“Wealth without work Pleasure without conscience Science without humanity Knowledge without character Politics without principle Commerce without morality Worship without sacrifice. https://vidjambov.blogspot.com/2023/01/book-inventory-vladimir-djambov-talmach.html Hieromonk Seraphim (Rose) (08/12/1934 – 9/02/1982) In 1961 Eugene – having completed his master’s degree, unexpected for everyone – left the university preferring to devote the near future to working on a book on the topic of studying the problems of spiritual state of modern people. DISCLAIMER : This volume is devised to display texts as circulated in the Russian language [due to the author's huge popularity in Russia] and not to 'better' the wording. Back-translation is YET to be improved. /// Thus the price is set to PREVENT you from buying this edition - while leaving it within your reach. /// Well, with all my due respect I cannot be even on a par with what hieromonk Seraphim (Rose) wrote. However, seeing the importance of his writings (looming up in Russia) I dared stitch up back-translations of his (into English) only to mark significant Orthodox insights that often slip our attention, and dared call it 'Orthodox Collection', visibly marking it is a translation from Russian...///(Things may sound different in Russian, I can only too often slip the meaning – but not skip it! – in my poor efforts, but I do try [translating it]!)///This translation is being re-edited [still] word-for-word. as my excuse.///Vladimir Djambov,///translator. Nov. 2020 - Feb 2021///...Children kill parents, parents kill children, beat or kill a complete stranger, but do not rob; a crime can be committed by one or the whole gang. Such gangs are terrorizing the whole district, stumbling around idle or senselessly fighting each other - and for what ?! Here it is, the time of “peace” and “prosperity”, when criminals can be from both higher and lower elements of society, their behavior has no practical reason, often there is no question of any premises and consequences. When the perpetrators of such crimes are asked to explain their behavior, they respond in approximately the same way: it was an “impulse”, an “impulse”; either the offender experienced sadistic pleasure in committing the crime, or there was an excuse that did not correspond to the gravity of the crime, such as boredom, dullness, indignation....BTW - nearly 400 standard pages of text (1,800 characters] /// The first danger lies in wait for someone who begins to read Orthodox books, is fond of them, but is mistaken in applying what he has read to his own life. St. Ignatius Bryanchaninov (whom, together with St. Theophan the Recluse can be called a guiding star for the present century) wrote a book entitled “An Offer to Modern Monasticism”: every Orthodox of our time should heed his words. He warns inexperienced readers from being overwhelmed by examples from the life of the holy fathers and ascetics: otherwise, he writes, the “pipe dream of perfection” will overshadow, overshadow the modest tasks of everyday Christian life (chap. 10). /// This is an extremely common ailment. We are thinking about an ascetic feat, and nearby, right in front of our nose, someone was in trouble, but it doesn’t occur to help.