Man as a temple.
Alexander Filonenko: Look the other way
“The future enters into us to transform itself in us long before it arrives.”
— Rainer Maria Rilke
In a world where it is common to live in the mundane, one person can stand as a temple. He does not proclaim truths - he breathes them. He does not destroy - he creates a space in which you want to stay, sit and be silent. Alexander Filonenko is one of those rare people who can speak about the sublime in human language, without losing either the heights or humanity.
Alexander speaks as if he himself is going through this path right now - not teaching, but walking alongside. His speech is full of images, his intonation - of time. Alexander does not simply reflect - he reveals in a person what the person himself has not yet been able to comprehend.
About man and his ethics
“Man is a being to be surpassed.”
- Friedrich Nietzsche
"The most valuable thing in a person is ethics," says Alexander, and in this simple phrase there are a hundred centuries of human pain and hope. Ethics is like a quiet inner ringing, not heard from the outside, but it is what keeps a person on the edge when everything else collapses.
Alexander adds: “Yes, the soul can get lost in goodness. Goodness without freedom turns into a trap.” And this is not a paradox. This is a view from within, from that depth where the difference between light and shadow is not always obvious, but is always crucial.
About pain as light
“Through suffering man comes to know himself.”
— Carl Gustav Jung
Alexander is not afraid to talk about pain. Moreover, he recognizes it as a necessary component of light. “Without knowing darkness, you will not feel light and grace.” This phrase contains a noble recognition of the limits of human nature. Do not look at suffering as an enemy - look at it as a threshold.
And when loneliness comes, he advises: "Try to learn something. Turn it into research." It sounds simple. But only at first glance. Behind this phrase is a whole school of life, in which darkness becomes a teacher, and silence - a laboratory of the spirit.
About time and era
“Every era has its illusions. We call them reality.”
— Jose Ortega y Gasset
Alexander is an attentive witness of the era, but not its admirer. He senses in it both powerful potential and deep weariness. “Both,” he says. “We run from the depths. We don’t have time to drill into them.” There is no reproach in these words, only anxious sympathy.
He throws out a metaphor: “Aliens are already here.” This is not a conspiracy theory — it is an image. An image of systems, algorithms, logics that have long been operating without humans, although they still pretend to participate. And in this strange silence, he asks the question — where are we? Where is the gaze? Where is our choice?
About freedom and awakening
“True freedom is the understanding of necessity.”
- Georg Hegel
Filonenko sees strength in a person. But not the kind that breaks down walls, but the kind that can pass through them - without anger, without panic. He says: "
