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On The Path Thirteenth lecture by Master Beinsa Douno held before the Universal esoteric class on May 26th 1922, Thursday, 11-12:00 Vitosha Mountain. Now, bear in mind that I do not wish to judge you; this is about the application of the principle of Love. If you can apply it, this is all right, but if you judge one another, you cannot have love. In an assembly just one cannot be blamed, rather it will be the case that either all are righteous, or all are wrong. If a penalty is given, all of you will bear it and if a blessing is given, again it will be intended for all of you. So, I ask of you to apply the Divine principle of Love - you should apply it, I should not impose it upon you as if I do so, then this will not be Love but coercion. I told you that if after the end of my talk you start looking for the one who is to blame, I shall not speak at all. Arrange these matters among yourselves in the spirit of brotherhood; apply the great principle of Love. Only because an organization is created, this principle will not be perfect. For you still cannot grasp how the principle may be applied. Do not grieve the Divine Spirit. What is being done is not against me but against God. Who will speak to you then? Can a commission be selected which will ascertain that the rules of order are adhered to? You can choose seven people; you are able to do this. You will obey, everything you do will be based on the principle of Love, do you understand? You should set this rule; if you do not, the principle cannot work and you will be subordinated to the same principles that the world, the state, and the church were founded upon, and then nothing will be successful. I will touch on a number of elements of Love in its new manifestation. It is one thing to speak of Love and quite another to experience it - this is what we are concerned with now. When a student or a musician makes a mistake, if he plays falsely, the teacher cannot forgive him. There are things in the world, which can be forgiven, but there are things that cannot. When someone takes money from you, you can forgive him, but when a great musician plays, he is not allowed to strike a false note; he will have to do no more than is necessary to correct the note. It is a necessary principle and Life does not forgive - we have to correct the note. Life is music and everyone wants to play it as they know. Take for instance a bandmaster; I say, according to the principle his life has to be reformed, as one can only be a musician if one has Love. Everyone has to live in compliance with the principle of Love. And if you do not wish to live like this, no one can impose it on you forcibly. Only with your good will can you live this way. And I know that you all want to live, you wish for your lives to be harmonious and for yourselves to be happy. You, the disciples have tested me do you understand? You acted as a teacher, and as you become teachers, I am prepared to leave the school. I am ready to accept from you each thought, your every feeling, all of this and no more. If the Divine Spirit speaks through you, and expresses certain Divine thoughts, then I will accept them, the source is still the same. Our desire is for the Love of God to be manifested among us in all its completeness - this is the only way to succeed. If we do not apply this principle, there will be no success but only constant misunderstandings. Sometimes when I join you I feel a heavy and disharmonious atmosphere, do you understand? Just as smoke renders breathing hard in a café, it feels the same when I am among you. You do not want this either; you suffer from it but do not know how to liberate yourselves. And I want to show you a method you can use to release this weight. This will not happen at once but I will show you a principle and you will work on it. Now I do not judge you; such was the old teaching. I want you to apply to yourselves the principle of the great Divine Love; thus, young and old have to respect each other, to honour and forgive each other. Now, for instance, when I leave you will start looking for the one to blame. If someone always has to be pointed at as guilty, the world will never change for the better. For finding somebody to blame shall not set things right - even if we hang or imprison him, someone else will take his place and there will always be someone guilty. All right then, are you ready to accept what I am going to tell you now? (Everyone replies: Yes, we are.) Now ask your inner selves this question - if you accept it and apply it in accordance with the principle of Love, this shall be a blessing for you. Sing the song “Bless my soul, dear God”. Look at living Nature around us - it is a Divine abode, a Divine home. And all the energies that are stored in it have different directions; each energy has its own channel through which to flow. When we need energy for our stomach, it comes through food, when we need energy for our lungs, it comes through the air we breathe, when we need energy for our eyes, it comes through light; when we need energy from the spoken word, it comes through our sense of hearing, when we need the energy of the aroma of flowers, we can receive it through our sense of smell. Now you have accepted a philosophy; you want to receive all of these various energies through your mouth. We are talking about Love but Love can be accepted through your mouth, your eyes, ears, nose – anywhere. When Love is accepted through the mouth, it will have one effect if it is accepted through the nose - another and so on. It depends on how we accept Divine Love. Now, you speak of Love; you still have not loved. I will conduct a microscopic experiment, I want to ask you what Love is, how you have felt it, if you have had one vivid experience of Divine Love. You have small experiences of Love, but how long did this Love last for? Tell me now, was there such an experience in your lives when Love took over your soul, your mind, your heart for a whole year, do you have the experience where Love overcame you for a whole month, do you have the experience when Love overwhelmed your soul for a month, do you have the experience where Love overcame you for a day? If Love swept over you at once, you would not reason at all, you would decide on the spot and your decision would not be the silliest, but the wisest one. When Divine Love operates in the world, it operates through the best methods. And you should all keep in mind that in order for Divine Love to inhabit us, the Spirit has to work on our physical and Spiritual bodies for a very long time to prepare them to accept the energy. If the intensive energy of Love were to pass through our bodies now, then it would have the effect of melting us. Therefore, Divine Love constantly adapts in accordance with the condition of our spiritual bodies and the level of development we have achieved; our Spirit works incessantly. If you hinder the Spirit, who works inside you whom will you harm? And it keeps working, conducting a sort of installation. If progress is made but you unscrew the whole installation, whom do you harm? – No one but yourselves. Say, for instance, you have a bad thought, whom do you harm? -Yourselves. You have doubts; whom do you harm? - Yourselves. You fear; whom do you harm? - Yourselves. Now fear has taken its place in the modern world. Why does doubt appear? For we know both fear and doubt. Fear is only a trait, a feature of our hearts. If you could only know how negative fear is! For instance, you fear losing your life. Someone promised to give you money, you doubt it; doubt, on the other hand, is a negative feature of the mind. So, if you can doubt that someone will pay you back, then you doubt the possibility of this happening. Thus, you transfer your doubt from men onto God. Sometimes you doubt me, I can read your thoughts: “Maybe you do not speak on behalf of God but on your own behalf”. But I always distinguish between my own thoughts and Divine thoughts. Inside me, my thoughts and God’s thoughts are strictly determined; I can then direct each of my own thoughts to the left and every Divine thought to the right, i. e. I say, ”This is Divine, and this is human”. And now were my actions inspired by Divinity or by my purely human side? They caused you to fear that you would lose something. Now, fear implies that your Love is on the outside and fear has taken Love’s place - on the inside, do you understand? And the reason why you cannot live in harmony with yourselves is because fear lives within you. If I came to your house and said, “Lend me two thousand leva,” and you have three thousand, you would say you needed it while in fact you did not. And yet you claim to be a man who believes in God and has Love. You have no Love but merely fear. If I came and asked you a favour – you would state clearly, “I am not inclined to give you anything even though I have money in my safe.” This is what an evangelist said in Varna when someone asked to borrow some money, “I have money in my safe, but I cannot lend any to you, for I do not trust you”. Why should I lend you money and then only fight over it; if you want me to give you money, as I would to a brother, then I will. Fear - this state shows that Divine Love is not working. It begins to work and then you hinder it. For example, if a sister of yours erred in some way, how many of you would gather in the evening and pray for her, saying: “God, fill the heart of our sister, let her know”? Instead of this when you see her, when you go out you would only criticize her. When you go out, do not talk about her. You do not have the courage to speak up and tell the Truth – you are not brave, you are faint-hearted, and yet you claim to be righteous. When I say brave, I do not mean you should be rude. Brave is the one who can speak the Truth – no more, no less. So, Truth in Love itself would say, “Brother, you are going one way but this method is not the right one”. (A dog barks at a cow) Now, take this Cow. The cow represents the Good inside you, and the dogs represent the lower passions – the inferior intellect, which is chasing away the cow. It is not her fault that she is here and the dogs interfere with a type of work, which is beyond them - for no one has appointed them to guard; nevertheless, to show that they are righteous, they will chase the cow away. I will tell you a truth: Life through exposing others’ mistakes will never be reformed. If we expose each other, we will never improve. Now you shall have patience. I had given you an assignment for today - to write about your biggest shortcoming, did you write? (-Yes.) Collect the papers and read them. Well, will you sell your deficiencies to me? I want to buy them, how much money do you want? No, no, I will pay (Brother Stoychev: So that you can take us for an outing for one month a year, to teach us; one month in Turnovo - for everyone, and then one month - only for those of us who are here.) It shall be done when you apply the principle of Love, it shall be done. You will experience God; we will apply the principle of Love. God’s word is law; if we abide by it, we shall see what we are capable of doing. Now, I will take these shortcomings of yours and when we enter the Spiritual School we will work without them. I will only grant you half a credit now, as I do not have much money. I have half of the sum at my disposal, I can pay it over a month and a half, but I do not have enough for three months - to be honest, I can only pay half. How do you want it - in cash or another form? I can pay one thousand leva, ten thousand leva, or thirty thousand leva. (-We do not want money.) This is what can be done. Once you fall in love with your shortcomings, you will improve. This is a separate topic and we will reach it in due course, there are methods you will use. These defects are at the same time virtues: to be selfish is not bad in itself, but to be as selfish as to harm yourself - this is bad; to have the kind of impatience that makes you run for your life when in danger is correct. But when you have taken on important work, then impatience is misplaced. When someone or something threatens you, you have to be impatient. You should be aware already how to employ some of these qualities. Now, what you wish for shall be done. What we have set out to do we can do in two days or in a month, in two months or three months - the principle remains the same, we can do it, the Scripture says, "For with God nothing shall be impossible”. And you have very rightly raised the issue of the need for you to spend one month close to Nature - you shall be patient. (Brother Stoychev: We will be here, in the woods, if the Master decides to escape we will outstrip him, otherwise if he were in the city, how would we find him? Everyone laughs and so does the Master.) Now use your intuition to choose a commission of seven people from the Brotherhood that will see to the observance of order. They shall be selected for the duration of one year, when this year ends, others shall be chosen. (-May the first be chosen by the Master, the second one - by the first, the third – by the second and so forth.) All right, I select Nacho Petrov. (The latter chooses Stoyan Rousev, he chooses Elena Ivanova, she- Cohen, he- Iliya Stoychev, Zdravka Popova and Theresa Keremidchieva.) Do they agree? (-Yes.) (Brother Tolev: Let us never again speak of the aforementioned accident, as if nothing happened at all. Brother Grablashev: If it is useful, let us speak of it.) Listen to me now, I will decide the matter: you have the right to talk about my mistakes but if you decide to speak about your own mistakes, I shall punish you. You may speak about my mistake, you may say, “Our Master made a mistake!” You may speak but say nothing but the Truth, make no exaggerations. When you speak, do so quietly and calmly, first of all address your minds to God, ask him: “God I wish to tell about this incident, may I do so?” If God allows you to speak about it, do so but if he does not - remain silent. And if something is gnawing at your mind that may be merely a worm and a worm can be of no use to you whatsoever. Now I will explain why you cannot talk about certain things when you are located at six hundred metres altitude. Imagine you are a hundred meters deep in water; will you be able to speak? - No, you will not. When you emerge a hundred metres above the water, the conditions enable you to speak - there is air. Consequently, at six hundred metres in depth, the conditions are not favourable - you will swallow water, at two thousand meters you can speak, as there is enough air. In our Spiritual School, when I inform you of an outing, it is as if we use our keys to unlock a door – you then become connected to the Invisible world. For instance, I assigned the sisters a task but you never completed correctly even one of my orders. This is exactly what happened earlier, I told you: over the period of one year, you shall all go to Vitosha but absolutely no one has to know, you can only tell me. I did not instruct you to retail it to the whole city. Consequently, you should have waited and told others about it only once the test was finished; while it was in progress, you should have remained silent. As a result, some undesired accidents occurred. So, when you are given a task, I want you to follow my instructions strictly. If we have decided on twelve o’clock - twelve is definitive! You, as you come, will judge by the results. Before you have done something you shall not draw any conclusions, the test has to be entirely carried out. Moreover, when you are being tested, you should not insist on the smallest details. One says, “We shall choose Full Moon”; no, you will choose a dark night, as only then will you see God. You should trust in God; when you look for Full Moon, this means you do not confide in him, the task is only carried out half way through. The task is that this must be done on a dark night - when it is stormy and rainy and there is thunder, then you shall go out, you shall pray and God will speak to you. Then again, you will think, “I may catch a cold.” when Divine matters are concerned, you will not catch a cold. I serve as example: I have sat by my room’s window in wintertime so many years to give talks. Had it been someone else - a professor - he would have come down with pneumonia in no more than a month. Then, how many of those who stayed outside got a cold? These are minute experiments but they are true experiments. Let someone else come and speak for an hour and a half in the cold, we will see what will become of him. You need to strengthen your faith for this principle to work. I told you: do not expect much, the results will be small, microscopic, as the present conditions do not favour big achievements. But from these small experiences we will achieve very good results in our own time. I congratulate you; you carried out this experiment with great zeal. I told you to think it over for a whole year and instead you finished it in two weeks. It can be repeated but in a new variation. Now, this test will be slightly harder but it will bring better results. The trials I give you will chase the fear away from your hearts; you will learn to trust in God. And then when you go out in a dark night, the eyes, the sight will be toned, your every nerve will be strained, your mind is present in every part of your body - this is good. When you go out in Vitosha, it will seem that many dangers await you; you might think you see a bear or a wolf, your hearts will leap. I know, for some of you, your hearts leaped twenty times. And anyone in the city, who hears that you went out to Vitosha on a dark night, will say: “He is out of his mind - to discredit a man or a woman like this.” This is why I am telling you, no one should know. If a man or woman goes, this is something you should remain silent about; once you have tried it yourselves you can speak from your own experience. We will experience more. We will create the necessary conditions for those brothers who do not have the possibility of completing the task, so long as they have Love in their hearts. I will find favourable conditions for them but they need to get in touch with Nature within themselves - according to the principle of Love. Then I may work together with them as a teacher can only work with able students. When you are alone we cannot do all the work. You need to do the work and so do I. For there will be outings, tests, which I will be the first to carry out and then I will say, “You may start now, the way is clear.” For instance, you have caused me great apprehension: during these two weeks, I could not sleep as there was such disharmony and anything could have happened. There were villains in town that had made up their minds to follow you and I had to apply/focus/ my mind to dissuade them. You think God will guard you; we have to be clever, only then will God guard us. You shall not pass a second time through Dragalevtsi, you will not take the road but shall walk out of the village; and you will enter the darkest woods - they will be the safest. So, you will achieve excellent results, these tests will give you greater decisiveness, you will become healthier, your minds will be sharper and your thoughts - more vivid. And when you come back from such a test you will think clearer. I have noticed that those who have completed the task after they return reason very well a person, who is brave, can reason very well. But now we will all decide. One thing that the Universal Brotherhood requires is for us to be completely faithful to the principles it teaches us. Faithful, faithful! These principles are absolute and cannot change. And once they set a task we have to complete it with no mistakes - once, twice, until they are satisfied; then you will see. You want tests, trials, then let us carry out this experiment: the sky is cloudy, we shall say: “May these clouds disappear at once!” the second day the skies are clear, we then say “May there be clouds!” on the third day the barometer points it will be dry, we say “Let it rain!” and it will rain. I call all these experiments microscopic and they can be completed for you to see that there are principles in the world, which we can use. In Nature, there are friends who can help us. However, this is not a matter of curiosity but a way to reinforce your faith, to demonstrate that when one loves God, one is capable of anything. Then I will not choose just any day, I will choose a day when there is great drought, when people need rain - this is when we will carry out the experiment. So, it will rain not to satisfy your curiosity but to use this Divine energy. Let us say there is drought, it is clear; we will carry out the experiment to bring about clouds, to prove to these people that we will use everything in the name of Good. A Teacher is never allowed to waste the Divine energy and neither is a disciple. This is why we will start researching all forms of Life in Nature – we will study the plant kingdom. These are features that Nature has given us. All forms save their energy. From plants, we learn how to use energy - to do a lot of work quickly. Now I will say one thing: I am truly satisfied with you. You see I am satisfied with you because you do all you can. I cannot ask for more. Sometimes you even do more than is required and this is where your mistakes come from - from excessive zeal. For instance, I instructed someone to go to the plateau; instead, he went to Black peak. This is good as well, the task is to the plateau but you insist on more. I tell you to go out of town to arrive to the destination in four hours; he did this over two and a half-hours. But you will only hurt yourself like this, take your time, do not hurry! But you are very expeditious, wishing to do it quicker. No, you will take your time. For each task you are given, you will take the necessary time – you will not shorten the time you need, you will use it to carry out your tasks successfully. You need to take account of these remarks. If you get there, in two hours and a half, this is not bad but it will result in a misfortune, you will lose more energy than you need. You may fall ill in two weeks and then you will say, “I went and so now I am unwell.” Then, when we speak of brotherhood and equality, this does not infer a depreciation of the human soul. No, we understand them as a manifestation of human individuality - if possible, the manifestation of the spiritual conscience in a superior form. Initially, you have the conscience of a child, you expect to be helped and you cry. So, the mother and the father of this child take care of it and provide it with milk. But the child then grows up, its conscience broadens and it is fully emancipated, and has become free and independent. This is why I say that our conscience has to broaden. We can achieve this and this is God’s will. When a sister has a good wish, do not obstruct her but wish her good even if she does not do well - she will do better the second time. We are faced with a big dilemma: you have one great task, but you have a past that is so interwoven that as you are gathered most of you are positively charged elements. This is why it is hard; you do not attract but repel one another. You have some energies inside you but do you know how much harm these energies have caused the world? Now we say: watermills help the world but when we eat the ground product we take in the idea of the stone’s role and we want to crush, to bring people down as the energy of this stone has been transmitted to the bread and the bread in turn has instilled it in us. This is the esoteric knowledge on the matter. Most of you are positive, so now we need to make you half positive, half negative and then our work will be successful. We will show you the principle of how to become positive or negative - we will give you the rules. Here, in the midst of Nature is where you will study this; you cannot do this in the city - only in the midst of Nature. Let us say you are feeling unwell one day; we will tell you a rule, after you work on it for four hours you will feel an expansion, a change within yourself and will be ready to make concessions. You will see the results for yourself. But this will not take place now - before we come to these trials we have to practice minor ones. As I said: you will save your time, I do not want the time you need to put into your other affairs - I only want you to dedicate your spare time, when you have nothing to do. I do not want you to say I take up much of your time - I only want your free time, one hour a day to devote to the school. This is one of the best rules. If I required ten hours of each of you, that would be something else. No, one hour. This is something any of you can do. Now let each disciple note what she wants from me - the most important things that you need, whatever each of you wants. Express it as a short suggestion. You need a Bible or a Gospel, a pen, an inkpot, or a room. You should ask for significant things, those you need - the most significant things you need. (A question is posed, “Should we remain anonymous or should we sign?”) Let them know who you are at the top but not at the bottom. Downstairs you remain anonymous, with pseudonyms. May your requests be of materialistic, spiritual or mental nature. Now, the test to Vitosha will be repeated in a different form. Those of you, who have not gone, carry out your task as a group because next week I will give a second task and we will complete this task in a week, we will carry it out in a night. I will be with you and will tell you what the task will consist of; it will not be difficult. We shall use the present weather, as it is the most favourable. Two or three weeks from now, we will still have the necessary conditions. But in a month or two there will not be favourable conditions. But now it is favourable to complete the task I will give you. Thank you for giving me a free hand so that I could speak to you. As if the disciples bind the Master and say: “Speak, Master!” how could I speak? The Good prayer Source

CONTRADICTIONS IN LIFE Year 1, Lecture 13 of the Youth Occult Class (Special Class) Given by the Master Beinsa Douno On May 24, 1922, Wednesday 17.00h, Vitosha Mountain Secret Prayer I am going to speak now about the contradictions in Life or the contradictions in the life of a disciple. The sign “V” is considered a symbol of contradiction. Generally speaking all disciples often succumb to fear and doubt which usually go together. Have you asked yourself why you feel fear? What is the origin of fear? For example, when I give you the task to write an essay or a lesson, you feel some fear that you could not accomplish this work. Where has this fear come from? Fear is a negative feature of the low human mind, of the low manas. If one has no possessions, will one ever be scared? Suppose that you have only a consciousness, but not a physical form at your disposal. This means that you are aware of yourself as a human being – you think, you contemplate, but you have absolutely no form. In this case would you feel fear? Therefore, fear is a consequence of the awareness that you could lose what you have or that you could not attain what you want. Fear will appear when one’s conscience is occupied with the thought that one may lose what they want - for example, one is afraid not to lose one’s life. And when someone thinks that they will not achieve what they want, then doubt comes. Now I would like to explain the psychological reason why doubt finds a reason to emerge in the human soul. When fear appears in you, your will is weak; fear is always a sign of a weak will. This is encoded in human nature. Doubt shows that your intellect is not strong enough. For example, some work is assigned to you and you start doubting if you could do it or not. Why is that? You feel that your intellect is not able to fulfill the assigned task, but if your mind is bright and capable, you will not feel any doubt. Doubt should give you an impulse, it should not be protected as a precious object, but should stimulate and increase your mental activity. How could your mind become stronger? If your mind is weak, you should absorb the blue[1] vibrations of Light. The colour green in Nature is materialistic. When someone deals mostly with the colour green, he becomes materialistic - he starts thinking about houses, fields, money and riches. That is why materialists are fond of the green colour – it is their favourite colour. Contemporary evolution is immersed in this colour; green is the prevailing colour in it. Fear comes as a result of the absence of strength. When fear is strongly manifest in someone, it is good for this person to receive the vibrations of the colour orange as a means of balancing the energies; orange is the colour of healing. If you are afraid of darkness, try to assimilate the orange rays of the Sun during the day and your fear will be balanced out, it will be transformed into prudence. For example, you think that you are not fearful, that you have faith, and you can think and philosophize, but if there is an earthquake, you stop thinking and you suddenly find yourself in the street. When you realize you are in the street, you start thinking about how this could have happened. This means that you possess no self-control, and your will does not control your mind. For example when you get burnt, you do not think. There was a time when fear, a sense of caution, was appropriate, but today fear is abnormal and has become a painful feeling. Attention, caution and prudence come in contrast to fear. You should know that you live in a world where certain forces are opposed to evolution and the path that you are following. When fear predominates in someone, this person has convulsions and irregular movements of the arms and legs. In such cases you can regulate fear with the orange rays. Fear enhances people's negative traits. For example, if some unpleasant event has happened to someone, he will magnify it at least tenfold. If someone has suffered, he will not describe the suffering naturally, but in a rather exaggerated manner. There is a certain analogy between fear and doubt. For example, doubt leads to exaggeration of people's errors. You can draw big conclusions from a small occasion. Let’s assume that you have read an author who doubts the existence of life after death and God - this shows that this author's mind hasn't developed yet. He may be a scientist and have a sharp intellect, but his mind is weak. Under “mind” we mean all its constituting abilities, feelings, intellect and powers. Intellect represents the low human mind or the low manas, whereas reason represents the high human mind or the high manas. Therefore, there are people with highly developed reasoning, but a weak intellect, as well as people of strong intellect, who are weak in reasoning. Both of them make mistakes. Some philosophers have excellent systems of thinking, but they are so ignorant about Nature that even little children possess more knowledge than them. For example, an Englishman who was a famous preacher and a great philosopher said in one of his speeches that sheep drank water only when they were ill. What does this show? This preacher's philosophy was far removed from the reality which surrounded him. He had a well-developed mind, but a weak intellect. In fact, sheep do not drink water when they are ill, but when they are healthy only. Similarly to this preacher, many contemporary people now say that God does not exist, i.e. that sheep drink water when they are ill. The preacher is weak in his proof, because he wants to give evidence of the existence of God while providing wrong information, such as the fact that sheep drink water only when they are ill. God is an essence that cannot be proved. He exceeds any proof. God is a Being beyond time and space, beyond consciousness, beyond Life, beyond any human intelligence, etc. God is beyond time and space, but simultaneously God contains time and space in Himself. He is beyond Life, but He contains Life in Himself. He is beyond consciousness, but He contains consciousness in Himself. He is beyond intelligence, but He contains intelligence in Himself. How do you understand this? It means that God, the Infinite One, cannot be proved. This is why everything that cannot be proved in the physical world provokes doubt in the human mind. Actually only what cannot be proved is real, whereas anything that can be proved is just a shadow of Reality. When I say that certain things cannot be proved, I do not mean that you cannot think and contemplate about them. You can think about them for as long as you like, but you cannot prove them in time and space. Therefore, when doubt penetrates your mind, you should know that you are close to Reality. I will give you an example in order to explain this idea to you. Suppose that you don’t have a friend in Life. In this case, can you doubt him? Of course you can'tt, but when you do have a friend, you already have the opportunity to doubt - you could doubt, for example, whether your friend loves you, whether he thinks of you etc. Therefore doubt is an expression of the negative side of Reality. The same can be said about fear. Can one be afraid, if one does not see anything? Therefore one can only be afraid of the things one can see. He can be afraid of what he doesn't understand and cannot explain to himself - only what has remained unexplained and secret creates fear in human beings. If someone takes you out of your room at night while you are asleep and leaves you somewhere in Nature in an unknown place where you cannot define even where East and West are, will you not get scared? You will certainly be scared and in panic. You cannot explain what has happened and how it has turned out that you are outside. You remember that you were in your room and in your bed, but you do not know who took you out and why. The reality you are in now awakes fear in you and in order to release it you need to start thinking about how your removal took place. Once you find out the reason and explain this phenomenon to yourself, your fear will disappear. Imagine now another situation that can awaken fear in you. You are in your room, sitting in contemplation. All of a sudden a bear comes in through the open door and appears in front of you. You get scared and start running away. It is good that in this case you have a second door through which you go out immediately. You tell everyone you meet in the street that a bear entered your room and nearly attacked you. If you didn't have a second door in your room, you would have had to defend yourself, i.e. fight with the bear. However if you had self-control, you would have started thinking. First you would have asked yourself: “How is it possible for a bear to enter my room?” Then you would have looked at it closely and seen that it was not a real bear, but a person dressed in a bear skin. You would have find out that it was your friend who pulled a joke on you. Therefore, when fear enters your mind, you can escape through the door of the heart. This means that no matter what danger may threaten you, you always have an exit to go through and save yourself. When fear enters your heart, ask yourself if all that you see, feel and experience is real. Someone with self-control can sit calmly on a stone in the forest in the presence of the wildest of beasts – tigers and lions - and they won't cause him any harm at all. They will pass him by without even touching him. If he is afraid, however, they will inevitably attack him. Even the most ferocious of animals step back before a brave and fearless person. They feel this person’s strength and are afraid of it. Indeed a brave person has a strong will and a strong thought; he is able to concentrate. Can you tell me now what the dog which just passed by was thinking about? As you could see, it stopped, looked at you for a while and moved on. Did it realize that you are disciples in a spiritual school? It understood that you had gathered here for some important work, but it did not grasp the nature of this work. If you had frightened the dog, it would have barked, but your thoughts gave it an impulse to continue on its way instead. It understood that its place was not with us. It had good observational skills and a well developed lower mind, that is why it didn't stop with us, but continued on its way. It had observed its master and concluded that just as its master is often occupied with his own work, we also have some work to do here. Fear and doubt come naturally in the physical world but in occult schools they get created artificially. This was the case in occult schools in India, Egypt etc. For example, a disciple went to one of the masters in an occult school, but the Master didn't speak to him. The disciple said something, but the Master stayed silent; the disciple was shocked and didn't know what to do. Two or three days passed, but the Master remained silent. The disciple began to think that he may have joined the school too early. After that the Master put the disciple through a test, causing him great fear. Thus the Master could observe whether the disciple’s mind and will were well developed. He watched the reactions of the disciple in order to find out his positive and negative traits. Spiritual disciples need to possess positive traits. If they have any negative traits, they cannot be real disciples. Someone who has weaknesses cannot be a disciple. Therefore, you should know that the difficulties you face in Life are strictly and mathematically defined as they are necessary for your development. You cannot avoid them whatever you do. If you avoid them in one form, they will come to you in a second form, in a third one and so on. If you avoid them in a form which is easy to manage, they will come back to you in a form which is more difficult to handle. It has been noticed that one encounters exactly what one is most afraid of and the other way round - one achieves what one wishes for the most. From the viewpoint of the School of the Brotherhood of Light, fear and doubt in human beings are negative traits which show that higher Love has not yet entered the human heart. Fear and doubt show also that higher Wisdom has not yet entered the human mind. In order to overcome fear you should work on doubt and other negative traits of your character. In this respect, the occult school offers a number of methods to its disciples, so that they can work on themselves. The first characteristic of a disciple is the ability to work. One should like one’s work and should always be ready to work. Once a young person who had graduated from university went to a master of an occult school and asked him to become his disciple. At that time the master was digging in the vineyard and didn't give him an answer. The young person asked questions on several issues, but didn't take a hoe to dig with the master. Was he ready to be a disciple in this situation? No, a disciple should be diligent and quick-minded. He should work jointly with his master. He will ask questions and his master will answer to him while they are working. Their conversation will start in a natural way. They will work and talk at the same time. That young person, however, expected that the master would leave his work to converse with him. The master will not interrupt his work. In such a situation it is the disciple that needs to adapt to the master. Contemporary people doubt the existence God because they want Him to interrupt His work and ask them about their problems and material circumstances. In other words, they expect Him to give them the kind of attention that little children need. This is where their mistake lies. They should know that God will never discontinue His work. He is able to extend or reduce time and space, in order to give humans the possibility to study, work and develop, but He will never stop working. When someone is about to get hanged, time contracts and the days pass quickly. When someone owes something to somebody, time also goes fast. In both cases people wish for time to be prolonged. In this respect contemporary people have no precise criterion or measure which they can apply to determine what the real time is, i.e. to define the length of a given time. When I speak to you about the duration of time, it is an issue that relates to consciousness. If you move with the speed of a normal train, you will reach the Sun in two hundred and fifty years, but if you move with the speed of Light, you will be there in eight minutes. Therefore, your consciousness could move with the speed of a normal train or with the speed of Light, or even faster. This means that time and space depend on consciousness. Consciousness is outside of time and space, outside of any contradictions, outside of fear and doubt. Space produces fear, time produces doubt. If you fall into a well, you will feel fear. When the time approaches for you to pay a bill, you will feel doubt. When you see that your creditor is coming, you will ask yourself: “Has he not made a mistake, has he not come earlier for the payment?” When two disharmonious objects are placed together in time, they will produce doubt in the human mind. When these two objects are separated in space, they will produce fear. For example, if you say a bad word to your friend, you will feel fear in this very moment that you could lose him. Fear indicates that you are in space and you worry that your friendship can be broken. I will ask you some questions now. Is it better to love or to be loved? – To love. Is it better to give or to receive? – To give. What will happen then if all of you love and give? You will repel each other. Loving is one thing, being loved is another; these are completely different states of the soul, originating from two different processes in Existence. Loving is a process of Love whereby you develop your strength; being loved is a process of Wisdom whereby you gain knowledge. Is there any contradiction here? So when God works on your soul with His Love, you want to love; and when God works on your soul with His Wisdom, you want to be loved. However you need to create the necessary conditions in order to be loved. No one can love you if these conditions haven't been created. For example, in a dark room with closed shutters you want to see Light and to be joyful. Is it possible in this situation for Light to reach your eyes? You should open the shutters of the windows, so that Light may come into the room, touch your eyes and love you. Under these circumstances you will enjoy the Light too. Therefore, to love means to connect with the First Principle – Divine Love. To be loved means to connect with the Second Principle – Divine Wisdom. And it is true that after someone has loved for two or three days, for months, for a year or two, or more, this person comes finally to a passive state, wishing to be loved. In this way an alternation of processes occurs and the wheel of life starts turning in the opposite direction. During this alternation a change takes place in the role of human bodies as well: at first human activity was concentrated in the Astral body or in the World of the human heart; later with the change of processes it moved into the Mental body or the World of the human mind. If the activity in that world ceases as well, the human being comes down to work in the physical world. Consequently, when human activity in the physical world stops, it goes to the Mental world; when it stops in the Mental world, then it passes to the Astral world and everything starts from the beginning. This means that in human Life in its entirety a continuous circular movement takes place. This shows that one cannot remain at the same point in life forever - this would mean remaining in eternal stagnation which is impossible. You cannot love and be loved all the time. If these processes continue for too long, you will become indifferent. You cannot think and feel all the time either. If you find yourself in one of these situations, you should consciously look for some work to do, so that you can change your mental state. For example, if you have loved until now, find some books to read. While reading them, you will feel the author’s love, and if you read your works to someone else, you will give them your love as well. Loving and being loved are equally powerful processes. Why? The soul that expects to be loved creates an impulse for the other soul which is giving its love at that time. Loving and being loved present two poles of Life. Those who give love create the subjective side of Life; those who receive love create the objective side of Life. Because of that the person who loves wants to see their image in their beloved. You like mirrors, because your image is reflected there. If you have a mirror in your pocket and somehow you break it or lose it, you are very regretful, because you cannot maintain a clear vision of your image anymore. You see your image in the mirror much better than you can imagine it. Therefore, the person you love is always an expression of your love. This is the reason why you love him. If your mirror is a bit smudged you don't like it, because it doesn't give a clear reflection of your image. You love only the one who is able to inspire you, to give you an impulse and an incentive for something. It has been written in the Scriptures: “Love God the Lord with all your heart.” This means that the Divine should be reflected in you. And when the Divine sees Itself reflected in the human soul, God rejoices, as He knows that this person has worked on himself. When God rejoices, the person is also joyful. When one loses joy, this indicates that God is not satisfied with this person. This is why you shouldn't think that the Love you manifest is yours. Humans are only instruments for the manifestation of Divine Love and Intelligence. Writers, poets and scientists know this. Sometimes they have great ideas and write with inspiration, beautifully; at other times they cannot write anything and feel poor, as if they don't know or comprehend anything. If Intelligence and high reasoning were their innate nature, they would always have it at their disposal, but that isn't the case - they are creative only when someone brings something to them. So if someone fills their basket with cherries, they go around, share it with others and write. In the present conditions of life, the Invisible world expresses Its Love in the form of Intelligence. Humans are interpreters of this Intelligence. This doesn't in the least mean that humans are automatons - they just need to be aware that they are interpreters of this Intelligence. Having realized this, humans should be happy that they have received something from the Divine world which they should use mindfully. For next Wednesday please prepare an answer to the following questions: “Why should I love?" and "Why should I be beloved?” It is not so important for me if you answer these questions correctly, but that you think about them. What is important is what you will gain after contemplating this topic for some time. This topic is a very important one and you need to think about it. The power of a human being lies in its thought. If you think, you will always acquire something which may not find an external expression today, but in a year or two or maybe more, it definitely will. Irrespective of how correct your answer to these questions will be, you cannot be on the right path yet. It is not enough to only write about Love, one needs to experience it. Therefore, whoever writes about Love definitely needs to love and feel loved as well. This shows how difficult it is to write about the essence of things. As I am giving you this topic, I would like to point out to you the fact that you will be writing about things which you don't know much about. Why is that? You have not loved nor have you been loved until now. What you call love is a shadow of Love. Therefore, neither your love nor the love of your kin can be called reality. You would ask: “Is it possible for our love to be a shadow of Love?” This could be tested. If your love were to be tried, you would fail right away. You have love, but not the one I am talking about. I have Divine Love in mind in which no polarization exists. If it penetrates the human soul only for an instant, it will be enough to bring enlightenment to your mind and make you feel one with all creatures all over planet Earth and the entire Cosmos. It can be experienced by anyone who loves and who is loved. This is what understanding the inner meaning of Love means. You will study Love for thousands of years until you understand what it actually is. You need to pass through many levels of existence in order to perceive the Reality of things at least partially. If Love would visit someone right now, this person wouldn't stand its vibrations – he would lose consciousness and fall to the ground, his breathing and pulse would cease. He would have no alternative but to ask to be returned to his initial state. Contemporary people's nervous systems and their whole organisms are not ready to endure the strong vibrations and the currents of Love. That is why spiritual science recommends to its disciples a number of methods and exercises for strengthening of the mind, the heart and the will, so that the forces of their organism can get in tune with the natural forces and currents. When I say that your love is a shadow of Real Love, I mean that you have not yet experienced such Love, you have not had such an opportunity, so it is unknown to you. If you ask a young man to describe his love, he will say: “I told her about my love, but she didn't understand me.” And the young woman will say: “I loved him, but he was unfaithful.” One could be unfaithful even without being beloved. Precisely in a situation in which you love someone the possibility for infidelity is minimal. It is impossible for the one you love to be unfaithful to you. This does not happen anywhere in Life. If there are exceptions they are outside of Divine Love, outside of Divine Wisdom. There are absolutely no conditions for infidelity in Divine Love and Wisdom. When we talk about infidelity, we should understand human love, i.e. love between human beings on Earth. If there is infidelity, we cannot speak of Love. Therefore, you should know the following: if you have doubts, Intelligence is absent from your mind; if you have fears, Love is absent from your heart. This says it all. You all need to know this as disciples of an occult school. If you are not guided by these precepts in Life, you will only study the shadows of Reality and in the end you will fall into despair and discourage and say to yourself: “It was all for nothing!” In order to avoid reaching such a state, put your love to the test and see how much you can stand. I will now give you two rules to always have in mind: you should not be afraid when you want to love; you should not doubt when you want to be loved. Apply these rules in your life to see if and to what extent they are true. When you have free time, think about them. When you watch the reactions of people or read philosophical books, or study the works of some writers and poets, put their thoughts through your sieves and keep only what remains on the surface. That is what is most valuable and useful to you; whatever falls down is not meant for you. Rely on the sieve of your heart and of your mind and do not be discouraged! Do you know how to sift? All of you have sifted flour so you are familiar with this art, but there are things which do not pass through your sieve and which are still not useful to you. What will you do with them? You will bend down, take them with the pincers of your will and put them aside. Therefore, you can separate the usable from the unusable in your life with the help of your thought, your feelings and your will. Did you understand everything I told you this evening? – We understood a tenth of everything you said. Keep this tenth then! It will be the unit of measurement which you should use. Indeed, the human being represents a tenth of the Divine Truth. By “one tenth” I mean the unit which is used by every human being to measure things according to the level of his or her intellectual development. Currently the task of all humans, of all humanity, is to prove that human beings represent one tenth of the whole. Secret prayer [1] The colours mentioned in this lecture carry symbolic significance as the Master Beinsa Douno had previously written a book in which he grouped quotations from the Bible and designated a colour to each of these groups. The book s is called “The Legacy of the Coloured Rays of Light” and all participants in the Youth Occult Class were quite familiar with it.

