and survived. Putting domestic problems on the back burner, a person becomes more and more sensitive to what should be done and what should not be done. He becomes calm and sees his sins. This principle is the basis of asceticism. A way of curing the soul of sins.
One of the ways to love God, to be happy, and to find peace of mind is through asceticism. Many people will immediately think of monks. Yes, indeed, monasticism is a manifestation of asceticism. But there are many such manifestations. And it is not necessary to go to a monastery. The essence of asceticism is getting rid of sins and passions by renouncing goods and needs.
Of course, if you give up everything at once, you will not feel God's grace. Imagine that a person lives his whole life on a large footing, but he is always fussing, not satisfied with something (as it usually happens), and now he wants a feeling of happiness and tranquility. He decided to do asceticism and gave up all the benefits. What will he do? Complain. And through complaining you will not achieve healing. You have to know and understand what you're doing. Otherwise, you can even lose faith. You have to heal the soul gradually.
Ascesis is training for the soul. And you should start training from the simplest. If you are far from God, go to church, try to listen to the whole service, you can try to keep fasting. It will not be as easy as it seems at first. But each time it will become easier. So the soul becomes strong. The main thing is to know what you are doing it for and why.
Some ascetics can barely eat or sleep and they feel fine while doing so.
As you do this practice, as you try to understand the doctrine, you will notice how your daily hustle and bustle will fade into the background. There will be a new sense of grace and love.
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