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I am an Orthodox Christian. My day begins with prayer, as soon as possible after I wake up. Prayer consists of reading (or reciting) prayers from a prayer book,

• friendly_chap 5y ago
  Wow! As someone who at some point in life was intensely meditating (nowadays less so) your routine reminds me of my habits, ie. falling asleep meditating vs praying etc, meditating upon waking up etc. Interesting how we can be so different yet similar!
  • paxcoder 5y ago
• febin 5y ago
  A fellow orthodox christian here. I have been trying to cultivate the habit of Jesus prayer. But the journey is a struggle. However, even in the fallen attempts to walk the orthodox way of life I occasionally sense the joy and warmth described in the spiritual texts about Jesus Prayer. Thus motivating me to continue the path. Please remember me in your prayers :)
  • prometheus76 5y ago
    At first I used an app on my phone to send myself random reminders to say the Jesus Prayer throughout the day. That really helped spur the habit along. Now, I am almost always saying it while I'm driving, or if I'm doing chores around the house, or if I'm walking around somewhere. At first, it felt a little odd, but now I find it much more rewarding than just letting my brain wander around in a forest of nonsense and ego-focused self-reflection.
• raptorraver 5y ago
  Great to see other Orthodox Christians at HN! Already posted quite similar reply to this thread. Especially the "healed my family" -part is something I can really relate to. We've been part of the church for 11 years now but were again quite "deep in the world" before I did a pilgrimage to mt. Athos at 2019. That trip really changed everything for us. It was there that I realized that what Church teaches is the Truth and reality, not just some beautiful and consolating stories, but something to live and die for. After that we've been tied tight to the Church and have been blessed with a good spiritual father who has helped us set our path straight again. God bless you and your family!
  • prometheus76 5y ago
    Glory to God! I agree with you about the reality of Christianity. It took a long time (and I'm still working on it) for me to see the broken nature of my materialist viewpoints. By "broken" I mean there were SO many facets of my life as a human that I could not account for materialistically without invoking magic words like "emergence". Reading the Life of Moses by St. Gregory of Nyssa is what really started helping me understand the traditional worldview, and thereby understand scripture as well. I would like to go to Mt Athos soon, but international travel is getting more and more tricky.
• eatYourFood 5y ago
  Jesus Christ, this is the kind of thing you read in the newspaper where some crazy religious guy kidnaps his family on a remote ranch and rapes them all. You’re torturing your family, wrapping them in a small bubble of a fantasy world. This extreme level of religious living is outright child abuse.
  • dang 5y ago
    We've banned this account. You can't attack others like that here (and you've unfortunately don't it before, though this level of aggression is...noteworthy). If you don't want to be banned, you're welcome to email hn@ycombinator.com and give us reason to believe that you'll follow the rules in the future. They're here: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html.
    • eatYourFood 5y ago
• hycaria 5y ago
  This sounds crazy to me, mostly regarding the amount of time all this must take.
  • prometheus76 5y ago
    How much time do you spend on social media (including youtube and HN)? How much time do you spend watching tv? How much time do you spend watching sports? I have shifted my attention to what is most important, doing these spiritual practice things first, and letting those other activities slot in around the time. Our lives are basically determined by what we put our attention on, so why not give the prime real estate to what is most important? We are all going to die. It's best to confront that reality each day and make peace with it in a ritualistic way that also brings meaning to each day. I didn't start doing all of that overnight, by the way. I worked with my spiritual father on a pathway that started very simply, and this is my current level of participation, but I am sure it will continue to grow and change over time.
    • hycaria 5y ago
      Not that much. I especially hate youtube and will read over watch a video any time of the day, I do not have instagram, I do not own cable tv, I do not watch sports. But to give more insight into what motivates me in life, I have been blessed with the love of nature and animals especially, own pets, taking care of which is a daily time and money sink, but also without fail gets me outside each day of the year and in a good mood and shape, and allows me some peaceful moments where I do not think about anything else than the present moment and some kind of nature "communion" of sorts, around pets and nature. And I sincerely think it is a blessing, as I think I have a rather simple and happy life, and haven't been distraught durably for years. I feel for all the stressed people out there that do not have such an easy way to relax.
      • prometheus76 5y ago
        I agree that communion with nature is really important. Noticing beauty in nature is especially helpful. I am happy you are finding the joy in simplicity. I'm still cultivating that virtue.