Infinite Love The Twelfth Lecture of The Master before the General Spiritual Class held on 18 May 1922, Thursday, 8.30-9.30 in Sofia Secret Prayer The homework on a much-loved word or a much-loved sentence has been read. Next time you will write down the greatest imperfection that you have. Just one, yet the greatest one. You can write it anyway you like. Now, I say, he who has no courage to admit his imperfection can never know Love. Love is not for the righteous, neither is it for the loving, Love on its own cannot love. If it could love, then who would be able to love? It is marvellous to love because you are loved. Love is Love by itself. If we think in spiritual terms, when you want to love then there is something that you miss, and if you want to be loved then again there is something that you miss. Therefore, whether you love or you are loved, indicates an imperfection. You love because you are not perfect and you say that The Lord also loves. But The Lord has never said He loves anyone. Can you tell me where he said that, where is it written, have you ever seen it said anywhere that God loves? People say – some prophet came and said that God is Love. Have you ever met The Lord in person? You are funny – the prophet said so; yes, but that is on his account. One should not conclude from that that The Lord loves. Now, you have a critical mind, haven’t you? Loving means having an imperfection. Now I am talking about Love in the way it manifests on the physical field. What way does it manifest itself on Earth? How can you talk to me about that great Love – have you seen that Love? Can you tell me how Love appeared? You can philosophically say, "What is the Master talking about, this is not right.” Show me two people on Earth who love each other to the extent that they have always lived in peace in their lifetime; let’s not just talk. There are saints who loved once yet they happened to act rude just as well, only the books do not say anything about that. Many saints thrashed around the same way anyone else did. At that time people did not say they were saints; that came later. Yes, they were saints but only after they died. Of course, what I say is concrete – it is not about what is up, it is rather about what is down, amongst you as that is the way Love manifests. And we should start learning this Love the way it manifests amongst us rather than the love we know. Now, you say that you love someone, don’t you? But if the one you love ignores your love, what will be brought forth inside you? – First, embitterment will be brought forth, is that right? Then animosity will be brought forth after the embitterment, and after that animosity, you will turn your back and say, "Come what may,” and that will be it. Paul says that Love does not fall away, is that right? So I am asking if your Love falls away, then was it really Love? It is Love only if it can endure all sins in the world, all the endless sins of people – then it is the Love of Angels and God; that is Love. While love that cannot endure people’s sins is slops. This is my definition of Love, do you understand? Because a righteous man needs no Love. I am righteous, what need of Love have I? What need of Love can God have? He does not need Love but it is because of those weak beings, which wanted God to give them Life and are begging Him, forcing Him to love them. He has many important things to deal with but since they keep knocking and knocking at the door, He will finally get up; He will disturb his peace to see what they want. They say, “You have given us Life, now you will guide us.” – “I will guide you.” So, if you want to cope with your mistakes in the spiritual aspect you will have to bear yourselves sometimes. Sometimes, as you cannot stand yourselves, find someone guiltier than you are so that you can bear yourselves. No, no, when you bring out all your sins you should love yourself anyway. When things are nice it is normal to love yourself, when you are sinning, it requires substantial courage. Now, many are talking about Love. If I criticise your love, that is not Love. Someone is talking about Love, he expects me to praise him, and he says he loves me. I know why he loves me. He says, “I love The Master.”- I am a pear tree full of pears, what will he feel but love me. If I were an idiot, or a sweeper in the street you would not love me then. So I do not believe in your love, there is nothing more to it. I do not believe in your love; I believe in your love as much as this; while I have this wealth, you will love me, and tomorrow when I lose it, you will discard me. And whoever replaces me that Love will go to him. This is for religious people who only talk about Love, about God they talk; they have seen Heaven and say: “What will we be there?” That is just entertainment. I have noticed that sometimes some people analyse the way I am watching, thinking how I might see them in the same way as a clairvoyant. While what I see is them building their long-term plans and wanting to be traitors in the future. It makes no difference for a man – be he a traitor, that is also courage, he does that out of love too. I am asking you, students of the spiritual, how was evil born in the world? – When Love came down, evil was born alongside it. But is God not perfect; has man not come out of God? Now you will say, “Don’t we have Love?” I refer to Love from a different viewpoint. That root, the bitter one that is emerging inside your soul, where does it come from? I will explain Love in the first degree to you: Love that cannot be understood is hatred. And when does great Love turn into hatred? A mother has half a dozen children but she loves one of them more, hence, this beloved child becomes the reason for hatred to appear at home. The love of one of them will generate the hatred of the others – isn’t that the actual situation in that home? That is fine, but how can we reconcile those energies? I speak of Love as of energy. Now, we are in the world of contrasts – where there is hatred, likewise there is Love. Love with shadows within it is imperfect, while perfect Love has no shadows. And when you come into perfect Love you will find you are in the boundless Light – you will be all alone there, without any images around nor any Angels whatsoever, you will live in infinite Light and you will have no image of your own, either. I am asking will any hatred then appear in your soul? – No. You will be serene and peaceful, there you will feel the presence of that eternal Freedom, there you will feel Love, and bygone cosmoses will not appear. And if you want to create a cosmos, you will call hatred and Love. Consequently, when a man wants to create an image, evil is born in the world at that very moment – it is a visible image. The root of evil is the aspirations to have images. While an image is a trap – to catch a Divine soul, to limit it, to put a halter on it, to put a goad to that and to torture it as much as we like. So, love on Earth is nothing but a limitation. That is what people are doing now; they do not love each other, they just torture each other – this is what I know of them. And some people will say that they love each other. You should treat those you love with the utmost care, as your smallest mistake will bring in the greatest misfortune – that is gunpowder, it will have bad consequences. You will love, but you will be extremely careful, while should you want to be loved, you should again be extremely careful about your words and about anything in any aspect. Because forms have evil inherent in them. Therefore, some people speak about others, they comment that someone said something, but you should know when you create such forms they will come to a collision, there will be an explosion and you, who are on the Earth, will be walking in the air. So, when you come to dealing with the images of Love, you should be careful. You should be extremely delicate with Love that has images. You have, for example, someone whom you love; for you that person is attractive, is that right; while for others your attractive person is ugly. Therefore, the things that we find ugly or disgusting and bad are not an absolute rule. In spiritual terms, we do not know the measure of absolute evil in the world. There is absolute evil in the world, there is also relative evil in the world, but we do not know what measure we use. Let us take, for example, animals: a wolf’s teeth are made to protect it - if you tease it, it will protect itself, so it will bite you, thus saying: “Do not touch me, I have teeth”; an ox, when you touch it, it will butt you, thus saying: “Do not touch me, I have horns”; a horse, if you touch it, will kick you with its hoof, thus saying: “I have legs.” So all creatures have a way to protect themselves – with arms, with legs, with mouth, and not only with teeth, but also with the tongue, with anything. They have learned all the methods of protection. Now, to be able to understand the depths of this spiritual doctrine you should be able to cope with all contradictions. You should first of all conceive Love as a boundless principle that contains no evil at all – you should conceive it free of any contents and free of any meaning. Because if you recognize that there is any meaning in Love then there is content; if there is any content, there is a form; if there is a form, there is evil. Or, as we say, when the eternal gets limited, evil gets born. Now, if I leave you with this situation, I will create some evil for you, i.e. the way I am speaking to you now I will create some evil for you and many of you will suffer. Now you are saying, “Let us love each other, let us love God.” For thousands of years, we have been saying that we should love each other and we keep failing to love each other, that we should have mercy and we still don't have it, that we should be careful and we keep being careless. We keep promising and promising and promising every day and there is always something in our way. What is it that is in our way? – It is because we do not want to admit our imperfections. While our imperfection is the following: any time man finds himself limited in a certain form that is an imperfection. For example, you are limited in a body like what we are. We say that we have been created in the image and likeness of God, but if we would look at that human body as it is, we would run three hundred kilometres away from it. It is perfect to say about man that he has been created in the image and likeness of God but that by no means implies the body that you have now; when I speak of that mind, that by no means implies the mind that you have now; when I speak of that heart, I by no means imply the heart that you have now. Sometimes you have an experience like this: you feel Love as something abstract, but it only lasts five to ten seconds. It is a Divine condition – you feel as if the whole world has become reconciled, but then this condition vanishes and the old, common, gloomy condition replaces it. Then, your mind is somehow enlightened – as if everything is Divine, you can understand everything, and then that common mind comes back. We have to distinguish those conditions. That is precisely the question now: the spiritual science provides methods on the basis of which we have to transform our consciousness; our existing consciousness has to undergo certain changes. The way you are now, with your present consciousness, even if you go to Heaven you will sink anyway, no one can understand what the law is. If you place a stone on the sea surface, it will sink; the moment they place you in the Garden of Eden, you will sink through the floor – you are so heavy that the floors of Heaven will not bear your weight. Well, I am asking you, how are you going to stay in Heaven then? Now in the Spiritual School, what are you thinking about? One of you feels miserable and is trying to find a way to get healed, another one wants to become a scholar, the third one wants to become rich – everybody is thinking of material things. And you spiritualise those material things and claim that you are thinking about the Lord. But people think very little about God, very little. Do not think now that I want to smear you with my brush. No, I have not yet revealed all your imperfections, I am not smearing you but this Light shall be cast so that things can be perceived the way they are in their own reality in order that we can see what we are. Do you know how many evolutions the matter which our brains are made of, which we use now, has served, do you know how many evolutions our existing body has served and do you know that namely in this matter all the infirmities and imperfections of those who have departed have been incorporated? It is manure and we have to process this manure the way plants process all impurities. Consequently, we feel some depression within us all the time. Were that matter virgin and pure we would not feel such conditions. Even present doctors say that whenever there are such dregs in your blood they make you feel some malaise within and they have to be purged away. This means that the matter is impure. Now, I don't want you to have a weak Angel – your Angel shall not be weak. You should, like a merchant, know precisely, mathematically how much money you have; how many golden coins you have in your safe, nothing more, nothing less. You should just as well know how much debt corresponds to that money. You have gold but you also have something that is not pure. You can have one hundred thousand levs1 and make a turnover of five-six million, and then people will say about you: “He is a merchant with millions”; others may think that all you have is capital. And all virtuous people of today figure with little effective money while at the same time everyone is seen as a man of a capital of ten million. Someone is seen as a saint, another one is seen as prominent while some are seen as big fools. The latter are better, since they have courage, they speak the whole Truth the way it is: “I have that much in my safe.” Therefore, if you want to make progress in spiritual knowledge, to pass this cycle and get into the next one, you should leave your present mind, and if you do not, if you do not leave your present concepts, if you want to be delighted, you will all stay like the frogs inside this slough and will be croaking for at least another ten thousand years. You will say, “Oh, gracious Christ,” but do you know what grace is? No man who tried to force Love, to force God, has prospered2. There is nothing more disgusting in the world than a man forcing God. Can you understand this? If we say that we are an actual image and likeness of God, if we force ourselves then we can always force our neighbour or God. We force God, even when we force ourselves; it is God that we are forcing. I am asking, what objections will The Lord make to you? And you know, sometimes you keep bending the bowstring, keep bending it, keep bending it and you come to a certain point but you cannot bend it any further as it will not resist and you break it, do you know what that will cause? Now, some of you do not realise how misfortunes come. Imagine you live on the second floor and assume you are moving a treasure to the first floor. You carry ten kilograms of gold every night. What will happen to that floor in a year or two? Do you think it will resist? – It will not resist, those timbers will get cracked, the floor will collapse soon and you and the gold will fall through it. You, modern people, modern disciples have so much gold placed in your minds that the timbers are cracking and the building will soon collapse. And where will you go – to the bottom of the sea. In the same way, the world, before long, will collapse. That is why the Brotherhood of Light prepares the members of the New Culture to leave that floor. You can take it all very literally. I will give you an example. You say, “We are faithful”; enemies attack a city, you take in the facts, leave your wealth and your records and say, “Hey, brother, let us take in the facts,” and the poor man thinks that you have forgiven him. However, when the enemy withdraws, you bring your records back and say, “You still owe me.” Now you similarly turn to God, you pray, you repent, but when you find your old records …I am asking what is that love, is it perfect? Love that has no power to smooth out sins is not Love. That is the first thing, the first quality of Love. And God says: “I will erase all their sins and will dry their tears, I will wipe them.” – Therefore, that is the primary quality of Love. Where does Strength stay? If your Love is capable of erasing within you our mistakes and the mistakes of your neighbours, that is Love – that is the way I define Love. Peace will only come if Love can erase mistakes; if it cannot erase them, you should know that it is not Love. And when Christ pronounced the great rule - when your brother turns to you, you should forgive him, He must have meant something in that sense. And that is the hardest thing – it is so hard to forgive, and not only to forgive, but to forget; and not only to forget, but not have a trace left on that spot and to replace the most bitter words with the most beautiful words about the one you hated. Now, I am speaking to you as students of the Spiritual School, I am not talking to strangers. To strangers I will speak about grace, about mercy, about Love, and about why they should love each other. What I am saying to you is: if your Love is incapable of erasing your transgressions within you, do you know how disgusting it is to have a transgression from the past or from the present pestering you? You keep praying, and the Lord does not hear you. Why can’t He hear you? – Because you want to lie to Him: “Cluck-cluck, cluck-cluck.” Like that village woman throwing grains to her hens: “Cluck-cluck.” She gets one: “Oh, my chick, cluck-cluck” – she puts it in the stew pan. “Cluck-cluck”, until she eats it up. Well, what do you think, do you think that I can fit into your stew pan? Never – neither you nor I can. Cluck-cluck does not work. And then an occultist will come, some cluck-cluck occultist. We are all surrounded by cluck-cluck. And I will ask you now – to which kind do you belong, to the cluck-cluck one? I call all old occultists cluck-cluck. While for the new ones I will give you another formula – when I speak to you next time, I will tell you what that rule is. We should be openhearted, sincere to ourselves. It is time that we said: “My Love can erase my transgressions.” The question is not whether it is capable of doing that or not, no doubts whatsoever! I erase any other rules given by occultism; Love does not work according to rules. When it comes, it erases everything – it is all done. When that Love comes, you are immortal, you are infinite – that is the first thing. And there will no longer be any foes in your home, there will only be friends. Now, I want you to let this idea remain within you, do not take it out. The idea, which I told you this evening, shall not be taken out of this room and if anyone dares to disclose it outside I will inflict on him one of the greatest punishments anyone has ever seen – yes, one of the greatest punishments, one of the greatest troubles, one of the greatest sufferings. And then I will ask him if he wants to disclose this Truth again. Do not speak of Love before it is inside you, it is a shame. That is the most sacred name! Remember where it says: “We shall not utter the name of God in vain”. The name of Love shall not be uttered in vain – that is what I know. Love is one of the most sacred names with which the world was created. Because if you utter this name and you are not ready, you will create much wretchedness in your karma, many generations will be wretched. It is said: “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.” In vain for what? – Only when you are ready for Love, you will call it. And then you will create a world of Beauty around you, a world solely of Love, a world solely of Peace, a world solely of Joy, of Rejoicing, of Harmony, a world of Bliss. That is what you will create when you utter its name. Some of you will say now: “Do you know what our Master said?” You do not know your Master – where is your Master, have you seen him? You will say, “Yes, he is by the table”. At what table, he is not there. You think that there is a Master by the table, by you – you are so wrong. You will say: “But don’t we see you?” – No, you do not. “Aren’t you talking to us, aren’t we talking.” – We are not talking. We are talking in some non-understandable language: you do not understand even a millesimal of what we are talking about neither do I understand a millesimal of what you are prattling. You can understand your Master only when you are related to that great Love and only then does your soul communicate with him. When you find your Master and when He finds you, your Master will be blind to all your mistakes, and you will be blind to all the mistakes of your Master. The Master gets as smeared on the Earth as his disciple. The Masters also get smeared – here, on the Earth, everybody gets smeared. And do you think that those with the softest hands are the most righteous ones? Do you think that the maidens clad with the best clothes are the most pure while those in the kitchen, the poorly dressed ones, are the most sinful? Or that those working in the field are sinful? I think the opposite – the ones who are busy with dancing are the biggest sinners; the ones who are busy with praying in the church are the biggest sinners. The one working in his vineyard or working in the field, what can his sin be – he is more righteous. For example, a man will go to church and will say, “My Lord, my Lord,” his hands pressed one against the other. Who has taught you to pray this way? – “Well, my mother taught me this way, The Lord said it should be this way.” Who has taught your mother, then? The power of your Wisdom and your Love should come into your soul and erase your sins. Instead of clasping your hands, you should take your records into account in order to erase your sins. When a man wants to conceal something, he brings his hands together and raises them for a prayer, but there is something concealed between them. Then, he opens them and says, “Lord, everything is open to You, as You can see,” and then he brings them together again and says, “One day I can put something between my hands again.” A spiritual disciple using such manoeuvres can make no progress because any thought he has will produce such vibrations in the other world that will make anybody keep him thousands of kilometres away. And when the Angel approaches such a man he will take all precautions for that bomb not to explode because if it does, it can cause harm. This applies to the physical life. We have been following this life for twenty years but with the forms it has, the world cannot be corrected, no religious forms are capable of modifying human nature. And then it is said that there is a thought that is right: “When the Spirit comes.” What Spirit? – The Spirit of that great Love that will erase everything. And we will believe in God, that He has erased our sins, He has forgotten them. Someone will say, “But our sins are so many that God cannot erase them.” Then, if God cannot erase them, His Love is too weak. But if God has erased your sins and you go and commit new sins, then your karma will be multiplied ten times. So, I am leaving you in the first situation. Do not think that I want to influence you, no. I say, if you want to be followers of this Great Universal Brotherhood, your Love in the future shall be like that. I am telling thou3 all; for us to be able to make progress, by all means the Love not only of one of you, but of all of you shall be like this – the Love of each of you shall erase the mistakes. Each of you shall do that within himself rather than having others do it for him – each of you shall erase them in your mind, in your heart. And when you erase them, then the Lord will come to write. The Lord needs a clean book in which He will write his Word. And the prophet says, "I will take away their hearts of stone and will write my law.” Some people interpret that the Lord will do that – yes, the Lord will do that. Do not say now that you will do this tomorrow, or say you will do it in one year, or now, but say within yourselves, “It will be this way!” If you say, “I will do it now,” you will not do it – that is the way it has been and the way it will be. Therefore, that is Maya. And this present delusion is a delusion of the Black Lodge – a delusion of the devil, in the religious sense. He is the greatest hypnotiser – he will put you into a hypnotic sleep, then he will hypnotise you and after he commits thousands of crimes, he will say, “These are the crimes that you have committed.” And all those advertisements are devil’s advertisements. No, no, we do not carry anyone else’s advertisements. So, first of all, Love should erase all your mistakes so that you can start. For example, some of you should get harmonised so that we can apply another test. I will give you a test, a bit bigger than this one yet it will be microscopic again. And do you know what will follow next? I will give you a third test. Because if I give you the hardest test now, there will hardly remain ten of you. I will tell you, I will be open with you; if I tell you, the disciples who are here, “You will give three quarters of your wealth to the Brotherhood tonight, you will give it right now,” you will say, “We will think a little.” And at that instant you will think whether the Lord said so or there is something else concealed here. No, no, are you going to give three quarters of your wealth, or not? Now you will say, “It is easy to go to Vitosha4, but this!” You should know that this will come, too. Now, this test is nothing, it is like a song, there is a harder one, I will not tell you what it is. You should know that you will be tested – you will be sifted. Tests will come – we will see now who will stand to the end, who will feel no doubt. You are saying that you have Love, and I will try your Love. You say, “The Master says that we have no Love,” how come you have no Love, I have come to test your Love and as soon as I find that you have Love, I will swallow my words. And if you fail, you will swallow your words. We will be sincere in the test, won’t we? So, I will put you to a test and eventually, after I take you through all tests and you pass them, I will say, “Put me as well now to any test that you like.” I will allow you to put me to any test you like in turn, but it will be you first and me afterwards. Then we will finish the Spiritual School and we will enter the New Era, where, the way it is said there, “They neither get married nor will they go for a man but they are like Angels.” And this era will be. This can happen; it is in the transformation of consciousness. I do not mean human flesh; it is in the transformation of man’s consciousness. Secret prayer 1 Lev is the currency of the Republic of Bulgaria – translator’s note 2 The Master has used a verb of Greek origin that means prosper, succeed, flourish /“харосвам“/ – note of the Bulgarian editor 3 The pronoun in the Bulgarian text is obsolete - translator’s note 4 Vitosha is a mountain in Bulgaria – translator’s note Source

Methods Of Purification Year 1, Lecture 12 of the Youth Occult Class (Special Class) Given by the Master Beinsa Douno May 17, 1922, Wednesday Sofia Secret Prayer There was a presentation of the remainder of the essays on the topic "Applications of Karma in Life” Now I will use another example to explain to you what karma is. A young person went out with his friends. They stopped at an inn and went in to have a drink. This young man drank for the first time in his life and very soon got so drunk that he could hardly control his body or stand on his legs. After his friends also got drunk, they all left the inn together. The streets were muddy because it was rainy. The young man began to stagger in the streets, falling here and there and getting all covered in mud. By the time he got home he sobered up but the mud remained - the mud is his life's karma which he will have to clean up. I will not discuss the reasons for this situation, why the young man got drunk and how he became covered in mud. You mаy say that he did not want to drink, that his friends led him astray and so on but what really matters is how this young person can cleanse himself of the mud; how he can purify his heart from the wish to drink to the extent that he loses his senses. I will now give you three methods for purification: precipitation, filtration/percolation and distillation/evaporation. How will you know when to use the first, the second or the third method of purification? If water is turbid, i.e. mixed with solid insoluble substances, it could be purified by one of the first two methods – by precipitation or by filtration/percolation. When Nature wants to clean some water, She takes it to be filtered through the geological layers. In this case the geological layers play the role of filters that clean the water. If water was conscious it would feel grief and suffering during its sinking through the layers, losing its light and falling into darkness. When it sinks down, it goes deeply into the ground, passing through several layers until it meets a layer of stone or clay that will stop it, not allowing it to go further. Thus, unable to sink further, it will find an exit and resurface on the ground. When it comes out onto the surface, it will be glad to see the Light again. Therefore, grief appears at the beginning of the filtration process, while joy comes at its end. Liquidation of one’s karma represents a similar filtration process, consisting of a descent into matter, a process of cleansing and an exit to the Light again. Precipitation is a similar process, but one accomplishes it with less suffering and grief. The greater the suffering and grief, the greater the result of purification. Evaporation or distillation is another important method of purification. Joy emerges at the beginning of evaporation, while grief comes at the end. Why is this process the reverse of filtration? When water is heated, evaporation takes place; the water vaporizes and goes up into the air, i.e. it goes up to God. Water drops are joyful, because they are freed from their sins and suffering. So they spread wings and fly upwards but when they encounter a cold front, they immediately cool down and become dense, and eventually fall down again. As they fall down to the ground as rain, they become muddy and suffer greatly but they are unaware of the benefit they have brought with their fall. Just like water, you are also subjected to a purification process which is carried out in two ways. When you are under filtration, first you are sad and later you are joyful. When you are under evaporation, first you are happy and later you fall into grief. Therefore, if you are sad due to filtration, do not oppose your fate, but go further so as to reach the deepest layers within yourself, in order to be purified more thoroughly. And then you will emerge into the Light again; you will emerge on the surface of the ground and experience the joy and happiness you deserve. As a result of connecting the two ends of suffering and joy, you form a circle through which Life can run smoothly. Those who do not understand this law will notice the constant alternation between grief and joy in their lives, but will not know what its reason is. I am asking you, which of the two methods will you personally choose? Filtration is a method applicable to the human heart, while evaporation is a method for the mind. From time to time, however, these two methods will swap places - filtration will be used for the purification of the mind, and evaporation for the purification of the heart. Generally speaking, however, the mind is purified through evaporation, which is why people say that certain thoughts should evaporate and get out of their heads so that a continuous circle of motion between feelings and thoughts can be formed. When someone starts applying one of those methods, he begins to be able to see. However, it is dangerous if you come to a deadlock, if no filtration or evaporation occurs within you. Society calls this state indifference or alienation. When someone says that he is indifferent, he doesn't want to know what will happen to him. No, one should be interested in everything that is happening within and around him; one should even foresee or know what may happen to him in the future. When I speak of karma, there are several things that you should know. For example, there is karmic suffering which comes as a consequence of the past, but there is also suffering which is due to lack of foresight in some situations in the present. Imagine that you put an empty bottle of water into your pocket and go for a walk. You go to the outskirts of town, stop near a fountain and sit down to rest in the shade. You rest and ponder on different philosophic questions – about the origin of the world, the age of the stars and the Sun, the solution to some social problems and so on. Thus, engulfed in your thoughts, you forget to fill the bottle with water from the fountain and go back home with an empty bottle. The summer day is very hot and you get thirsty. You take out the bottle and see that you haven't filled it. So, in this case your suffering is due to the fact that you were absent-minded because you were carried away by your thoughts and forgot to fill your bottle. Another example concerning karma: you take a big basket and put seventy or eighty kilograms of bread in it. But you have to carry it on your back for forty or fifty kilometres. You have decided to carry this load alone in order to make more money and not have to pay anyone to help you. You meet some children on the road. If you want to make your load lighter, by all means you will need to give them some bread. Otherwise you will injure your back. So in this case you will empty your basket in order to avoid suffering. And when you reach the fountain, you should fill your bottles with water in order to avoid getting thirsty. For as long as you are rich and carry a full basket of bread on your back, you should share it freely with everyone and keep only one loaf for yourself. That is the only way to stay happy and satisfied. Consequently there are two causes of human suffering and misfortune: the first one is that when they get to the fountain they forget to fill their bottles with water. The second one is that when they were carrying a full basket of bread on their backs, they didn't share it with anyone. So when you suffer, it is not enough to argue and philosophize about the possible causes of your suffering. As disciples, question yourselves directly whether you didn't fill your bottles or didn't share some of your bread with the poor. One’s karma would not surface if there were no current reasons for its activation. You would ask: “What is the reason for the activation of karma in one’s life?” When one loses Love, karma comes to replace it. When one loses joy, grief comes to replace it. When one loses justice, lawlessness comes to replace it. When one loses mercy, fear and violence come to replace it. Therefore, your shortcomings show what you are lacking, i.e., what you have lost in Life. If an individual then resorts to injustice, violence or brutality, his karma appears immediately. It has been observed that some individuals who lose love try to seize it back violently. However a law exists to the effect that if they attempt to seize Love back or violate another person's soul, the same violence will be inflicted upon them. Why? Because violence and limitations imposed upon others are like prisons where those who have inflicted this violence will also go some day. I will tell you an occult story to clarify this idea to you. In ancient times there was an adept who hated mice. One day, he set up a trap in front of their hole to get rid of them. In accordance with karmic law, this adept, in one of his next incarnations, returned to Earth in the form of a mouse so that he could experience the consequences of his invention. He lived in the same hole at whose entrance he had placed the mousetrap. Once as he was coming out of the hole, he encountered the trap and there was a piece of salami in it. He stopped and began to investigate. He decided to go into the trap so that he can taste the salami, but what a surprise: the door of the trap banged shut and he was imprisoned there. What is the conclusion? The same person who had invented the trap in the past was put into the same jail in order to experience in his turn the loss of freedom and the limitations resulting from his invention. I am saying, do not lay any traps for the minds and hearts of others, because you will go into them yourself. You will not escape any trap you have set up in the past, not even over the course of thousands of years. It may wait for you for centuries and millennia, but it will find you somewhere in time. Irrespective of how high you may have reached, the moment will come for you to return in the form of a fly, a mouse, even a microbe in order to experience your own trap. You will be imprisoned there until you learn your lesson. You think that there is no going back in evolution. Do not harbour illusions, do not deceive yourself into thinking you will escape from the karmic law. Whatever position you may have reached, whatever height you may have attained, you will be brought back to pay your debts; then you may go further. Whatever thoughts and feelings you have created and emitted in space you will experience someday for yourself. They will come back to you and you will experience their positive or negative consequences. This is the meaning of the Bulgarian proverb: “You reap what you sow.” Everyone will reap what they have once sown. Therefore, do not think that there is no going back in evolution, no degradation. If Angels, who are much more elevated than humans, fell and lost their light when they made a mistake in the past, what to say about humans? The law of karma encompasses all living beings – from the smallest to the largest. There are no exceptions to it. Therefore if you want to eliminate your karmic debts, observe the Divine law, the law of Divine Love. Don't fight your karma, nor think about it so as not to challenge it. Think about Love and apply it as a sole device, a sole possibility for eliminating your negative karma. Someone may say that he alone is able to eliminate his karmic burden. Everyone can do this by applying Love in his life. For this reason you should ask yourself if you love all creatures in the same way. This can be achieved only if you view people as beings who can manifest the Divine. For example, let’s say that you meet a criminal who has committed many crimes and society is entirely against him. At this moment a woman appears who believes that he is a good person and speaks well of him. Why does the woman have a good opinion of the criminal? Because once he saved her from certain death. One day when she was passing through a forest she encountered a bear that was about to attack her and tear her to pieces. At that moment the robber rushed to the woman and saved her. So, at that very moment the Divine was activated in the robber. This is why the woman believes that he is a good person. Therefore, love all human beings for the Divine in them. When the Divine is present, even the worst person, even the criminal is able do some good, some great deed. When the Divine is absent, even the best person can commit a crime. Should this person be considered bad in this case? A single action which a person did at a given moment does not make him good or bad. I am asking you, what have you understood from these two examples – the empty bottle of water and the full basket of bread? What is better: to give or to take, to teach others or to be taught, to love or to be loved? Someone who loves experiences a pleasant feeling, but is the beloved one pleased? What will happen if the beloved one also wants to love? Both of them will give love but in the end they will come to an argument. If both people want to be loved, this means that both want to receive. What will happen then? Once again they will become cross with each other. Think of the question: what does it mean to love and to be loved? Or what does it mean to give and to receive? Next time you will answer this question in class orally, but do not write the answer down. Thus you should clarify to yourselves what giving and receiving mean from an occult point of view. Each thought and feeling that you have should be strictly defined. When you love, you should do so without any compulsion. The one who is loved does a favour to the person who loves him. The one who loves needs to release his burden in order to feel better. In other words, whoever loves wants to give part of his burden to the beloved. He says: “I see that you are strong, so I want to put part of my burden on your back.” To love and to be loved – in occult terms this means the right distribution of the burden between two people. Their mutual interaction is like the examples of the empty bottle and the full basket. If your bottle is empty, let another one fill it with water; if your basket is full of bread, give to others who have nothing. You should observe these two principles in order to create relationships among you based upon mutual respect and esteem. Many people have no respect or esteem, either for themselves or for others. First, one should maintain self-respect, respect for one’s higher consciousness, for the soul, and then – for others, for those around us. If you have a cat at home, how do you treat it? You touch its ears and tail, you caress its hair, so that at times the cat is angry with you and ready to scratch you but generally it endures everything. However, if you treat a person like a cat you'll insult them. That is why when you visit someone you should not express your love for that person as you would for a cat. One's love for a cat differs from one's love for a human being. Love for a human being is based on strictly defined mathematical ratios. If two individuals who are in love observe these ratios, there will be harmony between them. Nowadays when two people meet, one of them will think to himself: “I am more educated," “I am taller," “I am richer” and so on. In response the other will think to herself: “However I am cleverer," “I am better," “I am heavier," etc. As a result of these comparisons an inner fight, an internal competition between them will commence and it will spoil their relationship. I am asking, what is the reason for disharmony in the relationships between contemporary people? Such disharmony is due to the fact that human beings base their love upon knowledge, upon wealth, etc. You should consider one thing: Love is a strictly determined law that does not depend on any social situation or relationship. This law can be tested and tried. Neither knowledge nor power nor wealth can keep Love. You see this all the time in Life. Show me someone who is happy because he is powerful, learned or rich. When they enter life, many people think that love will make an exception for them. No, Love doesn't make exceptions for anyone. Every human being in life is an ordinary comma which has been put in its proper place. The comma signifies a short rest, but a comma can often be placed where there is no need for a rest. The smallest Love in the physical world represents the smallest rest, so that one can catch his breath after he has become tired. To put it differently, the smallest impression that one can receive in the physical world represents the smallest Love. When I speak to you of these new ways of looking at Life, I do not intend in the least to do away with or destroy what is old immediately. The old remains as compost in which you can plant the new. You will graft new branches onto the old tree because you need to learn how to plant the new seeds and how to grow seedlings. If you decide to destroy what is old in one go, you will hinder your evolution. How could you act so negligently towards the old, which is the result of the activities of so many great people, even geniuses? Great people are a manifestation of the activity of humankind in its entirety. In order for one great person to be born on Earth, a multitude of entities from the Spiritual World need to gather in one place and direct their whole activity and power towards him. Just like a tree sends an ambassador to another tree through its fruit, in the same way a countless number of higher entities or souls acting collectively send, i.e. concentrate their intelligence in one person or one Master on Earth and he becomes great. In that sense each person - irrespective of how ordinary he or she may be - represents a collective body of souls. Now that you know this, you should work consciously on yourselves, because everyone’s turn will come to enter into this wheel. Everyone's time will come to be set alight and for that purpose everyone needs to prepare the necessary quantity of fire within himself. The fuel for this fire are the experiences that one gathers throughout his lifetime and nothing can be achieved without them. What do you do when you see a lit candle? You want to be set alight too. Do not be in a hurry. The wheel keeps turning and one day your turn will come too, but until then one must undergo great trials and tribulations. Has there ever been a minister in Bulgaria or any other country who has not received a cross instead of a garland? In that sense everyone is heading towards a prison, either within or outside of himself. Didn't the Romans and the Jews erect a cross for Christ? Contemporary Christian nations have erected many churches in the name of Christ, but He is not inside them. A long time needs to pass before humans give place to the Divine, to the Great within themselves. During this time humans should work upon themselves, in order to create proper and pure relationships with each other, based not on violence but on the Law of Freedom. Tie yourself without getting tied; place limitations on yourself without becoming limited. In other words, when you build a trap for others or for yourselves, leave two doors open in it, so that when you enter through the first door, you can go out through the second one. In this case, a mouse, after it has come into the trap from the first door to eat the meat, can also find the second door open and go out. And when you see that the meat has been eaten, be content that the mouse has acted reasonably. Now, as I am speaking about Love, I need to tell you that Love brings limitations. Both the one who loves and the beloved impose limitations upon each other. For example, a merchant loves money and so he keeps going around in search of better and cheaper goods thus wasting a great deal of his time. The beloved also expects to receive something and thus wastes his time. So both of them incur a loss and if they don't find a way to compensate for it, karma will take its place. Therefore, karma comes as a result of a disharmonious manifestation of Love between human beings. For as long as the love between people lacks harmony, their mutual karma will keep growing and getting heavier. If the beloved does not arrive on time, he gets asked immediately: “Why weren't you punctual?” Therefore, given the current level of development of human beings and their understanding of love, both those who love and the ones who are loved limit each other. Contemporary people want to be free of these limitations, but this requires a new philosophy of Life, new solutions to the existing social problems. If you do not acquire this new philosophy, many more halters and goads will appear. What new ideas can you acquire, if your master puts a hundred halters and goads on you daily? You will certainly learn something. Halters and goads represent the trials and tribulations one must pass through in order to reach a higher level of consciousness. The present situation of humanity is temporary, transitory, but in order to go through this period successfully, one needs to make efforts to transform the forces of his consciousness and overcome the present boundaries and limitations. If you think you can solve your problems without such effort you deceive yourself. You can solve them temporarily, but later you will make double the amount of mistakes you did before. If you work consciously on yourself, you will solve Life's issues directly, without any detours and thus gain Light and a new understanding of Life. If I shared with you some occult laws and rules, given your current level of awareness you wouldn't be able to cope with them. You would say that you promise to apply them and will be very precise in doing so. No, new knowledge requires new containers, otherwise many of your containers will start cracking here and there and you will start complaining of headaches or stomachaches and so on. When the higher energy of these spiritual truths penetrates your nervous systems, it will cause total perturbation and if you have no connection to the great Divine law so that it can help you, you could simply melt. That is why disciples of the occult need a long period of preparation before they can become independent. This preparatory period has the aim of increasing their vibrations so that they can become stronger. That is the reason why occult knowledge, occult Light are not given to disciples before they have been well-tempered - this knowledge is power capable of destroying the organism of someone who is not prepared for it. The disciple needs to start with minor experiences in order to temper his nervous system. For this purpose he is first placed on a grate at an average temperature of about three hundred degrees which is gradually increased until it reaches four or five thousand degrees. Each disciple will test the level of his tenacity. Someone who can endure up to four hundred degrees can be compared to lead, because lead melts at approximately that temperature. Someone who melts at about a thousand degrees is like iron and if someone melts at one thousand seven hundred and fifty or one thousand eight hundred degrees, he is like platinum. The more you can endure the more you will learn. Do you know how many degrees you can personally endure? Have you tested at which temperature you would melt without burning? In this case alchemy aims to melt what is hard and stubborn in the human being, without burning it. If we could melt carbon in some way, we would change its state and transform it into something new, but if we burnt it, we would have an entirely different process. When I speak about the power of Occult Science, I do not want to frighten you, I want you to be brave. All higher beings have trod this path and you have to do it too. It is the easiest path. Its methods are complicated, but the path itself is straight and easy, therefore, you need to work and you need to think. Think mainly about the two sides of Love – to love and to be loved. Ask yourself the question: when and how has the wish to love and be loved emerged in human beings? What do you think: when have these two states appeared in human consciousness, in your understanding? Do the following experiment to answer this question: when after a good meal you are satisfied, take a beautiful cherry and look at it for a while. You will admire the beautiful cherry for as long as you do not feel any hunger, but when you become hungry, the wish to eat your favourite cherry will enter your mind. While you do this experiment, observe the changes which will occur in your consciousness. There are a lot of cherries this season, so all of you can do this experiment. When you are full, take four or five cherries and put them in front of you. At this time you'll love them. But when you get hungry, you look at the cherries in a different way, you want to eat them. At this moment, the wish enters your consciousness for the cherries to love you. It is interesting to observe these fine changes occurring in your consciousness. This means that the one who loves will become engulfed. In this example, the cherry loves the person, and that is why the latter swallows it up. That is the law. It shows that the power lies in small things, not in big things. When you do this experiment, you will come to interesting conclusions, you will observe how different processes in your mind develop. However in order to reach the right conclusions, you need to be completely calm. Therefore, work in a state of calmness and do not be disturbed if some issues inside you or in your interaction with others have not been solved yet. A number of methods for solving issues exist. When an artist makes a mistake he takes the brush and covers it up. When a clerk makes a mistake he takes the rubber and erases it. Covering up and erasing mistakes are external methods, but when we come to the correction of errors in human consciousness, then we have to use very different methods. Each external error is first of all an error of someone’s consciousness. Those who understand the laws will correct their mistakes through transformation of their consciousness. It is one of the most difficult methods to apply. Everything is hidden in one’s consciousness; that is why your work on yourself should definitely start from there. Purification of consciousness – that is the disciples' task. Two main methods can be applied towards this aim: filtration and distillation. Purification of consciousness means transforming your consciousness so that it can make a transition from a lower to a higher level. Secret Prayer Source

One’s Place in Nature The eleventh lecture of the Master Petar Deunov, delivered at the General Esoteric Class on 11 May 1922, Thursday, 7:30-9:00h, Sofia Secret Prayer Silence For next time write down your favourite word or favourite sentence. So, you will write down either one word, or one sentence, which impressed you most. When the Infinite World or The Infinite confined itself, the Objective Divine World was formed. So it is from the Infinite, from the Objective Divine World, that one’s subjective, internal world was formed. It is from one’s subjective internal world that the present objective external world was created. Or put in other words, what is visible to God, is invisible to us; what is known to God, is unknown to us. So now, when someone, in an esoteric school, says “I don’t know”, this means that one is aware that one does not know. The implication, however, is that what one does not know, is known to elevated Creatures who know it. Therefore you could appeal to these Creatures who are aware of the knowledge to teach you what you don’t know at any specific moment. The same law operates when one says one has a bad, uncultivated character. So if it is bad, there are Creatures who are good, and they are in a position to rectify one’s bad character. One’s badness can be explained in two ways. If a master has made the parts of a violin and leaves his apprentice to assemble it, and if the apprentice did not assemble the parts properly, then this is a bad violin. Therefore it cannot produce the sound that is required. What can be done? This violin should be examined by the master and its parts should be re-assembled, as it is meant to be. And in the present life of the contemporary intelligent beings, who passed before us and who will come after us, there are many parts in their organisms that are not placed properly. It’s not that any of you are deficient, but there is something out of place. As long as something is not in its proper place, the qualities, the forces needed in any given case to create a character, cannot be acquired. Then such a violin should be disassembled in parts and should be re-assembled again by the master – thus it becomes a proper violin. The esoteric school should re-assemble you; this is the objective of the Esoteric School. You will be taken apart in this School – not everything, but there will be certain things, which have to be taken apart and re-assembled again. This is what is called internal harmonization. This cannot be done against your will; no esoteric school does anything against one’s will. You will knock ten times on the door of the master who has to re-assemble the parts, and you will be waiting outside at the doorstep, until the master comes and you are admitted in. In Christianity this master is called the Holy Spirit. And then when He enters in, He won’t transform the human being overnight, He shall first start with disassembling the parts. And while parts are being taken apart you will feel an internal pain, this knife of his shall start working there. There is a story about a distinguished violinist who had an excellent Stradivarius violin. It had a small defect, so he took it to a well-known famous master in Italy to have it repaired. He invited him to take a seat and he himself started disassembling the parts with a knife, but every time when he stabbed the knife into the violin, the violinist gave a moan and when the violin was re-assembled the master noticed that the violinist had fainted. At present, the human soul is similarly intertwined with the body – within this instrument, that when the Great Spirit comes to work and drives the knife through it, you would inevitably feel internal pains. If you are sick and if there is a master, then this knife by all means would be exactly what you need, so that the various misplaced parts are properly re-assembled. After repairing this part, one will feel an internal lightness, one will experience an internal enlightenment. Many times certain issues have been discussed, many speak about the Spirit, but this is an obscure concept. How many of you have a clear understanding of what the Spirit is like? Moreover, how many of you know the situation a Master is in – not by the form in which He appears, but the internal aspect of the Spiritual Teacher? How many of you have such a clear understanding of Love? All of you have had your small experiences of it, but the clear concept that generates great experiences, that engenders an entire revolution within the soul and transforms all bodily particles, so that one, after coming out of this Divine fire, feels like a newly born baby, because one steps into a new world, a world of different understanding – such an experience you haven’t had. Many times we have spoken about Love, about God, and nonetheless when it comes to taking an exam, we always manifest our old habits. We should not fool ourselves about the training we have passed, because many people are trained, but are not raised well. Many people are still in the process of transformation, but are not transformed. If you reach your hand to a tamed tiger, it can keep licking it for a long time, but just one drop of blood would immediately arouse his old instincts. You can make that old wolf behave like a dog, but it’s out of the question that wolves will grow out of their old habits. Then, if we want to get closer to God, to acquire this knowledge, which brings future happiness, i.e. this Prudent life, we shall inevitably have to observe the great laws upon which the proper structure of our present development rests. So none of you should give in to self-blaming, but should instead monitor oneself and should one notice any internal shortcoming, any part which is not in its proper place, then one should call this great master – the Spirit, to help one rise to one’s feet and to rectify it. Now, such rectification can be done either here or in the other world. This is inevitable; postponing things is not a way out. You might say “This may happen under more favourable conditions, when the circumstances are most favourable.” If a thought has crossed your mind just now, is this moment not the most favourable moment? If it is the Spirit speaking within you right now, is this not the most favourable moment? Every thought is important at a certain moment; such a thought may come and go. So, those of you who walk along this path, should develop such senses, should be so sensitive, so quick of apprehension and so delicate, because being sensitive and delicate is for your own sake. If you are delicate, if you are sensitive, if you are quick to apprehend, the nobleness of your heart, the strengths of your mind shall be useful to you and shall in turn be useful to the people close to you. Then you will have the right relationship. Two able spiritual students can easily understand each other, two noble persons can easily settle their accounts, can easily correct their mistakes, but two stupid persons cannot – one would insist on having it one’s own way and the other would insist on having it their way. So, where is one’s place in Nature? Nature under the present conditions is just one opportunity. Nature – this is the objective Divine world, it is the primary world. From this world we should create our internal subjective world. This entire Divine world that we can see externally and that is real, we shall perceive it and shall then project it externally and shall thus create our objective world. And only having created it, can we shape the character within us. God manifests Himself within all of us; we are objects to God. He works within all of us and there is no way we can escape His influence. He has commissioned you to work and you will accomplish His Will – voluntarily or through coercion, either way you shall accomplish His Will, there is no other way out. A person who believes that one can oppose God, such a person is fooling oneself – all the same such a person shall accomplish the objective Divine will. You may keep opposing and at the same time God will see to it that His work is being done. Your refusal to go along with Him shall not produce disharmony in His path. And now that we have such an understanding of the laws that form your subjective world, we realize that the objective Divine world, which descended from God, is ideal and we should not think that there are defects in it. Nature cannot have defects; there are no defects in nature. The defects, which seem to manifest themselves in Nature, are only results from these beings that manifest themselves individually. Take for example a lioness, which is so cruel to others, and then consider how loving she is to her children – this is Divine substance. She can strangle the lamb, can eat it, can be very cruel to it, but her child she would lick, she would fondle – this is the Divine manifesting itself within her. If this lamb comes to be delivered through her, she would be equally good to the lamb. Why? – Because this lamb would have come along the Divine path – and the lioness would know this by the lion’s form, which she recognizes as Divine. She has got that far to believe that only what has come out of her is Divine, while everything else which is different from her, she would consider not to be Divine. This law operates in all human beings. Now, when you enter the Spiritual School, you believe that only what your mind generates is good – again the same law. When someone writes a certain good sentence, that person likes it. Why so? – Because it came out of him or her. Had, however, this sentence come out of someone else, then the first person is bound to find fault with it. But if the writer of the sentence is in harmony with the first person or it comes from within one’s relatives, the first person would again like it. Therefore, in order to be able to understand each other your thoughts should, without doubt, flow in the same direction. You should be convinced that the Divine Spirit in any certain case acts in a particular special way in all of you. This is true – there is diversity in Spirit – each single person, or each single spiritual student has unique vocation. I am now saying that the vocation of the human being in Nature is to learn from this objective Divine world, so that one can create one’s own subjective world. Thus one can draw on these materials. Say for example you want to be good; where can you obtain materials for the Good? You have a friend of yours, who is hungry; you want to prove your noble heart, to help him – you cannot cut off your flesh to feed him; it will not be wise to take your clothes off, as you will have nothing on, while he will be clad. If two persons have only one suit, this is good, if you are naked. Because if you take it off and put it on your friend, then this is good and bad at the same time – these counter-balance themselves, so you would have achieved nothing. Therefore we shall have to obtain such materials from nature, from the Divine world, which are needed, and shall have to put them to use for the sake of the people close to us. This is to say that in certain instances God uses us as a means, in order to show our internal desires. Someone could have been asking for knowledge for a long time; and finally He would send a Spiritual Teacher to that person, and He would implant the Spirit in this Teacher, so that He could manifest Himself, to deliver what is needed. This is to say; everything given to you in a particular instance requires you to be so prudent – to discern whether it comes from God and, without opposing or contradicting it, to immediately receive it. If it does not come from God, i.e. from this real, objective, Divine world, do not receive it. Let’s assume that I bring a live pot plant to you and also an artificial false plant, I am asking you, if you cannot tell the difference, if you do not know the different features of these plants, will you not be deceiving yourselves? I give you the two pots, but keep in mind these are so skilfully made that you could go for the false one; my question is, what will you gain? No changes can take place in this artificial plant. If an idea does not develop and cannot grow, it is a false idea. The same with you: when you become so good that no change can take place within you, you are on the wrong path, you are an artificial plant. And currently the danger in the present day world is that it has become a false substitute world. Falsehood is rooted in the fact that we do not want to experience any suffering; we want to be facilitated in everything - anyone else can suffer, to us, however, life should be a bed of roses. The student of the Esoteric School should know that suffering is what results from the transformation process of any energy. It is always the case when a human being moves from one state into another, that one experiences particular internal suffering. If there is suffering there is progress, if there is no suffering, one remains in the same place. Therefore you should remember that the changes taking place within you reveal that you are walking along the path. Now, in this Esoteric School where you are, you should analyze your thoughts. This analysis consists of the following: there are a lot of lurking thoughts from the past lying low in your consciousness or sub-consciousness. In a certain situation these thoughts will come to the surface and start talking to you like a record-player and you will say, “Some spirit is telling me something.” you will know, by everything you have been told, that this spirit has been saying the same thing for years. The spirit will tell you to be good, to be chaste, and to be honest. What is exactly new about it? – “You have to improve your life, so that the Lord could love you.” What is new about it, is this something new? This is just a reflection of your thoughts. Well, how can you recognize them? – If there is an external reality, i.e. one always knows when God speaks in the objective world. It is easy to distinguish when we speak and when He does. If an internal voice tells me that within ten days I will have ten thousand leva – and there I keep waiting and waiting, and no money comes; and then another voice suggesting, “You will get married in two years, you will marry an excellent maiden” – and in two years there is no maiden; “In four years you will be admitted to a University and you will have the best of professors” – time passes, no professors whatsoever; “In six or seven years you will be Prime Minister of Bulgaria” – time passes, I do not become the Minister. Someone might say, “The spirit said this, said that, this was what came to my mind” – these are purely subjective, distorted misinterpretations of the very person. Sometimes there can be such misrepresentations that you can believe you are gifted, “I have brains, no one else has brains like mine.” But before two or three months elapse, you are given a task – you cannot solve it. You think that you are very talented, while you cannot resolve a simple difficulty; what is so unusual about you? Sometimes you think that you are a mighty hero and that you can fight the whole world, but in the evenings a lad walks a girl home, and no sooner had two other lads made advances at him, than he leaves the girl and runs away. He is strong to fight the whole world but two persons can scare the wits out of him. The student of an Esoteric School should not entertain any illusions; one should know how many people one can fight, let’s say one, two, one should also know whether one can run well – one should be aware of everything, and not be a coward. Only if one is capable of understanding, only then can one investigate the objective Divine world. Subsequently, due to these shortcomings in us, we cannot understand and cannot apply the good we have within. Why? These old thoughts, old feelings are constantly undermining the good within us. These are like a sea wave – we scribble the Good on the shore, a wave comes over and washes it away. Then we say again, “God is Love, God is Truth” – then comes a wave and washes it away. We keep writing – it keeps washing it away; we fight against the sea. And then I shall ask you who is going to win. The sea, in the end it is going to be the sea. You should not be fighting the sea. And I would now let you know a rule: a gourd entering the sea should be empty and well sealed at that; if it is full it will sink to the bottom. Empty it should be, so that it could float on the waters; this gourd, when inland, has to be full. So when you go to God, your gourd has to be empty so that you can cross this immense sea – the astral sea. If you are full of your ideas, you will sink, you will never reach God. When you reach firm ground, you are bound, by all means, to be full – this is again a symbol, this symbol you are to keep in mind. When you get to God, you shall be empty, when you leave God, you shall have to be full. If you go to God full, you shall come back empty, and having come back empty what is going to happen to you? – You are bound to experience suffering. You will start reasoning now: these are principles; you will start building upon them. Because in an Esoteric School you will investigate Life, learn about ways and methods to transform the energies circulating within your physical bodies. Do you have any idea how much energy has accumulated in you? This energy should be put to use on time. And provided you do not put to use every single energy, implanted in your bodies, others will. So, when you look upon external Nature in the capacity of an Esoteric student, you will realize that Nature was meant to create your subjective world, i.e. all these principles which underpin it, so that you could grasp it on principle. You should have very good understanding about everything. Your measure of Truth, your attitude to people, and how to judge – you should have all of these correct. Someone wants to show me that I have made a mistake. I can unmask a person in several ways. I can unmask that person so powerfully, that it would be an operation. If the bad doctor, who cuts off the furuncle, cuts twice as much healthy flesh as sick flesh, this operation is no good. One has to be a master – to tell the Truth in such a way that no single cell of healthy flesh would be cut off; no single cell of the Divine organism should be wasted, i.e. by telling the Truth one should not damage any Divine flower. And finally, no unmasking is allowed in the Esoteric School; the Truth you may say, but to unmask someone - you may not. If one unmasks someone else, one is to be expelled; anyone who dares unmask someone else will be expelled and it may take thousands of years staying outside – a severe punishment this is. And whenever you want to unmask someone, you should stop and tell yourself, “If it is to tell the Truth, the Truth I shall tell” – neither more nor less. This is a great Divine law and I am warning you about it, not to put yourselves through needless suffering. So far, you have been walking along the road of unmasking. If unmasking could remedy the world, the world would have been rectified already. One should only be told the Truth, and shown the ways, methods and paths, as to how one can rectify one’s mistakes. Well, I shall explain the principle: I go to a brother, let’s say he is a trader, has a certain business, has borrowed money from other brothers, has accumulated a debt of twenty thousand leva, then he does not return the loan, he has no money to return, and he occasionally lies to avoid paying. But no, why should he be lying, why shouldn't he tell the Truth? You will suggest that we call him to unmask him – this is the wrong path. We shall ask him to come and we shall tell him, “Brother, is it not better for you to pay these debts, can't you repay? We shall help you, and you keep working and little by little you will repay the debts.” But we say, “You must get the money whatever it takes, but repay your debt!” – This is unmasking. We shall help him. And when the Lord wanted to rectify the world, He sent Christ, He placed a lot of credit in Christ and Christ said, “I came to give you new life and with this capital you will repay your old debts.” I want absolutely no unmasking among the students of the Esoteric School. The Truth you will speak – you will call each other and you will speak the Truth in a gentle way. You will keep improving, helping each other, creating your internal world, and to gradually elevate yourselves. You know how gradually a student in music trains one’s hand. What difficulties the student encounters in the beginning, until one’s hand becomes flexible enough to play the music, until one’s fingers finally seem to become conscious of the music and only then can the musician play without any effort. Why? One’s fingers have learnt how to play, these fingers understand how playing takes place. We also should nourish such habits and should be aware of how to comply with certain virtues. One has to necessarily develop a habit, a right thought. Now, where does one belong in Nature? In order to appear, one human being has to necessarily have a will. And in order to show your will, you will start with the smallest attempt, with the smallest things, do not make great efforts. In order to get to know whether your will is strong, you will experiment with small things. Set yourself a task in your mind; let’s say to get up at 12 o’clock sharp at midnight and starting from here, from Sofia, go to the Vitosha Mountain. So, what does it take to go to the Vitosha Mountain; what difficulties might you encounter? There are no difficulties facing you on your way to Vitosha. First, you will think that it is dark, that you may lose your way; secondly, that you may come across villains, there might be bears or wolves – these are the pictures flooding your imagination. You, after making the decision to go to the mountain, will go out, but then you will come back and say. “I will go to the mountain in more favourable conditions, when the Moon is shining.” If you leave it for later, your will is weak. The Moon shining or not, you have to go. If you say you are going to do something and if you postpone it, your will is weak. If someone has insulted you, you experience a desire and you say, “I will put up with this person” – do it. You have decided on going to Vitosha and at this moment someone comes along and tells you what the weather is like and you say, “Come on, I will do it in a month’s time.” A month is gone, two, three, four are gone – you do not go. If you do not have sufficient will to acquiesce, how can you then accomplish God’s Will and what kind of disciple will you be? At first, when you enter any Esoteric School you will be put to great tests – some will be told “Your father and your mother you will leave!” Someone will say, “This is not for now.” Don’t you take my words wrongly? There will come a time when you will leave your father and mother, you will renounce your brothers and sisters – you will go. You will then think – either of the two: if you do not renounce them, you will stay at home, while if you renounce them, you will enter the Esoteric School. You now want to be entrusted with things from the Divine world. How can such things be entrusted to you – to use them for your own sake, to keep them at home? And the Lord knows that if He gives these to you under the present conditions, when your subjective world is not formed, you cannot form your objective world and all of these Divine Goods will be wasted – you will fall into your old habits. And if the Lord grants to you a small gift, all your life you will write stupid poems, dramas, novels; you may write dozens of volumes, but in ten years time these volumes will be forgotten and no one will remember of them. Yet this Divine energy has to be applied properly, it ought to generate specific results. And now you all want to be good, to be welcomed by the Lord, to see Angels etc. But in order to see Angels, you must have the predisposition of one Angel – when you love someone, that someone is ready to meet you. Angels like to make new acquaintances very much, but when they see the disciples in the present situation, they do not like to talk a lot. What can an Angel tell you when the Angel comes down from Heavens? An Angel steps in your house and there you go telling him about your misfortunes. To the Angel these misfortunes mean nothing; he will stay, will look at you, will listen to you and will leave. And you know what happens sometimes? – Just like that, the Angel will disappear before your eyes; and these Angels of yours often disappear like this. You will ask, “How do they disappear?” I can tell you how they disappear: Let’s say you are in such a frame of mind that you feel like a master of the world, you have a feeling so delightful, so noble, you have an impulse to accomplish God’s Will – the Angel has come. But that day a small reason will get you out of this frame of mind and your Angel will melt, will disappear and you will say, “Gone is this delightful state of mind.” Why? – Perhaps because someone did not pay you, someone who had to give you back a hundred leva – because of these hundred leva you spoil all your happiness. And then you will say, “I understand what Esotericism is, I have a grasp of esoteric science, I have read about it, I have done certain things.” You have read nothing, you have done nothing. If a hundred leva can knock you out, if an ordinary dish of food can knock you out, if the bad attitudes of people can knock you out, then you will be a loser, then your will is weak. The disciple after entering the Spiritual School has to be prepared to be spat upon – the disciple may be told, “You are ignorant, you are stupid.” Well, if I go to the blackboard and solve the problem well, shall I trust myself or shall I trust them? If I, after taking back my seat start playing the violin, and I enjoy myself, while someone else can say, “Your playing is no good”, shall I trust their ear or shall I trust my ear? Similarly we can experiment: I shall not invite, in this particular case, expert violinists, I shall invite simple violinists, shall take them to a menagerie or to the woods, where there are tigers, and I shall tell them, “My music is so enchanting, that it could tame animals.” If all of them listen to me and if I tame them, then I am asking you whether or not I am a violinist? – I am a violinist. My playing is worth it, because when I play, all people may walk their way at ease. This is the way – if we, in Life, can tame all those tigers, bears, wolves with our playing, there is an internal art within us. This is to say that we have an understanding for the objective Divine world, we have applied it to our internal subjective world and we can now project the external objective one. So, I want you to have a proper grasp. Goods shall not come on their own accord, shall not drop into you laps like ripe pears; these may come and go. If you want one Divine good to remain with you not only for one, five or ten years, but forever, as a companion of yours, you shall have to receive it only under the rules of Truth. Now that I am talking to you, I do not want my disciples to think that I have someone particular in mind. No, I am speaking on principle. When we talk and mean someone particularly, we mean what the Divine world is like. I believe that all of you are willing to make progress. None of you is willing to be bad or stupid – you all want to be good and smart. It is not that you are not smart, smart you are, but if you implant the brain of the smartest monkey in a child, not even once will the child be able to turn the wheel. Therefore with your present intelligence, your strength; if placed in the intelligence of an esoteric student, not once will the esoteric student be able to turn the wheel. Moreover, do you think that such intelligence is enough? No, this intelligence has to be increased thousands of times, because it has to turn a big Divine wheel. And so Paul says that natural persons have to be transformed into spiritual persons, because natural persons cannot understand spiritual stuff. And you, being disciples, have to transform your present state. You will agree that certain things, which you find delightful, you are prepared to listen to, while about things you do not find agreeable you will say, “These are out of place.” For example if a creditor of yours wants his or her money back, you say, “Now is not the right time.” Why? – You have no cash. No, no, this is the right time. You may say that a certain action of someone is not timely, but that person may also say that your action is not timely, but whether any action is timely or not, can be decided only from the Divine world’s point of view. So, now the first thing for you to do is to put your will to a small trial. Let’s see how many of you would do this. I would put to you the following task. What do you say? Shall I go ahead with the task? I am not imposing the task on you, you may do it only if your feel absolutely free and if you have a strong desire and Love within. You will think it over carefully within one year, and this is only externally, but this is a task for you to accomplish within one year. The task consists of the following: When you get up at 12 o’clock at night, climb to the Vitosha Mountain and come back. You will choose the time, whenever you feel like – it could be in winter, or in May, but you have to comprehend the task at complete consciousness, you have to be thoroughly convinced. This is the only way for you to do it; you should not be making silly attempts. This should be a conscious effort in order for you to benefit from it. If you do it unaware, don’t go at all, but if you have awareness within, you will learn something, I shall not tell you what. You will leave Sofia at 12 o’clock and will go to Vitosha, up there on the flat ground, each one individually. I am telling you, you should be absolutely free – this is absolutely up to your free will and according to the law of Love, from that it takes a deep conviction; otherwise you will not benefit. Let’s see how many of you will do it, this is a trial test – at 12 o’clock sharp you will start, whatever it may cost you. I do not know what the difficulties are for you along the road – whoever starts the journey, will get to know. You are not obliged to do it, let’s state this clearly, only these of you who are willing. No one will contact anyone on leaving and no one would know this – each one will start on one’s own, because you may not do it. Only I shall have to know who is going to start. If two of you meet along the way – this is good, this is excellent. You will choose the time, whenever you feel like. You will leave at night and come back in daytime, i.e. you will go in the evening, and you will return in daytime. You will need a good stick. You will reach above the meadow up there near the stone, above the snowline. This experiment will be done by the bravest of you, not by the cowards. Cowards should not try this experience. It is up to you personally to decide whether to do it or not. This is only a task, one of the minute tasks. It looks like I am giving you a task which scares you, doesn’t it? What if a Spiritual Teacher comes to you and takes you to the centre of the Earth? A disciple, who cannot make it on one’s own to Vitosha, will not be able to reach the centre of the Earth even if led by a Master. Those who go to Vitosha alone, if they understand, they may be with a Master. But if they keep asking themselves “Why should I go?” such questions are not answered – when you go, you will get to know. Things are never told in advance; why so? – You may or may not get to know. Chances are you may or may not get to know, but you will still learn something. One thing is for sure, you will learn how strong your will is. If your heart sinks at every step, when you return, you will have had a real experience of how far you can go. There will be another task, a more difficult one. Now you will choose the time, while I am giving you absolute freedom. The Moon shining or not – complete freedom; whatever time you choose – it is up to you to make up your mind. If I have to resolve this problem – I shall choose the worst of weather, the biggest obstacles, the most difficult methods. I shall choose the best road, but the most difficult methods. For you the road now is difficult, and I shall leave you to choose the easiest methods. I can also make it easier for you by giving you an option – you may go and you may not go, you will be free to decide, no one will know who has started, absolutely no one will know. You may say, “How can we go after 12 o’clock, we may be stopped.” At 12 o’clock sharp you will start, no one will know about it – you will leave, absolutely no one will know about this and when you return, again no one will know of this. Only your family will know, but they have to keep it an absolute secret. If two or three of you meet, this is good, but they have to keep it an absolute secret as well. (At this point a student asks: “Is it not dangerous for women?”) – There are no men or women in these deeds, there are disciples only, this is a task only for disciples. If you, after getting up, look upon yourself as a woman or a man, do not start on the road at all. After you start, if you look upon yourself as a disciple, then this is good. But if it crosses your mind that you are a woman or a man, it’s not worth going. I know that there are certain men among you, who will manage perfectly well. There are some among the men, there are some among the women as well – not all, but some. Some of the women may if they so wish, dress as men. Please note what interest this task has stirred in you, how it transformed you, what excitement it provoked. Secret prayer Source

