Many non-Christian religions and cults profess a rejection of everything worldly, of pleasures, of attachments. Isnt this what the Orthodox Church teaches as well?
Moderation is a good thing, and any sermon by any faith about moderation from the excesses of worldly pleasures can only be welcomed. But between the asceticism of Christians and that of, lets say, the Hare Krishna’s there is a principled difference. The point of Christian asceticism is not in the attainment of apathy towards everything that happens around a person. Christianity, on the contrary, develops and heightens the faithful, fills them with love and empathy for the entire world, to all of Gods creation, calls them to likening themselves to God, and first of all likening themselves to the sacrificial love of Christ the Savior. St. Isaac the Syrian said that all who sincerely commit themselves fill their heart with love and sympathy, and not only towards the loyal children of Christs church, but to the sinful, and even to the enemies of the truth. The doctrine of the Hare Krishna’s, alas, doesnt say anything about this to us.
