Nevertheless, you know, flies have something enviable. With cold weather’s arrival, not all flies die between your window frames. Some of them find secluded places and go beddy-bye for the winter. Flies’ lifetimes are short by human reckoning. Imagine if you slept through thirty or fifty years! How great it would be to wake up and see an absolutely different life! To feel delight for the accomplishments of scientists and engineers, accomplishments beyond your dreams! To see, finally, how human society transformed, to what extent it became more spiritual and kind! Oh, how marvelous it would be. But unfortunately, I am not a fly.
Words of Soul
Look at me and smile. But please be silent. Then I shall easily be able to hear the voice of your soul. If you start speaking with earthly words, you will spoil everything. After all, a word is false if it is spoken. As for words of the soul, it is impossible to utter them or inscribe them. But it is possible to hear them with the heart. For this, lips must be joined while thoughts are stopped.
The way souls speak is very similar to the way that one soul is similar to another. People differ in their experiences, views, and customs. For me, this is not interesting. I enjoy the angelic sameness of souls, their paradisiac clarity, and their sweet songs, which are impossible for earthly beings to sing. This is why I say, “Look at me, be silent, and smile.” I shall do the same. The happiness will have no end, because it had no beginning.
Opinion Poll
A student decided to write an article describing the notion of paradise as it is understood by common people. He read about paradise in the Bible, the Koran, and Buddhist writings. And then he went out to the streets to ask people what they thought. This is what his compatriots said:
“Paradise is a place where all girls attend my desires,” a young man said.
“Paradise is a garden where narcotic drugs hang on every twig, where one need not go to school and can play computer games all day long,” a teenager said.
“Paradise is unlimited sex without the danger of getting sick or pregnant. It is many free pleasures – clubs, restaurants, dresses, beauty salons, and so on. You understand,” said a girl, letting her dreams fly.
“In paradise, there is a lot of free alcohol, and one can drink it without getting drunk,” a middle-aged man told the student.
“In paradise, people work one day and rest for six, and wages are three times higher than ours,” a worker said.
“Paradise is unlimited power over people,” a politician said.
“Paradise is a country where it is possible to cash in on and seize someone else’s assets without fear of retaliation and the necessity of tax payments,” said an entrepreneur.
“Paradise is a life of ease in the West,” a woman said, sharing her innermost dream.
“Paradise is a triumph of liberty, equality, and brotherhood,” a member of the Masonic lodge proclaimed.
“In paradise I will be the one who is right, while all the rest of the people will be fools,” a truth seeker replied. “And I will be able to force them to accept my truth, because my truth is noble and promotes higher justice and social prosperity.”
“Paradise on earth is a triumph of Christian faith,” a monk told the student.
“Paradise is a state of infinite happiness after death – if a person kept God’s commandments during his lifetime,” a churchgoer said.
“Paradise is a nondrinking husband and healthy children,” a homemaker said confidently.
“Paradise is a life with two legs,” a legless cripple avowed.
“Paradise is a place of peace and health, where one need not pay off his apartment or buy drugs and food,” a retiree grumbled.
The student wrote these responses in his notebook. It turned out that according to people’s representation, paradise was a country of debauchery, health, richness, idleness, narcomania, alcoholism, permissiveness, and broken families, although some people wanted to impose on others a personal power, a private truth, or a moral or religious commandment. But that would hardly be allowed, the student concluded, because those who wished debauchery were the overwhelming majority. And with great relish, he waded into his article.
Space Full of Light
Everyone is convinced that space is black. But this is true only for the physical vision.
Once I slept peacefully in a nebula. I was like an embryo in a womb, and the great mother lulled me with her love and a soundless angelic song.
I was immobile. But it seemed to me that I was swaying in a paradisiac cradle – what happiness! – and I understood that I was an ancient baby, not yet born but knowing everything.
My eyelids were closed. But with my spiritual eyes, I saw the infinity surrounding me. It was blue-black and illuminated by myriads of stars.
It seemed that it would always be this way. But suddenly, instantaneously, the space became glaringly yellow-white. The space flared up with truly divine enjoyment and exaltation. And what was surprising was that the stars contrived to glow in this impossible shining! They became even whiter and more piercing! Everything sang and sounded in a spiritual way, and at the same time, it impressed with the silence of eternity.
“Almighty God, let it be always,” I whispered with my spiritual lips.
And heaven smiled at me in reply.
There’s Happiness, and Then There’s Happiness
A man worked unremittingly. In front of him, he saw only earth. He always did everything well. And there was no need to look at heaven. He was happy.
Another man dreamed more than he worked. His purposes were elevated. But ill luck pursued him in all his endeavors. The man did not realize that he acted wrongly. So he blamed an imperfection of earth for his failures. Then this man appealed to heaven in the way widely accepted on earth. The ill luck continued pursuing him. And the man gave himself completely to heaven. This is where he found his happiness.
Both the man devoted to earth and the man devoted to heaven wrote books with instructions on how to be happy. The first man’s book was printed all over the world and earned him a huge profit. As for the second man’s book, people made brutal fun of it, although both books were about paths to happiness. This is because there’s happiness, and then there’s another happiness.
How Planet U Perished
The Most High populated planet U with intellectual trees and unthinking, anthropomorphic beings. The trees considered the anthropomorphic beings to be their little brothers and took care of them as best as they could.
In their turn, the anthropomorphic ones uglified the surface of planet U. With a vengeance, they struggled to clog it; in short, they behaved like earth’s babies. Among other things, the anthropomorphic ones made the planet’s air unbreathable. And moreover, they even destroyed the trees! When it came to respect for trees, the anthropomorphic ones had nothing of the kind. The anthropomorphic ones spit at the base of trees; in the same places, they threw their cigarette stubs. They broke branches, tore off leaves, and carved their names into the trees’ bark. It was terrible!
Honestly speaking,