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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
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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
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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.
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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.
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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
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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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Малки езикови корекции
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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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Редакция на форматиране, термин 'ученик' и правописни грешки (излишни тирета появили се вероятно при прехвърляне от друга текстообработваща програма).
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THE TWO PATHS
Lecture 1 of the Youth Occult Class
Given by the Master Beinsa Douno
February 24, 1922, Sofia
Secret Prayer
What is the main idea of students entering into school? – Students want to be educated, to acquire knowledge, to develop what is lodged into their souls, minds and hearts. And after they have acquired knowledge and have developed their talents and abilities, they are obliged to preserve them. Good soil is required for this, so that every thought falling into it, may bear fruit.
You also want to study like students and to deal with science, but do you know the meaning of the word “science”? If we consider the letters of this word, written in Latin and in some of the Slavic languages, we see two different notions hidden in the spelling. The letter combination of the word written in the Slavic languages indicates that in science the Slavs seek a method of balancing contradictions in Life. The Anglo-Saxon society, however, uses the Latin word “scientia” to mark the notion of “knowledge”, ”science” and [A1] the letter configuration indicates that it is interested in studying the relations between the different forms and the continuous changes taking place in the Living Nature. The first letter “s” in the word “scientia” designates infinity. Consequently, from an esoteric point of view, you can study science with the purpose either to find a method, assisting you in reconciling contradictions in Life or to find a way of using the forces of Nature. Those who deal with science in order to make use of the natural forces are submitted to a big danger. The danger is hidden in the appearance of the sacred egoism in them. They may place themselves higher than others by obtaining authority in their own eyes, so they will say, ‘We dispose with powers, which we can use as we wish.’
There are two categories of people: people who have strong personal feelings and self-confidence: they think that they can do everything, that they know many things, etc. However, the other category of people like the Slavs for example, seek a method of balancing the contradictions in their lives and of healing the pains of their hearts at the same time. The Slavs are closer to the Truth in this aspect.
If you want to deal with the spiritual science, you should study your inner self first. Socrates said: “Know yourself!” What does it mean? What should you know – the Higher or the lower self in you? To know yourself means to know the Higher Self or the Divine Source in you. In other words, to know God in you. Once you know God in you, you will be aware of the conditions
,in which you can grow and develop properly; the conditions,which give direction to your growth and development and which also balance the forces operating in you. Take a person who is living well, whose mind and heart are developing properly, so everyone expects from him to become an important person. But all of a sudden an accident happens to him, completely destroying his form. What is the reason for this misfortune? The reason is in the artisan who made this form. Many will say that such was the fate of this person. If a potter has made a tilted, half-baked pot, who is to be blamed? – The potter alone. What could he do then? – He will break the pot into pieces, knead it in slurry and make a new pot, but this time the pot will be better, firmer and well-baked. Consequently, when the High Source smashes the low forms, remaking and remodeling them, it gets out of them more beautiful, more perfect forms. What else could be done with the pots, which are not well carved, except to destroy them, so that they could be remade and moulded into new, more resistant and perfect forms?Young people often think that they are wiser than old people, so they say about them, ‘Their time is over, we will show them how to live now.’ However, the present-day old people said exactly the same in the past. And young people at that time did not approve of their way of living thinking that they could improve it. But they also grew old without correcting their ways. Thus young generations go one after another, trying without any success to show old people how to live properly. Why do they fail? - Because they use the same old methods like the old people. I say, the fundamental tasks in Life cannot be solved by means of using old methods. Young people should try not to repeat the errors of old people. They are to learn from their experience and see their omissions that hamper them in Life. The reasons for their failures are numerous and profound. They present an entire history that should be studied and researched.
I will give you a topic to think on. It is the following: "The Most Rational Method for Work" . Each one of you should reflect on the most rational method for oneself. The spiritual science is based on experience; knowledge is valuable only when it is applied in Life. It is the application that determines your position as disciples. When one wants to study violin at musical school, one is tested on violin playing and
,depending on the results, one is put in a certain class. If that student turns out to be mediocre, the violin professor will advise him to enroll in another school, so that he may not waste his own time.In one of my next lectures I will speak about the intelligent relationship between humanity and Living Nature. But before that you are supposed to state openly your opinion on the topic: “The Best Method or the Most Rational Method for Work.” It is a privilege, an extraordinary occasion for you to speak openly on a given topic. From an esoteric point of view, the best method is the one that is applicable in real Life. If a given method cannot be applied, it leads you astray from your goal; it brings you somewhere far away from your aim without any real results for you. Since you are not at one and the same level of development, each one will present a specific method for work, which is applicable in one’s own life. Some of you are first materialists, then idealists: they give priority to the material in Life; others are first idealists, then materialists: they give priority to ideas. This is the main difference between people. Idealists say that ideas create everything. What ideas do they have in consideration? Certainly, they do not consider their own ideas. There are ideas of a higher order than the human ones. These ideas come from the Infinite Divine Source.
So, you should learn in this School to apply the methods of Nature. You should use the forces of Living Nature in the same way as flowers use sunrays. Then you will be able to fulfil what you were born for. This law also has an application to the human body. Each organ of the human organism has a specific function. For example, legs walk and at the same time carry the total weight of the body; hands work catching, lifting and carrying different things; eyes see; ears hear, etc. Consequently, each organ executes a specific function in the human body. In this aspect, every human being presents a special organ in the common organism of Nature and has a specific function. Those who have found their place in Nature and have realized their destination can properly fulfil their function as organs of the great Divine organism.
You are disciples in this School and may raise questions that you consider important. You may raise for example some questions concerning your needs. What is a hungry person interested in? - Bread. A hungry person wants to know everything about the bread he will eat: whether it is warm or cold, fresh or mouldy. If you want to create a solid foundation in you, you should apply the same law to knowledge. You, who are young, should not repeat the mistake of that Gypsy man, who ate first vine leaves to his fill and then some bread and cheese. He went to the vineyard to work there and took some bread and a piece of cheese in his bag for breakfast. After some work he got very hungry. He looked at the bread and the cheese and saw that it would hardly satisfy his hunger. So he picked some vine leaves and started eating them. After that he also ate the bread and the cheese and said, ‘Excellent lunch!’ No, I do not advise you first to swallow the vine leaves and then to have a bite of esoteric knowledge. Be cautious to avoid this mistake! No mistakes are allowed in your work. If you make a mistake, correct it! It is not a crime that you have admitted some mistakes, but that you leave them uncorrected. When you realize a mistake of yours, correct it. There is nothing criminal in some bad thoughts passing through your mind, but each distorted thought of yours should be rectified. The efforts of your minds, hearts and wills should be directed to the correction of your mistakes. Only in this way you will create reliable characters.
You should also consider the following thing: when students enter the school, the teacher is kind and attentive to them in the beginning. The more they learn and the harder the material gets, the teacher’s requirements to them increases and especially to those ones who do not study enough. So, the teacher changes his attitude towards the students who do not make an effort. The first obligation of disciples is to study. So, you too must study and what is more, study seriously. Each science has its own rules that should be known and observed. Self-control is demanded from you as young people - not fictitious, external, but real self-control. There are two types of self-control: outside[A2] , fictitious self-control, when your inner balance is usually disturbed; and inner, profound self-control, when your balance has never been broken.
I will give you an example for outside[A3] self-control. A young man got engaged to a beautiful, young woman who was noble and self-controlled. He often praised her to his friends. One day he invited a friend to her place to introduce her. They sat and talked for a while. Then the fiancée brought a tray with glasses of water and sweets to treat them. The young man tripped her on purpose in order to see her reaction. As she held the tray, everything fell on the ground, the sweets and the water scattered on the floor. The fiancée kept full self-control and said, ‘It is all right!’ She calmly bent down, gathered the glasses, wiped up the water and went into the other room. The young man turned to his friends and said, ‘This is self-control and nobleness of character! This is an ideal woman!’ However, when they got married, things did not go the way he thought. Once he asked her, ‘Where did your self-control go?’- ‘You had to enter the other room to see what happened there. Only the wood of the table could tell you how hard I had chewed it!’
I say, this is not real self-control. Someone wants to open the window: he pulls it, but it does not open; he pulls it a second, a third time - it does not open again. He gets nervous, angry and starts pulling it harder and harder, as if the window is guilty about something. First of all, the window is not conscious, it cannot understand if one is irritated. The same is true for the esoteric forces: some of them are conscious and intelligent, others are half-conscious and unreasonable. When I say that some forces are intelligent, it means that they have the same direction of movement as ours. The unconscious forces go in the opposite direction. Consequently, each one of you should know if a given force goes in compliance with one’s own development or in opposition. In the same way you should consider if your thoughts, feelings and actions go in line with your development or not. When you come across some thought or feeling, you should immediately look into it to decide where to put it - to the left or to the right. Disciples should know how to sort out and where to put each one of their thoughts, feelings and actions. Some disciples will succeed in this activity twenty-five percent, others - fifty percent, the third ones - seventy-five and the most capable – a hundred percent. Disciples should work to gradually increase this percentage, so that they can avoid mistakes and disappointments.
So, we will make experiences[A4] after each lesson. This means that you will be put on an exam [A5] after each taught lesson: not only theoretical, but also practical exams. All theoretical knowledge is to be applied in Life, where it should be developed and tested. Whoever wants to deal with esotericism should know that he/she will be submitted to certain trials and tests, which should be solved successfully. You say, ‘We have difficulties anyway.’ Yes, but this time you will realize the meaning of these difficulties. And realizing it, you will be able to use them as healing methods. E.g., if you complain of pains all over your body: in your hands and legs, in your backbone, if you have a headache and your stomach is upset,
.from all these pains the Invisible World will create just one pain, but a bigger one, so that you will direct your full attention to it. This big pain will make you heal yourself properly. You will forget about the small pains and will start working intensively in one direction. So, great difficulties unite the human forces into one focus. Otherwise, there isan energya dispersion of energy and the forces in man are scattered. Nature acts in the same way. She will create one big pain for you, and through it everything else will be healed. But you have not come to the big pains yet.After a reflection on the topic, which I gave you, you should write as concisely as possible: only on the core of the idea. Each one of you is to write about his personal method for work. What
have writtenscientists have written on this theme is not so important for you; it could correspond to your understanding or not. What is important for you is to tune your work to the methods of the Intelligent Nature, not to the methods of ordinary scientists. Only in this way you will get the common principles of Life. So, each one of you will work and apply the method which is the best known and is the most specific for him. It depends on your awareness, your sincerity in work and your deep striving for a valuable achievement. Many of you will say that they do not have good conditions for work. The Americans are leading in this aspect. In America you will meet students who work in kitchens and offices toaffordpay their school or university studies. It is good when favourable conditions are available in Life, but all conditions could be reasonably used. Even in the hardest conditions, you may find ten or fifteen minutes for reading and self-education. What hampers a housewife to read something,while she is cutting onion and cooking? Both good and bad conditions have the purpose to put a disciple into position to overcome difficulties. Only thus you can grow up and develop in the right way. -
from The Blossoming of the Human Soul
THE TWO PATHS
Year 1, Lecture 1 of the Youth Occult Class (Special Clas)
Given by the Master Beinsa Douno
on February 24, 1922, Sofia
What is the main intent of the students entering school? They want to become a learned scientist, to attain knowledge, cultivate what is invested in their souls, minds, and hearts. And after they attain knowledge and develop their talents and abilities, they should also preserve them. For this purpose, good soil is needed for every thought falling in it, so that it may bear fruit. Therefore, as disciples, you also want to study and engage with science. What is to be understood by the word “science”? If we consider the meaning of the letters used to write this word in Latin and some Slavic languages, we see two different concepts hidden behind it. From the combination of the Cyrillic letters in the word “science” it can be seen that the Slavic people search in science for some method of reconciliation of the contradictions in life.
Yet, the spelling of the Latin word scientia used by the Anglo-Saxon nations for the notion of knowledge and science, shows that they focus on studying the relationships between the various material forms and the eternal changes occurring in Living Nature. The first letter “s” in the word scientia means “infinity.” Therefore, from an esoteric point of view, science can be studied either in order discover a method of reconciling the contradictions in life, or in order to find out a way of using the forces of Nature.
However, someone who studies science only for the purpose of manipulating natural forces may encounter a big danger hidden in the possibility of a spiritual ego appearing in that person. If they begin to see themselves as superior to others and acquire an inflated image of themselves, they say, “I am in command of powers, which I can use at my will.” Therefore, there are two categories of people. In the first one, people have a sense of superiority and the belief that they can achieve anything, that they possess considerable knowledge, and so on. Others, like the Slavs for example, search methods for resolv- ing the conflicts in life, meanwhile healing the pain in their hearts. In this respect, the Slavs are closer to Truth. So, if you wish to study esoteric science, you should, first of all, come to know yourselves. Socrates said, “Know yourself!” What is the meaning of these words? What should you know about yourselves? Do you need to know the Sublime or the basic? “To know yourself” implies coming to know the Sublime or the Divine within you; in other words, coming to know God in your inner self. When you come to know God from within, you will be able to recognize the conditions which can contribute to your spiritual growth and development and you will make the right choices. These choices give direction to your growth and development on the one hand, and on the other hand bring balance to the forces acting and operating in you. Imagine an evolving person with a well-developed mind and heart - all expect him to realize his potential. But one day something unexpected happens to him and his physical form is destroyed; nothing remains of it. What is the cause of this misfortune? The cause is the Creator who has made this form. Many people would say it was his destiny. When a potter makes a warped or a poorly-fired pot, whose fault is it? The potter himself is at fault. What does he do with such a pot? He breaks it apart, mixes it into slurry and makes a new pot - better fired this time, more beautiful and solid. Therefore, the Sublime always shatters the form of what is lowly and remakes it, sculpting it so that a more beautiful and perfect form is made. What else could be done with the failure pots, but to shatter them in order to remake and transform them into new ones - more durable and perfected?
Often the young think of themselves as being smarter than the old people and say, “The old folks have outlived their time. We will show them how they should live.” And yet, these old people said exactly the same at one time. After them, come the young who do not approve of their lifestyle and think that they can set it right. They, too, will grow old without having set their own lives right. And so, one after the other, the young generations who desire to show the old people how to live, take their turn but do not succeed. Why? It is because they too, like the old people, use the same old methods. I say: Old methods cannot resolve the fundamental issues of Life. The young need to guard themselves against repeating the weaknesses of the old. May they learn from their experience and see what they missed so that their life has become unsuccessful. There are many serious reasons for the failure of the older generation. They represent an entire history that needs to be studied.
Now, I am going to give you a topic which all should think about. It is about the best method for work. I would like everyone to make a decision about what the most mindful method for work is. Esoteric science is based upon experience and for this reason, knowledge is valuable only when it can be applied in Life. It is exactly what determines your place as disciples. When a student wants to enter a school of music to study playing the violin, he is given an instrument to play and from the way he performs, it is determined which class to join. If the student proves to be mediocre, the professor advises him to apply to another school and not waste his time.
In one of my next lectures, I am going to speak about the conscious relationships between human beings and Living Nature. But first, you should make a presentation on the following topic: “The most efficient and mindful method of spiritual work.” It is a privilege for people to express opinion on a given topic: it is an extraordinary occasion. From an esoteric point of view, the best method is the one which can be applied in real life. If a given method is not applicable, it leads astray and diverts from the purpose of one’s work, not bringing any effective results. You are not all at the same level of development, so every one of you will propose their individual specific methods for work which are applicable to their life.
Some of you are materialistic idealists, giving preference to material achievements in life; while others are idealistic materialists, giving preference to ideas. This is the main difference between all people. Idealists state that ideas create everything. Which ideas do they mean? They are not speaking about their own ideas, of course. There are ideas higher than the human ones. These are the ideas coming from the Great Divine Source.
And so, in this School, you will learn how to use the methods applied by Nature. As flowers utilize the rays of the Sun, you too need to utilize the forces of Living Nature. Then you will be able to fulfill whatever purpose you were born for. This Law has an application in the human body as well. Each organ of the human organism has a specific service. For example: legs walk and also carry the whole body weight; arms work: they grip, lift, and move various loads; eyes see, ears hear, and so on. Therefore, every organ in the human body has a specific function. In this respect, every human being represents a special part of Nature’s all-inclusive organism and, as such, it needs to fulfill its function. Those who find their proper place in Nature and understand their purpose in life, will be able to perform their mission as part of the Great Divine Organ.
Now, as students in this School, you can raise some questions which are of interest for you. But you can also raise questions which are related to your needs. For example, what is the main concern of a hungry person? Bread! A hungry person wants to know what kind of bread will be given to him: warm or cold, fresh or moldy.
If you are determined to create something of enduring value within yourselves, you must apply the same Law with respect to knowledge. As young people, you should not re-peat the mistakes of that gypsy who ate some grape leaves as a first meal followed by some bread and cheese. He went to the vineyard to work and took with him a bag with some bread and cheese for breakfast. After working for a while, he felt great hunger. He looked at the bread and cheese and concluded that it would not be sufficient to satisfy his hunger. So he picked some grape leaves and started eating them. Finally he ate the bread and cheese and told himself, “This was an excellent lunch.” No, I do not advise you to gulp first some grape leaves and then to nibble a little on esoteric knowledge. Beware of this mistake! No mistakes are permitted in spiritual work. If you make a mistake - correct it. The crime lies not in you making a mistake, but in leaving your mistake uncorrected. As soon as you become aware of it, correct it. If a negative thought comes to your mind, there is nothing bad about it. Yet, this negative thought needs to be transformed. The striving of your mind, heart, and will should be directed toward the correction of your mistakes. In this way only you will build up a character that you can always rely on.
Now, you should keep in mind the following: when students enter school, the teacher is friendly and attentive to them at the beginning. The further they progress in their studies and the more difficult the material becomes, the more demanding the teacher becomes, especially toward those who do not study well. It means that the teacher changes his attitude toward the students who do not make efforts to study.
The first thing that is required of a student is to be capable of studying. Therefore, you too need to learn and study very seriously indeed. Each science has its principles, which must be learnt and observed. Self-control is required of the young: not superficial, external, but real self-control. There are two kinds of self-control. The first one is external and superficial - whereby one’s inner balance is always disrupted. The other one is inner and deep - whereby one’s inner balance is always preserved.
I will give you an example of external self-control. A young man became engaged to a beautiful young woman who seemed to have a good heart and a good deal of self-control in her actions. Often he boasted about his fiancée to friends. One day he brought a friend on a visit to his fiancée’s home and introduced her to him. They sat and conversed for a while. Then the fiancée brought a tray with glasses of water and jam as a treat. The young man purposely tripped his fiancée to see her reaction in this situation: she dropped the tray, everything fell down - the jam and the water spilled onto the floor. The fiancée kept total self-control and presence of mind saying, “It is okay.” Calmly, she bent down and collected the glasses, wiped up the water and went out of the room. The young man turned to his friend and said, “She is an example of self-control and a noble character. She is the ideal young woman.” Yet, after the marriage, things did not go as he had expected. Once he asked her, “Where has your self-control gone?” She replied, “You should have gone to the other room to see what was going on in there. Only the timber of the furniture could tell you how angry I was!”
I say: This is not true self-control. Someone wants to open the window. He pushes it, but it does not budge. He pushes it for a second and third time, but it still does not open. He begins to get agitated and angry, so he pushes it even harder, as if it is the window’s fault. First of all, the window is not conscious and cannot understand that someone is irritated with it. You can say the same about esoteric forces. Some of them are forces of awareness, of reason, and others are only partly so. Saying that certain forces are forces of awareness means that they move in the same direction as us. By contrast, forces lacking awareness move in a direction opposite to ours. Therefore, everyone needs to know if a given force is in accordance with their individual development. In the same way, you should observe whether your thoughts, feelings, and actions keep in accordance with your development. Whenever you are aware of a certain thought or feeling, immediately check it and decide where to place it: left or right. Disciples need to learn how to sort things out by knowing the exact place of each of their thoughts, feelings, and actions. In this respect, some will succeed 25, 50, 75 percent of the time, but the most successful will do it all the time. The spiritual student should work to gradually increase this percentage and not to fall into error and delusion.
And so, after each lesson, we will proceed with the experiments; that is to say, after each lesson you will be tested - not only theoretically but practically as well. All theoretical knowledge needs to be applied in life where it will be further developed and tested. Those who want to study esoteric sciences should know that they will be subjected to certain tests and trials, which they should pass well. You would say, “We have difficulties anyway.” Yes, but now you will understand their meaning and purpose. When you understand their meaning, you will be able to use them as methods of healing. For example, someone complains of pains in different parts of his body: his hands and feet hurt, his head and back hurt, his stomach is upset too. So, the Invisible World will create from all these smaller aches one bigger pain in order to direct his mind to it and make him start the healing process. Thus he will forget about the small pains and begin working intensely in one direction. This means that the greater hardship directs one’s energy toward one center. Otherwise, a dissipation or scattering of one’s energy and concentration occurs. Nature acts in the same way. She creates a great pain for someone, within which all is healed. But you have not yet come to the “great pains.”
When you reflect upon the topic that I have assigned to you, write as little as possible, only about the essence of the idea. Each one of you will decide for himself what the best method for work is. It is of no importance for you what scientists have said on this subject. Sometimes it will correspond to your understanding, to your nature; but other times it won't. It is important to align your work not with the methods of ordinary scientists, but with the methods of Living Nature. Only in this manner will you work your way toward the essential principles of Life. Each one should apply these principles, each one should work with an individualized method. It depends on your conscientiousness, dedication to work, and your deep desire to achieve something valuable.
Many will say that they lack the favorable conditions for work. In this respect, the Americans set an example. In America, there are college and university students, who engage to work in kitchens, in various offices as servants in order to finish their college or university studies. It is good to have favorable conditions in life, but any conditions should be utilized mindfully. Even in the most difficult conditions, one can spend at least 10–15 minutes reading and studying. What hinders a housewife from focusing her mind on the Divine while she is chopping onions or cooking a meal? Both bad and good situations are set up for the purpose of placing the spiritual students in the position to cope with various difficulties. Only in this way they can grow and develop rightly.
Edited by Viktoriya
students -
The Three Lives
First Lecture of the Master Beinsa Douno to the General Occult Course, given on February 24, 1922, Sofia
Tonight there will be a Quaker meeting. Everyone will be silent until the spirit moves you.
I have called you this evening to ask you how we should use our spare time; not the time which is already occupied with engagements, but the time which is free of them. Wasted time spoils life. A good cheese maker making cheese should see to it that there will be bubbles in it empty space in it in order to be considered a good master.
One should consider one's method of work - how one should work. Which is the best method for old people? According to modern thinking, people would say that old people should take it easy. Therein lies the greatest evil. They say "He is young, let him play". And who is going to work? Old people should rest, young people should play, and those between thirty and thirty-three should do all the work. In this way the thirty-three year old will be working, the young ones dancing and the old ones resting.
You must get together and work out a programme for meetings let us say every Sunday afternoon and vote on it in a democratic way.
The first thing that I notice among you is a sore lack of harmony, which is due above all to your Sacred Egotism. As I see things, there are three ways of life. The first of them I call materialistic. Such people want to own sheep, cattle, poultry, houses, and fields, and when everything starts singing for them they would say: "Life is worth living". However, after caring for them all for twenty years they would say: "I have too much to worry about, I am tired, I should change my way of life." They would start gradually selling off their property, because they want to live a little for themselves. Thus comes the second phase of Sacred Egotism. Their wives and families, who are not aware of their motives, would worry and say, "What is our father up to? What will happen to us when he has sold it all?"
Sacred Egotism also exists in religion and spiritual life. People say, "Let us think of ourselves first. With the money we have made we could have an easy life, the way we understand it."
The third way of life, real life, is what I call Divine. It means shaking off Sacred Egotism and starting to live in perfect Love of God where the human heart and the human mind can develop in a perfect way.
What happens when we meet each other is that our interests do not coincide-you would think one way, and I another way. Whoever lives according to the first way of life would think about who owns what, measuring himself against others. In the second case we measure up as well. However, when we start serving God, there is no measuring up. There is only one way to live. Now, according to this rule, some say, "Whenever God wills". You have noticed how in the morning, when the mother would come and tell her child, "Get up dear, the sun has risen", he would answer, "Let me sleep some more". And we consider this to be a philosophy. No. This is not a philosophy at all. Thence follows the question: Has God already told us, "Get up." He has. Some would say: When the spirit moves me. Can you say for sure that the spirit has not moved you yet? It has been coming and going. Coming and going many a time. It may come again, it may knock, and it may leave again. This is a question for the old, and not for the young. The young still have time at their disposal.
In our epoch, we are seeking solutions to the difficulties and hardships of life. We must reconcile all contradictions. We must finish whatever we have not yet finished. There are two views on this matter. The animals come together to help each other. The wolves too gather in wintertime, but only in special cases, when they intend to attack cattle or sheep. The question now is: can we, whatever the conditions, whatever the difficulties, overcome and surmount them?
From a purely Christian viewpoint, one may say, "It is possible". Theoretically, yes, but practically the matter stands differently. Now I will tell you what brought this to my mind: One of our most enthusiastic friends has a very high opinion of me, thinking I can do everything. This is not true. He was attacked by neurasthenia. He called doctors and they advised him to stay in bed for forty-five days. Nothing would come out of such beliefs. This is an illusion. If your faith in God cannot help you, if, in the final analysis, your knowledge can not help you, what use is it to you? Hence a desire to work should be born within us, and above all to work according to Natural Laws, to be in harmony with God.
I have nothing against a doctor who works according to these Laws. He is welcome! If a vein bursts and a doctor comes and sews it together, this is all right. But if you have eaten radishes without chewing them well, and a doctor comes and gives you an injection, I ask you-had such a doctor recognized your ailment. I would say that you need a laxative and nothing else! The pieces of radishes must leave your body and stop bothering you any more. Many of you have swallowed such bites which have not been well chewed and believe this to be the new teaching.
No, this is not the new teaching, neither is it the divine teaching. If you knew the divine teaching, you would be saints by now. The heart of a young man in love is generous, he is inspired. Both of them are inspired, they do not differ at all. They accept things in the same way because they are in harmony.
The present teaching is a teaching of Sacred Egotism. I want you to be free of self-delusion. If you are to obtain results, you must know where the new teaching begins. It brings a certain broadening, a transformation of the way of thinking; a change sets in just as a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. The stagnation you feel is not simply your own fault; there are other reasons as well. There are backward souls throughout this world, millions of backward souls who have remained outside the evolution of humanity. They are unable to utilize the natural forces; they are beggars but very sly and cunning beggars, who take advantage of peoples' weakness. There are all kinds of them. When they come they exploit your weaknesses. For example, if you are vain and you want to become prominent, say prime minister of Bulgaria, they would start by suggesting that you are extremely capable, and that you could become one, and introduce strict legislation for the citizens. But once they push you down that path you would entangle yourself in endless trouble. Then they would tell you that you have had enough, that you are tired, and you should let others take over, while you would just stand back and contemplate the fruits of your labours. But when the others take over, they would pursue you and throw you in jail. What would be the use? What would you gain? - nothing.
In religion too one can notice the same weaknesses. They will tell you: "In occult sciences there are such and such forces that will help you achieve whatever you say, and then you will be able to walk proudly. All this is nothing but an invention of these spirits. If you look deeper into it, you will find that this is an illusion and there is nothing divine in it. I want you to learn and distinguish. I will not speak like an oracle. Looking at the colour of your faces I see that you are under the influence of these spirits. Sometimes you come to a realization and you say, "I am confused", and you say, "God, don't you see". No, it is you who should see. Nowadays we live in a epoch when we should guard ourselves against foreign influences. And all misunderstanding that exists among you is due to them. I am not passing judgment on anyone. There has not been a single rational dispute among you so how could you consider things rationally.
You should say: "Go and tell your brother he has taken the wrong path. And you should go and tell him: While these spirits advise differently. They say, "Look at him, he is a hypocrite". If he is indeed a hypocrite, his hypocrisy would manifest itself, but there must be some rule, there should be facts, there would be signs! If he is evil, then there would be additional signs. And I would like you to start sifting, sifting inside yourselves, according to this law of alchemy.
When astronomers want to observe the sky they choose still nights when the air does not stir at all. It is then that they see best. When we want to observe the weather should be right for it. If such spirits disturb your thinking your observations will be wrong. We should put our minds at peace and being at peace put our minds in contact with the divine mind within which we exist. At present we do not live within the divine mind. There should be a proper method of work among us. You should get together - two, three, or four of you, get in harmony and be able to help each other. What is the use if we walk the divine path and do not help each other? Some of you should study the laws of attunement. The older people need to be attuned. You should all the time tune yourself up. I do not mean you are out of tune.
Often, when I visit a family, the mother would say to her child, "Come on, play 'Little flower, pretty flower' for us". And I see that the "little flower" plays well. Then I go to another family and again, "Come dear, play 'Little flower, pretty flower for the gentleman'." Well, I say, enough of this. A constant repetition of one and the same thing is not knowledge but a waste of time. We say, "God is good". "God is good". Hut you must learn a new tune. After "Little flower, pretty flower" comes, "The wind blows, the mountain moans". So "Little flower..." is for the heart and "The wind blows..." for the mind. And now what is the third song children should play?
I am making these remarks because I can see that some of you think this is not yet the right path. You do not yet know what true spiritual life is. Nor have you experienced what Divine life means.
The third step we should take is to enter into the Divine Life. Forsake your Sacred Egotism, and then half of the work will be done. Reading the New Testament you will see that Christ began with small rules and came to perfection. As the Scriptures say, "Be you therefore perfect even as your Father who is in heaven".
There are proselytes, believers, and disciples. proselytes are materialistically inclined and believe in great wealth; religious people are believers, they believe in Sacred Egotism, while the disciples are in the Divine Teaching. It was them that Christ meant when he said: "Go and give away all your property, leave your father and mother". Disciples should know the law of giving. St. Paul says, "Even if I give away all my property and have no love, I am nothing". In other words one may sacrifice oneself and it may still be Sacred Egotism. In the same way, it is Sacred Egotism when we consider ourselves to be the center of the Universe. You may never express this thought but it is there, hidden in you. He who has entered into the Divine life stands so high that no one can touch him. A writer has said, "A person who abuses God is like a mosquito spitting on Mont Blanc, what trace will there be of him?" When we enter the Divine world and someone speaks out against us, it will be like the spitting mosquito, one could well fail to notice it. Spit will not remain in the Divine World for there are heavy rains in it and they will wash it right away.
At present, we have reached the point when, according to occult science, we can apply the divine rules in our real lives. Our future lives depend on this application. It is our present which will determine our future state. Whatever you do you do it for your own sake. And you should know how to do it. You should live within the Divine life, you should know what are the outstanding features of Divine Life are. This you need for your own sake.
Whenever disharmony occurs within small communities, they can easily be settled. But they can be settled only according to the Divine Rules. In religious life, Sacred Egotism helps as much as it harms; in materialistic life it gives five and takes a hundred; in Divine Life everything works out for the best.
And there is nothing better than to be in harmony with God, to feel God in yourselves, and to be in harmony with all supreme beings. When you meet a man, the divine in him responds to the divine in you and you can feel it. There is nothing better than that.
Now, I want to make an analysis. I want to sift your thoughts well and leave only the essential in them. Only one thought may remain, hut you must be sure that this thought is divine and that you can always rely on it. This is possible for all of you. Everyone can try. You don't need to be a great philosopher. You don't even need to make a great effort, but you need to know how to do it. You need to know how to apply the Divine Rules, just as you need to know the rules in music and in art. There exist rules everywhere, and those who know and apply them invariably obtain good results - but not in materialistic terms.
You should not start by trying to improve your material lives. You should start by improving the state of your minds; secondly, you should improve the state of your hearts, and finally you will be able to improve your material lives. Now you are doing the opposite and this is the reason why you get poor results. Some of you are working in this direction but are still in doubt. The balancing of your mind and faith which you attain become subjective. You should know that you have had a positive experience, that whatever you believe in has been substantiated. You should keep alive your experience. There exist two kinds of experience: the first is to be compared to the picking of a flower - later on you lose it, the second is like a flower that grows in your garden and remains living - this is what Hindus call lotus. When I speak about Divine experience, I mean the idea of a flower which is always there, growing in the Divine garden.
Now those of you who have reached a certain height must proceed a step higher. You must rise above confusion altogether. We must approach God and not expect God to approach us. "Come closer to Me, He says, so that I may come closer". You think that if you make one step higher something like a cataclysm may occur. No, this state of mind is the most pleasant one can hope for. You will be like a woman in labour. She weeps and screams, but once she delivers her child, she forgets all the sufferings right away. You may have to weep, too, but once you have delivered you will reach a state so great you could have never imagined it. Such weeping will be unusual. Courage is needed for it. It is not an easy task and yet it is not difficult either. Only in this way we may become strong.
Often enough they ask me: "Why is it that we work hard and get poor results?" It is because you have remained in the realm of Sacred Egotism. In this realm one hears questions like, "What is your faith?" In the Divine realm there is no such question. There is brotherhood, sisterhood - nothing else. If someone addresses the other with: "Sir", "Most Honoured", "Your Highness", "Your Divinity" etc., he is in the realm of sacred egotism. In the Divine realm there are only brothers and sisters. There you will feel that all people are close to your heart. In your present state you may not like some people, you may simply not be able to stand them.
Well. Now I will ask you this: Those of you who are in the realm of Sacred Egotism, are you ready to put it aside? If I ask you how many of you are proselytes, how many are believers, and how many are disciples, what would the answer be? Very few of you are ready for the Divine Life. And do you think that this is something you can vote on by raising hands? This would not be achieved by raising your hands. It would be quite easy to raise hands. If I ask you to vote on this I shall lead you into great trouble, such as you have never seen before and it would be good for you if you manage to extricate yourself.
I will give you an example I have given to young people. One of your fingers aches, the joints, too, and also the back, and you get nervous. Then a boil appears, and you say, "This is rather too much. If only the previous aches, it would have been all right!" I would say to you, "Prick the boil". We have reached the stage of sacred egotism, and God will make a big boil grow so that our Sacred Egotism can be expelled through it. We will step into the divine realm and will no longer he nervous. Now if you have to get sick, I would rather you had one real disease than many petty ones.
