Extended Spiritual Warfare and Divine Calling Conversation

Date: August 13, 2025
Participants: Gary Sheng, Marina Onopriichuk
Location: Phone call (Gary in Austin co-working space)
Duration: ~90 minutes
Context: Profound spiritual dialogue covering divine gifts, pride, spiritual warfare, tech industry corruption, and personal transformation journeys

Executive Summary

This extensive conversation represents a deep spiritual dialogue between Gary Sheng and Marina Onopriichuk, exploring themes of divine gifts versus pride, spiritual warfare in the tech industry, the corrupting nature of worldly ambition, and their personal journeys from secular humanistic worldviews toward Orthodox Christian faith. The discussion reveals both participants' evolving understanding of humility, divine calling, and the challenges of maintaining spiritual integrity while seeking meaningful work and financial stability.

Key Themes and Discussions

Divine Gifts, Pride, and Spiritual Maturity

Gary's Opening Reflection on Lael Alexander:

"I was the only person that was giving him any sort of real feedback about his spiritual immaturity... it's not easy for anyone at any age, but it's especially not easy for someone in their fifties to get that feedback."

Marina's Analysis of Pride and Love Deprivation:

"Our pride kind of comes deeply from absence of god love. Because we're so deprived of someone loving us, and especially it starts with parents... And if you look at all of this techy leaders nowadays... all of them have been such a kind of neglected, unhappy kid."

Spiritual Warfare Recognition:

"The root is literally spiritual war. Evil is fighting against those who stay faithful with God. And he wants to completely eliminate us... demons never sleep. They never eat. They freaking nothing works against them except humility."

Core Spiritual Principles Identified:

• Humility as Defense: Recognition that only humility protects against demonic deception
• Divine Source Acknowledgment: Understanding all gifts come from God
• Pride from Wounded Hearts: Pride emerges from childhood love deprivation
• Constant Vigilance: Spiritual warfare requires moment-by-moment consciousness of God's grace

Tech Industry as Spiritual Corruption System

Marina's Crypto Industry Disillusionment:

"Since god brought me on the right path... now I can't even go to conference because it just drains my energy. Instead of giving me something exciting... I was like, oh, transform the world. Oh, build new social economic system... my mind is thinking in meta level."

Gary's AI and Crypto Alignment Loss:

"I can't... I'm just zero no alignment... None of us had an idea of what the point was, honestly."

Systematic Spiritual Analysis:

• Energy Drain vs. Energy Giving: Worldly conferences now spiritually depleting rather than energizing
• Meta-Level Thinking Trap: Grandiose system-building as pride manifestation
• False Purpose Recognition: Tech projects lacking genuine divine purpose
• Relationship vs. Digital Focus: Yearning for live human connection over digital solutions

Peter Thiel and Elite Corruption

Marina's Assessment of Peter Thiel's Spiritual State:

"If you have seen his last interview... his face saying everything. He looks like possessed. He looks like or very in mental bad state... his eyes are not there. He's not there."

Demonic Deception Strategy:

"Demon will not whisper in your ear, go rape someone or go kill someone... Will whisper, oh yeah. Do good. Build a new society... for god. Oh yeah. You're a chosen one... he will mask so freaking unbelievable ways and traps."

Elite Corruption Framework:

• Intellectual Gifts Without Character: Brilliant minds spiritually possessed
• Good Intentions Weaponized: Evil using desire to "do good" as entry point
• Chosen One Delusion: Pride manifest as believing oneself specially selected
• Mimicking Divine: Lucifer as mocker and distorter of Christ's truth

Orthodox Christianity and Timeless Truth

Gary's Orthodox vs. Andrew Tate Comparison:

"You know what's like the opposite of Andrew Tate? It's like the Orthodox Church... Because they basically just say the same shit again and again and again. But it's like the truth doesn't change."

Marina's Spiritual Father Practice:

"We have a practice in orthodox... basically your priest with whom you talk constantly and you have compassion, obviously. So you confess your thoughts... because it also brings humility because don't think that I know better."

Holy Communion as Spiritual Sustenance:

"If I wouldn't take communion, I think I would just freaking die from despair and depression and pain... literally. He gives the strength and clarity to keep going."

Orthodox Spiritual Framework:

• Unchanging Truth: Contrast with trendy, opportunistic messaging
• Spiritual Father Guidance: Humility through regular confession and guidance
• Mystical Communion: Real spiritual sustenance through Eucharist
• Constant Relationship: Daily dependence on divine grace

Personal Transformation Narratives

Marina's Wilderness Experience:

"God took everything from me. I was freaking just alone, dying in the desert, and burning. Without anything... completely in the wilderness where first time in my life, I realized I can't do this myself."

