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Igumen Damascene (secular name John Christensen; 1961) is an igumen of Serbian Orthodox Church, and abbot of St Herman of Alaska Monastery, Platina, California.
Biographical notes
Born in 1961 in family with scandinavian roots.
Raised as a nominal Protestant Christian. By the time he began college, however, he believed that the highest spiritual reality was not a personal deity or God, but rather a transpersonal reality (a la Buddhism).
He considered himself a buddhist, specifically, in the Zen tradition, and he had various experiences, which he writes, included darkness, infinite nothingness, existing outside of space and time, where everything is now, and time has no meaning. Despite these experiences, there was still something missing in the soul.
While in college at U.C. Santa Cruz, John Christensen met Eastern Orthodox Christian students and was invited by them to a lecture by an American priest and monk, who had also been a serious student of Eastern philosophy and Buddhism. It was through this lecture that Father Damascene met the man through whose influence his life would be radically altered. This man was Seraphim Rose, spiritual seeker, Eastern Religious scholar, Orthodox monk and priest. It was through this meeting, his ongoing studies, and many pilgrimages to the monastery Father Seraphim founded in the secluded woods of Northern California, that John Christensen came to discover that truth was not just an abstract idea, sought and known by the mind, but something personal, even a person, sought and loved by the heart.
Developed a dialogue with Fr Seraphim, who taught him that Truth was personal and Person (rather than abstract concept). Met Christ through this.
Eventually, Fr Seraphim became his spiritual father. Less than two years later, he was at Fr Seraphim's bedside at his repose.
Fr Damascene joined St Herman of Alaska Monastery, where he has lived for over 25 years.
Bibliography
- Fr Seraphim Rose: His Life and Works ISBN 978-1887904070
- Christ the Eternal Tao ISBN 978-1887904230