Now I want you to organize, to start thinking of your method of work. At present some of you may think, "When the time comes; when God speaks; the conditions are not favourable at present; we have not enough knowledge; wait until I have studied the occult sciences..." You may have studied the occult sciences, you may know the Bible by heart and be able to quote every verse in it and still remain in the realm of Sacred Egotism.
There exists at present a spirit of criticism among the Brotherhood, and you see the negative aspects rather than the positive ones. And often some of you complain to my that there used to he a time when we liked each other better, and now there is a certain coolness setting in among us. I will give you our brother Peter as an example. An old man once said, "What a husky fellow I am!" And in order to go over a ditch he ran up to it, jumped, and fell into it. Then he said, "Well, when I was young I was much stronger". However when he climbed out of it he acknowledged, "It was the same when I was young." Young or old, it is the same. Man does not change, he only grows. The impulses which he had in his youth remain. If he used to be noble of character, he will remain such. Can the wheat seed change? We are now trying to say that a religious young person has turned from wheat into barley, as he grew older.
One of the brothers asked how does the spiritual birth occur. The boil should make you deliver. I will give you the following example: A maid goes to a stinking garbage heap and starts digging in it, because her mistress has lost a diamond. Here in this garbage there is something valuable. A precious stone will always be precious. Whoever knows that will find it, clean it up, but whoever does not know will not look for it.
New birth is not a principle, it concerns only the external. The soul develops only what has been planted in it to begin with. Nothing new is added to it. Dynamite too needs a detonator to blow up. The spirit has emerged from God, what is new are the conditions providing the spirit with an opportunity to develop. The soul of the child is not part of' its mother ê soul; she would only supply the materials. We should come in contact with Divine Mind. There are many ways shown in the Scriptures and in occult sciences to restore this link, to bring about this awakening.
Now we must all come together and serve God. Some people say; let us abandon our own work to go and serve God, but they must realize that everything in the world, including their own lives, is His. Everything we possess is His. We should know that what we have now is Divine and we will begin to make the best of it in accordance with Divine Law. This is the new way of thinking.
They say, "This is my teaching". These ideas are Divine; they have existed in God and no matter who has expressed them we say: this is Divine and we apply it. It does not matter at all who expresses them. Those of you who are ready to leave your cocoons should come out and make room for others to come, because people will come and proceed in a sequence.
If we are examined - to explain our teaching: What is your faith? What is your way of life? What teaching do you hold? You are to answer briefly and clearly. For one of our next meetings I would like you to consider the practical methods of work. And let's say there will be a meeting when we will forget ourselves and become one with the Divine Mind. All of us. Can you imagine what harmony will prevail!
Now, we sit at a meeting, someone speaks and several times we look at our watches. Then, at prayer again, we look at our watches. Do you believe this to be the right prayer? The Quakers hold their meetings in complete silence. There are not too many of them, about twenty thousand. England owes its greatness to these twenty thousand Quakers. We too must work.
Now the question is whether we can consciously enter the Divine. People who grieve for something, grieve for their lost lives. Many of them see that spiritual life has not given them what they expected. Their spirits are low because their sons did not become what they expected them to be. The Divine will bring meaning to our lives for we shall aspire to it. Many of you have already experienced it to some extent. You should not have the illusion that you may enter the new life as long as you have not taken leave of your karma, as long as you have not fulfilled Moses' law. Physical life is a great illusion. We do not settle anything with it. It will be wrong if we think that we are doing something - we are not doing anything at all. There will be people who will say then let's stop working. No, no, this is an illusion too. The essence of life is to love each other. One would like to live in a society where people are razumni*. Even going to heaven, we will look for the razumnost* there. When we speak of God we have in mind what is elevated, what is razumno* (razumni (a.), razumnost (n.), razumno (a.) From Bulgarian word RAZUM (n.) - intellect enlightened by Divine Wisdom).
The meaning of life is not in all those external needs and aspirations. Life takes on a meaning when you love and are loved. This is the right and the permanent thing. All other things are only temporary illusions. This love will cross from this world into the other. You sense it whenever someone uses you. The ideal state on earth is to love each other selflessly. Without this love, physical life loses its meaning. Human love without divine love loses its meaning too. A thing will have value for us because of the friend who has given it to us. A ring from your friend is valuable to you because you love him. The day you stop loving your friend is the day when you will stop appreciating the ring which he has given to you. You love someone and for this reason you read the books he writes. What a transformation takes place!
What I have in mind when I say illusions is that we should not make food the center of life. Of course you will have food, but food is only a means. Because there will be a time when we will be able to eat without having to work. No one will work, everyone will rest. We say that without work life on earth is impossible. But work will be pleasant then. At present the physical needs compel us to work. As long as people live to work and to eat they follow a false teaching. It is not really necessary to work. This is an illusion, like the drunkard saying that he must drink. Because of such illusions the earth is covered with graveyards and bones, with misery and weakness. We have created the sense of necessity, because we have disobeyed the law which God spoke to Adam: "Here is the garden, fully arranged, but do not touch that tree over there". Nonetheless, he ate of the fruit of this tree and was thrown out of the garden.
Well then, what will happen if we begin again to obey law of God? We will live again in heaven. The human spirit will be able to go back to its primary state. It was outside the garden of Eden that men started fighting. If we did not worry about so many things, if we all accepted love and applied it in our lives, the world would become good. But not with gain in our minds. You do not believe that this will succeed. We shall work again, but there will be no blackmail. I will come and help you with the work on your field, but not for pay. As things are arranged at present one is paid to work. But we will be born again, we will leave our cocoons. You may see a contradiction here, and will say: "It is all right to believe, but nothing will be achieved by believing alone." Faith implies intelligence, one should be clever as well. A clever man will find the way, but those who have no faith have no intelligence either and will go on pushing the plough. The new culture needs many clever people. However, with the present beliefs and ideas which you have, this law cannot be applied.
We follow this method which is the natural one. There is a link between you all. In the first place, we must accept the Divine and then we will be able to achieve everything. As long as we have not accepted the Divine, all problems will remain unsolved. I will call those of you who are ready (in a special way), and you will see how many will reply. Those who answer will be answered by God too. Only in this way can a new impulse be created. You have reached a dead end. I notice that you speak only of the past and not of the future. I call old people those who speak only about their past experiences. I don't like to hear: - "I was more religious once." I say: "You talk like an old man. Leave the past alone; work for the present and for the future". Our God will never grow old. God speaks now, and will also speak in the future. The past is only a memory.
People would come and ask, "Is there any hope for me." If you believe, there is; if you don't, there is not.
There is yet another illusion. You think that you know each other, but you don't. To know someone means to love him, but not in an ordinary way. You must be ready to sacrifice everything for him. Life continuously brings new knowledge. Each day brings new knowledge. Every day and every year reveal something new. In this way we come to know God. When I speak to you about Love, I have in mind this gradual ascending state. You will not come to know love at once. This is impossible. When we speak about accepting the Divine, we may think this means giving up life. That is a misunderstanding. We will go on living in the world and we will do the will of God. We will improve this world, not materialistically, but inwardly, by improving our minds. Once we do that the world will be changed as well. Try to improve your personal relationships by introducing law and order. When you have no love you live according to the law. People today have laws but live outside them, while we will have no law and will live according to the law.
Now write down what obstacles there are to our work, so that we may overcome them reasonably. You may say that you will abide by these rules. Let two, or three, or twenty of you come together and discuss how to live according to these rules. You may say that you have been disciples for so many years already and you must have learned something? It is not enough to go out of Egypt, or to accept the laws of Sinai, for we must finally reach the land of Canaan - the Divine - and put law and order into our lives, living according to the will of God. I would like to see you give an example of a life lived according to the Divine teaching. Each of you can be an example but he must have an absolute desire to be so. I will give you such an example which will be like a tree with a ripe fruit of whom it may be said, "Here is one of the Divine teaching". Everyone can become such an example but he must have an absolute desire for it, a firm decision to fulfill the Divine. As long as you have not made this decision, everything will be against it, and when you decide you will say, "Now I forsake everything else. You may come with me if you want, if not - Good-bye!" Friends will say, "We will go with you. But there should be no doubt, no hesitation. Make your decision!
Then we will begin, not with the great things, not with many things, but with a small experiment, with the smallest in the Divine world, by simply thinking. You must keep on thinking - this is the important idea I give you. Each day you must ask yourself: Can I serve God?
On Friday, we might come together, we might keep silent, or we might discuss an important problem, because application is necessary. The good examples will come out on stage.
We will have two meetings: young people will meet from 6 to 8, and adults from 8 to 9.30. Young people will meet first. The young are those who fight in battle and the old will take care of the rear. If the rearguard not well organized it is difficult for those in the front lines to withstand attack.
Let the people of Sofia provide an example. You should work out a procedure. Before presenting their own theories, the philosophers argue against other philosophers. I use as examples the processes which occur in nature. First I sow. In the second year leaves appear. Five or six years go by, and there is still no bloom. Only after a few more years can one expect a tree to put out blossoms. It is the same with people. Some of you may even now have blossoms, not artificially, but naturally. If eight years have passed by already, you will bloom. This is possible because the conditions already exist. If, however, you are only starting to grow, you will have to wait at least two or three years. One day the blossoms will come. At present your development is not perfect, because all astral inhabitants destroy what you have built. If, at some time, your find yourself in a pleasant, state of mind, try to keep up this state of mind. Unfortunately, in only one or two hours you lose all you have gained and become poor again. It may take you a week to regain what you have lost.
It would be advisable to write down your special experiences for these lectures. Someone may come and describe what he has experienced and we shall discuss it. If he has not lost his good state of mind, it will be still with him. The main thing is that it may help create a more loving atmosphere. Your love has become pretty shallow it must be collected and aquire an inclination. In one of my lectures I will speak about the methods of love; what love is, how love may be applied; what results love can give. The way love is now described, it is only a feeling related to life, a certain good disposition. When we come to true love, it is a great experience. If the right atmosphere prevails, I will be able to speak to you about the methods of love but at present there is disharmony, and under such conditions I will never permit myself to speak about love; because love is something sacred to me. I may speak about other things and when others come after me they may speak about love. When an atmosphere for this is created, then small methods of Divine Love may be given to you. When you speak to someone about an experience of yours which is very sacred to you and you feel that it has been wounded, you will not speak of it again. Christ said that sacred work should not be given. The present love I leave the way it is. I will speak about love from an absolutely different viewpoint. And this will be only by way of explanation. Apply this love, if you wish. This love is a Divine Mind which creates all the different moods. With our thoughts we hinder the Divine which is in us, we destroy it. We must stop destroying, and start building. If your friend tells you about an experience of his and it occurs to you to tell him that what he says amounts to nothing, be careful. This is the way to harm yourself and your friend. If you remain patient to the end, you may suffer a short while, but then the kernel of joy will come to your heart.
You must have a particular aim. What for? You should have an object in life? Why do not you make God your object? If He does not exist in you as an object you can achieve nothing. If you have God as a conscious including everything, you can achieve everything. If not, you will always be a loser.
Let us say you are being hanged. You can concentrate and direct your mind with great intensity towards God and, the rope will break a hundred times and they will be unable to hang you. You may intensify the vibrations of your cells in such a way that the strongest steel will turn into dust. You do not need to be a giant to be able to do it. We wait for God to speak his will so that it will happen. No, we are the ones to speak our will so that things will happen. God says: "You too may speak and cause things to happen the way you want". But for this, we must first know how to want. When a child asks for something with love, his father would be moved and would give everything, but when a child demands of his father, he begrudges anything he may give. If we go to God with love, everything will come to fulfillment
Now young as well as old people must have hearts to learn what Divine love is. It is said: "For God so loved that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life". And you may learn to love God in a way which will prepare you to give everything to be able to come to know Him. When you do as this verse says then Divine power will come to you. It all depends on us. God has made and given the sacrifice; if we accept this sacrifice we will say this: I have also come to love God so much that I will sacrifice everything I have so that 1 may come to know God. This is a motto for you to contemplate.
When I began to talk to you, I got a cold. I interpret this to myself in the following way: I want to speak to these people, but they have a cold. I know how to cure a cold. When a man sneezes, this means that your mind is sick and you must cure your mind. All the impurity must go out from you; there should be no place for germs. Now I have the cold and you are well. I am told that if I don't manage to teach you the right way, I will have to keep this cold. I have come in touch with your vibrations and, since they are lower, I became sick. If I discontinued my connection with you I would take care of my cold in five minutes.
But it is on our side; we can already enter the eternal; we can come to know God. The following question may come up: "Don't we know God?" Christ prayed to God in Gethsemane to take from him his cup of suffering, but at the end He said; "Now I know that everything is given to me from You. This He said only towards the end. When we have experienced everything we will come to this, too. We must come to realize that everything comes from God.
Do you agree now to meet on Friday? Or will we go on meeting on Thursday? I want to say to the young people not to repeat the mistakes of the old, to be different. If they make the same mistakes they will not be different from them, but they must be special.
Because I still have my cold, I don't want to decide upon this question. In general, we should not speak that much. Large cannons are rarely used. Great deeds are rarely striking.
At these meetings you must learn to attune yourselves, to be able to vibrate. This is the good side. Sometimes the external world exhausts you and you need several hours of rest. -
From The Truth
In Egypt
"Now, they having departed, behold, an Angel of the Lord appears in a dream to Joseph, saying: Arise, take the child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be there until I tell you: for Herod will seek the child to destroy him." (Matthew 2:13)
There are two outlooks on life, i.e. two outlooks exist only among people, while among the animals - among the fish, among the birds, among the mammals - and among the plants, there is only one outlook. As soon as we come to man, we find two outlooks on life, and this is why man is called "chovek" [bulgarian for "man"]; while this word originally means: "a creature of contradictions". Because the whole philosophy of things is contained in this - in the contradictions [1]. In order for a creature to begin thinking, it has to come upon a contradiction. This is [really] a fact - it is psychologically true. Those children who do not come across contradictions are not able to think; also those adults for whom everything is in plenitude [they, too] are not able to think. Plenitude, in the full sense of the word, means that the heart has all the riches [possible], and [thus] such people are not able to think. They have a single outlook: it is the outlook of the fish, the birds and the animals. Only when we [come to] feel a certain contradiction within life, only then do we begin to think. Contemporary philosophers explain these contradictions in one way; religious people explain them in another way; the people of the practical life, they, too, have their own way, according to which they construct their explanations. Religious people ascribe all contradictions to sin. They say that some being fell somewhere - they do not know when, thousands of years ago - this being had envied man. And, therefore, this spirit - they call him a demon who tortures them - he is the one who has introduced all contradictions. And for whatever happens in religious life, who is to be blamed? - Always this old devil. A murder happens somewhere, treachery, money is stolen, women, an outbreak of war, they say: "Where did this devil come from? He is the cause"; i.e. we view life subjectively. With a single stroke - this is it, a philosophy, this devil is to be blamed for everything. The philosophers, however, find the contradictions in the very matter itself, in the forces, in this mechanical construction of the Universe; while the practical people say: this devil - these are the economic conditions - the "bite" [2]. This "bite", if it is not, then there is nothing, but if this "bite" is there, it creates all [possible] benefits. And according to them, this, the best thing - the "bite", it creates all the contradictions and - the worst evils. And I think that they are much closer to the truth that the religious people. Yes, the "bite" is, according to their philosophy, the cause of evil. They say thus: "for people to sin - this is implanted in man already with the first bite [3] which entered the mouth." And they are right, because Eve, who was chaste, pure, when she took the first bite of the "bite", she, as well as everyone, became corrupt. These are their arguments. I support neither of them, but I [simply] state things as they are. And, therefore, during our existence on the Earth, life is either rational or irrational; either everything is strictly mathematically defined, or all this is a coincidence, a possibility, a probability. These two outlooks exist now. Those who hold the latter outlook say: everything is by chance - people are born by chance, they eat by chance, get married by chance, fight by chance and die, also by chance; someone has lost money or gained it - still by chance. But the others say: everything is strictly determined, nothing is by chance. You have to eat, because there are causes for this. That the causes are rational, there is no doubt. You yourself create all the troubles upon your head: you want more money, yet, when you take them, someone else also wants to have more money, and [so] they beat you because of the money. Thus you cause all your troubles - to get beaten. While the contemporary technicians and engineers, or materialists, say: when a force meets a resistance on its way, friction is always created and a fire explodes. Therefore, in this case money, or all the benefits, are all counteractions, and, when the energies which function within us meet these counteractions, an explosion is immediately generated. Now, someone may ask if this is true. It is true. Let the wife [4] put her hand in her husband's [5] purse - he has 10 thousand levs and she takes them away from him - the husband will immediately shout: "Where is my money?" The balance is lost - [as it turns out] the money was at the bottom of the ship, they were the ballast of the vessel, and it was in equilibrium. But the wife - without understanding this law of the ballast - takes it away from the bottom of the ship and, [naturally], the husband stands up and says: "Where is the ballast?" - But I need it. - "But do you know that we may sink?" And so, arguments often happen in the world because of this ballast - sometimes they are pleasant, and sometimes unpleasant; sometimes they are settled in a friendly manner, and sometimes they are settled according to the method of Don Quixote or according to the method of Sancho Panza [6]. That is, do not think that Sancho Panza was much more clever than Don Quixote, but he was a practical man, he had an intimate knowledge of life, while Don Quixote was an idealist, he understood life ideally, but he did not understand it practically; and [so] we laugh when reading, but both Sancho Panza is right and Don Quixote is right. And the contemporary world is full of Don Quixotes and Sancho Panzas. This is not an insult, I am [simply] stating a fact. If you enter the schools, you will find many programs which are arranged according to the ideal of Don Quixote, there is nothing practical there; other schools have a practical orientation, but they lack the idealistic. And so they argue. When Don Quixote comes, he will apply his laws. First of all, he will start with God - he puts up a sign: religion must be taught first of all - the Law of God [7], and then all other things. Sancho Panza comes: "Down - he says - with this sign! This is not modern, what is needed is what is practical, people have to live - to eat, [some] "bite" is needed. Once we have eaten, then we will think of the Lord". And Sancho Panza reasons thus: first of all, for a man to think, he must have eaten. Is a hungry man able to think? And Sancho Panza says: "The hungry man will think of stealing, but the sated man will think of some philosophy". Now, contemporary people will say: "We are neither Don Quixotes, nor Sancho Panzas". I am glad that you are like this. But you should marry Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, and a child should be born, it will be the 'third' one and it will have the outlooks of [both] Sancho Panza and Don Quixote. Out of these two unified outlooks you will have something new. And the world asks "how will Salvation be brought about?". - Through marrying Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. These are symbols: Sancho Panza may be a man, he may also be a woman. Everything may be a man or a woman, that is to say, with respect to form. But the one who wrote "Don Quixote" has made him male. Why? And Sancho Panza, he is male as well, with respect to form. But Don Quixote fights because of his beloved, for the sake of his Dulcinea. The woman [as such] is a cause for him to manifest his heroism. Whatever endeavors he undertakes - a [certain] beautiful woman is on his mind. For her sake he is ready to sacrifice his life. And Sancho Panza also believes in his master, but he has quite a different outlook. He tells Don Quixote: "When you conquer your kingdom, give me some land, so that I may cultivate it and sustain my children." This is why Don Quixote is lean, of tall stature, with long, lean hands, a long and slender nose, sharp eyes, and a straightened forehead; while Sancho Panza - he is a shortish man, around 145 cm, he is like a keg, has short hands, fingers - very thick at the base, thickish lips, thickish nose. When he sits at the table to have a bite, he smiles like a [bright] Moon and says: "This is the meaning of life!" Now, if contemporary people, who criticize, can see only this - the comical [element] - in a novel, in a play, then they have not understood the loftier meaning; contemporary people are not people of ideas, they are people of fanciful-experiences, but not learned people. Someone has read some book, he imagines himself as a duke or an earl, but this is not enough - you need to have the blood of this duke. Therefore, ideas are something which we have to acquire in the world. And these ideas are given only through the contradictions. The law of evolution requires contradictions as a necessity. This is a law [applicable] only for the human kingdom. In the other kingdoms there is no sin - sin only exists in the human kingdom; and all those beings which are directly or indirectly connected with the people, they are all contaminated by sin. The only sinful beings in the world are the people, there are no other sinful beings. All other beings live their lives in peace and love, and understand God - only people do not understand Him, and think that the whole world is upside down. Judges, philosophers and scientists wish to make out that sin penetrates the whole Universe and they call this "world gloom" [8], and they ask themselves: why does this sin exist? Here is what I liken these writers to: in South America there is certain desert, and when the travelers walk there they raise so much dust around themselves that they are not able to see anything and think that the whole world is [made up] only of haze, even though the dust extends only 200 metres around them. [similarly], this philosophy projects the sin onto the other worlds as well, but there they live very well, as I [myself] know. They will say: "Prove this with [scientific] data [9]". And I will say: you must also prove [your claims] with [scientific] data. I can [indeed] prove with [scientific] data, I am able to prove mathematically, to debate with mathematicians.
In the human body, given a certain form, I can prove that sin is bounded within a certain space of the Universe. And they will see that this is so. But this is a detached mathematical question and if I were to decide to prove this, do you know how this matter would turn out? A famous violinist went to Paris, he gave several concerts there and succeeded in winning the sympathies of all. Before leaving, one evening, he wanted to give an outstanding concert so that they would remember him, so that the papers would write that he played something beautiful. Unfortunately, however, he started to play a very long aria, for several hours, so that when the listeners became tired they began to leave one by one and at last only the attendant was left with the key; the violinist, full of inspiration, continued to play. The attendant went to him and said: "Sir, please, I have to sleep, take this key and when you finish your piece, close the theater". And I find the contemporary philosophers to be like this violinist: some come out and speak so much that we tell them: "Now then, take this key, and when you finish your dissertation, close your theater, because we are going to sleep". And especially the Bulgarians, they do not like long dissertations very much. The Bulgarian is practical: "Tell me in a couple of words what you want to say. Is there a Lord or is there no Lord? Is there an "other world", or is there no "other world", and do not stretch things out. I do not have time, I have to attend to the field. Is there a Lord or not? If there is not, I am heading for the field to plough. If there is a Lord, I will go to serve Him; but if there is not, I will work for myself." This is how he resolves the issue. "Is there an "other world" or not? I am asking you to tell me". And after you tell him that there is an other world, the Bulgarian says: "Have you been there? Have you seen it? Have you experienced it?" And when you tell him that you have visited the other world, he will say: "Really, is it possible to visit the other world, amazing!, then I will go as well!" He is very practical, he wants to try, he is ready to do everything, but if he senses that you lied once, then the matter changes.
There is a God, because in the world Love exists. And there is an other world, because there is this world. And the other world and this world, they are one and the same world. When you speak about "the other world", you speak about a world you do not understand, while when you speak about this world, you speak about a world you do understand. Therefore, the world I do not understand, I call - the other world; and the world I do understand, I call - this world. There is the other world, which we do not know, while this world is the world which we [do] know. Therefore, we call the known physical, whereas we call the unknown spiritual. But what is the physical and what is the spiritual? The physical world is the manifested world, while the spiritual world is the unmanifested world. When I say "unmanifested", it does not mean that it does not actually exist, but only that this world has not taken form for our feelings yet - it has taken form for our conception only; it is beyond our feelings and we call it - spiritual world. And this spiritual world is the cause of everything that happens on the Earth. And, if you wish, you may do any experiment you like. You say: "I believe [10] that I am a master of myself, I have will, I am able to do anything I like". But you are not able to do whatever you like, you can only do whatever you are ordered, like a soldier on the battlefield: you will shoot, because you are ordered to. You are a priest - you serve in the Church because you are paid; you will serve, the people want it. You say: "I am free to serve or not". No, you are not free: whoever has taken the vows is not free; whoever is a preacher is not free. And given this, we boast that we are able to think. Only free people are able to think, while people who are not free - they [merely] repeat things. And, therefore, contemporary people repeat time and again, they recite, in my opinion, excellent declamations: "Green you are, my forest, you savor of the air of youth, but in my heart you rouse only sorrow and regretful-truth" [11]. Ah, an excellent poet, he recites excellently. "I," someone says," believe in the triune God". It is a declamation. "The Lord exists" - you recite; "I am Bulgarian" - you recite. "But I am learned" - you recite, nothing more! You are Bulgarian, your father, your mother are Bulgarian, you were born among them - you recite. Will you tell me then, what is the Bulgarian blood? By what is this blood distinguished? Some say, that I cannot reason. Today I will reason philosophically and very objectively. Those learned chemists, naturalists, have they analyzed the Bulgarian blood, and by what it is different from the English blood etc.? Where are their tables and calculations? What is the Bulgarian blood like? I wish to see it, to see the results from it. What is its distinction? When some naturalist speaks of a certain seed, he has to describe not only the external form and signs, but also the internal ones, and even what results each single seed may produce. You have Bulgarian blood. What is your blood like? Not only have the Bulgarians not defined what its distinction is, but also the Englishmen, they also say: "I am English, English blood flows in my veins" But their chemists have also not defined what their blood is. What is its distinction? Bulgarians, English, French, Russians, Americans assemble and say: "Bulgarian blood flows here". The Englishman, he also says: "English blood flows". Always Bulgarian, Russian, American blood flows, but what is the blood [like] there? All people speak using unknown numbers, with suppositions. And therefore, I consider them, I say: those Bulgarians recite excellently, and the Germans, the English, the French and the Americans, all recite, but they do not yet think. The theosophists define that man is "manas" - a creature, which thinks. Yes, the first people, who came to the Earth, who created the Earth, thought; but those which stayed on to govern it, they ceased to think.
Now, sometimes I see that when I am giving a lecture, some will take a passage out of it and will say: "He corrupts the Bulgarian people". Well then, tell me the elements of my corrupting speech, the element which changes life. Good. I have nothing against being criticized, but let those critics be rational critics. Let them prove what the elements of this corruption are. According to our understanding, corruption {razvrashtenie}, "to unbolt {razvartam}" [12], this means: if on a wheel where all bolts are tightened, you loosen {razvartash} them, you are causing corruption {razvrashtenie} and those people who are in the car may fall. I ask you, please tell me: on what car of yours, which bolt have I loosened? Who are the witnesses? I am prepared to listen. Say: - On the rear wheel, on such and such a place, you have loosened the so and so bolt, and I will admit that I have corrupted and that there was a danger for the people to fall. I use the word "loosen" in a very mild form. And everyone must think, and I would like all of you who listen to me [now], likewise, to think very soundly and not to recite. "I believe in God" - this is not belief, this is declamation. Are you prepared to die for this Lord, in whom you believe, to sacrifice yourself, to give away all your wealth? For your wife, for your children, can you die for them? This is conviction; although it is a delusion, it is still an ideal, people find meaning in it. That man [who does this] is a hero, he dies for an idea. But you, the zealous believer, who believes in the one triune God, but are not prepared to give a single hair of your beard, allow me to have doubt in your faithfulness. We must reason correctly: do we think or not? You should know, is Bulgarian blood flowing in your veins or is it not flowing, and from where does this Bulgarian blood take its beginning. Does not every river have its own source? From where does the Bulgarian blood take its beginning, and where does the English blood take its beginning from? I will be glad, let them tell me where from the source of [all these] things begins. And there is a significant difference in the blood of the [different] people. I will be sincere.
What color does this Bulgarian blood give to the Bulgarian face? - Blackish, it means that in the Bulgarian blood carbon predominates primarily, or the carbon energy, which compels him to keep close to the Earth, that is why he is a ploughman, a gardener, a shepherd. While in the blood of the Englishman, hydrogen predominates, the hydrogen energy, that is why he is a merchant, he sails everywhere across the sea, his people are all over the world. Yes, I say, there is more water in the blood of the Englishman. And if you wish to befriend the Englishman, give him good water to drink. But if you wish to befriend the Bulgarian, give him a piece of land, he will remember you, he will say: "He gave me very good land". And so, the Bulgarians became Bulgarians when carbon prevailed in their blood; the English became English when hydrogen prevailed in their blood. These are energies within Nature. But one day these energies will change. And the Bulgarian of today will change, something new will come out of him and he will not be called Bulgarian anymore. And a time will come when the English will also change. They will not be called English. They will be called something new. And the Bulgarians and the English of our day will remain in the archive, to be studied like an ancient thing - how they manifested themselves in the past. And so, we all must turn back and start to think and to reason, at first about ourselves - and not to occupy ourselves with other philosophies. First of all we must occupy ourselves with the mighty philosophy of our body, with those great causes which have started to act from the beginning, with the causes which have created the hand. The hand is not complete yet. What had Nature thought when she created the eye, the ear, the human mouth, the tongue, the nose, what is the significance [13] of all these organs? What is their designation? Is the only purpose of the human tongue to simply roll the food? Of the tongue in the mammals, people think that it has a sole purpose - to roll the food. In reality, however, the tongue has three tasks: not only to pass the food to the throat, but also to taste, to distinguish between foods, and the third task is to speak and sing. These are all tasks of the tongue. I will ask now, if Nature has set these organs [in place], what did she initially think? You do not have any memories of this. You see that you have a tongue, that you have eyes; but [of] how these eyes have been created, how this tongue has been created, your ear, the brain, you have absolutely no conception at all. And if I were to ask some one of you: do you know how many nerves there are inside the human body? how many nerves through which the body functions? They are 700-800 million separate little nerves, with which this great kingdom exists. There are so many wires through which all the possible energies in Nature function and the perceptions occur. Do you know how many days you need to read them? Just you put some effort to read 1,000,000 and then calculate how many years it will take you to read 800 million. And do you know how long it took Nature, and how many millions of beings have worked for these wires? Do you know what these electricians of the invisible world, who put this installation inside your body, were like? And someone stands and says: "Splendidly and fearfully is Man created." But how was all this created? The prophet wrote: "splendidly and fearfully" he thinks, but with what does he think? Yes, fearfully, 800 million wires, there are little long ropes [...?], do you understand [14]? And do you know that if they were to put you in some factory to make these wires, and you were to pay [for this], even 10 billion would not be enough. Some of them are so thin, that the manufacturer will say: It is not possible to make such thin wires in our factory". But if you attend a special expedition to go to the Sun, Mars, Saturn or somewhere else, to make this installation and to return... have you thought about this excursion [15]? When an engineer from the invisible world comes to make an invention, he works, [he] returns to the Earth, you will wait for a long time and [then] you will [finally] hear: on such and such a place new wires have appeared. And when we examine the brain of the lower creatures, [we see that] in the front part of the brain there are white nerves [which are still] in an embryonic state, while in man they are long [and developed], and through them the human thought manifests and functions. Do you know from which factory they were made? Some want to convince us that they are made in the brain. Nature has prepared these particles from far-distant spaces, and then they are carried over to the Earth by means of four types of energies: I am now substituting the Hindu terms with ours - carbonic, hydrogenic, nitrogenic and oxygenic energies.
I take the word hydrogen - it signifies those energies which are connected with the hydrogen atom. And there are much deeper causes {prichini} for a given atom to be a carbon atom or a hydrogen atom, than contemporary chemists think. There are completely different reasons {prichini}, upon which we are not going to dwell, these are fields which we will think about in the future. This is a grand, profound science. These energies were carried-through in parts, and then that Great Installer came and began to place this installation, and your brain began to work, and you - to think. So, in order for some of these wires to be manufactured in the Angelic factories, it costs 10 billion levs in gold; these wires are only 2-3 millimeters long and very thin. And when you sit back and say: "This head, why did the Lord give it to me, [it would have been] better if He had given me money!" - My friend, you have in your head a small wire, 10 billion are spent on it, not banknotes, but gold - effektiv [16], so that you would think. And you, who now recite, you say: "Why has the Lord given me these abilities, these talents, when I cannot show my worth [17]?" It is comical, for the son to accuse his father: "Why has my father bought me a violin and a bow, when I cannot play [a musical instrument]? I want to play [some game]". Your father has hired an excellent teacher, he has bought musical scores for you and everything [else besides], you only need to play [(on the musical instrument)]. And now the contemporary people who recite say: "These things are very deep. If we begin to think, our heads will fly off [18], and, therefore, because our heads will fly off, we must not think. And anyone who dares say anything, he is a heretic, he is a liar - he deceives the people". Oh well, tell me then, in what do your truths consist? I do not mind, but when we say "liar", this is a very strong word. What does "lie" {laja} or "lick" {lija} stem from in Bulgarian [19]? I would like some of you, if there are any philology students from University here, to be so kind as to ask your professors: the root of the word "lie", where did it stem from, and is that root purely Bulgarian, is it Slavic, or is it a word which originates from some older language; and what is its archetypal root - you will do me a great favor. You lie, this means, that you do not speak the truth. Good. But define for me then what kind of thing the truth is. If we speak of the truth and the lie we should define them as two values [20]. By what do they differ? Truth, when it enters man, introduces an element of courage. When one knows the truth about a given idea, he is ready to die for it. While the lie, when it enters man, makes him cowardly. Therefore, anything that makes people cowardly is a lie: this is so according to logic. Anything which makes man cowardly contains a lie within itself; but anything which makes man courageous and decisive, to think and reason, draws him closer to the truth. It is so in practice. Does that, which I speak to you, make you cowardly? If it makes you cowardly, then I am telling you a lie. But, if what I speak to you makes you courageous, decisive and happy in life, then I am speaking the truth to you. And then, who speaks the truth and who speaks the lie? And you should not only be encouraged for a single moment. No, no. I can give you a little wine, you become courageous and say: "Do you know who I am?" But then, when you become sober, you say: "I myself do not know who I am". In the truth such changes do not exist, there you will know yourself better, you will always be courageous. And therefore, the truth presupposes that it is without changes and brings light within itself. And for all those plants which are strong and healthy, this is how I can determine their strength - [i.e.] that they have been under the influence of the sunlight; but those flowers in the cellar are very fragile, because the sunlight was lacking for them. And so, truth makes things flexible and pliable, while the lie makes them fragile and unstable.
Now, you will ask me a question: what happened there with your verse 13? But of course, this number 13 is fatal, I am speaking precisely about the number 13. It means - "does this man think now ?". Joseph is the man who thinks and reasons.
