Where does God live? Where the gods live.

You just can't miss it - the world famous home where the gods live. This is, of course, Olympus. Today we will talk about where Mount Olympus is, how to get to it, as well as what people need to know who are planning to climb to its peaks.

Contrary to popular belief, Mount Olympus is not a mountain at all, but a whole mountain range. It is the highest in Greece and occupies about six hundred square kilometers in area. During the fragmentation of Hellas, this mountain range served as a natural border between Thessaly and Macedonia.

The highest mountains of Olympus are three peaks - Mitikas, Skolio and Stephanie. They soar up to more than 2900 m above sea level. It will be a great success to see the peaks from the ground, as they are almost always hidden behind the clouds. And the snow does not melt on them until the beginning of June. Therefore, those wishing to make the ascent will be able to do this only towards the end of July, or in August.

In accordance with Greek mythology, on Mount Olympus (or rather on the highest peak of this massif, Mitikase), lived a divine pantheon, led by the god of thunder - Zeus. The gods of ancient Greece are a separate unique history and another source of pride for the Greeks. Greek gods are very similar to humans, and this is a great rarity for gods. different countries this period. Local guides will remind you of this feature more than once.

Now Olympus in Greece has become a place of constant "pilgrimage" for tourists. The mountain slopes attract not only lovers of mythology and scenic views, but also naturalists. This is due to the fact that it is here that a large number of endemics grow - plants that are found only here. Diversity concerns not only the plant, but also the animal world. That is why Olympus is declared a natural monument and is a national reserve of Greece.

Maintaining construction works on the slopes of the mountain range is strictly prohibited, with the exception of only seven staging points for tourists. They are all located on different heights and allow you to take breaks on the way to the main summit Greek gods... At the transfer points you can have a snack and stay overnight, because getting up at night is not safe.

How to get to Olympus in Greece?

It is better to plan your trip from Thessaloniki. The drive is closer than from Athens. On a private or rented car, the whole journey will take no more than an hour.

Don't drive a car? Then public transport will come to the rescue. You can get there by intercity buses of the KTEL Pieria system. Buses from the KTEL Macedonia bus station run every 1-1.5 hours directly to Litochoro - a town at the foot of Olympus. The ticket price for May 2016 is 9.3 euros.

If you didn't catch a direct bus, or if you want to get to Olympus from Athens, then go to Katerini, and then you can catch a ride, order a taxi or take a local bus to get to Litochoro or Prionia. Unlike Litochoro, located at the foot of Olympus, Prionia is located at an altitude of 1000 meters on the side of a mountain. Drive to Prionia from Litochoro about 18 km along the serpentine highway.

In general, go for it! Climb to the top and feel like a little god. Look at this world from above, marvel at the beauty of sunny Greece.

And we will continue to acquaint you with the sights and wonders of hospitable Hellas. Stay tuned for new posts.

Today, more and more scientists who work in various areas of biology are switching to the side of creationism - a direction in biological science, which is sure that the emergence of the Earth, life on it and man in particular is the result of divine creation.

As a rule, many creationists initially believed in the process of evolution, but now that the abundant scientific evidence has come to light, they are convinced that the theory of evolution is inferior to the much more reliable model of the origin of the world - the theory of creation.

V Lately in press there is more and more talk that all life on our planet did not happen in the process of evolution, but was specially created by someone. Moreover, this tendency is caused not by the speeches and works of the righteous, but as a result of research.

What did this science reveal about the origin of life on our planet, who created it, where does the Creator live, where is paradise?

Just a few years ago, German astronomers published a sensational discovery: they allegedly discovered a place in heaven where, according to their deepest assurance, God is “registered”. A rather respectable and serious German magazine "Der Spiegel" told the world about this, on the pages of which an amazing photo was posted with an article about the aforementioned scientific discovery: in the very center of the picture there is a large sparkling white "Magellanic cloud", which is distant from our planet Earth. The photo was taken using a unique camera created by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomical Research, located in the German town of Heidelberg.

This apparatus, which is both a telescope and a camera, is the only one in the world. He has very high precision depth of field. As the well-known newspaper "Bild" writes on its pages, the "Magellanic Cloud" is a kind of star system, which is located somewhere in the "southern sky".

Why are astronomers so sure that this particular place is the "headquarters" of God? And everything is very simple!

Researchers, historians and art critics thought as follows: in all centuries, painters tried to somehow depict on their canvases the place where the Almighty "lives", to try to explain the secret of his location. This was done especially persistently during the Renaissance.

Scientists, however, decided to compare the sky depicted on the canvases of famous artists with photographs taken in deep space, and discovered an absolutely incredible thing: the artists as one clearly depicted the area of ​​the Magellanic Cloud, the impression was created that the old masters had a supercamera at their disposal, the newspaper writes. "Bild". That is why scientists are so sure that this particular place is the “headquarters” of God.

