Stairs and bell

[topum]

The stairs



The bell



Simonopetra Monastery, Mount Athos, Greece

This is how it looks from the outside.

Comments

[beautesauvage13.livejournal.com]

Beautiful view. 

Athena

[topum.livejournal.com]

The guys who were scared of heights found these stairs a challenge. You can see down through them (between the floorboards) too.

[beautesauvage13.livejournal.com]

That would be a little unnerving walking up or down stairs you can see through when you're hundreds of feet up a mountain.  I might be too afraid to walk on them for fear I'd fall through. 

Athena

[topum.livejournal.com]

They hold the view that if you fall than it was meant to be there ). One of the hermits lives in a tiny hut just under a giant rock that fell down from the mountain a couple of years ago and stopped just above his hut. It should fall further down sooner or later and he just lives every day as his last one.

[beautesauvage13.livejournal.com]

Well we all die eventually might as well enjoy the life we are given. 

Mind you I still wouldn't want to fall through those stairs or have a giant rock fall on my head.  I'd hate to think such things were fated to happen.  If one avoids such things is that fate or is it like Frank sings "I did it my way"? 

Athena

[topum.livejournal.com]

I don't know. They just believe that God will take them at the best time for them to go and they go with that. They do not risk their lives just to risk it but they are not overly cautious either. The story with the rock is not a typical one. But in that particular case that very old hermit decided that he was not meant to move and that it was a necessary reminder for him that the time was ticking and he was not to relax and treat each day like his last one.

[ani-mama.livejournal.com]

Those photos look like scenes from a dream. I had to look up the place to see how it appears from the outside. What an interesting building.

[topum.livejournal.com]

The whole place is very interesting not only Simonopetra (although it is one of the most photogenic probably). I have pictures of it from the outside too (you can hit "simonopetra" tag at the bottom of this entry to get there or "mount athos" in general). Visiting Mount Athos was a dream of mine for a while and I spent two weeks there last December. It is a very unique place.

[shortsweetcynic.livejournal.com]

ohhhhh, that last photo was stunning. <3

[topum.livejournal.com]

It is a stunning place. It looks almost mythical.

[ani-mama.livejournal.com]

I did not know that such a place existed! I am glad that I added you to the flist. Your photos are very intriguing. Although my own travel is very limited (family, job, $$, the usual), it is nice to be able to see things from other parts of the world.

[topum.livejournal.com]

It was not easy to get the "visa" to visit the place (even though they are inside the EU they got a special exemption from free movement agreement and everyone has to apply and get a permit to visit). They accept only 100 visitors a day (for a three nights stay) out of which only 10 can be non-Orthodox (like me). You have to apply way in advance. Women are not allowed to visit. There are few places left in the world as unique as this place. I will be making a series of posts on it soon.

[beautesauvage13.livejournal.com]

I get the concept behind living under a rock that is going to fall on top of you any day. 

I wonder though if some kind soul/souls (I imagine that rock is huge so it'll probably take a few big men to remove it) were to remove the rock would the Hermit still die?  Hm Of course most would say yes of course he would still die because we all die eventually.  I still want to see if there is actually a way to cheat death though.  God is annoyed with me you know Ha! 

Athena

[topum.livejournal.com]

It is not possible to remove that rock. It is huge and is on a very steep mountain side over the sea with no access to it. It could be possible with very advanced machines I guess at a ridiculous cost.

The monks there are convinced that one can cheat death and that's what they are trying to do there. They think that God himself became mortal to make that possible and show them how. One still has to die to do that according to them though. Among other things this ensures that you are not afraid of death anymore and you are not running away from it but face it and still win. Their way of cheating is not that you don't die but that you die but not stay dead.

[beautesauvage13.livejournal.com]

Hm interesting.  So they are trying to figure out how to resurrect them self after they die.  Jesus did it in 3 days so maybe we can too. 

Have they gotten close to figuring out how Jesus did it? 

Do they by chance write their findings down?  Can it be translated to English?  

The world needs to know these things. 

Athena

[ani-mama.livejournal.com]

Ah, so I would not be able to visit that place anyway! I will look forward to your posts.

[topum.livejournal.com]

They think that it has already been written down in the New Testament apparently. And they do not intend to stay dead after death as it was said in that book that they can inherit eternal life. I am definitely not the right guy to talk about it though ).

[topum.livejournal.com]

The closest you would be able to get would be a boat cruise around the peninsular (that's what women do there). The boat cannot come too close but you can still see some of the monasteries from a distance.

[beautesauvage13.livejournal.com]

Hm.  So they probably believe that "the blood is life"  too.  Next we're going to have a bunch of crazy Renfields running around eating bugs and asking for a Kitten to feed and feed. 

I'm not really the one to talk to about this either, I've too much of a sarcastic sense of humor. 

Athena

[diejacobsleiter.livejournal.com]

Careful! I stopped breathing for a moment and almost dropped my coffee.

[topum.livejournal.com]

It is quite high up. There are a lot of Russians there too. Some stay there for months or even years (they overstay their visas).

[topum.livejournal.com]

I don't know if they do. For me it is not about the type of sense of humour I have, I just do not know enough. We saw guys there like a Canadian astrophysicist, American PhD mathematicians, etc and they devoted their whole life to that practice. I don't know nearly enough to talk about it in depth ).

[gneu.livejournal.com]

You had me anticipating a much bigger bell.

[topum.livejournal.com]

I usually like to see something different from what I expected. Makes life interesting.

[beautesauvage13.livejournal.com]

I had no knowledge anyone was studying how to resurrect themselves after death until you mentioned it here. 

Of course now I'm curious about it Ha! 

I suppose though I will have to get a sex change and join these monks in Greece to find out more.  They probably don't allow women there. 

Athena

[topum.livejournal.com]

They are not studying how to resurrect themselves. I thought the whole of Christianity was about eternal life in another celestial world. That's what they are doing there.

[beautesauvage13.livejournal.com]

"Their way of cheating is not that you don't die but that you die but not stay dead." That is resurrection dieing but not staying dead. 

Christianity as far as I know is all about life after death yes.  The body dies and then rots but the soul lives on in another dimension..Heaven or Hell or if one is Catholic there is purgatory. 

Athena

[topum.livejournal.com]

Christianity is about resurrection at the end of the world as far as I know.
Even if it is about life in another dimension it is still about not staying dead after death? Living in another dimension is not dead.

[beautesauvage13.livejournal.com]

True. 

But death isn't cheated because the body dies and does not continue on.  The soul leaves the body to carry on wherever it goes.  Body is still dead though. 

Athena

[topum.livejournal.com]

They believe that the body will be resurrected though. The very ending of their creed is "I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen." Like Jesus was resurrected together with his body, they believe people will be too in the end. Those will be 'renewed' bodies but they will be their bodies nonetheless.