Dionysios FarasiotisThe Gurus, the Young Man, and Elder Paisios

This is an amazing book for any one to read. It describes the typical way of human behavior. A person who grow up experiencing the light of Christ in the Eastern Orthodox Church, yet not was satisfied unless he also experiences the other sides of reality. This is the story of Adam in modern time. Of all the fruits, he chooses the one that was not for his benefits. He travels around the world to the land of angels and demons which is India. From my experience with Indians friends, I noticed their deep and sincere spiritual sensitivity. My Hindu friends are very loving, humble and devoted to their faith and religion. I also have very devoted Muslim friends and I can testify to their piety and devotion to Allah and their religion. So in summary, you can find people from all faiths and religious background of the highest ethical and moral behavior in India, Greece or any place in the world.Then what is different about people in the Eastern Orthodox faith, people like Fr. Paisios. It is not their miracles, or even their wisdom but it is their entire understanding of God, and His relationship to humanity. Christianity of the East is almost entirely different religion from that of its sister churches of the West. The center of the Christian life of the East is in Christ who is revealed to the "heart" of man. There is no guilt that you have to carry on your shoulder, no Hell that is designated to all "other" and no original sin. The simplicity and the love of God as manifested in the relationship between Fr. Paisios and the novice is a very simple reflection on the way treats us when we stray away.This is a very spiritual book for those who would like to understand the inner struggle for a "connection" with the divine.I was hesitant to buy that book because of the strong comment that was made against what was perceived as insult to a whole culture. However, I decided to order the book to decide for myself.If the small cultural biases (Greece versus India, Europeans versus Asians and Indians in particular) distract you from the spiritual message of that book, then you are being spiritual derailed for the essential message. To me Fr. Paisios does not represent the European high culture, but the simple culture of a simple Christian who trust in Christ for his salvation.When you come to the presence of Christ, then there is freedom, joy, peace and love. The opposite is also true when you are in the presence of demonic personality, enslavement, depression, confusion and of being judged. In Christ there is hope, and joy and He never judges those come to HimThis is wonderful and deep book for modern spiritual seekers who are looking for authentic Christianity.  The Gurus, the Young Man, and Elder Paisios

The book provides an honest and outstanding depiction of Elder Paisios as well as the journey of one man during his spiritual confusion. It is honest in the sense that at no point does he turn and start criticizing the other spiritual paths he explores nor does he start dogmatically contending they are inferior because they are not Orthodox. Indeed, unless you read the epilogue you would not even know definitively that he chooses Orthodoxy in the end.That is why the negative reviews of the book are somewhat astounding. The author never (EVER) criticizes Hinduism, witchcraft or any of the cults he becomes involved in nor does he characterize them for anything other than what they are. Witches worship the devil and his demons and people that follow a given yogi worship that person as a god and accept the Hindu gods and demons. Both are categorically opposed to Orthodox Christianity (but interestingly, as he finds, not so categorically opposed to one another) no matter how one (or some other reviewers) want to cut it. There is no balancing Orthodox Christian belief with this and no point criticizing the faith merely because it is not more accepting of it. After all, what sort of religion compromises its dogma merely to be accepting of another that is diametrically opposed to it (in turn, leaving its adherents flailing in the wind as it blows)? But that seems to be the point of the negative reviewers: they evidently see Hinduism as such a religion and criticize this book for not falsely depicting Orthodoxy as the same. (For those awake, that makes the above parallel to witchcraft all the more sensible.) Nonetheless, the author does not even go so far as to discuss this (apart from noting exceptional similarities between occult and Hindu symbolism on one of his trips) but even, to the surprise of many whom I know read it (including me), continues exploring Hinduism feeling he is not quite personally sure of whether to choose that religion versus Orthodoxy--even though he has already been privy to the power of Orthodoxy through Elder Paisios and a witness of scary experiences elsewhere.That makes the critiques here all the more false but also all the more expected. The book is about one man's journey for truth with his final choice being Orthodoxy and that obviously bothers some people. It is not a general statement about religion or religious dogma. If one has experience in witchcraft or Hinduism, for example, and one sees parallels, then that is all the more interesting and noteworthy. In any case, the author explores his choices thoroughly (much more so than I would have, given the same experiences) but comes to the conclusion that these other ways are not for him. Nonetheless, as he honestly depicts his personal experiences it becomes obvious what the other paths do not possess: Life/Humility/Love/Truth/Christ. And therein lies the Point. The author is seeking something that these other paths cannot possibly give (nor do they even promise to give) him: an answer to why he is here, a renewal of himself and the salvation of his soul. If the negative reviewers take offense at this specifically directed at Hinduism, it is because, apart from their narrow reading of the book as the cause, the author finds the particular promise that yoga gives "power", clarity of mind, peace and so forth to be incomparably weak relative to what he experiences when he is with Elder Paisios (which is the real power of Christ-like Love). In other words, he finds nothing new on his yoga journey relative to his other occult experiences yet, by contrast, finds everything unique, new and genuine on his Orthodox path. This can only be frustrating to readers that want (everyone) to believe that the exotic aura of yoga is a refresh and an improvement to what they ignorantly and incorrectly view as stale, western Christianity (Orthodoxy is not western). Reading with their eyes and hearts closed, however, they never see that the religion to which the author and many other Greeks, Russians, Serbs, etc. were born into is far from need of refresh.In any case, to clarify on another point, the author states at the outset in the preface that he uses pseudonyms for almost everyone in the book. So the claims that "his book must be fiction" because such names do not exist in the Hindu world--when, in fact, he is clearly being gracious to the yogis and other characters he met by not bringing negative publicity to them--suggests that, as a case in point, yoga is apparently not giving some of its followers here much clarity or power even to discern what has been written right before them.Buy the book for your journey and you will not be disappointed!