Where does God live? Everyone answers this question differently. Yes I believe you! No I do not believe! I doubt. God, of course, exists, but ... These "but" as evidence that there is no God, a doubting person will pick up a dozen, or even more.

My father was reluctant to talk about the war, about the concentration camp. And if he did start to speak, he chose episodes very carefully, probably, he feared misunderstanding and condemnation. He ended one such avaricious and almost devoid of emotion story with the phrase: “During that hour I heard the name of God as many times as I had never heard before in my entire life. Do not be surprised: there are no atheists in the trenches. "

My generation is a typical product of the Soviet era. Atheism was then one of the main links educational process the younger generation. This is probably why many people of this age have a "difficult" relationship with God. Both in childhood and in my youth, as they say, I did not cross my forehead. I remembered the words of my dad when I got into a dangerous situation in the mountains.

Three of us climbed to the top of the mountain. Rocks, there is nothing to catch on, Peak is a small patch. Three sit down - the fourth will have room only on one leg to stand. We got into a thunderstorm, hung for a long time under a continuous stream of water, then literally crawled to the peak, entrenched ourselves and sat for six hours, waiting for this hell to end.

That's when for the first time my lips whispered: "Lord, help!" Are there no atheists in the trenches? They weren't on the rock either! This means that when we feel bad, when mortal danger threatens, when there is nowhere to hope for help, we turn to God. It's not a question. This statement. We address, promising anything, just to save, protect.

Where does he live? Where is the address where you can find God? When we talk about him, we usually raise our eyes to the sky. Remember biblical story about trying to get into the abode of God. So, people in ancient times knew the road leading to the Lord? Or, on the contrary, did they go the wrong way and were punished for it? Since then, people rarely find mutual language... Misunderstanding is a terrible punishment for a wrong choice.

Where to go to meet with God, ask him questions that torment the soul and confuse the mind? The answer of the believers is to go to the temple. Church, mosque, synagogue - it doesn't matter what the name of the temple is. It is important that this is the place where you can communicate with God. But there is a man broadcasting on behalf of the Lord. With all his inherent weaknesses, doubts and delusions. A pastor sometimes not only himself does not follow the path of Righteousness and Faith, but also leads his flock there. This is confirmed by religious extremists who are ready to kill everyone indiscriminately for the "true" faith. Priests of different confessions engage in hand-to-hand combat, dividing churches, allow themselves to live luxuriously and not keep the commandments.

This means that God does not live in the temple. This means that you need to look for it in the wrong place. And where? The greatest sage Leo Tolstoy formulated an idea that became the basis of his life. The bottom line is this: God is not a face on an icon, and there is no need to look for him in a temple. God is the moral and ethical standards that humanity has been developing for centuries.

If he sinned, he repented. This formula doesn't work here. Do not sin - there will be no need to repent. Thou shalt not kill - because the inner law will not allow you to take someone else's life. Don't steal, don't lie and further down the list. Conclusion: do not do evil. Generally! Never! None!

And most importantly, there should not be a single day in a person's life without a good deed created by him. Note how wisely: if you did not do evil, it does not mean that you did good. Not to wish for evil, not to commit it - this is the norm of life.

Living on the Evil side is very easy. Do you want to scream? Louder! Hit? Hit with all your might! Steal? Kill? There are no prohibitions! Do whatever comes to mind!

It is incredibly difficult to live on the side of Good, adhering to these rules. The generally accepted statements, which have long become the norm in the 21st century, convince a person that everyone steals, everyone lies, everyone dodges. And without meanness you can’t live and make a career. If you are a boss, then you can do anything: be rude, humiliate, crush subordinates like a small midge. If you are a subordinate, then you are obliged to endure and quickly execute the most idiotic (excuse the word!) Orders. Are you ordered to snitch on a colleague? Could you steal an idea and pass it off as yours? Need to sleep with someone on whom your career depends? Easy!

Not every person agrees to live by these wolf laws. And what happens then? Society squeezes out an outcast by applying the law of the jungle: the one who has stronger claws and teeth is right. It's hard not to break under such pressure. Shouldn't you bend over to the changing world? And if he doesn't want to bend under us ?!

And again let us recall Tolstoy, who convinced that there are many roads in life, but there are only two ways, and each of them is our choice. One path leads to Good, and the other to Evil. God, who lives inside each of us, helps to choose where to go. He and only he instructs and guides us, explaining how to live in order to remain a Human in any situation.

The answer to the question “Where is God? not as difficult as it might seem at first glance. The spirit of God lives in every person. The Lord Himself is within us. It's incredible. But we are used to associating the Lord with heaven. why we don't believe in God.

