by Ivan Ilyin (excerpt from his book “Singing heart – a book of quiet contemplations)
Translated from the Russian by Edvin Buday
How burdensome, how almost unbearable is the feeling that “he hates me”… How strong a feeling of one’s own weakness seizes the soul… One does not wish to think about it, sometimes with success. But even without thinking, one feels that current through the spiritual ether, that stream of someone else’s disgust, contempt, and ill will. And one does not know what to do, but one cannot forget entirely either and carries this curse throughout one’s whole life.
Every man (whether he knows this or not) is a radiant and living individual centre. Every glance, every word, every smile, and every act radiate a special energy of heat and light into the common spiritual ether of existence; this energy, which wants to be active in this sphere and wants to be accepted and allowed into other souls, wants to call back to them and build a living stream of positive, creative contact with them. And even when a man (apparently) does not express himself in anything or is just absent, we still are conscious of the rays he sends out, all the more strongly, definitively, and intensely the more significant and unique his spiritual personality is.
We first receive someone else’s antipathy when we feel, that the rays of life that we send out are not accepted by the other man, as if they are pushed away or stubbornly blocked from entering him. This alone is unpleasant and painful. This can cause some unpleasantness or even confusion within us. There appears within the soul a strange feeling of failure, or a feeling of our own incompetence, or even one of the irrelevance of our being. Our wish of contact is cut short, the rays do not want to radiate, words cannot be found, the upswing of life is cut off, and the heart is ready to barricade itself. Closed and unsociable people often cause such a feeling in sociable and expansive people, even when there is not even the slightest mention of antipathy. But once antipathy has reared its head, it can escalate into hostility, “coalesce” into disgust, and sink deeper into hatred; what is more, this process is fully independent from the fact whether we have deserved this hatred by some act of ours or no…
A man who has once seen eyes burning with hatred will never forget them… They speak of personal anger and bode ill; and a man who sees them and feels their weight on him does not know what to do. A ray of hatred is a ray, for it burns, glistens, is charged with hatred, and is directed from one spiritual hearth to another. But the hating hearth burns as it were with a black fire, its rays are dark and dreadful, and its energy is not lifegiving (like in love), but lethal and destructive. One feels a frozen convulsion of life behind those eyes, a torturous hostility that wants to hurt the other and is already carrying that pain with it. And when one tries to figure out what it is that is torturing the other, one realises in horror that he is dreaming of seeing oneself dying in agony, and is tormented by the fact that it hasn’t yet happened… I look into those hateful eyes and see, that “he” cannot stand me, that “he” is pushing away my lifegiving rays with spiteful disgust, that “he” has drawn a line of separation between himself and me, and that he considers that line a sign of a final cleavage, on one side of which is he, bathing in tireless ill-wishing, and on the other side am I, insignificant, disgusting, despicable, eternally not completely destroyed, and between us an abyss… Having entered the dead end of his hatred, he has steeled himself and gone blind. When he encounters any display of life, he answers it with a murderous “no”. All his rays that are directed to me are pregnant with this “no”, and this means, that he is not accepting rays from me, that he does not forgive my being, and that he cannot tolerate my existence, totally and by no means. If he could, he would annihilate me with his gaze. He is possessed by an almost maniacal idea of my eradication: I am guilty, totally and for ever, and I do not have a right to life. As Lermontov expresses it: “the world is too small for the two of us…” [1] In general, this is a spiritual wound, a monstrosity, a tragedy…
Where does all this come from? Why? What have I done to deserve this hatred? And what should I do? How can I liberate myself from this binding curse that is auguring me all kinds of ill and threatening me with calculated destruction? Can I disregard his obduracy, walk past, and try to forget this black anger? Do I have a right to that? How can I liberate myself from this oppressive knowledge that my existence has caused such a spiritual sickness, such a spasm of disgust in someone else?
Yes, but is it possible at all to control these feelings? Is it possible to reach the soul of the one who hates and dim or transform his hatred? And if it is, then how can one do it? And where can one find enough strength and spiritual adeptness?
