Spiritual Practice School

● Asuras ; superhumans, demons, rakshas, devils (the word "bes" in Russian can mean both a devil and a precognition). The realm is formed by pride. In the world of asuras, pride is revered as a virtue. The realm is linked to the vishuddha-chakra. Rajas energy predominates here. Upon rebirth, this world appears red. The socio-economic system here is socialism. In European culture, little is known about the levels of asuras and pretas, so when describing various spiritual experiences, they are often lumped together into a single realm – hell. This is a significant error. Asuras come to hell only as part of their duty, not because they belong to that level. For comparison: humans enter a forest – essentially the animal realm – but do not belong to the animal world. Another illustration: prison guards in the human world are ordinary, capable citizens, despite being physically present in a prison, unlike the imprisoned inmates. Similarly, certain asuras and material gods, including Yama and Mara, visit hell as wardens, not because they are bound to hell, but because they perform an essential public service: they help purify the karma of fallen souls. Various extraterrestrials who appear on flying saucers are also asuras. The supreme ruler of the asura realm is the Devil. The Devil, Mara, King Mara, the Prince of Darkness – all are one and the same. The Devil is not the highest ruler of the material world (Vasavartin), as mistakenly believed in some religions. Nor is the Devil, as most sources claim, a deva from either the higher or lower material heavens. This misconception arises because Mara, when appearing in visions to people, prefers to exaggerate his true level, pretending to be the ruler of the entire world (a complete lie, deception, bluff, falsehood). Mara’s uncontrollable pride and vanity compel him to dazzle others and pretend to be higher gods. Mara is the greatest liar in the entire universe. No wonder he is also called Satan. Satan means “slanderer of the Truth” – one who claims the Truth is not Truth, and falsehood is Truth. Mara may even pretend to be the Almighty or the Absolute. It should also be noted that the evil Devil, reveling in the suffering of souls, is a fictional character invented by people – having nothing to do with reality. In truth, Mara merely cares that souls cleanse their bad karma as quickly as possible. Usually, when a person dies, Mara is the first visitor – suddenly appearing, startling the person, and offering them the chance to become ruler of the world. Therefore, a person should be ready at the moment of death with the phrase: “no” (46).

● People. Humans. The realm is formed by emotional attachment. In the human world, emotional attachment is regarded as a virtue. The realm is linked to the anahata-chakra. Sattva energy predominates here. Upon rebirth, this world appears blue; (47).

● Pretas. Hungry ghosts. The realm is formed by greed. In the preta world, avarice is regarded as a virtue. The realm is linked to the manipura-chakra. Sattva energy predominates here. Upon rebirth, this world appears yellow, like sand. This realm is well described in Yulia Voznesenskaya’s book My Posthumous Adventures. European authors, when describing the preta realm, often confuse it and label it as hell. How does the preta realm differ from hell? Hell is pain – either from cold, heat, cuts, blows, or other causes – in all cases, it is physical pain. In the preta realm, such intense pain does not exist. The preta realm is called the world of hungry spirits. It would be more accurate to call it the world of global dissatisfaction. If hell is a terrible realm, the preta realm is merely a gloomy one. The preta realm resembles the world of homeless people on a garbage dump. Often, sources place the preta realm below the animal realm. This is an error, stemming from the confusion between geographical and spiritual hierarchy. In this classification, realms are arranged not by geography but by spiritual level. Therefore, pretas are placed above animals because, unlike animals, pretas possess primitive speech, basic consciousness, and rudimentary reasoning. Moreover, descriptions indicate that pretas even have organized labor. In one account, overseers forced groups of pretas to build a road with a special surface, then immediately dismantle it – a seemingly absurd cycle justified as a solution to unemployment. Despite their lower spiritual level compared to humans, pretas possess illusion-based technologies, including hypnosis and magic; (48).

● Animals. The realm is formed by ignorance. In the animal world, the law of survival prevails. The realm is linked to the svadisthana-chakra. Tamas energy predominates here. Upon rebirth, this world appears green. Some spiritual and philosophical schools regard the animal world as a model of harmony, the highest perfection of creation. However, closer examination reveals this view is flawed. The main dissonance, for example, is that the souls of animals killed for food are forced to suffer. In Abrahamic religions, it is believed that fish and insects have no souls and therefore do not suffer when slaughtered, making their killing no sin, no accumulation of killing karma. This is a deeply tragic misconception; (49).

● Hell. The realm is formed by hatred. The realm is linked to the muladhara-chakra. Rajas energy predominates here. Upon rebirth, this world appears black. If a person likes the color black, prefers to wear black, or unconsciously notices black objects first, this indicates their next rebirth will be in hell. Hell beings endure intense and prolonged physical suffering. Unlike humans, they do not lose consciousness even under unbearable pain. In hell, beings fear the destruction of hell itself and hate death most of all – a paradox that, upon sober reflection, reveals a striking similarity among all beings of the world of manifestation; (50).