From Global System Building to Humility:

"I clearly remember... the feeling of injustice was always inside me since I was a kid... Then I figured out, oh, there is a tech. You can build cool things... I was naive. Like, I really actually trusted everyone and everything... lie doesn't existed in my system."

Gary's Nomadic Faith Journey:

"I've been staying for a few days with a different friend now... and then these are all people that either believe in God or they want to really... they all believe in god and they all want to be better."

Transformation Patterns:

• Stripping Away False Identity: Loss of worldly success and security
• Naive Trust Broken: Learning about human capacity for deception
• Divine Dependency Recognition: Realizing inability to succeed without God
• Community of Faith: Gravitating toward believers seeking improvement

Financial Concerns and Divine Provision

Gary's Financial Uncertainty:

"If there is a way not to not always be struggling financially... was the way to do that."

Marina's Trust and Faith Perspective:

"God financial stuff, he that's also where trust and faith comes. He will show the way to do it... We might not even imagine or see it now... because it's not time yet."

Divine Timing Recognition:

"Maybe god wants us to focus on smaller sizes to humble ourself... and then he will give when our heart is humble and pure, then he will give us opportunity to do bigger meta level things."

Financial Faith Framework:

• Divine Provision Trust: Belief God will provide when alignment is right
• Humility First: Financial breakthrough after heart purification
• Patience Development: Learning to wait for God's timing
• Scale Appropriateness: Starting small to develop character

Lael Alexander Spiritual Assessment

Gary's Analysis of Lael's Heart Attacks:

"How do we understand his heart attacks... Clearly god was giving him the chance to find relationships with him. Repent and humility."

Marina's Spiritual Discernment:

"But he was keep saying that it's for download of another patent... which is obviously wrong. Because... Keith doesn't talk to him... people immediately feel this energy."

Divine Justice Recognition:

"God gives millions chances, but it's not gonna end good with him... next attack gonna kill him or something else gonna happen... but apparently, we are very stubborn."

Spiritual Diagnosis Framework:

• Divine Wake-Up Calls: Health crises as opportunities for repentance
• Pride Blocking Reception: Intellectual arrogance preventing spiritual growth
• Relational Consequences: Character issues manifest in damaged relationships
• Limited Chances: God's patience has boundaries

Vocational Calling and Service

Marina's Uncertainty About Direction:

"I also don't have any yet clear answer for myself... what projects I should do to serve god... I'm of course pretty impatient to see clear what direction to do."

Small vs. Meta-Level Service:

"Maybe god wants us to focus on smaller sizes to humble ourself... Let's open goddamn embassy in New York... some lower scale... I'm just pondering."

Gary's Criteria-Based Approach:

"I'm gonna be more of a criteria based not just fear and jumping on something just because I need something... I have a friend who has not brought in any revenue for seven months. Because it was not morally aligned with him."

Vocational Framework:

• Divine Patience Development: Learning to wait for clear direction
• Scale Humility: Starting smaller to develop character
• Moral Standards: Maintaining integrity over financial pressure
• Service Heart: Desire to serve God rather than self

New Age and Buddhist Critique

Gary's Buddhist Impotence Assessment:

"Buddhism is also completely impotent. It's actually ignorance... Because it does not acknowledge evil in the same way. And so, again, it's a natural pathway to the fucking new age justify evil mentality."

Marina's Tech Bubble Analysis:

"We've been in this kind of evil hands perfectly in this tech bubble futuristic acceleration... thanks god that god actually got us out of it. Because nothing good will come out of it."

False Spirituality Framework:

• Evil Denial: Buddhism's failure to adequately acknowledge evil's reality
• New Age Justification: Eastern philosophy enabling Western elite moral compromise
• Tech Acceleration Trap: Futuristic thinking as spiritual deception
• Divine Rescue: God's grace extracting people from corrupting systems

Personal Revelations and Vulnerable Sharing

Marina's Economic System Building Journey

Initial Justice Motivation:

"The feeling of injustice was always inside me since I was a kid. When I see poor Ukraine, when I see that our government is corrupt... I was like, oh, we need to build instead of capitalism, impactualism."

Naive Trust in Humanity:

"I was so naive... I literally in my heart and brain system, I couldn't think that person can say something and this is not true. Like, lie doesn't existed in my system."