"And take his mother" - mother, this is the contradiction which impels us to think. While in Hebrew, the letter M signifies death. So then, death is associated with two processes in Nature. One which destroys, and the other which builds-up. You cannot build-up if you have not destroyed something. These two processes work simultaneously in Nature, and through them thought occurs. And from all metamorphoses, life and death originate. Mary is the woman, who passes through, demolishes and purifies everything. She gave birth to a child and spoiled the affairs of people, and this child has created for them a whole misfortune. And do you know how many people died because of this child? The inquisition alone has scorched 50 million such people. And what about Nero, the Roman emperor, how many people did he kill? And now how many people have passed away at the battlefields [21]? So then, Mary, who gave birth to a child, brought great trouble upon men. Therefore, she wishes to cleanse, to uproot everything, and to plant something new; so when Christ came, the Angel told him: "Go to Egypt". Egypt is the physical world. This child, in order for it to understand the world, must go to Egypt to study [22]. What is the Earth for? The material world, the physical world, is a world [made] for science. And when you are being expelled from somewhere, the Lord tells you: "You have to go to Egypt, to learn", and when you return again, you will know how to reason about those things which Nature has created. And if you ask me: "Why are we on the Earth?", I will tell you - to study. In every learning there is suffering, but learning itself is not suffering, it produces suffering; whereas suffering is like a foundation for us to be able to learn certain things. Therefore, we are in the physical world to study. Very well! What should we study? They say: "I am Bulgarian", over there someone else will say: "I am Serbian". And then those philologists of the Serbians will say: "You should consider the Bulgarians enemies, because they hinder your nationality". And the Bulgarians will also say: "You should despise the Serbians, they hinder your Bulgarian culture". And [both] the ones and the others pray in the name of God, they appeal to this Lord, as though this Lord does not know His work and is in need of being taught by them. The Serbians, those faithful fathers of a nation, say: "You, Lord, do You not want to know what You are doing with us?" And the Lord, after casting a look from above says: "These very learned children of mine have become excellent philosophers, they have divided themselves into Bulgarians, Serbians and so on and think that their games are so serious that I, too, should come to play with them. But you may play thousands of years and one day, when you grow wiser and cease being Bulgarians and Serbians, I will come to set you in order." These words are not mine, Christ had taught the same teaching. And Apostle Paul says: "In Christ there are neither Judeans, nor Hellenes, nor Scythians, nor slaves". Therefore, all these contradictions have originated from reciting: we do not think, we repeat, we always declaim and declaim, until this declamation is lost. But the time has already come for thought as well - for serious thought. The declamation has worn out and become meaningless. An assessment commission is coming, they do not want declamations. They give you an exercise, solve it now, they throw away the sleeves [23] and there will not be any classmates which will give you a cue; I want you to reason seriously. Everyone knows this way, he looks up the sleeve and says "I know" - he speaks, he answers [24], ... but when they take him [the capable student] to the blackboard - only the capable students work on the board while the incapable ones gulp - he begins these formulae, develops them and reasons mathematically; while those who do not know, look at the teacher, and say: "Tell us something". But he is far away, because there is a commission; this commission has come into the world and will call each of you to the blackboard - there is no declamation now, you must solve the exercise. This is why when I say that the time of the declamations has run out, I would like this time to continue, but the Lord will call you to the black board, He will give you an envelope [25] and there will be no one around you. There, at the board, you will perspire a bit. And, when you leave this commission, it will tell you either that you know how to think, or that you only know how to declaim. It will report in the invisible world, it will say: "Reverend such-and-such, he is an excellent preacher, but does not know how to think." "Mr. so and so, Ivan Draganov, an excellent professor, with a degree in astronomy; another, Ivan Stoyanov teaches biology, but does not know how to think". "Dragan Stoyanov, teaches philosophy, but does not know how to think". All recite, but do not know how to think. Thus the commission decides from above: "They do not know how to think". What do they do? - [they] recite. They are excellent children of the declamation, who pass for professors.
And so, the Angel says: "Take your son and his mother and go to Egypt to study [26]". And this Angel now comes and says to you: "Off you go to Egypt". And you will sigh about Jerusalem. But this Jerusalem is a place for sacrifices, while in Egypt there is wisdom, order and harmonious-construction [27]. And why did the Lord lay waste to Jerusalem? There the Jews began to make so many sacrifices, that the temple began to smell of blood. And the Lord said: "Tear down this temple, I do not want blood. I want people to think, to serve with their mind, with their heart, with their soul". And today this Lord is coming, and if contemporary people do not learn, He will say the same to them as well, and all the temples will be destroyed [just] as the temple of Jerusalem [was torn down], and He will send everyone to Egypt. It will happen thus all around the world, everything will be destroyed. "Eh" you will say now, "prove this!" I will send you, when the temples are ruined, I will send you to see them, and I will tell you: See them! Is it true? - "Why did this happen?" - Because you did not think, you did not fulfill the Will of God but followed your own will. You did not study, but you said : "You lie". When someone comes to speak the truth, you wish to get rid of him. The lie tears down, while the truth builds-up. But, if I were the first to speak the truth, I tell you: "You are fortunate people, I respect you". Well, let me see your culture, let me see your prisons, your churches, schools, your wives, your maidens and lads, how you live in your homes. I would like to draw a lesson from your lofty moral {moral}. I am ready to make the visit now. Do you have this morality {moral}? If you were so clever, where do these debts of yours come from? You have more than 20 billion to [re]pay. You have more than 10-15 ministers killed on the streets like dogs. Where is this from? And is this the only thing? I am valiant enough to tell you the truth, and I do not wish you evil, you must not be mistaken; but this is not Bulgarianism, this is barbarism. And when the Western nations wish to define the Bulgarians, they say: "You are barbarians", and to a certain extent they are right. The Bulgarians are barbarians, whereas the Western nations make their appearance after [their time of] barbarianism . Now, let us resolve the problem for ourselves. Can you solve the problem? Because the Bulgarians as individuals do not exist. This is a collective unit [constituted] from many [single] units. Now I will tell you: are you able to love? "Well", you will say, "now you have touched [upon] our heart, how warm it is!" I am glad, indeed I am glad, this is what I wish - love, but I say, on your love, on this fire, is it possible to forge something useful, is it possible to spin a thread? Or is it possible for fruits to ripen upon your love: apples, plums, pears? Now you will say: "Now we are in trouble". What [...]? Yes, when fruits begin to ripen from the rays of your heart, then the world will be set right. This is possible - upon the human heart the best apples can grow. Upon the love from above the best pears and cherries grow. And, when I speak in this way, some say: "This language is very enigmatic". It is not enigmatic, because if you begin to study the human body, you will see the whole of Nature - man is a microcosm; whatever occurs in the whole Universe, the same occurs in man. In man everything ripens: apples, pears, cherries, grapes! Therefore, these pears and apples of yours do not ripen from the sunlight, but from your love, so that whoever tastes may say: "This man has excellent grapes".
"Arise!" says the Angel, "take the child and his mother and go to Egypt". Egypt, this is the body, here the worms will eat it. And the body of the one, who does not know how to reason, the worms will come to teach him how to reason [28] . If you have not studied your stomach, you say: the stomach is just a paunch which the Lord will destroy. The brain is useless, this is not needed, that is not needed. The religious people say that it is also possible [to live] without a body. The secular people, they also go to another extreme. The religious people are Don-Quixotes. I do not wish to offend you, you will excuse me. Such is the train of thought. We will live for God, we will not blemish ourselves like Don Quixote. Don Quixote lives in his mind for his Dulcinea alone. And Sancho Panza reasons that he needs to eat, trembles over his body when something pains him, and says: "Dear doctor", and there is lamb-kin, and turkey-poult: "Man can only live with this". He is a practical man: he thinks that his stomach is a mill, thus far he has come, that he has to mill. When you tell the unsober man to drink water, he says: "Wine is created by God for us, while water is for the frogs". Sancho Panza says thus. Can you prove to me that the Lord has created wine? I know that water is created by God, while wine is from men. The Lord has created the grapes, but the wine is yours. Therefore, you recite, you do not think. And then they will take this wine, they will make it to be "Christ's blood". But the wine which should pour [out] from our tongue, this is the rational word. Man must not lie. Do you understand? When I speak, my heart hurts for you, when I see that you create all your misfortunes yourselves. And when I speak, I have the whole desire that you do not suffer. Salvation is before you. You need only make a semicircle, and you will change your front. This always happens when man is weighed down. And when you say: "I am in great trouble", I say: make a semicircle and the good fortune [29] will come. You say: "How many circles we have done!" You will set out in such a direction, towards the North and towards the East, and then you will put everything in. But you will say: "To the North? Don't you know that it is cold there? And from the East the Sun rises, what will I seek there? I will go South and West". I say: until now all your misfortunes have been created in these two places, and, because warmth is produced in the South, while the West creates density, the matter has become so dense, and the fire which penetrates into this matter has become so strong, that you torment yourself. Go towards the Truth - go East and North, this fire will diminish and rarefy and warmth will form, in which your fruits may ripen. Now you will tell me: "Can you prove this?" Well then, you will come with me, we will hold each other hand-in-hand, you will think the way I think, [and] you will feel as I do, and if within a year you do not see the results of my science, then you may say something, but until a year has passed you will say nothing. Someone says: "I think" - My friend, until now you have not thought. Your wife has commanded you - if you are a man, of course. On the street, when you walk and go to the left side, the policeman tells you to move to the right: "Go back, it is not allowed here". But you say: "I reason, I have the will to go back [or not]" [Yet] you will go back, what else can you do? Now, because there are legitimations, you say: "I will not go out, I am not disposed". No, no, you are not free, [because] you have a certain fear, you think of what the policemen have issued, but you do not think about the Divine legitimation: it has not come to your mind to live according to God - a pure, moral and exalted life. You say: "Now we are young, let us live a little, so that when we grow old, then we will pray all day long". But show me a single old man who prays to God. Not a single one. No, no, the young generation must be spiritual, not only with placards. To these young people we have to clarify the profound laws, why one should live in a free and spiritual way and not otherwise. Let them make an experiment. This is not a reproach. Make the young generations think, give them freedom to think. But the old ones say: "Son, do not try to get to the root of things, become, rather, a [proper] man". How will you become a [proper] man? If you are a clerk, turn and put your hand in [the money-case] when the Lord is asleep, take the money and then you will do a small good [deed] - you will aid the orphans and the Lord will forgive you. And do you think, that the son will then say: "this is morality?" Is it with such a religion that you wish the young generation to enter the Church? No, the young generation needs another religion, a religion of truth, a religion which makes these young people courageous and decisive. But the modern-day maidens and lads, they commit suicides and say: "There is no meaning in life". Why? - Because the lie has crept into their blood, it has made them fragile, they do not find any meaning and say: "I do not want to live" And then in the Universities the students listen to lectures, in the high schools they study, but among these young people you will not find a single student who reasons soundly - the threads in their brains have been torn, their minds have been stupefied. The young generation needs fresh, crystalline thought, Divine thought, which will give expanse for their souls to fly off, to walk through space, to have energy, to think and to think seriously. Therefore, this is what is needed and what is given to you: instill the truth into your soul and when this truth is instilled in the social life, we will be able to fix it far sooner with knowledge, than without knowledge. When a car breaks, it is not philosophers that are required, but workers; when a building is erected, tradesmen are needed; when a man is killed, a mother is required to return him back to life. Do you know now what the [true nature of the] mother is? When you become a mother, you have to give birth, to nurture and bring up a child. But now the mothers misguide their daughters. They speak to them about fashions, about hats, about this, about that, but not a word about the essential things. Maidens and lads join in marriage, the maiden thinks and the lad thinks, but when it comes to the adversities of life, how will they learn? The mothers say: "You will also learn, as we learned by ourselves". It is not so. The modern-day maidens and lads should know the meaning of life, how the human body is created, what the obligations of the mother, of the father, of the teacher are. And not just according to form but also according to essence. Everyone must know their obligations and fulfill them most conscientiously for the good of the neighbor. And there is no need for us to judge ourselves. This Angel says to Joseph: "Arise! take the child and his mother and flee from Jerusalem". That is, flee from this modern civilization, which has perverted every thought, which is condemned: it has deprived people of individuality and has made them uniform. There is an occult story about someone who went to study the science of the East and, who knows how, he fell among some blind adepts: the eyes of all of them were sunken. They caught hold of him, examined him everywhere with their hands: "Everything is like it is in us, only his eyes are not like ours. We have to become equal". And they began to press his eyes, so that they may become like theirs. And in the very thing with which man can find the way, they have put their fingers: "To become alike". And they say: "We want to make these people equal - their eyes have to sink in". The Lord has made our eyes properly. When the Bulgarians say "sunken eyes", they understand what this means very well [30], while of the religious people, when their eyes sink in, they immediately say: "He has become righteous". When a man loses everything - wealth, wife, children - his eyes will sink in, whereas if everything follows its normal course, his eyes protrude. Our eyes must be such as the Lord has created them. They should not sink in. And I am also against sunken eyes. If your eyes begin to sink in, it means that you have not become saintly yet, but have an ailing state, and soon enough you will depart from this world, without having understood why you have come here. Now you should know a sublime law: [you should] have clear thoughts and [you should] understand why your bodies have been created. Have you ever stopped to say: "These hands, why are they sometimes dry?" You have pain in your abdomen, you will call a doctor and he will make a diagnosis. No one has understood the cause yet. The doctor cannot know the cause. And if your hand hurts, do you know what the hand is saying? "My lord, I am sorry that you have used me for many things, but for that which is essential, for which I am intended, you have not used me" And you will look like that boy, which, when his father bought him a violin and a bow, started beating his sister with the bow and broke the bow. He does not play [on a musical instrument], but beats. You also sometimes say: "Beat him up! The hand has been created to thrust". No, the hand has not been created [for you] to beat and thrust. This hand is created for you to play [a musical instrument]. This is its purpose. Have you played [a musical instrument] with it? - "No". You have not understood the meaning of life. Your hand is made to wipe the tears of one who is crying; it has been made to give food to one who is hungry; it has been made for that man who is perishing, so that you may save him with your hands. Did you understand me? Are you going to recite or to think? Tell me now: are you going to recite? If it is a matter of declamation, I also recited this morning. And the first thing I did was to recite: "Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem...." And sometimes I recite very accurately, sometimes I stop, and there is an exception, someone may say: "There the recitation is not so." There is an art in recitation also. But there is no thought there. Joseph must think. You will say: "Where did you find all this in verse 13? Is all this in verse 13?" I extract the [following] thought from there. You have a brain, this is the reality in life. And modern-day people are right when they say that we have to begin from the visible world in order to understand the true needs of our body. And after this we will come to study, first of all, the physical manifestations of human life. Now from times immemorial many cultures have emerged, but the world has not yet achieved that level, at which it should be. Why? Because people still do not think. But this commission, which now comes, will compel people to think.
Now, a small diversion from these philosophical reflections of mine. They are a little hidden, because, simultaneously, I have to reason on one side, [and] to correct and to plant on the other. I will present to you what situation contemporary people find themselves in. It is a story that is passed down by tradition. To what extent it is true, I cannot say, but it is remembered. It dates from the time of Nero. The question is about a prominent Roman woman, daughter of a patrician - Veronius, and her name was Vincilla. She was one of the most beautiful virgins in Rome, so beautiful, so gracious, so noble and courageous of character, that truly everyone was astonished by her. One day, by [mere] coincidence, for better or worse, Nero - who had a habit of paying attention to everything, both as an actor and an artist, a pupil of Seneca, but who liked women in a peculiar way - passed close by her, and she attracted his attention. He sent for her in the evening and said to her father: "I want your daughter to come one evening for a conversation, to spend an evening in my palace". When her father announced this to her, she immediately said: "No! I prefer death to Nero's palace!" She sent back Nero's envoys. They informed him of this. Nero, who was very proud, said: "Very well". He sent several Praetorians: "Take her and you will lower the nose of this proud Roman-woman, you will kiss her several times". In Rome everyone without any exception had to pay regard to Nero's will. I say, this virgin, she had not understood life, do you understand? When she was entering the prison, they met her for the first time with a very crude act. Now you, the contemporary people, will say: "What is wrong with her visiting Nero's palace, after all?" [31] According to contemporary morality, a man may make a small deviation, but this maiden thought, do you understand? She had her own ideal. There is will-power in her: "I do not want to go! Not for anything would I wish to go to the palace!" The one who was appointed went to carry out Nero's will by force, and then, on Nero's order, they let her go. She went out, left Rome, distanced herself from there completely, [and] in her soul there arose an aversion towards the Roman civilization: "There is nothing noble in Rome, this is a dishonor for Rome, from now on I do not wish to be a Roman [any more]". And she went to the Southern country, passed into Africa, to a mountainous region. There dwelt, as a hermit, another Roman, who had become a Christian, by the name of Finicius, who understood life very deeply and was an excellent philosopher. A young man, about 35, he had persevered for 15 years. He had the desire that his beauty, which tempted women, would disappear. And, the more that time passed, the more handsome he became: he took a mirror and, every day, as he looked at himself, he became more and more handsome. He prayed to Christ saying: "Lord, this devil, this external temptation, may it be gone from me". And he wished this beauty of his to disappear, so as to be pleasing to God. "Lord, appear to me and show me the way, I wish to live a pure and holy, exalted, unblemished life". For 15 years this had constantly been his prayer. One day, close to noontime, he saw this Vincilla in the desert; she was walking, coming towards him, and he said to himself: "Ah, even here this devil has found me, gone is my soul!" He struggles, and she struggles. She is disgusted at the lewdness which is in Rome, in the court of Nero, at that lawlessness; while Finicius, he also perseveres and says: "A devil is coming now, I can see a devil in this beautiful woman, now I will have to fight. If I fail now, I will be ruined forever, I will be gone. Now or never!" And she approached and said to him: "Holy father [32], I beg you, be so kind ... " and began to cry. - "Ah, how cunning this devil is!" And he fell on his knees at her feet and said: "I beg you, sister, do not tempt me, I am full of sin, depart from me, you will ruin me".
You, the contemporary people, are like this saint and this Roman woman. We do not understand each other. You are now this Roman woman who has come out of Rome, who was kissed in the prison forcibly, against her will. And the Orthodox, the Protestants, the Catholics, the Evangelists, Muslims, Buddhists are all Finicius. They constantly pray in their Churches and when we want to show them the path of Truth, they say: "Go away, you will ruin our Church!" I say of this Finicius, that there was not a more suitable occasion to help this maiden. Her soul was being torn up in the futility of life: she could not understand the essential problem - why should man live on Earth? And once her fate let her down, she stopped thinking; with this contradiction here he [Finicius] should have helped her. But he said to her: "Go away, I am a sinner". She could not understand him. "You will show me the way" she said to him, "I want to know the way , this true way". And now I ask, I ask this question to both the Roman woman and to Finicius. Neither of them have found the meaning of life yet. Christ has not come among them yet. They seek Him, she - in Rome, he - in the desert for 15 years, in the Name of Christ. They meet, [and] do not understand each other; he - as a Christian, she - as a pagan, in the name of that knowledge {pl.}, which she carried with herself. While the truth will be shown to them by that living Angel who will descend. I leave the story [as it is,] without making a conclusion. You should make a conclusion for yourselves.
Now, many of you have been kissed inside the prison. "I!" you will say. You have been kissed: in Nero's prison, many of you were kissed there on Nero's order. Many of you are invited to Nero's palace. How have you solved the problem? I stop there, but I tell you: you are at a crossroad, of this young Roman woman and this young saint. You are at a crossroad, and how will you resolve this problem? I leave you, men and women, to solve the problem. The culture to come depends upon this resolution.
"Take your son and his mother, go to Egypt, and wait there until I tell you to return".
And now I listen to the voice of that Angel and I say:
"Return!" May my Lord give you light, may He give you His wisdom, may He give you His knowledge so that you may [begin to] shine through. This Lord of Love whom I serve, this Lord of Wisdom, this Lord of Truth, may He give you all his blessing so that you may come to know Him, so that you may understand what the deep internal meaning of this life is, which you still do not know. And not Bulgarians, but I desire you to be daughters and sons of this Lord Who has created the whole Universe. May you have entrance to His Kingdom, may you freely walk. To be worthy of His Love and to thank Him and glorify Him.
This I wish to all of you!
May the Lord bless all of you with the most gracious blessing. May He grant strength and valor to you all!
And I do believe, that you will be heroes of the future culture of Love, of the future new humanity which carries the sign: Love for everyone!
13 of November 1921
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Notes:
[1] i.e. contradictions in general
[2] Here the Master uses a colloquial word ("papo") which means food, and has a slightly ironic connotation; it can be translated approximately as eats, tuck, bites, goodies etc.
[3] This is the normal English usage of the word here (cf. Note [2])
[6] The characters referred to here are from the (well-known) book "Don Quixote" by the 16th century Spanish author Cervantes
[7] this is a literal translation of the subject "Bible classes" or "Religious Education" in the Bulgarian schools at the time when the lectures were given
[8] In German "Weltschmerz" - sentimental pessimism
[9] or evidence
[10] literally: "I think..."
[11] The Master quotes the beginning of a poem by Lyuben Karavelov (1834-79) which starts with "Beautiful you are" instead of "Green you are". The poem was published in 1875 and the song with this text has been so popular since, that sometimes it is (mistakenly) considered a Bulgarian folk song. A poetic translation in English follows:
Beautiful you are, my forest,
And an air of youth you breathe.
But you are a source of sorrow,
You incline our hearts to grieve.
Translated by Peter Tempest
[12] There is a play of words here - the Master correlates the Bulgarian word razvrashtavam (corrupt) with razvartam (unbolt, unscrew, loosen). This connection could be observed more easily by the contemporary person through the Russian word for corrupt razvrashta -> 'raz-vrashtat', i.e. 'un-revolve' (vrashtat means revolve)
[13] or: meaning
[14] perhaps some text is missing at this point
[15] literally: walk, as in "going for a walk"
[16] Literally, the word means the gold that backs up or stands as the real value behind banknotes; there seems to be no equivalent word in English that would convey the correct meaning.
[17] literally: manifest or show myself, express myself etc.
[18] This is a Bulgarian colloquialism; it means, literally: we will go crazy.
[19] In Bulgarian these two words differ only in one vowel: laja {lie) and lija (lick)
[20] i.e. value or quantity in the sense of mathematics
[21] This could also be rendered as: "and now how many people went to the battlefields"
[22] or: learn
[23] i.e. not to cheat by looking up the sleeves for the correct answers prepared earlier on the cuffs or on cheat-sheets etc.
[24] this sentence is fragmented (the ellipsis is also in the original), so another possible rendering for the rest of the sentence may be: speak up - he answers..., where the answer itself is missing
[25] at this time examination questions were usually put inside of an envelope which the students received upon entrance.
[26] third person plural - i.e. they (all should) study
[27] literally: "order and orderliness"
[28] this sentence is like it is in the original (though possibly it was not recorded in its entirety when the Master spoke)
[29] literally: happiness, but can also be fortune (not as in wealth)
[30] Usually the phrase "sunken eyes" is used in Bulgarian about someone who is not well - ill, hungry, or not having enough rest, under pressure etc.
[31] The original has the quotation end after the words "after all", however, it most likely stops just before it - i.e. ''Now you, ..., will say: "What is wrong with her visiting Nero's palace?"'' - is that not so?
[32] In order to avoid the differences in using the word "Reverend" across Christian denominations, the address is translated literally
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The Testimony of Spirit
‘But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me’
John: 15; 26.
A Secret Prayer
‘Bless God, my soul’
I will read chapter fifteen of John. I will talk to you about the vine. This vine has three contents. There are vines that have not gone bad. Have you been to a vineyard, have you seen it with leafless vines? You have seen it coming into leaves at other times and finally you have seen it maturing and heavy with ripe fruit. Not all vines have grapes. I will read to you about the vine, which has grapes.
Sing the first line from Love; sing it quietly.
I shall talk to you on line twenty-six of the chapter we read, ‘But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me.’
Spirit – this is the most elevated, the purest, the most sacred. And in this sanctity Spirit brings the conditions of the intelligent human Life. I use the word intelligent, but I could use another word too. In the widest sense, when a human being has the intelligent Life within oneself, such a human being lives as a musician and as a poet. Such a human being is always in high spirits, there is Peace in his or her soul, the world does not worry him or her; nothing disturbs such people. Such people are not petty, they do not dwell on the small things in life, but only on that Great one that God created.
Now, let's assume that somebody brings a hedgehog into your garden; when you reach out to catch him, he will prick you. What do you think; did God create the spines of this hedgehog?
No, this is the art of the hedgehock itself. You may enquire why God placed spines on this hedgehog. The hedgehog created them himself, such is its culture. He needs spines; such is his understanding of life. Subsequently you should not be asking yourselves about his spines, but if you want to study the hedgehog, you should dwell on his basic features: what hedgehogs feed on, how they make their dens, how they raise their young ones, what are his relations with the ones close to him etc. Hedgehogs make good teachers for snakes: when a hedgehog meets a snake, he grips the snake by the tail first, covers his head, the snake coils round him and he swallows the snake little by little until the head is left and finally he swallows the head as well. And when the snake asks him, ‘Why did you treat me in such an inhumane way?’ The hedgehog answers back, ‘Well, how do you catch frogs? Frogs keep crying out and you keep swallowing them. It is from you that I learnt this craft and now this is my first attempt as I want to see how things are.’ I am asking now, when the snake is swallowing the frog, do you think God taught the snake? This is again an art of snakes. When you come to Life, you will first separate all those visible features existing in human life – what was created by the people themselves, in order to arrive at the purely Divine substance. Now, the Divine substance is Spirit.
And Christ says, ‘I will send this Spirit to you.’ Now people live without the Spirit. And you ask why people do not live in brotherly relations. How can they live in brotherly relations? Hedgehogs live the life of hedgehogs; snakes live the life of snakes and so on. And all animals live according to their understanding. There is no Spirit in them and each one has one’s own understanding. When it comes to people, we ask why somebody acted the way he or she did. A person lives according to one’s understanding. Why doesn't he or she live in any other way? The Spirit must come for a person to live in any other way. If the Spirit does not come, the person will live according to one’s own understanding. If you want to change on principle, to start living another Life, the Spirit must come to you. And when He comes, you won’t be asking yourselves whether this Spirit is within you and whether it is Divine. There is only One Spirit – the Great Spirit bringing Light, bringing Wisdom, Truth, bringing everything in himself. He has been delivering all the goods for ages, from times immemorial and there is no second to Him. This Spirit carries everything within himself and He is the discharger of all goods. And when He comes, people start becoming intelligent, geniuses and when somebody comes to visit, they receive this person gladly, treat this person lavishly, they do everything with Love. But when the Spirit departs, they say, ‘Today, I am not in high spirits; do not enter my home! Come some other day!’ Why? It is the Spirit that delivers all the riches, and He is not present now. Quite natural: when I am sick I will say that I am not receiving visitors on that day. Why? Because I am sick. Apart from not being able to receive visitors, I also need somebody who could do me a favour.
Having spoken about the vine, Christ told his students, ‘You will take the Spirit in the first place!’ The Spirit comes only to those twigs that have grapes. Now I do not want you dwelling on the issue whether you have grapes or not. You may put this question to yourselves, but you cannot resolve it on your own. This question can be resolved only by the Spirit. And when talking, Christ, too, pays attention to the fruit. God prunes these vines because of the fruit that is inside the soul. It is our fruit that is important to God, not the external form; not the vine itself, but what comes out of it.
Now, when a mother delivers a child, what does she expect from the child? She expects something intelligent, because it is from the mouth of the child that this fruit comes. If she gives birth to a deaf, dumb, and blind child who cannot speak and has the worst of habits, what does the mother tell herself then? She tells herself, ‘I wish you were not born, I did not need such a child! God gave this child to me to punish me! And she gives birth to a good child with grapes, she turns to Heavens and says, ‘How grateful I am to God for giving me such a good child!’ This is fruit! Now, you who have started, have to know that the fruit is inside. The fruit of your soul is inside.
‘And when Spirit comes’, says Christ, ‘He will teach you’. This is the first thing. Then He says, ‘But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me’. He shall testify whether you do or don’t have grapes, whether your vineyard is developing properly or not. So that all the effort in the Life of a soul, in the Life of a human being on the Earth, has to be directed to a certain fruit. Outside of this fruit one can never be glad. What is it that makes you feel glad? You yourselves are glad if you have a virtue. The virtue living within you was invested there by the Spirit, but it makes you feel glad.
And Christ, representing God’s Love and Wisdom, says, ‘The Spirit that I will send to you, he shall testify for me’. But elsewhere he says, ‘He shall teach you, he shall remind you.’ What shall the Spirit remind you of? The Spirit shall remind you of all the fruit that you have to have in your soul? Because when the grapes-pickers come, what do they do? They stop at those vines, which have grapes, but they pass by the vines with no grapes. And when the Spirit comes he will inevitably stop at a soul that has the grapes.
There are three types of vines: vines that have not yet developed, but have the promise, others that have developed and have a great deal of leaves – this is the second type; and the third one – vines that have set fruit that is ripening and everybody who takes a look says, ‘This vine is close to giving fruit.’ Everybody is expecting it to bear fruit, to try the grapes. And I can tell you the reasons which make you have friends – in order to try their delicious fruit. This is the reason. Why do you want to have a friend? The major reasons are that every human being wants to try the fruit of the Spirit.
Now, so that these vines can develop properly, so that the Spirit can function properly within you, the vines need soil. In other words, three things are necessary in Life: first, soil; secondly, seeds, thirdly, the one who will sow the seeds. If we have the soil but do not have the seeds, nothing will come out; if we have the vine, but not soil, again nothing will come out; but if we have soil and seeds, but do not have a vine-grower who will cultivate the seeds, this is also impossible. So, these three elements: soil, seeds, and a vine-grower to cultivate it are required. Only then can a vine bear fruit. I shall now make a comparison: the soil – this is you, according to Christ’s words. The vine – this is the Word that is invested in you, while the vine-grower is the Spirit that cultivates, the Divine Spirit. Each elevated thought, each elevated desire which are developing within you, which blossom and give joy to your soul are supported by this Divine Spirit.
Now in order for this Divine spirit to come and live in you particular conditions are needed. I shall make a comparison: if you make a house and expect a friend or a tenant to come and inhabit it, he will first examine your house, then he will choose only those rooms that are most hygienic, that have large and nice eastern or southern windows and only then will he say, ‘Your rooms are excellent, I will move in.’ Similarly the Divine Spirit too, when moving into human beings, the Divine Spirit examines whether you have real rooms. The law is the same too.
In the whole of chapter fifteen, Christ determines the conditions needed for the Spirit to come. Love is one of the conditions. Now you will say, ‘This Love! He speaks only of Love!’ I now talk about Love in its third degree. I am not talking about Love as an underdeveloped vineyard, as a vineyard having leaves only, but I am talking solely about Love as a grape bearing vineyard. You can have the love of the undeveloped twigs, but the most important Love – the Love of the third degree – is the one with leaves that are fine and grapes that are ripe. This vine and its excellent fruit show its internal quality. Therefore, Christ says, ‘By their fruit you shall know them.’
So now God also wants to know you all, He wants to try your fruit. You are hiding but He works towards making you give something, making you manifest yourselves. You are not willing to manifest yourselves and you say, ‘The right time has not yet come!’ No, no, the time to show the nature of human beings has come. But you may tell yourselves, ‘What if I give the fruit and it is not as it has to be?’ Everything must come to the surface; the sooner the better, because you will know what you are like. While now you have an exaggerated or belittled idea of yourselves. Which is the best sort of grapes in Bulgaria? The Turks call it muscat, and there is also a sort of grapes in the colour of amber which they chaush.
Now the Spirit needs to be received. Without this Divine Spirit, without these goods your Life will not manifest itself as it should. And when I talk about Love, that you have to free yourselves, I mean Love flowing from the Divine Spirit, but not the ordinary love flowing from people. There is Love flowing from people only, it is like scorched straw and lasts for a day and a half. It is so intensive that those having it say, ‘Without you I cannot live.’ But after a day and half they understand this love and say, ‘I do not want it; it’s not worth it.’ I see contemporary people weeping for their lost love. Christians also have this love; they flare up and say, ‘For God I am ready to do anything!’ But when it comes to sacrificing they say, ‘It’s nonsensical for one to be so idealistic and so ardent, one has to be a little cooler.’
The Scripture reads, ‘As you have lost your first Love.’ And this is the first Love that binds all beings. It warms them like a fire place that needs to be kept alive and never to run out of chopped wood. Do you know how it is kept alive? A friend comes who has lost a little bit behind of your confidence[M1] [1], but she tells you, ‘How beautiful you are, how much I love you, I want to embrace and kiss you!’ You get agitated and you relax. But when she leaves, some time afterwards you tell yourself, ‘I am fooling myself; does she love me or does she hate me?’ On the third day your friend comes again and says ‘my dear’, on the following day again ‘my dear’, until something disappears from your house and you close the door and say, ‘I do not want this dear any longer!’ While the Love I talk about, the Spirit that is coming, He always brings. He won’t tell you a sweet word, but he will bring you a nice book or he will bring you an apple or a pear and will tell you, ‘Eat a little bit to find out how kind the Lord is, so that you can try and see how kind I am!’ While now what is Love? The father comes and says, ‘Do you know what I am bringing to you? A nice doll.’ But dolls can neither be eaten, nor drunk, and after four or five days the daughter breaks the doll. We are being beguiled with such dolls: a story about this, a story about that, the Kingdom of God is promised to us, but you keep asking whether it is so. But when the Spirit comes you will have one live positive experience, you will experience and understand the meaning of Life everywhere and in everything. This is the Spirit. When he comes he will testify, and you will be brave, decisive, you will cope with all people. Because it won’t be you talking; it will be the spirit in you talking. How will he talk? Your soul will be permeated with this Divine Love and when these words come out of your mouth, they will open doors for you everywhere. Thus, those who want to beat you will beat you less. And afterwards they will also turn to the Lord and will start glorifying Him. So, dangerous people we are! Nobody will be left unpunished. They will also come to be servants of the Lord, just the way you are.
You need to get started and prepare your hearts for the Spirit. And now only spirits you have, I can see them: you have many spirits, but I call these spirits ‘soullets’. They are soullets and spiritlets who circle around you. And when this Great Spirit comes all those soullets and spiritlets will serve only This One. While now you often listen to bad things, sometimes these little soullets tell you that you are stupid, that you have stepped aside; they tell you, ‘Mind your life, you have to live a nice life, you are young, you have ruined your life.’ But this ruining is not the teaching of the Spirit; the Divine spirit never ruins one’s life. Only these small spiritlets ruin one’s life. When the Divine spirit comes, He brings in Light, brings in Peace, plants knowledge, and brings health, happiness and bliss. This is what the Great Spirit brings when He comes!
