Contemporary knowledge about God, Evolution, and the meaning of human life.
Methodology of spiritual development.

How God Can Be Cognized/Cinema

Cinema

Cinema played a very important role in my life.

My grandmother (the second, not the one, whom I have already mentioned) worked at the “Lenfilm” as an artist since the foundation of that cinema studio. And there was no question of choosing a profession for me.

Through the cinema, I learned a lot. Every new film is a new crew, new world of images, new expedition, new cities, people… And every person, whether he or she is a famous actor or a crowd-scene participant, when he or she enters a wardrobe, takes off part of his or her personal image along with clothes — then it gets better to see his or her substance.

I have worked with many “stars” of Russian and foreign cinema and had a possibility to observe them, at the height of their fame, from the side. Also, I could see that happiness or unhappiness did not depend on the fame and fortune, for the achievement of which many are willing to spend their entire lives. But everything is determined by ethical principles and spiritual qualities of man.

I worked on joint projects with the French and British, Japanese and Americans — and I knew that people in the world differ from each other, first of all, not by their language and ethnicity. And I was happy to meet in some people the desire and ability to work creatively, caring for others, and so on — and watched with sadness the arrogance and selfishness of others… And it is also not dependent on the halo of glory, wealth and nationality…

Perhaps, no other job would have allowed me to cognize so close such a huge variety of human souls and life situations.

… And also, there, in the movie studio, God gave me the chance to realize my childhood dreams… For example, I was trying on clothes in front of a luxury mirror various times and in various nations (to see how they are sewn). I traveled in a luxurious carriage (on the set), slept in palaces (in the brief intervals between shots — on a pile of clothing on the floor), sailed on the “ancient” sailing ships on the sea and so on.

It is exactly here my first meeting with Vladimir Antonov has happened, and it so drastically changed my life.

* * *

… Once, during a day when Vladimir was explaining the work with Kundalini to me and Maria, he asked, inter alia: would you like to quit filming the useless rubbish for humanity — and start making spiritual films?

Of course I wanted to, Maria and I even had begun to think: where would we find the director, operator, money for the project?

We even tried to think of the scenario; Maria asked God to dictate it and took out a pen… This is what came out of it:

We initially thought that it was — the recommendation “to quit” filming at all. And Maria and I rushed to implement this new “scenario”. But God had other plans. We then only were proposed to always keep Him, God, as the foreground in life. And the cinema — let it become one of the mechanisms of service to Him!

… When the idea to shoot places of power and meditations had appeared, I could not even imagine how great it would be!...

And so, video camera, tripod, microphone, cassettes were bought… And — the first shootings started…

Knowing by experiences that the work of a two-hour movie in a professional studio usually takes about a year, and after that — about a year for the film editing… And during all this time people receive a salary…

It took us half a year to film and edit three four-hour series of the movie “Places of Power”…

Maria and I were involved in this more than anyone else. We worked on it almost twenty-four hours a day: for God did not cancel those paces of life for us that He set from the beginning, and they were just accelerating. We did not have a computer yet and if Vladimir did not like just one frame at the beginning of a four-hour tape, we had to reedit the entire film again, from the very beginning, because there was no other way to make changes…

And yet — it was turning out great! The videography transfers meditative states and states of places of power surprisingly well. The beauty of captured pictures of nature heightened the effect even more.

And God continued to teach us to communicate with Him in the affairs of service for Him — even when we were editing films! For example, when we were trying to choose the music for the film, it was unsuccessful over and over again… But then, for example, Lao would come — and the music, which “accidentally” was turned on, suddenly was precisely laying on the image, coinciding with the duration up to the second…

Sathya Sai Baba offered the following comparison: God is like an all-powerful film Director in His earthly staging…

And we were learning to be assistants of this Great Director.