Hard Lessons and Betrayal:

"I met this billionaire... he say, yeah. We're gonna partner. We're gonna do this. Obviously, nothing ever happened... I was like, what the fuck? People can save this and never deliver?"

Family and Relationship Losses

Choosing "World Saving" Over Love:

"I lost the biggest love of my life. We've been seven years together... I fucking decided to save the world instead of loving person who loved me beyond imaginable."

Parental Conflict and Isolation:

"I stuck in Ukraine. Back to my home with parents... they're fighting all the time. And I was like, fuck. What the fuck?"

Spiritual Breakthrough in Wilderness

Complete Breakdown and Divine Encounter:

"I was basically freaking in agony every day... I never seen myself like this... this marina doesn't exist anymore. It's like a new person, me, which is dead and can't get out from that even."

Finding God as Only Answer:

"There was no answers except God. And I start listening to lectures eight hours per day... slowly but slowly... four years almost in the journey with God."

Gary's Current Nomadic Season

Friend Network of Believers:

"These are all people that either believe in God or they want to really... they all believe in god and they all want to be better."

Travis Oliphant Connection:

"God put in my path this guy, Travis Oliphant... loves God. In his own way. Very very humble... we'll see where that goes."

Spiritual and Philosophical Insights

Time and Mortality Recognition

Marina's Time Awareness:

"We live twenty seven thousand five hundred days in average... I live half of it already... when I say to someone that oh my god. This has happened ten years ago. I'm like, what? I can now say such big terms of time?"

Daily Significance:

"Time is ticking, we need to do good every day. Every day counts. It's so precious. Because god gives our heart beating and breeze to do something good for each other."

Small vs. Grand Thinking

Marina's Pattern Recognition:

"I never thought in small ideas... I always like, oh, transform the world... my brain doesn't work like this... maybe god wants us to focus on smaller sizes to humble ourself."

Divine Humbling Process:

"Maybe it's also a bit false to think to take this pattern from past life of worldly perception. And bring it because we're futuristic thinkers, meta level... and we're trying to bring it also to Christ."

Isolation and Alienation

Spiritual Growth Challenges:

"You find yourself alienated... even with yourself, it's a painful process. It's because you need to rip off your old skin... god rips off it with us, the old skin, and it's not pleasant."

Cultural Disconnect:

"Everything would before gave me energy and happiness... now it devastates and give me no energy... it's completely three sixty."

Key Quotes and Memorable Exchanges

On Divine Gifts:

"It's important that you don't idolize your own gifts, because God gave everyone gifts. And specific gifts for you, so you're going to be different from other people."

On Humility:

"If we every minute of our life, understand that I'm literally with nothing without God... but with God, I'm ever sinned. It's like, I can do anything in Jesus' name."

On Spiritual Warfare:

"Demons never sleep. They never eat... nothing works against them except humility."

On False Prophets:

"He will mask so freaking unbelievable ways and traps. That's why he is called father of lies. So because he distort everything what God created."

On Time and Purpose:

"God gives our heart beating and breeze to do something good for each other. Even if it's small things, even if it's smiling to someone."

On Truth vs. Entertainment:

"You know what's like the opposite of Andrew Tate? It's like the Orthodox Church... they basically just say the same shit again and again and again. But it's like the truth doesn't change."

Conclusion

This conversation represents a profound spiritual dialogue between two intellectually gifted individuals who have journeyed from secular humanistic worldviews toward Orthodox Christian faith. Both participants demonstrate significant spiritual maturity in their ability to:

1. Recognize spiritual warfare dynamics in contemporary culture and technology
2. Diagnose pride and its sources in themselves and others
3. Prioritize character over intellectual gifts in assessing spiritual maturity
4. Embrace uncertainty and divine timing rather than forcing outcomes
5. Support each other's spiritual development through honest assessment and encouragement

The discussion reveals their shared recognition that worldly success and intellectual brilliance without spiritual maturity leads to corruption and spiritual death. Their mutual journey toward humility, dependence on divine grace, and service-oriented living demonstrates authentic spiritual transformation.

Most significantly, the conversation shows how genuine spiritual friendship enables both honest self-assessment and charitable guidance, creating space for continued growth in faith, character, and divine calling. Their willingness to abandon prestigious but spiritually corrupting environments in favor of uncertain but morally aligned paths exemplifies the narrow way of Christian discipleship.

The dialogue concludes with both individuals in a season of patient waiting for divine direction, having learned to prioritize spiritual alignment over worldly achievement, and supporting each other in this often painful but ultimately life-giving transformation process.