The Law Of Energies Year 1, Lecture 11 of the Youth Occult Class (Special Class) Given by the Master Beinsa Douno May 10, 1922, Wednesday 19.00h, Sofia Secret Prayer The disciple's essays were read on the topic: “Applications of karma in Life” Your essays deal with the theoretical side of the question of karma. Physical life and the physical body of the human being are often talked about. What does the physical body represent? It represents a conductor, a great installation for the forces of Nature. Two types of natural forces pass through this installation: positive and negative electricity as well as positive and negative magnetism. At present, your bodies are not physically tuned. Some are positive, others are negative; some have more positive electricity in them, others have more negative electricity. If two individuals with a positive electric charge come together, they will surely repel one another. If they begin a conversation, directly after their parting they will feel aversion and dissatisfaction. If neither can transform the other's positive electricity into negative one, it is better for them to part consciously, at least for a while, and look for a friend with the opposite electric charge. Otherwise, they will develop a hostile attitude towards each other and will act out of their hostility. Rude behavior will result as a consequence. Irrespective of whether the person is male or female, they will display rudeness because electricity moves in short waves and so does rudeness. If two negatively charged individuals come together, they will also repel one another. A certain discontent, doubt or fear will become apparent; they will be afraid of each other. Therefore, when two positively charged people meet, they will become active and will fight or duel one another, and when two people of negative electric charge meet, they will not fight for reasons of safety, but hypocrisy and deceit will enter into their relationship. One of them will find an indirect way to deceive the other one and tie him up so as to get a revenge. So if you want to duel with someone, you should know that both of you have a positive electric charge. If you feel fear, doubt or hypocrisy when you meet someone, you should know that both of you have a negative electric charge. If you meet someone whose electricity is the opposite of yours, you will love one another. The relationship of two people with the same electric charge in their organisms is the same as the relationship one has to one's own self, when both hemispheres of the brain are charged with the same or the opposite type of electricity. In order for a person to have a harmonious state of mind, each hemisphere of his brain needs to be charged with the opposite type of electricity. In the same way when two people meet who have heterogeneous or homogeneous electric charges, harmonic or disharmonic relationships emerge. For example, if the electricity in the right hemisphere is positive in both individuals, they will be rude to each other; if they both have an accumulation of negative electricity in the left hemisphere, they will be suspicious of one another. Many are worried about what to do with their negative electricity if they cannot put it to work. I will give an example from real life, so that you can see how to apply the law of assimilation to your excess energy. Suppose that one of the women in class, who is stronger in character, attracts two other women. However she likes one of them more than the other, and has a close friendship with her. She often talks to her, while the third woman remains to the side. These two friends who love one another assimilate each other's electric charges but the third woman, who is not loved as much, has surplus energy which has accumulated either in the right or the left side of her body. If the energy remains in the right side of her body, the woman will become rude; if it remains in the left side, she will be dissatisfied and suspicious, both towards herself and towards her kin. What should she do to come out of this situation? She should find another friend who will love her. That is the only way for her surplus energy to be assimilated. Now that you are aware of this law, you should be very careful not to misuse it. Whoever misuses this law will be strictly punished, as he has never been punished before in his life. Once you know this law, you are expected to use it only for good. Everyone should remind themselves not to misuse this law under any circumstances. What does it mean to misuse this law? One misuses this law if he consciously directs his positive electricity towards another person. Thus he will increase the amount of positive electricity in the other person, he will increase his rudeness and lead him to aggression and rancour. When an individual's right side is positively charged he should find a friend whose right side has the opposite electricity, so that the two opposite types of electricity can be neutralized. How can this neutralization occur? One of them can put his left hand on the right side of his friend’s head, and the friend can put his right hand on the left side of the other person's head. Thus, little by little, they will begin to feel better. Neutralization can also be achieved by simply holding hands. The aim is to transform the energies in both individuals. You can do this experiment in order to see the above law in action. It is best to do it when you are not feeling well. You should also do the experiment always in pairs – two female friends or sisters and two male friends or two brothers together. When I say that you should hold hands, sisters with sisters and brothers with brothers, I have in mind the different principles operating in Nature: Love with Love and Wisdom with Wisdom. Looking at the way you are sitting next to each other in class, I find that you have not taken this law into consideration. Students at school should take seats in an order that will promote perfect harmony between them. Because you are disciples of a spiritual school, you need to know the law of energy transformation and apply it properly. If you meet someone who violates your inner peace with his opposing energies, stay away from him. If you cannot distance yourself from him physically, do it mentally. How can this be done? Imagine that a certain distance exists between you. Therefore, when you take a seat or when you meet others to talk and communicate, always observe the law of liking. If two people like each other, there will be full harmony between them; whenever one of them thinks, the other one will think as well. However if they are not fond of each other, whenever one of them thinks, the other one will feel. Such disagreement of forces will create a number of disharmonious situations between them. Two people should think, feel and act simultaneously in order to maintain harmony with each other. Moreover, if one of them thinks, feels or acts positively, the energies of the other one should be negative. So do this experiment for the purpose of regulating the forces in your body. If you achieve positive results, I will give you other experiments to do. What indicates the presence of surplus electricity in the left side or in the right side of the brain? – When a person has a tendency to quarrel with everyone he meets on his path, it shows a surplus of electricity in the right side of his brain. When a person is in bad spirits, when he is pessimistic or unhappy, it shows a surplus of electricity in the left side of his brain. This refers to the energies of the physical body. The same can also be said about the energies existing in the Astral and the Spiritual worlds. You should make efforts to control these energies, and then monitor the results. However, you should not expect success with the first attempt. You may undergo a hundred trials, yet barely achieve one microscopic result. These experiments aim at the development of your awareness and of your will. When I say that electricity has accumulated in the right or in the left hemisphere of the brain, I mean the brain's general state. Otherwise electricity could accumulate in specific centres of the brain, but again either in the left or in the right hemisphere.When you are not feeling well, you should realize that you have surplus electricity and you need to put it to work. How are you going to do this? You will find a friend from the class or from anywhere else who is of about the same level of personal development and do the experiment with her. When you do the experiment together you will gain double. On the one hand you will get rid of your excess electricity, and on the other hand you will help your friend move onto the right path, the path that you are following. However, if you conduct this experiment with a person who is moving in a direction opposite to yours, you will link yourself with this person and will experience a contradiction. Now, as disciples you will need to do this experiment frequently. Since you do not yet abide by the laws properly, you will accumulate surplus electricity in your brains which you must manage in a reasonable way. This excess of energy is a form of surplus baggage from the past. Similarly, rich people leave a surplus when they cook a lot of food but eat only part of it. If a meal remains uneaten, after some time it begins to spoil and the servants are forced to throw it away. The same process takes place in the entire human organism because of surplus electricity accumulating in the brain. Here and there in the organism processes of souring and decay develop, leading always to destruction. However, whenever you feel an accumulation of electricity in one hemisphere of your brain or the other, you can help yourself. For example, if the accumulation of electricity is in the right hemisphere, you can stroke the right part of your head with your left hand - not with your right hand, because then you will increase the accumulated electricity. And the other way round, if the surplus energy is in the left side of your head, you can stroke it with your right hand. After you do this you will become calm and your mood will improve. In the summertime, when the Sun shines strongly over your head, you can stroke your hair with both hands. With the help of your hands you will remove excess electricity from your brain and thereby avoid a sun stroke. Apply this procedure even when the slightest agitation occurs and you will be able to observe positive results. There are many schools in the world that use these rules and methods for magnetizing and tuning, but due to improper application of the laws of Intelligent Nature, they cause great harm to their disciples. Disciples should not allow themselves to be hypnotized. Those who want to give you money should not demand a promissory note from you. If they want to do you a favour they should give you the money on trust. If they want a promissory note, accept no money from them. It is better to stay hungry than to sign anything like that. The Spiritual school recommends the following to its disciples: if someone gives you a loan without a draft or a bill, then accept this money, use it and pay it off on time. Now, I would like you to be sincere to yourself, be honest to your soul. For a period of two weeks, right after you get up each morning, ask yourself: “Am I sincere to my soul? Am I ready to do what my soul whispers to me, what my soul prompts me to do all day long? And if I fail in something, am I ready - without justifying myself, without asking my soul for an excuse - to tell the Truth as it is in reality?” Therefore, when you make a mistake, do not diminish or exaggerate it, but state it before your soul as it is, as Nature has also stated it. Honesty to the soul is a prerequisite for the development and awakening of your awareness, so that you can perceive things correctly, without things getting exaggerated or diminished. What I understand by the word “soul” is the Divine source in the human being, its highest manifestation in the physical world. As I am giving you a number of experiments, I am bringing your attention to honesty so that there will be no misuse. Why should you not misuse the experiments? Because all experiments in the School should be done consciously and free willingly. For example, when you put your hand on someone’s head, you should be aware whether you are giving or receiving something from him. If you receive, you should know if you can use what you receive. If you give, you should know whether the receiver has benefited from it. If what you give does not benefit the other and what you receive does not benefit yourself, both processes of taking and receiving are useless. In order for giving and receiving to be made conscious and to be used well, one needs to be thankful. The energy that flows through the person who gives and the person who receives is Divine. Full accounts of it is kept, it cannot and should not be spent in vain. Nature has at Her disposal precise instruments for measuring and reading how much energy is used and who it is used for. Moreover, Nature monitors the amount of energy going out of one’s brain, out of one’s hands, etc. Nature represents a great installation of energies and She renders a precise account of all that is spent. She monitors the results also which are obtained after the expenditure of this energy. This is of special importance because these results give this energy the opportunity to echo in universal existence. Therefore, it is enough for you to put your hand on somebody's head and they will already know the exact result of your activity and will hold you responsible for it. I am not saying this to frighten you, but to warn you that an account is kept of any work that you do, so you should be careful. You should work consciously, оn principal and not out of fear. The impulse of your soul should be in tune and harmony with God, with the Great in the world. This is what conscious work means. Some issues may be have remained unclear to you now, but you should know that through the experiments you will achieve clarity. If the explanations of the experiments are too long, this can also be a burden for you. What is obscure for you today will become bright and clear tomorrow, when the Sun rises. Without fear in the Boundless Love! So, when an issue is unclear to you, ask for an explanation. If you do not ask, you may delude yourself, because you will be visited simultaneously by the disciples of both Brotherhoods: of Light and of darkness. Whatever may happen to you, whoever may visit you, do not be afraid, do not be afraid of the darkness. It has its own laws and you will study them in a reverse way, by going from Light to darkness and from darkness to Light. Secret Prayer Source

BEAUTY IN NATURE Year 1, Lecture 10 of the Youth Occult Class (Special Class) Given by the Master Beinsa Douno On 3 May, 1992 Wednesday, Sofia Secret Prayer There was a presentation of the disciple's essays on Beauty. I am asking you, what is Beauty? Can Beauty be seen or felt? How will you draw a beautiful face? When you look at some people, you like them when they strike a certain pose. For example, they are beautiful when they stand still in silence, but when they laugh, they become ugly. For others, it is just the opposite – they are beautiful when they laugh, and ugly when they are silent. How will you explain this: imagine a round, ball-shaped face with small eyes situated close to the nose. Is this face beautiful? It is not. Is a face beautiful, if the eyes are placed at a big distance from the nose? It is not beautiful either. What will you say then about a big, round face with big or small ears? Again, you will say that it is not beautiful. What should the size of the ears be? Your likes and dislikes show that you have a certain inner measure or a scale for estimating things. Therefore, what is important in each case is not what different authors have said about Beauty, but what your inner understanding is. Different authors' views will only serve as an explanation and a supplementation to your view. People long for Beauty, they perceive Beauty, but if you ask them what Beauty is, what its outer features are, they will not tell you anything in particular. A beautiful face is one that will maintain its basic features in all conditions of Life. Whether sad or unhappy, serious or joyful, the basic features will always remain the same. If one’s eyes are small and close to the nose, this is an indication of low impressionability. Small eyes are a sign of parsimony. Large eyes are a sign of wastefulness. In other words, people with small eyes are poor and people with large eyes are rich and capable of squandering their wealth. As a general rule, a beautiful face is a face in which all parts are placed proportionally to each other. For example, the forehead, the nose and the chin should each take up a third of the whole face. In addition, the facial form should not be completely round but somewhat pear-shaped and pointed. When you see a very round face, it is due to a certain quantity of fat accumulated around the chin. A face loses its beauty as a result of this excess fat. Everyone today longs for Beauty, but outer beauty has caused great evil in the world. Beauty should exist on the inside, not on the outside. Inner beauty expresses itself in a flexible lively face. A beautiful face also indicates inner depth, great sensitivity and a nobleness of the soul. In a beautiful face curved lines should prevail over straight ones. Straight lines show that electricity prevails in a certain person; curved lines are an indication of magnetism. Some people have beautiful foreheads, but their ears and chins are not beautiful. In order to determine which forehead, nose, mouth, chin, beard and ears are correct in size and beautiful in form, one needs to apply Nature' measure which uses strict mathematical and geometric rules. Those who try to lead beautiful inner lives will also acquire Beauty on their faces. For example nobleness, purity and tenderness give softness and clearness to one’s eyes. If personal feelings are predominant in someone, it will give serenity to his eyes, but this serenity will lack softness. The look in their eyes will be coarse and rigid. In general, the eyes play an important role in one’s life. That is why if a negative thought enters your mind, if a bitter or rough feeling enters your heart, do your best as disciples to get rid of it. Take the hammer in your hand, cut and chisel them like a mastered sculptor, process them until they are fully softened. You need great self-control for this. Not only students, but teachers too need self-control. Contemporary teachers in music are cross when their students sing out of tune. If teachers could keep their self-control and presence of spirit, they would easily correct their students. Under the influence of such serenity, even the worst student would be able to improve their voice and start singing beautifully. If a teacher gets angry, the tones that the students produce get shortened and they start singing out of tune. When I am speaking about Beauty now, I have in mind the human soul which is beautiful by itself. The beauty of the soul always needs to take some form or another and the more beautiful a certain form is, the closer it is to Truth. For example, your essays on Beauty were beautiful but only when it comes to external expression. However they weren't as good internally, i.e. in content and meaning because they didn't contain Truth in them. The first thing which is required of disciples is to make place for Truth in their lives. Every single thing which contains the Truth as it is, without any additions, exaggerations or understatements, is beautiful. I will give you a few rules for writing your essays. Calm down completely before you start writing. When your work is ready, read it out loud to see how it sounds to you. In addition, observe the effect it has on your mind and your sympathetic nervous system. It is well done if it affects both of these systems in a harmonious way. Read your essay two or three times to make sure that it sounds good. If it sounds good to you, it will sound good to others too. And the other way round – if it does not sound good to you, it will not satisfy others either. Disciples need to present works which sound good and which are pleasant to listen to. Each text that is pleasant and sounds good to you will be good for us to listen to as well. You should also learn to write concisely, but clearly and conceptually. When we have time, I will give you an example with an idea which has been expressed in three different ways, so that you may see which form is the best one. It will also be the most beautiful one. Therefore, each idea could be expressed in three different ways. It is good for you to read beautiful descriptions, so that your sense of the beautiful and the delicate can develop. The Bible story of Joseph is beautiful and it would be good for everyone to read it. Now, I will give you an example with an idea which has been expressed in three different ways. This is the idea of Life. I say, Light brings Life, Love brings Life, Truth brings Life. In this case, what kind of Life does Light bring? What kind of Life does Love bring? What kind of Life does Truth bring? Can Truth bring Life directly? Certainly, there is some difference between Life which has been brought by Light, Love and Truth respectively. Therefore the object of Truth is Freedom, the object of Light is Knowledge and the object of Love is Life. When we say that Light brings Life, we consider Light to be a prerequisite for humans to be able study. They need to have Love as well in order to be able to study. Therefore Light brings Life to Knowledge, in order to give Freedom to humans. Truth brings Life in the same way. So when you write your essays in the future, you should read them out loud several times and correct them if there is something you dislike. When you read your work out loud and it sounds good to you, you will see that it will be appreciated in class too. Write slowly, patiently, without haste. Spiritual science demands geometrical accuracy from disciples. The sheets of paper you will use can be small or big according to your preference, but regular in form. They can be triangular, rectangular or anything else, but by all means regular in form. Your handwriting should be neat and beautiful. It is not enough to speak about Beauty only, but to act in beautiful ways as well. Many of you will start writing beautifully and legibly, but at the end their handwriting will become nervous and unreadable. This shows that they are not in agreement with themselves and that they have some weaknesses. Fight against your shortcomings until you overcome. I am saying, remember all the writing rules I gave you and apply them. You should know that each thought, feeling and action of yours, good or bad, are imprinted in your consciousness and have their influence on it. Thus what is ugly and negative will help you realize what is beautiful, noble and positive in Life. Secret Prayer

Symbolic Occult Rules and Measures Tenth lection of the Teacher delivered at the Common occult class on the 2nd of May, Tuesday, 7.30-9.00 a.m., Sofia Secret prayer This, what I shall say, is just one definition, do not write. I shall go straight to the object, this is only one notice. We leave the ordinary understanding of Life, do you understand? When you enter into one boat you will not walk around inside but will sit and when you go out, then there is the other way. When you enter into the Divine World, you will leave your ways of walking on the Earth – the earth moral is amorality in Heaven, and the earthly right is the absence of rights in Heaven. And when all of our Justice on the Earth collects, it can not make even one virtue of one Angel. We have to be humbled people, to know that we are not virtuous. From now on, this is way we will be virtuous – Virtue is something that will be created by the law of Love; on this law we still haven’t lived sensibly. Some will retort, “We live and move in God.” The occult science doesn’t deny it but you have to know that you are at one with God and to reply as He would and to think in the way He thinks. As far as the Heaven is from the Earth, so is God far from us. But how far is Heaven from the Earth? And so the title was “Symbolic occult rules and measures. Dissonances and consonance.” We will use one foreign word: so one consonance we may transform to one dissonance. This is how: you are an intelligent man with mind, heart, and will; one violinist appears before you and starts to play. It is pleasant for you to listen to his music, you say, “You played excellently.” and then this violinist has faith in you. You are the public and he already counts on your word, he says, “When I play he understands my music, my music is something!” Then, before even half an hour has passed a violinist who plays better than the first, starts to play too; you start to praise the second and then in the first violinist dissonance appears. Why? – You will look to him with mistrust. But the unhappiness doesn’t stop there – a third violinist who plays better than the first and the second comes along, you praise the third one and then they both become dissonant; but the evil doesn’t stop there – then along comes the fourth, he plays better; the three become dissonant – people don’t evaluate them. Then the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth come along; I’ll stop myself at the tenth. All nine sit as downcast hens, and one of them, says, “You have to know, I am the one who plays.” Good, the opposite process – the tenth leaves, the ninth takes his place; he says, “You, the eighth, have to know that I exceed you.” The ninth leaves, the eighth stays; the eighth leaves, the seventh stays; the seventh leaves, the sixth stays etc.; the second leaves, the first stays. When he remains, he tells you, “We understand each other now.” This law acts constantly and in you, here in the meeting, we may verify it. Therefore, what does the first one have to do? – When the second violinist, who plays better, comes along, he has to study his methods – that way he will not lose but will have one plus; when the third comes along, the first and the second will learn from him – they will not lose anything, i.e. till the tenth comes they have to master their methods. There is no reason to get angry. Now, these rules, this law, you may acquire in all religious communities, the law works everywhere. Some people say, “Don’t they preach in our church?” it is the same law – it means: “Don’t we play like the first?” – You play like the first but like the second – no; you play like the second but like the third – no. – “But like the fourth, the fifth?” You play like the fifth but like the sixth – no and etc., till we come to this which is perfect – to the tenth. We stopped there, this number we take as a law of perfection. Upon this law you will work, I shall not explain more. The second symbol: you are a young man of twenty-one years, well built, muscular; the first master appears, he is stronger than you, and says, “You will serve me, you will plough in the field.” But you say, “There is no way, I shall serve this master.” But the second master comes along, stronger than the first, and says, “You will leave this field, you will come to my field.” – There is no way you will go to the second. But it doesn’t stop there – the third master comes along and these masters start to string to ten and you say: “There is no way I shall serve.” After that the opposite process comes. The last example is clearly connected to the physical world, and the first example – to the Astral world because it touches our feelings; the first example touches also the Mental world but we will leave it for now. The third symbol touches the Angel’s world: one eloquent man appears who speaks only one word, but his word is so strong that it may resurrect one dead man. But he may say just one word, but there are ten dead men. The first comes, says the word and the first is resurrected but the others don’t move; the second comes and he says the word – the second dead man is resurrected; the third comes, he says his word – the third is resurrected; and all the ten men, when they each say a word they resurrect ten dead men. I ask who exceeds the other. Here you have only a law of harmony and agreement. The spoken word is good only when it can resurrect one dead man. Now, where this law is applied: we take the expression dead man in spiritual relation. Some man is so sad, so sorrowful, he doesn’t want to live, he has thought to step over the Divine law and to take the wrong way; you come along and tell him just one word and he will survive – you did your duties. As many dead men as there are do not strive to resurrect them, it is already vanity; the other nine men leave. Because you will learn, in every occult school the work for every one is exactly defined, there is no reason to intervene in somebody else’s work, we will do our work. If you are first, you will resurrect the first; if you are second, you will resurrect the second; if you are third – the third; if you are fourth – the fourth, etc. And when you finish your work in this way you will turn your heart to God and with Love you will express your gratitude to Him that you succeeded to say one word in place. When you resurrect this brother you don’t need a better advertisement from him; it is enough for you. If he lives forty years, when he goes around the whole world, he will be one advertisement for you and will say, “Once I was dead but one man came, he said one word to me and I revived.” The others, when they come, will ask you how it happened. – “One word he said to me, only one, he is a special man.” And people will start to think that he could resurrect others. He will go around the whole world and will talk for you and the world will think that you are a great man. Yes, a great man! The psalm singer says, “The speech of God will not go back to God without bringing its fruit.” Every speech has to bring its fruit: one seed – one fruit. Therefore, you have three symbolic examples now: the first is the young man who serves the masters, the second one is the violinist, and the third is the tenth man who says only one word. And I desire for you, as disciples of this School, to say only one word. And I meet you and you tell me: “I was dead, do you know, and so and so said one word to me and I was resurrected.” But now the desire of all disciples in the Occult school is to eat all the cream and for the others, only buttermilk remains. When you go, you will take only one spoon of cream, so when the others come to take one too – everyone has the right to take a bit of this cream. Every man who eats the cream of this Divine drink, his word is not powerful. Therefore, one act is done well only when it may enter Life. These three rules you may use. With the third example, you will harmonize the first two; the second generates all the emulations. I shall give you one theme to develop them. And so, the three themes: for the young man, for the violinist, and for the man who speaks only one word – three themes for three weeks. From them you will develop in the School one short theme for the three of them – to compare them to something, to see what resemblance it will give. Now, you may not write anything but when thinking upon these three objects, they always will remain in your mind at least one light. And my aim is not so much to write something in the book but for something to remain in the heart, in the mind, and in your will, this is. And when it remains there, it always can be understood and noted in a book, – you will say it once, will say it twice and at the end you will write something. (Some of the tasks were read – one personal sentence.) If you could apply some of these rules, you could have excellent results. Now I shall give you one exercise, it will be the following: all these one hundred and sixty rules from your works, which we read this evening, you will rewrite and in the morning, you will draw one rule, at lunch – a second and in the evening, before you lay down – a third. You will come here one day, will sit, one will dictate, the others will write. And do you know when – on Sunday you will come, you will not put it off. You will start at 3 p.m. and will write to 4, 5, 6, 7, it may be up until 8 p.m. If you tire, we may make one exception – to come on the next Sunday. But all this will happened with Love – one little wrinkling of the eyebrows will spoil the whole effect. Everyone will write absolutely alone – what you apply alone, it will be used from you, you will see how the Spirit works. Now, we will give you one more similar exercise in which the sentences will be from just one sentence1. It is one attempt. When you drive the works through your mind, everyone will correct and keep only the essence. In this School you will learn that sentence of Solomon: “There is time for every thing.” In the Divine school it is showing the time for all the things which you have to do. We have to know when to do them, every thing has its time. You will keep yourself in the School not to break the harmony. You will keep yourself because everyone may exit from the trend temporarily. Every single thought, every single desire in one given case might move you from the rails. And when you are in front of the face of God (we are not always in front of his face), you have to be careful to ensure your mind is concentrated, your heart and will too, you don’t have to see anything else. These things are important for you; in this way, you will acquire one inner experience that could be the strongest evidence for you. I want, when the Divine Spirit comes, to produce those results which are necessary for you. He knows what is necessary for you in the present conditions; what you need. Everyone needs only from one thing, from one, these things are not many. And when the Spirit comes he will bring this, the one, in you and you will revive. Now let’s get this straight – on Sunday, at 3 p.m. Can you do this work with Love? Do not think that this is an order; if you think that this is an order then don’t come. Because, if you can’t work by the law of Love then we will enter in the old law. Secret prayer 1 In original the Russian word was used (ed. note) Source

