The Three Hermits
Oct. 22nd, 2025 02:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mystical_mountain_9Welcome to the Mystical Mountain blog!
In it you will find the ramblings of a self-confessed mystic whose interests include religion, myth, ecology, gardening, the future of industrialization, and a whole lot more. I make no claim to be an expert or authority on any of the above, but I can honestly say that I have both familiarity with and interest in them. And I’ve decided to jot my ideas down for my own sake – and if anybody wants to come along for the ride, all the better! Warning: I am a pretty odd and non-denominational kind of guy, so you may be in for a wild ride…
So, why a blog that is focused on mysticism? It seems to me that we live in a world where, at present, nearly all the ‘oxygen is taken out of the room’ by current world affairs, fads and fashions, politics, culture wars, and the like (I’m not trying to diss this; to each his or her own - but it’s not everyone’s cup of tea). Of course, in the West, religion or belief in the Divine, has been under attack by the dominant culture for more than a century. And then, what little ‘oxygen’ that is left in the ‘room’ for the realm of the Divine / God / transcendental, a great deal is devoted to advocating specific traditional sects or counter-culture spiritual movements. Again, to each his/her own. But for some people, their experience of the Divine is intensely personal and primarily emotional. These are what I term the mystics. And there is very little ‘space’ for such people in modern Western society. But I hope that this is in the process of changing.
If we roughly categorize human approaches to the Divine, we have those who are oriented towards actions: routines, rituals, traditions, trying to make the world a better place based on their understanding of the Divine. This is the path of ‘works’, symbolized by the hands. Then, there are those who are oriented towards discussion, study, research, the intellect. This is the path of ‘wisdom’, symbolized by the head. Finally, there are those who see the Divine not through books or rituals, but through prayer, their personal experience of the Divine and/or seeing the Divine in the world around them. This is the path of ‘worship’, symbolized by the heart. Now, no person of faith will likely belong 100% to one category to the exclusion of the other two – but each of us will be naturally drawn towards one or feels at home with one path more than the other two paths.
I can honestly say that at certain times in my life, and under certain circumstances, I have delighted in religious ritual and in the study of scripture and the writings/sayings of great saints on religious topics. But the core of my religious/spiritual identity is mystical – the way of the heart.
Quite often mystics (either self-described or labelled as such by others) have a powerful otherworldly experience at some point in their life that transforms them in a way that makes their vision highly contemplative, other-worldly, maybe even “crazy” to the eye of the general public and even of fellow-religionists! The mystical path is often a lonely one, but that may be true in only a worldly sense; for, in truth, the mystic feels the companionship of the Divine so intensely that human company pales in comparison. Some mystics are fortunate in finding one or more kindred souls with whom a common viewpoint can be shared. This blog may be an opportunity for some mystics to gather and relate to each other in a world that, frankly, does not understand them nor is interested in trying to understand them.
As for the title of the blog, when I was a youth a wise person told me, “The various religions, sects, and even individuals, are camped at various places encircling the base of the mountain that is God. Each look up at the mountain and see different features on it. Each is right in their own way, as that is what they see. Up the slopes of the mountain there are different paths, each according to the mountain’s terrain. But all these paths merge at the peak. This peak is mysticism – the direct experience of the Divine. At this point difference disappear, for the experience of mystics around the world are remarkably similar.” This imagery deeply impacted me and has stayed with me my whole adult life.
That being said, I would like to share my own abbreviated retelling of Leo Tolstoy’s short story “The Three Hermits” which he says is an old legend that was still being told in the Volga District in the 19th century. The full version of the story is well-worth reading, as are all of Leo Tolstoy’s short stories, since he wrote them after feeling disenchanted with the ways of the world and turned inward to the Divine.
Once there was a bishop who was sailing from Archangel to the Solovetsk Monastery, along with some pilgrims. On the deck of the vessel, a group of pilgrims were gathered around a fisherman who was pointing out to sea. Curious, the bishop went to the group and asked what was being discussed.
“The fisherman was telling us about the hermits,” replied a tradesman.
“Tell me about them,” said the bishop, “I’d like to hear.”