And Christ says, ‘I will send this Spirit to you.’ When? ‘If my words live in you and you live in Me, and if you have the Love of my Father, then I will send the Spirit. If you have my Love, the Love that I love you, when I show it to you, you too show it to the others.’ To whom? Christ does not say to love everybody gratuitously. Can you love a stone? Let’s define ourselves properly: you may love only one intelligent being – the one that has intelligence and brings conscious Life. This one you can love, but the other things you cannot love. Only two conscious souls can come to love each other. You cannot come to love a stone or a bear. I take these images in the first degree… Consequently it is in Love that I understand the intelligent. If it exists, Love also exists. Christ says, ‘You should love the way I came to love you!’[2] He has come to love the Intelligent.
Now, you shall not ask whether this Spirit will come to you or not. If you believe in Christ, then He will come into you. And Christ says, ‘I will send the Spirit to you if you believe.’ In what faith? People have two ideas about Christ: some think that Christ has now come out of God, while others think that He has been before all the centuries of Light, and consequently everything in the world has happened through Him and all people have come out of Him. Hence, He is the most well known Path for people. The first, who you know in the world, after having come out, is Him. It is Him who has sent you to this world and it is Him who saves you. Subsequently, Christ is the First and therefore He says, ‘I am the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end.’ You say, ‘How can we know Christ?’ You do know Him. Do not dwell on this question, you know Him! If you do not know Him, you have to give, but if you know Him, you have to take. You do not know the person, who has to take from you, do you? However you know well the person from whom you have to take. You know him because he has to give to you. Why do you know your husband? He has to give to you. Why does a husband know his wife? Because she has to give to him. Subsequently, it is in this sense that we have knowing and love. When I say ‘I came to love somebody’, I mean that I have to take from him. And if Christ has come to love you, He has to take from you. Therefore, He knows us. He, without denying this, says, ‘I invested capital, and I shall not allow you to eat it up; I know you and I hold you!’ You argue that you do not know Him, but He says, ‘You do not know me, but I know you.’ And as He knows you, He will send the Spirit to you. Since people have lost themselves along the Path, He will send the Spirit to testify for Him.
You have to implement His law when you know Him. You have to get the meaning and resolve all issues which concern your minds as married women. You are above all interested in family issues. The top question for a married woman is the question about the family: what husband she will have, what children, and after them there come the other questions, the secondary understandings and opinions. A woman is a Queen; the man is the one from whom she has to take, while the children – are those that will be servants. Women have big pretensions, they love children, but they want their husband to be Prime Ministers and the children to be top ranking subjects. She says, ‘My Kingdom’. This is what I have found; this is the great truth. Men realise this and the last eight thousand years they have been fighting to overthrow the rule of women. A husband beats his wife, but she says, ‘Even if you beat me, I am a Queen!’ Although children do not know her, she says, ‘You have to know that you are my subjects, you will recognise this!’ But I am saying again, that these children are the striving of the human soul. A woman is right that she has to be a queen. I like the statement that she is a queen, but I do not like the fact that she does not recognise her husband for a king or the children as princes. If she recognises this, a row will spring from a political point of view. While the Scripture resolves this issue in the following way and reads, ‘You will be kings and daughters of the Living God.’ The Scripture does not recognise women, it does not read, ‘You will be Queens!’ Because the first woman became a queen, it is now the man who is being placed as King, because his authority was undermined. Not the authority of the contemporary men, but the one of the Divine man. I would ask contemporary women: have you met your husband somewhere, what his features are, what distinguishes him. You say that this is not the most important question. And this is why the world is asking how to resolve the major question. Women would rarely know because they consider men as something of secondary importance, they only recognise their children. Once they deliver children, they place their husbands at the end of the line and this shocks them most of all and they are beside themselves with anger.
Now, do you know why I talk like this? You will think that I want to attack you. This is a contradiction within a woman resulting from another influence, because of which she is the most miserable being. Why? Because she argues that she is a Queen without anybody else recognising her as such. She admits it but the others deny it. A husband says, ‘You are a servant, nothing more, you will cook!’ A mother tells her children, ‘You are my subjects!’ But they object, ‘Subjects? You must be kidding! It’s not the way you see it!’ Hence there is an internal discord. Not only outside, but inside as well, in the very soul there is a discord. I go further and I say that you are split-minded internally, there is big fight going on inside you. Sometimes you are pleased with yourselves; sometimes you are not. Why are you pleased, what are the reasons? There is a big internal dissent and this is one of the reasons why a woman is the most miserable being on the Earth. This is why nine tenths of her life is tears only: she hides in her room, she cries, and cries, and cries, and then she will wipe her face and will get out; on the following day – the same, on the third day she cries again and says, ‘What was I hoping for, and what turned out!’ Why? The Spirit has not yet arrived, the Spirit has not arrived, it is the Spirit that has not arrived! But when this Spirit comes, He will recover everything. And Paul says, ‘I engaged you to a man’. To whom? To Christ.
Hence until you recognise this Man, who is the head of humankind and whose head is God, you will have tears anyway. Only at such recognition shall Christ send the Spirit, and this Spirit shall testify for Him. This is the major issue: Christ must come among you; this Man must come inside you! But this fight, existing now too, must be liquidated once and for all when the Spirit comes and you know Him. Who is the head of your life? The Spirit is the head of Life. And when He comes you will break free from the present discords. Then the new knowledge will come, the new understanding of Nature; you will get in touch with the new laws, which are now being established.
And Christ says in this chapter, ‘Everything you beg for in my name, will be given to you.’ You are restless at times. Why? As long as there is the signature of Christ, everything will happen; but nothing happens without His signature.
So, the Spirit is the one who brings all these sufferings. Suffering shows that you are not reconciled completely. As long as you suffer, you have not known your Husband. Do not understand the knowing of a husband the way you know him. I use the word knowing in the following sense: when you go out in the forest on a pleasant May day, when the Sun shines on you when you hear the beautiful song the birds are singing, this is knowing. It causes a great Joy to you, you are exhilarated. Conversely there is also a restricting knowing: as soon as you know your debtor, you restrict him or her; as soon as you find your ox and know him, you harness him, you take the stick and start driving it. Now, why has Christ departed up there to Heaven? He knows that there is harness for him. In this sinful state that we are in we would crucify Him everyday. This is why He has risen so high and waits. He has sent His spirit until people come round. Your mind and heart must be prepared, to come round to the understanding to fulfil Christ’s Will. This is an internal, deep understanding.
Therefore, you are all required above all to unite. When Christ comes all women must become One Woman. You shall not be many women, but One Woman. Now each one of you will say, ‘What will happen to us?’ Women do not know themselves yet. Therefore, the first rule is that women should know themselves.
Tell me what makes one woman different from another. If I compare two women, they all have the same longing: the one wants to marry and the other one wants to marry too; the one wants the dishes to be cooked all right, to be dressed all right, the other one wants the same. All their strivings are the same, there is nothing different, nothing special; life is the same in all the houses. Now, why shouldn't women join hands! In this way they can elevate their spirit. All women, if they join together can elevate it much easier. But now each one of you says, ‘I shall be first!’ This weakness of yours resembles that story which I have referred to at other times as well: a German prince went to a visit to Denmark or the Netherlands. He was supposed to be greeted at a theatre and for this purpose they chose twelve out of the most beautiful women in town. And one had to be chosen out of these twelve women to give him a bouquet of flowers. They decided to put it to vote and twelve tickets with twelve different names were found in the box – each one voted for herself. And now each one of you votes for herself in Christ’s box and there is nobody to give the bouquet. When the box is open there are as many names in there as there are women. Every human being is first, but while performing God’s Will only the Lord is first. He is the beginning of things, and we cannot be first. The one who creates things, He is the First.
When this Spirit comes, He will bring this deep understanding in your souls, what it takes is selflessness. You sometimes say, ‘I have served this husband so much!’ But you have not served the Husband [Man] yet. Paul says, ‘I engaged you to a man.’ I would be glad if you had served, because you would not get older then, your hair would not alter. When this Man [Husband] comes, you should not fly into a fury. Therefore, we allowed a man in today to listen, lest women make a plot of some sort.
So, when the Spirit comes, if you admit this authority to Christ, all the other issues, insults, and doubts shall be cardinally resolved. This is the major issue, which will resolve the other issues. This must be a question of a love for nature, which must be resolved according to the strength of God’s Love and Wisdom. So, this Love has to be so strong within you, that it could sweep everything around like a strong current, not to leave a thing around that can counteract you. When your husband who is on the Earth scolds you, you will say, ‘We are waiting for Christ!’ This husband of yours prepares the path for the Other one. Then I tell you that there is only One Man, and I will tell men that there is only One Woman in the world. When I talk to the men, you will commission a delegate. Thus I elevate their authority, do you understand? And I will then tell them that there is only One Woman and all men should join together because there is only One Woman.
And when this Spirit comes, He will bring what you need. I have spoken many times and I do not want my lecture to be left without any results. Have you asked yourselves what women you are now? Can you give me a description? I had assigned a topic to you ‘What women you are; what makes you different’, and how would you describe yourselves? Now, in the world, in order to describe somebody, you have to either love or hate this person very much and usually you show all of the negative features of this person. Now, you hate these men on the Earth, this I know. Subsequently, the wife says to her husband, ‘Do not believe him, whatever he tells you do not believe it!’ You are right, because how many women have men sold in the history of human culture; how many legs they have broken!
Now, if I tell you ‘I engaged you to one man’, how would you describe Him? That you live with your present husbands is due to this Man, who is above. Everyday He sends them to you every day and tells them, ‘Although they are such people, give them [let them have]? translator’s notes [there is an implied meaning in the Bulg sentence – my guess is that God told the husbands that although the wives were such people, the husbands should give the wives love [M2] !’ He does not quite see your sins completely and He says, ‘Let them live well, let them be happy on the Earth!’ But are you happy? No, you are not. Not only are you not happy, but your husbands are unhappy and they constantly write books about it.
Now what takes place outside in society, the same goes on inside the family, the same goes on in the soul too! In your soul you sometimes lose this hope, this authority, this consciousness, you lose every love and then you despair and say, ‘Let it go!’ You lose any idea of that elevated substance, granted to the soul, you give up God and you live in the world only to eat and drink. And now, if you, as women, still look for many men, there will be tears, tears, tears. But if you look for the One Man, when He comes to the world you will say to all the present men, ‘Off you go!’ When the woman fell down, the man remained up there in Heaven, and when the man fell down, the woman remained up there. So that, now the true men and the true women are up there, while those who left Heaven and came looking for their happiness here on the Earth are the heroes of the day.
Now, the Spirit of Truth has to come, this salvation will happen through Him. I do not in the least want to make fly at your husbands when go back home. There is nothing to fly at him for. You will be looking to find the like of him; you will be looking for Him until you find Him. Have you read Song of the Songs? Many have read it and they say, ‘This is a wide life!’ You will understand the profound, internal meaning not in the human way, but in the Divine way. And why don’t I disclose secrets to you? Where is your husband? When you come to me I will tell you, ‘Let your husband come with you too!’ But you come only with women, without men? How can a woman be without a man? And the Scripture reads, ‘A woman cannot do [M3] without a man, and a man cannot do [M4] without a woman.’[3] Both are in Christ. A woman, when she comes, wants to have Love with her husband[4]. There must be you, your husband, and one more – a third one. Love can exist only among three persons. Do you know this? Your husband and you will come to me and then we can have love. This is how the Scripture sees the meaning of things. But we do know the love between two. So, do not beguile yourself looking for love between two, you should be looking for it between three. This is what Christ says, ‘When you are together with Me and the father comes, then I will manifest.’ When I talk to you about Love, it takes three persons to love each other. I have not seen two women loving each other. If you can find two women here in Bulgaria who love each other, I would like to see them and to have a picture of them. Not that this is impossible on the Earth, but a woman has to have her own husband and one other - a third one, who will come. Then God will manifest and what you are looking for will come. Only then will the Spirit and Christ come. It takes three persons for Christ to come.
I want you to free yourselves from your illusions: you want to be students, but you are looking for happiness where it is not. If you are looking for happiness – I am telling you where it is – with your husband. But he will place a harness on your head, he will set you in the cart, he will drive you with the stick and he will tell you, ‘Go to the field to plough!’ Your husband is also harnessed. I mean the phoney man on the earth, and I do not want to mention the name of the other Man. These men on the Earth are merely his representatives, his servants. And they do as he orders them to do on the Earth.
Now do you know who He is? You know Him now! A maid comes and says, ‘I found him!’ ‘Yes’, I say, ‘you haven’t found him yet. When you find the one about whom Paul says, “I engaged you to a man”, then that day will be the greatest in your life. This will be resurrection for women and therefore, Christ says, ‘Those who agree with this day, with this understanding, neither get married nor look for a man.’
When delivering a lecture before the men I will tell them that there is only One Woman. Do not beguile yourselves – there is One Man, you have to understand this! You will look for him! You will feel as one soul and thus you will be able to resolve the question of your suffering. The point is to find Christ. Not the historical Christ, not this Christ whom people believe in, but that Christ who says, ‘I am the beginning and the end, the alpha and omega’. The one who sent you here; who sent his blessing; who has supported you in all of your comings and wanderings in this world and has guided you along the path of Truth. He has always been good, has never frowned, is always delicate and He says, ‘There will come the time of this great outcome.’
Now, the Divine Spirit is coming for women, to wake them up, so that they start looking for this One Man. And now, since there are many men, there are scandals too: a woman says, ‘Why have you taken him?’, while another one objects, ‘What about you? What have you done to him?’ They argue about men all the time. I say, you do not have any men as of yet. Nobody can take away from you your Man, the true Man. He is up there in Heaven. He will be your beloved. He is not called a Man, but a ‘beloved to the soul’. And women are referred to not as the one who sinned, but as ‘my beloved’. So, you will be looking for the beloved to the soul! And when you find Him, your soul will be pleased, it will be happy.
And the Scripture reads, ‘And in those days I will obliterate all of your sins.’[5] When you find your Man, all of your sins will be obliterated, not a single trace will be left of them. The most significant issue is to find the beloved of your soul, for whom your soul is longing. You shed so many tears for Him and you say, ‘What have we remained for? Isn’t there salvation?’ The Scripture says about the day when this beloved will come, ‘I will wipe your tears’, ‘I will remove your shackles’. There will be no tears then, there will be no shackles; your hearts will be healed and there will be no wounds; enlightenment will be there, there will be no darkness; your soul will be elevated and a woman will be a Queen then.
So, you will plant this idea in yourselves and you will ardently pray to acquire the Spirit above all and this enlightenment. And you will tie the black man and you will tell him, ‘Concubines we cannot be any longer!’ Each and every woman has to say, ‘A concubine I cannot be any longer!’ Do you understand? If you say, deep down your heart, that you cannot be concubines any longer, you resolve the issue and then the Spirit will bring Love. The true Man will come and then you will start a new epoch. And then the New Woman will appear. And I would like you to form at least the finger of this New Woman.
Your law is great. You have only to overcome the external oppression, this tribulation and to know what the meaning is. Consequently, if you do find your beloved, anything else ruining your life will disappear. Thus the issue is solved at its basis and we can then talk about education and about Love. If I talk to you about love, about kisses, my words will be understood in an absolutely distorted sense. So far such kisses you have not had. This Man has to kiss you, the one who is pure and in whom you have your beginning. And the point that your present husband has kissed you, this does not qualify for a kiss. We shall be waiting for it, there is still a long time until this kiss comes. And when one receives this kiss, such a person does not stay on the Earth, such a person leaves for one’s Fatherland and leaves this home. Such a person leaves these things that now hinder you and by form such a person is free. Consequently, the soul is something internal. One cannot corrupt oneself externally, because one’s essence is inside. [M5] Sin is not something external
internal. Sin is something internal, inside the soul.[M6]So, when this Spirit of the Truth comes, He will testify for Me, and you will testify.’ And I would like all of you to testify. Can you testify?
(A voice from the audience): We can.
We can!… Do not confuse your soul with your body, because you now have one body, afterwards you will have another body, but there is something more substantial that distinguishes you. This is the soul, not the body. And when you meet, you have to first feel like souls. The power of Love does not lie in counteraction. If you can endure one counteraction, you have Love. This Love is of the Spirit, this is the Love of your soul. Between God and your soul – this is where Love should start, but not from outside. You mention Love so many times, you kiss, but you still talk about yourselves; you treat yourselves, but your affairs do not resolve. This Love has to start between God and your soul internally. And Paul says, ‘First, the visible’. This is the visible! Some may interpret this expression in the following way: first, this life. I say: the visible – this is God, while the invisible – these are the people. Visible is what God is to me. We shall start with this understanding. Life is within. During Paul’s day these words were right. When descending from above, the visible was down, but now we are staring on the road behind and we look upwards. First the Love for God should appear and then we shall manifest externally. If I have no Love for God, this Love cannot be manifested to you. God, my soul, and the one close to me [my neighbour] – these are three persons and there is Love only there! They constitute the Holy Trinity, God in three persons. They are the manifestation of the Divine Love. The Spirit is the first outflow of God. God, the Spirit, and Love constitute a trinity, and we together with them form a quaternion - the Virtue on the Earth.
Now, the first rule is to start with Love. Women should look for their beloved! You will say, ‘What shall we do with our present husbands?’ The Scripture reads, ‘After you die, you are free of them.’ A woman is tied to a man while he is alive, as soon as he dies, she is free. So, if she returns into the world, he has no right to remarry her. This is not a teaching of mine, Paul says so. According to the moral law, if somebody owes money but dies and then returns again to the world, he has to pay. Such is the moral law! You will tell your present husbands, ‘We shall go to find our Husband, and you go find your Wife!’ You will also say, ‘We, the two of us, have not prospered, therefore, you go to your Wife, and I will go to my Husband!’ This resolves the issue in a cardinal way. What does a husband have to do? He must go to his Wife. Thus you will bring about the outcome and you will resolve this profound issue. When the Spirit comes we have to implement the will of this God who sent us to the earth because to Him we shall return. There is no other way! No matter how long we stay on the Earth, some day we shall have to return to the place where we came from.
And Christ says, ‘But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me’. He will testify for this great Truth bringing Love which brings freedom to women. Women have to be freed first of all! You have to free yourselves and when you find Christ your issue is resolved and you are free. Now, some of you are already close. You aspire to this while you are bringing into effect this profound understanding. When you understand you will be saved forever. This is salvation; this is purification – to be content. To be like what the soul of a woman was originally – content and pure! And it will get purified! When the Spirit comes into her, she will start testifying for the one that is within and without
Now, the Spirit that already works; let it enlighten you, let it urge your soul, your heart, your mind to the resolution of the most significant issue. The other issues you may resolve, but this issue is basic in the Supreme Divine Teaching, a cardinal issue it is. It is this issue that you have to resolve and then you will resolve all the issues one after another.
Let’s have a secret prayer.
We shall read ‘Our father’ in a low voice.
We shall read the good prayer in a very low voice.
Stick to the rule not to allow discouragement now. Now you are closer to the Kingdom of God than you were in the past. You will reflect on this issue. It does not have to be an obstacle to you, but an issue on which the resolution of all other issues depends. Every woman has to resolve this issue without any hesitation; she has to know this! Once you resolve this issue in your soul, when the Spirit comes, the issue is resolved on its own accord. You can work only in this way. You yourselves may resolve the issue, it is not one of the most difficult issues, but it is the easiest issue. But you constantly put it off for later, while it is this issue that you have to resolve first.
‘But this Spirit of Truth, He will testify for me’; and elsewhere it is said, ‘He will teach you everything and will remind you of everything what I have said.’
Next time I shall talk further on. Next time, after a month I will tell women what they have to do when they find this Man [Husband]. The Spirit that is coming will open your minds and will tell you what you have to do then. Women have to take part in all actions in the world. Women impede the world. The fate of the world and the keys to the total salvation depend on you! And now, since you have not resolved the most significant issue, you mislead your sons and daughters. You will call your daughter and you will speak to her about the great Truth inside Life. She has to know the Truth, why should you delude her? There is no happiness; you will be skinned like an ox. Say, ‘May the Will of God be performed!’ The Will of God is performed only according to the law of Love.
Hence, you have to understand me in a very wide sense, not in a narrow sense. You will understand [gain understanding] about your elevation in a cardinal way, fundamentally! Not only you, but all the women in the whole world keep resolving this issue. Those who used to raise this issue would have resolved it, but the world war broke out and they discontinued for a while. They brought up the issue about women’s emancipation. It takes no emancipation, but a cardinal understanding of the issue. The war broke out, men and women intertwined, and now they cannot resolve the issue fundamentally. But the issue has to be resolved. You live in a very important epoch, or as secular people say ‘in an epoch of historical significance’. Now or never! This is the edge of the issue. If you do not resolve this issue now, you will never resolve it.
You have to have an open heart, and not to say, ‘We are not good.’ The Lord will obliterate your sins; He will throw them behind His back and won’t look at them. But the way you are now, you cannot even pray. You now pray to perform God’s Will, but tomorrow you seek one of those, somebody else’s man and you say, ‘Who will feed me?’ Enough, eight thousand years of slavery should be enough! Since it is eight thousand years old, the strap is about to break. It is time for a human being to break once and for all with the strap of evil. It is a great evil from which a human being has to break free and from which one has to part. And then one will turn one’s mind to God and will understand that there is no change, no betrayal in him or her. It is the same human being. It is not a man. It is the Great Spirit and there is no change in Him. He is called the one coming from the benevolent womb, He is merciful, full of Love for those who repent, who perform His Will. This issue you will resolve now! You shall not entertain illusions and shall not say, ‘I am not like the other women.’ I have one request to you: do not entertain any illusions that you are not like the other women.
Try to be like this Woman. I haven’t spoken about the One Woman yet, I haven’t told you what the One Woman is like.
Come on, I congratulate you with the Spirit! You have to attack now and you have to charge and enter. Everybody with the Spirit, with the Word of God! You will resolve the important issue not with your needles pointed ahead, but with the Word of God.
Master’s lecture
Delivered on 10 November 1921
15:00h in Sofia
[1] [whom you no longer trust so much] or [in whom your confidence is a little shaken]
[2] To Editor: if this sentence in ‘’ is a quotation from the Bible, I will need the reference = chapter, line…
[3] To Editor: this is most probably a quotation – unfortunately I see no reference as to book, chapter, line.
[4] To Editor: in many instances the original text reads ‘woman’ or ‘man’ – but it is evident from the context that the 2 words refer to married people – I translated as ‘husband’ and rarely as ‘wife’ in places where I felt it inappropriate to refer to a woman as somebody’s woman. However, if the convention is ‘man’ and ‘woman’ even though referring to married people – please feel free to substitute at your discretion. In Bulgarian the colloquial style has ‘my man’=‘my husband’ & ‘my woman’=‘my wife’ which I am afraid is not exactly the case elsewhere.
[5] To Editor: perhaps a quotation – no reference though
[M1]Unclear. What is meant by behind your confidence? {who has lost her confidence} or {who you have lost confidence in}
[M2]Give them what?
[M3]{be}
[M4]{be}
[M5]Maybe this sentence should be checked again. Perhaps the word externally is meant to be internally.
[M6]This sentence contradicts the previous one, in addition, sin cannot be internal and inside the soul. {Sin is not something internal, and it is not inside the soul.} or {Sin is external, not inside the soul.}
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From The beauty of life
Awakening Of The Collective Consciousness
Lecture given by Beinsa Douno
August 19, 1921, Veliko Tarnovo
Please, be so kind to listen to me; I am not going to speak long. Wise persons do not need long speeches, what they need is a short, but sensible and comprehensible talk. With all my compliments and respect to you I would like to speak to you concisely and clearly, the way I would speak to intelligent people.
Life on Earth is music. It flows in three directions. Let me express this in musical terms – sometimes life follows a major scale, as in the case when military men express themselves; at other times it follows a minor scale – the way sorrow is expressed; and finally it follows a chromatic scale, which includes the first two scales. These are three great methods, three great laws that regulate our lives. When we do not understand the deep inner meaning of Life, we focus on nonessential matters and we ask ourselves why Life is organized the way it is and not differently.
Be aware that I maintain the positive view of experiential science in Life, which we have verified ninety nine times, and as a result we do not have even one hundred millionth of a doubt about what we say. Doubt is an indication of ignorance in the world. I do not imply that ignorance is bad; but it represents a process of development. For example, all infants are born ignorant and their consciousness should be gradually awakened and developed further on.
Hence, human consciousness, if I am to express myself in strict scientific language, passes through three stages: essential, substantial and material stage. The essential stage includes the principles of Life; the substantial stage includes the laws of Life and the material stage – the facts of Life. Therefore, grouped facts in the world, i.e. aggregated personal little experiences, form a law and we say that this law is expressed one way or another. Currently, contemporary scientists refer to the law as something mechanical, but it is a living essence. A law can exist only in beings who are elevated, whose consciousness has passed through the material stage – from the facts to the laws, from the individual to the general and from the general to the whole.
We ask ourselves about the most important thing for us once we are here on Earth. In the present circumstances people think that life on Earth is most important when they are well off materially; so all nations individually and collectively are striving for their material security and wellbeing. That is why today we have the so-called economic struggle. The current aspiration of nations towards the material is a trend. Hence, human consciousness advances from the material to the substantial stage or in other words the collective consciousness in man is in a process of awakening. Until now, similar to the animal world, humanity has been living in collective sub-consciousness and from now on entire humanity is advancing to collective consciousness, in other words people are beginning to realize that they need one another. Until now everyone has being living for himself alone, everyone has been seeking his personal salvation. But at present humanity as a whole is moved by an inner impulse towards the improvement of the common status, not only of one, but of all social classes and, moreover, it is happening wisely; not as we currently think that we will be able to improve our individual lives ourselves.Thousands and thousands of years ago humanity itself ruined its own wellbeing. There are reasons for that, but I am not going to elaborate on them. Once upon a time the Earth was like Paradise: the vegetation was so diverse that there were thousands and millions of fruits and as a result people lived only on fruits. However, due to certain physical reasons, the ice age befell the Earth. Consequently, its fertility decreased and people began to use meat, to kill and eat not only animals but also one another. That is why the following saying still exists among people, "I will suck out your blood". Well, I ask you: if one sucks out someone else's blood, what will they gain? If one kills someone else, what will he gain? This is a misconception of Life. Not only people as a whole do not get along, but religious and spiritual people have also lost the correct understanding of Life, though they are in the forefront, considering that they have a connection and communion with God and considering that they have the right to lead. I am telling you the Truth. It is not that others do not want to tell you the Truth or that they hide it intentionally, but it is just natural for them. If a thorn gets stuck in someone's foot, this person becomes nervous. Take the thorn out and he will calm down. Therefore, if people of today are bad, it is because each one has a thorn in their flesh bothering them all the time. Apostle Paul said that he had a thorn that constantly bothered him. I have never met a person without a thorn. While the thorn is lodged in us, we cannot be clear-sighted and think properly. Our philosophy is distorted because of the thorn. Take the thorn out and you will have a sound philosophy of Life.
An English merchant asked a preacher to explain to him what was taught in the Bible. The preacher spoke of this and that. The merchant then said, "No, no, tell me concretely and in a few words what this teaching is about." He wanted to grasp the essence, to see the kernel outside its shell. Finally the preacher advised him, "Buy yourself the Bible: you can learn lots of things from it." The merchant bought the Bible and read a lot from it, but since then his business began to deteriorate and he suffered big losses. "Ever since I bought this book only misfortunes have come upon me", he said to himself angrily. Eventually he threw the book in the fire. While the Bible was burning, a small shred of a page fell to the side. He took it and read: "God is Love."
At present contemporary Christians keep asking, what is Christianity, what type of religion is it? They go around saying, that Christianity is this and that. No, no, God is Love which has to unite all people in order for them to live in Love, Peace and Brotherhood[1], regardless whether they are kings, rulers or of any other social position; these are secondary matters. All people should live according to Love as brothers and sisters, respecting one another. They have to share everything willingly: not by force, but voluntarily and consciously.
Once we touch upon this subject, other questions arise: is there an afterlife or not, which religion is the most truthful and so on. I say, there is only one Teaching in the world that can improve our homes and this is the Teaching of wise Love, not contemporary class love. Principal Love – this is Love containing self-sacrifice, love of the mothers, brothers, friends, saints, love of the most enlightened persons in the world. Once this Love comes to dwell in us, our eyes will be opened.
At present there are many people in the world, who doubt whether or not humans possess a sixth sense and whether they can see with it. Everyone can see with it. When a young lad falls in love with an unattractive girl, he sees in her what the rest cannot see. He says, "She is a jewel." When we love someone, we see their abilities and talents. Where are they? There is a place, where we see these talents. However, when we do not love someone, we assign the worst qualities to them, saying that they are like this or that.
Now a great law is becoming effective in the world. Be aware that the world has entered a new stage and even ten years will not pass before this trend will be intensified. This great law is currently at work in all human beings; it is acting in human minds and hearts. One can see the activation of this law in the fact that all people of today are restless. Why are they feeling restless? If they were poor, we could say that they had to work a lot and as a result they became restless. This is understandable. But why are scientists and rich people restless? In addition, religious people are also restless and all people are restless. Why? – Because they have only beliefs, but not faith. If today there were persecutions of one's faith, I do not know how many would withstand. All people are Christians today, because no one persecutes them, but one's faith is tested and proven in difficulties. Self-sacrifice is tested in poverty, deprivation and hard moments. When one sacrifices one's life, it is also a test for their character.
Therefore, which is the ultimate wellbeing in the world? – The wellbeing of an individual, nation, society as a whole or entire humanity? These are all the same. An individual represents a miniature of entire humanity. Therefore, a nation in the process of its development reflects humanity in a miniature form. For this reason when we talk about an individual, we think of them as a seed. When we talk about a society, I deduce that the seed has started to grow. When we talk about a nation, I deduce that the seed has started to grow more and more and when we talk about humanity in its wholeness, I deduce that the seed is branching out, blooming and bearing fruit. If we understand Life in this way, we will know that everyone of us is a necessary part of humanity.
We do not understand humanity in the way that half of it is created to live in Paradise and the other half – in hell. I know that when we perceive God as Love, we all live in Paradise and everything outside God is emptiness. But to know God, we must have Love. Every person, every form is a factor in this Love. The forms, in which we are living now, are not completed. Do you think that you have come to the Earth for the first time; that you were born for the first time? No, each of you has a long history and if someone describes your history, you will be very interested to see who you were in the past and who you will be in the future. This is a great process, through which we are passing. For example, when someone is elevated and noble, they are aware that all people should live in Love. Whoever they are, they will use all conditions in life to contribute to the common wellbeing. Only Love provides all these conditions.
I am not going to elaborate on and explain the reasons for the struggles in the world. In my view, they appear naturally. I will illustrate them with the following example: take two trees, planted next to one another. These two trees with their multitudes of leaves, blooms and branches live well together just like brothers, and they bill and coo; but all of a sudden a wind comes out and their leaves and branches intertwine and twist together. The wind grows stronger, a storm rises up and the branches collide. They ask one another, "What are you doing!? Why are you twisting like that?" I ask, is the reason for this external or internal? – The reason is external. At present, the reasons for misunderstandings among people are external – these are the economic conditions. This is the wind that makes people quarrel and struggle among themselves. Some ask how long this storm will last. A storm can last twenty-four or forty-eight hours, but no longer than three days and then all the leaves will rest still. Currently, there is a storm in the world that is pushing and sifting us; there will be broken legs and arms. But do not grow angry, this storm will soon subside. This social storm will end in forty-five years, but only if people grow wiser. However, if they do not learn from their experiences how to improve their lives, the storm will continue even longer. And if they learn from their experiences, the storm will subside sooner, because the great law governing the world is intelligent – regardless if one is a believer or not.
There is a rational force, a great law in the world that compels people – both believers and atheists – to think and to act identically. Many times I see people who do not believe in God, do not go to church, but jump in the water and risk their lives to rescue someone. The law in such a person is not mechanical; they were born with a different law – the law of self-sacrifice. Therefore, they have within themselves something greater than the formal religion. Religion came into the world later. Some people ask, "Are you religious?" One can be religious and yet – dishonest. Religion is not a label, indicating one's honesty. To test this assertion you should visit, for example, the merchants, who go to church and believe in God; then review their accounts and note how they sell. The law ruling the world is different. Love should live in their hearts; they have to be awakened and not to cheat their brothers and sisters. Thus, they will view the interests of others as their own interests and consequently they will not sell bad merchandise. We will have mutual understanding, only if we view our work in this way.
If we view one another according to our nationality – asking one another "Are you Bulgarian, English, French or German?" – we will not have mutual understanding. We say, "The Bulgarians are bad." These are individual ideas and not collective consciousness; this has not yet been a Divine law. The Divine principle has not yet been manifested in nations. All nations care only about their own economy. No nation is more privileged than another one, because each nation has its own place. For example, if I raise my hand and stretch one of my fingers upward, and this same finger has decided that it is the most privileged of all, what will happen? This one finger shows only the direction, but it cannot function alone; work is accomplished by all fingers used together as each one has its own place on the hand. Only when all fingers act together our hand as a whole will fulfill its obligations and will present a symbol of will. Hence, when a nation realizes its position as a part, as an organ in the entire organism of humanity, which is obliged to accomplish its work on time, then it will be at its right place.
Contemporary people want to support the old god. We know who the old god is. Do not feel offended. This old god has brought all the wars, violence and misery. In the God of Love however, there is not a single lie. This God of Love watches all human beings and even the smallest creatures with equal love and compassion, being ready to help everyone. And when a little being, whose form is destroyed, comes to Him, it is given another form with the words, "Continue your work, do not be afraid and go forward!" I am asking now, what have we gained after being alive here on Earth for fifty-sixty years? Let us suppose that a mother has a beautiful daughter, an excellent lass, who is well dressed and happy to be surrounded by many young men. I ask how long her happiness will last: five, ten or fifteen years. Gradually her face will wrinkle, losing its beauty and freshness, and it will become ugly, so finally the young men will abandon her. Other beauties will appear to replace her and eventually she will become discontent, feeling that her life has no meaning and she is not happy. At the beginning she was content with life, but later on it became meaningless for her. She was in the position of that European writer who wrote a book pointing that there was not a nobler being on Earth than man and that life was good; but after the author went through a crisis and was disappointed by people, he wrote another book stating that there was not a worse being on Earth than man and that the world was bad. Therefore, when we are doing really well, we say, "Everything is great, God is very good." But if we encounter a disaster, a misfortune or an action, which we did not anticipate, we say, "There is not a more unjust God in the world than this One." The world follows its defined path.