Occult Principles Lecture nine read by the Master to the General Occult Class on the 27 of April, Thursday, 7.30-9.00 p.m., Sofia Secret Prayer Some writings on the purpose of water were read. For the next time all the disciples should write a single sentence of their own. You should not write someone else's thought – each of you should compose one sentence only. You should not rewrite what Tolstoy or some of the Evangelists said, but compose a single sentence. If you cannot compose at least one sentence then you do not belong in this class. Here we don’t need persons who use somebody else’s capital. You should set your mind to work, because such things as this one said this, that one said that, or this, or that – we don’t need them. In this school there is a requirement to think. You should note two things: two opposite poles are needed for a man to think, but if you burden these poles with negative energy this will produce within you the process of stupidity or the process of forgetfulness. Let’s assume that you hate somebody. What is the object of your hatred? The hatred has to have an object, that is, within the realms of Nature’s economy this object has to fulfil some purpose – there should be a reason for your hatred. If you hate this man without reason, then you yourself are the reason of this hatred and in such case you harm yourself because all the energy returns to its sender. So these two poles should be there in your mind. You should be free of all the thoughts that are not in harmony with your striving. Suppose this: a tradesman wants to get rich and he buys one hundred pigs when their meat is expensive; like it is at present, and after he feeds them for a while the pigs get ill and all of them die, I am asking you now what would the profit be for such a tradesman. Within the realms of the spiritual world you are not allowed to keep pigs, i.e. thoughts, which get infected and die – in no pigsty can you sustain such thoughts. If you do sustain them, you are wasting your time, you will waste your capital and you will lose your mood. Well, let’s take as an example the following comparison: let’s say that tonight in our class I am telling you some philosophic or scientific study; let’s suppose that some of the disciples are hungry, that they haven’t eaten for two days, that other disciples are thirsty, and that still other disciples have rheumatism in their legs and in the meantime I begin to speak about this scientific study. I might talk in a very scientific way, but the one who is starving will constantly think about bread and will say: “All this is not important now – the bread is the most important thing for me. No matter what scientific study I am telling him – for the starving man the bread will be the most important thing. The thirsty man would say: “The most important thing now is the water, the water only”; another man will say: “I need sleep – then only can a man think”, while still another man would think about his illnesses and consider the way it should be treated. I am asking you – what can you attain in such a class? And if you ask the disciples: “What did your Master say?”, they will tell you: “I was a bit hungry, my mind was preoccupied with a very important question within me – the question for the economic improvement of the people”. Another will tell you that his mind has been preoccupied with the thought of water, the third will tell you that he has been speculating on the role of sleep, while the fourth will tell you that he has been speculating upon illnesses. And if you ask me why the various schools so often fail and contemporary society does not improve, I will tell you that this is due to the simple reason that within them there are a lot of weaknesses with which their minds are preoccupied. An Evangelistic preacher is preaching in a church; a beautiful young lady sits there, a young man comes and also sits at the desk, then she gives him a Gospel and shows him where to read from: “God is Love”. He answers her: “Let us love each other”, “Love each other” – and they start to turn over the pages of the Bible – she shows him a certain line, he shows her another line and thus they start a conversation. After both of them return, the others ask them: “What was the sermon of the preacher about?” – “We don’t know” we know what we were talking about, but we don’t know what the preacher was talking about. While the Divine is speaking within us, our minds (and likewise the minds of these disciples) are often preoccupied by something else – food, water, sleep, illnesses, verses, sentences. For all of you these things are necessary, because a man should first of all be fed, have enough water, rested and be in good health, i.e. a disciple who is hungry should not come to our class; a disciple who is thirsty should not come; a disciple who has not had enough sleep should not come; a disciple who is ill should not come. And when two persons discuss the Bible they should do this at their home. Now, this talk is held within each soul and I want you to think while I am talking. You should act properly because the laws according to which we are living are not personal but impersonal. And what you know before God – it is for you only – whatever knowledge you have, whatever social position you have, no matter if you are a minister in Bulgaria or the king of Bulgaria, it is of no importance to Him. Have in mind that the Invisible world does not care what you are – the only thing which concerns the Invisible world is what you are as a soul, that is, what your character is like. When a member of the Invisible world descends he is just looking for a soul and is interested if this soul is inhabited by the Truth; when he comes here he wants to know if your mind is filled by the Light; when he descends in your heart he wants to know what feelings preoccupy your heart. If these three elements – Light, Truth and Purity - are present, he might stop and have a talk with you. For the Invisible world all these situations are funny. When you occupy a higher position or you are some learned professor and you solve some mathematical problem, these scientists of the other worlds consider all this a theatrical amusement. Our science here is a child’s play to them – in your terms it is such a child’s play to them that they would burst out laughing while they are watching how easily we are solving the questions of what immortality is, what God is, what the Angels are. These moments are so funny like for instance it was yesterday when I was watching with the help of a small magnifier a bunch of ants in the garden of Tsar Boris. They thought that there was a fire and they were trying to put it out. I focused the magnifier on the straw and it started to smoke, they started to secrete; to spit out their essence in order to put out the fire. I took away the magnifier and they were delighted, they said to themselves: “We managed to put the fire out.” I focused it at another spot and again they started to secrete and they finally said: “We put out this fire also.” But any form of acid cannot extinguish this fire. The essential, the Divine in man cannot be put out by anyone. But this essential, this Divine thing has its own time and we should use this time to evolve it. You cannot always think, you cannot always feel, you cannot always act – you can do such things periodically in the course of the year. The time for the thought is fixed – sometimes you can think, but sometimes you cannot think – the thoughts come to you periodically. The same is with the feelings, for instance you say: “It definitely is Love – he is so emotional.” The feelings also come at intervals. The awakening of the human will comes at intervals too. The disciples of the Occult school should study the law of this periodic influx from the Mental, i.e. Intellectual world, the world of the ideas; then there comes the influx from the emotional world or from the Astral world and also the influx from the Causal world – the world of will. And the person who understands the law makes use of it. Now, the influx of this energy, the influx of the mental energy, for instance, causes some damage likewise water can cause damages. But when does water cause damage? If people who live near by forests want to have rivers and they clear the forests in this region and meanwhile the year happens to be snowy, with heavier rainfalls and as a result there will be heavy floods. But if all the region is afforested these floods will not happen. Well, you must know that there are such forests around your mental rivers too and sometimes you can eradicate all these harmonious thoughts - the forests. And then within you arises something about which you say: “I can’t refrain myself.” What do you mean with the phrase to refrain yourself – if you were a wise man you would have preserved your forests, because if you leave the stony ground only, you will need at least thirty years until these forests grow again. In order to abstain, certain conditions should be met. But this abstention is not like the abstention in the materialistic teachings. You should dwell especially upon this great law of the human thought which comes. There is a stream of feelings and this stream floods periodically. Sometimes these two streams – the mental and the emotional – coincide and this is a happy occasion, while sometimes they do not coincide. I want you to make use of all this. I perceive that all of you have habits from your past – restrain them. You should say: “There is still another way to do that.” There are things that can only take place in certain conditions. I have often been asked: “Why don’t you read us such a lecture at such and such a time?” I tell them: this lecture cannot be read then – each lecture can only be read upon a certain opportunity. And each truth in this world can be told only at certain conditions. If within a certain society a desire arises to like music, this society will create musicians but if the music in this society has been neglected, then all the musicians will perish. First of all certain conditions must exist so that a special talent can appear in someone. Well, you want to be talented, don’t you? The talents are not being created at once – the talent is an accumulation of the energy within the human soul for thousands of years. And it might happen so that not a single gram from this energy has come to your present life. So if you don’t add this very gram in order to attain this active ability and if you don’t apply in practice the energy that amounts to one gram, your whole life will be lived in vain. Then you might think: “Mister so and so is talented, disciple so and so is talented.” He is talented because he has worked in the past – nothing in this world is without a cause. The talented people in whatever field they are talented, have worked in the past and what they have now is what they deserve. So you should evolve what had been stored within you. You discuss this problem and you say: “Can’t this period be reduced? – Yes, it can be reduced. One of the rules for action that you should have in mind is: if you lead, walk fast and if you follow behind, i.e. if you are last – walk slowly! If you invert this law – if you are in front but you walk slowly and if you follow behind but you walk fast, then you might cause an accident. And nowadays the world is suffering from the fact that the father and the mother who are the heads of the family walk slowly while the son and the daughter who are from the rear walk fast. And that is why a crash occurs. The masters walk slowly while the disciples walk fast – again a crash occurs; the priests walk slowly while the congregation walks fast – also a crash occurs; and all the people are asking themselves what the reason is. I say: the reason is that the priests walk slowly while the congregation walks fast. An American cowboy (the American cowboys differ from the Bulgarian herdsman in this that they pasture their herds on horses) rode through the steppes of West America and he saw a large buffalo herd approaching. They ran and he galloped also. As the Turks say: “Run without stopping.” And he ran ahead of the buffalo herd. If you ask him why he ran he will tell you: “Because the buffalo herd was also running.” If he stopped running the herd will not stop – it will drag away the cowboy with all his cattle. The forces in Nature resemble this buffalo herd. When you come across a Natural force you should gallop on your horse. What is this horse – it is your mind. If you can gallop you will be saved; if you lag behind you will be dragged away. This is the first rule. Well, Christ tells this in his proverb in a slightly different way: when you are invited somewhere – take the last place. Why? If you don’t trust in yourself to move quickly, then stay last in line. Let me interpret these words that are symbols or quantities: what does the movement mean? – If you are at the head, if you are in front, then move quickly; if you are at the back – then move slowly. This is a symbol; this is a conversion of these quantities. If you are in the lead, you should be good, you should work with the Virtue and as for everything you have taken into your head, don’t postpone but do it; if you are at the end of the line and you get angry, and you want to do something bad, then stop yourself, be in no hurry – that’s what this means – nothing more. Only the man, who is good and wise, moves with a great speed. Only Love, Truth, Wisdom, Virtue, Justice – all the virtues are moving with a great speed while all the wickedness, all the weaknesses are moving at the lowest speed. So if you have these weaknesses you better not come forward because you will be dragged away by the buffalo herd. Well, in this respect you have to overcome great difficulties. Because when the human mind and the human heart begin to work properly, great obstacles will emerge. And the more difficulties emerge the more you should know that you are on the Way and so you should not stop. If you are in a hurry and you stop to sit as the tired traveller would stop to take a rest, you will by all means catch cold and you will lag in your way. The traveller should never stop under any tree. No occult disciple is allowed to sit in the shadows – we do not recommend the shadows. You should always be in the Sun, i.e. your thoughts should be bright and sharp. You should know that having come to live in Nature you should first of all repay your coming here. How can you pay Nature? – You should by all means pay a small tax – don’t think that everything is free of charge. At least Nature will make you pay rent for the house you lived in. If you have incarnated several times and if you have lived about one hundred years without paying this rent you will have to pay a pretty large sum. And this rent means that every day we should do something for Nature. For instance, if while you are a disciple you get up in the morning and say to yourself: “At least today I shall invest within myself a positive thought.” and if for a period of ten years each day you invest a good, an essential thought, all these thoughts could become a whole garden in which a lot of fruitful plants grow. Take for example the noblest feeling that we have – Love – the noblest feeling that exists in the Bulgarian schools nowadays – if the most talented disciple somehow insults his master, this disciple will get it – he will become good-for-nothing; and if the master insults the disciple, he will become good-for-nothing also. If you convey this law all over your life you will see that it is the same everywhere – the Love of today cannot pass her exam. For example let’s say you are listening to a talk, a lecture: the master, let’s say, is telling you about the creation of the world or about the origin of the sexes, or he is telling you about the origin of karma. Each person can consider these questions from a different point of view – each person can examine them in three different ways. If the professor is explaining about the creation of the world, we must have in mind that this professor has not been there with God while the world has been created, so he is only speculating; if he explains the karma and its origin – he has not been present from the very beginning when karma evolved; when he is explaining about the origin of sexes he also has not been there. There are things in the world that have been born but we have not been present at that specific place. Someone might say: “I have existed.” You might have existed, but you have slept in your room. We may exist but at a certain moment, when some manifestations in Nature take place, we most probably have been in a sleep state. And all the people have such a sleep state. You might be a disciple in some occult school and when you are being told these things there, you might start thinking in what way can these forces be evolved so that you can make use of them and improve your condition – if you do this it is good. Otherwise you should have the knowledge to elevate your mind or your heart in order to refine yourself. But the meaning of life is still not in this. You might have a brilliant mind and nevertheless die as a wreck, you might have a noble heart and nevertheless die; you might have a strong will and nevertheless die. Now the contemporary occultists say that one can achieve anything by his will. Just twenty five percent of this is true, but you are not the only one who believes this. Let’s say that there are about five hundred million Christians in Europe and that each of them has a will; all their wills, however, do not function in one and the same direction. Suppose that one hundred of you are applicants for some professor’s department and that all of you have an iron will; how many people with an iron will might sit in this chair? Each one might say: “I can do anything by my will.” Okay, then, what will you do? Well, let’s say that you have a strong will and you strain your will while someone else has a weaker will, but he has gold instead and he loads the will of the minister with money and thus wins the right to sit in this chair. It is very easy – you will gild the minister’s will and he will seat you in this chair. All contemporary societies have observed this law – they nail their will now with iron, now with gold, but people have not yet nailed their will with Love. You still don’t have a will of Love. For twenty years I have been testing the disciples here in Bulgaria but I have not found a single disciple with a will nailed with Love. I have found many Bulgarians but in this respect not one of them have proved reliable and they had not withstood. That is why I say that as disciples in the Occult school the Bulgarians are very unreliable and that they do not endure. And for this reason alone in the past not a single school has remained here in the Balkans - all of them moved to the West. You can repeat this mistake even now, but then this teaching will go to the West or to the North and if it leaves, then this place here will be devoid of occult meaning. And if you do not make your aim to strengthen your will now, then the Balkan Peninsula will have the same fate that Palestine had. But let’s leave that aside. You only think of yourself, but if you would like to be disciples of this School you should think about what the Divine Will is and about what the will of the Great Nature is that let you in its home. What is the very first thing? – It is as follows: what is the Divine Will or what is the will of Love, because there is one Love will in Nature and there is one Love will in God. And when this one will come you should forget everything – you should leave all the negative thoughts last in line while you in front should move with greatest speed. Now when I say such things you might understand the question quite individually. Because you are patriots you might say: “What will happen to Bulgaria?” – In the Invisible world they are not interested in nations – such is the law. You should always know that an occult stream, which comes from space, is a prerequisite for this nation to evolve properly. Due to the great struggle in the Astral world if you do not amalgamate your will with this stream you might divert it. Consequently it will be used by those towards whom you divert it while those from whom the stream was diverted – will suffer. Then I contend that the river Nile is diverted from the central part of Africa – it is diverted from the present culture and in future if people from the central part of Africa come and divert it again it will start to flow in its original bed. Consequently you as disciples should take care not to divert the stream in which you live. Sometimes you say: “I don’t want to study; I can manage without any School.” Without any School the man is fit for nothing, i.e. you should have in mind that in case some of you think they can enter the Heavens without a School – this could never happen! The Earth is a school and those who do not study and think that they can enter the Heavens without studies are deceiving themselves. So, no matter how we look at it, you are required to learn. The law in the Invisible world is so strict that you will not be allowed to enter there as fools, no way. For millions, for billions of years they will keep you on Earth but certainly they will make you learn. And after millions of years, with maximum persistence, they will make you learn, they will make you! If you learn earlier - it will be good. Someone might say: “I will not learn.” – You will. – “I can’t transform my heart.” If you do not transform your heart, then they will transform it. If you don’t transform your heart yourself then this transformation will come from somewhere else. There are two ways to set things right: either you set yourself right or they will set you right. For I perceive that some of you are slacking off. Now we shall put into practice one law – I am beginning with the practical trials. We shall start with minor trials, don’t be angry later on – we shall put these trials into practice. Then we shall say to the one who is weak: “Queue up last”, while those who are strong – they will queue up in front so that a crash does not occur. I am warning you: all of you should move slowly – some of you will walk behind while others will lead the way – you should go rightly. Now, if you want to progress, if you want to learn something, you should by all means be true to yourself. Thus you will free yourself from your outside thoughts. I want at first to awaken you, because most of you here are hypnotized. You are hypnotized, do you see what I mean – you are hypnotized! Some of you do not realize that you are hypnotized. There exists such a kind of hypnosis – I can hypnotize a person and tell him: “You will fall asleep after ten hours.” For the next ten hours he is awake, he walks, he talks, but when the tenth hour strikes, he falls asleep. Some of you are hypnotized to fall asleep after ten days, others – after ten years, while still others – to fall asleep after one hour. Now you think that you are masters but in fact those from the Black lodge who understand the laws hypnotize you. They have hypnotized you, they know that when your opportunity to get something new comes they will hypnotize you at that very moment. During the moment of your greatest opportunity they will perturb your consciousness. And very often you say: “When such hour comes I’ll pray”, but as soon as you are about to pray you fall asleep or quarrel and everything fails. The disciple should have in mind that he himself will also start along this way. I lengthened the lecture by one hour… You should keep these laws and you should know that a still more strenuous struggle is in store. Now an awakening should come into effect – an awakening, and each one of you should pray in his heart that God awakens him right on time, so that he doesn’t miss the opportunity. The psalm singer says: “God, put a guardian from behind and in front, put a guardian to my mouth.” Let us explain the phrase “put a guardian to my mouth”: the mouth is a symbol of Love so that we, upon a suitable opportunity, can make use of this Love that comes out of our soul. The Word is a herald of the Divine Love. Why is the Word necessary? The Word is necessary in order to enable us to herald this Love, so that the Divine Name should be glorified in the name of Love. As soon as the Divine Name is glorified – the culture will come, for only with the Divine Word will a culture come in the world. And when we acquire knowledge about these laws then we will start to work wisely. We will work wisely indeed! Now, one of the two weeks passed and only one week remains. The exercise does not pass very successfully, to tell you the truth, you do not execute it very successfully. Some of you are skipping, especially the lunch – many of you have skipped this lunch, you do not observe the twelfth hour, but the twelfth hour is a very important thing. Take care not to skip the twelfth hour during the second week. Well, someone might say: “I didn’t skip it.” – I am glad that you didn’t skip it but I insist that no one skips it because we don’t like people who skip – no skipping of any kind is allowed. Some of you do not take these things seriously and you say: “It’s all right; everything is fine without it as well.” In this respect those disciples who are Bulgarians need a lot of punctuality and accuracy – a presence of will is required. If there is some weak point in the Bulgarians it is their will. I would like that you become as punctual as the Germans and Englishmen are – to be punctual on the dot, not to be a single minute late, to attain this character of punctuality. So the least possible thing now, the most important thing: I want that all of you will be punctual. I also notice that when you come here to the classes you also come a bit later and those of you who are late usually knock at the door. Then some of you enter through the window. I praise those of you who enter through the window – it is a form of bravery and I praise them – this thing is good, this thing is not bad at all, but you will not be able to enter through the window every time. When the window is opened the disciple will manage to jump over – he wants to get educated, but sometimes the window is closed and then he will fail. As a last resort I permit you to enter even through the window, but I prefer that you enter through the door. Each disciple should be at his place five minutes before the Master enters. So for the next time you should occupy the places according to the following plan: the first row of chairs should be occupied by women, the next row – by men, one row of women then one row of men. Did you understand me – you shall sit in this order. And if I come and find you disorganized we will keep silence for three hours. I’ll keep silent and you will keep silent also – you will speculate deeply, do you understand me - we won’t talk at all. The only punishment which I’ll impose on you when you make some mistake will be that you will get a gathering of silence, of contemplation for a whole hour – this is good. And I wish you’d make some mistake – then we shall contemplate for one hour, we shall convey in spirit to the Invisible world, we will contemplate; how pleasant it will be. So, one row of sisters, one row of brothers, disciples-brothers, disciples-sisters – up till the end; and those sidelong will sit in such order. This will be valid for the next Thursday only – we will make a change in the regular course of the things. A secret prayer.

THE LAW OF KARMA Year 1, Lecture 9 of the Youth Occult Class (Special Class) Given by the Master Beinsa Douno April 26, 1922 – Wednesday 19.00h, Sofia Secret Prayer Next time please write on the following topic: “The Place of Beauty in Nature”. I am going to speak now about the law of karma. If you want to learn more, you can read about it in all the books written in foreign languages – German, French, English, Italian. I will treat this topic from the viewpoint of Divine science. Karmic law originates from the very moment a human being starts its journey away from God. The action or manifestation of this law begins with the polarization of the human being, i.e. with the emergence of two poles in the world. Polarization means a division of human consciousness into positive and negative, ascending and descending, or at the highest level: awareness of Love and awareness of Wisdom. These are the two poles in a human being. You would ask, “What is the reason for the division of human consciousness?” It happened because the wish to appropriate and master things was introduced into each individual, into each human self. These two poles, which developed separately from one another, went in two different directions and forgot that they were sides of one whole. Therefore, once they were divided, they felt the inner impulse to possess one another in a mechanical way. And wherever mechanical possession of things exists, violence is born. In contrast, Nature only requires voluntary sacrifice from human beings. Nature says, “Humans are brothers and they should sacrifice themselves for one another voluntarily, out of Love.” I will give you now a definition of the word “sacrifice” from a spiritual point of view. Sacrifice means a “law of proper growth and development”. Why? Because only entities that grow, blossom and give fruit are able to make sacrifices. Let us return to the question of karma. How did this law appear? When the first consciousness in the world limited the second one, conditions for karma were created. I will clarify this idea with the following example: suppose that Nature has placed two people, equally rich and intelligent, in a position to trade with each other. They need one another, yet each of them wants to take possession of the wealth of the other one. At last one of them succeeds and the other one is left without means. What should he do? He should become a servant to the person who managed to take everything. So one of them will be a master and the other one – a servant. In that sense, the masters in the world represent the first consciousness that gained supremacy over the second consciousness. Servants represent the category of those people, whose consciousness was subdued by the first consciousness. However servants have still preserved their wish to become masters and to rule over others. So when a master has many servants, soon they begin to unite and organize themselves in an attempt to overthrow him. One day they will catch him and beat him up really well. After that they will become masters and he will become a servant. Thus the two sides of human consciousness exchange their places and their roles. When I am speaking about the karmic law now, do not think that you will comprehend it at once in its fullness. I am asking you, how can evil appear among the disciples of a spiritual school? It will emerge if one of them decides that he wants to become a master, to dispose оf everyone else's knowledge. Evil will also emerge if one of them decides to impose one’s own will on others: i.e. if he has an idea which he insists that everyone should accept. Or someone may have a certain habitual behaviour or certain powers, which he may want to impose on others at any cost. However disciples should be aware of the existence of a law which regulates the actions and manifestatoions of all living creatures. Nature has placed each force within certain limits or frames of development. Once a certain force reaches its possible level of expansion, it will start working in the opposite direction. As long as people don't know your inner private intentions, they are inclined to listen to you and obey you. Once they understand what your hidden intentions are, they start opposing you. This counteraction is a result of the law of self-preservation, of maintaining one’s freedom. Therefore, the law of karma can be balanced out only when humans are ready to make sacrifices for others, to become their servants and to acknowledge the rights of every living creature. You should give others the rights you want for yourselves; you should send others the blessings you wish for yourselves. Everyone has the right to develop one’s mind and heart, to work towards the strengthening of their will, irrespective of whether they are educated or not, rich or poor, servants or masters. One person's riches are everyone's riches; one person's rights are everyone's rights. The difference is only in the way of using and applying these riches and rights in everyone’s Life. Disciples may be subject to a certain danger, a so-called vampirism, i.e. ability to suck one’s vital energies out. Only those who understand the laws of the occult are able to do it, but it is absolutely forbidden. In the School you have joined, parasitism is absolutely prohibited. Sponging one’s vital energies is nothing other than parasitism. Those who dare to do it will bear the consequences of their disobedience. Disciples should be highly conscious in order not to misuse the inner powers they have acquired. Many spiritual schools maintain the belief in their disciples that the power of human beings is hidden in their thought. It is temporarily true, but in reality the power of a human being is neither in its thought nor in its feelings, nor in its will. These are just human expressions but they are not yet the source that brings power. It is the same as to think that each expression of love is real love, manifest in its completeness. Sometimes Love is expressed in form, at other times – in content or in meaning, but these separate expressions of love do not yet represent Love in its fullness. I will give you some examples so you can get a clear idea of Love which has been manifest in form, content and meaning. For example, when a worker who is passing by a river sees a drowning person, he goes into the water, grabs this person by the hand and pulls him out of the water onto the bank. Then he says to him: “Come, go home now!” This is an example of a physical manifestation of love – love which has been manifested in form. A second example: a person who has not touched food for several days is walking down the street. A stranger meets this person and reads on his face that he is very hungry. The stranger stops and invites the hungry person to his home for a refreshment. He gives him enough food and after satisfying his hunger, says: “Now you may go home.” It is a manifestation of the content of Love. A third example: you meet a young and studious person who wants to study and acquire knowledge. You are a teacher of several subjects, so you offer him lessons. You teach him for one or two years and when you see that he has acquired some knowledge, you say to him: “Now you are able to continue your studies alone. Keep making efforts and you will succeed.” It is a manifestation of the meaning of Love. I am asking you, do you think that if you help a drowning person or feed a hungry one or give knowledge to an uneducated one, you will manifest Life completely? No, Life and Love can be expressed in its entirety only if you live in the Causal world, where all live for one and one lives for all. In that world the well being of each person is common well being, and common well being is the well being of each and everyone. Based on this law, the joys and the grief of every creature, irrespective of how small it may be, should be sacred to you. It could be a fly, for example, but you should treat it in the way you treat a human being. That is the only way to bring joy to God. But only God is capable of directing His attention to small things. Humans pay much more attention to things of greater scale. Now since you have come to this School to study, you need to exclude lying from your life completely – not the slightest trace shall remain of it. It is the only thing that is not forgiven to the disciples of this School. All other mistakes may be excused, but lying – never! If a lie enters your mind, protect yourself from it as if it was fire! Falsehood is a principle that will lead you to the contradictions of Life, which you can hardly free yourselves from. When someone falls into a difficult or helpless situation, he immediately resorts to lying and says: “It is impossible to live without lying!” No, it is impossible to live without Truth, but you can certainly live without lies. Therefore, write the following sentences, which are valuable rules in life: It is impossible to live without Love, but one can live without hatred. It is impossible to live without Wisdom, but one can live without foolishness. It is impossible to live without Truth, but one can live without lies. If you say the opposite – that it is impossible not to tell lies, it turns out that falsehood generates Truth, which it is not true. If you say that it is impossible to live without foolishness, it appears as if foolishness generates Wisdom, which is not true either. When we speak about the law of karma, we have different types of relationships in mind. For example, relationships between servants and masters, students and teachers, brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers - all these are karmic relationships. Mothers and fathers represent one of the moderating circumstances of the karmic law. According to this law, all beings are placed in close or distant relationships to one another so that they can pay their debts. Contemporary people should understand this law, so that they are able do away with their karmic debts properly. Otherwise, if they do not understand this law and its requirements, they will create new karmic relationships between themselves that will need to be settled in the future. For example, if a master treats his servants badly, he will become a servant in some future life and his present servants will be his masters. He will have to serve them for a long time until he pays his debt off. So if you ask yourself why you should serve someone, the reason is hidden in your past when you tried to subdue someone's will and make him your servant. This, however, is absolutely forbidden! To subdue someone’s consciousness means to subdue the Divine element in someone to yourself, thus trying to make it your servant. However this is the single impossible thing in the world - subjugation of the Divine to human will. The liquidation of karmic debts needs inner work towards the transformation of one’s thoughts and feelings. Theosophists speak about high and low manas, high and low mind, spiritual and material nature, or the two poles in each human being. Your work on yourself expresses itself mainly in the following: moving from one pole to the other, mostly from the lower pole to the ascending one. And it is true that if you want to appropriate something in an emotional way, by way of your feelings, you will create negative karma for yourself, and you will clear this negative karma when you set people free. If you demand from a friend of yours to love you and to show you his love, he will put a halter on your head, goad you from behind and ask you if you agree to be loved in this way. This is the way karma between two people is created. The law of karma is an awful thing! A karmic relationship may start with a single bitter word which was said to someone in some unfavourable circumstances. This word could be pronounced in a fictitious way, kindly, with a smile, but if it is bitter it will produce its negative effect. Irrespective of how a word is said, if it is bitter, it will bring thousands of negative consequences. Therefore, be cautious about each feeling and thought of yours. Before you let them out, filter them carefully to avoid impurities coming out at the same time. How will you do it? By using suitable filters. From a spiritual point of view, the human heart, mind and will are like filters which purify human feelings, thoughts and actions. Each thought, feeling and action should pass through the human mind, heart and will, in order to be filtered. Only after this filtration has occurred should they be planted in the garden of the soul. One doesn't need to be clairvoyant at all in order to see how karma between two people has been created. Without any use of clairvoyance you can understand how and when a karmic relationship has emerged. Even the slightest violations of the law of Love lead to the polarization of the human brain: it happens when more energy is gathered in one of the hemispheres of the brain compared to the other, as a result of which a person gets angry and starts offending his friends. If more energy is gathered in the left hemisphere of the brain, a person becomes very kind and polite, but not as a natural expression of kindness. It can be noticed in such cases that the muscles on the right side of one’s face begin to contract and shrink, and then you see certain disharmonious tics on the face of that person, caused by his disharmonious thoughts, feelings and actions. If these unconscious facial motions continue for a longer time, it may happen that the mouth becomes warped, because the muscles on one side of the face shrink, while on the other side they expand. The law of karma will leave its mark on one’s face, eyes or some other part of the body within a short period of time. For example, if a person often tells lies, some of his muscles shrink and the ray coming from his eyes starts pointing down towards the centre of the Earth. If such person looked himself in a mirror and saw this ray pointing towards the Earth, he wouldn't like his own appearance. Now, when you write about Beauty, you should know that Beauty originates from the inner harmony inside a human being. One needs to be absolutely pure in order to attain and maintain this beauty within oneself! Now, write down one more of the rules of life which is the following: Introduce Truth into your souls, Light into your minds, Purity into your hearts. So, write this rule down and every time you go to bed ask yourself whether Truth is in your soul, Light – in your mind and Purity – in your heart. How will you know this? If Truth is in your soul, it will set you free. If Truth is in your soul, you will do things with vigour, thus giving freedom to yourself and those around you. If Light is in your mind, it will bring you knowledge. Light is the conductor of knowledge. If Purity is in your heart, you will be strong in every way. Sometimes when you notice mistakes and negative feelings in your fellow men, you are ready to judge them. No, according to the law of karma you should correct whatever mistake you have found in your fellow man yourself. Try to correct even the smallest mistake that you observe in your friend. You would ask, “How can we correct the mistakes of others?” I will give you an example that will show you how. A young person from the town of Varna went to an Evangelical bookstore owner to buy some books. When the bookstore owner saw him, he said, “A few weeks ago a friend of yours borrowed some money from me. I did him a favour, but he has not come to return his loan yet. This is what your friends are like!” – “How much is his loan?” – “Such and such an amount.” – “Here you are, take this money and consider the account settled. I am one with my friend.” With this act the young person proved that he and his friend were honest people. This is what I call noble character. Therefore, if you hear negative talk about your friends, pay for them and say: “I am one with my friends!” How would someone behave who doesn't have such morals? Upon hearing bad words about his friend, he would say: “Yes, it is true that my friend has this weakness, he is somehow neglectful, but I will talk to him and tell him to pay.” There is no need to talk. The School you have joined does not allow talking in such cases. Disciples are required to pay for their friends and to settle their debts. And when you meet your friends later on, do not mention anything to them. If you apply this method, you will come to experience its positive effect. The above mentioned method is for those who are ready to pay for their good friends, but not for those who have the possibility to pay, yet they leave their friends to settle their debts on their own. This is violence and misuse of people’s conscience and it will result in negative karma. One day such people will lose their good friends and will have to pay for themselves. If you have good friends and you rely on them to settle your debts, you are on the wrong path. One day Providence will place you in the same position – you will need to pay double with the interest. Those who think that they can outwit the law of karma are mistaken. The Bulgarian proverb, “The old fox walks straight into the trap”, fits such people perfectly. You should not play with your karma. It is the creditor. It does not allow any delay, even for half a day. It does not accept any excuses – you will pay the precise amount of your debt, together with the interest. It does not remit even the interest. The law of karma is strict. It will grant you your freedom only after you have settled everything. You should know that all good thoughts and wishes that humans generate get polarized in one direction or another. When you understand the law of polarization you will be able to see that everything in Life is polarized. You say, for example, that there are new teachings and old ones. Let the old teachings function in the roots of the tree and the new teachings - in the branches. The old teachings will serve to fertilize the tree which will grow and bear fruit, and the new tree – the New teachings - will develop from there. According to the New teachings, the law of karma will not be a cause for fear in humans. Why? Because you will know that karma likes brave people. Be brave enough to receive your karma well – as a dear guest who is paying a visit to you. If you try to escape from it, it will reach you with the stick and beat you up. Karma possesses some nobleness of character - it will beat you up, spit on you, but in the end will pass you by without doing you any harm. Karma possesses the character of a bear. When it wants to attack someone, it goes around him, strokes its hair, pretending that it does not see him. Its hair becomes soft while this person’s hair stands on end. If karma does not want to attack someone, it walks around him, bristles, stands up on its back legs, spits on him and goes away. In this case the person gets away with his skin intact, but he has experienced a real fright. Karma is like a bristled bear for brave people: it will walk to them, stand up on its back legs and spit on them, but then it will go away with the words: “All right, I will let this one pass.” You should thank karma that it has not touched your skin. The fact that it has spat on you and given you a fright is nothing, the main thing is that you you were left to live. When you know this, you will solve the problems of your life accordingly. If you come to a big disaster, say to yourself, “My beloved karma has bristled up, it is spitting on me, but it can't do more than that.” You would ask, “What shall we do and how shall we live so as to avoid the creation of karmic relationships between people?” I will give you an example and you will draw your own conclusions. Visualize two parallel railways with trains going in two opposite directions – East and West. Suppose that a hundred trains go East and they are located along one of the rail tracks at an equal distance from each other. If the trains maintain the same speed, there is no danger of clashing. If their speed differs, however, clashes will be inevitable. Therefore, according to the law of karma, it is not important if trains go East or West, but their speed is of vital importance. Trains need to move with the same speed. Consequently, when two people move in the same direction with a different speed, they will surely face a collision. If the speed of a train is a hundred kilometres per hour and the speed of another train is eighty kilometres per hour, no danger of collision exists, but if the speed of the first train is eighty kilometres per hour and that of the second train is a hundred kilometres per hour, there is a probability of collision, especially at night. In order to avoid the collision, the second train should reduce its speed to become at least equal to the speed of the first train and by all means it should keep some distance from the first train. Now, for as long as you live among people, you should be neither too smart nor too foolish. Why? Both foolishness and smartness are karmic laws. If you are too smart, you will go very fast and you will collide whit those who are slow. If you are too foolish, you will go very slowly and clash with those who are fast. You will have the same results in both cases. How should you behave then? You should be as intelligent or foolish as those around you. You would ask, “When and how should we manifest our intelligence?” You should save your power to be used in better times. For example, if a slow train goes before you, you should reduce your speed. If your way is clear, i.e. if there is no other train before you, you can release your full speed. In two weeks from now, make a summary of everything that was said until now. Next time write on the topic: “Application of Karma in Life”. Today I outlined some ideas about karma which can help you prepare your essays and I am going to talk about this later on again. When your essays are ready, everyone can read his essay out to the class and the rest of you will discuss it. Any critical remarks should comply with the rules of the New teachings. Criticizing means saying only things which are true and which you are absolutely sure about. Criticizing implies presenting things as they are in Nature. You should spend no more than an hour daily for your work on the lectures and for writing your essays. As far as the essays are concerned, ten minutes are sufficient. When you write your essays on karma, consider the following thoughts: 'If you are in front, move faster! If you are at the back, move slower!' This topic comes as a response to some ideas from the new philosophy. However these ideas solve the problems only partially. Why? The situation will be different if there is a second train behind you as well as a third one. In this case you will take into consideration the following rules: if someone moves in front of you, give way and let him go as fast as he wants! If you are behind, go slower! These are four significant positions in Life that should always be observed. Therefore, I am saying that when disciples want to go faster, the Master cannot give them the right to go with a higher speed. While you are disciples in this School, go slowly! After you have finished this School, activate all your powers and go as fast as you can. If there is someone ahead of you, do not hurry but reduce your speed. Whoever is at the back should go slower. These are symbols which you need to turn into actual deeds. What does fast speed correspond to? It corresponds to Virtue. Therefore be fast, stay in front when you do Good, and keep it slow, i.e. stay at the back when you do evil. This is a translation of phenomena that can be observed in Life and in Nature. In other words, the phenomena of the physical world should be translated into the language of the Spiritual world and the other way round – the phenomena of the Spiritual world should be translated into the language of the physical world. Only then will things become clear. Therefore high speed represents Good and low speed – evil. If you get angry often, you should know that you will move to the rear and will advance slowly. In the future, if any issues of importance arise between you, you can write them down and we can spend some of our time discussing them. Secret Prayer

The purpose of music Eighth lecture by the Master, given to the disciples from general occult class on 20.04.1922, Sofia A secret prayer Tonight I am going to speak about the purpose of music. Entering into an occult school will completely change your inner world. After attending an occult school you will not be able to recognize yourself. You will not be the same personality. You will not be the same man, who entered it. You will go into it as a worm, with many legs and you will go out as a butterfly. That is the reason why cowards were never allowed to attend this kind of school in ancient times. As this transformation would scare anybody and a person would lose his previous personality. It is the biggest mistake to teach a man to sacrifice himself, if one thinks only of how to keep his wealth. If he does not love knowledge, to teach him how to sacrifice himself, is a big absurdity. He says, “Money is signification of my life. If a man has money one’s life is full. If a man has no money there is no sense in one’s life.” Contemporary men say, "For us life is in our present shape, when we lose it everything will finish.” This is just an introduction, a preparation for the next step, because in every disciple a desire to go faster exists. After becoming a member of an occult class, he starts asking, “Isn’t it possible to take two classes in one year?” They want to leave secondary school for 3-4 years, to become clerks as soon as possible, once they have their wages to proceed faster in their careers and to receive their pensions till the end of their life. In doing this, they think that they have done everything. Religious people do the same. They want to become moral as soon as possible, to be rich in ethics and when they go to the invisible world to say, “We differ from other people.” But in this school you do not have to go so fast. One can attend it for 100, 200, 300, 500, 1000 years - it is nothing, these years are like one day. One, who enters the school and cannot stay in it for 1000 years, then he is not a disciple, and he can do nothing. 1000 years – this is for the disciples, I do not say anything about you, because you are not yet disciples, you are just listeners. For you, the law is changing. But one day, when you become disciples, you will need these rules. First of all, you must learn how to control your mind. To conduct your mind, to conduct all your feelings, power, and skills - you must conduct all of them. If you cannot do that, you cannot be a disciple. You will attend the school, but you will learn nothing. This evening I am not going to explain why it should be this way, just it is necessary for it to be this way. All the rules and methods of conducting the mind start from here. Indians have their own methods, Egyptians had theirs, people from Babylon - theirs, Asian and Jewish – theirs, but all those methods were different. Western occultists had a variety of diverse methods, too. If you want to do research on all these methods, it will take you a hundred years to make a decision - which one to choose. Because the brain itself is an organ of the mind, you must learn how to conduct single organs, organs of particular skills. Those, who are not familiar with this fact, can consider the brain just as grey matter. Just from the physiological point of view blood is the main part of cerebral vessel, there is a flow and ebb that create thoughts. But it is not just the flow and ebb of blood. If you stare at the human brain you will notice thousands of fibres that come from it and flow in all directions of the body and there are certain circuits of current in them. Some people can observe this using a microscope thin skin of a frog’s leg and see a lot of streams, up and down. Others, who observe the brain, can notice similar streams, providing thoughts. For example, if you have a religious thought or feeling, these streams are different from the ones, connected with scientific thought. And all these streams are connected with the blood. When a stream enters into the particular centre it awakens and blood flows into it. And now where is the problem that can appear when we study the occultism. Because, the back part of the brain conducts a purely physical reaction in a human body, this way the blood, flowing into it, first of all wakes up primary feelings. And the streams from the spinal cord wake these primary feelings. It can be a problem for all occult disciples, if these hostile feelings and thoughts attack them – because some have never been thought of before - but they exist in them. Some will say: “I do not need this - all the devils attacked me since I have entered this school.” This is the place where the devils are settled - these devils are residents of the back part of human brain, whole tribes live there and when human thought passes through, they influence it. There are various methods of conducting the human’s brain and those, who want to do this, should study them. Now, you think that it can be achieved in one, two, three days, in a week or in a year. No. If you, after practicing it for three or four years, can conduct you mind, it will be a huge achievement. If you have this power, you will control your temperament - you will be able to polarize and to transform the energy of the brain from one place to another. It is said, that these people have huge self-control. And an occult disciple does not need just huge self-control. He has to understand some laws, to find out which buttons to operate and how to do this. Now, first of all: do not be choosy. You know what does it mean to be choosy - for example, when you do a very small job, but you think that it is very important and that a great idea will come from it. Thinking this way you provoke your brain. For this small job you do not have to stimulate your brain too much. For the small job you need small efforts. If you have acquired something, do not exaggerate it. Do not think that you are a big talent or vice versa - that you do not have any capability. If you think that you are a big talent, at the end of your life you will become very disappointed - you will find that you have been wrong. There are people who do not think that they have some talents, but at the end of their life they realize that they had a great talent that was not developed. So, first thing that is required from you is to realize for yourself what your obligation is, and what you have to do. In an occult school it is made very clear to everybody what to do. The disciple there does not attend the class using their feelings, he has to understand the purpose, like a student at secondary school or university has a schedule for each day on what to do. And everything must be defined. He can not say: “Whatever God has given to me”. Not what God has given us, but What God required from us when He created the world, we must do that. He established everything. To conduct your brain you do not need to be choosy, vain, proud, coward, and angry - these are worms, destroying your ability to think correctly. Vanity is a perverted form of a previous idea. Initially, it was the following idea: to have your friends’ good opinion, to have your relatives’ good opinion, to have good people’s opinion, to have God’s good opinion - this was the initial thought. Later on, man, losing his primary state, turned this good idea into vanity - he did not want to have this good opinion, but to show it off. For example, if somebody visits that kind of person, and if the visitor is a king and the man is a teacher, the vain man will show him his office and will say, “This office is very special, there is no other like it, and these bottles are unique, and you cannot find this stuff anywhere else". If the vain man is a farmer, he will show his fields and will say, “Look at them, how well they are ploughed," and so on, if this is a vain woman, she will say, "You can not find a dress like mine anywhere, and my tailor is the best." This is vanity. We must say “This is a simple dress and it was made by a good tailor, it suits me well, but to say that it is something very special, no, it is not.” And if somebody is a priest how will this vanity be shown? He will say, "I read the Bible on Sunday, but nobody else can read this holy book the way I read it – I gave such a unique sermon that the audience was so charmed, and will remember it forever." This is the way I describe vanity. Now, pride presents itself in a different way. The haughty man will present himself like a modest one, but his real thought is that there is nobody like him. And he wants other people to admire him. He will get dressed very simple, not in rags, but anyway to attract people’s attention. The haughty one behaves as a modest person, but you will recognize him when you put somebody else on his place - then he will show his pride. The haughty man is the most jealous man in the world. He can not stand it when people admire somebody else. If somebody says, "That is a very clever man." Somewhere in the world, the haughty one will reply, “Is he so clever, maybe he is not, do not tell me, please, that he is.” If people say that somebody is a very virtuous person, he will say, "Well, is he? Do not say that, nobody on the Earth can be so virtuous.” Even if you speak about God, he will say, “Even God makes mistakes.” The pride in him speaks in all similar situations. Most of all, this feeling exist in religious people. There are not haughtier people than the religious ones, in this matter they are followed by scholars. The most dangerous pride that exists is among the religious and scholars, and the biggest danger in an occult school is from pride. And for that devil we have put a special sieve at the door and it will be impossible for him and a proud disciple to come in. And in this way pride is one of the dangerous qualities in men. As a result of this a man, who develops this quality, like it is said in mythology, he will start eating his own offspring. When someone is overconfident, he himself eats his children: when he sees that somebody is a scholar – he goes back home and eats his children; if he sees, that somebody is religious - he goes back home and eats his children. He wishes he had the opportunity to cut off all people’s heads. And he wants just his head to stay on its place. Now you will analyze yourself. I want each of you to know your dealings - you must not just be strict, but be fair to yourself. An advantage for each disciple consists in this fact. To set up harmony among us we need a key word. And I will tell you what this word is - this word is Love. There are two keys in music - violin key sol and bas key - fa, just using this key you can read the piece of music. And so, the disciples must have this key and the teacher must have it. Sometimes a disciple comes to me and asks me, "What to do?” I reply. “You can do nothing.” - “Why?”- “You do not have a key.” All your thoughts, desires, and actions must obey the Law that God established, it cannot be changed. Now, pay attention to this - there are two influences in the world. If you do not obey the Sacred Influence, if do not obey the sensible life then there will come from the centre of the earth influences such as magnetism, and electricity, the lowest influences from animals. The lowest creatures will influence you, and because, when somebody enters an occult school, sensitivity develops and you will be in condition to accept thoughts from the lowest creatures, from the animal kingdom. There is the possibility that each disciple can be affected from his past low state. When all instructors warn their disciples, they warn them about these states until the disciples start to understand their own mentality, to have power over these streams from the Sun and from the centre of the Earth, and after that to recognize those keys and streams from the animal kingdom. For example, you are angry with somebody and you think, ”I wish I had a rope to hang him, to strangle him.” Where did this thought come from? This thought comes from a spider - when it finds a butterfly, it enlaces this butterfly. Therefore, you have entered the kingdom of spiders. Sometimes, another thought appears in your mind. “I want to stab him, to give him a poison, to poison him.” Where did this thought come from? It is from the snake, from the scorpion - all these creatures want to poison their prey. You will accept these thoughts and after that your mind will go into this stream, and eventually, you will commit a crime. Now I can analyze all your thoughts, all the lower and higher thoughts that you have and I can tell you where they come from. You can say: “God rules this way”. No, God has ruled everything very well in the life, the Great instructors or the Great Master of Life have put everything in order very well. When you enter this system the Great instructors will show you exactly the right direction to go. Now religious people say, “We do not need the Truth.” Why do we have to know it? From an occult point of view there is another explanation. The Sensible world needs Truth the same way as the Physical world needs Light. Truth has two kinds of beams - the white and the black, and if you are not prepared for them, you can easily be affected from the negative side of Truth. Now, this fact is a bit low-key to your mind. Why? What are the reasons? An occult science answers this question. What are reasons for separation of both brotherhoods - The White and The Black? Initially, they were one brotherhood; they went together in one direction. But when they came to a certain point, they differed from each other - one turned left, at the same time the other went to the right. Why? – Some accepted the black beams of Truth, whilst the others - the white ones. These beams exist in the Sun - even in sun light there are white and black beams. There is a so called white and black Sun - from the white and from the black sun simultaneous come two streams that join together. When I say black streams, I mean that the vibrations of these black streams are not so smooth. All evils and all wicked actions and negative qualities are the result of these vibrations that come from the black beams. What actions do these beams have? - If you cannot control your mind, in each moment of irritation, hopelessness or whatever quality that irritates and distracts your mind, you are a conductor of the black beams. This is why it is recommended to be positive when we are studying the Bible. In occultism you cannot say, “If God says, I will believe in it.” If you believe, you are on the right; if you do not believe, you are on the left, because unfaithfulness in one thing is at the same time a belief in another. Now all these energies that are coming, these two streams, go through the human brain. Therefore, you will constantly research the methods that you are passing through. For example, when a religious thought comes to you, it will not appear in the front part of your head, but in its upper part, perpendicularly. When a scientific thought comes it will stand not horizontally in your head, but it will moves in a circle. If you take the rays, coming from your eyes, and place them on one surface, all these energies that come from one angle, from above, act in a straight way, and all those, coming from other angles influence negatively, they are the energies from the black rays. If anger comes, it will appear in the area around the ears. If you get angry very often, you will have a pressing feeling in your ears or you will have earache. If your pride increases too much, you will feel a painful stagnation in the back part of your head, in your brain - this is an overload. Now what I am saying is that Nature does not like disharmony. All these energies, going into the brain, have a purpose. But we can transform these centres in our brain; they can be positive or negative. When a centre in our brain becomes positive, it accepts the white beams of Light the positive side of Truth - and then you have an advanced state, a positive mood to God and your brain wakes up. When the religious feeling is negative, you will have an inner ambition to serve God, without realizing why it is necessary. You say: “Man must serve God.” Why, how - you do not know. In this case religious extremism appears and you will stick to form and rituals: you will go to church, will light a candle, and consider it a big offence for that man, who does not light a candle. You can steal a sheep tomorrow, but it is not considered as a crime, because you can light candles; if you think that lighting a candle is the right way to serve God then it does not bother you when you do other offences. Occult science does not accept this moral. Now, these energies, which accumulate in your brain, can be a set back for your development, because, do not think that you can feel free from them. This brain, that acts here, on the Earth, on a physical level, has its mirror image in an Astral level and when you go there, these energies that are stored in this world, will be experienced again in backward way - all the things that are happening to you here you will experience again there. Now, the first thing you must do is to conduct your brain. What does it mean? It is not easy, because we have a lot of habits. The disciple, who wants to attend the school, must manage these habits. You say: “One has to be patient.” Sometimes, a man can be patient and he can have negative results. In the occult school we want positive results for those who are patient. On the other hand, when he keeps giving in he will become a weak person and will not develop his mind; patience cannot be the basis for weakening the mind, but for strengthening it, for developing it. Even I sometimes get worried about it, because there is a danger in an occult school for reducing one’s mind, because that way other negative streams are stimulated. For example, somebody read a book somewhere, but he did not check the results of this method, which were described there. And vice versa, a lot of eastern methods have been used in England and America, but the results have been negative. Now western occultists want to discover a native method. We will follow this natural, innate method - the best and safest. It means the following: please, pay attention to the following matter; you are not going to imagine where God is sitting and what His personality is, but you will always think that God is a sensible being that organizes everything without any mistake. And having this thought in your mind it will develop and it will balance it. For example, you can do an exercise: get up in the morning, read a prayer and think that God is Love and that no anger, no revenge, nor unhappiness exists in God. Then you will place in your mind positive qualities about God, Who is Wisdom, and all the mistakes existing in our world are men’s mistakes, and that everything God created is good. You can say: “But we know that”. No, even though you know it, you must do it for practicing to control your mind - this is the simplest, the most expedient, one of the best methods. And the scripture says: “You will become the same person, like your friends”. Notice, that God has this kind of mates. When you think this way you will challenge all streams, coming from God and passing through many areas - they will break into your mind and will create your thoughts. This stream from God will not come straight to you, it will first pass other people’s minds and after that it will come to you. This thought will pass all the minds - from noble people to primitive - and after that it will come to you. Then your Spirit will start working on following the laws, it will start finding streams of these minds and will practice. It is like a gardener, who has dug a lot of small ditches to water his plants. This way your mind will practice. Well, Indians have their own method, but I am not going to speak about it now. I am speaking about one of the simplest, but the most effective method. Everybody can use it, without any danger, and the result will be at least 75%. I will repeat: you need this harmony between each other. It does not exist now. And I want this harmony in this School. Harmony exists in the following: to respect each other, to know that you are sensible spirits, who God provided with an intellect and you can operate it. Some soul can be dirty, but the one who understands the laws will not see the soil. Consequently, an occult disciple does not have the right to judge others. He will say: “My brother, you have become a bit dirty, let me clean you up.” And he will not say: “You are this and that”, he must not say that. I do not have the right to judge you. The Great Master, always keep silent, he does not say anything, he does not speak about the faults of others - he sees all of them, but he does not speak about them, and does not judge them. When people see the results of their faults, he says: “This is not the way.” And you, Bulgarian, can be sent to become critics in the other world. Bulgarian people are the biggest critics. I have never met others like you - you criticize everywhere. It is an outstanding feature of all Bulgarian people. And it is because Bulgarians have a very weak religious belief, since the time of the first sin. Bulgarians suffer, because this belief is very weak. Among all the cultures in the world, the weakest religious feeling exists in Bulgarian people. This is a fact, that I estimated measuring with the centimetre. When it comes to determination and firmness, everywhere I put 7 cm; when it comes to religion, it goes down with 2.3 cm, and when it comes to mercifulness, it goes up a little. I say, here it is a sin - because one does not have gratitude, he becomes a critic. Bulgarian people get disappointed very quickly; there is not any holy thing for him. Go to any café in Bulgaria and you will see – the Bulgarian man will never speak about his wife with respect, not one woman will speak with respect about her husband. When a woman comes, she will talk about all the negative features of her husband; when a man comes he will do the same. Not only they do that, it is the same among you. This way you cannot be occult disciples, I am telling you that. If you enter here like men and women, I will tell you the truth, you cannot be occult disciples. If in the future you feel like men and women, you can stay outside, but not inside the School. A disciple man and a disciple woman, when they enter the School and are wife and husband, they have to respect each other. If they start saying: “My husband, my wife is this and that,” they are not disciples. If you are brother and sister and you start talking about each other: “My brother or my sister is this and that,” you will be sent out of the School. I am saying: the person who attends the School must be a model for others. At School I will say nothing about your faults. I will put on other glasses - there are different glasses at an occult School, they are called love glasses. They are invented this way: we see the good side of your faults. And we judge the results this way: if for example I take an adze in my hand and cut wood in two, three, four, five, six or more pieces and if from these pieces we make a cart that people will use this adze has done its job - we judge from the results. But when I have cut the wood and nothing good comes out of it, I say the purpose has not been fulfilled. We can say at the end what the consequences will be. I want everybody to be very attentive. We will start from cutting wood, to see what will happen. Now I see in your minds a question:” Is it not possible that it can be easier, can somebody influence us by hypnotherapy?” No, the safest method is when you think in the morning, that God is Love, Wise, and Kind - this is the first prayer. Every morning, when you get up think about God, that He is Love, He is Wise, and Kind, and you will immediately feel better, you will activate your mind. After doing this, there are other methods. We will start other special methods, we will start like the Angel, who went to Kornelij, and brought him the essential thing - it brought that Light in his mind and said to him: “Call Peter, he will teach you the essential thing”. When a man learns the essential thing, there will come an occult Master, whoever he is, it does not matter, to teach him basic rules, which he has to follow. Now, I want this first rule to be done by all of you in the duration of two weeks. You will take a notebook and in the morning, after getting up, think about this Sensible Being. Write in your notebook the date you started and after doing the exercise whether there is any difference or not, and what you felt. Do it three times per day, in the morning, in the evening, and in the afternoon. In two weeks time we will see the result of it. And, you have to take a notebook. Somebody can say: “Is not is possible without a notebook?” - No, it is not. Take a small notebook, put it in your pocket and you will make notes in it. If you miss an exercise, be honest and write in your notebook that you have missed it - do not avoid this. If somebody misses it and after that does not make a note, if he forgets to make a note, it is dangerous. If you miss an exercise, make a note about your fault, this means nothing. Be honest in all your exercises, if you want to have results. Do these exercises for two weeks. You have some old beliefs that are hard to change. Somebody can say: “Is not it better when I get up in the morning to say a good prayer?” There is no better prayer in the world than this, to say that God is Love, God is Wise, God is Kind; a better prayer than this I do not know. When you have thought about God, that He is Love, your heart will have warmth; when you think that God is Wise, Light will come to your mind, there is no better thing. And I have said, Light in your minds, cleanness in your hearts, Truth in your souls. Light will give you Knowledge; Cleanness will give you Strength and striving, whilst Truth in your souls will give you Freedom. This is my rule, which I have already given to you. And so, whoever wants to have Light in one’s mind, when he is thinking about God Who is Wise, immediately Light will come into his mind; when one thinks that God is Love, warmth will come in one’s heart, and when warmth comes, immediately Cleanness will come. You wash your clothes using hot water, don't you? Without warmness, it is not possible to receive Cleanness, do not forget that. When you get up in the morning your old teachers will come and say to you: “It is not the time, you can sleep a bit more”. No, when you wake up in the morning first say this pray. But when? – When you have gone to bed on time and when you have slept very well. When you first wake up do this exercise. If you have woken up and then gone to sleep again, the law is different: after you first wake up do not go to sleep again, get up and do this exercise; after doing it do not go to bed. You will say: “But if it is 1 o’clock?”- At 1 o’clock you will not wake up, you will wake up at 3, 3.30 or at 4 o’clock. When you do not sleep well you will wake up at 1 o’clock, or 2 o’clock. Whoever sleeps well will wake at 3, or 3.30 o’clock, and aristocrats will wake up at 6, 7, 8 or 9 o’clock and will say, ”We have overslept.” And so you will do this exercise early in the morning, at noon before 12 o’clock a.m., do not do it after 12 a. m. This exercise can be done everywhere; you can stop whatever you are doing for one, two, five minutes. It does not matter how strict your boss is, you can get your pen to work and you can concentrate your mind on the upper world that God is Love. Nobody will notice that you are doing this; there are no circumstances that can obstruct you. Even a woman, while cooking can do it, she can stop stirring in the pan, the meal will not overcook in this time. If it burns I will pay for it - but it will not. And so, I want your help for restoring the harmony. If you do not restore this harmony, it still will be restored, because it is coming. It is the same with violinists, those, who are good musicians know how to tune their violin. And for the others, who are not good, somebody else tunes their violin. And if you leave this, somebody else will do it. We, at least, must find out how to tune our violins. Now, have you understood the first rule? In the evening, 5 minutes before going to bed, do this exercise. Now, let no one at this School say that he has a special opinion about it. Here everybody has a special opinion about this. Whoever wants a special opinion, it means the following: "I will get what I need from this School, and I will have a special opinion of the things that I do not need.” Whoever wants to have a special opinion about this exercise - he is out. Any disciple, who is not ready for this exercise, is not ready to become a disciple. Now, I want to help you do this exercise, and it does not matter that I have done it so many times. I will do it with you for two weeks. Some of you might hesitate that a disciple must do it, but the Master does not. I will do it with you. (Some disciples asked: “When shall we start?”) - From tonight. In your notebook you will write what time you have done it during the day, you will write three times during the day. If you do not have a watch, you will write that you have started it. Write in your notebook just one letter to describe the feeling after doing it. If you feel Love, put the letter L; if you feel Strength, put just the letter S. Write just your experience, and just with letters, if you do it in another way you will deviate. Doing this exercise you will have new thoughts that you have forgotten, new feelings, something noble and gentle will appear and you will go into these streams. I am giving you this exercise, because you are entering the School now. You cannot have this exercise every time you want, you must know that. The next time, even you are ready to pay 1000 leva, you will not have it, do not think that you always can have it. This is a very special exercise and if you do it properly… Well, you can say: "Next time!” No, everything in Nature has its own time, if you do not do them on time - the door is closed for you. If you do not do it on time, the door is closed, you have to wait; if you start knocking, they will reply, ”We do not know you,” you are too late for this knowledge. You have to be grateful that you have this exercise for two weeks, for two weeks only. In two weeks you will stop, do not use it any more. If you want it after two weeks, it will not be available to you any more. You can say: “But we know all this”. You do not know it. - “We have thought about it.”-You have not thought about it yet. There is a big difference in accepting the Light, coming directly from the Sun, or if it comes through ten mirrors and you accept just its reflection. If you accept it directly or through first reflection(Unclear. This part of the sentence seems to be in contradiction to the previous sentence), this Light will come from the heaven to you. Well, do not simulate, that you will stay in special opinion. (UNCLEAR) Do not exaggerate! This is going to be an introduction to the exercises that we are going to do regularly. We will have a lot of exercises. Well, for this idea to grow up we need water, don't we? Let's read about water then. There were twenty lectures given about the topic of “Purpose of Water”. Secret Prayer Translator Maria Ivanova

