Solovjov Vladimir: Duhovne osnove života

Vladimir Solovyev: Spiritual Foundations of Life

The book "Spiritual Foundations of Life" by the great Russian spirit Vladimir Solovyev, one of the most famous modern thinkers, in which he tries to answer some fundamental and at the same time very topical human questions of a spiritual nature. Due to the hectic pace of modern life, which does not leave enough time for spirituality, modern man feels frustrated and strives for spiritual experience, and for this purpose, various paths of spiritual transformation are offered that teach how to achieve inner fulfillment by one's own strength. The starting point of the book "Spiritual Basics of Life" is completely different and fundamentally different. Soloviev claims that we cannot achieve true spirituality by our own efforts and that any change achieved in this way is always superficial and temporary. For true transformation, our own strength is not enough, but for that we need an external support, it is necessary that something else be discovered in us in addition to our imperfect nature - a real and strong principle of some other life on top of our limited one. This new, better life, its nature and source is the subject of this excellent book. The author leads the reader to the realization that man cannot create spiritual life by himself out of nothing, because it is outside of us, we need to receive it. And just as natural life was not created by man himself, but was given to him, so new life is given to him by God and is therefore called grace.

"Spiritual foundations of life" teach what this new life is, how to receive it and how to live on this basis of grace, God's gift, a treasure that is not just an idea, but really given to us. The beginning of such a true life based on grace is not so far or difficult for us, and its basis is in accepting the divinity of Jesus Christ through whom the grace of a new life was given to us. On the basis of the Gospel texts and the rich monastic tradition, Solovyov also explains the three fundamental positions that express the Christian tradition, namely prayer as the basis of voluntary submission to God and agreement with him, almsgiving, that is, merciful love as the basis of communion between people, and fasting as the basis of freedom from bodily lusts through restraint and asceticism, through which we gain power over nature and instincts.

Because authentic personal Christian improvement cannot be separated from communion and improvement of social relations, the second part of the book talks about the Church and how the life of grace should affect society and the state. Thus, this Christian classic and one of the fundamental spiritual parts of the modern age refers to the unity of life and a complete transformation that alone can give a person peace and true happiness.