The classification of the middle causal realms resembles that of the upper astral realms. The classification of the lower causal and lower astral realms resembles that of the world of manifestation.

Law of Karma

The word karma is translated as action or deed.

Every deed a person performs carries consequences. If your action causes suffering to another being, you will inevitably experience that same suffering yourself. If your action brings joy to someone, you will also experience that same joy. Neutral actions lead to neutral outcomes. With rare exceptions, karma returns in exact proportion – one to one.

From this law follows the principle of the pendulum: every pleasure is balanced by an equal measure of future suffering. The greater the pleasure one indulges in, the stronger the suffering that will later come. This is sometimes called the “Zebra Principle” – after every white stripe of happiness in life, a black stripe of pain is bound to follow.

Merit, or punya, is accumulated through good deeds performed toward beings who are spiritually or morally superior. The highest merit comes from devotion to the Highest God or the Absolute. Spiritual practice is the most powerful way to accumulate such merit. A person who becomes a monk and lives a sincere monastic life generates great merit – so much so that the lifespan of their parents increases by an average of 20 percent.

Most people live ordinary lives and gradually waste their stored merit. This is why many are unusually lucky and successful in youth, but lose that fortune in later years. Luck is not random – it is the fruit of past merit. The main ways people deplete their merit are through sexual pleasure and the indulgence of taste. Any enjoyment – of food, of sensations, of life itself – consumes merit. The more one delights in worldly experiences, the faster one’s spiritual reserves are spent.

All animals – beasts, birds, fish, and insects – possess souls. When they are harmed or killed, they suffer and try to escape. They cry out if they can, twist away, struggle. This very reaction – the instinct to avoid pain – is the clearest sign of a living soul. It is by this criterion that animals must be distinguished from plants.

Plants, including trees and fungi, do not possess souls and therefore do not experience suffering. They do not flee, do not cry, do not resist harm. Yet, both humans and plants are living organisms, and so harming a plant still creates a karmic imprint – specifically, the karma of damaging one’s own body or organism. Moreover, certain trees and plants serve as homes for devas or nature spirits. Destroying such beings may therefore also generate the karma of destroying a dwelling.

Stones have no soul and are not alive. They do not react to harm, for they are not sentient.

Nearly all diseases are the result of karma. Each illness corresponds to a specific type of past action. Cancer, for instance, arises from the karma of greed – the location of the tumor depending on the nature of that greed. Toothache is often the result of slander or harsh speech. Allergies and asthma may stem from the use of chemicals to kill insects – a subtle but real karmic debt.

In war, a soldier accumulates full karmic responsibility for every life he takes. The idea that a commander or national leader can take on that karma, freeing the soldier from guilt, is a falsehood – a dangerous manipulation. The only merit a soldier may gain in such a situation is from serving someone who himself possesses great merit.

A woman who refrains from seeking pleasure in sex will experience little or no pain during childbirth. Her suffering is directly linked to past indulgence.

The exceptional beauty of Russian women is said to result from the vast merit accumulated by their ancestors. Much of this was earned during the Soviet era, through sacrifice, discipline, and collective labor – actions that, though not always recognized as spiritual, still carried deep karmic weight.

Vegetarianism

Within Buddhism, there has long been a debate about whether buying meat constitutes the karma of killing. Some schools have answered this question in the affirmative. However, a considerable number of schools have answered it in the negative. In particular, Tibetan Buddhism has taken a fairly firm stance in favour of the latter view. From the perspective of the second point of view, the following argument is typically put forward.

Imagine a pig. Suppose this pig is wandering somewhere in the mountains, and suddenly a large boulder falls from a cliff and kills it. Now imagine that a monk is travelling in the same mountains and comes across this fresh carcass. The monk, so that nothing goes to waste, prepares and eats the pig. Does the monk accumulate the karma of killing through this action? All schools unanimously answer this specific question with a no: the monk does not accumulate the karma of killing, since he does nothing that could have influenced the animal’s death. And if one asks what caused the animal’s death, everyone logically explains that it was simply the manifestation of the animal’s own karma.

Now imagine that a certain homeowner invites a monk to visit, intending to treat him to whatever God provides. Suppose the monk accepts but promises to come not today but the next day. The homeowner, for such an occasion, slaughters a pig and prepares pork for the monk’s arrival the following day. The question arises: does the monk in this case accumulate the karma of killing? All schools unanimously answer this question in this second scenario with a yes: the monk accumulates the karma of killing, since in this case the animal was killed for his sake. And therefore, when a monk is offered an animal that was killed for his benefit, the monk must refuse the meat – and by doing so, he will thus avoid accumulating the karma of killing.