“On a little island ahead is the abode of the hermits who live for the salvation of their souls,” stated the fisherman. “They are holy men. I met them two years ago when I was stranded with my boat on their island. There were three of them. They fed me, dried my belongings and helped me mend my boat.”
The bishop was intrigued and requested the captain to make a detour to the island which was just barely visible on the horizon. The captain tried to dissuade the bishop, saying, “I have heard say that they are foolish old fellows, who understand nothing, and never speak a word, any more than the fish in the sea.” However, the bishop convinced the captain to allow for the detour and to row a boat to shore with the bishop aboard.
As the rowboat came closer to the island, the bishop could see three old men standing on the shore, hand in hand. After introducing himself to the hermits, the bishop said, “Tell me, what are you doing to save your souls, and how you serve God on this island.”
The oldest hermit replied, “We do not know how to serve God. We only serve and support ourselves, servants of God.”
The bishop asked, “But how do you pray to God?”
The hermit answered, “We pray in this way: three are ye, three are we, have mercy upon us.” Then all three hermits repeated the prayer with their eyes raised to heaven.
The bishop then told him that they are not praying correctly and that he will teach them the way to pray which God in the Holy Scriptures commanded all men how to pray to Him. And he patiently taught the Lord’s Prayer to the hermits until they could repeat it back to him perfectly. It took them the whole day. As night fell, the bishop took leave of the hermits, who all bowed down to the ground before him. In the rowboat, the bishop listened to the hermits repeating the Lord’s Prayer as he drew further away from the little island.
Once aboard the ship, the bishop took a seat in the stern and watched the island slowly recede in the distance in the bright moonlight. All was quiet on deck as all the other passengers went to sleep. The bishop reflected on the day, on the good, simple hermits, and he thanked God for having sent him to teach and help these godly men.
By now the island had disappeared below the horizon. But the bishop kept on looking at the spot where he last saw the island. Suddenly, he saw something white and shining in the direction of the island. It grew brighter with each passing second. The bishop gazed in wonder at this inexplicable light, as it looked like neither a boat nor a fish.
Soon the bishop could make out forms within the bright light. It was the three hermits, gleaming white, running on the water itself, though not moving their feet. The helmsman saw them and exclaimed in terror. The passengers woke up and crowded in the stern to see the wonder.
As soon as the hermits reached the ship, they raised their eyes to the bishop and in one voice said to him, “Servant of God, we have forgotten your teaching. As soon as we stopped repeating the prayer, words dropped out and now we can remember nothing of it. Teach us again.”
Crossing himself, the bishop leaned over the ship’s side and said: “Your own prayer will reach the Lord, men of God. It is not for me to teach you. Pray for us sinners.” And he bowed low before the three old men.
The hermits turned and went back across the sea. And at the point where they were lost to sight a light shone until daybreak.
Now, is this story Tolstoy’s way of dissing the Lord’s Prayer? Far from it, as he prefaces the story with the following piece of the gospel:
“And in praying use not vain repetitions, as the Gentiles do; for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask Him.” (Matt. Vi, 7, 8)
Prayer is a universal component of being human. I don’t know of a single culture that does not have prayer. Even the national anthems of some relatively secular societies include prayer (for example, O Canada has the line “God keep our land glorious and free” – a relatively recent revision to the anthem). Much has been said about prayer, its power, and its benefits, over the millennia.
Sometimes I struggle with prayer in the sense that daily I engage in many “set” prayers – some of them several minutes in length. At the same time, I also daily engage in “spontaneous” prayer – that is, prayers that come straight from what I am thinking and feeling at the time. And sometimes my prayer simply consists of the words, “Thy will be done; not mine” and listening for what the Divine’s will is. But at all times I try my best to put my concentration and my heart into what I am saying in order to avoid the situation described by Claudius in Hamlet (Act 3, Scene 3), “My words fly up, my thoughts remain below. / Words without thoughts never to heaven go.”
But if the Divine is all-knowing and wise, is prayer even necessary? Who are we to tell the Divine what to do? What does prayer actually accomplish? For many people who are on the Divine path, such questions inevitably arise, even if it is once in their lifetime.