Analysis Of Words Year 1, Lecture 8 to the Youth Occult Class (Special Class) given by the Master Beinsa Douno April 19, 1922 – Wednesday 19.00h, Sofia Now I would like each of you to write one sentence in your notebooks which includes the first of the proposed words from last Wednesday - that is the verb “Come!” Your sentence structure should be simple, with one conjunction only, without attributes or direct/indirect objects. Now let's read the sentences you have written. Here are some of them: “Come to God!” “Come to Truth!” “Come onto the Path!” “Come into the steps of your Master!” I am asking you, can one really come to God or to Truth? Motion is a spatial process, while Truth is not spatial. In this case, can one really come to God or to Truth in time and space? Being disciples of the Spiritual school, you should learn to think and speak precisely, using strictly defined words in the same way that mathematicians are strict and precise in their work with numbers and formulas. Each word that is used should express its exact meaning. Now write some new sentences using the verb “Come!" The motion expressed in them should refer to strictly defined time and space. What is the definition of verbs? Verbs express actions and states and all actions are related to time and space. Which world includes time and space? Time and space are related to the material world. As a matter of fact, only physical bodies require space and a certain place. Therefore, volume and space are characteristics of the physical or the spatial world, for example, the world of forms. I am asking you now about the meaning of the word "Love." Is Love spatial? Love is not spatial. Love knows neither time nor space. Love has neither beginning nor end. In that case how can you know something that is without beginning or end? How can you know something that does not require time and space? It remains unknown. But if you begin to feel Love, this is the first moment that defines a state of Love. Is there a relation between states and space? When you say about someone that he is a person of substance, it means that inwardly he has much at his disposal. What was the second word that was written? It was “harmony" followed by “symphony”. What is the difference between “harmony” and “symphony?” A symphony comes as a result of harmony. These words are outside of spiritual science because they have meanings which are different from their literal meanings. When you examine a certain word, you have to pay attention to its root and origin. You must also consider its conceptual meaning, in other words, you should know the idea that is expressed by the word. In this sense, "symphony” is not a precise word. We say “symphony” and “symphonic orchestra." Which of the two words is more precise, "symphony” or “harmony” ? Harmony can exist between two tones, whereas symphony cannot. Which are the most important words out of those you have read? The words “persistence” and “perfection" express the result of something. “God” is a very indeterminate word. “Love” is a good word. Humans are able to love, but whom? Are they able to love one another? First they should love God. Before you utter the word “God,” you must say the word “Love.” To say the word “God” without love is like reading a book without light. To pronounce a name, or to go somewhere, you should first have the impulse in your consciousness. You cannot enter onto the spiritual path if you do not have the impulse to do so. This motivating force can be conscious as it is in animals, self-conscious as it is in humans, and subconscious or superconscious as it is in Higher Beings. Any movement in a certain direction is caused by an inner impulse that aims at some fulfillment. If the word “mother” is pronounced without love, it loses its meaning and content, as a result of which it will produce a certain disharmony in human thoughts and feelings. In that sense Love is a key to Life, like a musical key for the tuning of instruments. Therefore, the word “God” becomes meaningful only when it is pronounced with love and tenderness. Love is the key for the notes of Life. First you should use the key of Love and only then you can pronounce the word “God,” for only in this way will this word be filled with meaning and content. And when the word “God” is full of meaning, it will also give meaning to the other words: “come,” “harmony,” “symphony,” etc. So, you know now that in the flow of speech words are ordered in the same way that tones are ordered in musical works. The poets among you who have not realized that words play the roles of keys in human speech should learn to regard them in this way, in order to know how to use them and where to place them. What inspires poets to write poems? Love for their native land, for their mothers and friends. Therefore love and affection represent a path leading to a particular destination. You cannot begin a journey every time, but when you do begin it, you should have a defined direction and destination. What is the destination of an apple seed when it is placed into the soil? It moves in two directions – upwards, to the centre of the Sun, and downwards, to the centre of the Earth. In your opinion, what is the destination of human beings? – The Sun. No, a human being first strikes roots inside itself and then thinks about how to come to others. To come to yourself in your language means to come into yourself. Two other verbs originate from the verb “to come”: “come in” and “come out.” First you have to begin, so as to come in and then come out of a particular place. Once you have decided to come into a place, this means that you have already started on your way. If at any moment you want to come out, it means the same. Therefore, whatever you do, thinking or feeling, it has a starting point. So the word “to come” is like the placing of a key. Keys are needed everywhere and in everything. When you say that we should come to God, you are not precise in one aspect, namely that we should know the direction and the destination of our movement. If someone wants to go to the town of Russe, Varna, etc., the name of this town determines the destination of one’s journey. Therefore, when you say that you should come to God, you must know the direction and the destination of your path. Which path leads to God? – The inner path, the path that is lodged within ourselves. Do you have any experience in this matter? – We have not experienced such things yet. How can you then talk about the experience, when you have not yet gone through it? You should learn to think correctly. Everything you speak about should be experienced and tested by yourself personally. It is not good to think without having a thought. What does it mean “to think without a thought?" Thoughts consist of two components simultaneously: feelings and actions. Without these two components thoughts are not proper. It is akin to saying that you love without Love. If it lacks an impulse and a method, it's not love. Love says to you in a symbolic language: “Come!” In other words: “Put the seed in the soil! Sow a feeling in your heart! Sow a thought in your mind!” Therefore, we treat each feeling as a separate seed to be placed in the heart, so as to bear fruit in the future. We will judge the quality of each seed by its fruit. The words “Love,” “to love,” and “I love” have two significant elements: the first element is growth, and the second one is the “ripening” or the result. The letter “ч” ("ch") in the Bulgarian word "обич" (“obich”, Bulgarian for "love") shows that the seed should be put into the soil, so that it may grow and develop. But that's not enough, for the seed should also blossom, set and bear fruit, and its fruit should ripen. This means that the seed has to overcome all difficulties: winds, storms, snows, frosts, droughts, etc. The letter “a” in the Bulgarian word “obicham” (I love) shows that the seed will produce good results. Once we have the results, we can test what Love really is. Any results by which we can judge the reality of things, without falling into contradictions, indicate that we are on the Path of Love. Thus, the first word “come” means that you will begin to seek Truth. When you find Truth, you will begin to love it. When you love Truth, it will free you from fear and falsehood. At present you are not able to tell the Truth. Suppose that a teacher gives an easy problem to a student to solve, but the latter cannot do it. The teacher asks him: “Why did you not solve the problem?” Since the student does not have the courage to reveal the real reason, he finds a number of other excuses to present to the teacher. Thus he resorts to falsehood. This student's self-conceit does not allow him to tell the Truth, because it will discredit him before his classmates and he'll lose their esteem. He will lose nothing in respect to his classmates, but he will lose in respect to the Truth. As I am giving you these exercises, I can read your thoughts and see your ambitions to display your knowledge. But this is already a lie. When you write on a topic, you think you have said a lot. One can say a lot in theory, but the theory will fail in the first clash with Life. This indicates the existence of a great difference between theory and practice. Someone says that evil does not exist in the world, but when he is robbed he changes his stance at once. After that he becomes firmly of the opinion that evil exists in Life. If theory and practice were in unison in this person, then even after he had been robbed, he would not have thought of evil, or admitted to it. He would not have cared whether his money had been in his or in someone else’s pocket. This indicates that people say one thing in theory and achieve something different in practice – there is a dissonance. You would say: “How dare they take my money! Didn't they know that I needed it?” So what? They took your money because they needed it as well. “But this is not right!” What is right is one and the same for you and for them. Whether you get the money or they do, it's the same thing. That is just how it is - if you think as philosophers. However, in practice it is different. This is where evil is hidden. If a hungry person sees that someone has more than he can eat, he has the right to take the surplus food and satisfy his hunger, but if someone who is not hungry takes the food, he will commit a crime because he does not need it. Therefore, only those who are hungry have the right to take bread from someone else’s bag in order to satisfy their needs. Those who do not have such needs do not have the right to steal. Please observe the rules that I am giving you. They are maxims that should be used in Life. You would ask: “Who has the right to eat?” Those who have starved for three days and have prayed to God for bread have the right to sit at the table first. Those who have starved for two days have the right to take the second seat. Those who have starved for one day may take the third seat, etc. Therefore, an individual's right to take this or that place is determined by the extent of his need. In that sense we consider hunger to be a deep inner experience. Only those who are hungry deserve this experience. I am asking, why do people not tell the Truth? Someone goes to buy a cloth. He trusts the merchant and buys a pure woolen cloth on trust. Once he is home, however, he realizes that the cloth is not made out of wool but out of cotton instead. This individual then meets a friend of his and shows him the cloth, telling him that it's wool. His friend likes it and buys it, but later on he also realizes that he has been cheated. He resells the cloth to another friend and so on. In this way everyone gets cheated. I say, check the quality of things before you buy them! Those who are not experts in certain fields should not go shopping alone. Thus people will learn to tell the Truth. Only those who know and understand the quality of certain goods should become traders. Otherwise, they will forever justify themselves, they will cheat others in the same way that they've been cheated. Only those who know and understand the subject of farming should become farmers. The ignorant should stay away. Only good disciples should attend school in order to study. School is a place for talented and gifted students. It has been written in the Scriptures: “Freely you have received; freely give.”1 Only talented disciples receive free schooling. A teacher in music will take up a student and teach him for free, but only if the student is gifted. Why? Because the student’s heart will be burning with love for music. Mediocre students usually wait impatiently for the end of the lessons so they can get away, while talented students are very single-minded. They think mainly of one thing: their work. Mediocre students are double-minded, thinking of at least two things simultaneously. Therefore, talented individuals and those of genius are distinguished mainly by their thinking – at a certain moment they have only one thing on their minds, the one thing that is most important. If you go to God with your gifts, burning with an aspiration to study and grow, He will take you as His disciple and teach you for free. Now, since we are speaking of Truth, the Invisible world will put you unexpectedly to a test so that you can see for yourselves the extent to which you can tell the Truth. It will be a great surprise for you, but you want to know Truth, don’t you? It is not easy to know Truth. It is even more difficult to realize when and how to reveal Truth. I will give you an example of this. A young person had three good and faithful friends who had sworn their friendship and loyalty to him. One day he decided to put their friendship to a test. So he killed a calf and put it in a sack, then went to the first friend and told him: “A creditor of mine came yesterday to get his money back. As I did not have the money, I killed him and I have hidden his corpse in this sack. What will you advise me to do now? Give me a piece of advice, please!" – "Get this sack out of my house right now! Hurry up, because we will both be blamed if someone finds it here!” Then the young man went to the second friend, told him the same story and asked: “What is your opinion?” – “I do not want to interfere in this. Treat the dead body as you wish.” Finally he went to the third friend with the same story. “What shall I do now?” – “Listen, my friend, I am going to help you. I have a secret place in my garden that no one knows about. We will bury the corpse there, and no one will know what you have done; your crime will not be discovered.” I am asking you, whose love was the greatest? The third friend demonstrated his readiness to sacrifice himself for his friend, which means that his love was real. He took part in concealing the crime and was prepared to share the penalty. The first one will be the main criminal, the killer, and the other one will be the concealer and accessory after the fact. In such case, he will share the penalty with his friend. Through this example I wanted to draw direct attention towards extraordinary Truth, not to ordinary Truth. Real Truth will free you; ordinary Truth will limit you. The Master may also come to class with a dead calf in a sack in order to test his disciples whether they would reveal the Truth or not. He may say to one of them: “Listen, I killed a person and put his body in this sack. Tell me where to hide it and keep it a secret.” He may tell the same story to another disciple, yet ask him to share the information with everyone in the street. When both disciples are called into court to reveal what they know, the first one will say that he knows nothing. The second one will say that he knows about the crime of his Master. Finally the two disciples will fall into contradiction. I regard the next two cases as symbolic in Life. The Master gives a full bottle of water to one of his disciples with the assignment: “Do not tell anyone about the contents of this bottle, keep it a secret.” Then he gives a full bottle of water to another disciple with the assignment: “Tell everyone that the contents of this bottle is water.” Therefore, when someone keeps silence, he will receive the maximum amount; when someone speaks, he will become empty. When people do not reveal the Truth, they fill themselves; when they do reveal the Truth, they become empty. It is a Law. This is the deep meaning of the words: “Tell the Truth!” or “Do not tell the Truth!” Keep quiet and do not utter a word when you are empty, and when the Truth is not in you – then your bottle will be filled. When the Truth comes to fill you, then speak, tell the truth to everyone; thus you will empty your bottle and it will begin to refill. We will stop here. I spoke to you mostly about the first word, “come.” I also spoke of some other words. Today we spoke of seven words altogether. We will discuss the remaining words throughout the year. They will provide us with material for many lectures. Be ready, for the Master may come to you with a sack and order you to hide a dead person. Consider well what you should do, because you could go to prison for more than ten years. It is not easy to tell the Truth! You may see all of this in a dream, realize you've concealed a crime, and go to prison. When you wake up, you will say: “Thank God, it was just a dream, not reality.” Many events and situations in Life are like this, as though happening in a dream. Those who awake from the dream and are aware of reality are on the right path; those who are not awake live unconsciously and feel fear and horror. They ask themselves: “What will happen to us?” I wish you to awaken from the deep sleep into which you have fallen, and to realize that much of your experience is not real, but fictitious. Secret Prayer ____________________________ 1 Matthew 10:8 Source

Methods Through Nature Seventh lecture given by the Teacher before General Esoteric class on the 13th April 1922, Thursday, Sofia Secret Prayer First I’ll start with a few notes. When a young shoot grows out of the ground, it is vulnerable but Nature sends him subtle swaying and motions on the air. The work of air currents make plants strong, the human mind does the same thing for the Spiritual body of the human being. And when you enter the Esoteric School, you will be exposed to different winds from different directions. Bear that in mind, this is the law but do not fear it. Anyone who enters this School and fears some cracks not wanting to feel the draught does not understand the law. To winds you will be aware of from all directions, from east, from west, from north, from south, from everywhere. And to other winds we will be exposed and sometimes these winds we’ll be warm, sometimes cold, sometimes they will be accompanied by mild rains, sometimes with sleet, sometimes with hail. In all these situations you will find yourself; that we have to bear in mind. What happens in Nature, will happen in your soul also. If does not happen, you are not on the right path. If someone preaches you a teaching without hardships, without winds, without sleet, without hail and rain, this is not the Teaching of God; this is not the Teaching of Universal White Brotherhood. These are principles; these are states, which you have to keep in mind and to try. If one of you doubts this, you have the time to try them but you will note this fact, because we are coming closer to carrying out research in one positive science; laws don’t resemble the laws in modern science. This science, to which we introduce you, there are no exceptions to the rule, everything is defined there. When I say precisely defined, I mean, that it is limited. No, there are two contradicting opinions in the occult science, in the Occult School: the Infinite includes the finite in itself and the finite includes the Infinite in itself. And then I say that the situation is such: only the Infinite can appear and this, which is finite can not appear: only the strong person can make themselves known, the weak can not; only the strong light can show itself, but light whose vibrations are weak, can’t show itself. Therefore I want you to be strong people, not hesitating, do you realize this? It is expected of us to be the strongest, the brightest, the most gifted, the most talented. The one, who is not capable of working on purpose as to acquire abilities, as to show his or her talent and the incapable to waken his or her ability. You don’t have to discourage yourself because of this, it is only one situation. So each one of you will bear in mind the thought that you have to be strong but not to force yourself, to uplift yourself. Therefore each person, who has the force to uplift himself or herself, will have force to lift his peer but everyone who forces himself or herself, forces his peer also. This the laws of the White Brotherhood say. They watch how what we do towards ourselves and thus they are aware what our situation towards others will be. If I force myself I can talk in a very pleasant, very sweet way but it will be of no use – the law is true. Therefore you will have strength not to force yourself but to uplift yourself. This means moral – to uplift the contemporary moral in the world, to uplift ourselves. That something was said by this scientist, that prophet or saint that the world was made in such and such way, you have to rise up the general status, upon the common view. Let us not misrepresent Christ's true words! I ask all those contemporary people, did they live in Christ's time, did they hear what did He spoke, what did He say? They say: “We didn't hear but it was delivered to us.” This thing, which was written by this apostle, does it seem likely to be true to you?” - “This man there said that.” No, this is not the case, we have other proof for what was said by Jesus, we have an archive, where all words of the Christ are written in golden letters. Do you know in what grand book on what sheets are written Jesus words? There all words are written, all followers, initiated into the Occult school read from this great Gospel – this is a Gospel. And now they want to convince us that the Gospel is sacred, given to us by the Holy Ghost. No, it is not, the Gospel, which Jesus preached is from the Holy Ghost. The Gospel, which Jesus preached printed itself on the sheets of this great book. What Jesus spoke, all his great teachings are printed on this book, word by word, as each word spoken before a phonograph* is rendered. [* Phonograph – the original term for the gramophone, discovered by Thomas Edison in 1878 (editor's note)]. This Gospel I can understand! And how many words, how many parables, how many things are recorded on the sheets of this book for which the world is thoroughly unaware of. So, firstly in the Gospel it is said: “Be strong because God lives in you!” But why is that? Such is the law. People are so weird. - “But – someone would say – apostle Paul said that when we are weak, then we are strong.” Yes, naturally, apostle Paul was an occultist and do you know what he did want to tell you with this? It means: When I think as a human, I am weak, but God, who lives in me, makes me strong. When someone is strong, he is conscious that God lives in him. I am Weak as a human but because of God, who lives in me, I am strong. When I say that God lives in me, this word is again not understood. God can not live in me or inside you. You have not yet revealed yourself, how will God live in you? In the Scriptures somewhere apostle Paul says: ”You are a Temple of God.” What is God's temple? - Your soul. Your soul is something great and therefore we are now building these little temples in which the soul will lesen itself. This, which is eternal, the boundless will smaller so that it will enter in this small temple of Love. The soul knows the laws of growing smaller, this little soul can become finite and infinite at the same time. For God it is easy to be boundless and infinite, so it is easy for him to become boundary and finite, for us. When they tell me that one being is finite, I understand much – I understand that the greatness, the Intelligence and the God's Love are that large that He reduces himself in that small being as to try from all his or her joys and sorrows to uplift him or her as they can understand His greatness. This is the greatest, the most wonderful miracle of God. Thus I understand God, this God I recommend you -God, who can descend to your plane, from there He would lift you up and could make you like Himself. In what sense will you be like Him? - You would be like Him powerful, you could understand life and the other beings and you could uplift them also. This is what Jesus has taught. Now, what we have is not morality. We leave aside the current morality and give you new principles, which you ought to have so that you can develop. When you work on the principles inside your soul, we will become strong and powerful – strong and powerful as to overcome anything. Now, I am going to explain the word patience from the esoteric point of view. Each follower of the School of Universal White Brotherhood has to be patient. But how? Some, for instance, restrain themselves and say:” I was patient enough, I restrained my rage.” Restraining your rage is not being patient. Patient person is the one that constantly pays his or her debt to those who came to him or her – he has strength in himself. To restrain your rage is not patience but torture. Now the preachers want to convince us that the silent are patient. Such person is not patient. When someone else is glad and joyful, he thinks of something totally different. When someone comes to a patient person, this person asks him or her: “What do you want from me?” “You owe me.” “How much?”- And they pay. They constantly sing their songs. And now, when someone comes to him or her, they say: “You are dishonest.” They keep silent, pay nothing, restrain themselves and say: “They called me names, so what? I am a very patient person.” This is not patience at all, you are a person of torment. But here, in this School, there is no torture. Before you enter this School, before we are initiated, there will be torture but when you are in, you have to be patient, glad, to master all the world. Thus you will understand patience as followers. When someone comes to me, I ask him: “Are you patient?” This means that he or she has to give me. Someone says:” You have insulted me.” “What does insult means?” You have debt, you owe me, ask how much. - “That much.” Immediately you ask how much is the interest. “Ten or twenty percent.” I won’t utter a word, right away I will open my purse and say: ”Here you are. Are you content?” “I am content.” I will shake hands with him. Someone else will come by you; you will open your purse, you will pay and the matter will be settled. All followers will settle in such way the matter between yourselves – you will open the purse and you will pay. When the time comes, you will pay – this is the teaching, which Jesus has taught. And if this teaching has been applied, the Christian world would have risen, would have been righteous. And what are you doing now? You are still dealing with the question whether God saved us or not. Since he has sent us Saviour to the Earth, we are saved, we are saved since we have been created by God. Therefore Jesus has foreseen everything. Jesus is manifestation of this Love, He sends Love to those He has initially saved. But because they are not yet ready to comprehend this Love, they are in conception(???). These people don't reason over this philosophy. When the mother breastfeeds her child, and what when this child is in her womb, does he or her suck from her breasts? No, the milk will stay for the mother, she keeps it for the time when her child will come. Therefore during the time of our embryo condition, until we were born, God has waited upon us to show his Love towards us. For those of us, that are born there is milk, for others – there is stale food. The more you go further, more goods you will try. Therefore we are in this period when God's love has been shown to the followers; this means we are in the most wonderful state, when God show his will to be perceived by the followers. What is better than that when the father says to his son: “Son, take your pouch and go to school.” And Cosmos with all its suns and planets is create as one initial school. And all of you will ride to all planets, suns and the Moon: everywhere you will go to study, different directions you will take during these excursions and then you'll meet again. But you will ask: “How many years are we going to meet after? ”No, it may not take years: one journey that amounts to ten million years we can shorten to one or half hour, another journey that amounts to half an hour can be prolonged up to hundred million years. It is a matter of motion, of quickness -it depends on what train we'll take with what speed, with what quickness. That is the question: what train will you choose- if you take a train with a great speed, the suns will pass by you too quickly, we won't be able to look at all the beauties and you'll tell yourself: ”We have passed around the Universe and we have seen nothing”; but if we take a train, which travels at a low speed, you will stop at one place, at other you will stop, each planet you will see. Among the spaces between these planets there are such worlds which the contemporary people don't even suspect - they think that all is what they see and that's it. No, there are other worlds that can' t be seen with contemporary telescopes. Einstein says that there is no time and space; I understand his language: there is no time and space but there are states. So, the first stage for the follower is to be strong. You will have in your mind the thought to be possess Strength. Then for acquiring this Strength we already have methods, there are laws how to acquire such Strength. We will put you through a test and we will see whether this Strength, which you will acquire, is for your uplifting or for your constraint. If you use it for your constraint, then an usual force will be given to you, however if you use it for your uplifting, Godlike force will be given to you. When I speak of love, I mean that only the Godlike Love is the one and only, the greatest law in the world, which can guarantee this Force. If you have such Love, this Force will be guaranteed to you, if we have an ordinary love, an ordinary force will be given to you, and such force all of you have. Now these are the items you have to include in your mind. This is the teaching that Jesus has taught. It is the simplest teaching, which Jesus has taught to the people then. Now have you understood which person is strong and who is weak? Strong and weak. Everyone, who doesn't use his or her force, which they possess, becomes weak. Since you don't use your Godlike force for your uplifting, you are weak and the weak, when he or she uses a little Force, which they have, becomes strong. This is the same law, which you require when you give conditions for the development of a grain of wheat and then his force enhances and increases. According to the laws of mathematics, on Earth, the part can not be equal to the whole. In the occult science, in the occult mathematics, however, there is another statement: each part is equal to its own whole and the whole is equal to its own part. Then, how are you going to equalize these contradictions? Therefore the relations of this kind of mathematics are not mechanical but are organic and psychological – then the process is therefore inward. Now, how can this be mathematically expressed? If we decide to prove this, we need a number of lectures, a number of formulas of this complex mathematics and after all processes have occurred, the question is again unresolved. This is only a statement, which in present conditions of Life can not be explained. And the truth is as follows: the weak, the microscopic person in the world, if he or she follows the great Godlike laws, one day can be strong. This is necessary for us – to be strong. And so Strength is one of the qualities of the God 's Mind, therefore the Force is motion. All these motions have to be mastered by humans. (The works on the theme “The purpose of the Five Senses” were read. A commission by three persons was selected, men, who will extract the most important from the works read). By men I mean intelligence at work, Wisdom at work because for Love there is not yet place. Now, when Love comes in the world, we cry when we have to think. You will make a good conclusion because when students do their best, can say some good things, can't they? I will give you another theme and this is: The use of water. Write down the themes, even those of you, who don't write because they are in connection to each other. Secret Prayer

THE LAW OF MOTION Year 1, Lecture 7 of the Youth Occult Class (Special Class) Given by the Master Beinsa Douno April 12, 1922, Wednesday Sofia Secret Prayer The disciples read the words they had to write in the following order: “come”, “harmony”, “absolute”, ‘nature”, “to hope”, “symphony”, “persistence”, “beginning”, “disciple”, “peace”, “height”, “crystal”, ‘to build up”, “the hero”, “diligence”, “can”, “nice”, “star”, “light”, “child”, “silence”, “to sacrifice oneself”, “aspiration”, “magnificent”, “God”, “comes”, “mutual aid”, “lotus”, “affection”, “wisdom of humbleness”, “warmth”, “perfection”, “wellspring”, “purity”, “bread”, “serenity”, “daylight”, “to love” and “enlightenment”. The first word which we read was “Come!” - the imperative form of the verb “to come”. This verb is related to motion. Therefore, you should study the law of motion. Motion refers to the first wish which puts all other wishes and aspirations in action. Can you remember your first idea or wish, when you were a child? The first impulse in the newly born is to breathe. Humans start breathing from the moment of their birth, because the law of motion originates from the Astral world. Babies start crying with their first in breath of air. It is an indication that the physical world they are entering is not very harmonious. Both children and adults cry, because the environment they live in is not very harmonious. This time however we will direct our attention to conscious Life which is manifest today. Human beings come down to Earth to understand Life. Consequently, the souls leave God in order to study Life and each soul wants to know itself. This is the first impulse or the first motion in consciousness. Knowing oneself means knowing God. Knowing God means entering Infinity in the frames or boundaries of the Finite. It is nothing other than self-determination. Each limitation creates forms and each form contains a direction of development or a path of evolution that should be taken by the Self, the personality or the human soul for the purpose of reaching perfection. Therefore, human souls come down to Earth to become strong. The words “strong” (“силен”{silen} in Bulgarian) and “weak” (“слаб” {slab} in Bulgarian) begin with the same letter (“s”) in all Slavic languages. The word “weak” relates to the law of changes; the word “strong” – to the law of constant values, i.e. values, which do not change. In other words, strength means expansion while weakness means contraction. I am asking you, what do you think about your coming to Earth? From your individual point of view, why have you come to Earth? You will give different answers. You may say that you have come to Earth to become strong, to be saved, to get to know God, etc. You will know God when you become strong not only physically but spiritually as well. If a child has no power to hug its mother and to suck milk from her, will it get to know her? - It will not. Human thoughts, feelings and motions, no matter how small they are, hide inexhaustible powers in them. According to the law of contrasts, weakness means strength. “A weak person” in our understanding is someone who has gotten to know the smallest values, the smallest manifestations of Life. For example, babies are aware of their helplessness from the moment of their birth, but their power lies precisely in their helplessness. I am pointing this law out to you because many people feel morally weak and so they say: “We are weak, we have many vices, that is the reason why we cannot follow the spiritual path.” This shows that from a spiritual point of view you are like little children and your mothers have to bathe you in bath tubs, while you often do immoral deeds. Your mothers need to take care of you for years on end by bathing you, feeding you, dressing you and educating you until you grow up and become mature enough to make your own living. Little chickens, for example, are able to make their own living two or three days after they hatch. It doesn't mean that humans are weaker than birds, but that the matter which they find themselves enveloped in is denser than that of chickens, and they cannot overcome the limitations that this matter has imposed on them. Keep the idea in your mind that you can overcome any difficulty you encounter. The science of the spiritual gives two explanations why humans cannot cope with their problems and consider themselves weak. After they come down into dense matter some people forget that they have come from Infinity; thus they do not know that they possess hidden inner powers which they should develop. Others who have come from the Finite have deluded themselves that they can do anything as if they were all powerful, and as a result they have fallen and have lost what they possess. Today both types of people think that they are weak, feeble and unable to deal with the present conditions of Life, and consequently they are in low spirits. If you want to get rid of your mental delusions, of the idea that you know everything, ask yourself: “What is happening on the Sun today?”, and try to give an answer. Then ask yourself some more questions: “What is happening on the Moon? What is going on in the entire Universe? What is a human being?” If someone considers oneself to be a deity, he or she should be able to answer such questions. A deity knows everything. If you are not able to answer these and many other questions, you should know that as a human being you represent just a small part of universal consciousness, of the consciousness of Being. I am saying, as you follow this train of thought you will come to the question about the moral development of people. From a spiritual point of view, the moral powers of human beings depend on the primal energy of the human organism. The Hindus called this energy “prana”. That is why it is good for you to study the pranic laws. A good disciple always makes more errors than a poor and unlearned one. The form that contemporary people have is nothing other than prana in action. When the amount of prana is not equally distributed in the human organism, this leads to disease. When it is not equally distributed in the human feelings, it leads to discontent. When it is not equally distributed in the human thoughts, it leads to senselessness. I will give you an exercise now which you should do three times a day – in the morning, at noon and at night, before you go to bed: bring your arms forward in a horizontal position with your palms facing down. Form a beautiful triangle by bringing the thumbs and the forefingers of your hands together. Then slowly open your arms to the side, forming a semi-circle. Turn your palms upwards. Bend your arms slowly at the elbows and catch the top of your ears with the first three fingers of your hands (thumbs touch the front side, the other fingers – the back side of the ears). Move these three fingers of each hand along the edges of the ears, the thumb in the middle, the forefinger – along the back part and the third finger – along the front part of the ears. After that, raise your arms and bring them forward to a horizontal position. Do this exercise ten times in a row and finally put your arms down in the following position: the top of the thumb of each hand should touch the top of the forefinger. When you catch the top of your ears, it will invoke a small moral impulse inside you. The lower part of the ears is related to the human stomach. After you perform the exercise, you will observe the results. You should perform it without philosophizing and nit-picking, but while observing yourself and the effects it will produce in your thoughts, feelings and actions. Unless something is applied in practice, it can be of no use for you. You should perform the exercises I am giving to you until you feel a positive effect. Consider these exercises sacred and do not talk about them until you have experienced them and achieved some results. When I ask you to keep these exercises secret, I warn you not to fall into the position of Adam and Eve who ate from the forbidden fruit just because it was forbidden. You should observe the following rules when performing the exercise: you should sit down, keep calm and expand your chest. You should stay concentrated the whole time and follow the movement of your arms. The main aim of the exercise is namely to keep your mind concentrated on the movement of your arms. This concentration is easy, because the mind only goes from the physical to the Astral world and no further. If it reaches a more abstract world than the Astral one, it will not be able to cope with it. It will be good for you to note the states that you will pass through during this exercise and during all other exercises. So, you will do this exercise three times a day: before or after praying in the morning, when you are well disposed; at noon; and finally at night, before you go to bed. No one is supposed to see you doing this exercise. If some of your neighbours ask you what you are doing, tell them that you have an exercise to do. If they insist on knowing details, keep silent. If they continue asking still, tell them the the following: “I have read in some book that the best thing for humans is silence. So, I want to do my best – to keep silent.” The exercises you are given in class are microscopic. In order not to become disappointed afterwards, you should not expect great results. These exercises are as insignificant as the first lines in an artist’s sketches. If an artist wants to draw a nose, he will first put a vertical line, thus creating an illusion of a nose. Then he will put some curved lines and after that he will draw the shadows of the nose. In this respect, the exercise I gave you is like the straight line that will later need some curving, some shading and so on. This exercise will teach you to concentrate your mind and to be obedient. In order to achieve this you need to be on the one hand lively and joyful, and on the other hand - honest, sincere enough to yourself. These are specific states of prana. The first state concerns the Mental world, the second one – the physical world, and the motion that runs through the middle, between the first two, is related to the Astral world or the World of emotions. Do this exercise as soon as tonight, before you go to bed. Breathe deeply while you are doing it in order to receive more vital prana. Prana has various states: physical, emotional and intellectual or mental. Without prana thoughts cannot be formed, feelings cannot be expressed and actions cannot be manifested. So, when I say that prana causes the creation and manifestation of thoughts, feelings and actions of human beings, this does not mean that all humans should have uniform thoughts and feelings. Each one will receive what he needs and will manifest what he is able to, according to the level of one’s development. For example, if you put your fingers on the lower part of your earlobe, some of you will wish to drink milk, others – to eat boiled wheat or nuts, or something else. Different foods will pass through your mind. You would say: these are foolish things. In our opinion, only the unattainable is foolish. For example, we consider that the wish of a poor simple person to become a king is foolish. In the remote future, after a long process of growth, this person could really become a king, which is impossible today. Therefore, when you say that something is foolish we think it is something impossible to achieve today, but some day in the infinite future this foolish thing could become reality. The first letter of the word “foolish” in Bulgarian (“глупав” {glupav}) has a line above it, which signifies infinity “-”. Contemporary people have lost a great part of the primal vital energy of their organisms; as a result their internal movement is weak. In order for people to understand each other, to love each other and to be able to learn, the vibrations of their internal movement need to be uniform, i.e. homogeneous. Heterogeneous vibrations result in mutual misunderstanding and alienation between people. The exercises you are given create uniformity in you. Therefore nowadays you need to busy yourselves less with philosophy and more with exercises. Later on you will reach a state in which more philosophy and less exercises will be appropriate. When we were reading the words you had to write for homework, you noticed that the first half of the words was more harmonious than the second half. This is due to a feature typical of Bulgarians – they start things well until they reach a certain point of difficulty, and then they end up badly. The disharmony in the second part of your words is an indication that knowledge has not yet become the object of your mind's interest. You study for the sole purpose of being able to say that you know something. Therefore, there is a part of your mind that has not been awakened yet. What hasn't been awakened yet is in your consciousness, i.e. you are not aware yet that you have the possibility to know and to be strong. Being strong does not yet mean that you are allowed to be violent towards each other. A strong person, in the full sense of the word, is someone who can elevate himelf without being violent to others. It is a rule: if you are violent towards yourself, you will also be violent towards others; if you elevate yourself, you will also elevate others. Secret Prayer

THE TWO DIRECTIONS Year 1, Lecture 6 of the Youth Occult Class (Special class) Given by the Master Beinsa Douno April 5, 1922 – Wednesday 19.00h, Sofia Secret Prayer If you go to Nature and watch the trees, you will notice that the sprouts grow perpendicular to the Earth and the branches stand upright. How long will this state last? - While the trees are young. When they get old, the branches will bend down. What is the reason for this? The reason is that they strive for the centre of the Sun in their youth and it makes the branches go upward and stand upright. As they get old, the trees turn their eyes downward, to the centre of the Earth, and as a result the branches droop and stoop. In the process of ageing the trees also become heavier. This law can be observed in human life as well. Young people are always upright. But after a certain age they become materialists like the old trees and start stooping. Then they begin to think about the centre of the Earth, i.e. now they expect their death. Death is but the directing of one’s mind to the centre of the Earth. Therefore, there are two directions or currents that human beings can follow: upwards – towards the centre of the Sun, and downwards – towards the centre of the Earth. The School you attend has methods by which you can convert these currents into one another. You cannot be disciples if you do not learn how to transform these currents. For example, discontent and low spirits are characteristic of old people, while a good temper is characteristic of young people. When we talk about old and young people, take the word “old” in its symbolic meaning which is “habit”. Old people are those who continue exhibiting habits which are directed towards the centre of the Earth. Evil does not lie in this, but in the fact that the aspiration of humans towards the centre of the Earth is unconscious. Miners go into their mines with a definite purpose: to take out gold and precious stones and bring them to the surface of the Earth. The position of those who slip and fall into a hole due to carelessness is not the same. They do it unwillingly and suffer because they have hurt themselves badly, while miners go down under the ground consciously. Now, after you have joined this School, give a thought to every event in your daily life and learn from it. For example, ask yourself why your mood changes so quickly. Make a weekly account of the number of daily changes in your mood, in order to get a true picture of yourself and write it down in your notebook. During the first week note down only the abrupt changes of your mood. In the next week note down what your mood is in the morning when you get up, at noon and in the evening, before you go to bed. Write down the hour, the minute and the weather (if it is good or bad, sunny or foggy) during your morning mood and the same again if a change in your mood has occurred. Begin your first observation on Sunday, noting down only the changes of your mood without looking for the reasons for them. The reasons are usually far away from you. You are aware only of the changes happening to you, but you do not know their reasons and purpose. Therefore, there is something deeper than what is changeable in you. You will study the changeable, not the unchangeable in you. Why? - Because the observations will be made by the unchangeable in you. Through these observations you will come to your inner state, which is unchangeable. It observes the other conditions but itself remains unchanged. In this way – through a series of observations – you will get a lot of experience. So, you should make your observations in a calm manner, not allowing any disturbances. If you are in low spirits, you will note that your state is “left, below zero”; if you are well-disposed, then you are “right, above zero.” All unpleasant moods are on the left – they represent a movement towards the roots or downwards, to the centre of the Earth. All pleasant moods are on the right – they represent a movement towards the branches or upwards, to the centre of the Sun. It is good to note also the weather in order to see its influence on the human moods. You are to make observations on yourself without criticism. Criticism is nothing but gnawing, and gnawing is characteristic of caterpillars. In this sense, critics may be called “psychological caterpillars.” You will explore yourself, stating the changes of your mood and exposing them without criticism. If you see a mistake of yours and say that you are a bad person, you will make another mistake. The first mistake is in your wrong doing, which you have not corrected; the second mistake is in your criticism. Therefore, if you have made a mistake, take it upon yourself to correct it. You can do it without the comment that you are a bad person, which is like a hood. If you say that you are a good person, that is another hood. A disciple of the Spiritual school should work without expecting any praise. It is not helpful for anyone to be praised by some and reprimanded by others. Praises and reprimands are for children. They are suitable for them. When are disciples praised and reprimanded? Regarding praises and reprimands, I have a firm opinion: you are not supposed to give your opinion about a picture that is not finished. When you look at a canvas with only few lines on it drawn by the artist, you may laugh and say: “It is a childish piece of work.” But if you see the same picture already completed, you will say: “An excellent work of art!” In these two cases you will have two different views on this same picture. That is why you should be patient and wait for the time when the picture will be finished, and then you may give your opinion. Do not give your opinion about anyone before this person has completed their work! Do not criticize anyone. Criticism is to be excluded from impartial human thinking and speaking. I am asking you, which words did human speech begin with? Conjunctions came first, then verbs, pronouns, and finally – nouns. This truth is confirmed by some medical cases of lost speech after a strong hit. These patients first lost their ability to pronounce nouns, then – pronouns, verbs and in the end – conjunctions. The pronunciation of conjunctions is usually not lost – even in the worst cases. Conjunctions are available also in the world of speechless animals. For example, we say that snakes hiss. They produce the sound “sss…” [M1] Thus they give a hint to people that speech began with conjunctions. Next time, each one of you should write a word; not any word, but a harmonious one which you love and which will leave a pleasant feeling in you as you pronounce it. It is desirable not to repeat the same words. Do not write overused words like “love”, “good”, “evil”, “right”, “beauty”, which have become trivial in your language. You can choose whatever parts of speech you like – verbs, nouns, adjectives or pronouns. The aim is to find words which are carriers of ideas. Then we are going to compose a sentence with the words written by you. In this way, we can see the extent of your harmonization as a class and also your position – left or right. It will be the first test to determine the direction of your development. The direction of your thought can be defined by any pronounced or written word. Everything left by humans may vanish, but what is written will remain as a symbol of one’s life. Words are signs similar to all existing forms in Nature. Any curve of a tree branch, for example, reveals a certain idea. The human eyebrows also express a certain idea. The eyebrows of many people are like the branches of a young tree; but the eyebrows of some others are drooped like the branches of an old tree. We can judge the forces acting in someone by the form and direction of his eyebrows. Consequently, when you read something written by a person, you can say right away not only what he has said, but also what was the original that he has used. You can also understand the way in which he has come to a definite idea. Ideas pass through many human brains; as a result they take different forms. So, if you study well, you will get familiar with the language of Nature, and start paying attention to its elements: rivers, valleys, rocks and mountains. It is a difficult task but if you proceed step by step with the symbols of Nature, you will enrich your mind with a number of new higher ideas. And when you start understanding the symbols of Nature, you will read them and enrich yourselves with knowledge. When you go to the mountain without bringing a book with you, if you do not know how to read from the book of Nature, you will be bored. If you know how to read it, however, you will have something to do – you will take a look at a cliff, then at a spring and you will learn from them. Those who do not comprehend Life and Nature will be bored by anything, any place they go. Therefore, it is better for them to study the works of the great poets, musicians and artists. Secret Prayer The Master greeted the disciples with the words: “Without fear!” They answered: “Without darkness!” --------------------------------------- [M1] The Bulgarian word for the conjunction ‘with’ is ‘s’ Edited December 1, 2016 by Viktoriya