When I encounter real hatred of me in life, I primarily feel a feeling of great unhappiness, and then anger and a feeling of my own impotence, after which I experience an urgent feeling of going away from the one who hates me, disappear from his eyes, never meet him again, and know nothing more of him. If this is successful, I quickly calm down, but then I notice that in my soul some dejection and heaviness remains, as the dark rays of his hatred are still overtaking me and reaching me through the common ethereal space. I then begin to involuntarily feel his hating soul and see myself in its dark rays as their goal and victim. It is difficult to withstand this feeling for long. His hatred is not just his unhappiness, but mine as well, the same way that unhappy love is not just the unhappiness of the one who loves, but also of the one who is loved. It is not just he, the hater, who suffers from his hatred, but also I, the hated. He is already humiliated by his condition; his human dignity has already suffered from his hatred. Now, this humiliation is supposed to take me as well. I cannot allow this. I must busy myself with this matter, clear it up, pull through it, and try to transform and ennoble this painful passion. A wound has formed into the world’s spiritual ether: it is necessary to heal it.
We cannot, of course, arrange the thoughts of others, and, truly, it is not easy to find the right path and proper spiritual strength for solving this most difficult task… But there is one thing I definitely know: that this dark fire must be put out. He should forgive me and make up with me. He should not only “gift me life” and make amends with my existence, but he should also feel happiness because of the fact that I live in the world; lastly, he should give me the opportunity to feel joy at his being. For as the great Orthodox sage Seraphim of Sarov said, “man is joy to man”… [2]
First, I must find and define what I could have done to deserve this hatred. How could his potential love for me transform into disgust, and his healthy respect for me into contempt? For we are all born for common love and called to mutual respect… Is it not in some way my fault that we are both suffering, he, the hater, and I, the hated? Maybe I have unintentionally opened some old, unhealed wound of his heart, and now the collected heritage of his past, of old offences against him, and of unforgiven humiliation has come crashing down upon me? In that case, only a sympathetic, loving understanding of his soul can help. But perhaps I have somehow invisibly infected him by my own, hidden, forgotten hatred that lives within me and has unconsciously radiated outwards? In that case, I should first of all cleanse my soul and transform the remainders of my forgotten hatred into love. And even if my fault is entirely insignificant and unintentional, even then I should begin with its acknowledgement and removal; at the very least, I should (honestly and lovingly) receive forgiveness from him.
After this, I have to forgive him his hatred. I should not dare to answer his black ray with my own ray of contempt and rejection. I should not refuse a meeting with him, and I do not have the right to flee. I need to face his hatred head on and provide it with a spiritually correct answer through my heart and will. From now on, I will meet the ray of his hatred with a white ray that is bright, gentle, good, forgiving, acquiring forgiveness, and similar to the ray with which prince Myshkin met the black ray of Parfyon Rogozhin [3]. My ray should say to him: “Brother, forgive me, I have already forgiven everything and covered everything with love, reconcile yourself with my existence in the same way, that I meet your being with love…” It must be with love, for forgiveness does not just mean vengeance, not just forgetting a wound, but also to love the one who has been forgiven.
Two men are always bound by two threads: from him to me and from me to him. His hatred breaks the first thread. If it is broken, both suffer: he because his heart has spasmodically contracted and hardened itself, and I, because I must look on how he is tormented because of me, and, what is more, because I, the hated one, suffer because of him. Saving the situation is only possible like this: by supporting the second thread (from me to him), strengthening it, and through it rethreading the first. There is no other way. I must convince him, that I do not answer his hatred with hatred, that I do not impute his hatred and rage, that I acknowledge my potential fault and am trying to atone for it and snuff it out, that I understand him, suffer with him, and am ready to go to him with love, and, most importantly, that my spiritual love is enough to withstand the pressure and passion of his hatred in order to spiritually meet it and try to transform it. I must treat the one who hates me in the same way that a severely ill person is treated, i.e. not subjecting him to new, additional suffering. I should through my rays send him understanding, forgiveness, and love up to and including the moment, when he rethreads the broken thread that leads to me.
This will probably not come easily; it is likely, that his hatred will be stubborn and will not soon want to calm down and be transformed. But I will be persistent and keep believing in victory, for this is the prerequisite of success. Hatred is healed by love and love alone. A ray of true love tames wild animals; this is why the stories about the saints are not a fiction, but a devout legend. Radiating love works calmingly and disarmingly: tense hatred dissipates, evil instinct is lost, takes a step back, and is drawn into an atmosphere of peace and harmony. These are not empty words: love adjures storms and calms the spiritual ether of the universe. Even the gates of hell are not an obstacle to it.
And if this occurs, if his hated is transformed and the spiritual ether’s wound is closed, then we will both rejoice, feeling the joy of deliverance, and we will hear, how high above us everything exults and celebrates to the seventh heaven itself; for the Lord’s weft of love is one and entire through all reaches of the universe.