More musings on prayer as we proceed.
In it you will find the ramblings of a self-confessed mystic whose interests include religion, myth, ecology, gardening, the future of industrialization, and a whole lot more. I make no claim to be an expert or authority on any of the above, but I can honestly say that I have both familiarity with and interest in them. And I’ve decided to jot my ideas down for my own sake – and if anybody wants to come along for the ride, all the better! Warning: I am a pretty odd and non-denominational kind of guy, so you may be in for a wild ride…
So, why a blog that is focused on mysticism? It seems to me that we live in a world where, at present, nearly all the ‘oxygen is taken out of the room’ by current world affairs, fads and fashions, politics, culture wars, and the like (I’m not trying to diss this; to each his or her own - but it’s not everyone’s cup of tea). Of course, in the West, religion or belief in the Divine, has been under attack by the dominant culture for more than a century. And then, what little ‘oxygen’ that is left in the ‘room’ for the realm of the Divine / God / transcendental, a great deal is devoted to advocating specific traditional sects or counter-culture spiritual movements. Again, to each his/her own. But for some people, their experience of the Divine is intensely personal and primarily emotional. These are what I term the mystics. And there is very little ‘space’ for such people in modern Western society. But I hope that this is in the process of changing.
If we roughly categorize human approaches to the Divine, we have those who are oriented towards actions: routines, rituals, traditions, trying to make the world a better place based on their understanding of the Divine. This is the path of ‘works’, symbolized by the hands. Then, there are those who are oriented towards discussion, study, research, the intellect. This is the path of ‘wisdom’, symbolized by the head. Finally, there are those who see the Divine not through books or rituals, but through prayer, their personal experience of the Divine and/or seeing the Divine in the world around them. This is the path of ‘worship’, symbolized by the heart. Now, no person of faith will likely belong 100% to one category to the exclusion of the other two – but each of us will be naturally drawn towards one or feels at home with one path more than the other two paths.
I can honestly say that at certain times in my life, and under certain circumstances, I have delighted in religious ritual and in the study of scripture and the writings/sayings of great saints on religious topics. But the core of my religious/spiritual identity is mystical – the way of the heart.
Quite often mystics (either self-described or labelled as such by others) have a powerful otherworldly experience at some point in their life that transforms them in a way that makes their vision highly contemplative, other-worldly, maybe even “crazy” to the eye of the general public and even of fellow-religionists! The mystical path is often a lonely one, but that may be true in only a worldly sense; for, in truth, the mystic feels the companionship of the Divine so intensely that human company pales in comparison. Some mystics are fortunate in finding one or more kindred souls with whom a common viewpoint can be shared. This blog may be an opportunity for some mystics to gather and relate to each other in a world that, frankly, does not understand them nor is interested in trying to understand them.
As for the title of the blog, when I was a youth a wise person told me, “The various religions, sects, and even individuals, are camped at various places encircling the base of the mountain that is God. Each look up at the mountain and see different features on it. Each is right in their own way, as that is what they see. Up the slopes of the mountain there are different paths, each according to the mountain’s terrain. But all these paths merge at the peak. This peak is mysticism – the direct experience of the Divine. At this point difference disappear, for the experience of mystics around the world are remarkably similar.” This imagery deeply impacted me and has stayed with me my whole adult life.
That being said, I would like to share my own abbreviated retelling of Leo Tolstoy’s short story “The Three Hermits” which he says is an old legend that was still being told in the Volga District in the 19th century. The full version of the story is well-worth reading, as are all of Leo Tolstoy’s short stories, since he wrote them after feeling disenchanted with the ways of the world and turned inward to the Divine.
Once there was a bishop who was sailing from Archangel to the Solovetsk Monastery, along with some pilgrims. On the deck of the vessel, a group of pilgrims were gathered around a fisherman who was pointing out to sea. Curious, the bishop went to the group and asked what was being discussed.
“The fisherman was telling us about the hermits,” replied a tradesman.
“Tell me about them,” said the bishop, “I’d like to hear.”