Next, let us consider the original controversial case – the third scenario: the case where a butcher kills a pig in order to later deliver the meat to a store for sale.

Here is the reasoning of Tibetan Buddhism. Why does this pig die? Just as in the case of the boulder, the pig encounters circumstances of irresistible force. And just as in the boulder case, it dies due to its own karma. The only difference is what or who manifests the karma for this animal: in the first case it was a boulder, in the third case it is the butcher. Of course, the butcher himself in this case does accumulate the karma of killing. But what about the karma of the buyer in this third scenario? He walks through the store, sees already‑dead meat, and buys it. Whether he buys this meat or not, nothing will change for this particular pig: it was already dead, and it will remain dead. That is, it is exactly the same as in the first case with the boulder. Thus, the case of buying meat in a store is identical to the boulder case; consequently, just as in the boulder scenario, the buyer does not accumulate the karma of killing. This is how Tibetan Buddhism reasons.

However, this reasoning is flawed. In reality, the opposite is true: the case of buying meat is identical to the second scenario, where the homeowner killed the pig for the guest. The homeowner kills the pig for the monk. If the monk were not expected to come, the pig would have remained alive. It is exactly the same in the case of the store. The butcher kills the pig for the buyer: if the buyer were not expected to come, the pig would have remained alive. The difference between these two cases lies only in the fact that in the store scenario, the actor is not a specific individual but a community. That is, the global community of all butchers kills pigs for the global community of all those who buy and eat this meat. If there were no such consumers of pork, then butchers would not kill pigs.

Therefore, when a buyer walks through a store, sees meat, and buys it, they automatically become part of this community – the community of meat consumers. And accordingly, since through their purchase they automatically join this community for whose sake these pigs are killed, they naturally accumulate some karma of killing these animals. To put it even more simply: when a buyer purchases a chicken in a store, they reduce the store’s stock of chickens by one. This information is automatically transmitted from the store to the butcher. And the butcher, upon learning that a shortage of chickens has appeared in the store, kills the next chicken. Thus, by buying a chicken in the store, the buyer automatically triggers the mechanism of killing the next chicken. That is, the buyer is not the cause of death for the very chicken they bought, but for the next one.

The above reasoning, of course, does not mean that all the karma of killing a chicken shifts from the butcher to the buyer. No. The butcher still bears nearly all the karma for killing the animals they slaughter. The above reasoning merely indicates that the buyer of this meat also bears some portion of the karma of this killing.

Worldly Desires

Everything that directs a person away from their true self, from their True Ego, from the Absolute, and towards the external world, towards samsara, is called worldly desires. Worldly desires are the cause of all suffering. Worldly desires are opposite to the desire for spiritual growth.

The fewer worldly desires a person has, the more beautiful their appearance.

The fewer worldly desires a person has, the higher their overall level of health.

The fewer worldly desires a person has, the longer they live.

The fewer worldly desires a person has, the fewer stresses they experience and the lower their overall stress level.

The fewer worldly desires a person has, the fewer stresses they have, and as a result, the less they need food – which, for the most part, serves as a way to cope with stress through eating.

The fewer worldly desires a person has, the calmer they are.

The fewer worldly desires a person has, the calmer they are, and the better their reaction time – which gives them greater chances of survival in unforeseen circumstances. Also, a good reaction is a key factor that enables a person to win in a fight or in martial arts.

The fewer worldly desires a person has, the more successful they are in their professional, scientific, or athletic pursuits.

The fewer worldly desires a person has, the more adequately they perceive reality.

The fewer worldly desires a person has, the shorter their sleep.

The fewer worldly desires a person has, the stronger their willpower.

The stronger a person’s willpower, the fewer worldly desires they have.

The ability to endure pain varies. Some people have a low pain threshold, while others have a high one. One of the main factors influencing the level of a person’s pain threshold is the level of their worldly desires. The fewer worldly desires a person has, the higher their pain threshold.

The fewer worldly desires a person has, the greater their merit.

The fewer worldly desires a person has, the higher their spiritual level.

The desire to accumulate merit, the desire for spiritual growth, the desire to engage in spiritual practice, the desire to observe the precepts, the desire to follow the Dharma, the desire to live according to conscience, the desire to save others – all these are not worldly desires.

