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[Alexandr Korol]

Returning to the question of whether a spiritual mentor is necessary — well, should we approach this with fanaticism, as people do now, with everyone having their own psychologists, psychiatrists, when in the past people lived without this? I don’t think there’s any real need for that. It shouldn’t be something artificially created, it should come naturally. I never set out to find a spiritual mentor. I always just knew that when my heart wanted to speak, I knew who I could talk to about deep, spiritual topics. That’s all. And there was always someone nearby I could talk to, someone who wasn’t superficial but could discuss profound things. When it’s really difficult, I could confide in someone, but you have to be sure that they won’t use it against you and will offer you something good in return. So, let’s put it this way: when someone wants a tattoo, I say, “Don’t do it.” When someone wants to sell their car and travel with that money, I say, “Don’t do it.” When someone says they’re tired of their family and want to break it apart, I say, “Don’t rush, think it over.” That’s what a spiritual mentor should do. But those who say, “You’re free, you have your whole life ahead of you, if you don’t like everything, just leave it,” are not spiritual mentors. Even if they present themselves as super spiritual, promoting freedom, a true spiritual mentor will never suggest destruction. It looks too tempting, too sweet, you see. And, of course, most people listen to such a false spiritual mentor. Why listen to a spiritual mentor who says, “Don’t sell the car, save money for your studies”? No, it’s more interesting to listen to a spiritual mentor who says, “Sell the car and spend that money on traveling somewhere to relax and sunbathe tomorrow” — that’s the kind of spiritual mentor people choose now, but there will be consequences. But, after all, life is a school, and everyone gets their lesson.

Question: You write, “It’s hard to maintain faith when you live among people who don’t believe in you, but I somehow kept it.” Could you tell us more about this? How did you manage to maintain such strong faith in your childhood? What helped you and what did you believe in to preserve it?

Well, at that time, I was also working on various books where I tried to explain and capture this. I wouldn’t say that I had a super strong faith 24 hours a day, all the time. No, it weakened. I was often thrown off track, honestly,