“On a little island ahead is the abode of the hermits who live for the salvation of their souls,” stated the fisherman. “They are holy men. I met them two years ago when I was stranded with my boat on their island. There were three of them. They fed me, dried my belongings and helped me mend my boat.”
The bishop was intrigued and requested the captain to make a detour to the island which was just barely visible on the horizon. The captain tried to dissuade the bishop, saying, “I have heard say that they are foolish old fellows, who understand nothing, and never speak a word, any more than the fish in the sea.” However, the bishop convinced the captain to allow for the detour and to row a boat to shore with the bishop aboard.
As the rowboat came closer to the island, the bishop could see three old men standing on the shore, hand in hand. After introducing himself to the hermits, the bishop said, “Tell me, what are you doing to save your souls, and how you serve God on this island.”
The oldest hermit replied, “We do not know how to serve God. We only serve and support ourselves, servants of God.”
The bishop asked, “But how do you pray to God?”
The hermit answered, “We pray in this way: three are ye, three are we, have mercy upon us.” Then all three hermits repeated the prayer with their eyes raised to heaven.
The bishop then told him that they are not praying correctly and that he will teach them the way to pray which God in the Holy Scriptures commanded all men how to pray to Him. And he patiently taught the Lord’s Prayer to the hermits until they could repeat it back to him perfectly. It took them the whole day. As night fell, the bishop took leave of the hermits, who all bowed down to the ground before him. In the rowboat, the bishop listened to the hermits repeating the Lord’s Prayer as he drew further away from the little island.
Once aboard the ship, the bishop took a seat in the stern and watched the island slowly recede in the distance in the bright moonlight. All was quiet on deck as all the other passengers went to sleep. The bishop reflected on the day, on the good, simple hermits, and he thanked God for having sent him to teach and help these godly men.
By now the island had disappeared below the horizon. But the bishop kept on looking at the spot where he last saw the island. Suddenly, he saw something white and shining in the direction of the island. It grew brighter with each passing second. The bishop gazed in wonder at this inexplicable light, as it looked like neither a boat nor a fish.
Soon the bishop could make out forms within the bright light. It was the three hermits, gleaming white, running on the water itself, though not moving their feet. The helmsman saw them and exclaimed in terror. The passengers woke up and crowded in the stern to see the wonder.
As soon as the hermits reached the ship, they raised their eyes to the bishop and in one voice said to him, “Servant of God, we have forgotten your teaching. As soon as we stopped repeating the prayer, words dropped out and now we can remember nothing of it. Teach us again.”
Crossing himself, the bishop leaned over the ship’s side and said: “Your own prayer will reach the Lord, men of God. It is not for me to teach you. Pray for us sinners.” And he bowed low before the three old men.
The hermits turned and went back across the sea. And at the point where they were lost to sight a light shone until daybreak.
Now, is this story Tolstoy’s way of dissing the Lord’s Prayer? Far from it, as he prefaces the story with the following piece of the gospel:
“And in praying use not vain repetitions, as the Gentiles do; for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask Him.” (Matt. Vi, 7, 8)
Prayer is a universal component of being human. I don’t know of a single culture that does not have prayer. Even the national anthems of some relatively secular societies include prayer (for example, O Canada has the line “God keep our land glorious and free” – a relatively recent revision to the anthem). Much has been said about prayer, its power, and its benefits, over the millennia.
Sometimes I struggle with prayer in the sense that daily I engage in many “set” prayers – some of them several minutes in length. At the same time, I also daily engage in “spontaneous” prayer – that is, prayers that come straight from what I am thinking and feeling at the time. And sometimes my prayer simply consists of the words, “Thy will be done; not mine” and listening for what the Divine’s will is. But at all times I try my best to put my concentration and my heart into what I am saying in order to avoid the situation described by Claudius in Hamlet (Act 3, Scene 3), “My words fly up, my thoughts remain below. / Words without thoughts never to heaven go.”
But if the Divine is all-knowing and wise, is prayer even necessary? Who are we to tell the Divine what to do? What does prayer actually accomplish? For many people who are on the Divine path, such questions inevitably arise, even if it is once in their lifetime.
More musings on prayer as we proceed.