Any music – Bach (whether dull pieces or popular ones), Beethoven, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, pop music, classical music, variety music, church music, spiritual music, even a church choir, even spiritual songs, even mantras performed to music – all of this is created for the sake of pleasure. Spas, pulp fiction, tourism, travel, adventures, extreme sports, sunsets and sunrises, watching animals, the sound of rain, birdsong, poetry, ballet, opera, any forms of entertainment, any spectacles, fireworks, parades, holidays, festive demonstrations, amusement rides, dancing, puzzles, crosswords, any sport, any games, socializing – all of these are either pleasure itself or created for the sake of pleasure. Any art serves the purpose of providing pleasure, not culture. Any visual art – with the exception of theatre and literature – serves solely and exclusively the purpose of providing pleasure. Theatre and literature, while relying on a persons inclination towards this kind of pleasure, can in principle sometimes perform not only a pleasurable function but also an educational one. Similarly, any gamebased or theatrebased teaching methods use students inclination to seek pleasure for educational purposes. A person eats for the sake of pleasure. If a person ate not for pleasure but merely to sustain life, they would eat much less frequently and in far smaller quantities. Pleasure permeates all spheres of human life: from basic bodily sensations to complex spiritual experiences. The craving for pleasure is one of the strongest worldly desires a person has.

Meaning of Life

The meaning of life lies in spiritual growth.

A person is born, lives, grows up, and dies. Then their soul is reborn in a new body – and this continues almost endlessly. This is called the cycle of samsara. If a person strives for spiritual liberation in each of their lives, they will eventually be able to break free from the cycle of samsara. If a person does not seek spiritual liberation, with each subsequent life they come closer and closer to the world of hell.

In Buddhism, the collective of all people who seek spiritual liberation is usually called the “stream of Truth” or the “ascending stream”. The collective of all those who do not seek liberation and spend their lives pursuing false goals is called the “descending stream”. The descending stream consists of people who mistakenly believe that the purpose of life is supposedly to obtain pleasures, that one should simply live and enjoy life. In our time (the early 21st century), the ratio between the ascending stream and the descending stream is approximately one to a thousand.

In Hinduism and Buddhism there exists the concept of Dharma – the universal law of existence. In the East, it is more common to follow Dharma rather than the Law of Karma. The saying goes: “Dharma protects those who protect Dharma”.

The vast majority of people both in the East and around the world try to build their lives in a way that, as much as possible, aligns with Dharma – or, in ordinary terms, does not go against conscience. However, unfortunately, few people understand what Dharma truly is. Few understand what is truly harmful.

The vast majority consider Dharma to be whatever is commonly accepted as Dharma. Most people take as life guideposts whatever is commonly accepted as such. Few realise that what is commonly accepted is in fact erroneous. Few understand that what is commonly accepted is in fact harmful.

On the contrary, the First Right Law of Dharma is the Law of Liberation from Worldly Desires: “Worldly desires are the cause of all suffering”. The Second Right Law of Dharma is the Law of Karma. As for further Right Laws of Dharma, one may consider the Eight Karunas (see the chapter “Message to the Seven Churches”).

Dharma is not limited to just these ten laws. This entire book should be regarded as a “School of Right Dharma”.

To live freely and unbound, one must attain liberation.

Law of Projection

Any thought has power. Any image manifests in reality.

A weak single image manifests as imperceptible consequences.

A strong image manifests as a tangible reality.

A special case of a strong image’s manifestation is when a person conceives something and then brings this idea to life. This is usually called creation.

The gods always have very strong images. Therefore, their images are life‑giving.

A strong, repeated collective image manifests as a real, inevitable event.

An extremely strong thought can give rise to life.

Meditation of becoming is precisely one of the ways to make one’s thought strong and repeated.

The Law of Karma and the Law of Projection are interconnected. The greater a person’s merit, the more their consciousness manifests.

Law of Resonance

When people are near each other or touch each other, they experience the same emotion, the same feeling. Another name for this law is interpersonal identification. This law is sometimes also interpreted as the crowd effect. The crowd effect is a specific case of the Law of Resonance. This law operates in any human interaction – even when people are at a great distance from each other, even when communication takes place via telephone, mail, or the internet.

When touching another person, one’s state is transmitted – but not karma. Due to the Law of Resonance, it may seem that by touching another person one can transfer their karma to them, or, conversely, take their karma for oneself. However, this is not the case. Karma is not transferred in this way. Karma cannot be transferred at all. No one can take on another’s karma. On extremely rare occasions, certain individuals such as Buddhas – who are fundamentally free from any karma – may take on another’s karma. But this is a highly exceptional circumstance.

The Question of Primacy

Being determines consciousness – and consciousness determines being. These are two sides of a single dialectical principle.

Illustration of the first: Being determines consciousness. A person has an innate desire to live. To survive, a person carefully studies the things on which their life depends. One such thing is their mother. A person studies their mother very closely, striving to understand what their mother is thinking and what their mother wants from them. As a result, the person develops an internal image – an image of their mother. In seeking to understand their mother more deeply, the person tries to imitate their mother’s actions and repeats what their mother says. Through this, the person learns to speak. And by mastering speech, they also master the thinking that underlies it. That is – being determines consciousness.