Some time ago a highly intelligent and well-educated woman came to me asking to help her resolve the following puzzle or problem: her husband, when he was still a young man visited Antwerp during an exhibition. He had heard of a man in that town, who could tell people their future while he was asleep. Her husband became interested to hear what this man would tell him and he decided to pay him a visit. The sleeping man told him, "You are going to marry at a very young age, you will have four children, but one of them will die. You will marry your wife for love and will enjoy a happy family life for ten years. After that a blond woman will enter your home, she will destroy your life and you will go to live with her. If you pass this test, in ten or fifteen years you will go back to your first wife and you will live very well together." "In fact", said the woman, "one of our children died. When this happened I found among my husband's papers this note telling his future. The blond woman came into our home and destroyed our life." Then she asked me what to do, whether she should leave her husband. I told her to follow closely what would happen and to see if the rest of the prediction would come true. She asked me how such things were possible. I told her, "Life is predetermined, not in a fatal way, but there are certain reasons predetermining human destinies."
Our life, such as it is developing now, is also predetermined by many preceding causes. If we take advantage of these causes, we can improve our lives, we can fight evil in the world and overcome it. The Hindus call this karma or the fall of man. We are able to fight the fall of man. A man who can fall down and sin can also stand up and win. However, contemporary religious people go into another extreme in their beliefs: they claim that religion by itself will improve our life completely. This statement is half-true. Religion cannot improve our lives completely. As just mentioned this statement is 50% true, because we can control over 50% of our destiny, but there are also other factors regulating our lives and constituting the remaining 50%. I say, 50% of our lives depend on destiny and Nature, 25% – on our own selves and 25% – on the society. Therefore, when these three factors begin to work together, there will be spiritual and moral uplift and improvement. For this to happen, many souls should obligatorily come down to work in one direction. When the spring comes, does it come with only one flower? – No, it comes with millions and millions of flowers. Later on the bees come; and the bustle commences in Nature. That is how unity is created.
Consequently, from an esoteric point of view, we resemble little flowers that have just blossomed, i.e. our consciousness is at such a level of development that we have just begun to discern good and evil. You may say, "Well, one has to lie a little." No, in the conscious life lie is absolutely not permitted, just as in mathematics mistakes whatsoever are not permitted, because any mistake that slips into architecture or technology will result in undesirable consequences. Similarly, the lies we admit in our lives will affect our structure in the same way as the wrong calculations made by an architect will affect a building. Contemporary spiritual people should at least have rules, the way the musicians do. Assign a musical piece to the latter and all of them will keep time during its performance. Commission a painting to a couple of notable painters and all of them will paint it according to the same law. Give a problem to a couple of mathematicians and they will solve it according to the same law. When we consider the spiritual life, we say, "We do not need music, we do not need calculations. God will take care of everything." No, friends, the spiritual life requires strict mathematics, everything is precisely determined there. Whether a person or a nation is happy or not will depend on certain facts that are permitted.
Hence, this great law that regulates the life of the present-day European nations has placed them in their current position. The present civilization that has almost reached its end, began in Egypt, went through Syria, Persia, Rome, England, Germany, America and it is now passing into Russia again, then it is returning to the Eastern continent. From there it will go into a different direction. The wave that is currently coming into the world, stirring humanity, is not mechanical. All of you are destined to take part in it, never mind if you want it or not. And we have to participate in it consciously.
What constitutes the nobility of a nation? Why are the English people noble? – Because collective consciousness has been awakened in them. Though they make mistakes, they correct them with ease. The highest concentration of occultists is among them. Each nation, in which collective consciousness is being awakened, realizes to a certain degree that everything should be in accordance with and in subordination to the common goal. The English people have understood this idea to a certain degree. This consciousness is awakening not only among the English people, but all over the world. It has penetrated all poor people, poor widows and orphans. Do you know your situation today? It is similar to the story of an American preacher, who had the custom to invite poor children to his home and to feast them every day. Ahead of each meal they said Grace together. One day he saw an orphan, a little child. He took him to his home to give him food, but he told him in advance, "Let us say Grace together." They began, Our Father, Who are in Heaven, Hallowed be Your name. The child paused in silence. "Why are you silent?" The child asked, "So, the Lord is our Father?" – "Yes, He is." "So you are my brother?" What the child meant by these words was, "You are a preacher, you sleep in a soft bed, you eat well and what about me, brother – I shiver in the cold, I go to bed hungry." The preacher understood his own situation. This is our situation today as well. Christ has come to save the world. We recite, Our Father Who are in Heaven. There should not be poor people in any nation; it is a shame to have poor people today! There should not be poor widows in any nation! It is a shame that today our brothers and sisters have to sell their honor for bread! Thousands of our sisters and brothers are in brothels at present, selling their honor. We say, "There is God, there is Christ in church, in Heaven." Yes, this Christ came for the dissolute – to save them; He did not come for the righteous ones. Hence, today we should have the fortitude to rectify our past mistakes. We should rectify them by all means. We should hold out our hand to our brothers and sisters, who have fallen.
Currently, all suffer from misconceived Love. Deprive any flower, any plant of sunlight and you will witness the abrupt change that will occur. Deprive any being of Love and you will witness the same law in action. Therefore, we should talk about the God of the future not as some distant being, but as a Being working in our hearts, so that we can do His Will and abide by His law voluntarily, without pressure.
Now all of you are summoned to this great feast in the world. The God of Love has called upon you regardless of your position and your creed. Today He is calling upon you to rise and to take an upward step: not as Bulgarians, Evangelists, Orthodox, Catholics, Muslims, but as intelligent beings, as brothers coming from one Father, with the same blood in their veins. The same blood flows in the veins of all people. If we grasp this fact, we will grasp the New teaching, and thus religion will be reformed. If the future religion does not comprehend this great law, it is condemned to be titled "May it rest in peace" for a hundred years. I am saying a great truth. The clergy should know it and inscribe the following sign on the church: God is Love and we will all sacrifice ourselves for Love. All bishops, priests, mothers, teachers, judges should write down this law. The common principle must be Love. And when we meet one another, we should know that we are brothers and sisters. Then we will have different knowledge and different science; the current barriers among us will disappear. And a new life will commence, bringing peace and joy: peace to our minds, joy to our hearts and power to our human will.
Now it is time for all of us to live in this collective consciousness, to realize that there is no death. The human soul and consciousness do not die. The human body is modified, the form is altered, but that is not essential. One changes many bodies, many organs, but as a developing soul, as consciousness in Nature, one does not cease to exist. This is a fact without any exceptions. Examine the Truth and you will see. Therefore, I tell you: examine the Truth that is implanted in you, look for your ideal within yourselves, in your souls. You will not find this ideal outside. It is implanted in your souls, minds and bodies, the same way as energy is implanted in the seed and the seed is implanted in the ground. It draws the juices from the soil and thus creates all of its organs. Thus the human spirit uses all the energies implanted in our bodies to create the organs of the human body according to the same law.
I will mention the following fact: how many years were necessary for the creation of your hand? The finger joints reveal for how many millions of years man has existed; they reveal the history of humanity, the history of the human development, the state through which the whole of humanity has passed. If I told you that the human finger recounts the whole history of man, you would say that this was impossible. Well, for those who do not understand the laws of Nature, it is a fantasy.
Once I was walking with some friends in a pine tree forest. We stopped in front of a pine tree and I said, "The branch rings of this pine tree show the years when there was excess moisture and those when there was less moisture. This can be inferred from these branch rings". You can verify this fact. Therefore, when there was plenty of rain during the year, the distance between the branch rings grew longer and vice versa – if the rainfall during the year was scant, the distance grew shorter. So, it is possible to quantify mathematically and to determine approximately the dampness through time. This is how dampness affects trees.
Our bodies are also affected by certain events – individual, social and national. Are you aware of this? We carry the sins of entire humanity. Do not think that we who are far away from Africa do not carry the sins of the Africans. Yes, we do. There is an inner force connecting people together and interweaving their lives. Hence, in the future when we grasp this great law, we will realize that all people should create a good environment for all contemporary miseries to be avoided. Many times I repeated that only mothers could create it. Every mother after conceiving a child regardless of its gender, must say, "Daughter, son, in the future I want you to live according to the law of Love and to represent its fullness." If she says this, she will have a daughter or a son hero, who will live according to the law of Love. Each mother is to instill this idea in her children. The young people who are getting married must say, "Our sons and daughters should live for Love, for the God of Love Who unites people." The new generation will be bearers of new ideas, of Divine Love. However, if we continue the way we are currently living, if we were born in this miserly way and still want to reform people who have been working for thousands of years, we will achieve nothing. One can be reformed only in the womb of the mother, so that one would live in Love of God; people cannot reform themselves. Only mothers can recreate their children, reforming them. A person can influence only 50% of their reformation on their own. They are like a ship without a rudder that can be tossed by the waves in any direction.
Therefore, the environment for women should be improved in the future. Women who conceive must have the best environment, but also the surroundings of children should be improved. In addition, we should not go about it mechanically, but according to the law acting in Living Nature. Nature is alive and perfect; I read in Her what beautiful methods She has! If the Bulgarians apply the methods of Nature, they will improve their wellbeing! What immense riches are hidden in Nature! They could repay all of their debts in ten years. However, they should undertake the study of Living Nature. Yet, what do the Bulgarians currently do? – They await their salvation from somewhere; they expect it from where it will not come. And this salvation is hidden in Living Nature that has implanted its forces. People must put these forces in action; they should begin working according to the law of Love and for the good of others. In this way their blessing will descend upon them as well.
Now, this Great law is calling people to brotherhood and sisterhood. Only then we can establish a new science of brotherhood and sisterhood. And what is our present science? It is like a little lamb that a child looks after, kisses it and makes wreaths for it. One day the mother says to her child, "For my little baby to live, we have to slaughter this lamb". The little child cries. You will say, "Well, this is the way we should live." Do you think that this child will be well brought up? The child will ask, "How is it possible for God Who is so good to allow the slaughter of this lamb?" – "Well, my dear, God ordered it that way." No, it is not God Who ordered Life this way; it is us who did it. Let us now free ourselves from these delusions! Let us not think that God organized the world in this way. No, lambs should not be slaughtered. Currently, we have a culture for killing, for crippling the legs of this or that person. Only gun-shots are heard. All say, "This is for the sake of our homeland." However, what benefit did wars confer to humanity? – Absolutely no benefit. People grew ferocious and their wars brought about today's depravity. And future wars will not bring anything good either. We are supposed to fight, but in what way? – To fight, but not to kill. The law of Love is calling people now. The most capable, the greatest, the best persons – mothers, fathers, teachers, priests, selfless people should come to undertake this great work. If they do not arrive on time, others will.
Now I will summarize my conclusions as follows: I do not intend in the least to pressure you to believe, but I want you to test them. Experiences, experiences are needed and nothing more! There exists an inner experience. As each plant should find its soil and the conditions suitable for its growth, so every person in the world should find favorable conditions for their growth and development. Never think that your living conditions are unfavorable. These are only subjective conceptions. In the development of collective consciousness every person occupies a precise position. However, we delude ourselves and we say, "Why am I not like this gentleman?" Do not look at this gentleman from outside; he may be rich, he may eat plenty of gourmet meals, but he is unhappy, his inner life is rotten, he has a heart defect, his stomach is malfunctioning. While the other one, the poor, does not have similar riches, but he is healthy and can enjoy his meals. One's happiness is determined by the disposition of the spirit – when one is content with what he receives in a particular moment. When people unite, they must have the same ideas. The ideas of all of us should be right[2]. I do not say that they are always right, but they should be individually right. Hence, from an individual, social and national point of view we should amend our ideas and introduce new ones that are coming to the world from above. We should devise our thoughts and feelings properly, the way plants craft their forms.
Some people say, "Nowadays life is very hard." No, as I mentioned before, nowadays you have the most favorable conditions of life. You are in the position of the Jewish people who left Egypt. In the desert you may not have meat and some other things, but you will have water and clean air and a Pharaoh will not command you. It is better for you to be free in the desert than to be slaves who eat meet and indulge in all pleasures, while the Pharaoh urges you on with his whip and orders you, "You will make tiles and bricks!" And we answer: "What can we do, we will make them." No, we are not going to make bricks and tiles any more. There is a long road before us in the desert of the Divine life.
All young people who are able to walk should take a backpack and go forward. Do you know what you will be then? – When you meet someone, you will freely continue along your way. At present, when you meet someone, you shrink and hide in case he may rob you or stick his hand in your pocket. You say, "He is a thief." I say, today the world is full of thieves. Can you tell me who is not a thief, who has not inserted a hand in the father's pocket? Who has not taken from the forbidden fruit? In the future, when we enter a fruit garden, we will say according to the law of Love, "Brother, may I pick fruits from your garden or will you pick them for me?" And he will say, "Yes, you may, brother, help yourself!" When I go to a friend, I will say, "Brother, may I spend the night in your house?" – "You may." This should be the New teaching. What will you say now? "Sir, there is a hotel; go there as we do not have spare rooms, there is a housing shortage, etc." And thus the matter will be closed. Now, when you meet someone, you begin to question him, "Are you Bulgarian, do you believe in God, to which party do you belong, etc." I am not saying that these things are bad, but they are not essential. The noble feeling of brotherhood has to permeate us, so when we meet someone – a woman or a man, we would recognize this one as our brother or sister. If you are able to cultivate this feeling of brotherhood, you will set humanity on a new foundation. Then the current misunderstanding among us will not persist, but there will be a just aspiration instead.
This is the Divine teaching that is currently coming into the world. The little children have undertaken it and in ten years they will proclaim it. In ten years the caterpillars will leave their pupae to fly on their wings. They will say, "No, there is no need for pupae." This law is coming to the world. Now the facts are grouped and the laws established. We are passing from the material to the spiritual world; everything is transferred from the individual to the social level. In other words, let us not think only about the law of insurance – whereby everyone cares about leaving an inheritance of a couple of million to be distributed upon their death here and there. They make "benefactions" for the rest to say, that so and so died and left that much money, therefore he or she was a magnanimous person. No, in the future people will not die and will not need monuments.
Consequently, instill Love as an aspiration in your heart, as a feeling in your soul, as a force in your mind and as a principle in your spirit. In this lies the salvation of the human spirit.
Thereby, we should understand Love in these three aspects: as an irresistible downward aspiration in the heart; as an upward feeling in the soul; as a force expanding the human mind and containing the conscious principle, through which we realize why we live, why we have come, where we have come from and what is our purpose on Earth.
[1]Brotherhood – all words referring to brotherhood throughout the lectures are used to denote both brotherhood and sisterhood.
[2]Right – the original text uses the Bulgarian word "prav", which can be translated as all of the following: correct, right and straight.
Translated by Maia Atanasova, Maria Braikova,
Jana Rupchina and Oleg Rupchin
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from The Blossoming of the Human Soul
THE AWAKENING OF
THE COLLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS
Please, be so kind as to listen to me. I am not going to speak long. It is not necessary to speak at length to a wise person. In such a case, it is enough to speak a little but understandably and sensibly. Since I have great respect and deference for you, I would like to speak to you briefly and understandably as to people of awareness.
Life on Earth is like music going in three directions. Expressed in musical terms: sometimes it goes along a major course, as the military would express it; sometimes it follows a minor direction and that is the way, in which sorrow manifests itself and sometimes it moves along a chromatic scale, in which the two previous scales are included. These are three great methods or three Great Laws that regulate our life. When we do not understand the deep intrinsic meaning of Life, we tend to emphasize nonessential things and then we ask ourselves why Life is arranged this and not another way.
Keep in mind that I share the positive outlook of a science, which has been applied and ninety-nine times verified in life so there is no doubt in even one hundred millionth part of what we say. Doubt is a sign of ignorance in this world. I do not say that ignorance is something bad; it signifies a process of development. All little children are ignorant at birth so their consciousness needs to be gradually awakened and developed.
So, the human consciousness (to express myself in a strictly scientific language) passes through three stages: essential, substantial, and material. The essential part includes the Principles of Life; the substantial one contains the Laws of Life; and the material side consists of the facts of Life. Therefore, a Law is formed by the classification of facts in the world, in other words, when we model the particular small experiences which we attain, we say that the Law is expressed in one or another way. Currently, modern people of science claim that the Law is something mechanical, but actually the Law represents a living essence. The Law can only exist through those beings who have awareness, whose consciousness has passed over the material stage and has gone from the facts to the Laws, from the individual to the collective consciousness, and from the collective to the universal whole.
We ask ourselves: what is most important for us after we have manifested ourselves on Earth. In the present conditions, people believe that the most important in the earthly life is material security. Therefore, all nations - both separately and collectively, are striving for their material betterment and security. And so, we have today the so-called economic struggle. The nations’ aspiration for material wealth is an evident trend. It is a sign that the human consciousness passes from the material to the substantial stage, that awakening of the collective consciousness of humankind is taking place now. So far, the humankind has been living in the collective subconsciousness, which is like that in animals. But from now on, the entire humankind is passing from individual to collective consciousness; that is to say, people begin to realize that they need one another. Until now, everyone has been living only for themselves; everyone has been seeking for their own salvation. And yet, now, an inner impulse toward the betterment of the collective conditions appears throughout the entire humankind so that the conditions might be improved not only for one social class but for all. Moreover, it happens in a conscious way and we need to let go of thinking that we can improve our life individually.
No, humankind itself ruined its conditions thousands and thousands of years ago. There are reasons for this, but I am not going to explain them now. There was a time when the Earth resembled a paradise. The vegetation was abundant, there were thousands and millions of fruits and people ate only fruits. But then the ice age came on Earth, due to certain physical reasons. The fruit-growing was reduced and as a consequence, people began to eat meat, exterminating not only animals but each other as well, becoming even cannibals. For this reason, the expression, “I will suck your blood out,” exists even to this day among people. Well, I ask: What is the gain of the bloodsucker? What is the gain of someone who destroys the other person? This is a wrong understanding of Life. Not only that people, in general, do not get along with each other, but also the forefront religious and spiritual leaders who believe to have a connection and communion with God and the right to lead, they too, have lost the right understanding of Life. I am telling you the Truth. It is not that others do not want to tell you the truth or intentionally hide it from you, but that is what is natural for them.
If someone has a thorn in his foot, he will get agitated. He could calm down only when the thorn is removed. Therefore, if people of today are bad, it is because they all have thorns in their flesh that disturb their peace. Apostle Paul said that he had a thorn making him restless. I have not met at least one person without a thorn pricked here or there. As long as this thorn is with us, we cannot think clearly, nor deliberate properly. Our philosophy is distorted due to this thorn. Remove this thorn and you will have the correct philosophy of Life.
An Englishman, who was a merchant, asked an English preacher to tell him the basics of the Bible. The preacher told him this and that. The merchant objected, “No, no. Tell me specifically and in a few words, what this teaching is all about.” He wanted to see the kernel, like that of a nut, and in this way to grasp the teaching. Finally, the preacher told him, “Get yourself a Bible and you will learn many things from it.” The merchant purchased a Bible and read many things in it, but since the time when he acquired it, his affairs had begun to deteriorate and he suffered many losses. “Ever since I purchased this Book, many misfortunes have befallen me,” said the angry merchant to himself. One day, he threw the Bible into the fire. As the Bible was burning, a small shred from one page fell to the side and was salvaged. The merchant took this shred from the page and read it, “God is Love.”
Contemporary Christians are asking now: What is Christianity, what kind of religion is it? And they go around saying that Christianity is this and that. No, no. God is Love that will unite all people to live in Love, Peace, and Brotherhood. Their job and social status are of secondary importance, never mind if they are kings, rulers, or in any other high position. All people should live in Love and mutual respect. Everything needs to be distributed in a brotherly way: not in a violent but in a voluntary and conscientious way.
As soon as we consider this, other issues will also arise: Is there life after death, which religion is the most appropriate, and so on. I say: Only One Teaching exists in the world that can improve life and this is the Teaching of all-embracing Love. It is not the today’s love of different classes, but the principal Love, including self-sacrifice and comprising the love of mothers, brothers, friends, saints, and the most enlightened people in the world. After this Love comes to live in us, our eyes will open.
Many in the world of today do not believe in the sixth sense and clairvoyance. In fact, everyone can have a spiritual sight. When a young man falls in love with an unattractive girl, obviously he sees in her certain things, which no one else can see. He compares her to a precious gem. It is because we see the endowments and gifts of the people we love. Where are they? There is a place where we see these hidden gifts. But when we do not love some people, we impute the worst qualities to them, saying that they are such and such.
One Great Law is beginning to act in the world today. Keep in mind that the world is going into a new phase and in no more than ten years this process will be amplified. This Great Law gets to be applied in all humans, acting both in human minds and hearts. One can see that this Law is in action by the fact that all people of today are restless. Why are they restless? If they were poor, you would say they had become restless because of their hard work. I can understand this. But why are the scientists and rich people restless too? They have their worries, religious people have worries too - all are troubled. Why? It is because they have only beliefs but not faith. If a persecution for faith existed today, I am not sure how many would endure. Many people are Christians today because there is no one to persecute them. And yet, it is in times of troubles when a person’s faith is tested and becomes evident. Self-sacrifice is tested in poverty and deprivation, when hard times come. If people sacrifice their life, that is a test to their character.
Now, what is the greatest good in the world? Is it the well being of the individual, nation, society, and the entire humankind? It is the same: the individual is a microcosm of the entire humankind. Therefore, a nation in its development represents the humankind but in a smaller form. Consequently, when we speak of an individual, we imply that a person represents a seed. When we speak of a society, we assume that this seed has sprouted. When we speak of a nation, we mean that the seed has begun to develop. And when we speak of the humankind in its integrity, we understand that the seed is branching out, blooming, and bearing fruit. If we understand Life in this way, we become aware that every one of us is an essential member of the humankind.
We do not consider the humankind to be divided into halves: as if one half is created to live in paradise and the other half - in hell. I know this: As far as we are aware that God is Love, we all live in paradise, but without such awareness, everything is meaningless. We shall have Love so that we might come to know God. Within Love, every human being and every form is a factor. These forms in which we exist today are not finished. Do you think that you come to Earth for the first time, that you are born for the first time now? No, all of you have a long history of incarnations and if someone can tell you this history, it will be interesting for you to learn who you were in the past and who you will be in the future. This is an important process through which you are passing. For example, an elevated person of noble character will be aware that all should live in Love. No matter what one’s position is - one should use all living conditions so that to contribute to the common good. Only Love gives these beneficial conditions.
I am not going to explain to you the causes for strife in the world. In my view, these causes arise naturally. I will illustrate them with the following example. Take two trees planted close to one another. Notwithstanding the multitude of leaves, flowers, and branches they have, they live comfortably, brotherly and speak to each other. But suddenly, when the wind comes up, their branches and leaves intertwine and get entangled in each other. Then the wind grows stronger, a storm erupts and the branches batter one another violently. They begin asking one another, “What are you doing?” My question is: What is the cause for this, is it internal or external? The cause is external. The cause for people’s misunderstandings today is also external; this is the economic situation. This is the “wind,” causing misunderstandings and fights among people. Some people may ask: How long will the storm last? A storm can last 24 or 48 hours, 3 days at most; and after that, all leaves will come to rest. The storm brewing in the world is pushing and sifting us at present. There will be many fractured legs and heads. For this reason, do not be angry; this storm will soon subside. In 45 years, this social storm will pass over, but only if people become wiser. However, if they do not learn a lesson from their experience and improve their living, this storm will last even longer. Should they learn from their experience, the duration of the storm will be less because the Great Law, which governs the world, is wise regardless if one is a believer or not.
There is a Great Intelligent Power, a Great Law in the world that compels both believers and non believers to think and act in the same way. I often see people who do not believe in God and do not go to church, but yet, they are going to jump in the water and risk their own life in order to save someone. It is not the existing mechanical law that acts in such individuals, but another one - the Law of Self-sacrifice, which is innate to their nature. Therefore, they bear within themselves something greater than the conventions of religion. Religion appeared in the world at a later time. Some people ask, “Are you religious?” A person can be religious and still be dishonest. Religion is not a label that indicates whether a person is honest or not. To verify this, visit, for example, all merchants who go to church and say they believe in God, then check the status of their accounts and the principles of doing their business. It is a different Law that is governing their world. Love should come to live in their hearts and they need to awake, as to stop cheating their brethren. It will make them regard the interests of other people as their own interests and consequently, they will no longer sell inferior merchandise to their fellowmen. It is only when we regard our affairs this way that we would attain mutual understanding.
If we want to take position on the grounds of nationality and begin asking: Are you Bulgarian, are you English, French, German - we would never come to a mutual understanding. We say, “It is not good to be a Bulgarian.” This opinion would represent some individual ideas but not the collective consciousness, so it would not be a manifestation of the Divine Law yet. The Divine Principle has not yet been revealed in nations. In these nations of today, each one is looking out for its own affairs. There is not a chosen nation, which to be preferred over the others; each nation has its own place and role. For example, if I raise my hand and extend one of my fingers and if this finger believes to have supremacy over the others, what will happen? This finger is showing only the direction of things, but one cannot work with it only; work is accomplished by using all fingers, each finger in its own place on the hand. Only when all fingers act together, we can rely on our hand as an emblem of the willpower: then we can fulfill our obligations as the hand is doing its duties. Therefore, a nation can find its place, when it realizes its position as a part of the humankind, as an organ of the whole body, as to fulfill its obligations at the right time.
People of today are still supporting the old god. We know who he is. Do not be offended. This old god has brought all wars, violence, and misfortune. On the other hand, there is absolutely no lie in the God of Love. He regards all people, including even the smallest living beings, with the same Love and compassion, always ready to help them all. Whenever a small being whose form has been destroyed comes to Him, God gives it a new form and says, “Do not be afraid. Go forward and continue your work.”
Now I am asking: what have we gained by the end of our life after living on Earth for about 50–60 years? Let us assume that mother has given birth to a beautiful daughter, who has become an excellent young woman, she dresses well and many young men are surrounding her, so she is happy. I ask: How long will this last, 5–10–15 years? Gradually, her face will get wrinkled; she will lose her beauty and freshness; she will not be as pretty as before, and the young men will abandon her. Another beauty will appear to replace her and finally, she will be discontented that her life has become meaningless and she is no longer happy. She was contented at first, but afterward her life became meaningless. She is like that European writer who first wrote a book affirming that life is wonderful and humans are most elevated among the living beings on Earth. But after passing through a crisis and reflecting people’s disappointment, the same author wrote another book stating that the world is bad and there is no being on Earth worse than the human being. Therefore, when everything goes well in our lives, we say, “Everything is beautiful. God is very good.” Should a tragedy, some misfortune, or unexpected event befall us, right then we say, “There is no God in the world more unjust than the present One.” The world follows its predetermined course.
Some time ago, a well-educated and intelligent woman came to see me. She wanted me to answer her question, to resolve a predicament, namely the following: When the exhibition in Anvers took place, her husband was still a young man and was in Anvers at that time. He heard about a man who lived in the town and who was a sleeping prophet and fortune-teller. Her husband got interested to learn his fortune from him. He went to his home and the sleeping man told him the following, “You will marry very young. You will have four children. One of them will die. Your marriage will be of love and you will have a happy family life for 10 years. After that, a blond woman will visit your home. She will ruin your marriage and you will get to live with her. If you pass this trial, after 10–15 years you will return to your first wife and you will live very well.” “Truly,” said the woman, “one of our children passed away. When the child died, I found among my husband’s papers this slip of paper on which his future was described. This blond woman came into our home and ruined our life.” She asked me what she should do after that. Should she leave her husband? I told her to observe whether the remaining part of the prophecy will come true. She asked me to what extent such things are possible. I answered her: Life is not predetermined fatally, but still there are a number of reasons that predetermine people’s destiny.
Our life, the way it is unfolding now, is also predetermined by a number of preceding causes. If we make use of them, we can improve this life; we can stand against the evil in the world and conquer it. The Hindu people call this karma or the Fall of man. We can struggle with this original sin. Those who can fall and sin - they can also rise up and be victorious. However, contemporary religious people go to extremes in their beliefs saying that religion will completely improve our lives. This is half true. Religion cannot improve life completely. Their assertion is only half true because we, ourselves, are also factors for our own destiny up to 50 percent. However, the other 50 percent of factors, which regulate our life, exist as well. I say: Destiny and Nature exert 50 percent influence in our life; we, ourselves - 25 percent; and the society - 25 percent. Therefore, when these three factors begin to work together, in esoteric and moral sense, an upliftment and improvement will come to life. For this to occur, many people should come to work in one direction without fail. When the spring is in, has it come with only one flower? No, it has come with millions of flowers and abundance of blossoms. After that the bees will come and unrest is stirring up everywhere in Nature. Thus the unity has been created.
Therefore, from an esoteric point of view we are like little flowers that have just come out; that is to say, our consciousness is at such a stage of development, that we have only now begun to discern good from bad. You say at times, “One is always compelled to tell little lies.” No. Absolutely no lie is permitted in the conscious way of living. As in mathematics, no mistake can be admitted because any error in architecture or mechanics will bring undesirable consequences. When we allow a lie in our life, it will bring the same results to our being as incorrect calculations of an architect would show in a structure. Spiritual people of today observe some rules as musicians do. Give a musical composition to an orchestra and all will keep timing in the performance. Give an image to a few great artists and they all will paint it according to the same standard. Give a problem to several mathematicians and they will solve it complying with the same law. When we come to the spiritual life, however, we say, “We do not need music. We do not need calculations. God will solve everything.” No, friends, strict mathematics is required in the spiritual life; all things are strictly determined there. Whether one person or a whole nation is well or unhappy - it depends upon certain things, which have already happened.
And so, this Great Law regulating the life of the contemporary European nations has put them in their deserved places. The present civilization, which is almost at its end, began in Egypt, went through Syria, Persia, Rome, England, Germany, and America - now it is returning again to Russia and the Eastern continent. From there, it will move in a different direction. This Wave coming into the world at this age and motivating the humankind is not mechanical. All of you are destined to participate in it, whether you want it or not. And we should better participate consciously.
How is a nation’s dignity defined? Why are the English of noble characters? It is because their collective consciousness has been awakened. They make some mistakes, but then they correct them easily. One can find the greatest number of spiritual practitioners among them. Each nation which collective consciousness has awakened, realizes to a certain degree that it should comply with the common cause. The English have understood this to a certain degree. The collective consciousness is awakening not only in the English but throughout the planet. It makes its way among all poor people, among poor widows and orphans. Do you know the situation, in which you find yourselves today? You are in the position of that American preacher who had the custom of gathering poor children every day at his home to give them a meal. They usually said the prayer “Our Father” before eating. One day he found an orphan child, brought him to his home for a meal, and before they ate, he told him, “Let’s say the Lord’s prayer.’’
They began, “Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be Your name.”[1] But the child stopped and stayed silent. “Why are you silent?” The child replied, “So it says that God is our Father?” “Yes.” “Then, it means that you are my brother!” With these words, the child wanted to say, “You are a preacher; you sleep in a warm bed and have good food. Yet, look at me brother! I shiver from the cold and go to bed hungry.” Thus the preacher got aware of his own situation.
Well, now we should do the same. Christ came to save the world. We pray, “Our Father in Heaven...” There should not be poor people in any nation. It is shameful to have poor people today! There should not be poor widows in any nation. It is shameful that today our sisters and brothers must sell their honor for their daily bread! Thousands of our brothers and sisters are selling their honor in the brothels right now. And we preach in the church that there is God, there is Christ in Heaven. It is true. Christ came to Earth for these destitute women and men in order to save them; He did not come for the righteous ones. Therefore, today we must have the courage to correct our past errors. We are to correct them no matter how. We need to embrace our brothers and sisters who have fallen.
All people are suffering today because of their misunderstanding of Love. Deprive any flower or plant of sunlight and you will witness the abrupt change that will take place with it. Deprive any person or being of Love and the same Law will apply. So, we should speak of God not as of some distant being of the future, but as a Being, Who is working in our hearts so that we might fulfill His Will and abide by His Law willingly.
All of you are invited now to this Great feast of the world. God of Love is calling you to come regardless of your position or creed. He is calling you to advance a step not as Bulgarians, neither as Evangelist, Orthodox, Catholic, or Muslim but as intelligent beings and brothers who have one and the same Father with the same blood flowing in your veins. It is the same blood flowing in the veins of all people. If we can grasp this fact, it is the basis of the New Teaching, it is the way how religion could be reformed. If religion does not comprehend this Great Law, it will pass away within one hundred years in the future. I am telling a Great Truth. The clergy needs to understand this and put a sign on their churches, saying, “God is Love and we will all sacrifice ourselves for this Love.” All bishops, priests, mothers, fathers, teachers, judges should write down this Law. The common principle is Love. And when we all meet, we are going to recognize one another as brothers and sisters. We will have a different kind of knowledge then and a different science; then the barriers existing today between us will disappear. A New Life will begin bringing Peace and Joy: Peace to the mind, Joy to the heart, and Power to the human will.
It is the time now when we need to live in this collective consciousness of the humankind, knowing that death does not exist. The human soul and consciousness do not pass away. The human body is transformed; its form is changed, but this is not essential. The human being changes many bodies and many organs, but it is not lost as a developing soul and consciousness in Nature. This is a fact without any exceptions. Verify the Truth and you will see. Verify the Truth invested inside yourself, seek your ideal in you, in your souls. You cannot find these ideals outside yourselves. Truth is in your souls, minds, bodies, just as the life-force is in the seed: the seed is planted in the soil, from which it draws essential substances to create all its organs and grow up. In the same way, all forces, which our bodies have inside, are used by the human spirit to create all organs of the human body in accordance with the same Law.