• andrei_says_ 5y ago
  How did this practice heal your life? And how does it influence who you are / your state of being outside of the time you’re actively praying or performing a specific ritual - the rest of the day? Also, do you feel that the actions you describe change the quality of your thinking or perception of yourself and reality? How?
  • prometheus76 5y ago
    You're asking some big questions, and they're good questions, and I'll assume you're asking in good faith and do my best to answer. Before I became an Orthodox Christian, the best way to describe my worldview and mindset was "scattered and easily distracted". I have always pursued whatever I thought was interesting, but never had a cohesive worldview. I would jump and flit from topic to topic without having any way of incorporating what I learned into a daily practice and worldview. I swore constantly, was careless in my relationships, and frequently offended people around me, including my loved ones. I was a consumer and was very alienated from the world around me and from my loved ones. I lived a very atomized life where I was convinced that my actions didn't affect anyone but me. Very much an individualist. Since becoming Christian and realizing there is an objective reality, that my actions affect others, and their actions affect me, and that I will die sooner or later, my life has come into sharper focus. I understand much more clearly now that if you want to change the world and help with the healing process, the best place to start is in your own home, with how you treat your loved ones, and how you take care of your home. Also, another important perspective from Orthodox Christianity, and one of the main reasons we wear a cross, is to remember to crucify our self, our ego, in the service of others each day. Christ said "No greater love hath a man than this, he is willing to lay his life down for his friends." We believe that is why males and females were created. So they could get married and martyr themselves in the service of another. We believe that is what it means to truly be a human being. Monks also take on this same responsibility, but in the service of God, the church, and their monastic community. (Monasteries are not a refuge from the world, but instead, the bleeding front lines of a spiritual battle.) Praying for my loved ones (living and dead) daily, praying for my perceived enemies, and praying for God's mercy for the world, has dramatically changed how I see other people, and how I try to live up to role in serving others. I no longer obsess over whether my spouse is filling my chalice of invented "needs". Instead, I try to look for ways to make her life easier, more comfortable. And I'm still working on this part, but I try not to call attention to my efforts or to even call attention to what I've done. God sees my efforts and what is done in secret will be rewarded openly. We also end each day together as a family by praying, and after prayer, we ask each other for forgiveness if we have done anything to hurt them or offend them today. This has ENORMOUS consequences that are hard to put into words. My daughter used to be terrified of the dark. She used to have nightmares and insomnia, because my wife and I used to argue and fight in front of her. Our home was filled with trauma and despair. My wife and I were nihilists who were just following our passions (I mean that in the traditional way) and doing whatever we wanted to do/thought was right, and we were in constant conflict. Now, we pray together, read the Bible together, share our daily frustrations with each other, encourage each other, eat together, listen to each other. We don't watch tv. We rarely go to movies. Last night I read out of the Bible while my wife and daughter worked on a puzzle, and after I read, I joined them and we were just talking and joking with each other and listening to music. This is what I mean by how my life has been healed. Prayer is my personal way of participating in my relationship with God. Each day includes a review of my day, where I reflect on my sins and shortcomings, pray for forgiveness, and pray for strength in overcoming my weaknesses. I pray for guidance in how I can overcome my old patterns, and I read the scriptures with the intention of finding useful patterns of behavior that I can model in my own life. Because of my daily prayer habit, I'm much more careful about what I say, and how I treat other people, because I know in the back of my mind that I will be standing before God, my Father and Creator of the universe, that evening in prayer, and I will be answering for how I treat others. I want to burn away the parts of myself that are interfering with my relationship with God and with those around me, and prayer helps serve as that reminder, that connection. As for your last question, I can only say this: Jordan Peterson's lectures on the Bible series opened my mind and heart to the idea that there's a LOT more going on in the Bible than my old materialist, scientist brain was understanding. I began to study medieval philosophy, and the work of Jonathan Pageau has truly opened my eyes to how reality works, and how I fit into that cosmology, and what my role is in reality. I have also realized just how much effect being with other people in a community in person has on me, and how I only barely understand the power of standing in church together (Orthodox Christians typically stand during the Divine Liturgy service as a form of respect and worship) all worshipping together by standing together, looking in the same direction, hearing hymns and prayers, surrounded by icons, with the smell of incense in the air. There are some things you can only know through experience. Reading a book about Orthodox Christianity is basically like reading a book about martial arts. It won't get you very far in a fight. Anyway, I pray that my answer has been helpful. Please forgive me if I didn't answer your questions adequately or if I misunderstood what you were asking. God bless you.