This book had me on the edge of my seat as I journeyed with Dionysios through his spiritual adventures in college, on the Holy Mountain (Athos), in India with highly respected gurus, and then back to the Holy Mountain. He is an extremely intelligent fellow and well educated fellow, but he longs for something deeper that cannot be provided from books and intellectual discussion.In this book, you will catch glimpses of the depth of darkness and delusion that the young man faces in his various spiritual experiments with attacks from demonic forces and people influenced by them.On the other side of the spectrum, he receives amazing experiences of the Divine Light of Christ in addition to many spiritual interactions of the senses. And that is where my warning comes in. Much like The Way of a Pilgrim, if someone is new to Orthodoxy, this may create an expectation that if they pray a little they too will experience the Light of Tabor, see miraculous events, and be able to experience the same things as this author.Those who cease to seek Christ and begin seeking experiences, or seek Christ in hope of some spiritual "high" will either end up frustrated and eventually abandon the faith or they will receive spiritual experiences that are not necessarily from Christ. The beautiful experiences of the author are a gift of grace from God, as are all of the experiences that we have during pure prayer (whether a sense of peace, tears, or something more sensational).Overall, I would still highly recommend this book. It is a good reminder of the depths and reality that we can enter into through Christ, and that we are not participating in a dead faith, but rather one that is very much alive and working beautiful wonders in the lives of people all over the world.

Clement of Alexandria is a good saint for the holy ones

One of the biggest Greek Orthodox prophets and Saints of our century. May Saint Paisios intercede for us to Lord. Amen 🙏🏼✝️

This is a very powerful story of one man’s very fair and open mindedness towards both Eastern Christian Orthodoxy and Indian Spirituality that takes him on an incredible journey that not only found the latter wanting, but was able to definitively determine that Indian Spirituality was demonic at its root with clear examples of why it became evidently so to him.In contrast, through Elder Paisios’s guidance, the spiritual insights he received about mysteries of Jesus Christ, as well as the mystical experiences he underwent, left him with no doubt that Jesus Christ is the true God Man and that Eastern Christian Orthodoxy was the only Religion that gave him the peace, love, strength, understanding, we’ll as many other virtues, that were truly authentic and brought him closer to the Triune God as well as the Pure Virgin Mary.This book is a must read for all Eastern Orthodox Christians, Catholics, Protestants, non Christians, even atheists, for all who are seeking the path to truth which ultimately leads to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, as well as the special role the Pure Virgin Mary has to play the reality of life.I’m inspired and on fire spiritually after reading this gift of a book. I am absolutely certain you will feel the same.

A must read for Christians and any one aspiring to become a monk or lead a more faithful life. I find it for all partial purposes a nourishing book to read

This book relates the author's expeiences of both Hindu 9and withcraft) and orthodox Christianity. Within these he has seen many things which raders who have not participated in them may wonder as to their reality. In fact the events described are undoubtbly true, and the reviewer who previously accused the author of fantasising the whole story simply hasn't experienced these things for himself. It is written in a very simple, straightforward style and is a fascinating account of how the author recognised much in Hinduism as demonically inspired. The accounts of his experiences with Elder Paisios (now Saint Paisios) are very moving and inspiring. If anyone who is searching for truth and has not yet found God this book could act as a safeguard and warning against wandering down the wrong paths. In our politically correct world it is refreshing to read someone calling a spade a spade.