I would dwell on the following question: How many years were needed for the creation of your hands? The joints of your fingers reveal the number of the millions of years of existence of the human being; they speak of the history of humankind, its development and the conditions through which it has passed. If I tell you that the human finger recounts the entire human history, you will say that this is impossible and it is nonsense. True, it is so for those who do not know the Laws of Nature.
One day I went for a stroll with some friends in a pine forest. We stopped at one pine tree and I said: The rings of this tree indicate which years were damper and which were drier. This can be observed from the rings and you can verify this fact. Therefore, when a year was very rainy, the distance between the rings is greater and vice versa, when the year was drier, the distance is smaller. So, it is possible to calculate mathematically the humidity in a given year. This is how the moisture is reflected on the trees.
In the same way, certain events: individual, social, and national are reflected in our bodies. Are you aware of this? We are bearing the sins of the entire humankind. Do not think that because we live far away from Africa that we do not carry the sins of the African people. Yes, we do. Inner forces connecting people exist and they are interweaving their lives. Therefore, when we become aware of this Great Law, we are going to understand that people need to create good living conditions for all so that today’s misfortunes might be avoided in the future. I said many times: Only mothers are in the position to create. Every mother, who conceives a child should say, “Daughter, son, it is my wish that you would live in the future according to the Law of Love and represent it fully.” If she says this, she will have daughters and sons who are heroes, who will live according to the Law of Love. Every mother should instill this within her children. When young people marry, they should say, “Our sons and daughters will live for Love, for the God of Love Who unites all people.” The new generation will be a bearer of the new ideas of Divine Love. The way it is now, we cannot do anything to re-educate people, if they were born in an unhealthy way. People can be re-educated only in their mother ’s womb, in God’s Love. They cannot do this by themselves. It is only mothers who can recreate and re-educate them. People themselves represent a factor of 50 percent only for their re-education; otherwise they are like a ship without a rudder, which is tossed by the waves.
Therefore, conditions for women need to be improved in the future. Women after conceiving should be placed under the best conditions. The conditions for children must be changed as well - not mechanically but according to the Law of Living Nature. And Nature is alive; she is excellent. I read in her book what beautiful methods she has! If the Bulgarians apply the methods of Nature, they would improve their situation. Great wealth is hidden in Nature. The Bulgarians can pay all their debts within ten years, but they shall begin by studying the Living Nature. But what are the Bulgarians currently doing? They are awaiting their salvation to come from somewhere, from a place from which it will never come. Salvation will come from the Living Nature that has invested her forces here. Humans need to put these forces to work; they need to begin working according to the Law of Love, for the good of others. In this way, their blessings will come.
And so, this Great Law is calling people of today to brotherhood. Only then, will we have a New Science of brotherhood. But what is our science at present? It is like the story of a little lamb that a child looks after, kissing it, and adorning it with garlands. One day, the mother comes and says, “For my little darling to live, we must slaughter the little lamb.” The child will cry. You say, “This is the way one should live.” How do you think your offspring will be educated? He will ask himself, “How can God Who is so kind allow the lamb to be slaughtered?” You say, “Well, my dear, God has arranged it in this way.” No, it is not God Who has arranged it in this way; we have arranged life in this way. We must free ourselves of this delusion today! May we not believe that God has arranged the world in this way. No, these lambs should not be slaughtered. We now have a culture of killing and maiming the legs of this or that person. Only gunshots can be heard. They say it is for our country. What benefit have wars brought to humanity? Absolutely none. People have become embittered and wars have brought the depravity of today. The future wars will bring nothing better. We can fight, but in what way? We can fight but not kill. The Law of Love is now appealing to people. To undertake this Great Work the most gifted people, the best and greatest persons must come: mothers, fathers, teachers, priests, and free-thinkers. If they do not come on time, others will come in turn.
Now I am going to summarize my conclusions as follows: I had not the least intention of compelling you to believe, rather I want you to try. Practice and more practice is needed, nothing else. The inner experience does exist. Every plant needs to find the right soil and the appropriate conditions for its growth; in the same way every person in the world needs to find the favorable conditions to grow and develop. Never think that the conditions of your life are unfavorable. These are merely inner, subjective opinions. In the present stage of development of the collective consciousness, every person is in his exact place. But we delude ourselves when we think, “Why am I not like that person?” Do not look at someone only superficially. Perhaps he is wealthy and able to eat a great variety of food. However, he is not happy: his inner life is in disarray, his heart is ailing and his stomach does not digest well. Although the poor man lacks abundance, he is healthy and enjoys his food. Happiness is determined by one’s state of being - to be contented with the received at a given moment. And when people unite, they need to share the same ideas. All your ideas need to be right. I do not say that they are always right, yet individually, they might appear to be right. Therefore, with respect to the individual, social, and national good we need to correct our beliefs and bring in the new ideas that are coming into the world from Above. In the same way as plants grow and create their form, we shall create the right foundation for our thoughts and feelings.
Someone may complain that life is very difficult at present. No, as I said before, we are currently having the most favorable conditions of Life. You are in the position of the Hebrews on their exile from Egypt. You will lack meat and other things in the desert, but you will have water, clean air, and no Pharaoh to give you orders. It is better for you to be free in the “desert,” than to be slaves who eat meat and indulge in all pleasures, while the Pharaoh with his whip beats you, demanding from you to make bricks and adobe. Sometimes we also say, “There is no way out. We must make them.” No, we will no longer make bricks and adobe. The long path through the Desert to the Divine Life is waiting for us ahead.
May all young people who can walk take backpacks and set off ahead of the rest. Do you know what you will be like? When you meet someone, you will continue freely on your way. At present, when you see someone, you withdraw out of fear that he might rob you and you hide.
You say to yourself, “He might be a thief.” I say: The world of today is full of thieves. Show me at least one person who is not a thief. Who of you have not thrust hands in your father ’s pocket? Who of you have never partaken of a forbidden fruit? Yet in the future, when we enter a garden with ripe fruits, we will ask for permission as per the Law of Love, “Brother, can I pick some fruits from your garden?” or “Will you give me some fruits?” And he will answer, “Of course, brother, come and help yourself.”
When I go to visit a friend, I will ask him: Brother, may I stay overnight in your house?” “Yes, you may.” This is how it should be according to the New Teaching. But what would the answer be today? “Sir, there are hotels; go there. We do not have extra rooms; there is a housing shortage; and so on.” And the matter would be closed. When you meet someone now, you begin questioning him, “Are you a Bulgarian? Do you believe in God? Which party do you belong to?” and so on. I do not want to say that these things are bad, but they are not essential. We need to be imbued with that noble feeling of brotherhood so that when we meet a man or a woman we see in their face a brother or a sister. If you can learn this feeling of brotherhood, you will place humankind on a new higher level. Misconceptions will then disappear and the right aspiration will come.
This is the Divine Teaching, which is now coming into the world. Share it with the little children and they will manifest it in ten years. In ten years, the “caterpillars” will emerge from their cocoons and will fly away with their wings. The caterpillars will say, “There is no need for cocoons!” This Law is coming into the world now. The facts are being summarized now and New Laws are being established.
We are going from the material to the spiritual world and all things are passing from the individual to the collective. In other words, we should not only think of the insurance law, where one is concerned to leave an inheritance of several millions after death - with shares for this or that cause. And all this for the sole reason that people say about the departed one to be a person of noble character. No, in the future people are not going to die and there will be no need for gravestones.
And so, experience Love as a striving in your heart, as a feeling in your soul, as a force in your mind and as a principle in your spirit: this will bring salvation to the humankind. Therefore, we shall come to know Love in these three aspects: as a striving in the heart - an irresistible striving to descend [and serve those in need]; as an uplifting feeling in the soul; and as a force that brings expansion to the mind. Thus we become aware of the Intelligent Principle within ourselves allowing us to know why we live, why we have come here and from where, and what our purpose on Earth is.
Lecture held by the Master Beinsa Douno at the gathering on August 19, 1921 in Veliko Tarnovo.
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1. See also Matthew 6:9–13.
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Influence of Harmony in Life
Guidance is needed for all that I have told you. You have to realise that the laws in Nature shall not alter to suit your understanding. All of you have to keep in mind that Nature shall not introduce special laws for you in order to provide for you.
Speaking about harmony we understand the presence of consciousness in the life of human beings, we understand life where the soul has developed the human ‘I’, has developed the human consciousness, that a human being is a separate entity in the world, that a human being is manifested. People should realise that man is a separate being.
Now, imagine a musical note: it may be half a tone, a quarter of a tone or an eighth of a tone or a sixteenth of a tone. This note is just one symbol, one character and it has no meaning by itself. However, if this note is placed onto the staff, and if you place the clef, determining its scope, at the beginning, it already gains meaning. Likewise no other note, placed in the staff can have any individual opinion, neither can it say, ‘This is what I think.’ The note is bound to think the way the clef dictates and the tone of the note under this clef cannot be altered.
When you enter the Divine Life, you will see that there is a Divine clef and that you are placed into this staff in line with this Divine Harmony clef. You climb upon it and you say, ‘Do you know that I have a particular opinion?’ The ‘I’ means to produce the vibrations corresponding to this law. If you are not willing to comply with the law of harmony, of the Divine, you should climb down the staff, i.e. out of the clef. Once out of it, you may create whatever confusion you feel like, but while within the staff you will do as the Spirit tells you to, i.e. the bandmaster. He will move you, he will place you higher or lower and if you listen to him, you will pass through all the situations in this law of harmony. This is what I call conscious life in musical terms, which means that we are guided in our walk along this curve, we climb up and down, but the movement is harmonic. This is how you should look upon the issue. This is philosophy and if anybody does not understand this philosophy, they get pulled by the ear. If for instance, a note is placed on the staff in the form of a fourth of a note, but it is willing to be half a note, the bandmaster will take it to task and will tell the note, ‘No, not half a note, but a fourth of a note you have to be!’ – ‘See, I want to be bigger, I want to last longer!’ No, you will be as big as you are supposed to be, neither bigger, nor smaller than what you are supposed to be!
Well now some of you want to be bigger. These are wrong religious views. Life comes down to accomplishing what God created according to law and order. This harmony is equally required for your individual life and for your family and public life. It is required for your mind and heart too. Your mind and heart cannot develop outside harmony. Now, it goes without saying, you have experienced the crash taking place in your heart when you fail to observe the law of harmony. Any disharmony is expressed in tears. As long as there is harmony, the heart is full of Joy; as long as there is harmony, the mind is full of Joy.
The first clef to the internal harmony of Life is Love above all. What do you call the first clef in music? This is the G/sol clef1. Indeed, people need salt. This is just a coincidence: the G clef and the table salt. Note that when people sing the tones – C, E, G, B – the G sol comes third out of these four main tones. For the time being we are placed on this clef. We all want to tune according to this G clef, and the meter will be ¾. In music not only those who understand the characters and know for instance, the meaning of the G clef, are called musicians. Musicians are those who know the notes, who can sing any of them and who can understand the relations among the notes from G to G. This is what I would like you to understand about the G clef, to sing the tones correctly, very harmonically. You have to plant this idea into your heads – that when it comes to the G clef, there is only one opinion and there is no way for you to have any reservations about it. There is no reserved opinion in Love, no special opinion in Love, because otherwise it means that you fail to understand the great law. All the great masters who understand music correctly, when they come to the clef, all of them work very well, they know what they are doing and only sometimes they have to correct a note or two to place them where they belong, according to the requirements of the law of music. This is what I call a teaching; this is what I call progress, development of the consciousness etc.
So now, you will look for the mistakes behind each indisposition, every instance of disharmony that occurs among you. You will start with the G clef. I would like to see whether you women would be able to rectify your lives in consistence with the G clef. Now, I do not mean rectifying your life, but your thoughts, your feelings and wilful acts are not ordered in accordance with this clef. A transformation of the thought is needed; everything should be arranged according to this clef of Love. Or you will say, ‘How well we know this Love!’ You have not been arranged as yet according to the G clef. Do you know what wonderful harmony exists once you are lined next to the G clef! This is the most inspiring state, the noblest state of man! When one is lined next to this clef, one experiences an upsurge of thoughts, of feelings, of one’s consciousness. Such a person no longer suffers neurasthenics, or any other diseases. This is the G clef! If some of you have these qualities in themselves I can tell you that you are tuned to the G clef. If you are not, do not beguile yourselves about any other clef.
Well, harmony is needed for women in general: harmonic thoughts, feelings and actions. This is the greatest stuff that one can study in Life. The only thing that shapes man is harmony. You may try out this law. When there is harmony in your mind, in your heart, in your will, everything is within reach for you, you can do the cooking for half an hour and you say, ‘Today is my lucky day!’ This is just a small harmony but see what effect it can have! It speeds up all the work. Sometimes it is the workload that can be reduced; sometimes it is the time that can be reduced. If we, using our objective mind, lose track of a certain phenomenon, it takes years until we get to know it completely again, while by using human intuition, what has to be studied for two entire years can be studied within a minute. Well, this great law of Love smoothes everything. If some time is required to rectify any of your mistakes, when Love comes with its brush, it can be rectified immediately – just for five minutes.
And now start singing! This is the instantaneous healing method. Introducing harmony in Life is what I consider an instantaneous healing method. Since the language of the Scripture is very allegorical, a prophet said there, ‘I attracted you by the law of Love’, i.e. by the G clef he attracted them. As soon as people start understanding one another, harmony can perform miracles. For instance you now say that the Orthodox, the Evangelists do not have the knowledge you have. But the issue is not that you differ only in this - you have to be able to sing according to the G clef; to have a substantial feature distinguishing you – harmony among you. If harmony prevails, if you can operate with the G clef, then you will have one substantial feature, then you will be able to say that you understand Life and that you are different from the others.
Well, some of you resemble those singers who are asked to attend a music school or to join a choir, they sing for a day or two, and then they leave the choir and say, ‘Our voice is not good enough’. Why is your voice not good enough? Because you are not in harmony. Harmony should be introduced first and then your voice will become good enough. When harmony is introduced, then feelings will come; having achieved harmony, righteous deeds will follow. All of it depends on this Divine harmony. As soon as you are tuned to it, as if by waving a magic wand, everything will come out right. If there is no harmony, you may toil for years, but you will accomplish nothing.
Now, all of you think about yourselves during your lifetime, i.e. you keep saying, ‘I am thinking about this, I am thinking about that.’ But as far as I can understand people who consider themselves very spiritual, keep thinking of themselves only. Contemporary people think about others only when they have too much to carry upon their backs. They say, ‘Shall we do you a favour – shall we give you some of our luggage?’ People who say that they are ready to sacrifice themselves, only think so, but show me people who are actually ready to sacrifice themselves. These are very rare to come across. On one’s own free will, this is the Divine way in which one has to think about God. Sometimes, when a person insults us, we fly at that person - even the most advanced ones among us do it - later on when we come to realise what we have done we say, ‘What I did was not right!’ And this we do not only once, twice or thrice a day; and in the end you keep asking why God does not come. Well, how can He come?! Love is the law of harmony; get into harmony and He will come; as long as you are not in harmony, He won’t come.
I now want you to master a power in your consciousness that is able to keep hold of the harmony without you considering what the world is like. I want you to do something by virtue of which you can convince your God, because if you insult Him, you thwart all of your work. Keep telling yourself, ‘I am waiting to turn the wheel!’ It can only be turned when you are lined according to the G clef.
Young people now make excuses that they are inexperienced, while old people – that they are nervous. God excuses neither the young nor the old. Whoever comes to school must study. If you are old and you consider yourself old – this is a disharmony. If you think you are young, this is also a disharmony. As soon as you think that you are old, this means that one day you will rejuvenate; if you think that you are young, this means that you will grow old some day. And this comes down to playing with a ball: youth – old age; young – old… What does young and old mean in music? Youth is the beginning of music, and the old age – is the end. The young are in the beginning. What is your understanding of music? When the musician gets old, there is no longer applause, but as soon as music is played, the audience applauds in admiration, ‘Encore! Encore! Play again!’ and then the musician starts playing again. Hence one can grow older and get younger several times in a row. This is the musical approach to it: there is no old age the way you imagine. So along these lines young is understood to mean a person having reached the prime of one’s age in music, and when a person develops one’s feelings and abilities to their best – this is called old age. A person is then at the peak of one’s power and might. Outside music, the most powerful, the mightiest is understood to be the oldest, most incapable and it is labelled ‘an old person’. Hence, as soon as you tune yourself to harmony, you will alter your views. When I say young I imply that you are in the beginning. While the old ones you will place in the highest degree of harmony where your soul can reach.
It is not that now you do not invest effort, you do invest a lot of effort, aspirations and all this is good, but your aspirations, your desires should be directed intelligently into the great striving of Love. You may have your aspirations, but if you do not choose the timing required by harmony, if you do not comply with the operating laws, all your labour will be lost. You may now ask, ‘Why do I not grow today, why do I not have such a view, why are my thoughts a little bit disorganised?’ Harmony and harmony again is what you need! You have to recover harmony by all means, whatever sacrifices it may take! Once you recover harmony, whatever sacrifices you may make, nothing is wasted. Harmony should be restored in your souls.
There is also the point that because you do not understand Life, you believe that society will deliver the rewards to you. Society can only spoil you. You make friends in groups and if you fail to understand the law and society, Life will place you out of tune. You tune somebody in, while they tune you out. You say, ‘Let’s tune ourselves!’ You tune that person, he takes you out of tune and you spend the whole day tuning: tuning in and tuning out. You start anew on the following day, you pull the string, and sometimes when you make it too taut it breaks. However, these four strings that you have to play on are the four temperaments, which need tuning. The first one is the sanguine temperament, i.e. lively, airy. People of such temperament have rounded faces, fair hair, blue eyes, they are like butterflies – bounce from one flower to another, they make promises to everybody, while they can hardly do one hundredth of what they have promised, they are very generous, they give everything.
The other string is the so-called choleric temperament. Such people will be better off if they develop their liver, muscles, and nervous system. They are energetic – wherever they pass they set everything on fire. These are dark-haired people having oval faces, thick furry eyebrows, wide noses, well developed muscles on their arms and when others do not obey them, they bang fists on the table.
The third string is the phlegmatic temperament. These are people of the benign womb, having round faces resembling the Moon, only the eyes can be seen. Their arms are short. They walk slowly. These are people of English2 temperament: they find it difficult to sit down, but having sat, they find it difficult to get going. They never worry.
The fourth temperament is the melancholic or the nervous temperament. The brain-nervous system prevails in it. People of such temperament are of delicate built, with rather thin eyebrows, most often having hazel eyes; they are people of the thought, they are quick of apprehension, impressionable, agile, nervous, they have a fluent thought; these are the bearers of thought and philosophy.
These are the four temperaments, which have to be tuned so that there can be harmony among them. When these temperaments, these strings, are fine-tuned, then notes start perching upon them, but as soon as the violinist takes the bow, they all start bouncing and if some of them are not tuned properly, then there is a certain disharmony. The cases when you are not tuned indicate that two of you of equal faults are brought together, two persons of sanguine or of phlegmatic temperament. Crossing of breeds is the key, so that there is peace. For instance, if I place all of you lean people together you will be jostling around. You will not be able to stand one another. For example you sometimes say, ‘I was somewhere, but I felt as if I was set on fire.’ But of course, as long as three people of the same temperament are together, it’s only natural that they should feel as if they were set on fire. Temperaments should be crossed so that these can develop harmonically. For instance, the sanguine temperament enhances the development of the respiratory system: breasts are enlarged, blood-circulation is improved, breathing is good and such people never suffer from anaemia. When you want to improve your muscles and ligaments, you will call the choleric temperament. When you want to develop your digestive system, you will call the phlegmatic temperament, and when you want to develop your brain – the nervous temperament. Your feelings, thoughts, and actions should be located on these four strings in order to start playing the music of Life. So, from the point of view of harmony, if you are too active, you will call the phlegmatic temperament to contribute some strength to the stomach, to achieve balance. If you have too much fire, you will call the sanguine temperament to blow some of it away, to scatter it around. You know what the law is, don’t you? When it is too hot in the room, you should immediately open the windows; air comes in and brings in refreshment. Well, the sanguine temperament is air, which refreshes everything. When it gets cold, you should ask the choleric temperament: it will in turn, make the room warmer.
Well, it takes a long time to study this law of harmony. Easier said than done! Above all you will take it into your head that harmony is necessary for your development. All obstacles in your life come from the lack of this Divine harmony. And you should remember that harmony is always the result of the intelligent beginning in man, of the Divine Spirit that works in your Spirit that guides you in all of your endeavours. There is a creature within yourselves, which keeps telling you, ‘Hang on! Think a little before you start doing the work!’ You struggle, and when you have tuned yourself into it, it says, ‘You may go ahead!’ Sometimes you resemble recalcitrant children: although your mother tells you not to go out, you still open the door and there you are in the open. You come back in the evening all in mud, your clothes tattered, your mothers give you a good thrashing and then you say, ‘When I wake up tomorrow, things will be all right.’ Such has been your life so far. There is nobody among you who has escaped the thrashing. You have all been thrashed.
Now, the law of harmony demands that you pay attention not to the people singing out of tune, who cannot sing the tones properly, but to be attentive to the singing of the best singers; they will teach you how to sing the proper tones. Hence, from an esoteric point of view, when we say that we should not be dealing in other people’s mistakes, this means that we should not be concerned with people singing out of tune. There is nothing to listen to in relation to them; we should be listening to people singing properly as it is them from whom you can learn harmony.
Well, all of you can be musicians, and nobody has the right the say that they are no good for this purpose. You are required to do it! Harmony rules out the words I can’t. Those of you who want to live and to develop, they have to say, ‘I can!’ While those of you who do not want to, they have to head for the cemetery. Those who cannot are expelled from school and there starts the reverse life. Harmony exists only when you say, ‘I can’.
Now, it does not come to hurrying, there is no hurrying about it, but you will do it from the beginning to the end. Some people say, ‘I want to get to that end to see what is there!’ I say, ‘Like the beginning, like the end’. What is in the beginning, the same will be at the other end. You beguile yourselves by saying, ‘Let me go to Heaven to find out what is there.’ Well Heaven – it is the end of this music. If you are virtuoso performers, you will come to Heaven till the end of the music and there will be applause for you. If you are not virtuoso performers, you go to Heaven and say, ‘Down, down to the Earth!’ This is what heavenly Life means: this music is the same from the earth to Heaven and when you turn around, there will be applause up there, and you will then be asked to go down to earth. The beginning is like the end. Some say, ‘Let me have a poor start so that I can have a good finish.’ If you start all right, you will end all right; if you start poorly, you will end poorly. This is according to the law of powers.
So, music is the only circumstance that pre-conditions one’s development on earth. Therefore, apply music! You are indisposed – start singing! Sing and fear not! Sing any song to introduce harmony into you. This will be of help to your thoughts, your feelings, and your actions as well. If you cannot sing alone, go to the garden, sit under a tree and if there is a wind, you will discover such music listening to the crackling leaves that you will gradually subside and will be carried away by this rustling, which I call music. The vibrations coming from the rustling leaves influence your mind. You will regard music as an important factor in your life, in order to get rid of these misunderstandings, which currently exist among you. You often stop and say, ‘What’s-his-name does not sing well, he sings out of tune.’ Yes, he does, but you do not sing well either. There must be someone else, who will say, ‘Let me make the tones properly and we shall tune ourselves all at one go!’ It’s not the point that whoever sings out of tune. The point is for all of us to be tuned properly. When there is a tuning fork, we shall all start singing properly.
I certainly do not intend now to correct the clefs of all of you, but I talk in general about your mistakes. When you go back to your homes you will see where the G clef is and you will correct your mistakes. Sometimes teachers correct the mistakes on the blackboard and students correct theirs according to the blackboard. This is the better way for you to correct yourselves.
You often say, ‘I’m in low spirits, I’m not in the right mood.’ But you have to know that Divine Love is harmony, it cannot tolerate disharmony. I now talk about harmony in terms of relation, because it will be your solid foundation when you start organizing yourselves consciously. Do you know what organizing means? All the cells are consciously organized in this Divine organism and all work properly. We are Divine cells in this Life and each one of us has to understand and perform one’s mission properly, one’s present application and to want neither more nor less than the work assigned to one. No one should distance oneself from the Divine Plan. Other people may comment about you, but try to accomplish what you are aware of deep down in your soul and you won’t be far away from the Truth. Follow your plan and nothing will impede you! You have seen soldiers marching – all in the same beat. Similarly when you are alone, you may walk the way you feel like – you can walk more slowly or you walk faster, but when you join a company that has a pace of its own, you will keep pace with the others. If you do not keep pace, you will fall behind.
So, when you tune yourself to the Divine harmony, you have to change your pace: you have to start walking in harmony, properly. Well, do you realize what it means to adapt your feet, to start walking properly? This means that your virtues should start walking properly. The legs of the human soul – this is Virtue; the arms of the human soul – this is your Justice; the ears of the human soul – these are Wisdom’s wise thoughts, and the mouth of the human soul – this is Love through which it speaks! This mouth is the external aspect of Love, through which the Divine Love will flow out. The one Love will come in service to the other Love, which will come through it from the outside. Therefore, you should now form the ears of your soul, so that you can be wise; you have to form the mouth of your soul, so that you can be in Love; so that you can be good, virtuous; you have to form the legs of your soul, so that you can be just; you have to form the arms of your soul. When you go to the other world, you will see for example that some have no ears. All the virtues that we practice in this world are meant to facilitate us in the making of certain organs. Why should one be virtuous? Because this is the way for one’s soul to have legs. Why should one be just? Because this is the way for one’s soul to have arms. Why should one be wise? Because this is the way for one’s soul to have ears. This is to say that everything in the world, being done by Divine Harmony, is directly related to one’s soul.
So, all the effort we make has a good impact upon us, on the people close to us, and on the Divine principles. This is what is meant by God’s manifestation in your deeds. For instance, let’s say that all of you, who are here, are given work to do. How would you start doing this work? Let’s say, for example, that you are entrusted with about a hundred orphans and you are asked to help them. What will you do? How will you organize your work? You will start electing committees of five to six or seven women each and you will delegate everything to them. They will start quarrelling whom to appoint chairperson, whom to appoint secretary and they will waste the day in such arguments. Afterwards money will have to be raised and meanwhile you will be waiting for things to happen. Then they will quarrel again who should deliver this money. Well, again the seven people elected in the committee! Well, what about the rest of you? What will you do? How can you deal with this business in the most practical way? You will distribute the children among you. You will again be quarrelling who should take which child, where should the most intelligent children be sent. Potluck – whichever child falls to you! When one has learnt one’s lesson, one is always lucky. When one has missed the opportunity to learn a lesson, then one is confronted with something that is not called luck. You will have to resolve the issue according to the law of harmony.
Let’s assume that you are all married and have children. Each mother solves this problem. Imagine that each one is entrusted to rear several orphans. There is a committee appointed at home for this purpose: there is a chairman a chairwoman and the children are taken care of. This is the situation in the Invisible world. Then the others, who are not married, say, ‘We will be given children in the future.’ The single ones can find other work for themselves. Nobody should be idle in this world! We have to benefit from this conscious Life, from the Law of harmony right now under the present circumstances, not under any future circumstances. Intelligent people use the current circumstances, while naïve people – the future circumstances. Intelligent people learn from their past, while the stupid ones – from their future.
Now, I would like you to smooth any possible disharmony existing among you. Any disharmony that you have created should be smoothed overnight. I allow you only one day, not longer! Only one day I allow to women to smooth all and every misunderstanding or disharmony. So, within one day you should tune yourself to the G clef and should smooth out any single disharmony! Every one of you should smooth things over – agreed! Try to imagine the following case: let’s assume that you lived in disharmony with four sisters of yours and three brothers at a certain place. They beat you - you beat them. One day you decide to go to another house. Well, if you haven’t tuned yourself to the G clef and move to another house, are you sure that you won’t feel worse there? You know that singers, who do not sing well on the stage, are asked to step down, while good singers are much in demand and they are asked to sing again and again. The good life – this is the Divine harmony, which means that we should accomplish harmony in real Life. This is why this harmony is needed and it is only through harmony that you can make up for the lost harmony. But it is harmony that brings in the New Life.
You are now thinking how you can smooth the disharmony. It can be done. You will direct your mind to God! You should remember that He is the Great harmony and you will be thinking of Him only! You should not imagine God as a white-haired old man; you should think of God in terms of Great Harmony, where every living creature pays attention to Him. Therefore, we all aspire to Him and everybody wants to understand Him. Think about the Great harmony and you will immediately feel light as a feather! Do not try to understand what God is, what His form is, but think of Him as Great harmony and you will immediately feel as light as a feather. Because if you keep looking at the face, hair or beard of the singer, you will immediately distance yourself from the harmony, but if your ears are strained you will understand what it is. When we come to the face, it represents a special harmony for the eyes. If you are clairvoyants, you will see that the face is not still at a single place, but it is moving, many fast motions take place within it. But since these movements are so far from us, it seems to us that it is still. Everything is in motion in the Invisible world.
You will first turn your heart, your mind, and your soul to the God of harmony, i.e. to the god of the G clef, to whom every living creature is tuned. You will turn to the laws of harmony. You will listen to one of them and when you receive it, you will start singing together with this great choir. I give you one day to do this! There is only one day for you to tune to the G clef!
I show you one shortcoming: without trying what I have told you, on leaving this room, you say, ‘This is what the Master says’. Do not say anything to anybody until you try it for yourselves. Do not go spreading around what I have told you before you try it. As soon as you have attested it, you may spread it around; it will then have a double force. You may spread around what I have said and what you have said and attested. Do an experiment and when it proves right, tell other people about it so that they can also test it. When other people also do the experiment and find it successful, the result will be three times stronger. When this third person tells a friend of his and when the latter completes a successful experiment, the effect will be four times stronger. The fourth person will tell a fifth person, the latter will tell somebody else etc. By doing so you will achieve a gradually intensifying effect – it is similar to a big wave. While how do you act now? One of you has heard something from another one, but neither the one nor the other has tested it and they keep asking themselves, ‘What was it? Let’s go back!’ Both of them have forgotten about it. And they start shuttling again. You have no time to spend on shuttling. Your cloth is fully warped, the staff is set, and you need only to weave. Weaving means harmony – to weave some cloth from one point to another. To sing, to weave, to live – these are all synonymous. You say, ‘What shall I do?’ Sing! ‘Is life a song?’ Well, if you can’t do this, then start weaving. If you can’t weave, then start eating! This is what weaving in the staff means; the staff is the warp, while the yarn-beam is the clef, placed in the beginning of the staff. When the cloth is woven, it is taken off the yarn beam and it is sold. Then you hear other music. Music changes under various clefs.
The first rule, in order to tune yourself to this clef, is as follows: all of your misunderstandings and all of your disagreements should be smoothed and should tune into harmony. Or put in musical terms, you should all tune to the same clef where you do not sing the individual tones correctly or where you do not respect the time, where somebody sings faster, while somebody else sings behind time, where you do not meet each other. As long as you tune into the same clef, you will understand that God is Great harmony. We shall tune according to Him, we shall sing and dance together with God!
Yesterday I told the men that I leave it to the women to tune them. I told them nothing else. Now we shall see whether you can tune them! Mind you do not do as that servant by the name of Stoyan, who the priest sent to the vineyard to dig and cut off the twigs. So Stoyan, scissors in hand, went to the vineyard and cut the twigs off; he cut almost all the twigs off as he did not quite know which twigs should be cut off and which should be spared. He came back home and the priest asked him, ‘Stoyan, is the vineyard weeping?’ ‘You should go and see it and then you will be weeping!’ was the reply.
You may ask Mrs. Doinova when she cuts the twigs off her vineyard, how deep she cuts the twigs; she is an expert. Likewise, you should also know on what place on the staff exactly you should stay. So far you have cut the twigs right to the branching, but you should no longer do so. You should cut only those twigs that are not to bear fruit. You all need harmony; we can understand each other only in harmony. When we all are in harmony with God, we shall understand Him, you will understand me and I will understand you. Without harmony, Life is incongruous – the same is true about society too, and about science, and in trade and everywhere. Harmony is needed everywhere if one wants to succeed. Regardless whether you are getting dressed or whether you are cooking or sleeping – harmony should be everywhere and in everything. If you do not sleep in harmony, you will have a hangover in the morning. If your Life is harmonious it will be glorious even in its smallest manifestations; if there is no harmony – it is pointless.
Now, all of you will apply harmony – both young and old; the young from the beginning while the old – from the end. The young will be the first notes in a musical piece, the middle-aged – the notes in the middle, and the old ones – the last notes. When the entire piece is completed, then there is a lot of noise, tumult, and applause. The piece ends with the oldest. It’s no good if actors are hissed off the stage. Sometimes you will hear applause; sometimes you will hear hissing. I wish there will be applause for you, not hissing, because if there is hissing, you will get off the stage and will have to be reincarnated once again.
Now, you will get together and shall think over what you have to do to get organized in order to understand what women can do. We have to work in the external world, don’t we! Say for instance you have a field to dig, or a vineyard to cut, or a garden to till, fruit trees to grow – how will you distribute this work? The stronger ones will dig the vineyard, the weaker ones will reap the field, the weakest will clear away caterpillars, and the tired ones will be sent to taste the fruit, to pick some and to fetch some for you and you will then enjoy the abundance at the table. This is the way to divide the work among you. It will take an intelligent approach to the work, if you want to be in harmony. If you are not in harmony, your work will fall to pieces, you will be in doubts, you will be disappointed, you will be roaming from one place to another and your life will become pointless. You women, who study harmony, are required to work.
