History teaches us that the Founder of the Khlysty sect was Danila Filipich.
Meaning “Men of God” the name Khlysty was adopted.
In the beginning of the 18th century Danila Filipich instructed his followers to: “Keep my
laws secret, entrust them neither to your father nor to your mother, be steadfast and silent
even under the lash or the flames; thus you will enter the kingdom of Heaven, and even
here on earth receive the bliss of the spirit.”
The attraction of the Khlysty sect to its followers was the Mystery, and secrecy, that is why the founder of the sect strictly required his followers to observe strict Orthodox practice, this was done in order not to give the sect away.
The Founders of the sect taught that all prayers and rituals held sacred by the Russian
Orthodox Church were only for the “unawakened.”
According to their doctrines, only the brotherhood grasped the true path to God.
The
Khlysty believed that members of the “Brotherhood” did not need the Doctrines of the
Orthodox Church, instead they only needed the act of Grace which would put them in
direct contact with the Holy Spirit.
The Basic Teachings of the Khlysty were thus:
1. God was ever-reincarnating; meaning that even the Birth of Jesus was not the first time or the last time that God became flesh.
2. The Teachings of the Holy Spirit was most often hidden behind the actions of these “God men” and were only recognized by the actual Khlysty “Believer”.
3. The Cardinal belief of the Khlysty; Only when man sinned, did he become open to recieve the Grace of God, and thus, More sinning, more Grace bestowed, thus no repentance for Hedonistic activities were necessary, since they were done simply to attain God’s grace.
An interesting, and Odd fact about the Khlysty was that the sect forbid sexual intercourse
between married couples whose marriage was blessed by a priest.
They believed that such a
marriage was a grievous sin against the Holy spirit, since the blessing of a Orthodox
Priest was considered the seal of the Antichrist.
When a man came into the sect
already married, he was to abandon his wife and his Children and pass them off as his
former “sins.”
With these odd, but strict rules given to Marriage, it is interesting to know that carnal
relationships were frequent and **NxAxSxTY** allowing the participants to engage in
any form of carnal pleasure imaginable.
A paticular Khlysty ritual known as “Arks of
the People of God” featured sexual intercourse between many people(However Homosexuality was considered beyond nature and forbidden.)
So there you have it, factual insight about a little known Sect which laid the foundations for the life of a very well known "Monk"
~93