The Brothers Karamazov (58 page)

Five months later, by the grace of God, I embarked upon the true and righteous life and I bless the invisible finger that showed it to me. To this day I always mention in my prayers Mikhail, the servant of God, who suffered so much.

Chapter 3: Some Thoughts And Teachings Of The Elder Zosima

E. A Few Thoughts on the Russian Monk: and His Potential Role

FATHERS AND teachers, what is a monk? Nowadays this word is often pronounced with a sort of derision by the educated, and some even use it as a term of abuse. This attitude is growing worse all the time. It is, alas, absolutely true that, among monks, there are many parasites, gluttons, voluptuaries, and shameless beggars. And it is at them that educated people point when they say: “You are lazy, useless members of society, shameless beggars living off other people’s labor.” Yet there are so many meek, humble monks who yearn only for solitude and quietness, where they can abandon themselves to their ardent prayers. People seldom point out these monks; they mostly ignore them altogether, and they would be very surprised to hear that it is perhaps on these meek and humble monks, yearning for solitude and prayer, that the salvation of Russia may depend! For, indeed, they have been prepared in their quiet retreat “for an hour and a day, a month and a year.” In their retreat, they faithfully preserve for us the pure and undefiled image of Christ, the purity of the divine truth as they have received it from the fathers of old, the apostles, and the martyrs. And when mankind’s faith is shaken, the monks will hold up the image before the wavering world. That is a great thought. The star will rise in the East.

Is this that I think of the monk untrue and presumptuous? Look at the worldly, at those who set themselves above the people of God—have they not distorted the image of God and His truth? They have science, but science contains nothing that does not come through the senses. The spiritual world, the nobler side of man’s being, has been rejected altogether, banned as it were triumphantly, perhaps even with hatred. The world has proclaimed freedom, now more loudly than ever; but what do we find in that freedom of theirs? Nothing but enslavement and suicide! The world says: “You have needs—satisfy them. You have as much right as the rich and the mighty. Don’t hesitate to satisfy your needs; indeed, expand your needs and demand more.” This is the worldly doctrine of today. And they believe that this is freedom. The result for the rich is isolation and suicide, for the poor, envy and murder; for while the poor have been handed all these rights, they have not been given the means to enjoy them. Some claim that the world is gradually becoming united, that it will grow into a brotherly community as distances shrink and ideas are transmitted through the air. Alas, you must not believe that men can be united in this way. To consider freedom as directly dependent on the number of man’s requirements and the extent of their immediate satisfaction shows a twisted understanding of human nature, for such an interpretation only breeds in men a multitude of senseless, stupid desires and habits and endless preposterous inventions. People are more and more moved by envy now, by the desire to satisfy their material greed, and by vanity. Giving dinners, riding in private carriages, occupying high social positions, and having myriads of servants—these are considered so important by some that they devote their whole lives to acquiring them and sacrifice for their sake their love of their fellow men, and sometimes even kill themselves if they cannot obtain what they believe they must have. It is the same with those who are not rich. And, as to the poor, who cannot satisfy their needs at all, they just drown their envy of others in alcohol. But the way they are being aroused now, it will soon be blood rather than liquor on which they will get drunk. Now let me ask you: Do you really think that such men are free? One “champion of freedom” told me himself that when he was arrested and deprived of tobacco, the privation was so painful to him that he was on the verge of betraying his “cause,” just to get something to smoke. And this was a man who said: “I am fighting for mankind!” What can such a man do, though—what is he good for, unless he acts on some sudden impulse? He will never be able to endure pain for the sake of his “cause.” So it is not surprising that, instead of freedom, they lapse into slavery, that, instead of promoting unity and brotherhood, they encourage division and isolation, as my mysterious guest and teacher explained to me in my youth. That is why the idea of service to mankind and brotherly love has been dying out in the world; indeed, now it is often sneered at, for what can a man do who has become the slave of the innumerable needs and habits he has invented for himself? He lives in his separate little world and does not care about the great world outside. The result of all this is that, today, when more material goods have been accumulated than ever, there is less joy.