Translated from the Russian by Edvin Buday
Translator’s notes:
1: A quote from the character Grushnitsky, spoken against his opponent Pechorin in the novel A Hero of our Time. The two men are part of a love triangle, which ends in a duel that is fatal to Grushnitsky and is one of the events that motivates Pechorin to station himself at a dangerous position in the Caucasus.
2: Seraphim of Sarov (1754/1759 – 1833) is considered to be one of the greatest saints in the Orthodox Church. It is not by chance that Ilyin cites him, as the saint was almost beaten to death by a gang of robbers. However, the venerable starets (elder) pleaded with all his might for their forgiveness at their trial and later accomplished an almost superhuman feat of asceticism by praying for a thousand nights while laying on a rock.
3: A reference to the great novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Idiot. Prince Myshkin is a very shy, harmless, and morally pure young man who is driven to save the tortured Parfyon Rogozhin, with tragic consequences for both men.
should this be tagged with russian civilisation realm series?
Only if you consider spiritual knowledge to be exclusively Russian.
Thanks Saker.
I hear Putin has been very influenced by Iliyn’s writings.
No he wasn’t. Ilyin is in the category of Vladislav Surkov, a uselful persona used for propaganda purposes. In the case of Surkov he was a carricature of postmodernism, supposedly an admirer of beatnik poetry and Tupac Shakur. In the case of Ilyin his values are said to be fascistic and White.
Every time someone tells you this is Putin’s ‘brain,’ you should beware.
“I hear Putin has been very influenced by Iliyn’s writings.”
Indeed. It permeates his geopolitical style which can sometimes appear appeasing, if not somewhat obsequious at times, before the Empire.
“…this energy, which wants to be active in this sphere and wants to be accepted and allowed into other souls, wants to call back to them and build a living stream of positive, creative contact with them.”
Just as nations, trapped in Hobbes’ State of Nature, never enjoy ‘friendships’ but merely convergent interests, the soul-to-soul analogy has limited facility here as well.
Putin may wish to bring a soulful receptivity into his relations with the Empire. Unfortunately, he deals not with companion souls but with the Spirit of Antichrist (whose human confederates have long since vouchsafed their souls to the former’s inhuman agenda).
I’m not accusing the genius Putin with undue naivete. He’s not that. But how can a man with an operable soul NOT seek out soulful gestures, perhaps time and again, in even the most obdurate foes?
The Russian word I learned on this very site for ‘agreement incapable’ (недоговороспособны) speaks to far more than human ineptitude or incompetence. The perceived incapacity reflects the plight of an adversary whose actions have been removed from the sphere of human reason. By whom or what you may ask? By a Principality of Darkness whose agenda is supra-rational or nihilistic. Putin may never find the adversary-soul he seeks. Again, there are clues this recognition has more than dawned on Russian leadership, whether in a realpolitk context alone or the spiritual context suggested here.
–FSD
One may say that Lermontov predicted his own death. He died in a duel provoked by his gratuitous insults addressed to a friend.
Hatred is ignorance.
Being affected by hatred, ignorance, is also ignorance.
Hatred is a sign of wrong living. Second had living. Fake living.
Become authentic, innocent, creative and watch.
Love and gratidude, overflowing.
But,
“The fear of the Lord hates unrighteousness, and insolence, and pride, and the ways of wicked men; and I hate the perverse ways of bad men (Proverbs 8:13)
“A righteous man hates an unjust word” (Proverbs 13:5)
“Ye that love the Lord, hate evil; the Lord preserves the souls of his saints; he shall deliver them from the hand of sinners” (Psalm 96:10 – Septuagint).
“I loved thy commandments more than gold, or the topaz. 128 Therefore I directed myself [according] to all thy commandments: I have hated every unjust way (Ps. 118:127-128).
“But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. 9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows” (Hebrews 1:8-9).
You must hate evil and sin.
Introspective analysis akin to Kafka, yet contrastingly informed, sans metaphor, with spiritual insight, empathic discernment.
‘Thread of contact between spirits’ is an excellent description of a much examined and contemplated phenomena from my experience.
I have tamed and befriended those who hated me by authentic openeness and by relating. Especially joining them in a pursuit of common need or mutual interest.
Doing has a profound impact on human relations, one that words cannot ever match.
Finding a way or opportunity to connect to your hater is usually the hurdle that breaks the ice.
Sometimes the initial hater turns out to be a person of great depth and significance. A person who has been or is in a great spiritual crisis.
