AllatRa by Anastasia Novykh 2 www.allatra.org

AllatRa by Anastasia Novykh
an altered state of consciousness, thanks to prayers.
Anastasia: Well, if we take into account the main action of each ritual – the deep inner
feelings of the believer, then the same process happens as while entering into an altered
state of consciousness in other traditional religions. It is just that people call it
differently, for example, Sufis call it the perception of the light of the Truth, realization
of the Oneness of the world and contemplation; Buddhists – all-encompassing
awareness in meditation. And all this, in fact, penetration into spiritual spheres in an
altered state of consciousness with the help of the deepest feelings of man.
Rigden: Of course. The real spiritual way of man to God is one – through the deepest
inner feelings, and human interpretations of this way are many. This is why there is a
discord from the human mind in that which should be united in spirit.
Anastasia: Yes, unfortunately, even in spiritual matters much is done from the human
mind. Take the Christian sacrament of marriage, which is traditionally considered as
performing the marriage ceremony between a man and a woman sanctified by the
church (placing a crown on the head of those who enter into the religious marriage). In
the past this symbolic ritual also took place at the coronation of monarchs (marriage to
kingdom, coronation). The attitude of many people to this action is from the perspective
of material thinking, without understanding of the meaning of all this ritual, its
symbolism which in the spiritual interpretation conceals an entire stage of self-perfection
of man himself, his transformation as a Personality.
Rigden: You are right, the approach of society to these spiritual matters is still largely
based on the perspective of the material way of thinking. That is why many married
couples in the world wish to know the answer to the question “What stage of selfperfection
does marriage symbolise?” As the English philosopher and writer Oscar
Wilde joked, “Marriage is a too perfect state for an imperfect person”. Speaking
seriously, harmonious relationships between a man and a woman, which are built on
sincere love, are wonderful. This can become a beginning, an impetus towards the
development in each of them the highest quality of the feeling – spiritual Love, the one
that is called the eternal one, pure, that endures all sorrows and ills of life, that heartens,
inspires and gives strength. But achieving such a spiritual state is solely the result of
individual work of a person on himself (either a man or a woman). This is daily spiritual
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