Negative and Positive Features Of The Disciple Sixth Lecture of the Master, read before the General Occult Class on April 4th, 1922, Tuesday, in Sofia Secret Prayer Before we finish reading what is written, I shall make a few notes. You know how tin plating of pots is done, you have seen how tinsmiths tin-plate – they stand in the pot and clean it out so that the tin can fix well. Without cleaning out the pots, one cannot apply tin. When you enter the occult school, thus, they will step onto you, they will turn you around and unless you are thoroughly cleaned, you will not be fit for tin plating. There are some traits in you, and some views that you should part with. One of them is conceit. This is an animal side of human nature. You will find conceit in all animals, it is found in birds, dogs, horses, and oxen. When the dog is conceited, it raises up its tail, saying: "I don’t care". When the peacock wants to show off, it spreads its tail, ‘tr-r, tr-t, tr-r’ – this is an animal’s act. Conceit is an animal itself. So if a disciple entering the occult school holds that animal feeling inside, then great suffering is in store for him. He will clash with reality where people, observing his weakness, will start mocking him. Modern people suffer too most of them are neurasthenics. The neurasthenia marching through the world today is mostly the result of human conceit. If somebody is a tradesman, and his business is going down, he begins to worry – how can people think he is a poor man! Everyone wants to be what one is not. Religious people too, conceit has made them what they are not. Conceit has brought hypocrisy into religion. Hypocrisy is born from conceit. A conceited man striving to prove he is unlike others is a hypocritical man. Now you enter an Occult School where Light is so great that all your shortcomings will come out on top leaving you feeling like a scalded fowl. As disciples, you must know what scalded fowl is. Not by me will you be scalded but by the White Brothers who are very good. One, who has conceit, will be thus fleeced and left to wonder how that happened. And so you will give up conceit. But if your love for it is great, when you enter the School, you will leave it outside like a piece of luggage. You will pay a storage fee when you finish the School and then you can put it on again. For the outer world, you may need it, but there is no need of it in the School. And so conceit is displayed by the disciples. You may start asking, for example, "What do you think, that you have reached success in the Occult School?" This is pure conceit. Whether you have succeeded or not, we might as well know right now. Step in front, hand him the violin, give him a hard piece, come on, play it! If you can play it, you have succeeded. – "But I know music." You might know the theory of music but you don’t know how to play. Sometimes it’s better to play than just know the theory. It’s good to know both, though. Therefore, if you know how to play, you will play. Then, there are others who ask: "Do you think we have mastered Love?" I can right now very easily examine how much your Love is worth. Someone says, "My heart is burning in Love." But tell him to give this brother a thousand leva now – that’s it! He bows his head – that’s it – he does not know how to love, so much for that. A thousand more leva and a thousand more, and when his pocket is empty, he asks, "Well, what’s left for me?" If you want to have something left for you, stay outside. We want you to enter this Divine School with empty chests so that we can fill them up. If you come with full chests what can we put in? We do not want people with full purses. The world asks for full purses but we ask for the opposite. If your purses are empty come, and if not, then we say, "You are wrong." And so you will keep away from the feelings of conceit and hypocrisy as from fire because not only will they give you nothing but they also will bring you down to the level of animals that only know how to snarl at each other. Two people, as they meet, snap at each other: "Beware, I am not one of those weak heroes but a great one!" The same with the fowl – having seen a bull, there it hops - this is the feeling of conceit. The bull rams it with its horns - that is the end of the fowl. The fowl doesn’t understand, it thinks it can fight a bull. But to fight a bull you need knowledge. And so, you come into this Occult School to learn how to fight the bull by the horns because you will meet spirits from the Black Lodge who have great knowledge. Do you know what knowledge this is? Sometimes the White Brothers go to their schools to learn. "The sons of this century are smarter that the sons of Light". And the sons of Light must learn from the sons of darkness. The knowledge and principles are the same in both schools, only differently applied. The acting forces are the same, there is no duality, but the way they are applied matters: some forces can be applied in one way – to the left, and others – another way – to the right. Yet we may as well draw a lesson, we may learn from a Black brother, even from the church. This is now said here in this hall. If you talk about it outside, you will be cursed by every church, do you understand that? This is not a symbol. You still don’t know the origin of the Black brothers, do you? And why are they black? – Because they shifted to the left, and the others to the right. I will not explain this. A person has a left hand and a right hand. Why, aren’t both hands in place? We use our right hand today but there was a time when the left hand was at work. Is it a sin, then, that a person has one left and one right hand? No sin, these hands are just in place. It’s only that the left way passes through the centre of the Earth while the right one – through the centre of the Sun, they differ in that. Walking the left way you will go down into the deepest matter, in the greatest contradiction of Life, you’ll have to fight, the Light will fade, while taking the right way you will go through the thinnest matter, you’ll cross the centre of the Sun. You will not be afraid, because you will be protected. There must be no curiosity in the Occult School, no curiosity is allowed there. Curiosity is for the outer world, it is allowed only there. To have a deep desire to learn, the keenest desire that is burning in your heart – that yes, but simple curiosity is not allowed. Curiosity is born from conceit, too. So you will have a burning desire to learn, and as for curiosity, conceit, hypocrisy and others of the same kind, features of animal nature or coming from lower cultures, such features we need not. Now you may say: "These things have been told to us." Yes, but you still don’t know the perturbations conceit causes in the human body. You still don’t know the consequences of hypocrisy – what perturbations it causes in the human heart. You still don’t know what curiosity produces. If you knew the consequences that are produced in the body, you wouldn’t even smell them (unclear). Now I do not want to be in contradiction with your feelings. Religious feelings you will keep apart. I am now talking to your minds – not the lower, but the higher minds. You must think and feel. I am not talking to your hearts either, this is not my intention. You hearts are for you and for God, aren’t they? You need Light, you need Knowledge, and having the Knowledge you will acquire Wisdom. When you have Wisdom, you will know how to work your hearts. Now, you know that line from the Old Testament, "My son, give me your heart." This is an internal process of the Existence, a process to be realized in the future. It has no objective application yet, but a purely subjective application and to work this heart we need knowledge – great knowledge I should say, in order to be able to prepare the forces that are inborn in our hearts for the future culture. And for the present all religions are generally dealing with the man’s heart. All preachers are seeking to bring about certain effects, they threaten with hell – that there is hell, and pain. But this is kid’s stuff. We do not shake the big stick at a disciple entering the Occult School; we just say, "If you do things this way; these are the consequences. Since you have this body with these substances and compounds, if you act like this, here are the consequences for your body; if you enjoy this you can do it." The disciple will know the reasons and the consequences, and will examine diligently his body and his heart. So, you must all have a burning desire to learn. And coming into this School you will lay aside, if possible, all your views – whatever you have read in books, whatever I might have once said. I want you to pass all this through your own minds, do you understand? And you will. Do you know why? – Because sometimes you may pass my words through the dense medium of your lower minds and you will comprehend them one way, but then you might pass them through your higher minds and then you will obtain a different comprehension. Further on, you will have to apply each comprehension immediately, not in the future. As you apply, you test – small tests from which we shall judge. I am not saying you don’t have application – you do, but not these occult applications. You will find a special application. In this Occult School you will have ways, and methods to remedy some of your weaknesses that exist as a remnant of the past. Now, you might sometimes place a bet: "This is what a man of science said." But what has been said shall be tried in this School, shall be put to the test. In the School, you will always verify these things and will judge what is said by the results you can achieve. If you don’t have this disposition, then hypocrisy and conceit will be born. Then, a common weakness of all disciples is the following: sometimes a disciple thinks he knows more than his Master. The rule in the White Occult School is: A disciple may never know more than his Master. This is a law of the White Occult School. Jesus said: "The disciple never stands higher than his Master". Should he begin to think he knows more than his Master, then he is to the left; should the Master begin to think he is not like his disciples, he is to the left too. The first one uses the knowledge for himself, and the other one does the same. But in the School of the Worldwide White Brotherhood everything is used for the Lord’s Kingdom – for bringing the Lord’s Kingdom on Earth. And once the Lord’s Kingdom comes to Earth then everyone, masters and disciples will have the best opportunities to show their knowledge and create something better in this world. And then, there’s another thing that I want: those who come to the School now, will test their will. There will be insults but once you enter the School, you must step up higher; you must lay aside all your feelings of insult for an hour. Someone comes in, the others give him a bad look, and he says, "This man insulted me." No, no, you must test your will. If you cannot subdue this feeling from the insult, which is an animal feeling, then your will is weak, you won’t succeed. You shall capture this feeling – the insult – as a creditor, and you’ll say, "Pray wait for me outside for an hour, outside the entrance hall, and once I am out, I’ll pay you." Now, we don’t want you to reform your lives in an instant, but just to keep one disposition of yours out in your entrance hall for an hour. If you can keep it out for an hour, then you will be able to keep it out for two, three, four, five hours; if you cannot keep it out for one hour, you can do nothing. And when you enter a school if you do not take this into consideration, the others will always lay these obstacles before you, using the law of suggestion. Between men and women, for example, an argument might arise, and they come hurt to the School; but you should know that on entering the School you are no longer men or women. We have no men or women around here, we have disciples. You are men and women outside, but in here you are souls. We don't recognize men or women, young or old, we only recognize disciples who desire to acquire the Divine knowledge and to use it for the improvement of their souls, for the advancement of the Lord’s Kingdom on Earth – that’s what we recognize. Now, you may say: "This has been said many times". I am telling you again, and as for those who would not believe my words, we shall start the tests and he’ll be persuaded. You have to know this, it is not a threat but there are laws that must be observed. I am not saying this place is a School. No, this is your meeting. From here you will step into another place, and as for the School, we could move it to another room, or a third, or a fourth, or a fifth one. This hall is not an occult school. Even if we were to build a special place it still wouldn’t be an occult school. Now, you are going to say: "We have now formed the School, for we have closed the door." We might close the door ten times, it still wouldn’t be enough. I can see – many of you always have their doors open. The outer door here is closed, but the doors of your houses are open and there’s constant movement in and out. Each of you must close his own door, and you must say: "For one hour you will wait for us, we are busy now but in an hour we’ll be back, and we’ll be at your disposal". I want you to do the first test now. Thus, when you come on Sunday to the School, you should be able to fight. It takes fighting, heavy fighting, but you must overcome. Don’t think that by just coming here you will change this condition all at once. We want you to fight and to win in this fight. Someone says: "Let’s get this over with, let’s banish this devil". But you shared your table with this devil in the past, he is your friend. As a friend, tell him: "My friend, we shared one table once, but I have come to know feasts spoil Life, I have taken another way, and being my friend can you now join me on this new way?" – "I can’t." - "Then wait for me outside for an hour, and then we’ll talk again." And, being your friend, he’ll listen to you. So you shall learn in the Occult School not to insult anyone. You do not say to a man: "You are such and such". No. No. I shall give you this example; it’s from the age of Christianity: one of the great Masters, well acquainted with occultism, after having taught his disciples for a long time, sent them to town to preach. Two of these disciples met two pagan priests and on seeing them, said, "Well, children of the devil, sons of Satan, you who corrupt the world …" They approached them with their walking sticks and cracked their heads. The disciples came back with heads cracked. These priests went to the Master of the two disciples; he came out and asked, "My friends, where have you been?" – "Why friends, how’s that? An hour ago we beat two of your disciples." – "You have done well." Disciples I call them, for they are sons of the White Brotherhood. And when Archangel Michael was sent for the body of Moses, he never said an evil insulting word to the devil but said, "Let God forbid you." And you now have the weakness sometimes to bristle up at the devil and speak evil of him. No, no, you must be noble. Say to him: "You are an excellent worker – you do things the way you understand". He is convinced, believes in his understanding and wants to persuade you in some way or another, and gives you proof. Each bad spirit, as it comes to you, says: "Don’t be so stupid, not all shall become good". And it gives you proof. Then you become convinced and say: "You are right". In the White Brotherhood, however, there is other evidence and we must prove it. There shall be perfect harmony in the School, no bad spirits should disturb you - they know the law. Both the first ones and the second ones learn – this is the law in the occult science. Once the disciples go out into the world, there is a dispute among them, but in the School, as long as they are learning, there is no dispute. But these are things we know so we place them where they belong. That’s what they said about the pious Jehovah; the representative of the Black Brotherhood appeared at the God’s council and said to God, "Have you noticed the way Jehovah walks?" Then, he was also present at this council in the School, and God asked him, "What about you, have you noticed the way Jehovah applies this teaching?" Hence, there is absolutely no dispute among the Black and the White Brothers in the School. A Black or a White Brother – they love each other. They love each other at School, but once they are out in the world, their interests collide and each one works for his own interest, so much for love! We shall prove which principle is right. Both these and the others believe, but the faith of the former differs in many ways from the faith of the latter. So, as disciples of this School, you shall be broad-minded rather than bigoted. A Black Brother is also an advanced spirit, these are real things. In School you must think that everything in this world exists because it is necessary. And what is necessary is useful for the development of the entire Cosmos. Therefore, for knowledge to exist in the world there must be two processes – some pots are made for glory and others for infamy. If you make a pot and you put your slops in it, and the other pot you fill with milk, then I’m asking, are the pots guilty? The pot with the slops is the black Brother, and the pot with the milk is the White Brother. Whose fault is it? Is it the pots’ fault? No. And the one who uses the pots is equally pleased to have a pot for slops and another pot for milk. He finds them very useful, for he needs one place to put the slops and one place to put the milk. But if we don’t have slops we throw away the pot, and if we don’t need milk, we throw away the second pot, so we have no more pots. The same goes for the good and bad people in Life; these are only ideological views at the present stage of development of human life. Now, those of you who wrote about the purpose of the human’s/man’s tongue may read (are welcome to read). Next in turn, write something about the purpose of the present five senses. This will be a common topic for all who can write. What do you think; did the organ appear first or the sense? – The senses appeared first. Therefore, each sense corresponds to a certain idea. At present, man has only touched the five senses and has reached the field of Truth. So he has reached the lowest field of the Divine World. Man needs another two senses. Then those of you who volunteered, let them write, let’s say, which world touching corresponds to; the taste, the sense of smell, the hearing, the eyesight – determine which worlds, and which fields they pertain to. You may read some theosophical, some occult literature, see what is written there, then express your own understanding, what it is that you think. Write briefly, as briefly as you can. When you write on these topics, don’t we say: "No fear and no darkness!" Furthermore, don’t write long, for too much writing is conceit. Don’t use redundant words, because they come from the devil, or if said in the occult language, redundant words shift to the left, to the School of the Black Brothers. They enjoy talking a lot and everyone who talks a lot helps the Black Brothers. Both the one who talks a lot and the one who doesn’t talk at all – both of them help the Black Brothers. And the one who talks less but wisely, helps the White Brothers. Less means the essence, it’s the essence we need. You may say, for example, "I love you a lot," – so you commence to speak like lovers do – and "I am ready to do this for you and that for you." You will do nothing. "I love you and can do anything for you." – Test me, nothing more. When you test, you’ll know. Only I can love. Should ‘I’ be said? – You will say 'I' and you will understand the Divine side of you. You may not mention the ‘I’ but mean it in your minds. In English you have to say ‘I love’, while in Bulgarian just ‘love you’ is enough; in English you must use the ‘I’. In School you shall endeavour to be determined and always speak your mind. Now, we have tried the results of not speaking one’s mind. Every senseless speech is a shape where you allow space for a bad spirit to inhabit you. That is why every shape you form must be full of Divine matter. Empty words themselves always draw great misfortune. When you pronounce an empty word, something pins you in your heart and you start thinking: "I shouldn’t have said that". Why do I want you to write on this topic? – That you may advance, that conscience may awaken in you. I want to convince you of one thing: you are not such fools and so ignorant as you may think you are, there are many truths inborn in you from the past. And if you are true to yourselves, as you sit down and think, some inspiration may come upon you. Then you may say: "The Spirit inspired this in me," as if the Spirit has some special regard for you. Do not deceive yourselves, the Spirit has an equal regard for everyone, but what the Spirit suggests, you cannot perceive. But you may say, "The Spirit did not will" No, no. The Spirit wills but you shall work your soil, you shall plant it, cultivate it and then the Spirit will will. So, I’m saying that in all of you there are some inborn truths that have to rise up – there are noble thoughts and features from the past. These features can be created today as well. Even the smallest effort that you can do is in your favour. In several lectures, I shall talk about and show you the weaknesses you should be aware of. Not that these are your weakness – they are common for the entire White race but you should constantly strive to keep away from them. And as you become able to control these weaknesses we can proceed to the microscopic truths – to the small truths with which we shall start doing our observations and our trials. Then each of you will be given small tasks to solve on your own and to examine things by yourself. But I am still warning you now – don’t expect that Heaven will open, don’t expect to find the answers to all the great secrets of Nature. No, others may expect this. When a master is tempted by a disciple offering him a big salary to teach him, then the master is unworthy of his position. There may appear a master in the Occult School, he may be offered one or two or ten million leva to teach – nobody is going to say anything to him but if he decides to teach for money, he’s done with. And if such thought enters a disciple’s head, if he is tempted to acquire the Knowledge in order to use it for himself alone, he is done with too. Thus, you will be completely unselfish! First rule: be sincere with yourselves, do not deceive yourselves. You can deceive me, but I don’t want you to deceive yourselves that’s why I am going to be very strict. Never deceive yourselves. Apply this law – be utterly true to yourselves, no exceptions allowed. You must admit in your minds the Truth such as it is, don’t change it in any way just consider things as they are, neither more nor less. True to yourself - this is the first law of the School. If you can apply this law, the rest will be easy. This law lays a basis on which to build up further. Now, why am I often so strict? – I am sorry that I have opened this School, to tell you the truth. Do you know why? – When I come here I experience a painful feeling. These desires you have accumulated cause me the worst suffering. And now I have to make an effort to talk to you. To tell you the truth! And if you do not observe this rule then I’m leaving you to learn as well as you can, I am determined. I don’t want to torment myself in future nor do I intend to let my disciples torment me. Two rules: neither do I want to torment myself, nor for you to torment me. I have completed my evolution; I need not be tormented any more. What I know I can teach you but your thoughts and your experiences are being transferred upon me – I accept all your thoughts and I experience them inside of me. I don’t want, though, to experience your thoughts. If you are sinners, I have nothing to do with your sins. I could endure your good will, better, but you are judging me in your minds and telling me this or that, I don’t want to hear, my soul is fed up with reproach and ungratefulness. The one who is grateful – good for him, and the one who is ungrateful – good for him too, I still have nothing to do with it. You know why? – I serve a different law. I am answering you now: I don’t want to grieve in any way the One who lives in me, I am not letting this happen! The One who taught me, the One who lives in me, I do not allow any reproach on him. I can bear anything for Him; where His name is concerned, I am ready to give up anything. "But what in thousand years – will circumstances be allowed?" (UNCLEAR) All the same, as for His name, I don’t allow it. I notice everything and I’m telling you: in the School I absolutely don’t want you to criticize me, or have doubts, just try out things! As I have said before: If I have hurt anyone let him come to me without criticizing me - I will pay him ten times his worth and get this over with once and for all. All matters must be settled between you and me, nothing more. Tell you what, should anyone do otherwise in future, I will turn my back on him and never speak to him any more. This is a rule of the White Brotherhood. Why? – This is an internal law. The One, who lives in us, the Lord, has a way that He follows and He will not wait for us. The Sun rises, the Earth turns around and everything follows its destined way, we cannot change the laws of Existence. – "But that’s what I think!" Yes, but the Lord thought millions of years ago when He created the world, so we shall act as He intended us to and as He acts. You ask me sometimes to teach you how to act. I am not doing as I please, I am following God’s ways and I want you to do so too. I am not the one to change God’s laws, neither you, nor the Angles or any other creature in the world will be able to change them in any possible way – they are inalterable. You can react somehow but to reverse them is impossible. Then you will stumble in yourselves. If you want to be a disciple, this is one of the rules of this School to follow. The School was opened several times around Europe but closed down again in wait of better times, because disputes arose. It was opened and closed down several times and may be closed down again now. But if I do it now, you shall teach yourselves, I am not teaching a second time! That’s why I want you to be upright at such a time when those above you have decided and have will to teach you. Mind you, I am not talking to you on my behalf; I am talking on behalf of the Worldwide White Brotherhood. If they are well disposed to you, then you must be loyal to them too. You must learn these great truths from their point of view. Exercise your minds, test everything. Now, from these words of mine do not conclude that I’m talking about a certain person, individually. No, what I’m saying is: it is from lack of knowledge, from ignorance that you do things, which are not allowed. And I want now to give you the first rules, the same way they are given in music. First of all, when the master comes in, he shows you how to hold the violin – horizontally, then he places the bow in the correct position and finally you play the G tone and hold it for a long time until you learn to move the bow properly. The bow represents the will. Then you start studying the tones, then the positions and when you have learnt them, you go on to playing a certain piece. Now, your minds and your hearts can advance only under such proper guidance. Only then you can perceive those great thoughts that God created, only in this way can you learn to think and feel correctly. Have a will. You have a will, you all do, but you must guide your will to work for your advancement. Now, don’t think we don’t have laws through which to get free from certain things. We have laws; I can get free of your thoughts in another way too. Do you know why I am referring to this? There is a wish in me that you don’t suffer, for I don’t want to cause you more suffering in Life. First rule: since you suffer a lot, I don’t want to increase your sufferings. If I put on a shield to repulse your thoughts back, we shall not get to the point. It’s better in such cases to close down the School than to cause rows. So, the first rule is: you’ll harmonize your thoughts and feelings for at least one hour. For an hour, I ask for no more – one hour in a week, do you understand that? Seven days, twenty-four hours a day – a hundred and sixty-eight hours. If you can’t do this, what else can you do? From a hundred and sixty-eight hours weekly you are required to spend a single hour in harmony – as true disciples you must. This is not much; this is a very short time – who will not allow himself an hour? And when I enter the class I want to feel a pleasant atmosphere, to feel good, and I want you to feel good too. If I am to come in and become dissatisfied then you will be dissatisfied too. Two feelings of dissatisfaction make a positive figure – both sides lose. Then all truths you may have said will lose their effect. Now, you may say: "Who could have insulted the Master?" No one has insulted me but I’m telling you, in your ignorance you have the weakness to incline sometimes to the left side rather than to the right one. Not knowing it yourselves, you sometimes walk to the left. You may say: "I do not know". No, you don’t, but you have to learn. You as disciples have to know which way you are on – the left or the right one, and not to wait for others to tell you that. Every day, the merchant has to know what he earns and what he loses – by reviewing his records, he must know if he made a profit today or he lost; and at the end of the year he sums up the profit and the loss. Every day we have to know whether we are more to the left or to the right, where God is. If you know this, you win – you will straighten up your thoughts, because there are many good things from the past inborn in you. I don’t find you incapable, I find you wayward. You are capable but also wayward, and waywardness is a feature of animals, not of humans. This waywardness of yours is an animal feature. Every man whose mind, heart, and will have started working properly can no longer be wayward, all his acts and deeds are based on the law of reason – he will know what to do. No waywardness shall be allowed in this School. So now, you are capable, and as for your waywardness – leave it outside. I am telling you now some negative features, and in the second lecture I’ll tell you more. I’ve told you by now four negative features: conceit, hypocrisy, curiosity, and waywardness – they are animal features. You need them in the world, but in the School you have no need, absolutely no need of them. And after attending our School for a year, I shall want you to be distinguished. We shall come, and decide, and mark the beginning – this is a School now. Someone says: "Show us the shortcomings". Fine, I’ll show you a lot of things. And when you get over them, then I shall show you some more negative features – not now, next time. Keep these features. Don’t fight conceit, and I’ll tell you what to put in its place, and in the place of the waywardness, hypocrisy, curiosity – I’ll tell you how to replace them. For I want you to be…I’m not saying good disciples, but I do not know which word to use now. Upright? – But are you all well-behaved? – You are all well-behaved. I am telling you, I am calling you the disciples of Love, do you understand that? Therefore, as disciples of Love, as I name you, (as disciples of Love, with this name I baptize you) – you shall follow the law of the great Divine Love. You may say: "I am the disciple of Love, I do not need conceit, I do not need hypocrisy, I do not need waywardness." Now, keep these four features and when one of them comes to you tell it: "My friend, I am the disciple of Love". When conceit starts speaking, answer it: "I am the disciple of Love", when hypocrisy starts speaking, answer it: "I am the disciple of Love", when curiosity starts speaking, answer it: "I am the disciple of Love". Thus you will speak in a friendly tone: "I am the disciple of Love", and nothing beyond it. So as they keep coming to you, let your answer be such – they come, you say: "I am the disciple of Love". Until they tell you one day: "We are, too, the disciples of Love", and it will be over, the victory will be yours. These are living creatures that you were connected to in your past lives. But as you abide by the Law of Love, they will say: "Since you are the disciples of Love, we shall become ones, too". It just occurred to me, let me not be misunderstood. By saying that I shall close the School I mean that I shall talk and preach with symbols, and not the way I’m doing now. The method is different in the School but I shall not use that method. We are going to work by the old method, follow the old path – we are going to hoe, we are going to plough, we are going to make a path and thus things will go. Now, I believe, the next time I will find you two degrees up. You are below zero today, the second time I want to find you at zero, the third time – at plus one degree, at two degrees, at three degrees and every time up by one degree. Little by little I want you to advance; it’s not much that I want. Now, I am greeting you with the words: No fear! And you answer me: No darkness! And thus we shall work; on my arrival I shall greet you: No fear! And you shall answer me: No darkness! Source

THREE KINDS OF DISCIPLES Fifth lecture given by the Master Beinsa Douno in the General Esoteric class at 7:30pm, on Thursday, March 30, 1922, in Sofia. Secret Prayer There are three categories of disciples in the Spiritual School: listeners, believers, and students. What is specific about the listeners? – Listening. What is specific about the believers? – Faith. And about the students? – Studying. Therefore, these three attributes are the making of a disciple. The disciple starts with listening – this is the first step; the second step is faith; and the third step is studying. Nevertheless, the disciple does not stop at these. Consequently, you have to learn to listen – for this is one of the first attributes. The Esoteric describes, “listening” as the state of concentration of the mind, or the focusing of the mind in one direction without interruption. The second attribute of the disciple is faith – not doubting what one studies and listens to. Once the disciple is in doubt, the corresponding learning process is stopped. This principle is valid regardless of the direction of the studies – faith accepts no doubt. You could have misconceptions, but these are outside of faith. Then, the disciple stands out with a desire for learning, i.e. the disciple wants to have Knowledge, which comes from Wisdom. Consequently, the disciple cannot doubt this Knowledge, which differs from the commonplace knowledge you have now. Now, these are introductory notes, which you have heard many times, but you should now apply them in the Spiritual School. Telling someone that they are listeners might offend them, but they should know that listening is one of the great traits of a person. To pay attention and to listen, and to know how to listen, this is most pleasant in Life; it is the art of the ear. Once we get to faith, we will deal with the upper part of the brain. With these three attributes of the disciple, you touch the brain in three ways, the centre of faith is situated on the surface of the human brain, studying is located in the front and listening in the back, thus forming an equilateral triangle. Listening is located in the back of the brain, from where all the troubles in Life come. Now, we asked the first question, what is the purpose of the disciple in a Spiritual School? Only the Spiritual School can give a correct and positive answer. What is the purpose of a person? Only the Spiritual School will give you an answer, which can satisfy you. Once you get this satisfaction, there will not be indifference in you, and you will not think that now you know, instead you will get a new impulse to work for your advancement. There are many obstacles in your life that makes it hard for you to grasp the great truths in the knowledge, which you can get from a Spiritual School. For example, right now some of you are sleep-deprived, as they have not slept well last night; others have not had good food, so they have not eaten enough; the third have had some unsuccessful business deals. Overall, all of you always have some obstacles, and if you do not yet know the law of how to free yourselves from such temporary disturbances, then the Truth cannot touch you as genuinely as it should. The purpose of the Spiritual School is to prepare your minds and your hearts, so that you can understand and apply the Truth. This is also one experiential school. I am talking about the Spiritual School of the Universal Brotherhood of Light, which will show you the spiritual path to applying the Truth to Life – not finding it, but applying it. Now, these are general statements. In one of my previous lectures, I defined the life of a person into three categories – sleeping, eating, and working. The first task of the disciple is to understand these correctly. Sleeping applies to the astral or the corporeal life of the person, i.e. to their spiritual side. A person learns spiritually only in their sleep – this is how it is – you can learn spiritually only while you are sleeping. Therefore, if you do not know how to sleep, you will never be able to learn spiritually, you cannot be knowledgeable people, and you cannot be disciples. And when I say that you have to learn how to sleep, I mean to say that you have to put your body in such state that, when your soul, your double leaves the body at night, you can find your Teacher. For the knowledge is taught in the Spiritual world, not on Earth. Here we have a repeat on what is taught there. This is why I say that first, you have to learn how to sleep relaxed. You have to apply your will power. Maybe you cannot sleep that well for a night, then another, and a third one, but you should try to learn to sleep well in the period of one year. If you cannot apply your will power to sleep, then what type of heroes will you be? First thing, you will have to accustom your body, so that it knows how to rest. We will give you exercises, so that you learn how to relax. You want to listen to me now, but you are tight – your legs are tight, your mind is tight, you are in a painful state. This tightness of your muscles will always stimulate your lower centres. It will bring the astral powers to the lower layers of your brain and this will give birth to negative, most low-minded thoughts and feelings. For instance, the faces of some of you are so serious, because this is how you have become accustomed, but this is just something you have learnt. In the Spiritual School, you will learn to have your face quiet and calm, clean, and natural, very natural. Imagine that you are satisfied with everything, as if you have everything that you want – how will your face look? This is what the face of the esoteric person should be. Imagine that you are expecting a friend of yours, whom you have loved for years – your heart is trembling, you are expecting your friend. The opposite state: imagine that you have received a death sentence and they will hang you tomorrow. What will your state be then? Now, you apply this death sentence in yourselves once almost every week, and thus sometimes you commit suicide. Well, what will the look on your face be? You kill most of your most noble feelings and thoughts. You hang them for nothing, as if these feelings or these thoughts are responsible for some of your bad circumstances. In this School, you are absolutely not allowed to hang any thought or wish of yours. No, it is not allowed – everything will grow and develop as God wants it to or as His laws dictate. If you pass a single death sentence, you will definitely have mischief. You will sit down calmly for five or ten minutes and in a most comfortable position, and you will start picturing the most beautiful images. Relax your arm freely, then lift it, and then again let it drop freely. All your muscles have to be relaxed. You have to start to control all of your muscles, all of your nerves. You will also have to learn to walk – there is a correct way of walking in the Spiritual School. Some of you hit their heels hard when they walk, like the military. The heels of their shoes are almost worn off, is not this true? Those, who walk like this, are the disciples that smash stones. In the same way, these heels of yours will smash the most beautiful thoughts and wishes that you have in your brain. Others among you step on the front side of the shoes, where their shoes wear off, which shows their enhanced caution. They are sly like a fox. There is no need to be afraid of the world, as it is created so that there are no ambushes awaiting you. If you walk according to the Divine law, you can walk calmly, for there is no danger. The Brotherhood of Light knows each of you once you get in the Spiritual School, and respectively takes care of you – you can walk everywhere safely. As the Psalm singer says, “I will be under God’s wings,” – under His wings. They insist that there is Divine Providence, but once we come here to apply it, we do not believe in any Providence. I will make an attempt to show you that you do not believe in the Divine Providence, not that you do not want to believe, but you are not ready for this Absolute faith. Imagine that we create an artificial fire in this room. If you cannot concentrate, there will be such a hassle – you will forget that you are disciples, and everyone will try to leave the room as soon as possible. Therefore, we will try to free ourselves from those most instinctive feelings. Sometimes we tremble and get scared for no reason. In the Varna high school, one of the teachers liked to remain in the classroom long after the bell rang; he did not leave immediately. One day the students devised a plan on how to get rid of him. They investigated and found out that he is very afraid of frogs. One day they brought ten or twenty frogs and put them in the desk in the classroom. When the teacher opened the desk to take out the class book to note who was absent, the frogs came out. He left the room immediately and went right away to the director’s office trembling. Why? – He said, “Director, frogs.” – “What frogs?” – “Frogs!” Well, there is nothing dangerous about frogs. This story is to illustrate that many of our misfortunes in life are due to frogs. If it were a snake or a scorpion, I will understand, but what will a frog do? It will jump. It is the fear that does the rest. Therefore, you will try to be fearless. This is a habit that we have to acquire – to be fearless. Not that there are no dangers in Life, there are, but these dangers come only if we break the laws of Living Nature. If we are living in harmony with these laws, there is absolutely no danger. Back to the first thing – sleep, it is one important factor for the disciple in the Spiritual School. If you cannot sleep peacefully, you cannot be a good disciple; i.e. you can be a disciple, but not a good disciple of the Spiritual School. Now, regarding sleeping, you will make as many attempts as possible. For example, you will attempt to fall asleep five minutes after you have got into bed. This is not training – this is will power – to be able to fall asleep in five, or ten to fifteen minutes at the most. Today, some of you go to bed excited and start making plans about what they are going to do the following day. So, half an hour to an hour passes by. In addition, this surrounds you with an unhealthy aura. You get up around 2 o’clock in the morning, walk around and say, “It is not working!” In the morning when you get up, you feel indisposed, those hostile feelings overwhelm you, and you look for someone to fight with, so that you can let the feelings out and feel better. If through your will power you manage to fall asleep in five minutes or ten to fifteen at the most, you will get up refreshed and cheerful the following morning, ready to start your work. Sleeping right is the most difficult art – I have experienced it – it is one of the most intricate arts. You may take some sleep medicines, but the goal is to learn to sleep correctly without them. It is an art to still find yourself lying on your right side when you get up if you have fallen asleep on your right side; or, if you have fallen asleep on your left side, to find yourself on your left side in the morning. These days everyone is beginning with the broad aspects of the esoteric science, with the great powers of Nature – we want to have this, we want to have that, with a magic stick like in the fairy tales of “One Thousand and One Nights.” But no one gives a magic stick to those, who have not learned how to sleep. This stick is not in the physical realm; it is up there, in the other world. This stick is your will power, but not the current, common will power that you have. I say, a person, who can hold back their tongue at a given moment, who can hold back their hand at all times, who can hold back their heart or direct their mind from one state to another, this person is stronger than the army general, who has won the biggest battle on the battlefield. As you read the Scripture, you find the same law there. The Brotherhood of Light, the Brothers of Light always pay attention to our acts of self-restraint[*]. Not self-restraint because of fear, no, no, but self-restraint because of Love. Self-restraint because of fear of the law is not a science. You may have self-restraint and you may have it for other reasons, but true self-restraint and patience come when you have self-restraint in accordance with the law of Love. Now, we will learn of course, we have time. I will not talk to you about Love. You will explore this Love in new colours, and new shapes. And maybe these Brothers will give you the opportunity to make a few experiments. Tonight I was walking down the street with a friend of mine. I told him, “I will make an experiment.” I stepped on the sidewalk. There was an officer coming right towards me. There are two ways of passing people in the Esoteric. The first way: I can order him to turn off the road and so he does. The other way is for me to decide for myself, “I will step off the sidewalk.” And so I did to make way for him. At that moment, he stepped off the sidewalk too. I said, this is the right way. Then I stepped back on the sidewalk to let him pass. You will learn to yield according to the law of Love. If someone walks towards you – you will yield, the sacrifice will be on your behalf. The disciple will yield the way – this is a rule in the positive sense of the word. The disciples will yield in the name of Love they will make way. If they make way, their way will be open too. “How you measure others is how you will be measured.” If you measure with the law of Love, this is the measure with which those, who watch from the Invisible world, will reward you. Still, you can achieve this only with good sleep. I do not know how many of you sleep well. Sleeping well will improve your heart’s condition. Sleeping will not improve your body – it will first affect your heart, and your feelings. Food is necessary too. Eating correctly is what provides the material for building up your body. So, if your sleep is normal and correct, eating shall definitely be such as well – it follows the same law. Now, contemporary science makes the following correct conclusions. Science has made the following experiment: people with pure blood, who differ from people with impure blood by the absence of waste deposits and sludge, can withstand whatever microbial organisms they are exposed to; such people do not get sick and do not catch a cold, while people with impure blood get infected very easily. In the Spiritual School, the law is the same: in order for you to be healthy, the flow of your Astral[†] body has to be correct. Jesus has said, “If you do not eat my flesh, and if you do not drink my blood, you do not have life in you.” This flesh and this blood are indeed the rational Word. If the rational Word does not permeate deep through your body, you cannot be good. I have said this before and I will say it again, the power of the rational Word is mighty. I do not remember the author, but there are many things written in English, which present facts about will power. Some of them come from readings from the Gospel and give examples of how people have cured themselves through will power. A woman, who has been sick since she was twelve, read one of these books and the parts talking about how to cure oneself through will power. She said, “Starting today, I am healthy!” She said so, got off her bed, and began working. This is to make an internal change with your Astral body and in your heart. This will power has to be really strong and absolutely without any doubt. In the outside world today, in order to strengthen people’s faith, you have to first present arguments and facts, which have been logically substantiated. In the Spiritual School, the process is reversed; you have to believe first, in order to get clarity on the facts. Consequently, you will apply your faith, and through that faith you will question, explore, and clarify facts. Hence, you will undertake the re-evaluation of all of your old thoughts, beliefs, and assumptions – you will prioritise all of these. You will not discard all of your old thoughts, but you will preserve in yourselves only those thoughts, on which you can always count – thoughts acquired through your life experience. A friend of mine was saying, “I,” he said, “may doubt anything, but I have one such experience that I cannot disown even if they cut me into pieces.” You have to have a central thought; and if you cannot find this central thought now, you cannot be disciples. If you want to acquire this central thought and then become disciples, you will not be able to. I am telling you: each of you has this experience. You will find this thought hidden some place within, and through that central place, you will begin to explain every occurrence in your life. And this, which you acquire now, will be in agreement with that central thought, which will shape your future. But the truths that I will tell you are so simple, that if you make that bargain we discussed, you will look like that rooster, who was digging a pile, dug out a big precious stone, and said, “Was not there one grain instead?” He kicked it, “Was this what I managed to dig out? Was there not something to eat?” For this rooster did not know that if he would sell that precious stone, he could turn it into power, which could render his life with happiness, and supply millions of roosters like him with food. These esoteric truths, which you will be told, are so simple that you will say, “Is there not something more substantial?” Well, I am asking, what is it that is more substantial than Love in Life? There is nothing more substantial than Love, nothing more resilient than Love, and nothing more pleasant and happier than Love. “But we do not know the laws that Love follows.” These pleasant feelings, which you have, appear and disappear; the bright thoughts, which come up in your brain, appear and disappear; why? You think that this is the law. This is not the law, but there are other beings in this world that play with your brain – they push it here and there, play with it, and sometimes when they push it, there comes darkness. You are in a nice mood, a friend of yours comes along and whispers in your ear, “You are so ugly today, you have grown ugly!” Before you know it, it feels as if something pierced through you. So you are walking along, but you feel indisposed. “What is the matter with you? Is someone sick at home – your husband?” “No, no,” you are ashamed to say. “You have grown ugly,” so you believed it. You must have at least one mirror to see if this is a fact. Some even think that they are heroes. Here are what big heroes they are: here, in Sofia, three administrative workers were making a joke with a colleague. They decided to send him on a sick leave, saying, “Today we will make him not work.” The first one met the colleague downstairs and said, “You are so pale. Are you sick?” “No,” but he almost believed it. He just got to the first floor and the second one met him, “You seem very sick to me? What is wrong?” When he climbed the stairs, the third one told him, “You will faint as you are walking.” He then went to his boss and asked for a sick leave. The boss let him go, but when the former figured out what happened, he punished the three people to work on behalf of their colleague. These are facts. For example, you have a thought and you say, “Nothing good will come out of me.” This is like the first one who meets you downstairs. “Nothing good will come out of me. Why am I going this way? Science is not for me.” Both the second and the third one are capable of making you leave school. Once you are walking on the path of God, you might also meet three people, who tell you, “You becoming a religious man – this is not for you!” And then you might drop it. Do not succumb to these temptations! The disciples in the Spiritual School have to know the very Truth, the great Truth, as it is; they have to know the facts as they are in Nature; they have to know the laws, the principles, neither less nor more – to neither exaggerate nor understate them. I want all of you to be valiant, but not ruthless – not to exaggerate or understate your mistakes. You have to note every single mistake as a mistake, and the opposite – every virtue, whatever it is, as a virtue, and we have to all rejoice when we see a virtue regardless in whom we see it. Because Good is Divine, while it is those mistakes that mutilate people’s thoughts. A mistake, regardless of how small it is, has to be noted as such. Another rule in the Spiritual School is that no one has the right to remind a disciple of their past mistakes – this is a crime, notice it! If Nature has once erased it and turned the page, do not go back to that page saying, “Do you know what you did once?” Today the Brotherhood of Light requires this from you as disciples. If God says[‡], “I will erase your sins, I will forget them,” you will not remind others of them. Today disciples often say to each other, “Do you know how much you offended me five years ago?” “And you? Do you know what you told me ten years ago?” Tonight I am talking to you as disciples about what disciples in this School should be like. What you are in the outside world is another thing, for there everything is allowed. In the outside world everything may be allowed, but in this School, in this life, not everything is allowed. So before we go forward, you have to know that if you make these mistakes, you will not achieve huge success. You will be able to achieve success knowing that in the School of the Brotherhood of Light you are not allowed to give promises without fulfilling them. Not promises – once you say it, you do it! You will say, “I will live by the law of Truth,” and you will live by it. At one given point, you say and you do, nothing more. But there is no promise in the future, there is a promise in the current moment – if you say it, you do it, nothing more! The disciples are also not allowed to say what they will do – say it and do it! The Scripture also says[§], “God said and so it was. He said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” Everyone will follow this law – once you say, you do! Now, we do not want any promises. We want only one thing from you – to apply the great law of Love, to apply the great law of Truth. Then, every day based on the situation, say it – do it, say it – do it. Do not give any promises! We will not keep you to your word. We do not want to remind you what you have promised, but if you have promised, do it. In the outside world, you can give promises, but we do not want any promises in the School. Promises give only to those people who do not have Love; promises give only to those people who do not have Truth; there is nothing more to it. No promises – this is what distinguishes the School of the Brotherhood of Light, for it has Absolute faith in its disciples, do you understand? Since the School’s existence, there has never been a time when a disciple has been able to lie to their Teacher. There has not been a single case when a disciple has lied to their Teachers. Not a single disciple has allowed himself to lie to the Teachers, but the Teachers have also never allowed the disciple to lie to them. Now you may ask me, “If I get into this School…?” There is not a single case in the history of this School when a disciple, who got in, turned back. Why? For where Love is the principle, there can be no turning back, without any exceptions. All exceptions result from the lack of the first principle – Love, and of the second principle – Truth. If these two principles are not applied, the Wisdom becomes distorted, the human mind becomes distorted, the human heart becomes distorted, and these are now people or individuals outside of the School. Then, as Paul says in that chapter[**], “Whom God called, those he chose.” In other words, there can be no exception. And I do not see the reason why exactly a human would give up walking on this great path of Life, where one can find one’s happiness. You will drop your old concepts. The concept of growing old, the concept of dying, becoming poor, the concept that we are stupid people, that human essence is such and such; you will put these away, close them in your closets and put a sign, “Do not touch.” Those of you, who want to be disciples, will do that. Some ask me, “I am old. Will I be able to do it?” Well, since when have you become old? Some say, “I am young. Will I be able to do it?” Everyone, who has lived in Love, is young; everyone, who has lived in Truth, is young. Everyone, who has lived in Love, is smart; everyone, who has lived in Truth, is smart – this is how it is. The moment you leave Love, you are old – you will feel an internal weakness, no meaning in Life; you will not have a purpose and you will become a pessimist; you will say to yourselves, “There is only death, but…” These are all initial notes. I want you to test them, and then to comprehend them. We will walk on a positive path without exception. You will say, “I cannot go without exception.” Yes, you can, and this is how it will be! This is a great Divine school, where there are absolutely no exceptions, not even one in a million do you understand? The only School, in which there are no exceptions in the world – none. Once you get in, all the Brothers believe in you – their life is like God’s life. When I say “like”, I mean to say that God’s life penetrates through all of them in its Fullness. Moreover, it is without rules or compulsions – everyone knows their roles and everyone adjusts according to them. They have absolutely no written rules, but they all know their roles so well, as if they have established the best organization and the best rules. And if you get in this Brotherhood of Light, you will never know who is who – the first or the last, a master or a servant. If you are among them, you may live together for years and say, “Who is your leader? Who is first among you?” Today, if you walk in a school anywhere in the world, you would know who the leader is. Thus, have in mind: do not think that in the School, where you learn the truths, there is a department and a teacher like me sitting on a table, surrounded by disciples, as you are surrounding me now. It is one thing here, but it is another thing there. You will say, “How so?” When you learn to sleep, you will know how. However, when these truths come to Earth according to the conditions of our current life, we have to look for the ways, methods, and formulas to express these truths, which are currently inaccessible to our minds. Well, they are inaccessible under the current conditions, but they will become accessible. You will have to study Light and its influence over your body system. You will also study the influence of colours and living centres. Let’s take sunlight: everyday at certain hours of the day, at noon, but mostly in the morning, certain waves periodically come from the Sun. They bring positive thoughts – intelligent thoughts from the Sun. There are negative events from the Sun too, which, however, do not bring negative thoughts. I brought to your attention the other day that if you fall asleep in the Sun, your body will definitely attract these negative waves, the so called black light, and you will feel indisposed when you get up. That is why the Esoteric disciple is never allowed to sleep in the daylight – no sleep during the day – you should sleep at night without Sun. You can warm yourselves in the Sun, but your mind will be present at all times, so that you can attract the positive waves of the sun energy. If you start to train your concentration as disciples, the spirits that play with you and make you fall asleep will visit you. You will concentrate without falling asleep. During the concentration, you will do the following: when something says “phoo” like a wave while you are sitting, you will resist it and will not allow yourselves to doze off. This “phoo” is a wave, a black wave that passes through the centre of the Earth, surrounds you and you fall asleep. Once you doze off (in the Sun), you learn nothing. You will not let these waves seize your brain. We will begin to study Light and the days of the year – which days and which hours we can use for work, the ways and methods for strengthening the activity of our brains, for enhancing our breathing energy, for fixing our digestion, etc. We have to start somewhere because you are now impoverished – every person, who is dissatisfied with life is impoverished. The first thing is the disciple has to be satisfied. These here are rules to apply to temperaments. You will practice them. Some of these rules you will practice here, but most of the work we will do in the other world – you will do the work while you sleep. The Scripture says[††], “God speaks during dreams one, two or three times.” He always speaks in dreams – He spoke to Joseph in his dream, to the prophets and people with revelations, and to John when he ascended[‡‡]. If you want to improve your situation, or to know how to fix your life, you need to have one such dream and you will immediately get the best advice on how to improve your life. Now, you can read some of the papers. (Two papers were read.) You will not have enough patience to listen to all of these papers. Some of you have become quite excited about following the School. You should know one thing: those of you, who do not show up three Thursdays, will not be allowed to attend the School in the future – this is for everyone, who is absent three times. Now you will say, “There could be exceptional cases.” Those, who are absent three consecutive times, are the ones who lose their right to attend. Do you now get the inner meaning? It means that if a disciple has forgotten three times that there is School, if that thought has escaped one three times, one is banned from attending. You will have in mind that in this School there is no room for exceptions or benevolence – without exception. This has not been imposed, but once each of you decides, you have to faithfully follow. There is one important law – what you have decided within yourselves, you have to be able to accomplish it. Not what we impose on you, but what you have decided to accomplish; accomplish it! You have to accomplish it; otherwise, all of the science in the world will be useless to you. A person, who promises without carrying it out, is like a leaky container – you can pour in as much as you like, but soon or later, it will all leak outside. We do not want any commitments from you, but once you decide to serve Love, you will be heroes and will say, “You might crucify me, but there is no turning back from this path.” Once you say so, once you are walking on this path, God is with you. The slightest hesitation and you are lost. Do not then be upset with anyone and do not say, “Why has God abandoned me?” In the Spiritual School, things are set the following way: it is not God, who has abandoned us, but it is us, who have abandoned God. And He says[§§], “Since you have abandoned me, I will not be occupied with you.” Of course, I do not consider your presence on Thursdays your only time in the Spiritual School. No, for your whole life is one Spiritual School. If you think that you are in the Spiritual School only on Thursdays, you are wrong. No, no – your whole life is one Spiritual School. Consequently, you will be in agreement with the Spiritual School that you serve – this way you will have results. From this point of view, you will resolve all other matters, regardless of what they are – individual, family, social, or national; you will resolve all matters by yourself, always from this point of view. Now, I will present for voting whether you want us to read through all the sheets. Will you have enough patience for all of the papers to be read? Since they have been written, we have to read them. Then, we will read them all next time. You will learn to have patience, so that you learn to have benevolence. There are valuable and smart things in here. And understandably so, when someone has invested their heart and mind, this is something beautiful. When we love someone, even if they say stupid things, we say, “This is so beautiful!” And when we do not love someone, even if they wrote smart things, we say, “I do not want to listen!” But these here are all smart papers. Now, for next time I want ten of you, who apply voluntarily, to write something on the topic “The Purpose of the Human Language.” So, ten people will write on this topic – five brothers and five sisters. They will start with this evident language – it is the topic. This language was born, and came from some kind of an idea. Let those of you, who will write, raise your hands. (Five brothers and five sisters respond) You will write succinct, one page. Do not be afraid – the moment you start writing you will get on an esoteric wave, for you will get inspiration. No one should be forcing themselves. Everyone should write as much as their inspiration gives them. If the inspiration lasts for ten lines, this is how long you will write. Have in mind that the Spirit in the Spiritual School speaks only the most relevant things. These Brothers do not like to talk too much. Let someone take the initiative to be a secretary or a record keeper – to keep these sheets of papers. Secret Prayer [*] “Vuzdurjanie” in Bulgarian [†] “Astralno tyalo” in Bulgarian – what is meant exactly in English: “Astral body” or “Ethereal body”? It is astral body. (ed) [‡] Please note: the quotes from the Bible are not exact, as they should be if coming from the English version of the Bible, but they are translations from Bulgarian [§] Same as the previous note [**] Please note: the quotes from the Bible are not exact, as they should be if coming from the English version of the Bible, but they are translations from Bulgarian [††] Please note: the quotes from the Bible are not exact, as they should be if coming from the English version of the Bible, but they are translations from Bulgarian [‡‡] The translator is uncertain if “ascended” corresponds to the specific situation with John [§§] Please note: uncertainty with the translation of God’s words