We, looking at the sky, remember it. We say: “it seems to me that there is something there, surely, it cannot but be,” and at the same time we point our finger up to the sky. We imagine that God sits high there and watches over us.

This is consistent with our worldview. This fits into a picture that our brains can understand.

But thus, this view separates man and God.

We sort of set ourselves apart: here, on the earth, I walk, and there, somewhere very high and very far away the Lord sits. We are very far from each other. So far away that in order to somehow become closer to each other, we go to church, where the Lord can hear our requests, our prayers, where we can repent and just talk with Him.

The Church does not teach that the Lord is far away - in heaven. But, I personally feel this moment on my own. All my life it seemed to me that God is there, I am here.

Yes, I will probably see Him. But then, after death. I will come, they will judge me, and determine what I am worthy, what is not, where my soul will go next. And now, while I am here, inside earthly life, I can do what I want, maybe no one will notice, and then the main thing is to ask forgiveness in time.

God loves silence and solitude. Only alone with yourself, you can ask God, and He can answer you. Only then can something be felt and understood.

But in order to find God both within oneself and everywhere around, one must seek. If you do not seek Him, then He will not open to you.

We do not even think that we need air for life. We just don't notice it. But as soon as he disappears, we begin to suffocate. As soon as we remove God from our lives, life becomes a struggle, filled with suffering and pain. We may not even think that this is simply because we have lost God in our souls. But once you find it, everything falls into place.

Why do we feel bad?

The reason for our suffering is that we do not understand where God is. Also, therefore, we cannot realize and. We decided that we were separate from the Lord. The reason is illusion. The spirit of god in us He sees everything, hears everything, and it is impossible to hide anything from Him.

If you can understand that God is within you, always with you, then wherever you are, wherever fate brings you, you will feel at home everywhere.

This is the meaning of our life - in the search and realization of God. If you have lived your life without Him, then you have lived in vain and have not been able to fully reveal your full life potential and fulfill your destiny.

In you lives that which lives in every person, in every living being. If we, people, learn to understand this, then our life will be filled with calmness, joy and peace. And it will not matter what religion a person is, what position he occupies in society, because he has what is most precious in the world.

It is difficult for a person in a big city inside a complex and high-speed world to find time of peace and quiet. But looking for this time is vital. I say why.

How to be happy? Spiritual practice such as prayer, meditation, yoga, is important for understanding our divine essence. Life is a search for God within oneself. If you find God, you will find happiness.

It is a pity that this is not promoted in high level, in the media. It would be a thousand times more useful and necessary than what is there today. We are left with no choice how to seek and find ourselves.

But the search for God is very personal. Despite the fact that there is only one God, he is different for everyone. Look for God and you have no idea what you will find.

Moses told God: "Where will I find You, Lord?" - God answered: "You have already found Me when you are looking for Me."

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The land of majestic stone temples nestled in the jungle; villages floating on the surface of the lake; country where gems mined in buckets, silk fabric is still made by hand, and the poverty of the population can shock a particularly sensitive European. All this is mysterious Cambodia. If people go to neighboring Thailand with its developed tourist infrastructure first of all for entertainment, then to Cambodia - for exotic things. There is enough of her here.

Lake dwellers

Lake Tonle Sap, which for its enormous size is often called the Inland Sea of ​​Cambodia, is famous for its unusual people, whose whole life is spent on the water. Many of them have never set foot on the ground. While our boat glides among the dense mangroves, I look closely at the village that appears from around the bend. The spectacle is truly fantastic, as if from the movie "Water World", which shows the Earth of the future and human civilization after the Flood. Small ones sway smoothly on the waves wooden houses, on the "streets" scurry not cars, and oar and motor boats, the fishermen who immediately returned with the catch shake the fish out of the nets, next to residential buildings swim local school, Kindergarten, restaurants for tourists, shops, a catholic church ...

Children cheerfully wave their hands to us, in open houses with almost no amenities, residents go about their business, not paying attention to tourists. It is curious that, despite the general disorder of life in many houses, among the garlands of clothes hung for drying, they stick out satellite dishes... TV is sacred, the only window in Big world... Although there are no power lines in the village for obvious reasons, many settlers keep batteries, which they give to a local entrepreneur to recharge for a day. There is enough charge for your favorite TV shows.

While enjoying watching the local beauties, I suddenly feel like someone is pushing me from behind in the back. It turns out that this is a boy of about eight years old walking between the rows and in this peculiar way offers passengers a massage. Where did he come from on a fast-moving ship? The riddle is solved simply. At this moment, one of the many boats rushes to the boat and at full speed is pressed against our side. A thin girl with the dexterity of a cat jumps onto the boat, and now she is already walking between the rows, showing souvenirs to tourists.

