From the author: “Many modern readers of the Gospel, ready to favorably accept the “new morality” of the Sermon on the Mount and sincerely admiring the beauty of its aphorisms, experience an almost painful sensation when they come into contact with the first commandment of the Beatitudes. They “We would prefer to erase it from the Gospel. Every time finds its favorite places in the Gospel, and every time strives to pass over something in the same Book in silence or, on the contrary, to obscure it with too complex and abundant interpretations.” Andrey Kuraev. Now you will understand that modern depth psychology is already approaching the level of understanding eternal values ​​and explaining them in an understandable language to modern man. Poverty of spirit is the consciousness of one’s sinfulness, depravity, and powerlessness. How can it bring a person a feeling of happiness and fullness of life? The fact is that an integral part of a person is what in psychology is called the Shadow. This is written very well in the article: Meeting the dark part in a person. The acceptable part of ourselves is called Persona. In a society where there are clear ideas about what is acceptable, the Persona hides everything that is dangerous to us and those around us, making us completely safe, friendly and law-abiding creatures. This is a shell that helps a huge number of people live relatively peacefully in a limited area, in accordance with the social contract in a given society. You cannot live in society and be free from it. Therefore, we are all forced to limit the manifestations of our Shadow side. But the less contact you have with the Shadow, the more energy you have to spend trying to drown out its voice. An overly expressed Persona makes a person shallow, tragically alienated from himself. And at some point he realizes that he is not living his own life. A poor spirit is a person who is burdened in his heart by the consciousness that he is pitiful and helpless. But keep in mind that seeing your corruption is a sign of spiritual strength. Without such power, it is common for a person to turn a blind eye to the Dark Side within himself. The protective mechanisms of the psyche save him from destruction, although at the same time they limit the ability to live fully. Without that spiritual strength (in psychology this is called the ability to love), a person is doomed to protect himself from his Dark part, so as not to die himself and not do something bad. The ability to love, considered in psychology, is the result of how much love a person was given by his parents (loved). Of course, the person himself can then develop this talent, regardless of how much he was given initially. (Believers will remember the parable of the talents from the Gospel. This is exactly what it is about). Therefore, it is natural that for believers, the source of Love is God Himself, Who is Love. Relying on this source, believers have more strength to move in the direction of “poverty in spirit.” So, at a certain stage of development and vision of oneself, it becomes impossible to rely on human strength (even on the strength of a psychologist who understands and accepts everything, who has worked through all his problems). Therefore, people are looking for a way to directly draw strength from the Source of Love, which in Christianity is revealed to us in a known form. The secret is that a humble person (poor in spirit) is open not only to his negative side. It's just open. This means that he is (truly) open to everything that is bright, joyful and majestic. He lives life to the fullest and his joy is not at all similar to what people call joy who do not live their fullness. And another quote from the same article: Those people who recognize the presence of shadow content in themselves live a more fulfilling life. In contrast to those who are unable to admit their imperfection, succumbing to animal passions, wrong feelings and desires. Such “good” people are susceptible to psychosomatic illnesses. The more a person makes efforts to suppress his Shadow, the less.