Old and New Life Year 1, Lecture 5 of the Youth Occult Class (Special Class) Given by the Master Beinsa Douno On March 29, 1922, Wednesday 19.00h, Sofia Secret Prayer Now you want to know what to pray for. This question is similar to asking about the typical characteristics of believers, listeners and disciples. Faith is a characteristic of believers, listening – of listeners and studying – of disciples. Therefore, disciples will pray for their studies. The disciples’ essays we read on the topic of 'Will' and 'The Colour White'. Next time please write on the topic: “The Distinctive Characteristics of Good and Evil.” You should note down the most essential characteristics of Good and Evil, as you understand them. How did you complete the exercise I gave you last week? Did you manage to get up on time, all of you? Everyone should have suggested to himself that he needs to get up on time. All the tasks and exercises given in the Spiritual school should be performed consciously and not mechanically. These tasks and exercises aim at raising the disciples’ level of consciousness; moreover, they should be completed with Love. A disciple will achieve nothing if he does not work in compliance with the Law of Love. He will only make ordinary experiences and achieve ordinary results, which can be achieved in ordinary schools. If Love is in your soul, you will be able to get up on time and you will feel a great joy within. If Love is not in your soul, you will hesitate whether to get up or not, you will think what the weather will be like, etc. Meanwhile, temptations will come and you will need much more time to overcome them. Temptations, doubts and hesitations are weeds in the Astral world. Therefore, when exercises and tasks are given in the Spiritual school, weeds are also awakened together with Life, and these weeds begin to grow and develop. In this sense, weeds are in fact very dangerous for the development of values and virtues in the disciple’s soul. I will use the following analogy to clarify this thought. Imagine that you have planted a little flower close to the roots of a big oak. What do you think, will the flower grow well? It will not. Why? Soon it will wither, because the oak will take all the nourishing juices from the soil together with the sunlight, leaving almost nothing for the little flower. Therefore, keep in mind the fact that the old man who lives inside you together with all your old convictions and views of science and Life represents a big tree inside you similar to the oak. And if you do not move away from the roots of this tree, you will not succeed in any task you take up. Why? The big tree will suck the juices out of your Life. Occultists called this tree “The Tree of Knowing Good and Evil.” Consequently, you should stay away from this Tree, so that you can grow freely and properly. This is what is meant by doing away with one’s karma. Karma is like a tree that has its own demands and wishes, so that it may grow and develop. The tree representing your past life must be uprooted and replaced by a new one. Whoever has tried to uproot this tree knows the meaning of the expression “taking the devil’s nail out of you”. If you try to do it, it will cause you great pain. When you see that it is painful, you will start cutting it. No, whether it is painful or not, you must get rid of this nail, you must take it out of you together with the roots. And it will be your salvation as a human being. If you begin pulling the nail out but then you leave it because of the severe pain, this will cause you even greater pain. Whoever wants to become a disciple should do away with the devil’s nail in one go. I am saying: If you cannot uproot the old tree in your life, at least move away from it. And then plant the New life, the new ideas and thoughts far away from the old ones. Thus, without wanting it, you will have a double standard of living. In this situation you will notice that in the days when you are in high spirits and have noble feelings you are ready to manifest the Great and the Beautiful in you and to tell the Truth; and the other way round - in the days of indisposition you may not even understand how you have said and done unwanted things. And when you remain alone, you are discontent with yourself and wonder how you have succumbed to the temptations. It may happen to both young and old people – it happens to all humans due to the old life in them. When people hear about Truth, they say: “Truth is inapplicable to Life.” This indicates that the Divine life requires advanced souls. Contemporary people cannot serve the Truth of God, because they lag behind in their development. The Lodge of darkness contributed much to this by creating a number of religious systems that delayed the development of human souls but in my view, it is easier to live for Truth than for the world; it is easier to serve God than to serve the world. Many people think that it is easier to live for the world than for God. Why do they think so? Because the world demands its right by force and imposes it by violence, while Divine Truth demands its right by Love and in a voluntary way. As you can see, violence has a much stronger power over humans. They do both good and evil by means of violence. However the method of violence is temporary; its results are fruitless, yet it has brought enormous suffering and misfortune to human beings. As you have not learned to work out of Love, out of free will, you will see that many disciples will leave the Spiritual school in a few years with the excuse that Spiritual science is not for them. A Hindu master went to France to establish a spiritual school. In the beginning five hundred people, who were noble French people, joined the school. But when they heard the rules of the school, they left one by one. Only five disciples remained by the end of the year, one for each one hundred. Why did so many disciples leave the Hindu school? – Because it demanded from them persistence, effort and hard work. Nowadays many people are attracted by the systems of the East and by Hindu teachings. But you should know that many of the Hindu rules and methods do not comply with Living Nature. For example, if Hindu breathing techniques were applied in the West, they would bring negative results. Why? – Because these systems were created during the descent of humanity into the material world, i.e. they are in compliance with the law of involution. And because the Fifth human race began its development according to the law of evolution, i.e. on the Path of ascent, these systems need some transformation in order to be of use today. To clarify this I will give you an example from Hindu philosophy. The Hindus say: “You cannot do without a Master”, i.e. you cannot develop spiritually without a Master. In our view, the Master is a being who thinks. Therefore, we present the same idea in the following way: you cannot do or you cannot develop without bright thoughts. So, if someone wants to study, he or she definitely needs to have bright thoughts in order to be able to аcquire knowledge аnd then the Truth will be the same for both the Master and the disciples. In that sense a talented disciple needs a good Master in the same way that a good Master needs a talented disciple. This law should be applied everywhere in Life. The disciple needs a number of protection rules before joining a spiritual school. For example, on entering the school many disciples begin to complain that they are still young and lack their natural way of living, so one day they leave. This shows a lack of understanding. The Spiritual school aims exactly at teaching young people how to live. Therefore, the Spiritual science has the task of both correcting old people's way of life and teaching young people how to live. It is a law: the old should be rectified, the young should be taught. If the old religious beliefs and the old views of Life emerge in young people, they will hamper them. For this reason young people should be taught how to live properly before they come to such a situation. Many contradictions will appear in both old and young people, but they could easily overcome such contradictions if they knew their origin. The New life and Truth coming to the world will remove all these ailments and contradictions. That is why, when these contradictions emerge in you, you should not be tempted, thinking that the new life and its new ideas are not for you. If you say so, you will pass judgement on yourself. According to the laws of the Spiritual school, the disciple creates one’s fortune or misfortune alone. I will give you a brief explanation of the relative truths in Life. Take the Sun as a point in space. We will direct a lever to it in order to show that the planets of the Solar system are located in a straight line. Imagine that this lever can go around, what will you notice during its rotation? The planets that are more remote from the Sun will go faster; if the lever turns faster, the planets which are closer to the Sun will go slower. According to this law, the faster the motion of a body, the bigger its distance from the centre, and the other way round – the slower the motion of a body, the closer it is located to the centre. But it is just the opposite in our Solar system at present. According to the evolutionary law, all bodies that are close to the centre move faster and those bodies that are remote from the centre, move slower. If you apply this law to religious and worldly people, you will see that it is true. You will notice that worldly people, who do not think of God and do not pray, are more lively, energetic and diligent than religious people. They begin their work right after they get up in the morning. While religious people on getting up in the morning start praying, reflecting, meditating and walking, but they do not start working. Worldly people think that religious people are lazy and unwilling to work. When someone becomes spiritual, actually this person does not want to work or works little. Why? – Because he used to work a lot when he was a worldly man. And today he says: “I have worked enough by now, so this time I can take respite from the toil.” That is why religious people talk about relaxation all the time . I say, humans will come to the state of relaxation one day, but they should not be in haste. Many occultists make a similar mistake when they want to ignore science. They prefer to reject official science completely and to use only their spiritual knowledge. But by rejecting this and that they see that nothing remains in the end. If they think that they have come to the centre of their knowledge, they deceive themselves. Each centre represents a planet on another lever, which is connected to many other systems where movement happens according to completely different laws. One thing is required of the disciples: to be aware of each of their actions in order to put them in the right place. I would like you to be like artists in this respect. There are masters of painting who can make use of any line or trace on the canvas, no matter how crooked it is – they use it as part of some complex figure or take it as a model for an object. You may also try to give some meaning to your thoughts, feelings and actions, using them in the same way that a master uses every dot and line in his work. Therefore, instead of fighting your past, it is better for you to use the experience it has brought to you as a foundation for your future. The second experiment that you will do as part of your given task will be tonight (on Wednesday) and tomorrow evening (on Thursday). Do not go to bed before 12 o’clock at night in order to do the exercise. Set your clocks to show the correct time in order to observe the determined hour. You will start the exercise at 11.30 p.m. and it will last half an hour until 12.00 p.m. The time for the exercise will certainly not correspond exactly to physical time. There will be a slight difference. Try to guess if the time is around 12.00 p.m. or not by following your inner sense. If the time is exactly 12.00, you will feel a small inner joy. If the time does not coincide with your guess, you will feel an inner discomfort. When you start the exercise, first you have to pronounce silently the names of your classmates. Then you should send to each of them in order the following two formulas: “Without Fear and without Darkness!” and “Without Fear in Boundless Love!” In the first experiment you sent good thoughts to each one of your classmates but with some exceptions – several disciples were not precise. When you pray, if you feel inner joy, this means that you have turned to God. Man's turning towards God is similar to the way flowers turn to the Sun. It is enough just to think of God and He will radiate a ray to you which will penetrate into your soul. The rays which emanate from God are essential for the development of human souls in the same way that solar rays are essential for the development of flowers. Disciples of Spiritual schools receive a very different kind of knowledge and understanding of God compared to that acquired by ordinary people. Humans always need to give God some shape or form. But I am asking you, what form can you give to Light? Light itself creates forms. How does it create forms? When Light encounters some obstacle, it creates a certain form. Therefore, if you want Light to create some form, place an obstacle in its path. If you make the media of your thoughts thinner or denser, these thoughts will be immediately refracted. It is important for disciples to understand their relationship to all of Life, their participation in the Great Divine life, their destination and their tasks as humans and as beings who have come to Earth to live. When a disciple becomes aware of all this, he or she will be able to fulfill his or her own destiny. The conditions and possibilities available in your present life give you only one path of proper development. Future conditions, life in the future will bring human beings more ways to develop properly. Divine Love is the only proper way in which human beings can develop. It gives them the possibility to grasp the highest and the noblest in Life and to love one another in its name. People today love one another in an external way, but that is not love. Loving people means loving what is noble and Divine in them. Until you find that Divine element inside you and start loving it, you cannot love other people either. All suffering and all contradictions in the world are due to the fact that you seek Truth and Love outside of yourselves. First you will discover them inside you, afterwards in others, and finally you will find them in the external environment as well. When two beings become aware that they have a common Divine source within themselves, they already know each other, they have two, three, four or more points of contact, and they form planet systems. That is why, if you look for the Divine inside you and inside others, you will not need to dwell on the trivialities of ordinary life. I will draw a picture now that illustrates your inner state. Imagine a magnificent feast in a big, rich palace where many guests are eating, drinking, singing and rejoicing. The main entrance of the palace is closed because all the guests who have been invited to the party have arrived. However the palace also has a back door which is only used for the closest friends of the host. The host has promised to one of his friends to converse with him. What should he do in this case? He should leave the guests in the palace to have a jolly time and go out from the back door in order to talk with his friend, undisturbed by anyone. This means the following: when the beings in you are feasting, drinking and enjoying themselves, do not pay attention to them, but rather leave them alone and go out from the back door where no one will see you, so that you may converse with your good Friend. The feast and the entertainment of your guests should not bother you. You should not worry that they may learn about your conversation with your Friend. They will not even notice that you are not with them. If you want to go out unnoticed, offer them more food and more drinks and they will forget themselves. If you wish to get rich, this means that you want to send all your guests away, you want to be alone, so that you may freely go in and out from the back door to converse with your Friend in secret. Some disciples delude themselves in their wish to get rich at once. That is why they say to their guests: “Today I have an appointment with a friend, come next time.” When they say this, the obstructions follow one after the other. Leave your guests to feast and drink, do not turn them back. So what if they feast and drink? In this way they will keep busy and will not disturb you. Otherwise, requiring this and that of you all the time, they will not leave you in peace. These guests represent the world in the human being. Irrespective of how connected you are with the world and what may happen to it, this should not concern you in the least. The world should not hinder you. You have a back door and you can always go out from there. The main entrance is usually closed, but the back door is always open. You may go in and out from this exit whenever you wish to. I am asking you the following question: “What is your purpose in life?” This will be a topic for reflection until our next lecture. Since you are young people, I would also like you to get rid of your pessimism. Absolutely no pessimism shall remain in you! Be lively, bold, determined and have a serious attitude to Life! When dark, obscure thoughts and wishes attack you, say to yourself: “This state is not mine. It is due to the guests in me who are discontented, because they have nothing to eat and drink.” You will always be discontented if you live with old ideas and views, if you maintain the ideas of your grandparents. Each time an old man asks for something and does not receive it, he gets offended. He says: “What is this, I am an old person, I want something, yet my wish is not fulfilled!” In this respect young people do not need external help. They are able to plough, dig and carry water – they can do everything alone. Since they can do everything for themselves do they need to worry and be troubled by trifles? However old people who cannot do anything alone are usually cross with those who do not help them at a given moment. Therefore, if you want to avoid the state of being cross and offended, think that you can do everything alone. When I say that you can do things alone, I have in mind the Law of Love. Everything is possible in Love. Those who live in the Law of Love can do everything and will always be young. When they lose Love by leaving Its law, they get old and need external help. Make an attempt to apply this law, in order to see that it is true without exception. Have a reflection on the arrangement of the world in the Great Law of Love. Once upon a time, the prophet Elias slaughtered four hundred prophets, believing that he could liberate Israel, but he did not succeed. He was not frightened by his deed but by a woman and so he escaped. Then he had to go to the desert to complete a forty-day fast and after that he was shown the way in which the world had been organized. He spent some time in the mountain among the rocks where a big storm began and then a fire emerged, but God was neither in the storm, nor in the fire. Finally he heard a quiet voice, i.e. the voice of Love, the voice of God. Just then the prophet understood that human beings could be perfected only by the quiet voice. The storm represents the method used by contemporary people. The storm represents the modern life of people. The fire represents the suffering experienced by human beings. However the world cannot be arranged properly by means of storm or fire. The storm can destroy rocks and uproot trees, but in no way can it organize the world. When Elias heard the quiet voice, he closed his eyes and understood the deep meaning of this voice. Now I am also directing your attention as disciples to the quiet voice – to see what it can do. Until today you wished to be strong like the storm and the wind, so that you may show others who you are and what you can do, but we want to teach you how to speak quietly and to see what you can do in a quiet way. You should keep in mind the following: do not tell others anything until you have studied and tested it well for yourself! Do not offer anyone from the fruits of your tree until they have ripened. Until then you do not know anything for certain either. After the disciple has sowed the seed and the fruit has ripened, he should bring the fruit first to his Master and only then - wherever else he wants to. The disciples should bring their first fruits to the Master. They could bring the rest to any other place and in whatever quantity they want to. However if you hasten to bring others unripe fruits, tasted and examined by no one, you will be confronted with a number of contradictions. So, do not hurry to tell others about things you haven't experienced or tested for yourself! They will probably listen to you without making a comment, but they will secretly judge you anyway. They will say: “How strange! What kind of meaningless things people occupy themselves with!” Thus they will introduce a conflicting thought into your consciousness. You have been experiencing such situations for thousands of years, since you have started living on Earth. Is it reasonable to experience them again? The aim of this School is to give you methods and rules of transforming your old life into a new one – something that alchemists teach as well. They also taught people how to become young. For this purpose they made a series of experiments with them, applying many different methods. For example, they would close an old person hermetically and subject him to different chemical reactions. As a result of these reactions that old person would become young and regain power and energy for work. You will also be closed hermetically in order to become young but it will happen in the future, not in the present. Go home now without fear and without darkness! What thought will you send to yourselves tonight? Make a wish deep in your heart that true knowledge would penetrate into your mind and consciousness. Perform these exercises in the best way possible because your power lies in the exercises you complete. Without exercises, all your efforts will be fruitless. Someone may ask why he should do the exercise at 12.00 o’clock at night and not at 1.00 a.m. You should not concern yourselves with this. You should get up at the stipulated time, reflect for half an hour and write down precisely the thought you have sent to your classmates. For this purpose you should have a notebook or a pocket book handy to note the progress and the results of the exercises. Suppose that one of you is sent somewhere in Bulgaria to start an occult class. What will he do? If he does not know a lot, he will search for some methods and rules in books. He will open for example the book “Light on the Path” and start reading: “Eliminate all your wishes!” I am asking you, what will remain of you if you eliminate all your wishes? It is the wrong translation of an occult truth; occult truths cannot be translated literally. The elimination of your wishes is not a physical act of murder but actually means you turning to God. If a thought, a feeling or a wish of yours goes down to the Earth, make it go the other way – upwards. When someone wants to get his money back from a person who owes him money, if that person does not want to pay, he goes to him and starts threatening him with court or with death. This is violence! What would he win if he sued his debtor or killed him? As he is walking and thinking his thought suddenly takes a different direction and he says: “I am not going to sue or kill this person but talk to him in a friendly way.” As soon as he sends his thought upwards, he achieves his aim and get his money back. In the same book “Light on the Path” we read the following: “Only the person whose tears have ceased to flow from his eyes will find the Truth.” I am asking, what will happen to the Earth if all springs dry up? Therefore this thought hasn't been translated properly either. That is why when you study spiritual science you should look for the hidden inner meaning of each truth. Others say: “You can only find the Truth if your tears cease to flow from your eyes and your feet get washed in blood.” People who read these sentences think that they have understood a lot but these symbols need a deep inner translation. Only such deep inner understanding can bring benefit to a person. That is why this book should be translated thoroughly; all the rules in it should be carefully filtered and carded. This book is like uncleaned wool that should be carded and picked thread by thread, so that you may separate what is clean from what is unclean, shake the dust off and then offer pure and high quality food to your mind. It contains expressions and formulas from both the Astral and the Mental worlds, but when these are brought down and put in the language of the physical world, they create a confusing mixture - something like onion stew from the point of view of modern culinary art. People often receive information about different diets and foods in an intuitive way. For example, some mediums recommend that you should drink wheat juice but they themselves do not know what is hidden in wheat and whom to recommend it to. Only people with a disposition that resonates with the energy of wheat should drink that juice. Take anything – oats, leeks or anything else – it is good to be attuned to the energies of the respective food. That is the inner meaning of nourishment in general terms. You should know this and apply it in your life. Without knowledge you will always come to a number of disappointments and wrong interpretations. For example disciples often encounter the following delusion: people claim that spiritual science is not appropriate for young people. This is not true. In my view exactly the opposite is true. Why? Young people have stronger personalities than the old. In this respect poor, ordinary people are stronger than rich, learned and religious people. These people are poor and ordinary just in their appearance, but inwardly they are like rich fields of well-ploughed and processed land. That is why in this age beings from the Higher realms incarnate mainly in poor, ordinary persons. This is not an absolute rule, but it is observed in most cases because in such way the Invisible world intends to elevate weak, poor and ordinary people in the world. Therefore, High beings incarnate mostly in poor and ordinary people, while lower beings incarnate mostly in rich and learned people. Consequently, the stronger spirits dwell in young people today and they are the ones that should study spirituality. That is why they stay away from churches. They are brave, determined and break away easily from the old forms. Old people are discontented with the young, they scold them and stand in their way. However young people should be really very careful, because the Lodge of darkness has prepared many traps for them. Its aim is to catch them and keep them in slavery which is hard to escape. Many old people show that they do not understand Life properly when they say to the young: “We were young like you before, but we got old. You will also get old one day and you will also put up with the conditions of Life.” Which life do they have in mind? - A life that is full of mud, alcoholism, robberies and murders. When you encounter it, say to yourselves: “We know this way of living, we have experienced it before, it is not new for us. Now we want to study the New life, which we do not know.” Those who think in this way are young; those who don't are old. Young and old age are determined not by the number of years, but by a person's way of thinking. I say, the most important thing for you is to help one another. The New teaching expresses itself in mutual aid. When someone is indisposed, you should support him with your good thoughts and wishes. How do modern people behave in such cases? When they see a young person who is discouraged and disheartened, they try to convince him to go and get some entertainment in order to feel better. This is a delusion. You should know that the world is not just a place for entertainment. Life does not have only one expression. Each soul carries its own happiness lodged inside it. If you live according to the Great Law of Love, when you enter the world that is not prepared for this law, you will provoke conditions for the manifestation of egoism, i.e. of the human ego in the strong individuals around you. But in other conditions, among advanced souls, Love will create a beautiful world, a world of elevated and pure relationships. Nowadays, contemporary people have little inner light in them, so they are forced to protect and lock themselves, considering that their position in the world is dangerous. Indeed all human beings today are locked up inside. Many spiritual disciples think that they are weaker than others. It is not true. Power is not an external feature. You should be brave and determined. And always keep in mind this sentence: “The soul is all powerful, but the flesh, the animal nature in humans is weak.” The Divine in the human being is always strong, but its animal nature is exposed to temptations, weaknesses and failures. Christ said: “Work and pray not to fall into temptation!” You say: “We are young now, how will our life continue?” If you follow the Divine path, your life will evolve in a beautiful way. If you deviate from this path, you’d better go to the graveyards, hospitals, coffee bars, war fields and among the bankrupt traders to see what would happen to you. However, as long as you follow the Path of the Brotherhood of Light, you will be protected from any evil. If sometimes the White Brothers do not assist you, it is because you cannot always use rationally what they give to you. Here is an example of this. Suppose that you have a friend who is a drunkard. From time to time you get some money from the Brothers. But when you receive it, you bring it to your friend. How will he spend it? He will go to an inn to have a drink. In this case, both you and your friend will not win anything. What will the benefit of your help be then? That is why the Brothers of Light will cut your budget and you will suffer. Why will you suffer? Your friend should not drink. The person who wants something from you in order to satisfy some of his vices is not your friend. Only the one who is ready to make a sacrifice for your elevation is your friend. The New teaching demands sacrifice not through extortion or violence, but in a voluntary way. Only sacrifice out of Love and Good will is appreciated in the Brotherhood of Light. You ask: “When are our Brothers ready to help us and to make a sacrifice for us?” When someone has a strong aspiration in his soul to become a disciple of the Great School, then the Brothers of Light are ready to make a sacrifice for him, to help and to guide him. If you ask your helper: “Are you ready to sacrifice yourself for me?” – He will immediately drop a curtain before you and stop his aid. Therefore, everything depends on your attitude – the attitude of the Brothers of Light to you is the same as your attitude is to them. Knowing this, you should lay your relationships with them on good ground if you want to receive their aid and guidance. Whatever you build each day will be examined stone by stone and if it is solid and clean, it will be used as a building material for the Divine edifice, which you are also called into as collaborators. Secret Prayer Source

The First Obligation of the Disciples (4th Lecture of the General occult class, March 15, 1922, Sofia) Before we proceed to read that which you have written, I wish to make a few short remarks. The knowledge which you can receive in a school of the occult will affect not only your present but also your future lives, for thousands of years to come. Every school of the occult or Great divine school of the occult is accompanied with great difficulties. It is not easy to become a disciple of such a school. You may go along in such a school as ascatechunen. A disciple is only he who can deal with the problems of this school as a mathematician who fully understanding the rules of mathematics uses then to solves his problems, or, as a musician knowing the technique and the theory of music; is able to cope correctly with the exercises of his instrument. The disciple must be aware always about his position in the school. He should not keep any illusions. The first rule of the school of the occult is: the disciple must have great humility, not submissiveness, but meekness, realizing the great idea that the eternal, the boundless cannot be contained in that which is limited. He should not be tempted to think that in such a small head, in such a snail brain he can collect all the secret knowledge. Tor the present this is impossible. Comparison has been made that the human brain has a great capacity to collect much knowledge. This comparison is the following: if we collect all the present knowledge it may be contained in 90 volumes as large as the bible and print it in the human brain, there will remain still space for 900 more of such volumes. Thus, calculate 90x900 and you will have the proportion 1:10. This indicates that man has not achieved half of the knowledge for which his brain has the capacity. The disciple of the school of the occult must realize where his place is. He must know that the disciples of the lowest grades are different than those of the highest in the knowledge, i.e. that their knowledge and power are nothing compared with that of the advanced disciples. In one respect man may know much and in another may be ignored. This should discourage you but he who wants to learn must be aware of it. I will repeat again the idea, that people become old only when they think that they know much. He who wants to become old this is the easiest thing. On the day (when) you come to think that you have finished learning everything you have aged. In order to rejuvenate you must think that you know very little and like a child you will become receptive. Such an aging I call premature. For this reason I wish that all in this school are young. In order to be young you must think that only now you begin to study the great divine teaching. The teaching which the world gives is an introduction to the divine teaching. Then you finish all schools of the world: elementary school, junior high, high school, after that college, and even after that you get your master’s degree and become the most educated man, this is only an introduction to the divine knowledge, which you must start learning. Therefore, if you have acquired this introduction you can become a good student of the divine school. For this reason I recommend you to gain of the worldly knowledge as much as possible. Some people say that they do not need worldly knowledge. If you lack this knowledge you cannot achieve the divine knowledge. If the worldly knowledge is difficult for you, the divine knowledge is thousand times more difficult. The fee for one of the modern colleges is $4,000/yn. yet to study in one of the divine schools you may not be able to enroll even if you would pay $8,000 or $10,000 or $20,000 or $100,000 or one million or even 100 million dollars. Do you understand that? If the question is about money this cannot be achieved with paying any amount. In a divine school you will pawn your heart, your mind and your will. Then you will pay for you heart and your mind in order to show what a hero you are. You will keep your will but your heart and your mind you will pawn. This is the reason why in Scripture it is said: "My son, give me your heart." You ought to pawn your heart Naturally this is not pawning as it is understood in worldly life, any school of the occult you must approach with respect and reverence. It is an inner process. You cannot be undisciplined there. If one enters there he must do this with all the nobility of his heart and mind. One must be aware that this is the greatest and most noble work. Upon the knowledge, that is the building materials which he will gain, will rest his happiness, because upon this knowledge, he will build his future life, his future home. One may ask, "Is this not possible without this knowledge." No, it is not. You may enter it with awareness or not, yet all will pass through this divine school and will finish it. Some are aware that they have entered the school and others have entered without being aware of it, without knowing. The religious people say "We do not need much knowledge, we can go by without this school." This indicates that they will go through this school without awareness. Those who have fear will be lead over a bridge by night so that they may not be afraid. Those without fear will pass the bridge by day. The fearful need to have their eyes covered. If someone asks "Is this not possible without this school?" I say it is possible with covered ayes, and also without this cover. One of the rules says we do not require much. True, very little is required. Each disciple is expected to give one hour of his time each day. Seven days, one hour a day, is seven hours work, and this time which you would otherwise waste is the time which you will dedicate for study. This hour you will dedicate consciously for love’s sake. Again I wish to repeat that if you work without love you cannot profit. The rule in the divine school says that the knowledge must be acquired according to the laws of love. If you acquire knowledge without love it will not bring you any profit. Apostle Paul in his Epistle to the Corinthians says: "Whatever I do if it is without love I gain nothing." If we do it with love we gain. In this school of the occult you will become acquainted with all the religious systems, situations, laws, why did the religions appear, by what conditions, etc. This tray there will be no misunderstanding: if we are on the right or on the wrong side. From the occult point of view we think about right and wrong differently. According to the understanding of the occult school contemporary law is lawlessness. Someone may say: Isn't there law? Law! Your law from the viewpoint of the occult is lawlessness, Therefore, in order to have a correct understanding of the great divine evolution of things, we must have that true knowledge, true understanding and only then we will be able to examine the questions philosophically. We are not afraid of questions. Some questions we can solve very easy, others will have to remain without answers. Why? Because in every school of the occult each question must be treated at its proper time and not when the time is not right. There are questions which have not been asked at the proper time. There has been asked: "Is there a God or isn’t there?" This, too, is a question not asked at the proper time, because for me, since I live at the same time in this and in the other worlds, and commute with all these angels, if I am asked: "Are there any angels?" I keep quiet. Someone will try to convince me that this is nonsense, I keep quiet again, because I can see what is the nonsense. Then someone may ask if I can see all this. As much as he has the right of doubting I too have the right to be doubtful about his understanding (concepts, comprehension). Two equal quantities with opposite directions do invalidate each other (mathematics). In a different question is if someone asks how one should live, how life may be improved; such questions the school of the occult can answer. How to renew our life, how to improve our mind, how to purify our hearts, how to develop our spiritual powers, all this can be answered, and the proper methods be given. Those who enter the school of the occult must realize that they are disciples and the disciple must be without prejudice. He must be pure like a clean garment. Only the old people who have lived long on earth say: A man must not be naive. From the viewpoint of the occult we prefer to be naive in certain respects. And thus everyone of you must part with his prejudices. And of that which has been taught does not give the proper results, he may make his own conclusion. Only small, microscopic experiments will be made, we don’t need to do great things. I will tell you to plant one grain of wheat and then I will ask you if it has come out. Yes, it has. Then, how much did it yield, has it ripened? Is this seed real? Because what happens with one seed happens also with 10 million such seeds. Yet we will not expect immediate results. Someone, when he enters the school of the occult may think that he will draw aside the curtain, and at once everything will improve. He who thinks that the curtain will be opened at once, I would want to warn him not to waste his time. This must be understood. I don’t want anyone to become disillusioned. If you expect great things I may advise you where to go. There you can achieve the great things. First, we will proceed to study basically modern man such as he is to learn about his present state with the powers which develop in his organism which reveal themselves in his mind, work in his heart and become realized in his will. After we have studied man in this way we will proceed in a different field, which is wider and more pleasant. The study of man is in one respect pleasant and in another unpleasant. When we study the positive properties of man it is pleasant, yet when we study the negative ones it is very unpleasant. It is difficult to come to know man. You will find yourself in a school of the occult where all positive and negative sides of your character will be disclosed to you as in a mirror, to see your own thoughts. At such an examination your temperature will fall to 35 centigrades below zero, you will freeze completely; you will lose all the desire to live. For this reason in old times many disciples have lost their minds. Yet we will not do this. In a school where much is given one may come out either with a great mind or he will lose his mind, it is like gambling. The method which we will apply here is one of the least dangerous. Yet when I say it is not dangerous don't think that you may pass easily. Here, too, you will pawn your heart and your mind. There are all kinds of cupboards and keys, and every day when you say "I want back my heart," you will be able to pen them yourselves, when you would want and take your mind and your heart; the other way, where one has made great achievements, it would be indifferent. Then, when you complete the school, the Great Master will come and He Himself will open. And, if you ask me about all these modern men who are mentally sick why they are in such a state, I would answer: they are pupils of such schools which they have not completed. At the beginning you will, implant in your mind the idea that you must complete the school, in whatever way. Religions say: "We must fulfill the will of God." We say: "The earth is a school and we must finish this school in anyway." Silent Prayer. Source

Qualities and Manifestations of the Will Year 1, Lecture 4 of the Youth Occult Class (Special Class) Given by the Master Beinsa Douno On March 15, 1922, Wednesday 19.00h, Sofia Silent Prayer Essays were read on the topic: "The Place of the Will". For next time, write a summary of this topic. On my part I will speak scientifically about what the will represents from a phrenological point of view. In your essays you dealt with the question about the will from a psychological point of view. For next time, I would like three people among you to write something about the origin of the color white. Examine this question from a naturalistic point of view, as it appears in nature. I will suggest to you an idea of what the color white represents. Imagine that on a white canvas you make a hole. What do you see from a distance? From a distance, the hole looks like a black spot. This means that everything which is not illuminated appears black, dark. And vice versa - if on a black canvas one made a hole and illuminated it, it would look like a white, bright spot. What can a white surface be compared to? Тhе оld scholastics compared the human brain to white paper that you can write on. Now we will examine the qualities and manifestations of the will. The will manifests itself in three worlds: the mental world, the world of the heart (i.e. the world of feelings and desires, or the astral world) and the physical world. The term 'will' implies a process of limitation. Imagine that you are a wealthy, prodigal man and you spend a lot - 50,000 or 60,000 or 100,000 leva. You run out of money so you turn to friends here and there asking for money, but they all refuse to lend you any, so finally you decide to reduce your expenses. You will turn inward and try to find the source and the means inside yourself - you will start having less food and drink, dressing more modestly, etc. You can achieve this only by applying your will. Therefore with the help of your will you can get smaller and larger, i.e., contract and expand. The first process that the will starts with is restriction. Without restriction, the will cannot manifest. Above all, the will represents strictly defined movement in consciousness, i.e. inclination in consciousness. Therefore, as long as things are not restricted, no inclining or movement could happen. As soon as things are restricted in a narrow space, movement itself will follow. Yet from a purely phrenological point of view, not all people have an equally well-developed will. Therefore, one needs to be familiar with the qualities of the will in order to know which will is strong and which one is weak. Besides, one has to know which will is cultivated, i.e. educated, elaborate, and which one is simple, i.e. natural. Now, as students of an occult school, you have to be acquainted with the indications of the will. As with everything else, the will also has its indications in the body. For example, can you expect any philosophical thinking from a man whose forehead is only two centimeters wide? A man's forehead needs to be at least four centimeters wide in order for him to be able to think. Knowing this, many of your illusions in life will disappear. If you live with illusions, with misconceptions, and yet occupy yourselves with the occult sciences, you will run into a lot of jeopardy. Why? If someone thinks of himself as a man of genius, the occult will make him understand that he is not and he will become discouraged. The disciple has to know that genius is in him in the state of an embryo, like the germ inside the seed, and that time has to pass until it germinates, develops, and manifests itself. Consequently, there are men of genius who are in the process of growing, and there are also those who are already fully grown. And so, if you say about a man that he demonstrates genius, this means that he has completed his growth and is manifesting already. In simple, uneducated people, genius is in an embryo state. A long time needs to pass before the genius in them manifests. In general, every one hundred years, a man of genius is born in the world. Every one thousand years a saint is born. Every two thousand years a great master is born. Every year a talented man is born. Every day a common man is born. Every hour a foolish man is born. Therefore, he who hurries, who wishes to attain things with the speed of the hours, falls in the category of the foolish people. He who counts the hours when he studies about God, is foolish. He who counts the days, falls in the category of the common people. Therefore common people are born under common conditions. In general, people need to work in order to develop their will. For this purpose they have to have certain methods, certain rules. According to human understanding, only he who has a strong will is physically strong and can cope with the difficulties of life. When you meet such a person, he immediately draws his sword. Thus he tries to show that he is a man with a strong will who copes easily with life's difficulties. When the writer takes the pen in his hand, he manifest his will. This indicates that he can work. Unlocking his cash register, the shopkeeper displays his will. Money represents a stimulus in people's lives. Reaching for bread in his sack, the poor man also displays his will. When opening the book and starting to read, the learned man manifests his will. Upon entering the laboratory, the chemist manifests his will. Therefore there are many different incentives in life that make will manifest itself. That is why when looking at his head, one should be filled with faith, not discouragement, knowing that he has something he can rely on. One should feel brave and resolute like the soldier who, upon touching his sword, relies on its sturdiness, knowing that he can work with it. First of all, you ought to have faith in yourselves, in your mind, knowing that you can work with it. Secondly, you have to have faith in your heart as an emblem of your feelings, believing that it can withstand all difficulties and suffering. Finally, you have to have faith in your stomach, knowing that it can process the food which it has been given, and send the necessary nutrients to the whole organism. You have to have faith also in your hands and your feet, knowing that you will be able to work with them and go wherever you desire. The head, heart, stomach, hands and feet represent a talisman in a person's life that he can rely on. The head can solve all problems. For this reason, one has to protect one's brain so that it does not become demagnetized. In times of great disturbances, the brain can lose its power. The reasons for such a shock to the brain can be of emotional, intellectual, or physical nature. We have such an example with a certain Russian violinist who, upon hearing a famous violinist play, instead of becoming inspired, became discouraged. This means that high mountain peaks need to stand at a distance away from big cities and not cast shadows on them. In other words big authorities, great men should keep away from common people in order not to cast their shadow upon them, not to impede their progress. A person can rely on a man with authority to become inspired; the latter should awaken the former's mind without limiting him at the same time. If in the presence of a learned man you cannot think freely, this learned man cannot be an authority for you. Only God can be the true authority for people. In spite of that, He has hidden Himself so that He cannot be found - from time immemorial people keep searching for Him and still cannot find Him. If you were asked now where in the body the will was located, what would you answer? Just like you know that the brain is in the head and is the place of thought, the lungs and the heart - the place of feelings, in the same way you should know where in the body the will is located. The more a person feels, the more he expands. It has been noticed that when a person is sad, he sighs deeply. Therefore a person's sensitivity is hidden in the lungs. That is why in order for sorrow to be balanced out, one has to breathe deeply. Reactions and obstacles happen in the stomach. A person's will is expressed in his hands, feet, tongue, eyes, ears. Generally, the senses are places of the will. The will acts and manifests through them. In a painter the will expresses itself through the brush. In a public speaker the will expresses itself first through thought and then through the tongue. Therefore the will can enter any part of a human and guide him from there. In that sense the will is the external, i.e. manifested, objective aspect of Creation. And so every external body part is related to services or functions which are executed internally. For example the forehead is the expression of thought, the nose - of the feelings, the chin - of the will. The same distribution of functions is marked also on the fingers of the human hand: the first phalange of the thumb is the expression of the will, the second one - of the human mind, and the third one - of the feelings. It has been noticed that when the will starts to weaken, one folds his hand in a fist, i.e. he hides his thumb with the other fingers. When someone starts to lose weight, he clenches his fist, i.e. hides the thumb between the other fingers. When one goes insane, he holds the fingers of his hand open. A person who keeps his thumb always on top, over his fist, is someone with a strong will. The human fist is like a hammer that you can work with. That is why you should consciously avoid hiding your thumb between you other fingers. Once you start hiding your thumb, you become demagnetized. Therefore, keep your thumb always over the fist, over the other fingers. Only then do the centers in the head connected to the thumb awaken. The thumb is the most important finger in the human hand. It stands out everywhere. Without the thumb, the other fingers have no meaning either. In the presence of the thumb all other fingers gain meaning. You need to work on the shape of your thumb. When the shape of the thumb is beautiful, you will be able to influence your will in a positive way. When you study the pathological actions of the human will, you will notice that the first phalange of the thumb in criminals is small and rounded. Such people may not be criminals today, but carry the traces of their crimes from previous lives. When one's will develops properly, the first phalange of the thumb grows; when the mind develops well, the second phalange grows. In this respect, a person's thumb is a barometer by which one can judge the development of his will. You would ask: Is it possible for a person's thumb to grow in the space of a single lifetime? Of course it is possible. If in the space of a lifetime someone's thumb grows by half a millimeter, that person has made great progress. If you work consciously, within a few years only you can notice that your nose or your thumb has become prolonged. If the first phalange of the thumb is very long, such a person is self-willed. The second phalange should normally be longer than the first one. This indicates that the mind has dominance over the will. Also the third phalange, the area of feelings, needs to be broad. The will represents the physical aspect of a human being. If the will predominates, such a person is considered stubborn, self-willed. Once he decides upon something, right or wrong, he does not give up, by all means he will do it. Pride is a prevailing characteristic of such a person. He thinks that he cannot make mistakes. Whatever he says is right. It is usually the intelligent and educated people who are flexible, while the ordinary, uneducated ones are self-willed. One can try and train one's will in small things. For example, say to yourself that you want to get up exactly at four o'clock in the morning and see if you will succeed. If you say that you will get up at four in the morning, temptation will come immediately and you will say to yourself: "Who gets up so early in such cold weather? It is very cold outside and I may catch a cold." No, once you say that you will get up at four o'clock in the morning, you will get up, get dressed quickly and walk around the room. If you do that there will be no danger of catching a cold. Many students of the occult do not succeed because they cannot concentrate. While a disciple is concentrating, his thought must pass unobstructed from one state to another. A person who cannot concentrate falls asleep and his consciousness descends into a lower field. In this descent the pictures which one could see get interrupted. This kind of falling asleep happens due to beings who try to induce a state of sleep in people, in order to prevent them from seeing more. Knowing this, people should consciously try not to fall asleep. As soon as they start to concentrate, most people fall asleep because they have many enemies who deliberately hinder them, causing their consciousness to descend to a lower level than the one it was at. As these beings start suggesting certain thoughts to people, the latter start falling asleep and fall in their adversaries' hands. Therefore, no falling asleep is allowed to those who wish to concentrate. They have to be silent and calm, and not think about the outcome. Nature Loves perseverance, consistency, and not capriciousness. Do not think that you can subordinate Nature to yourselves. This is impossible. If people harmonize with Nature and approach her with sincerity and consistency, she gives them exactly what they need. Be like the student who persists before his teacher, who studies and is always prepared to do any sacrifice. When the student perseveres, the teacher is also ready to give. Nature acts in the same way. Once it sees that people are prepared to sacrifice everything, she too is well disposed to give. If people are self-willed, she also deprives them of whatever they want from her. Therefore, if a person receives 99 refusals to the fulfillment of a good wish and still continues persisting, only then can he be said to possess a strong will. And finally, after the hundredth attempt, he will prevail. Now, in this life, you have a number of karmic obstacles which you have to overcome. Some of you have greater obstacles, others - smaller ones, but with the help of your willpower you will be able to overcome them more or less easily. When they arrive at certain situations, some people get discouraged and give up working. They justify themselves with the fact that they are still young and need to live it up. One day when they are old, they will think about this matter. If they still do not succeed, they will postpone everything for another lifetime. No, start working now without any postponement. If you put things off for the future, you will run into the same law. Start working consciously, with self-restraint and not self-torment. Free yourselves of all that hinders you in life. Work for the attainment of that which you are lacking. And so, when you work on your will, you will first learn how to manage your physical selves, the body; then you will learn how to control your feelings, and finally - your thoughts. You have to direct your will purposefully in that direction. Only in this way will you manage to recreate your body and bring the necessary elements to it to make it stronger and more conscious; only in this way will you increase the endurance of you feelings and the power of your thoughts. All of you who choose to enroll in this class should set aside two positive hours for work out of the twenty-four-hour period of the day. It could be one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening. During these two hours, send yourselves one positive wish for the reinforcement of your will. For the time being, it will be sufficient to set aside two hours one day of the week only; it could be any day you like. And then, when you get up in the morning and before you go to bed, turn to your inner selves silently and calmly, making sure you are in a harmonious state of mind, and make a positive wish for yourself. After that, send a positive thought to everyone in the class. Your success in this work will depend on the good disposition of your heart and mind. Nothing can be achieved without the right mindset. So let's do a small experiment - keep sending positive thoughts to everyone in your class during these two hours. You will start with small experiments and gradually proceed to bigger ones. If a student cannot write the first letter of the alphabet and later on the second, third etc. so that he can combine them in syllables and words, he will never learn how to write a whole sentence. You will do the same with your classmates. Imagine everyone personally, place their image on the screen of your inner mind and get in touch with them through your positive thought. Rest your thought on each person for some time in the same way that you water your plants each morning and evening. When you water your garden, you take a watering can and walk from plant to plant in a successive fashion. In esoteric science, however, one is not allowed to water plants with a hose. It is easier to water flowers with a hose but the results are not good. Walking from plant to plant with a watering can is slow, you lose more time, but the results are excellent. Therefore you should use 10 seconds for each student, half a minute at most. Should you use a whole minute for each student, you will get tired. The experiment should be done in good spirits with no fatigue. Whatever positive wish you send to yourselves you should also send to the others. This will polarize your will. Once you have trained yourself sufficiently in concentration, you can do this experiment for longer periods of time as well - you could spend two, three, up to five minutes on each person - according to your ability. It is important to avoid any impatience, any desire to finish with the experiment sooner; in that case spend no more than ten seconds on each person. Now, which day of the week would you like to choose for the exercise? (-Thursday). This means that tomorrow morning between five and six o'clock, and in the evening between eleven and twelve o'clock you will do the exercise. Do not go to bed before you have finished the exercise. You need to be alert in order to perform it well. For now, promise that you will do the exercise this week only. After that, you will promise to continue with it for the next four weeks and later - for a whole year. It is good to begin on a small scale and gradually increase it. Some people promise to continue doing something for a lifetime but end up doing none of it. Q:(What thought should we send?) Whatever you wish for yourselves. When you become still and peaceful during concentration, the thought will come by itself. Whatever thought comes to your mind, write it down. The thought will be short and clear. You may not manage to express the thought very well, but it doesn't matter. The right intention is what matters. When a child has the desire to draw, his desire is proper but it hasn't found the right expression yet. One day it will. When you project your thought, say the following sentence: "Without fear in boundless Love." This sentence will serve you as a method of self-protection. Silent prayer. Source