Let’s assume now that there is a women’s meeting; how will you have it organized? If you think in terms of who will come first, the young will have to be your priority. The young are in the lead in music. Well, you organise a meeting; you place the young in the front and they come in the beginning. Let’s assume that you have to carry five hundred sacks; then the old ones will come to the front, while the young will be left behind. If it is an issue who comes first, it is easy to verify who comes first. First is a person who comes first under any circumstances in Life, while the one, who cannot work, will be left behind. If somebody is the first to sit at the table, but the last to go to work, then this person is not in the first place. Some say, ‘I’m in the first place.’ I’m glad that there is one who is in the first place. Come on, let him place the sack upon his back and sing a particular tone from the G clef. If he sings all the tones from the beginning to the end accurately, this means that he is in the first place. If he sings half of the tones accurately, while the other half – out of tune, this means that he is only halfway in the first place. If he makes only the quarter of the tones accurately, he will have a poor mark of two, if he makes only one tone accurately, he will have a mark below poor – one. If he does not make any tone accurately – his score will be zero. This is what Christ’s words, ‘So the last shall be first, and the first last’ mean. What does Christ want to tell us? Those who were first when they came to the sacks, became last. Afterwards when it came to eating, the last became the first. Last with the sacks and first at the table. So, Christ’s words ‘The last will become first and the first will become last’ are merely principles that are articulated. This is not funny; this shows our weakness. Sometimes we do not estimate our strength, but when placed to work, we say, ‘I thought I was right, but I will be left a little bit behind now’. When it comes to eating you say, ‘I am in the first place, remember this and do not forget me!’ When it comes to the sacks, you say, ‘I’m very weak, I admit my weakness.’ Well, it is also good that you admit your weaknesses! You say, ‘My back is rather frail.’ Well then you cannot be in the first place.
Now, you will work according to the law of harmony. As soon as you step on the Path, you will see that there are no privileges or demands. Privileges are bestowed only to the people who study, who are able; for people who do not study, who are not able there are no privileges. Those of you who sing well, study, and are worthy get privileges; those who do not study, who are not worthy get no privileges. When you enter this school you will do your best to learn; others can give you nothing if you do not learn. We do not benefit when other people eat. We benefit from what we eat. Other people cannot learn instead of us, you have to learn for yourself. This is a necessity. You have to remember that knowledge does not come the easy way. You will study, and you will study hard, according to the law of harmony.
You will learn according to the law of harmony and your progress depends on you, nobody else can tune you into harmony. Some say, ‘Let’s get harmonized!’ Each one of you will harmonise yourself. If you harmonise yourselves there will be harmony; if you do not harmonise yourselves, there will be no harmony. All the people in the world have their own worries. All of us have a retired devil within; and all of us feed the devil in our houses. The retired devil is a resident of yours and whenever he visits you, you treat him at the table. When you are in a difficult situation, you tell the devil, ‘Come out to get my things straight!’ The devil comes out and says, ‘What are you, rascal, looking for?’ The devil gets your work done. While at times, when you have made a mess of things, you tell your good spirit, ‘Listen, can’t you come out for me? I made a mess of this job, there is nothing else I can do, come and help me!’ When the good spirit starts talking to you, the good spirit tells you, ‘OK, I will postpone your policy.’ So, much depends on which resident you will call to help you.
Now, you will call the good resident according to the law of harmony, and the good resident will tune you to the right tone and will show you how to go about your work. This is what you need. People who are not in harmony are not accepted in Heaven. This is the law and there are no exceptions to it. If you do not get in harmony now, while you are on the earth, you won’t be admitted when you go up there. If you are in harmony you will leave your house singing, you won’t cry and you will be greeted by songs up there. If you leave the earth with no song, when you get to Paradise you will hear, ‘We do not admit people who cannot sing.’ Heaven is a place for songs and harmony; there is no crying there, no grief or sorrow. Everywhere one can hear songs of all types – from the gentlest ones to the wildest ones – everyone can choose and listen to their taste in music.
Now, we on the earth will also start doing all our work singing, but you will apply harmony. I shall not preach to those who do not apply harmony. This has nothing to do with my School. If I catch some of you opposing this, I will expel them according to all the rules of the Divine Science. When they learn harmony I will admit them again, but until they learn harmony they will be outside the School. You have to remember this and there will be no exceptions to it. This is written by God in His School. His laws do not change for anybody and nobody can violate them. All schools have to obey the law of harmony by all means, this is a must. As soon as one makes a mistake, one is immediately expelled. And you know only too well how often this happens. You then start singing and rejoin the school. The moment you make a mistake – you are out again! And when you get out, you can tell the difference. Therefore the law should be applied internally. Your Spirit, which guides you, will get you out of this. When I say that I will expel you, I mean the law that operates in the Spiritual World. It is the same law for everybody. Teachers do the same: they make no allowances for students making mistakes. Neither teachers, nor students are given allowances. If a mistake is made – the person is out, if the person corrects the mistake, the person is admitted back in again. Because the entire Heaven shakes when in disharmony. This is why people who are not pure are not admitted. You will keep this as a rule; this is a conscious law. It is up to you whether you will be in harmony or not; you are the person deciding whether you will be in or out of harmony.
So I am telling you to apply this great law of Life. It is needed on the earth; this is a practical law. Do not think that it is strict; it is a great law that teaches us order and discipline. Adam was happy in Paradise, but the moment he tasted the fruit of disharmony, he was immediately taken by the ear and thrown out. This is certainly a very severe punishment, because he infringed upon harmony many a times. If you sing one note incorrectly you will stay one day out of school, if you sing two notes incorrectly, you will stay two days out of school, if you sing three notes incorrectly – three days out of school and so on. You will stay out of School as many days and as many notes as you have sung incorrectly. When you correct yourself you will feel blessed. The law is absolute – no disharmony is tolerated. If you do not love me, you will tell me, ‘Be patient for a while!’ If you love me, you won’t tell me to be patient and if you love people do not make them suffer your foolishness. In this respect you will do your best to introduce harmony among you. You need harmony. If you fail to introduce harmony, there is no other way that you can help yourselves. You may pray here, but the moment you leave the meeting, harmony is unbalanced. You have to keep it in your mind that God is an eternal harmony. This thought should become part of your flesh and blood; you should be able to hear it everywhere! Then you will be strong enough to fight down the temptations in the outside world.
I now interpret Love for you in the G clef in the first degree. You say, ‘Let’s love one another!’ But to be able to love, you have to know where the G clef is and to tune yourselves to it. You will then be in harmony and will start with Love. When I talk about Love, I mean that it precedes harmony, while harmony creates the conditions for the manifestation of this great Divine Power, which brings in health, and health in its turn brings in harmony. The external harmony prepares the conditions for Love, Love brings in Life, Life – health, while health brings in the internal harmony within us. So, the external harmony is formed internally.
I want you to apply the Teaching I am talking about today. I will test you and I will appoint a committee to test you on all the notes, and there will be tests for everything from the beginning to the end. A committee from Heaven will come here to test you. It will visit your homes and you will sit for your exams in harmony, you will have to sing. Make sure there is harmony at your homes when the committee comes to visit you, so that your homes can be blessed. If the committee on coming does not find you well prepared, there will be no blessing. Make sure you do not regret it later on. One committee will be sent from Heaven. How would you verify this thought? This committee is a little bit difficult to understand: this means officials from the local authorities and it can have three, four, five or ten persons on its panel in harmony. They will test you on harmony – how you sing, how you live, how you feel, how you think and how you act.
This is the thirteenth year. If you do not achieve any results, you won’t go any further. If you get from the beginning to the end of singing, what do you think will come out? Applause or hissing? A new course, a new clef starts next year. If you do not adjust to this clef properly, you won’t pass to a new clef, you will have to redo the same clef. If you pass the exam, you will start learning the new clef.
This is what I want to tell you; what I am talking to you makes sense, you have experiences, you have lived, you know these things and you now recall them to mind. You will remember certain things, which you have forgotten, when you find yourself driven to the wall. That wolf that is used to eating sheep says that roots are not food, but when he goes hungry for five or six days, he calls to mind the delicious roots and finds them. Likewise, when you feel cornered, you call to mind what you used to know. You know these things but I will remind you of an old Truth which you have forgotten. Christ says, ‘When this Spirit of Truth comes, it will make you remember what I have said in the beginning’. This is written in the soul, in the mind and you know it. Do not be disconcerted and do not say, ‘I can’t sing properly this tone, this I do not know.’ You know it; you will remember it! You will open the book to the right page and when you review the year, the month, the day, the time, and everything event by event as it was, you will say, ‘Aha, I can remember, I can see clearly now’. This is a small reference for you.
It is good if everybody goes into the reference chamber and works a little bit upon oneself. Do not think that you lack abilities. You all have abilities and feelings, but you have to do some work according to the law of harmony. When you work in agreement with the law on harmony, everything comes out ten-fold, while when you work outside the law of harmony, life is difficult, unbearable. You eat without harmony, you sleep without harmony, you live with people in disharmony, then life is difficult, grievous and you start singing the songs ‘Doichin has been ill for ten years’ or ‘Hard times, indeed’. This is what life without harmony is.
So, I gave you one clef now, a very simple method and easy to do and you will apply it. Outside this thought of harmony you shall not reflect on what God is. You will understand God to be one Great intelligent harmony, which is spread everywhere in the Universe, all over Nature and among all things alive. Every evening you will concentrate your mind and your thoughts on one tone of this harmony. As soon as you have grasped one tone, you have achieved a lot. A tone per day! You quarrel with your husband, with your daughter and you say, ‘My husband does not get the tone right’. No, you have to say, ‘I will sing an accurate tone of the G clef and I will show him how to sing!’ But you start, ‘What are you rattling on?’ He rattles on, she rattles on and what comes out of two people rattling on? Two chatter boxes. You will calm down and you will tell yourself, ‘Love – this is the G clef! You have to take the tuning fork!’ You take the tuning fork, you tune yourself and you tell your husband, ‘Love and agreement, Love and agreement!’ You will sing and you will sing, you will increase your tone and before you look at him he will be smiling and singing ‘Love and agreement, let’s make it up!’ This is Divine – to listen to what God says from above. When one lives in this way, life becomes intelligent and easy. While now you go from one house to another and keep telling each other what you experienced. You keep walking all day long, you tell ten people what you have experienced and still you find life difficult. If you live in harmony you won’t be telling anything to anybody and your soul will feel light as a feather.
I will now give you an exercise. We shall see whether you can apply it. Can you do the first exercise? You will think about the words Love and agreement for two minutes.
(For two minutes everybody is silent and does the exercise.)
You will do this exercise ten times everyday for two minutes and you will see the results. You will do your best to have harmony in your mind all the time. Your mind has to get accustomed to this. It deviates a lot, but when you concentrate for a minute or two on harmony, your mind will get accustomed to concentrating; it will start adapting. When you do these exercises, your cells, your nerves will start toning up and if you have a headache or any other indisposition, it will pass away and you will feel healthier. If you do these exercises more often, you will start healing yourselves. This is a good healing method. Every healing is cleaning; and cleaning means health.
When you spend all your life in this way doing the harmony exercises, everything within you will be cleaned and your soul will be as white as snow. When you do several such experiments and when you see the results, you will let me know. And when you are convinced of the good results, you can then help the people close to you.
Lecture delivered by the Master, on 20 June 1921, Whit Monday
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1 The G clef in Bulgarian is called the Sol clef – after the 5th tone of the diatonic scale in solmization. Throughout the text I will use the G clef – but right here I have also used its other name the Sol clef Because the pronunciation [so:l] stands for the 5th tone and for the Bulgarian word for salt - sort of close to the pronunciation of the English word salt.
2 or Anglo-Saxon
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from The Blossoming of the Human Soul
THE NEW HUMANKIND
Today I am going to speak about the New Humankind. I will present this subject to you in a new perspective. The New in the world is symbolized by the rising Sun and the old - by the setting Sun. That is a Law in Nature. It is not only me to assert this Law, but every mother and father does. When a young woman and man marry, the first child they will have is the rising Sun, the hope for their future. If we think that the new brings some mischief, disorganizes the society and entire humankind, it is a wrong understanding of those Great Principles that govern the Living Nature. But if we have such concepts, why then do we want those children who bring trouble to their parents? How many days and nights has the mother spent without any rest and sleep for this newly born that does not know yet to speak, for this new concept to be raised! This new concept is at first undetermined, but the mother has the ability to comprehend, listen, and understand the messages of this new being, of this little baby.
Similarly, there are individuals in any community and nation with receptive souls, whose consciousness is developed and whose hearts are elevated to a higher level. They are able to grasp this new concept and to become its “children” and bearers. Contemporaries usually do not accept the bearers of the new ideas, so they say, “These people are anarchists, communists, heretics, sectarians!” But all these labels are only words without any meaning. If we reason in this way, I ask then: What is the difference between these three persons: a communist following his views in life, someone who is living according to his old views, and a third one who is applying the new views? The difference is that the bearer of the new ideas feels uplifted and vigorous in life thanks to the vitality of growth. The other one, who lives with the old ideas, feels worn, exhausted, his strength is failing, he is afraid of the future and he is concerned with the old age. Therefore, he is striving to become rich and begins insuring himself through banks and insurance policies. I say: These are the old people, this is what brings death and this is the graveyard of humankind. But graveyards do not bear new ideas to humankind; they create only suffering and misfortune in the world! Kings and priests, musicians and poets - all lay buried in the graveyards for their wrongdoings. If you ask me why people die, I will reply: It is because of their old ideas.
How then can all humanity resurrect? I say: Rejuvenate, become bearers of the new Divine Teaching, which symbol is brotherhood. What does brotherhood imply? Those who call themselves your brothers and sisters must be ready to sacrifice everything for you - their life, wealth, and honor. When a great nation comprehends this concept of true brotherhood, it must be ready to sacrifice everything for these new ideas. If there is no sacrifice, there is no brotherhood, no equality. Those who preach about God and spread the great idea of His Being without sacrificing their wealth, honor, and life for Him, have not grasped the Great Teaching of Life. This is brotherhood and equality; and this is what Christ has preached.
Let us go back and apply Christ’s Teaching because it will bring salvation of the world. What did Christ teach, what did He preach? He taught the great idea of the New Humankind! What will be the distinguishing features of the representatives of the New Humankind? The Jewish prophets, being farsighted, stated two thousand years ago, that God would create new hearts of flesh, but the Divine Spirit would dwell in them and all would come to know God. Therefore, nobody will doubt the existence of God. Everyone will be under their own fig tree without any fear. Peace and love will reign among all; the weapons of war will be turned into tools and ploughs and people will no longer make war.
Christ has established two principles related to the New and the old humankind in the following correlation: the person of knowledge who understands the meaning of Life built his house on a rock, in other words, on the firm principles of Living Nature. And the person of ignorance, who does not understand the meaning of Life, built his house on sand, so the winds and floods carried it away. Storms and floods affect those people who live without any principles. They usually provoke all the unrest in society. They bring down the house built on a sandy foundation.
Therefore, these two cultures, the old and the new one, are founded on two main principles. The contemporary old humankind is still serving its egoism and that is why brotherhood cannot exist. The New Humankind will serve selflessly. Egoism is predestined to become the servant of humankind.
The new ideas do not cover only the personal and social good of humankind, but of all sentient beings. By “sentient” I mean the living beings altogether, as no being exists without any sentience. If someone talks to you, but you are deaf, you cannot hear the spoken and wonder why you do not understand this person. The problem is not with the speaker, but with the listener whose ear cannot receive and comprehend what is said. The blind cannot perceive the world in full either. It is not that the world is dark, but the visual senses of this person are underdeveloped. Therefore, the present society needs to develop these feelings following the Great Law of Evolution.
Nature of today is not what it was a million years ago. There are great turns occurring every one hundred million years in Nature. If I ask you about the age of our Solar system, you will tell me, one hundred million years according to some contemporary scientists; two hundred million - according to others; five hundred million - according to third, and so on. The esoteric science states that ever since the creation of our Solar system, two hundred and fifty billion years have already passed. These statements can neither be proved nor disproved. They are only assertions that can be proved only in certain conditions, if we accept the explicit axioms and fundamental principles. But in general, in order for a truth to be understood, some information is needed. There are only a few proven truths in the world. Try, for instance, to prove an idea, which is dear to you: does the human being have a soul or not? I can tell you that half of the contemporary intellectuals deny this idea; the other half support it, but cannot prove or disprove it. If we ask someone about the soul and how it looks like, the answer usually is, “There is a soul, but I do not know how it looks like.” We can prove the existence only of those things that have form, content, and meaning; as to the things that have no such parameters, we can neither prove nor disprove them.
I am presenting an idea, which is familiar to your souls because what I speak about is inherited in you. You have certain ideals, aspirations, yearnings, but they are being expressed in various ways. And every one of you has an aspiration that is unique. The young man, for instance, is looking out for his beloved. The old man will say, “This is nonsense. Once upon a time I also busied myself with such things, but now I do not need any beloved.” But it is not so for the young man. Night after night he does not sleep, gets up early, walks here and there, looking out for his girl with the dark eyes. His mother and father wonder what is happening to their son. The son says, “The new idea will bring new life to me - that is what I am looking for.” Who is right, the young or the old? I say: the young.
Once upon a time a fox passed by an apple tree and saw high on one of its branches a piece of good cheese hanging. The fox looked at the cheese, but continued on its way saying, “That is worth nothing.” Why? It is because the cheese was high up in the tree and the fox could not reach it. But if it had been down, within reach, the fox would have said that there was no better cheese than this.
New Humankind is mentioned several times in the New Testament, in the Revelation. The Evangelist John, two thousand years ago, saw the pregnant woman as a bearer of the great idea about the New Humankind and he also fixed the number of the chosen ones, who will be bearers of this idea, at 144 thousand. If you add these numbers one to another, the total is 9: 1+4+4=9. The number 9 signifies results from the evolution of those who have all positive and noble qualities attained.
Some would say that these 144 thousand individuals are in Heaven. No, they are living now here, on Earth; they have come back to Earth and incarnated among the learned people. Some of them are writers; others - poets and scientists, but they all are guiding the humankind on the path to the new ideal, on the path to the Divine. They stand against the darkness and fetters, which impede humankind. And this unrest, this great change that is coming, is due to them. They will turn this world upside down. Do not take this for a bad omen. In Bulgaria, when a person drinks a lot of water and chokes, he is turned with the head upside down so that he could vomit the swallowed water. The contemporary knowledgeable people, too, have swallowed a lot of unclean water and they need to be turned upside down so that this water might flow out. When everything unclean has flown out, they will be turned once more, this time with their heads upward and only then the New Life will begin. Some of you may say, “We do not care for this New Humankind, when we witness the present suffering.” We need to understand, however, that suffering is necessary for the development of character. We have only now, in this age, begun to suffer and we have become more sensitive. It is true that modern people suffer more, but this is a noble suffering, which will put the society in order. Does every pregnant woman not pass through some suffering and some painful experience? She suffers until the baby in her womb is formed, but when the child is born, she is released from suffering. Therefore, the suffering shows that we are pregnant with a Great Divine Idea and like that mother we are ready to endure all suffering. But when the child is born, the sorrow will disappear and will be replaced by joy.
Often we ourselves cause our suffering. I will illustrate this with an anecdote from the Bulgarian life. A villager liked eggs very much and looked for every occasion to get some as a meal. However, he did not succeed every time because his wife was very stingy. She was big, well built and when her husband dared without her knowledge to enjoy one or two eggs, she gave him a thrashing. One day she fell unconscious and died. The man told himself, “Thanks God, finally I can eat eggs and there is no one to stop me anymore.” He took seven eggs and buried them in the hot ash under the fire. At that moment several women, his neighbors, came to share his sorrow for the loss. When all of a sudden he heard steps, he got startled. Forgetting that his wife was dead and fearing not to be beaten, he slipped the eggs quickly into his bosom. The women told him, “Your home is under such a plight, like under fire [colloquial expression in Bulgaria].” He replied, “Yes, there is a big fire in my home, but the one that burns in my chest, in my bosom is even bigger.”
People nowadays say, “We go through so much suffering.” I say again: The baked hot eggs in your bosom are the cause for this suffering. Remove the eggs from your bosom and your suffering will stop. The term for this in modern science is obsession. Do you know what a fixed idea is? I will give you an example of someone who suffered from an obsession. A gentleman made a circle by touching his thumb and index finger of his left hand and then moved the index finger of his right hand into it, trying to catch it. So, he tried unsuccessfully for two-three years. Finally, he went to a doctor who immediately figured out how to help him. The doctor stuck his own index finger into the left hand of the patient; the later grabbed it immediately rejoicing that he finally succeeded in his attempts. By this, the man was healed and free from the fixed idea that had been bothering him for so long. Similarly, people of today who have some fixed idea want to catch their finger, but cannot succeed. However, this finger is created for another kind of work and not to try to catch it. If you want, you can catch hold of it in another way and not as this man.
New Epoch is beginning on Earth at present and today’s esoteric science says that a New Wave is coming from the Sun. If I use new words, you may not understand them and my lecture will become obscure. This advancing Wave that is coming now affects the human brain - that is why some people become eccentric under this influence. Eccentric are those people who are either too silent, or very talkative, but their speech is incoherent. These are extremes that exist among people, but there are also norms of the proper development. Some say that speech should always be logical. In my opinion, there are three types of logic in the world. The first I name purely materialistic logic; the second - logic of the conscious life; and the third - Divine Logic. The Divine Logic does not allow any lie at all. Therefore, to operate within the last two kinds of logic, you should have a noble and sublime soul - in other words, you should be ready to sacrifice yourself for your fellowmen and live not only for yourself. Another thing that should be done is to prove where the Truth is. The verification of Truth requires time and practice. All modern scientists who propose various theories and investigations in medicine, industry, physics, chemistry, or in any other field of life need time in order to apply their theories. A theory could be very correct in its mathematical calculations, but if it does not give results when it is applied, it is not acceptable. For instance, an Englishman has studied one subject for 25 years and he was working on the make-up of a flying machine. For this purpose, he had made a profound study and when he was sure of his calculations, he gave an announcement in the newspapers. However, he missed something: he did not put all this in practice. When the experiments with the flying machine began, it did not work, though the data and calculations presented by him, were observed: the wheels were moving, but the machine could not fly up. The inventor was booed and this ended his work. But new investigators after him began to study Live Nature and bird’s anatomy: bird’s wings and tails. People mastered the ways of flying and based on that practice, they were able to build the working flying machine. How great was the joy of humankind when the mechanism of flying was discovered! But all these flying machines: balloons, airplanes, and zeppelins were not used for the benefit of humankind. You saw how they had been used in the last wars and how dangerous these machines could be.
People ask me to reveal a big secret to them. I say: One of the greatest secrets is to learn how to heal oneself by flying up. This is how, if you are neurotic, you can heal yourself. If a wife is not well, let her try to fly for half an hour and she will come back healthy. If later on, her husband falls ill, she would also place him in a balloon to fly for a while so that he might return healthy. Such healing is easy because in the higher strata the air is much more pure than below. Here, where we live, the air is full of carbon dioxide. And if we are neurotic nowadays, this is due to the high concentration of carbon dioxide in the air, which we breathe and which acts as a poison in our body. Do you know what you will feel when you enter a big modern city? If you had a developed sixth sense or psychic sense like some people, when you look at a city, you will be nauseated by the air pollution and stench and will not want to live there anymore. Our modern settlements and houses are a reflection of the contemporary humankind with its unrefined sense of smell. And as a result, life there becomes more and more unbearable. But the New Divine Ideas that are coming will bring the New Life into the world. The existing death, misfortune, suffering, insanity are the result of completely other mental causes and not of those they are usually ascribed to.
The present day life in its forms as well as the contemporary social system should change. And the people bearing the new ideas are right to insist on this change. This change occurs gradually in Nature, but it will happen in your life as well, either gradually or instantaneously. On this occasion Turks say, “Allahan zoru da var.” This is translated that if someone’s head is thick and does not take any advice, when God tells him what to do one or two times, then the Law of Karma is applied.
Therefore, brotherhood is the fundamental idea of the New Teaching. Brotherhood needs to be applied in households. Mothers and fathers should understand this fundamental Law of Brotherhood in order to create new conditions for upbringing and educating their children.
For instance, if a young man is unruly, doing mischief, how is he treated according to the old ways? He is punished and imprisoned. In prison, he loses his health and after that the state must take care of him. This youth could have become an excellent citizen. He had an outburst of energy, which must be cleverly put into action. You say about him, “Yes, but he is a sinner, a criminal.” The society had created such conditions, which he could not handle.
And so, instead of studying the Living God and Nature as to act accordingly, we are opposing one another, thinking that there are many laws in the world. Living Nature has only one Law applied to all - both rich and poor. The poor person says, “This wealthy person has everything he desires to eat and to drink, lives in the lap of luxury and I have nothing.” But you do not know that the suffering for this wealthy person is only on hold for 45 years. Does Nature not take equally the fat of the poor and rich? What does Nature want to say by this? She tells people, “You have not yet learned the Law of Brotherhood.”
If you read the first chapters of the Genesis, you will see that God says to Adam and Eve, “You will eat of all fruits but one. The day you eat of this forbidden fruit, you will die.”[1] The forbidden fruit is a symbol of today’s egotism. For example, someone who wants to exploit others and live on their toil; someone who takes the bread of the poor widows and orphans to satisfy one’s own needs; someone who wants to be at war with so many nations - such person is eating from the forbidden fruit. Therefore, you should all be persistent in that Great Teaching. Has Christ ever taught people to wage war, fight each other, or pray God to help one of the fighting sides? A thousand, two thousand years ago, this had some meaning, but now it has outlived its time. Where is the true faith, which is being paraded; where is the genuine Christianity? I speak to those who name themselves true Christians; they should act according to the Christ’s Law. And those who are not Christians should act according to their beliefs and laws. Someone says, “I am not a Christian.” What then are the laws and beliefs according to which you live? “I am a free thinker.” Then act according to your free thought. We should give the right of freedom to every person because there is something good, something noble within each human soul. Give everyone an opportunity and they will be able to advance; yet, under unfavorable conditions, people often fall down.
I have used this example before and I will give it again. A famous Italian painter wanted to paint the image of Christ and so he walked around the town looking attentively at all faces, hoping to find the suitable one. And he found a youth of about 20 and painted Christ after his image. The work was a success. After some time the same painter decided to paint Judas and began looking for a suitable model. He found a young man and asked him to pose for the picture. The young man said, “Sir, that is strange, some years ago I posed for you for the image of Christ and now you want me to pose for Judas!” In just few years, the sinful life he had lead changed his face so much that he looked like Judas.
If a young woman follows the wrong path in life and ends in a brothel, do you think that her face will not have an imprint from this life? Such a destitute woman told me one day that while she had money her husband lived with her, but after he drank up all her money, he left her to her fate and she turned to a wrong path. She said, “I want to join the church, but they do not accept me there.” This woman has the longing for a pure life, so when her conditions change, she will raise herself up. And of those “free” women who wish to serve their sensuality, people say, “Such women are needed in the world.” I say: No, we should take our sisters out of the brothels, not rape them, but guide them on the right path and show them how to live.
The bearers of the new idea, the altruistic feeling, and the Divine Teaching are coming now and they are the ones who will defend all fallen and unjustly treated people. These people are not like anybody; they have signs on their faces, in their eyes, on their hands. You will recognize them. Here are their signs: if a doctor is the bearer of the New Teaching, when he comes to your home, he will bring all the medicine you need and will take no money from you, but will say, “I serve for free.” If he is a priest, when you ask him to baptize your child or perform a burial service, he will not accept any money, but will only say, “I serve the New Teaching.” If he is a trader, as a representative of the New Teaching, he will trade honestly; if he is a teacher, he will teach for free. You will object, “If we all work without payment, the world will fall apart.” Yes, the present world will be transformed and new beliefs will spring forth. Some will ask, “How is it possible to work for nothing, how shall we live without money?” I ask how many thousands are being paid to parents to rear and educate their four or five children? Is there a law by which mothers and fathers are obliged to get up five-six times at night to watch over their little children? There is no such law and constitution, yet in spite of this, the work of parenting goes on more smoothly and naturally than any other work subjected to the state law. Therefore, mothers and fathers represent the first Law we must observe. I say: You are on the right path, if you live in the same way as parents and children live in a household; as brothers and sisters live together.
With respect to the New Humankind, no great disaster is to be expected. It is true, there will be a great collision in the world, but it will affect those buildings that have no solid foundations and those rotten trees that have no healthy roots. A great paradigm is coming, which will overthrow them all; it is a Law or a ventilation that is going to clean up everything rotten - only the healthy ones will remain in the world.
When suffering is coming your way, do not ask about the reason. I say: The Sun causes all misfortunes on Earth; it is the reason for our suffering, but also for our happiness. It creates the floods, epidemics, and all diseases in the world; it causes the earthquakes too; in other words, it is the reason for everything that happens in all of Nature. The Sun says, “If you are wise, you are going to use my energy properly and I will shower you with all blessings; if you are not wise, I will inflict the greatest suffering on you.” The Sun can change its energy, but it will still shine and the Earth will still rotate. I am telling you this: There is a statement in the advanced esoteric science about the exception; or the irregularity that appears for example, in the movement of a wheel, once in every one hundred million revolutions. Our planet Earth is also such a wheel and after going one hundred million times around the Sun, its rotation will change - this will manifest either disastrously, in a descending line, or beneficially, in an ascending line. Such exceptions or reversals have already happened to the Earth and a new one is forthcoming. Our Earth has almost reached this number of rotations and is approaching the exception. I am not going to fix the date when this cosmic event will take place. You may not believe me now, but when this day comes, you will have the proof then.
We can apply this Cosmic Law also to the Sun. After it makes one hundred million revolutions, an exception will occur to it. Modern scientists say that our Sun makes one revolution in twenty million years. Can you suppose what will happen to the world when the Sun comes to make an exception? If this exception falls into the descending line, the entire Solar system will be extinguished, the Sun will darken and all life will cease. But if the exception falls into an ascending line, the solar energy will be increased tenfold and then people on Earth must watch out!
So, at present there is an approximate coincidence: both the Sun and the planet Earth have almost made their one hundred million revolutions and the exceptions are impending for them. I can prove scientifically this statement with facts and data but not to this society. The formulae and facts used by the esoteric science can be proved to you, but it will take time. I do not intend to instill fear, but I say that exceptions exist and all should be prepared to meet them at their assigned places. Christ says, “Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching.”[2] If you think that life will flow on peacefully and quietly in eating and drinking, you are wrong.
Modern scientists state that the humankind has not lived on Earth for more than eight thousand years, but the esoteric science has a different view about it. It claims that the humankind has lived much longer than this. The skulls left over from old times prove than man lived even earlier than eight thousand years ago. But the facts that he has really lived much longer than that cannot be revealed to the public. Even if such facts are made public, the connection between them is so subtle that it seems that there is almost no connection. When in one of my lectures I said that the development of the human will could be defined by the thumb, some said it was illogical. But truly, the thumb is the result of the action of the human will. In the olden times as punishment of the thickheaded and prevention of their crimes, they cut off their two thumbs. Then I ask why some people have longer thumbs than others; and why some people have better formed thumbs than others. All this has some meaning, it points to the development of the will and reason in the human being. If you look at a person’s thumb, you will see how the development of this soul goes. If it is good, the thumb is well shaped and there is no crookedness. If there is crookedness, it shows some deformation in the character. If your nose, eyes, or lips are crooked, it means something too. The doctor says, “This is not normal, you got a stroke.” But I say: There is a discord in the connection between the parts of body and energetic centers, between the thoughts and feelings acting in the human organism.
It makes no sense, if I develop this New Science only in theory without any practical application. I speak about realities, which are fixed quantities, as something defined and not abstract, in the same way as mathematicians deal with formulae, chemists - with molecules and atoms, physicists - with forces.
We say nowadays that the human being has a soul. Is the soul a fixed unit; where does it dwell: in the brain, in the heart, in the lungs, or in the stomach, where can it be found at all? Modern science can say nothing about the soul.
Now let me go back to my train of thought. The New Humankind needs to begin first with the human anatomy. Therefore, I would like that you all become interested in anatomy. When you begin to build a house, first of all you set up the woodwork of the building, then you prepare the scaffolding of the house, and after that you build up. Anatomy represents the scaffolding. Some say, “We need no anatomy!” No, you cannot go without it. Children, mothers, and fathers need to study anatomy. When you sew a garment, you also begin with anatomy. The patterns are anatomical signs and according to these you cut the garment. Therefore, people of today really study life anatomically: because they always cut. What is cutting? In the life of the New Humankind you will study not only anatomy, but physiology as well. How do you study physiology when you are building your house? You place windows and chimneys so that more air flows through. What is the subject of physiology? The study of the functions of the various organs, the heart and blood circulation. Physiology is needed in every home in order to obtain more favorable conditions in life. You, who are now building your houses, do you have big windows? I recommend to you: make bigger doors on your houses and open larger chimneys. I like big chimneys and do not approve the stoves that are in use now. You say, “My grandfather and grandmother were very healthy in the past.” Yes, but your grandfather had big chimneys in his house, so the ventilation was good; whereas you have moved backward, you live with much carbon dioxide in the air and of course, you cannot be healthy. Good ventilation is necessary. And what do the Bulgarians do? Because they are afraid of catching cold, they clog up their windows with paper to avoid air drafting. It is better to catch a cold than to breathe air full of carbon dioxide.
The representatives of the New Humankind are already here; they will increase in number so that to spread the new ideas all over the world. You, all of you, may become members of this New Humankind. Who does not like fraternity and equality? Is there a father who does not wish his son to become educated, not remaining ignorant? The New Humankind requires of every person to be honest, in other words, to subdue egoism; to be just, wise, and good. And to show these four qualities not only superficially, but to be so honest, in the absolute sense, that never to sacrifice someone else’s interests for his own, and always to direct his own interests to the good of his fellowmen. You might say, “If we apply this, we will be overtaken by suffering and misfortune.” I ask: Is there happiness coming from the application of the present-day ideas? Were thirty million people not killed in the war, are the prisons not full? And on this very day people die because they serve the old culture, which teaches that one must be a wolf to others. But Christ says, “All you are brethren.”[3] Did I create this Teaching? I say: If you are not willing to observe Christ’s Teaching, observe that of Moses’; if you are not willing to obey him, then respect the laws of your country. Anyway, act as an honest and just person, do not break your word. But if you act once according to Moses and the next time according to Christ - you will mix up the laws. Some ask me, “Do you always speak the Truth?” Yes, I think over every word I say. If I speak honestly, justly, I speak for my own good; I do not wish to disgrace my honor; I wish neither to disgrace my brothers, nor the name of God. But I hope when I meet you some day to be sure that I have always been honest and just in my soul and mind so that you would follow this Path too. Only in this way, through this Teaching, can mothers and fathers become better; any other teaching brings suffering, suffering, suffering.
