Famous Russian Priest Tkachev Answers Ancient Question: What is Happiness?

What is happiness and more importantly, how can man attain it?

These two questions are some of the greatest questions all humans in every culture ask.

Famous Russian Priest Andrei Tkachev is here to tell you what it means to Russians.

The dominant modern Western theory is based on Enlightenment philosophers, particularly 18th century French materialists, who believed everything in the world was merely matter interacting with other matter.

Therefore, based on that theory, happiness is merely a phenomenon we experience when certain chemicals interact in our brains.

Furthermore, the according to modern science, man is constantly progressing; the progress model supposes that man always in a linear direction, always forward, never backwards.

It says: look at all the amazing wonders man has created with technology! Look at how far our society has come, surely was are superior to our ancestors - those old fools. As long as man keeps progressing, we will achieve paradise on earth, we will all be happy.

Cars and airplanes, the international space station, virtual reality, the internet, and yet...man is still unhappy. Moreover, as time goes on and on, it feels like the world gets more depressing, and man gets increasingly miserable.

This is where the Orthodox understanding of Happiness can offer an answer, the answer.

Happiness is more than just the sum of all of man’s achievements coming to fruition, it is placing those achievements in relation to God, and his will for all things. Only in God can we may find consistent, eternal, fulfilling happiness.