Now, the monastic life is quite a different matter. People may ridicule the vows of obedience, fasting, and prayer, yet these are the only way to attain true freedom. It is by discarding cumbersome and unnecessary demands, by subduing and disciplining selfish and conceited aspirations, by obedience, that the monk, with God’s help, achieves spiritual freedom and thereby finds spiritual happiness. Who is more likely to conceive a great idea and serve it: the isolated rich man or the man 
freed
 from the tyranny of habits and material goods? The monk is sometimes reproached for his “isolation”: “You have,” they tell him, “isolated yourself behind the walls of your monastery; you are preoccupied only with saving yourself and forget the duty of serving mankind.” It remains to be seen, however, who serves mankind better. For, in fact, it is not we who are isolated, but they. Besides, since ancient times, great leaders of men have come from our midst, and there is no reason why this cannot happen today. One day these meek and humble monks who fast and keep their vows of silence may go out and work for the great cause. For it is by her people that Russia will be saved. And if the common people live in isolation, we too should live in isolation. The people share our faith, and a leader without faith will never achieve anything in Russia, even if his feelings are sincere and he has the mind of a genius. That, you must remember. The people will rise up against the atheist and subdue him, and a unified Christian Russia will appear under the Russian Orthodox Church. So always think of the people and preserve the purity of their hearts. And educate them in your quiet retreats. That is your duty as monks, for the Russian people are a God-bearing people.

F. Of Masters and Servants and of Whether
They Can Become Brothers in Spirit

Of course, there is sin among the common people too. Corruption is spreading visibly; every hour it is working its way down the social scale. Even among the people now, individuals become isolated more and more often, turn into greedy thrifty peasants and village usurers. Uncouth merchants, today, are full of social ambition and, ignorant as they are, try to appear educated by rudely scorning ancient traditions and turning in shame from the faith of their fathers. A merchant may be received by princes today, but he is really nothing but a corrupted peasant. People are rotted by liquor, but they cannot give it up. And there is so much cruelty within the family today—cruelty to women and children—and that, too, comes from drunkenness. I have seen the marks of this cruelty on the children working in factories. Some of them, hardly more than nine years old, are weak, sickly, round-shouldered, and already depraved. Stuffy workshops, clanging machines, day-long drudgery, foul language, and liquor and more liquor. Is that what this creature, still only a little child, needs? A child needs sunshine, he needs to play with other children, he needs someone to set him a good example, and above all he needs love, even if it is only a tiny drop of love . . . So let there be no more of this, monks, let there be no more brutalized children; rise up against it, preach against it, hasten to do so! But God will save Russia, for even if the uneducated man of the people is depraved and cannot abstain from his foul sins, he knows that his sins are cursed by God and that he is doing wrong when he sins. So our humble people still believe unwaveringly in the truth, still acknowledge God, and still shed fervent tears.

But this is not true of the upper classes. They want to organize themselves scientifically, to devise a system of justice based on pure reason, not on Christ, as before, and they have already declared that there is no such thing as crime and that there is no sin. And, from their point of view, they are right right—for how can there be crime if God does not exist? In Europe, the masses are rising against the rich; their leaders are inciting them to blood and violence and are teaching them that theirs is a righteous anger. But “cursed be their anger because it is cruel.” And God will save Russia as He has saved her many a time before. And her salvation will come from the common people, from their faith and their humility.

Fathers and teachers, preserve the faith of the common people! For this is not something I have imagined: I have been impressed throughout my life by the profound and genuine dignity inherent in our great people. I have seen it. I have witnessed it myself, and I have recognized it in the stench of sin, amidst the degradation caused by destitution.

Our people are not servile, despite two centuries of serfdom. They are free and independent in their ways, but without arrogance. They are neither vengeful nor envious. “You are important, rich, clever, and talented—so may God bless you. I honor you, but I remember that I, too, am a man. And by honoring you without envy, I show you my human dignity.” Even if they do not actually say that (because they cannot yet express it), this is exactly how they behave, as I can bear witness, having seen and experienced it. And would you believe it?—the poorer and humbler a Russian man of the people is, the greater is that true grandeur in him, for the better-off among them, the avaricious peasants and the money-lenders, have already become corrupted. Much of the blame for this must be laid at our door, because we have neglected them and failed to see the danger. But God will save His people, because Russia is great in her humility! I dream of our future destiny and it seems to me that I can really see it already: it will come to pass that even the rich will be ashamed of their wealth before the poor, while the poor, seeing this humility, will understand it and grant them their advantages and respond with joy and love to the dignified shame of the rich. Believe me, that is where we are heading and that is how it will be in the end. Equality lies only in human moral dignity, and this will be understood only in our country. Let there be brothers first, then there will be brotherhood, and only then will there be a fair sharing of goods among brothers. We are preserving the image of Christ—may that image shine like a precious diamond over the world. It will be so and so be it!

