Orthodox Parables and Stories: "Georgakis from Tibet"

One young man of sixteen or seventeen years old named Georgakis came to Athos and went to different monasteries. At the age of three, his parents sent him to a Buddhist monastery in Tibet.The boy was very successful in yoga, became a perfect sorcerer and could call any demon he wanted. He also perfectly learned karate, had a black belt. With the help of Satan, he showed impressive "tricks": hefty stones were broken with a blow of his hand, like walnuts; he could read closed books, and he squeezed hazelnuts in his fist so that the shell fell, and the kernels remained stuck to the palm of his hand.

One of the monks, wanting to help Georgakis, brought him to Father Paisios. The young man asked the Elder what powers he had and what he was capable of. The elder replied that he had no power of his own, and that all power came from God.

Georgakis, wanting to impress the Elder, focused his gaze on a large stone lying in the distance, and suddenly the stone crumbled into crumbs. Then the Elder crossed one small pebble and asked Georgakis to crush it too. He concentrated, began to perform various witchcraft actions, but could not do anything with the stone. Suddenly the young man began to tremble. The satanic forces, which, as it seemed to him, he commanded, being unable to split the small pebble, turned in fury against him and, throwing him up like a stone from a sling, threw him to the opposite side of the ravine. The elder helped Georgakis to get out of the thickets. The young man was in a sorry state.

“Another time,” said the Elder, “when we were talking with him, he suddenly jumped up, grabbed my hands and twisted them behind my back. "Let Hajifendi[110], if he can, come and free you!" he hissed. I took these words as blasphemy - I jerked my hands a little: like this - and he flew off to the side. Then he jumped high and wanted to kick me, but his leg, as if bumping into an invisible obstacle, stopped a few centimeters from my face. God saved me.

I left this unfortunate man in my cell for the night. The demons, furious with him for not being able to defeat me, dragged him down into the ravine and beat him there. In the morning, in a miserable state, wounded, covered in earth and thorns, he crawled out of the ravine and confessed: “It was Satan who beat me because I could not defeat you.”

The elder persuaded Georgakis to bring him his magical books to burn.

For some time, Father Paisios left Georgakis at his place and - while he was obedient to him - helped him. The elder found out whether Georgakis had been baptized, and even found out in which temple the Sacrament was performed. The strength and Grace of the Elder shocked the young man, and he wanted to become a monk. But the monastic life was too much for him.

The elder told others about the incident with Georgakis in order to prove how great the delusion of those who believe that all religions are equal, that they all believe in the same God, and that there is supposedly no difference between Tibetan and Orthodox monks.

- from the book of Hieromonk Isaac "The Life of Elder Paisios the Holy Mountaineer"