The Four Rules Third lecture of the General Occult Class, given by the Master Beinsa Douno on the 9th of March 1922, Thursday, 7.10-8.00 pm, in Sofia The song “Bless, my soul, the Lord” was sung quietly Secret prayer Order, system, and discipline are needed from all of you, but not imposed by me. I want each of you to impose your own discipline on your thoughts and feelings. And those, who cannot impose it on themselves, don’t let them come. If you cannot impose such discipline on yourselves, do not come. And if someone allows himself to come without this discipline, then I do not answer. I want Absolute harmony! Outside you may find fault with me, but here I do not answer for the consequences for one who criticizes me. When a person enters the House of God, he should know that this is a church; when he comes to the school, he should know that this is a school. If you come here to compare your knowledge, to see how much you know, you need not come. You want to be friends with me, don’t you? But we can be friends only when we observe the law of the Absolute Love, when we observe the law of Wisdom, the law of Justice. They are equal for everyone, no one is excluded; the law is absolute there. Love is absolute and relative; there is Absolute Wisdom and relative wisdom, Absolute Truth and relative truth, Absolute Justice and relative justice, Absolute Good and relative good. We follow the Absolute not the relative; the relative is outside in the world, let’s make that clear. Because in the Absolute there is one opinion only, while in the relative there are many opinions. And you should know: only in this way can you have the assistance of Heaven. Heaven is a place of order and system, a place of discipline. In Heaven, there are no such orders and such policemen as on Earth. There are no written laws there; everyone has the laws written within – either in his mind or in his heart or in his Spirit, in accordance with the degree of growth of the being. Now, my wish is to free you from unnecessary sufferings and difficulties. If a pupil, who goes to school, has a corn, scrofula in his leg or a stomach ache; will he be able to learn? He should be free. If this pupil is hungry, if he has not eaten for three or four days, will he be able to learn? That means that there should be food, there should be clothes, and there should be everything he needs. So, if you come with your worries here, we have no need of you – this is not an orphanage, this is not a place of refuge. Your coming here on Sundays may be considered as coming to a place of refuge, but at present it is a school – healthy people are needed. A person who is ill should stay outside and a person who is healthy should come. So, all of you can be healthy. If you are ill, there is an excuse but the ill should stay outside. In a spiritual school people become ill by themselves and recover their health by themselves. Now I will answer this question outright. Were you ill when you left God? – You were healthy. Therefore, what is the reason that you are ill? Were you uneducated or educated when you left God? You were educated, not uneducated. Your present ignorance is due to you having eaten and drunk everything. And in eating and drinking everything, you have become impoverished on the physical field. Now we will address ourselves to the positive Life. Let us leave the remote past and the distant future and take up the present. When a contemporary author decides to write a book in the form of a short story or of a novel, he has two subjects – a male character and a female character. The male character is a man and the female character is a woman and the author allocates all other characters round those two and makes his story interesting. Now I am asking: why does he need these two characters? The male character presupposes the female character and the female character presupposes the male character. Once you take away one of the characters, the other disappears without saying. People also have two characters inside them; what are they? I will tell you: the first character is the mind and the second character is the heart. The author, that is to say the Spirit allocates the rest of the characters round these two. The Spirit, the author, is who selects the two characters - the mind and the heart - and on them he builds up his story; all other characters are arranged round them. Now, this author selects his characters; he defines exactly what the heroism of both characters will be and he endues them with certain moral qualities. For example, he will give the male character power, courage, resolution to win and he will give the female character greatest sufferings in order to withstand; he will put her into the greatest temptations and she will endure them; he gives her a negative part. Well, then what should the qualities of your mind be, what should the male character be? Your mind should be powerful, courageous, and resolute. Should the mind say: “This is not for me”, it would be deprived of its heroism. Once your mind looks for the easy way in the world, only a star-fish or a sea mushroom may come of you, nothing more. And when an Angel comes down to Earth to take a look at people, He recognizes what each one wants through his mind. If a disciple, who enters the School, seeks the easiest way, nothing will come of this disciple. If he comes to the difficult problems and he gets round them or gives them to be solved by others and he enters with someone else’s solution of the problem, we know what would come of him. And all those now ruling the world, who are at the head, have come out of such schools, where they have only solved easy problems. And then, what should be the qualities of the heart? They correspond with the female character. The mind should be powerful, courageous, and resolute and in the heart there should be plasticity, endurance, and patience. These are the qualities that the disciple should acquire. No one was born with them, everyone acquires them. There are conditions for this and you should acquire them in order to be able to comprehend the Great Nature. Now, what do you think; if this male character has hesitated five or six times and departs from his vocation, what is in store for him? Once and for all, he has lost the good will of the female character and he is finished. The reverse is true also – when the female character departs from her principle, from her vocation, she has lost her heroism, too. Do not be in error and say: “Is there not a blessing?” This is another question. In mathematics, problems are solved in one way only, no exclusion is allowed. “But it is only one unit, one mistake!” This unit, this mistake does much harm when it concerns a great number which is reiterated in the calculations. And so, you will study your male character, i.e. your mind and your female character – the heart. And then you will ask me: “Where is the human will?” In my opinion, the human will is a child of the mind and of the heart. Therefore, if a person has will, I understand that the mind and the heart are productive, that they have worked in compliance with the Divine law. If there is will, this shows that the mind and the heart have been going the new way; if there is no will, this shows that they are childless; these people have lived a wrong life – this is the interpretation. In the Spiritual life, a person without will is degenerating. This is the definition of will, but it is not like the definition of contemporary philosophers. Now, in order to be able to understand your mind, in order to be able to understand your heart and your will, you need four other elements. These are the so called temperaments. There is a nervous or mental temperament, which belongs to the brain; there is a sanguine temperament, which belongs to the lungs and to the respiratory system; a choleric temperament, which belongs to the muscular and bone systems; and a phlegmatic temperament, which belongs to the stomach. When the nervous or mental temperament is of high quality in the display of the forces which form it, the thought flows plastically, fluently, the mind is productive, no darkness is ever noticed in it – it will work always, you will be quick and deep in your thought. This is only when the mental temperament is of high quality. All temperaments can be of high quality, of middle quality and of poor quality. Once the temperament of the mind is of poor quality, you will have to work for a long time. Since the main role in this temperament is played by the brain and the nerves, hence you will have to learn to regulate your electricity. The brain is a place of electricity. Sometime we can make a trial, as this is a wide field. The different regions of the brain accumulate and collect various types of energy. Even an experiment could be made to show that if certain energies are taken away or transmitted, your mental mood will change at once. Let us presume that you are afraid of something, you cannot live at home, and you want to leave. If someone, more courageous than you, puts his hand on a certain part of your head, where the centre of fear is, he will take away the respective energy at once and your fear will disappear; and vice versa, if a coward puts his hand on that place of someone’s head, that one will become cowardly. So, fear can be transmitted and can be taken away from you. These are currents within the brain; when we come to these currents, they can cause certain movements in the corresponding centres and a moving in the consciousness will appear, accompanied with danger. Also, let us say that someone is merciful or compassionate; this energy is also located in a certain part of the brain. If you decide to do a good deed and a person with negative qualities who is not merciful, comes to you and puts his hands on the centre of mercy, the same wish not to give anything will be generated in you too; and the reverse, if someone does not want to give alms and someone else, who is very merciful puts his hand on that centre, a wish to give alms will be generated at once in that person. So, someone says: “I am not in mood to do this thing”. I am asking: has it come out of your mind, is it yours? You should know whether a thought is yours or someone else’s. “I am not in mood” – he says. Yes, but this not any kind of philosophy. This indisposition may be someone else’s and if everyday you live someone else’s frame of mind, what experience could you have? The answer is none. The Bulgarians say: “Someone else’s is always someone else’s; it can be taken away even on Easter”. No, you will keep only that which is inside you; only yours, only this, which has passed through your mind, has been ascertained by your heart and has been applied by your will – you might work on it. I wish that what you learn in the School, to pass through your mind, through your heart and through your will. I do not aim at persuading you to do this; this thought is far away from me. In this Great esoteric school the experience plays the whole role. Food recommends itself, does it not? I do not recommend it, I say: “Taste this food!” You will judge the food by the results. From what you are taught, I want you to form an opinion as to whether it is helpful or not, by yourselves. I call the first temperament - the mental one, dynamic. Therefore the head is dangerous, it is a dynamo. It is like a mace and one who has a strong head, if he is not good, he can do great harm to someone with this mace. The second temperament, the sanguine one - I call it gaseous, it has the property to expand. And hence it is necessary, because when a person possesses this sanguine temperament, he gives expansiveness to his dynamic force – the head, its form becomes larger. This temperament develops as well, that is why we should use breathing as a means of its development. In those who have weak breathing, who are narrow-chested, whose lungs are not developed, whose blood vessels are weak; in them this temperament is of poor quality and consequently their mental system will not function properly as well. There is a relation between the temperaments. And so, first, you will try to develop your lungs in compliance with your nervous system. The lungs and the circulatory system are included in the sanguine temperament – they form it. Next to the first two temperaments comes the phlegmatic temperament or as some call it, the vital or the life temperament. I call it an accumulative temperament - which thickens. It is the temperament of the stomach. When a person has a normally developed stomach, eating is done correctly – neither too much hunger nor too much overeating. Therefore this temperament is necessary to accumulate energy. And those who are denied the vital temperament often wither like flowers; they are short of soil around and begin drying up. It is said: “It is no use being fat”, but also it is no use if the stomach is quite small. In the case of this temperament the size is not the important thing but the structure of the stomach and it has the quality of good eating. If you want to reorganize your stomach, you should eat on time and should not overeat. And last is the choleric temperament; the temperament of the muscular and bone systems, the temperament of physical man. I call it executive. It bears the executive side of human life. Everything that has to be done in the world is always done through this temperament. Those, in whom this temperament predominates, have sinewy muscles; their bones are sound, somewhat coarse; their tongue is slightly unbridled; they do not argue by words but by hands and legs. Now, each temperament has its own field of action. When the choleric temperament is predominant, the relative centres in the brain – around the ears – are developed. Because each outside centre has its representative up, in the brain, these parts are well developed there. The upper part – the imagination, is well developed in the case of the sanguine temperament. In the case of the phlegmatic temperament, the temporal parts are developed, and this shows that when such a person smells a dish, he conceives the pleasant desire to enjoy his food. When the mental system is predominant, the entire structure of the front part of the forehead has a nice shape. You should study the temperaments and should start developing them. If you cannot build a certain temperament, cannot carry its inherent properties, you will remain with a shortage. An enduring person can be one who has vital or phlegmatic temperament. Even the well developed person may not be enduring, if he loses the qualities of the vital temperament. He cannot be nippy if the sanguine temperament is not developed in him. Also, his mind may not be bright, may not be quick to grasp, if the nervous temperament is not developed. First of all you will start cultivating your temperaments. Now, there is a certain measuring regarding the temperaments, but if I give you the combination, you may mix up your conceptions, being not acquainted with these laws. For example, the width of the nose in its lower part and in the temporal fields will show to what extent your vital temperament is developed, because there is proportionality between all parts. The width of the nostrils is in correlation with the width of the hand as well as with the face. Also, your fingers will be organized according to how your stomach is organized; your entire hand as well as the soft parts of the fingers, which correspond with the lungs, will be organized according to how your lungs are organized. One, who comprehends this, will know in what shape your stomach is, will know everything just by looking at the parts of the hand; in this respect it is open and above board. And you, as disciples, are faced with a very serious work. Now, I want to specify the following: in this school you will use for work only your spare time – the time which you do not know for what to use. I do not want you to leave your homes. How many hours can you spare: one hour, half an hour or more? You need at least one hour and it will be better still if you can spare one and a half up to two hours per day, but not to leave your work and to cause rows, I do not want any rows. The capable disciple needs a little time as does the assiduous one. You know the saying, don’t you, about the tortoise1 and the rabbit that were racing? The rabbit was running very fast but it slept at many places while the tortoise was going slowly but did not have any rest and left the rabbit behind. So, sometimes fast people are late more than slow ones. It is also true that the most talented pupils at school, who are very promising, in Life give nothing. It is not that they could not give but they get complacent from praises. Now, many say: “Let us be praised!” No, praising is very dangerous. You should speak favourably of someone once per year, on Easter only, but to speak favourably of him every day is very dangerous. On Earth, it is very dangerous for man to be praised. It is dangerous also to blame, there is no need to blame. The one thing is as dangerous as the other. Both blaming and praising are egoistically motivated. Why do we speak favourably about someone? In order to bribe him – our motive is not because he is high-minded but because we want to bribe him. Sometimes we say: “You are very bad”; thus we want to influence him. But he says: “I am not so bad”. In the Esoteric school, neither methods are used – it is not allowed either to be praised or to be blamed. Now, we have abilities, put into us and everyone is ever so rich in them. These abilities should be developed. Some have more conditions for this and others have less. In the present circumstances you cannot be all alike and cannot achieve the same results. Even, from among ten persons only one or two are capable, they can achieve a great deal; only they are the stars, the rest have supporting parts. If we do not achieve much in this life, we will achieve a lot in the next one, but we should not lose heart from this. When you have your term, then you will be ready – this is how a disciple should look at it. He should use the present for the sake of those distant purposes of his life. One day we will be called and will be told: “Play your part!” If we are prepared, we will play it. Then you will have your turn. And so, in order that you could develop your mental or nervous temperament, you have to learn to control your thoughts by all means. It has been spoken many times about self-control. Self-control is mastery for the disciple. Worries will come, trials will come and they are a matter of course. They will come but when all these disturbances appear and you obtain a certain good, you will have succeeded in controlling your thoughts. Each of you should have a note-book, this is a must. Once you yield to temptation or sometimes get anxious, note how many minutes you needed to calm down. Once you start getting angry, say to yourself: “At 10:30 a storm arose in me and after five-ten-fifteen minutes, half hour or one hour this storm blew over”. Someone says: “This anger will pass by itself”. Right, the anger will pass in itself but it can carry everything away and then it is dangerous; but if you set it to work, everything will stay. It is not bad for anger to come, but it is dangerous when it gets away with everything. You should set this energy to work. Or, once a good thought comes to you, note how much time you needed to attain it. Do not note all thoughts; one thought per day is enough. If it is negative, note how much time you need to transform this state, to achieve a pleasant mood inside and to say: “Thanks, I learnt my lesson well”. This means to solve your problem by yourself, does it not? And it is remarkable, that as soon as a person enters the spiritual Path, troubles begin to happen at once. Take your child, who has been calm and has played; you send it to school and teachers cause it trouble at once. Returning home, it cannot play, it starts thinking about the subjects he has to study and you say: “My child studies a lot”. And the mother worries that her child studies too much. It is not dangerous to study a lot. Now, you may think that this is a simple work. No, this a fundamental work! Tolstoy2 gives a story. I am not going to give you the whole story but only a part, clarifying my thought. It is the following: a person wanted to become clairvoyant and he thought that in becoming clairvoyant he will be able to use it. And he did have such a moment indeed. He saw that a thief was going into a house of a rich man with the intention to rob him. And the clairvoyant decided to do a good deed. He went to the rich man and poked him to stand up and see the thief; the rich man stood up and killed the thief. Another instance: the clairvoyant saw that two young people love each other; at one time another young man came nearer to the girl; the clairvoyant went to her beloved telling him to save her; the young man went quickly, they quarrelled and killed each other. The clairvoyant wanted to arrange their lives. A third instance he saw that someone was going to steal shocks from a field. The one who possessed this field was poor, so the clairvoyant went to him and told him: “Do you know that your sheaves are being stolen?” The poor man went, caught the thief but they quarrelled and killed each other. This is not any science. That is why it is said in the Scriptures; “If someone is going to commit a crime, let him do it while the disciple should go his way.” I like the example from the novel of Victor Hugo “Les Miserables” with Jean Valjean, who was caught with the candlestick in hand and was brought to the bishop. The latter said: “He did not steal it, I gave it to him”. This is a high-minded example! The error of all esoteric disciples is in your delving into a small error of others and saying: “Why should they do it?” We do not look into errors; in an esoteric school it is never allowed to look into the negative qualities of others. And if someone comes to complain to you that he was robbed, take money out from your pocket and pay him. Say: “How much was taken?” – “I lost five hundred leva3. “I will pay”. And the matter is settled. I want the disciples in this School to correct the errors of others by doing so. “How would I correct the errors of others?” How? – Do not allow these negative qualities in you. Never think of the errors of others, if you want to ennoble yourselves. Do not think of people ever, absolutely never! Now, this is for the disciples in the School, not for the outside world. The rule for the world is different, do not apply this rule in the world, the law there is different. But the one, who wants to be a disciple in the Christ’s school, he should never dwell on the errors of people. They will appear but never dwell on them. God also does not dwells on our sins – everyday He creates new things; creates the new. Now, there are many people who are dwell on the errors of others and say: “Is this right or not?” In Absolute right there is only one rule and I wish that you all apply this rule: always to bring into yourselves something new, something good. You will not become perfect disciples at once, I do not want this from you, but you should know how to solve your tasks, how to be accurate. Under this rule, you will have as much as you are allowed, never postpone, and never put off. Do not have a bad opinion of yourselves; but have the same opinion which God has of you. If you say: “I am very bad” and you mean that God has made you bad, you are very wrong. And if you mean that you are very lazy, this is another question. Say: “I am capable of doing it, I am capable.” So, you will work on your temperaments: on the temperament of your head, the nervous one; on the sanguine temperament; on the phlegmatic temperament, as well as on the motive or the choleric temperament. And you always will distribute your energies evenly. In this way your face will start taking on a regular form. In those, whose temperaments are distorted, asymmetry appears: fingers bend, hands and legs are crooked, and disharmony appears in the display of energies. And so, mind, heart and will have four elements and you should work with them. You will put dynamism in every thought, that is electricity. After that you will expand this thought, then you will give it weight and last you will give it strength of motion or, as I call it, growth. Once your temperaments function in this way, you will be able to do everything. It is necessary that these things should not just be sown but should be raised to bear fruit. Some writers write well because they have put into their thought all these qualities. The mind is the male character, the heart is the female character and the child born by these characters is similar to the father and the mother. When I speak about the will, I mean the child of the mind and the heart. Often after my Sunday talks, after preaching a fine lecture, I have noticed that two people argue, they quarrel about something and I say: this is how they have understood the lecture – both are offended. And at once they say: “Excellent lecture!” and they do not quarrel; they have understood it well then. But once they quarrel, the lecture has not been excellent. If people quarrel the lecture is not first-rate. So, the path you will go on is a path of work and perseverance. I will be punctual; I have only five minutes more. Then you will relate both talks - the previous one was about sleeping, eating and working and the present one is about your mind, your heart, your will and the temperaments. Now, I will give you a task. Let each of you write ten lines on the topic: Which is the best mind. Let each one write what it means according to him. And then I will let you, the disciples, review it by yourselves. There will be one or two meetings – the disciples will review what they have written. And so, the topic is: Which is the best mind or what are the qualities of the best mind. It is very clear; we likened the mind to the male character. You will describe as an author describes the main qualities of the character – the mind and the character are similar. Now, next time those of you, who can write this, will bring their sheets of paper and from what you will have written we will extract the essence – what you think of the mind – and will figure out certain rules: how the mind should be cultivated. Everyone will write without reading what is written to anyone else. You will write half a sheet, ten lines, not putting your names on the paper. We will read who thinks what of the best mind. We will have one exercise and then we will engage one of you, who is most capable, to extract the essence from all these thoughts and to make an overall description, a summary about the best mind. Secret prayer The song “Love is spring” was sung 1 Originally in the lecture is about frog-rabbit race. 2 The Russian writer Leo Tolstoy 3 Bulgarian currency

STRENGTH OF WILL Year 1, Lecture 3 of the Youth Occult Class (Special Class) Given by the Master Beinsa Douno March 8, 1922, Wednesday 19.00h, Sofia Secret Prayer A summary of the theme “The Best Method for Work” was presented. Next time please write on the topic “The Place of Will in Life”. Think well on this topic and write no more than a page. This topic is important for you, for Will has not found its place in Life yet. Most contemporary people are weak-willed. Why? Because the expression of Will begins with Intelligent life which excludes any destruction. I will give you now several rules on how to distinguish conscious from unconscious volitional acts. And when you come to conscious will, then you will consider it as the highest manifestation in human life. Therefore, when you write your essays, be free to express your point of view according to your understanding. Write without fear, without doubt or hesitation. Do not be afraid if what you write is right or wrong. If you are afraid, it shows that you do not have the will to manifest yourself. Present your views, manifest your will, notwithstanding that you may write something foolish. How will you know that it is foolish? Many of you think that if they do not quote a famous author but give their own opinion instead, it will be foolish. In my view, using someone else’s thoughts without understanding and experiencing them is more foolish than presenting one’s own thoughts, which have been experienced and tested by the speaker. There is no rule in the world which defines what is wise and what is foolish. Something which is considered wise today may become foolish tomorrow. For example, people in one of the past cultures greeted one another with their tongues, which is characteristic of animals today. If nowadays two people greeted each other in this way, it would be an atavism. The contemporary way of greeting each other is by shaking hands. Some day it may be replaced by another one. I will give you several rules which should be observed by all disciples. So, being at the threshold of the Spiritual school, no matter if he is a full time student or a listener, the disciple should know the following: 1. If someone tries to correct the Absolute or the Divine even one single time, he will be expelled from class. 2. If someone is absent from class without an excuse, without an important and urgent reason, he will be expelled from class. Each disciple should know deep in one’s heart and before one’s conscience if the reason for absence is important or not. The evaluation of the reasons is delegated entirely to the conscience of the disciple. A disciple should never deceive himself. If someone deceives himself, this means that he is out of the class. 3. If someone does not complete the tasks given in the School, he will be expelled from class. 4. If two disciples offend each other, both of them will be expelled from class. It is absolutely forbidden for disciples to be angry and to quarrel with each other. 5. What happens and what is spoken about in class should be kept a secret. If someone tries to spread this out of the School, he will be expelled from class. There are things that should remain here only. Now I would like to point out to you the following phenomenon in Nature: all young tree shoots and all sprouting plants strive to grow in height. And once they reach the greatest possible height, they start growing in width. Artists use the same method of work. First they draw the general lines of the object on the canvas, i.e. its height, the idea hidden in it, and after that they put the shadows showing the width and the thickness of the object. This indicates that one should catch the general lines first, i.e. the important ideas. For instance, if you draw a person, which features will you first pay attention to? First you will pay attention to the form of the body, the eyes, the ears, the eyebrows, the nose, the forehead and the mouth. Then you will draw the shadows. If there are more shadows on one’s face, it shows that this person is in a difficult situation. As a whole, if the background of the human image is dark, it indicates the unfavorable conditions in which one lives and shadows under the eyes show many sleepless nights in one’s life. Sleeping is very important in life. That is why a disciple is supposed to sleep in the right way. He has to determine his time of going to bed. Moreover, it is necessary for him to fall asleep immediately or within five to ten minutes of going to bed. In this respect you should do experiments and exercise your will to see whether you will go to bed exactly at the right time and fall asleep within ten minutes. If you can fall asleep on time, your will is strong. If you cannot fall asleep within half an hour or more, your will is weak. This exercise will be a test of your will's power . Otherwise, you will deceive yourself that you are strong-willed. The power of will is tested only through exercises. When you go to bed in the evening, in order to strengthen your will say to yourself that you want to sleep on your right side for the whole night. If you find yourself on your right side in the morning, your will is strong; if you find yourself turned to the left, your will is weak. This, however, should not discourage you. Make efforts in this direction until you get positive results. Sleeping has its deep purpose from a spiritual point of view. When you sleep, you go to school into the Astral world and you apply the next day what you have learned at night. If you don't sleep properly, you cannot study well in the Astral world; but if you study well in the Astral world, you will be able to study well on Earth too. Therefore, sleeping is of great importance for you. When you sleep well, you wake up refreshed, with a clear mind renewed energy, so whatever work you take up during the day will be successful. But if you have not slept well, you have not worked well in the Astral world, so you will wake up indisposed and tired and your work throughout the day will be the same as it was in the Astral world. That is why, when you go to bed in the evening, say to yourself, ‘Now I am going to attend the School of the Astral world and I want to complete well the work that will be given to me there.’ I am asking you, what do you think about sleeping? You consider sleeping to be a repose only, that is why you cannot find those who want to teach you. In this respect you are like children who escape from school and go to play in the forest. If they have escaped from school, whom will the teacher instruct? In this case, those who go to bed with the idea that they will just take a rest at night, escape from school and go to the forest. And when they wake up in the morning, they say, ‘I didn't learn anything.’ That is why, when you go to bed, say to yourself, “I will go to the School of the Astral world to learn something new and to apply it on Earth the next day.” There are trips in the Astral world just like the ones on Earth. Those who study well are allowed to go to a mountain peak or to a beautiful spring, from where they will return refreshed and enriched with lovely impressions. Therefore, one of the important rules for the disciple is to learn to sleep in the right way. When you go to bed, you should fall asleep within five to ten minutes. This exercise is necessary for the strengthening of your will. If you cannot fall asleep in such a short period of time, you may extend it with a few minutes. You should fall asleep within half an hour or an hour at most. If you cannot succeed in one hour, you should look for the reason of your sleeplessness and when you find it, you should try to remove it. Now, I will give you a natural exercise – meditation on the rainbow. You have to meditate on the rainbow until you create a beautiful mental image of it. It may take you one, two or three years until you create a beautiful picture of the rainbow in your minds, but you have to work in this direction. Some of you can succeed in a shorter time – it all depends on your ability to concentrate. So, you have to meditate daily on the rainbow until you receive a living clear picture in your minds. You will visualize the rainbow as you have observed it in Nature in all its colours. This exercise will stimulate the development of your imagination. Spiritual disciples need imagination, as imagination is the mother of ideas. You may visualize the following pictures in your meditations on the rainbow: the Sun is in the West, there is a dark black cloud in the East and after a spring drizzle the rainbow has appeared from the North to the South. Or another one: the sky is clear in the East and the rainbow appears in the West. Whatever picture you have of the rainbow in your minds, one day the rainbow should rise in your souls in the same way that it rises in Nature. If you meditate between five and ten minutes daily, you will see the image of the rainbow appearing in your minds in a natural, unforced way. Close your eyes during the meditation in order to receive a clear and distinct mental vision of the rainbow. At first your vision will be vague, but with time it will clear up and become so living and real as it is in Nature. The best time for meditation is in the morning or whenever you are in high spirits. Do not think about the outcome of the exercise. When you disregard the outcome, you will always win and never lose anything. You may meditate not only in the morning, but also before noon – a few hours before lunch, as well as in the evening before you go to bed. You are free to choose the most convenient time for you to meditate. It is also good if you draw a rainbow and have it always in sight. It is even better to watch the rainbow after each rainfall, to remember the circumstances and the conditions of its appearance. The rainbow will introduce a new element into your minds. I will give you a rule how to overcome your anger and irritation. When you are angry, sing ten times in a row: do, mi, sol, do (upper do). Use this rule and see how music will tune you. Not only students but teachers also should use music as a method of tuning. When a teacher of music gets angry, he usually forgets to use this method and hits the students with his bow instead. No, when the teacher is cross with something, he should take the bow and play do, mi, sol, do on the violin. He would do a much better job this way rather than if he hit the students with the bow. When we have time I will disclose to you the meaning of these four tones. So, the main thing in your life as disciples should be the desire to harmonize yourselves. This should be achieved in a natural way, not by force. It does not mean that all should come to one and the same level of development. If so, it would lead to monotony and in my opinion monotony is a bad thing and diversity is good. Each one of you has to aspire to diversity. Diversity is a quality of the Spirit. If the Spirit is present, there is always diversity there. Diversity means abundance, wealth, while monotony is poverty and deficit. From a spiritual point of view, troubles indicate the presence of monotony in life. In order to liberate human beings from such monotony, the Invisible world has admitted evil into the world. Evil creates diversity in Life. Consequently, all suffering, difficulties and troubles indicate that one’s life is monotonous. However all this is necessary in order to introduce the element of diversity in humans. Diversity represents a value which is necessary for the development of the human spirit. In that sense suffering and difficulties are transitory states or transitory scales in human life. One of the rules was: “One who tries to correct the Absolute Divine Source, cannot be a disciple.” This means: Do not correct Nature in yourself! Those who have ever tried to correct their Nature have always met with a fatal end. There are no exceptions to this rule. If you do not trust me, do the following experiment to convince yourselves in the truthfulness of my words: if you start feeding some herbivorous animals meat, soon you will see the consequences of this change, for you would have tried to correct the nature of these animals. In my view, meat eating is bad, while nourishment with fruit, not just vegetarianism, is good. That is why when the Astral world wants to show you that your actions are not good, it will send you a dream that you are eating meat. If you are eating meat in your dream, it is a sign that you are following an unnatural path. When I speak about human beings, I have in mind the spiritual rational source in them. Two beings live simultaneously in the human body. Their lives move in different directions; as a result there is always conflict between them. This conflict is due to the fact that some cells of the human organism are of a carnivorous origin, while others are of a herbivorous origin. The cells that have been carnivorous for thousands of years up to now will oppose you if you want to become a vegetarian. If the appropriate food is not supplied to them, they start eating one another. The cells of the white corpuscles, for example, go into war against one another, destroying themselves. So, war exists in the human organism itself. Because of that one people are vegetarian in theory only. But inside one’s body the cells eat one another. So, if you wish to feed on fruit some day, you need to place the idea of fruit nourishment in your mind. This idea will be working in your mind for years and one day you will unexpectedly see that you are ready to feed on fruit which represent the purest form of food of today. Reaching the state of vegetarianism in the full sense of this word and in all worlds – physical, emotional and mental – is going to take centuries. Write separately the rules that I gave you before – they will serve you as a guidance in Life. Further on I will speak in detail about each one of these rules. When I come to class, I will greet you with the motto “Without fear!” You will answer, “Without darkness!” I want you to determine for yourselves whether you are ready to attend this class regularly, so that you do not hesitate later on. Fifty disciples in the class are enough for the present moment. After you have made the decision, you will receive the inner meaning of the formula “Fir-fűr-fen tao bi aumen.” This formula is dangerous for those who are not determined. The first words “Fir-fűr-fen” purify, while the word “tao” builds up. The remaining words of the formula have the same meaning. First you have to pass through purification, and then you will be able to build up. The last words are strong, because power is also required for building up. I say, those of you who are going to attend the class should not be afraid of lacking time for School or spending too much time in it. No, this class does not require much time – only the time that you don't know how to spend. It has been written in the Law of Moses, ‘Work six days for you, but the seventh day consecrate to God!’ As disciples of the Spiritual Occult school, you need to observe the rule for sleeping. Sleeping will solve many issues in your life. Seven hours of sleep are necessary for you at present. Five hours could also satisfy you, but if you sleep without waking up and turning from side to side. The best time to go to bed is 10.00 p.m., but it cannot be taken as a rule. If someone is busy with important work, he may go to bed at 11.00 or 12.00p.m., but he should fall sleep within five to ten minutes. If you work after 10.00 o’clock, you will lose sleep. You will be able to fall asleep only after 12.00. And then you have to go to bed immediately, so that you do not manage to fully wake up. The earlier you go to bed, the better. Why? Those who go to bed earlier, receive the whole amount of prana, i.e. vital energy which has been accumulated in the atmosphere. Those who go to bed later have difficulty falling asleep, as there is not enough prana which is required by their organisms. They should wait for some time until those who are sleeping wake up and after that sleep will come to them as well. That is why rich people usually go to sleep around 4.00 o’clock in the morning, when poor people go to work. At about 4.00 a.m. new amounts of prana are created in the atmosphere which are used by rich people for their sleep. Therefore, if you can get into the habit of going to bed earlier, you can supply your organism with the necessary quantity of prana. Do not go to bed later than 12.00 p.m. If you feel tired, go to bed earlier, even at 8 p.m., in order to receive more energy that is needed by your organism. If you have surplus energy, you may go to bed later. In conclusion, the advisable time for going to bed is 8.00, 10.00 or 12.00 p.m. We began our lecture with a secret prayer. What is its purpose? Its purpose lies in disconnecting your telephone or link to the world. When praying in secret to yourself, you should take a free position, being fully isolated from the world and deaf to any noises or sounds outside and inside of you. When you pray secretly, lock all the keys, stop all communication with the world - nothing should disturb you. And in this position stay alone in thought. Meditation and secret praying are not one and the same thing. They differ from one another. However I will let you find the difference by yourselves. A secret prayer is the ascending of one’s mind to God. In other words, directing one’s eyes to the Sun or to the Source of Life. The most beautiful prayer is when you think of God as a Source of Life. Now you have nothing left to do but to contemplate on the issues covered in this lecture and to make efforts to strengthen your will, so that you may become masters of yourselves. Secret Prayer

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FEAR AND FEARLESSNESS Year 1, Lecture 2 of the Youth Occult Class (Special Class) Given by the Master Beinsa Douno March 1, 1922, Wednesday, 19.00h, Sofia Secret Prayer There was a presentation of the essays of the disciples on the topic “The Most Rational Method for Work”. It is advisable to make a summary of the presented works, i.e. to extract the essential ideas from them. You all should know one thing: you should commence each work with the least amount of obstructions. I will write the following few numbers: sum them up and draw a conclusion from their total[1]. It is better to reflect on these numbers in solitude. I will now write the sentence ‘Fir-fűr-fen tao bi aumen.’ It's meaning is: ‘With the least amount of fear and the least amount of darkness.’ So, you have to follow the Divine Path with the least amount of fear and darkness. Why? Less fear and darkness cause less harm and deviation. Those who are too fearful cannot follow this Path. Therefore, one should master the art of maintaining only the least amount fear and darkness in his consciousness in order to enter this Path. The sentence “Fir-fűr-fen tao bi aumen” can also be translated in the following way:“Without fear and without darkness!” Fear comes from human sin and at the same time it produces darkness. But do not confuse fear with caution. Whoever acknowledges the existence of the Primal Cause in the world, but nevertheless is fearful, has not understood the essence of this Cause. So, you should follow the New Path as disciples - without fear and without darkness. Whoever is fearful will lose his Light and the darkness will come as a natural result of this. And the opposite is also true – when darkness comes, fear will follow. Fear and darkness are two senses in human consciousness, which should be regulated by all means. By what tools? By fearlessness and Light. Otherwise, on entering into the School, a disciple will continuously ask oneself questions such as: ‘Can I manage my studies in the School, shall I succeed? Is it time to follow this Teaching? Do I possess the skills required? What if I fail some time, if I go backwards in development?’ No, the disciple needs to ask himself a different kind of question : ‘Do I want to study or not?’ If the answer is positive, this very aspiration will be powerful enough for him to be able to overcome all difficulties in Life. But if you are fearful, you will experience the following verse from the Scriptures: ‘Those who are fearful will not enter the Kingdom of God.’ It is true that a fearful person cannot become a scientist, a philosopher or a statesman. Actually, a fearful person cannot succeed in any field, because he resembles a hare. However, there are animals which are even more cowardly than hares . For example, frogs are more cowardly than hares; they can be considered a symbol of extreme materialism. Materialists are full of fears. If a rich man, who is also a great materialist, is deprived of his money, he will immediately lose his courage. As long as this man is rich he behaves like a hare, but when he gets robbed he becomes like a frog. There fore, when you think of a hare, visualize a rich materialist who hasn't been robbed of everything yet, so he is running away in order to save some of his riches. And a frog is a symbol of someone who has been robbed of everything and there is no other way out for him except to jump into the water and find salvation there. I will take now three animals that symbolize fear: a hare, a frog and a bird. If you scare a hare, it will run away into the forest; if you scare a frog, it will jump into the water; and if you scare a bird, it will fly up in the sky. Finally, if you scare a person, he should say to himself, ‘Without fear and without darkness!’ Write these words down clearly, neatly, without making any comments about them. I am asking you: when you plan to go to an excursion, what goal do you want to achieve? Your purpose is to climb up a high mountain peak. During the climb you take rests from time to time, so that you can reach the peak. You should use the same method in your spiritual studies: aiming at the high peak, you will take rests to refresh yourselves at many places in order to restore your forces. Many people say that esoteric-ism is dangerous. Spiritual science is really dangerous but only for those who are fearful and it is safe for those who are fearless. When it is said that spiritual science is dangerous, this indicates that some fearful people are subjectd to an examination and it will become clear whether they will pass or not. When fearful people are instructed to go onto the Path without darkness, they ask, “How can we go without darkness, when Light is not enough for us?” It is an indication that they are afraid of Light even. A robber, for example, works in the darkness to rob a cash-box; if Light comes from somewhere, he will immediately give him a heart-beat. Therefore, two testing methods exist for the disciples of the two schools – the School of Light and that of darkness. The disciples of the first school go without fear and without darkness, while the disciples of the second school - with fear and with darkness. So, the disciples of the Brotherhood of Light will follow the path without fear and without darkness, while the disciples of the opposite brotherhood will proceed with fear and with darkness. Young people should know which path to follow. If you go on a long journey, you may send someone before you to see the conditions of the road: if it has been cleaned; if there are bridges; what is the best way to travel: on foot or by horse, etc. And when you have this background information, you will be fearless. You have taken this Path many times and then you turned back, but this time, when you take the Path, you should stay with it. We see a similar situation in ordinary schools: many students join them, but some of them after finishing first grade leave school, others complete only the second or the third grade, etc. Few of them graduate from all the grades. And the best students continue at some university. But in life just the opposite may happen: students who are good at school may lag behind in Life, or students who are very good, even excellent in the first grades may become less successful in the next grades. On the other hand, students who are weak in the beginning may improve their results in the next grades and finish school with excellent marks. It is due to a specific psychological reason: parents and teachers who praise their children often and too much, make them conceited. As a result the centre of vainglory develops in their brains, attracting more blood to the back part of the head, so the front part of the brain receives less blood and gets gradually weakened. If people praise you too much, they will unconsciously stop your mental development. This is why teachers should restrain from praising their talented students. The centre of vainglory, located in the back part of the head, is like a thief that steals a great amount of the blood which otherwise goes to the front part of the brain. That is why the brain of vainglorious persons cannot develop very well. The same phenomena is referred to in the Bible in the following verse: “God mocks proud mockers, but gives grace to the humble.”/Proverbs 3:34/ Therefore, those who want to work on their brains and improve theim should not be conceited. It has been noticed that those who were often mocked and laughed at, later became famous scientists, poets, musicians, and those who were praised too much and people had expectations from them became mediocre. Why? Their brain was not nourished well and consequently it could not develop properly. So, be deaf to both praises and reprimands while you are alive. When you die, then you may listen to what people say about you in the graveyards. Someone may ask you, for example, “Are you a disciple of the Spiritual School? Do you know that nothing will come out of you?” Do not pay attention to such words. Another one may tell you, “You are an excellent disciple, there is no one like you.” Do not be concerned with such words either. Go on working on your growth irrespective of what you are told. Apply this method to see what results it will bring to you. Apply this method but not out of fear. Many people are brave in Life under the influence of their fears. This is not courage. One has to be brave, but consciously, not out of fear. Even a cat, when scared, huddles first, but then it becomes brave due to its instinct of self-preservation, so that it gets ready to attack its enemy. This is not fearlessness, but bravery out of fear for losing life. True courage means fearlessness in all situations in Life, at any given moment. To put it in spiritual terms, brave people hesitate outside, but not within themselves. Only Divine Love, being perfect, can inspire courage. No other love is able to make someone behave bravely and fearlessly. You cannot know Love in the physical world until you have become fearless. If your heart is full of fear, whatever you say about love, it is not Divine Love. When you get scared, your heart will quiver in a specific way. The energies of fear cause peculiar psychological effects: a specific quiver of the heart and a simultaneous paling of the face. When frightened, first you get pale due to the withdrawal of your blood to the heart; then you get reddish due to the appearance of anger in you and stirring of your blood. Cowardly people are actually afraid of public opinion, so they get insulted easily; when they are discredited before people, they get angry and they become cross. For example, an adept of the other Lodge may come to tempt you and to cheat you. You will succumb to his words, trust him and commit a crime. Then he will come again as your benefactor offering you a method to hide your crime. This will lead to falsehood which is even worse. I say, brave and fearless people will never succumb to temptations. Disciples should know this, because they will encounter many temptations after they enter the School. I mentioned the hare and the frog in this lecture as symbols. So I wish to direct you, as disciples, to reflect on all phenomena in Life and Nature, on all objects, and to make translations. What will be your translation, for example, of the following words: a river, a tree and a mountain? What translation will you give for these animals: a wolf, a fox and a frog? What do flies and mosquitoes symbolize? All these things are symbols that make up the language of Nature. A disciple should study this language and know why Nature has created animals, plants and minerals. Nature has used them as letters in its alphabet in the same way as we use letters and syllables to form our thoughts. Therefore, if we put all minerals, plants and animals in their places, we will get the intelligent Word and Thought of Living Nature. Those who want to study the language of Nature should begin with the simplest images and gradually proceed to more complex ones. Secret Prayer [1] *The actual total of the listed eighteen numbers is 218 (editor’s note)

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