Monk's Life E01: How the Journey Started - CYC

Summary

Father Lazarus shares his transformative spiritual journey, from growing up in a Protestant family to rejecting religion as hypocritical, influenced by Freud and Marx. Initially a materialist, he sought peace through intellectual and worldly means but found none. A pivotal experience with death challenged his views, prompting a deep spiritual awakening. Ultimately, he embraced the Coptic Christian faith and its mysticism, tracing his path back to St. Anthony and the monastic tradition. His story illustrates the power of personal experience in shaping faith and the search for true inner peace.

Takeaways

• 😀 Father Lazarus has been living in the Mountain of Saint Anthony since 1996, and shares his journey with viewers of CYC, a Christian Coptic Youth Channel.
• 😀 He was raised in a Protestant family, with a father who was a strong Methodist and a mother sympathetic to Roman Catholicism.
• 😀 Growing up, Father Lazarus observed that many religious people were hypocritical, living immoral lives despite attending church, while non-churchgoers were kind and generous.
• 😀 His early experiences led him to dismiss religion, viewing it as hypocritical and shallow, and he began to believe that faith was disconnected from personal behavior.
• 😀 Father Lazarus’s intellectual influences came from Sigmund Freud and Karl Marx, both of whom rejected religion, seeing it as a psychological crutch and a fantasy for those lacking personal power.
• 😀 He adopted a materialistic worldview, believing that life was a physical phenomenon and that death marked the end of existence, with no continuation after death.
• 😀 His materialist beliefs were reinforced by his experiences working in a hospital, where he encountered death firsthand, especially the lifelessness of a young girl who passed away from elephantiasis.
• 😀 Despite his skepticism, Father Lazarus was on a personal quest for inner peace, though he found that conventional paths—such as wealth, Eastern practices, or drugs—failed to bring him peace.
• 😀 He observed that many people, including himself, were searching for peace, but it always seemed elusive, like a mirage that moves further away the closer one gets.
• 😀 Father Lazarus created a personal philosophy by combining ideas from Marx, Freud, and English Romantic poets, which explained life materialistically and saw death as the final end, without any spiritual continuation.

Q & A

What is Father Lazarus's background before joining the monastic life?

Father Lazarus was born into a Protestant family, with his father being a strong Methodist. His mother was more sympathetic to the Roman Catholic Church. Growing up, he was skeptical of religion, seeing a disconnect between faith and personal behavior.

How did Father Lazarus initially view religion?

He initially viewed religion as hypocritical, seeing many people who attended church but lived morally inconsistent lives. He struggled to reconcile faith with personal behavior and was influenced by the thoughts of Freud and Marx, who rejected religion as a fantasy.

What were the two key influences on Father Lazarus's early thought?

The two key influences were Sigmund Freud, who saw religion as a psychological crutch, and Karl Marx, who viewed it as an illusion people use to cope with their lack of power.

What was Father Lazarus’s perspective on miracles and the laws of nature?

Father Lazarus acknowledged miracles but was initially skeptical of them, emphasizing the importance of respecting natural laws. He believed that there were still aspects of nature, like black holes and quarks, that humanity did not fully understand.

How did Father Lazarus perceive the search for inner peace in the world?

He saw the search for inner peace as a universal human condition. Many people sought peace through material wealth, various methods of meditation, or drug-assisted states, but Father Lazarus found that true peace was elusive through these means.

What philosophy did Father Lazarus create for himself during his earlier years?

Father Lazarus developed a philosophy combining Marx's materialism, Freud's psychology, and the poetry of English romantics like Byron, Shelley, and Keats. He believed life had a natural origin and purpose, but that death was the end of everything, with no afterlife.

How did Father Lazarus describe his experience with death while working in hospitals?

Father Lazarus worked in hospitals during his university summer vacations, where he had to transport deceased patients to the morgue. He recounts a poignant experience with a girl who had died from elephantiasis, which solidified his materialistic view that death was the end of personality and life.

What event led Father Lazarus to question his materialistic beliefs?

Father Lazarus’s eventual journey to the monastic life and his encounter with Coptic mysticism led him to reconsider his materialistic beliefs. He was drawn to the spiritual teachings of the desert fathers, particularly the inheritance of Coptic mysticism.

What is Father Lazarus's current view on religion and faith?

Father Lazarus’s current view on religion is deeply rooted in Coptic mysticism. He believes in the transformative power of faith and sees his journey as a path to finding deeper spiritual truths, which contrasts with his earlier materialistic and skeptical outlook.

How does Father Lazarus describe the connection between his early life and his spiritual calling?

Father Lazarus attributes his calling to the mountain of Saint Anthony as part of the inheritance of Coptic mysticism, which he believes was a guiding force in his life. His early disillusionment with religion led him to seek something deeper, eventually leading him to monasticism.