The lake dwellers are not Khmers, but the descendants of the Vietnamese who fled to Cambodia in the 1960s during the Vietnam War. King Norodom Sihanouk forbade them to set foot on Cambodian land, and then they settled on the water and got so used to it that now, from a long stay on land, they start something like seasickness on the contrary.

Stairway to paradise

Of course, tourists from all over the world travel to Cambodia primarily to look at its unique temples. The most famous of them is Angkor Wat, a gigantic temple complex built in the 12th century by order of King Suryavarman II, and now included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

A bridge over a moat filled with water, a paved road and endless labyrinths of passages with statues of many-armed Hindu deities gradually lead us to the very heart of the complex, to five giant stone towers that are visible for many kilometers around.

Pictures of apsara dancers on the walls

Medieval Cambodians believed that there, at the very top, at a height of 65 meters above the ground, there is paradise and the gods live. Only the king was allowed to climb there, and even then on special occasions. Of course, we did not miss the opportunity to visit paradise. We climb the steep stairs to the top and find ourselves on a large platform. Along the perimeter there are long rows of columns supporting the roof, blackened from time, on the walls chipped by rains and winds there are images of the sacred apsara dancers who predicted the future with their dance. The living gods, however, are not visible nearby. Probably moved to new apartment, while the temple is undergoing restoration. So here it is, which means what - paradise. Of course, over time, it has become a little dilapidated, but even today it looks majestic. The man looks like a grain of sand against the backdrop of giant towers soaring into the heavens.

V last years Cambodia, with its picturesque landscapes, is quite actively exploring Hollywood.

Another temple on our way, nestled in the tropical jungle, this is a ready-made scene for an adventure movie. The stones of the dilapidated towers, which have turned green with time, and braided by the roots of mighty trees, create a mysterious, magical atmosphere. Actually, in fact, this temple is called Ta Prohm, but recently it is increasingly called the temple of Angelina Jolie, because it was in it that a big episode from the movie "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" was filmed. The one in which Lara had a shootout with the statues that came to life. Angelina left, but the name remained.

Everything through "yum-yum"

Popular wisdom says: The best way to get to know the country - to observe the behavior of people on the streets. And, perhaps, this is true. There are many colorful characters here.

They say that in most of Cambodia life is rather unassuming. People are very poor, and even with such a blessing of civilization as electricity, many are familiar only by hearsay. Eighty percent of the population grows rice and fruits on their plots, staying in a small rural world and not wanting to leave it. But life in tourist cities is in full swing: luxury hotels grow like mushrooms after the rain, at any temple children and older merchants with souvenirs instantly cling to you and begin to bargain briskly in Russian, and you just don't have to fight off polite but persistent taxi drivers by force.

It's hard to believe that Cambodia was one of the creepiest places on Earth just over 30 years ago, during the Khmer Rouge regime. In his desire to build a society of universal equality, the dictator Pol Pot killed about a third of the country's population, executing someone, and simply starving someone to death, and at the same time destroyed industry, commerce, education, intellectuals, clergy, in fact, returning Cambodia to the Stone Age.

Now the desire to succeed and get rich again is honored, and everyone earns as they can. Even the police officers who are on duty in tourist areas earn extra money by selling tourists almost real service badges. They differ from the originals only by the absence of serial number... Of course, as a leading crime column in the newspaper, I could not deny myself such an acquisition. Noticing my disposition to buy, the policeman immediately gestured to his head, offering to buy also his cap with the inscription Police.

In general, local police officers and officials usually earn extra money in other ways. In Cambodia, there is the concept of "yum-yum", which roughly corresponds in meaning to the Russian word "otkat". It is no coincidence that Cambodia is considered one of the world leaders in terms of corruption, because everything here is done through yum-yum.

A very revealing story happened with a friend of our guide, who came to visit him from neighboring Thailand. Having overcome the border, the guy relaxed "a little". I was driving at night on someone else's motorcycle, drunk and without a license. On one of the city streets he was stopped by a Cambodian policeman and severely demanded to pay a fine of two dollars for breaking the rules road traffic... Bearing in mind that in Cambodia it is always possible and necessary to bargain, including about the size of the bribe, the guest of the kingdom made a counter-proposal: “I'd better pay one dollar, but to you personally.” “Come on,” agreed the guardian of order. The traveler gave him money, and this was the end of the proceedings for breaking the rules. The policeman left happy, and the guy again perched on the motorcycle and drove on. They say that in ancient times the sacred dancers of the Apsara could predict the future with their dance.

And in general, being a guest in Cambodia is very good, especially since you can easily be known as a rich person here. This is not surprising. Seeing how tourists buy souvenirs for the amount that the average Cambodian lives for a month for just one visit to the temple, they consider all visiting white people to be rich. So they try to please dear guests in everything, bringing income to the economy and their personal budget. It's nice to feel like Rockefeller for a while.

Stas Sidorkin

Photo by Stas Sidorkin