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While one passion or another remains unresolved within us, it is useless to try to banish it. Despite all efforts, it persists, sometimes lying hidden in the shadows of the soul, for it cannot be destroyed. By the law of the spirit, our passions are subject not to destruction but to transformation. Every human passion has two poles: one rooted in our animal nature and self-centeredness, the other, opposite, in our divine nature. The conscious movement of all desires, inclinations, qualities, and passions from the lower pole to the higher constitutes the essence of a person’s inner progress, their journey toward spirituality and perfection. This is why it is futile to try to kill passions. Passions are immortal; they can only be purified and elevated, transformed from animalistic to human, and from human to divine. This transformation occurs gradually, through suffering and joy, through struggle and the trials of numerous earthly incarnations, or by an accelerated, intensely demanding inner labor, burning away all impure remnants of passion – a path attainable only by a rare few of strong spirit, far ahead of others.

© Elena Pisareva