Fathers and teachers, I would like now to tell you of a touching incident. During my wanderings I met my former orderly Afanasy, in the provincial town of K. I had not seen him for eight years. We met by chance on the market place. He recognized me and hurried over to me. It seemed he was so pleased that he almost embraced me.

“Is it really you, sir, is it? I can’t believe my eyes!”

He took me home with him. He had been discharged from the army by that time, was married, and had two small children. He and his wife had a little stall at the market and that was how they made their living. They lived in a small room, but it was clean and sunny. He made me sit down, lighted the samovar, and sent someone to call his wife, as my visit apparently called for a special celebration. He brought his children to me.

“Bless them, Father,” he said.

“Who am I to bless them?” I said. “I am just an ordinary, humble monk, you know. But I will pray for them, I promise. And you, Afanasy, I have prayed for you every day ever since that time. It was thanks to you that it all turned out the way it did.”

And I explained to him as best I could how it had all happened. And how do you think this simple man felt about it? He kept looking at me and could not imagine how I, a gentleman, his former officer, could be sitting with him in that attire. The very thought even made him cry.

“Why are you crying?” I said. “You should be happy for me. I will never forget you, because of what I have gained thanks to you, for my life is bright and happy now.”

He did not say much, but just kept shaking his head, sighing, and looking at me tenderly.

“But what happened to the money you had?” he asked me at one point.

“I gave it to the monastery,” I said. “We all live together there and share what we have.”

When we had finished our tea, I got up and was about to say good-by to him, when he suddenly produced a half-ruble piece, saying: “This is for your monastery.” And then he was pushing a second half ruble into my hand: “This one is for you, sir. It may come in useful sometime in your wanderings . . .”

I took that half ruble too, bowed to him and to his wife, and left, filled with gladness, and thinking as I went: “Here we are, the two of us, he in his home and I on the road, both probably sighing over our memories, yet smiling joyfully at the way God brought us together again, and both of us happy because of this meeting.”

I have never seen him since. Once I had been his master and he my servant, but after we had exchanged that loving, brotherly embrace, our hearts were filled with a deep fervor, and a true communion of souls came into being. I have thought about it a great deal and have come to this conclusion: Why should it be so inconceivable for such a true and simple communion to exist some day among all Russian people? I myself believe that it will come to pass and that the time is near at hand.

And I will say this of servants too. When I was young, I often grew angry when the cook served me a meal that was too hot or my orderly brought me my boots not properly polished. But the words I had heard from my brother as a child came back to me. “What have I done to deserve to be waited on? Why should another man serve me just because he is poor and ignorant?” And I was very puzzled: why is it that such simple, self-evident ideas take so long to occur to us? Since the world cannot exist without servants, you must see to it that your servant feels freer in spirit than if he were not a servant. And why shouldn’t I be my servant’s servant? Let him feel it. Let there be no pride on my part or distrust on his. Why shouldn’t my servant be like one of the family? Why shouldn’t I accept him as a member of it and rejoice in doing so? This could be achieved even now, but it would be only the beginning of the future great communion among men when, instead of wanting to turn other human beings into servants, a man will strive to become the servant of others, as the Gospels teach us. Or do you think it is a vain hope that one day man will find joy in noble deeds of light and mercy, rather than in the coarse pleasures he indulges in today—gluttony, fornication, ostentation, boasting, and envious vying with his neighbor? I am certain this is not a vain hope and that the day will come soon. Some may laugh and ask: “But when will it happen? Does it really look as though it ever will?” I believe we shall achieve it with the help of Christ. Why, there have been so many ideas in the history of man, ideas that would have seemed inconceivable ten years before, but that suddenly took root and flourished when, by some mysterious process, the time was ripe for them—and they quickly swept the earth. So it will be in Russia; our nation will be like a star shining over the world and people will say: “The stone that was rejected has now become the cornerstone of our edifice.”