Perhaps that meeting and its outcome is a small but crucial part of larger eventual consequence.
I once, for a prolonged period pondered this type of deep introspective analysis. Wondered long on what flaws I possesed that made certain persona types instant antagonists. Sociopaths, aggressive type-A’s, cerebral scientific empiricists, authoritarian iconoclasts, hedonistic narcissists, hubris-filled elitists, red-neck hillbilly toughs, gang member chip shoulders… categorical descriptors that provide an easy false answer. Humans can have a soul at odds with their current disposition – hence their spiritual crisis.
I discovered that there is a predisposition that is socially, family/parent taught or modeled, peer reinforced, and culturally ingrained. It can be worked past. One can make oneself an exception to the rule, to their rule, to change the rules.
The kindness and open-heartedness one might posess must be balanced with an integrity of absolute resolve of moral conscience.
And with age the necessity for introspective blame and self questioning analysis grows less necessary. Enough resolved confrontations worked out amicably provides the experience and rules that define the interactions on first meeting and subsequent interraction.
Philosophy = love of wisdom
Christianity = living as Christ taught and lived
Whatever these have become in their post-modern hideous transformations, their essential precepts and wisdom remains untarnished as long as they can exemplify through action.
This site provides significant material for thought and consideration.
-Kind regards
Oh! thank you so much .
Good reminder for heart and soul .
First we forgive in Heavenly Spirit .
Then : yet > when attacked by evil spirited, nefarious , perverted , alien, demonic , obsessed , mendacious,
fork-tongued reptilian entities (principalities, powers, thrones ,…) , deceptions , vile slanders, provocations , false flags, ……. we , with full love for our tribe(s) , people, nation Land(s) shall physically fight/destroy rapidly satanic onslaughts without any emotion but fullheartedly and effectively. > See the Old Believers and the Kossacks > RUSSIA. [Serbia too]
I think Tostoy said : “No one can hate deeper than the one who can love deeper”. The question of love and hate is almost everywhere there in the works of Russian classics. The love and hate are the two great extremes of the human soul and fate.In our journey through life, we encounter many ups and downs, our soul is being “worked” hard, sometimes being pushed from one extreme to the other. That stage is very well put in motion by God himself.
Saker, this is such an incredible and I think timely post. I encouraged my spouse to read this early today and she was just blown away. She is an ardent follower of Yogananda Paramahansa and saw such a connection between the two men. They both lived in the exact same era of time both dying in the early fifties both speaking on the subject radiating light and love in meaningful ways.
.
I can also see how this article can be seen as a metaphor for our own neocon hate filled fools who threaten Russia and other parts of the world every day and how to deal with them.
She and I have spoken so often on how no light or love can reach them no matter how hard people try. Ilyin expresses this beautifully. “This will probably not come easily: it is likely, that this hatred will be stubborn and will not want to calm down and be transformed. But I will be persistent and keep believing in victory for this is the prerequisite of success……I must treat the one who hates me in the same way a severely ill person is treated.”
I understand that in 2009 President Putin had this writers remains dug up and sent back to Russia. I wonder how much the President is influenced by his words. Thanks for the great and uplifting post. We will have it near always;
Ilyin was in influencer of Putin. Putin understands the issues well, bringing back the Orthodox culture and national pride, and Crimea, while maintaining soviet era state involvement in the economy, housing, transport, which has mass support in Russia. This is the skill of Putin which will only be fully realised in the future.
What unites all Russian Philosophy? The Russian soul is entirely opposed to Post Modernism which is the definitive ideology of the Anglo Saxons, Skandinavians, French Liberals and current Germany. Developed in former Protestant cultures .It is the celebration of total spiritual decay and extreme materialism. Even the pro westerners in Russia tend to be Modernist rather than Post Modern. The Soviet Union was also Modernist and anti liberal after the early years which is why the Anglo Post Modernists hate all of russias manifestations- Tsarism, Soviet and Federation.
The book “The Singing Heart” has also been translated into English by the Orthodox Translation Society. This excerpt gives you an idea of Ivan Ilyin’s insights.
Very interesting article.
As the bible says, love is the strongest force, and therefore love will always be able to release and free hatred.
The only problem I find to this is time. It takes tremendous time/years of love towards a person to soften the hatred and heart up and gain confidence again.
As we only have one life, the amount of hating people we can neutralise is limited to our closest family or friends, or we can do as the Latins: Hate and love shortly. Live and let live, and forgive easily.