Brotherhood is practiced over and over. There are certain forms and Laws in the esoteric science. The Laws of the Brotherhood of Light, of those one hundred and forty-four thousand luminous souls, have not changed with even one millionth part for these one hundred million of years. That is why I say that the Laws of Nature are wise and unchanging. Every thought can give a result even thousands of years later. If you plant a bad thought, it could cause your death. If I look at your life with its everyday incidents, I can consider it from the standpoint of the Hindus, of the esoteric science, and from the Christian point of view too. And in all these points of view, the Truth will remain the same. For instance, you meet someone and this person kills you. In this case, we, the modern Christians, say, “It was God’s Will.” I say: God has never said, neither written for anyone to be killed. It is always done by a person and God has only allowed it. The Hindu Law of Karma explains it in this way: You killed someone in a former life and therefore, in this life that same person kills you. You can accept either one or another explanation. You may comment, “This is a heretical teaching, is rebirth possible?” It can be either possible or impossible. Both concepts are equally true.
The belief in this is not so important. The soul has the power to create all its forms. It is up to the soul to come and live on Earth as many times as it desires. If the soul desires to incarnate on the Earth, God will sanctify its wish. The soul wishing to be reborn is reborn. Therefore, in this respect, both Hindu and Christians are right. By “soul” I mean that Conscious Divine Entity that can come here as many times as it wishes. There is also another Law in the world explaining the things in a different way so that they would become clear and a common moral could be established. For instance, someone commits a crime robbing someone else and says, “In the darkness nobody saw that I had stolen something.” Yes, but after the theft he was looking around in fear. Why? His conscience bothered and tormented him. What is conscience? These one hundred and forty-four thousand people, members of the Brotherhood of Light, say, “Sir, we saw the crime you committed and according to our Law, which never changes, we sentence you and you will suffer the consequences of your deeds.” Then, this gentleman in order to relieve his conscience goes into seclusion, fasts 10 or 15 days and after that, he goes to a priest to have something read from the Scriptures in order to calm down. The priest needs to act according to the New Teaching and to say, “Brother, you must confess before God.” Therefore, wanting to redeem your crime by a 10–15 day fast is not sufficient before God.”
I will tell you how to confess before God. For instance, you have put your neighbor’s house on fire. You can correct your wrongdoing by going to the victim: to apologize, buy him a new house and furniture, and pay his debts. If you do not behave in this way, there is no forgiveness. God says, “If you have dishonored a girl, then in your next incarnation you will marry her or she will be reborn as your child so that you will be obliged to bring her up and to pay for your wrongdoings.” Yet, the young men of today tell themselves, “What will happen, if I have dishonored a girl?”
In America a young man, the son of a rich merchant, dishonored a girl and abandoned her; then she became a prostitute and died afterward. The man finished theology and became a famous preacher. He was thought to be a good righteous man. He married and had a son who at the age of 16 became a great scoundrel. People were surprised that such an immoral son came from such a righteous father. I say: This son is the result of his dishonorable act. The father went out in the evenings looking for his son in order to bring him home; but only after 10 years he succeeded to set him right. In this way the preacher paid his debt. This son was in fact his beloved whom he dishonored in the past. God told the father, “Here is your beloved, pay your dept toward her.” The son would say, “Now I acknowledge that you have noble character and you know how to love because your previous love was not as it was supposed to be.” Therefore, we need to appreciate motherly love as it gives everything.
I recommend young women and men to keep the promise they give to each other, being ready to die for this promise and say, “I love you, I am ready to sacrifice my honor, my life, and all my wealth for you, but I will never renounce you.” This is what I call a person with noble character! And what is happening nowadays? They get married today, their love is gone tomorrow, so they want a divorce and come to the church officials for a solution.4 I say: Priests do not have the right to do either divorce or marriage ceremonies. If a young man comes to me for marriage, I do not have the right to do the ceremony without asking him whether he is ready to sacrifice his possessions, honor, and life for his beloved. I will ask the young woman as well, if she is ready to give up her possessions and her life for this young man. If both of them say that they are ready, only then I can perform the marriage ceremony. Otherwise, I am not going to marry them and have no right to do so. This is how it is supposed to be in order for this society and nation to be set in order.
And so, Christ’s Consciousness should permeate the world. This is what the Brotherhood of Light brings and what Christ preaches. And those Luminous Brothers are coming down now. They are going to use these two exceptions in the rotation of the Sun and of the Earth. And a new miracle will happen as it is written in the Scripture: There will be a New Heaven and Earth, and a New Humankind. I say: We should put an end to the old humankind and in the future we must live according to the Laws of the New Humankind. This is what the brotherhood requires.
I do not preach of some dead god, but of the Living God. If you ask me, “Where is God?” I am going to answer: He is not in the sky that you see. Some say, “Prove to us where God is.” God needs no proof. The ant with its lower consciousness has no organs of sense with which to find out that people exist. When you take up an ant between your two fingers or when it climbs on your head, it says to itself, “I am climbing such a high mountain.” It looks at life from this height and going back to its fellow ants it says to them, “Today I climbed a very high mountain.” Thus God takes us between His two fingers, but we ask, “Is there God?” Yes, these two fingers are God’s and He tells us, “You cannot climb on My head.”
If you do not see the Living God in your brothers, you cannot understand this Teaching. If I do not see God in you, my teaching is a lie. If I do not love you and I am not ready to sacrifice myself for you, I am preaching a false teaching. And you should sacrifice yourselves too. Brotherhood is required in this world. You need to accept this Teaching. It is being preached by all good people, by all mothers and fathers, by all brothers and sisters. This world needs self-sacrifice. Enough of lies! Someone asks, “How much will I get if I serve?” No payment should be expected anymore.
Worldly people say about some individuals, “These are the devout Christians.” How do you recognize their devotion? “They attend church regularly.” No, no, we are the church - those living bodies are temples. If we cannot live a pure, honest life, what will happen to our temples? See what happened to Russia? Russia did not listen to the voice of Tolstoy that was the Voice coming from the Living God. And as a result, the formal religion brought the appearance of Bolshevism. The Bolshevism is God’s Whip in the Hand of Christ. Today He is asking us, “Is this all you have created in so many years?” It is Christ who is at work in Russia and not an evil force. When a surgeon takes his scalpel to do an operation he knows how to remove only the diseased flesh and strengthen the healthy part. If the surgeon has no practice, he will not know how to perform the surgery, even when he is considered to be the best expert in this field. The Bulgarians, too, should be thankful to the Bolsheviks, but this is not a point of my lecture.
What have the Americans done? They have been sending missionaries here for many years to preach the Christ’s Teaching; and at the same time during the war they sold to the Bulgarians ten million kilograms of flour for two gold coins per kilogram? Do you know how much is one gold coin? Ten leva. It means that the cost of one kilogram of flour was twenty leva. Do you think that the American merchants acted according to Christ’s Teaching? They missed the opportunity to give a good example. According to Christ and the Luminous Brothers this is not a true Christianity.
If the Bulgarians continue on the path they follow, it is not good for them. The contemporary culture cannot help them either. Everything should change in the world. No nation should harm another nation, no society should harm another society and no person should harm another person. All should live according to the Great Law of Love. If you accept this Teaching, everything will change and you will be blessed as a nation. And this Great Law will be applied in the world. If you do not accept it, others will.
I will give you an example. In old times, in the so-called Golden Age, there were two kingdoms: of the Espertites and of the Menezites. The king of the Espertites had a son and according to the customs of that time he called the sages to predict his son’s future. One of those great sages made his calculations and said to the king, “At about the age of 20 your son will pass through a big crisis. For this reason you must send him to be a shepherd in another kingdom - there he will learn the Great Laws of Living Nature.” The father followed the instructions of the sage and said to his son, “My son, henceforth you must earn your living with your own hands,” and sent him off to be a shepherd in the kingdom of the Menezites. There the youth lived for 10 years and studied the Laws of Nature. In the 11th year of his sojourn in this kingdom, the daughter of the king of the Menezites came to this place riding a white horse. She was accompanied by her servants, but tempted by the beauty of nature and the pretty wild flowers, she dismounted the horse and strode away alone. A cobra came out from among the stones and bit her right hand. Seeing this and knowing the Laws of Nature, the shepherd - the prince, ranto her, put his mouth to her hand and sucked out the poison. Meanwhile her servants, watching from afar thought that this shepherd was offending the king’s daughter, so they bent their bows, one of them shot a poisonous arrow and injured his left hand. When the king’s daughter saw this, she came quickly to him, tore the sleeve of his shirt, put her mouth to the wound and sucked out the poison. I ask who was saved by whom? The young man saved her from the snake’s poison, but in turn, she saved him from the poison of the arrow. He said to her, “You suffered from the snake’s poison; I suffered from the human poison.”
Now, people suffer from the poison of the snake. Do you know what the snake represents? It is their extreme egoism. Women and men need to save each other from this poison. Woman should suck out the poison of man’s egoism, while man should suck out the poison of the woman’s distorted heart. Only in this way, women and men can join hands, coming to know that they can live together and understand each other. And all contemporary Christian believers should reach toward each other. When I came to the town of Tarnovo, how did you receive me? My friends, I came to suck out your poison. If you are going to suck out mine, that is another issue and will be revealed in time. If you do it, I will tell you, “You are my brothers.” It is a manifestation of the Law of Love that is acting in the world. Everyone who sucks out the poison of his brother will receive a loving embrace and that one who does not, will be sent away.
Young people, the future is yours! Men and women, live according to the Law of Love! Do not follow the path of those who have become old by wrongdoings. Renounce the many sweethearts you have. One sweetheart is enough: one girl but wonderful and one young man but excellent. These are enough; you do not need two men or two women. Then, may you have inner freedom; do not bind yourselves into slavery. Think in this way and apply this Law everywhere: in the social, political, and religious life - to follow Christ’s Teaching. Only in this way the Bulgarian nation can advance - by observing this moral Law.
When I visit Tarnovo, I am observing the people. I meet priests, judges, teachers, policemen, servants and tell myself: Brothers and sisters, you do not follow the right path in the way you are living now - this is not the Teaching of Christ, this is not brotherhood. I meet many priests, preachers, teachers, policemen, and other people of noble character, but I also meet among them some who are not so decent. This is not a reproach; I am just stating a fact. And I say that we need to uplift ourselves to this level, to this pure morale, which is shown to us by the Brotherhood of Light. Do not tell lies! Mothers and fathers should not lie. Whatever the mother, father, priest, judge say, they should fulfill it, standing by their word. If I fulfill my promises, I could be called a true human being, but if I do not, then I do not have any compassion, any brotherly feelings toward others. The future science will side with those people who fulfill their promises.
I see in the young generation a striving toward new ideas. I am watching the communists closely; I do not judge them, as I see that they perform good deeds without advertising themselves as Christians. And there are Christians who speak about Christ, but at the same time think only of making provisions for themselves. And so, the communists are unbelievers without money and the Christians are believers with money. I desire to meet a person who knows that there is God in the world, who is ashamed to lie to anyone, who knows that he will be judged if he insults others and will be truthful if asking for forgiveness. But now, when we commit a crime, we say, “I have a right to do this or that.” Yes, we all have the right to commit crimes and to lie, we all have also the right to do good and speak the truth. We all have freedom, yet we should know that everyone is going to suffer the consequences of their choices and actions. If you steal, you will be robbed; if you ruin someone, you will be ruined; if you dishonor, you will be dishonored. Whatever you do, the same will come back to you. “We reap as we sow,” says Christ. The Law is true and valid.
Now, I am going to make a prediction, it is not a guess. What is the weather today? It is nice, clear and warm, the sun shining. The clear weather shows that all will progress well in the future; there will be great Warmth and soon an impulse toward Good will appear among the Bulgarians. The human mind will be transformed; people will become more compassionate and will begin to think right. The calm weather shows that the Bulgarians will awaken in their consciousness; they will not make attempts for new wars and will not repeat the mistakes from 1912 and 1915.[5] This time the Bulgarians will not use weapons, but will remain neutral saying, “By now we have served the Central Forces and the Alliance[6], but from now on we want to experience the New Life in God and to arrange our ways according to God’s Will.” Only in this way the consciousness will awake in the Bulgarians and they will advance as a nation. Then, they will address the communists and the socialists and will say, “Brothers, we love you, in your aspirations we see good ideas that we need; there is nothing to divide, everything on Earth belongs to us, let’s work together.” Some people might object, “Well, but they do not believe in God, they do not love people.” How come? They have God too - as long as they love, they have God. If someone who believes in God meets me, robs me and maims my leg, what is the worth of his faith to me and others? If someone who does not believe in God meets me and does something good for me, he will be more useful than the first person who remains only with his theory. I will turn my back to the one who believes in God, but robs me; and I will kiss on both cheeks the one who does not believe, but does not rob me because he is not disgracing God’s name, but fulfills His Will. This is the New Teaching that the new generation needs to apply.
The unhealthy conditions in society should be removed. This is how all priests need to preach; this is how all Bulgarians need to preach. My blessing will be upon them, if they preach this way. But if they do not believe and do not preach the New Teaching, they will put a blemish on themselves. May priests say, “In the name of Christ we are going to serve God and we will serve without payment.” Some will object that they have wives, children. Are your wives not able to live like you, without expectations? Is the priest’s wife not able to live like you? Yes, she can. She should be the first to give an example of selflessness, but in fact she is the first looking how to insure herself. What need has a bishop and a priest of money, why do they need to insure themselves? Christ was not insured. How much was Christ paid for His talks? I speak to you in the name of Christ. You serve in the name of Christ, do you not? You should consider this as a serious matter.
The two exceptions are coming. I want you to understand me correctly. I do not have the smallest intent to offend anyone of you. Your desires, your profound convictions, whatever they may be, are sacred to me. But your negative actions, they are something else; I cannot accept them. I cannot tolerate the negative manifestations in the world; I cannot watch calmly when someone is insulting another person. I can remain silent, but a great sorrow rises within my soul and I tell myself, “Those people are Christians; what is this delusion that is paralyzing them, so that they burst into rage?” But I believe a great Warmth is coming that will melt away the ice. Vapors will rise from the mountains and clear, pure streams will flow down. Then luxuriant vegetation will grow, the seeds planted thousands of years ago will sprout, bloom, and give fruit; all nations will join hands with each other. This New Culture that no one has expected or seen will come into the world and all will become citizens of it and representatives of the New Humankind.
I would like all of you to be guests at the dinner table of this New Humankind. You are all invited, but please, do not decline the invitation because the same happened two thousand years ago when Christ invited many people to a feast, but most of them refused to come. They refused under various pretexts: some had to plough their fields, others had just bought five pairs of oxen and had to try them, still others were going to be married. What they were all really saying was, “We denounce your New Culture!”
Christ is coming again and asks people once more to embrace this New Teaching. Now we can consider all those good people who have pastured herds for five centuries as Divine and use them to construct this Great Divine Building: the Temple of the New Humankind. Life is not built of one stone only and when we have already built it, then Wisdom and Love will come to Earth. Only then will there be music, poetry, art; only then will there be order and well-being. Only then will there be understanding among all human beings. Only then we can give a sacred kiss to one another and feel the joy that Angels feel.
Lecture by the Master Beinsa Douno, given on August 19, 1920, in Tarnovo.
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1. See also Genesis 3:2–3.
2. See Luke 12:37.
3. See also Matthew 23:8, “But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi;’ for one is your Master and all you are brethren.”
4. At that time church priests performed both marriages and divorces.
5. The Balkan Wars (1912–1913).
6. The Central Forces and the Alliance: coalitions among nations participating in the First World War (1914–1918).
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Combination of Relations1
There are two principles in the supreme esoteric mathematics, which read as follows: the attitude of the Earth to the Sun determines the attitude of the Sun to the Earth. I shall substitute the Earth for Man, and the Sun for God and then we shall arrive at a translated version: the attitude of Man to God determines the attitude of God to Man. This is a principle that is beyond dispute. Hence all contradictions in our private or public life stem from this law. I will now do another translation of this combination of attitudes: the attitude of the soul to the Spirit determines the attitude of the Spirit to the soul. I will make yet another translation substituting the soul for the child and the Spirit for the mother, and then again it is the same law: the attitude of the child to the mother determines the attitude of the mother to the child.
You will find the line in the Scripture where Christ speaks about the man making his house on sand and on rocks. Bear in mind that by the rules of this esoteric law you are not free to think, feel, or act the way you want to in your relations with others. Somebody says, “I am free and I do what I want!” This is all wrong. In order for this to happen, you have to be free of all the thoughts that are not yours. If you think what people expect you to think, then something is not in order. This calls to mind a situation when somebody is being escorted by policemen – the man goes where ten policemen force him to. Keep in mind the following: I do not want to talk you into anything, I do not want to impose anything upon you; I want to let you free from the slavery situation you are in.
You may get me wrong, because want is a human expression. This is the desire of the Invisible world or the desire of God – that all His children should be free. I shall not concern myself with your past, this is a matter for you to deal with; I am concerned only with your present and your future. And the only person who can now come to your aid along the Path you are walking is me. If I abandon you, you will be lost this very moment. If I let go of the stick you clutch to, you may come back to be saved only in a thousand years. There is no philosophy here: the life of the child in the mother’s womb depends on the mother carrying the child. If she decides to carry it to the end, she will give birth to the child, but if she decides to miscarry it, it won’t be born alive. It is ridiculous to imagine another woman telling a baby in its mother’s womb, “Get out of this womb and come into mine!” The child must be carried for a certain period. Any smart aleck arguing to the contrary is an absolute ignorant who does not understand this great law. Secondly, I do not want to alter the Divine order of things not even to one hundred-millionth part, neither do I wish that you try to change me; this is sacrilege! Another aspect to it: for the last seven million years the principles of the White Brotherhood haven’t changed even to one hundred-millionth part. I take this number – it is a variable belonging to the supreme Divine Mathematics, to the Divine World. These laws are strictly determined. There is a particular form for each thought, feeling, or action, through which they can be manifested and the law states that when they are expressed in this form, we feel a sort of satisfaction and kindness. This signifies that the form was expressed properly. Otherwise we feel certain discontent. It is not a bad feature, but an urge for us to aim at acquiring this supreme form.
In the time of the Apostles the Christians divided into followers of Peter, followers of the Apostles, followers of Paul, followers of Christ. Paul says, “I sowed, others watered, while God grew it.” What does it matter that you have sown or watered; the important thing is that God made it grow. Moreover all principles boil down to growing, not to who sowed or who watered. I am telling you too, you should stay where God placed you, where the farmer planted you, where your mother sent you to school. Do not go out of the relations already established. The farmer and the mother are wiser than you who have it on your mind to leave school.
I shall now stop here… This year the White Brotherhood will have its meeting on 19th August. Do not entertain the idea that you belong to the White Brotherhood. There are meetings every year. I do not want you to be ignorant: It consists of human souls having completed their evolution thousand of years ago. They get together every year to determine the fate of all people. Now, we have our meeting on earth simultaneously with their meeting. They are also on the earth. If you walk properly along this Path, you will join the Brotherhood in time, while for the time being you are only servants. There is something hinted to this effect in the Epistles to the Jews.
This year, all of you from Sofia who attended the School up to 1914 inclusive, are invited; they will come on the morning of 17th in Tarnovo2, while those attending from 1916 to 1919 inclusive, will come on the morning of 18th, and the new comers – in the evening of 18th.
I would like to see harmony reigning among all of you, so that we can benefit from the time spent together. There is work to be done. To tell you the truth the White Brotherhood does not look approvingly to Sofians. It’s not that it does not love you, but it disapproves of the rights you have granted to yourselves. Freedom goes with rights, but you should know that there are rights and obligations. This is the point of departure for you to learn the methods of governing countries and people. Not a single one of the existing methods on earth can be applied and you are aware of the results. You will learn, because you will return to the Earth, until you complete your development. You have to go to school and you will come back to school as students, until you graduate. Do not think you will convince me to side with you. There is only one way this can be done: if you live in Virtue, in Love, Justice, and Truth. I can’t be where God is not. God is not in the evil. I told a friend of mine that I would not allow anybody to commit a crime. And when I leave, you may do whatever takes your fancy. I will catch those who try to deviate and I will cause them suffering. I won’t allow anybody to commit suicide. You will come to understand this law some day. Some say, “I am not afraid!” I would like you to show me your Love; otherwise, you are cowards par excellence.
Now, you have obligations to the White Brotherhood, to the School where you belong. There can be no excuse for you; you can’t discard your obligations to them. You can’t hide anywhere, not even at the bottom of hell. This you should understand very well. There is no hiding from the White Brothers. They are the bearers of Light, of each New Culture, of each good. Well, with their assistance, one always succeeds, but when one is deprived of their assistance, everything is over. Your attitude to me is your attitude to the White Brotherhood, and your attitude to the White Brotherhood is your attitude to God. You will say that you know only one God. You are mistaken: The Sun is known by the light, but it also has one mediator. This is ether, otherwise it will be invisible. Likewise the White Brotherhood is the mediator between you and God.
You have to get your act together this year. There shall be no loose parties around. I am ready to listen to everybody and I would like you to be at least halfway like me. Christ has also said, “Students have to be like the Teacher.” How have I lived among you? Have you seen anything of me? You want to do something and I say, “Go ahead! Give it a try!” But I know that this is the law: one will be measured by the measure one applies. You have to be free!
I know your previous life, I know everything, and I do not go poking around unearthing things, but I bury things. Knowledge is not always beneficial, but I benefit from what you do. If you want to have the benevolence of God, you have to listen to God. This was told to me and I came here on purpose. Therefore, I say that there are three scenarios: firstly, if you do not want to follow the Teaching that I preach, I will tell you firmly, “OK, you are free to go!” Secondly – are you ready to apply Christ’s Teaching as it is in the Gospel? I mean to have it performed in its absolute completeness! Thirdly – are you ready to apply Moses’ Teaching in its absolute completeness? Either Moses, or Christ, or me – we are one! This is the manifestation of God, this Teaching is Divine. Moses’ Teaching is Divine, Christ’s Teaching is Divine, and the present Teaching is Divine. The source is the same, only the forms differ. It is the same Spirit in the three teachings. Let’s assume that I tell you a dictum, a principle, but I do not sign under it. Try to accomplish it! You won’t lose much if my name is not present. But Christ says, “His Teaching must be accomplished!” You should accomplish either what the White Brotherhood discloses, or Christ’s Teaching, or Moses’ Teaching, one of these Teachings, however, has to be accomplished. I place these three Teachings before you, because you bring up certain doubts. I would not like to remove anybody and I would like you to accomplish the three Teachings simultaneously. In their complete scope they are indeed the same Teaching. Christ in Moses is the same as Christ in Jesus ands the same Christ is in me. I want you to have the insider’s understanding. The significance of the Sun is in the light it sends to us.
As early as this year you should identify yourselves, in your mind, you should be sincere, because the benevolence you strive at depends on you being sincere. I can see you thinking, “Are we so well prepared that we can be called?” Remember that king who invited guests to his table. “Since those who were called did not make it, I am calling you, the cripples! Be grateful that the ones whom I called haven’t come!” It’s not a matter of dignity, the point is that you have come to learn. I will indeed produce a report on you that no one has so far produced. I shall describe your progress in the smallest details. If it comes to the stick later on, it won’t be my fault. If your father applies the stick, in awe shall I watch and count the beats. Do not fool yourselves in thinking that one is more worthy than the other. Everything in the White Brotherhood is like music. We do not drive anybody away, neither do we invite anybody; God invites people, while invited people drive themselves away on their own accord. You are free in this respect – nobody can aggrieve you, but nobody can equally spare you the consequences.
I would like to see harmony, Life, reigning among all of you, but not brought into effect by the letter of the law. I do not want to probe deep in your lives, I do not want to judge you, but I am telling you the consequences and I treat you like sick people. Can the healer do the healing without causing the slightest pain?
The Black Brotherhood has got you entangled, it generated a storm. Sin counts as sin before God. Such a crime can be forgiven, but there is no excuse for it. A brother will come to spend a whole life to have one sin redeemed. This is righteous – for young and old alike. I do not want you to waste your strength. You comment that I have said one thing or another – do not go checking with secondary sources, come straight to me. Nevertheless you elaborate it as much as you can and then you draw conclusions. Some say, “Mister Deunov has provided for himself.” Manu Rainov came to see me years ago and he offered thirty thousand leva to spend on whatever I think right; and I told him, “Let the money be with you.” After his death his wife again offered the money to me and left it with me. The utilisation of the money that comes to the Brotherhood is strictly determined. If there is any embezzlement, the abuser shall bear the consequences. Dr. Mirkovich wanted to leave his fortune to me, but I told him, “Sell it and give the money away to the poor or to your relatives!” This brother also (the Master pointing at L. Kotev) was asking me about the house and told him, “It should go to one person.” If one lies to me, the others will lie to me as well.
There is one law in the White Brotherhood: we cannot judge any brother until the brother commits a crime. You have to think, to desire and only after you act – only then will you be judged. You will be judged first on the earth, then you will be judged for your desires in the Astral world, then – on the mental level, and finally everything will be liquidated in the causal world. Destiny is not for us. Christ said, “I did not come to judge, but to save.” The Father has granted destiny to the Son of Man, and the Son of Man represents exactly this White Brotherhood that is granted the right to judge the world. When you study the esoteric science you will learn about this Great Hierarchy that has the power to judge the younger brothers. Your attitude to me is of a temporary nature. Do not disturb the cart-driver while on the Path. If the cart-driver is a master, he will definitely get you there, if you do not have the faith, do not get onto his cart.
Well, we do not ask anybody to leave. There are three types of laws: on brotherhood, on friendship, and on acquaintance. You are not brothers of mine as yet. In order for one to join the White Brotherhood, one has to sacrifice one’s life for somebody else. This is the law on brotherhood. You are in debt to the Whole. If you fail to accomplish it, you will be held accountable. I now follow the law of friendship, not the law of brotherhood with you.
The Teaching I preach to you basically comes down to the following: I want to introduce you to the laws of Living Nature – something that nobody has studied so far. Moreover this is a particularly slow process. It is easy to read books, but if you want to study the laws of Living Nature, the School of Living Nature is a difficult school to attend. I want you to be free in your thoughts and feelings. I have never imposed any restrictions upon you, but there are others who will.
Prepare yourselves for the annual meeting so that we do not have to go back to elementary matters, i.e. to baptism and salvation. Let’s move to a new formula expressing the New Life. I want not one of you to stumble over anything.
You will study the law of humility and meekness – this is the first task facing you, the second one is electricity and magnetism, and the third one is suffering. However, you, people from Sofia, started with suffering. You have to have a reserve of energy, in order to undergo this fire. I only give you the method how to prepare yourselves for humility and meekness, for electricity and magnetism. It is not me who has created these things, they do exist. You, people from Sofia, have to patch things up. You may ask how this can be done. For instance a hundred people were sentenced to prison for their debts, while I am rich; I repay their debts and say, “Let them free!”
Be self-sufficient. Each one of you should have one’s own thoughts, you should not be influenced by one another - you should help one another. If you can be influenced, people can tell you, “Mr Deunov is such a person.” But if you yourselves can get to know the truth, it cannot be imposed from the outside.
I wish all of you to have mutual respect, esteem, and love for each other. This is the first law of the White Brotherhood. You cannot alter this law. There, on the Blue Rocks3 where I spent twenty-five days, I kept receiving all of your thoughts and I can produce a picture of your thoughts. If you want to shoot, use real bullets, not the dum-dum variance. This is just much ado about nothing.
You have no time. You are in the twentieth year of the twentieth century. Your karma has already matured and if you fail to properly liquidate it now, you will remain lagging behind for another two thousand years. When you move ahead others will come to take your place. Do not stop, have faith in the great Divine Law! You have the experience from the past, you have a good understanding of things and you are not blind.
Make sure you come to Tarnovo on 17th and 18th. Have faith in the Living God and He will manifest Himself to you. Because He says, “If you believe in My words, the Truth will be manifested to you.” You have to believe in somebody. You have to be born by a mother. This is the law. We do not deal in personalities. Some day, when we meet again, we shall talk it over once more. Because things will change. Resistance should be put against the Black Lodge! The interests of the Black Lodge and of the White Lodge clash and you should take part in the conflict. If you take part siding with the Black Brotherhood, your flesh would be made into salami, your skin – into straps, while if you side with the White Brotherhood, you will be walking straight on your two legs, your skin will be intact and you will have all the Divine benevolence.
(Brother L. Kotev from the audience): Is neutrality not a valid option?
No way! You are either with God or against God.
What happened among you has not changed my relations with you. I am sorry that people cannot grasp this law. I want the person to whom I did good not to know me, but to say, “God bless the one who did this good to me!” Do your utmost to bring in harmony. You have been through certain experience, suffering, and striving. Let bygones be bygones; this is not for the first time, but all misunderstandings have to vanish into thin air voluntarily, they should not be forced away. This year, you people from Sofia, are the ones slowing down progress a little, this is why I came to warn you. Let’s get down to good work, because human thought, desire, and action, united in God, constitute a tremendous Power.
Master’s lecture, delivered only before brothers on 8 August 1920, Sunday.
_______________________________________________
1 In the short-hand notes this lectures was titled Lecture delivered to brothers
2 Translator’s notes - The town of Velico Tarnovo is situated in the middle of Bulgaria, capital of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom – 12-14 century. The Master wrote The Testament of the Colour Rays some 6 km away from this town, in the village of Arbanassi.
3 Rocky Heights, famous for their colours, are in the Eastern part of the Balkan Range close to the town of Sliven.
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Right and Left Path
Right and Left Path
The Choir of the Brotherhood in Sliven sang Pesen na zorata (Song of the Dawn).
The theme I am going to address now is of great importance. I use the terms “left path” and “right path” as principles, because there are no other ways of development but these two. Descent is on the left path and ascent is on the right path. The right path is the way, the direction of moving up.
Everything in the world is created by the human spirit. However, humankind is at the beginning of its development. To be able to perceive the ideas flowing into the world [from the higher realms][1], we need to get rid of all idle-thoughts [and trifles].
Creating the world; God put Power, Wisdom, Glory and Repose in one cauldron.
In this way, violence derived from Power and knowledge from Wisdom. All that sprung from Glory began to strive in different directions. Repose remained at the bottom of the cauldron and God kept it for Himself. Therefore, no rest exists in the world. To take a rest, one should return to God.
The Master gave an example with two Russian bankers who had a bet of three million rubles that one of them will spend fourteen years in solitary confinement. The banker who stayed isolated in a room read many books and finally began reading the Bible. After finishing it, he said to himself, "I have found the meaning of life. It is in freedom and free development.” There was only one day remaining to conclude the fourteen year period, but he ran out of the window. He had left a written note about leaving the room twenty four hours early and renouncing to receive the reward of three million rubles, because he became aware that happiness was not in [the mere possession of] money. Meanwhile, the other banker who did not want to lose three million rubles decided to kill the confined one, so as to save his millions. He entered the room at night, but found only the note.
For 8,000 years, there have been continuous struggles in the world even among the smallest beings [of creation]. Modern people say that life is a struggle. Life manifests through struggles as they are necessary driving forces.
Descent into the heart was conducted by the left path. But it was possessed by some negative forces that did not observe an awakened mind. Great Teachers came to Earth to set the right course of life. Jesus Christ was one of them. Modern Christians have not ceased to follow the Teaching of Christ.
People believe in coming from God and returning to God. Where do we come from, why do we come [to Earth] and where do we go—that is an important quest for everyone.
The Earth is a school where we study the existing Laws [of Nature]. There are four states of consciousness in the world: sub-consciousness, consciousness, self-consciousness and higher-consciousness.
There are certain Laws of Nature that can remove any obstacles from our lives.
Even one magical word can release the suffering of an entire nation. Nature in its wholeness is a living entity.
The spiritual world is a world where Intelligent Beings rule over all Laws of Creation and they are masters of death. Death is just a transition from one stage of being into another; from one simpler form of existence into another more complex and elevated one. There is nothing as perfect as the human brain. It is where all thoughts, feelings, and desires develop.
Those who do not progress on the left and right paths of life are condemned to suffer. Heroes are born on the right path. To become a hero, one should first descend on the left path and then ascend on the right path. The more heroes who are ready to sacrifice themselves and serve their nation, the greater bounties that nation may enjoy.
No one can restrict our thoughts, but we cannot avoid the effects of them, either.
The Master gave an example with the destiny of Titanic steamer, which had sunk due to the improvidence of the constructing engineers on the power needed for combating the sea obstacles.
Even little children can give ideas.
The left path is related to the development of our heart - all noble feelings originate from the heart.
Moses told the Jews when going to the Promised Land, not to bother the people living there. But the Jews did not obey God’s command delivered to them through Moses, so they came to grief.
Women present the left path; men the right path. Women are the bearers of potential energy; men—of kinetic energy. Women should study the Law of the left path; men—that of the right path. The two paths, by crossing themselves, result in the willpower - the children. They are an impetus for all exalted motives in life.
Fathers and mothers have hope for their children. That is why Christ said: “Let the little children come to me”.[2]
By "little children" Christ meant the Divine Way requiring some special qualities:
The first of them is discernment: to recognize good from evil, to tell which motives [of action] are right and which are wrong. Self-control and positive thinking are needed for attaining that measure of discernment. We should always think in a positive way and keep positive thoughts.
Another necessary quality is endurance: to be strong and unchanging. Those who are not strong enough will become losers. On the other side, resilient people are victorious in life. Such nation is England.
Faith: is another needed quality related to human mind. In this respect, doubt is like a worm for the human mind. Faith also implies the experience from testing whether someone is ready to sacrifice themselves for us.
The Master told as an example the story of two friends who met a bear in the forest. They went for a walk in the woods. One of them boasted to the other that he was ready to do anything in the name of their friendship, even to give his life. At that moment a bear appeared before them. The braggart who had just praised about his readiness for self-sacrifice quickly ran and climbed a tree. The second one laid on the ground. The bear came to him, moved around, smelled him, bowed to his ear and went away. His friend came down from the tree and asked him what the bear had told him. He answered, "Next time, do not go on a journey with a friend like that".
The right and left paths present the two necessary principles, the two conditions of life. Nowadays, the Bulgarians are on a crossroad, thus what they need is endurance and faith. Natural Laws are relentless. The sufferings of the Bulgarian people have not been completed yet, but that should not disturb you. A mother, for example, carries the baby in her womb for nine months, making any sacrifices for her infant, because she believes the child to be a bearer of Love, that is followed by Wisdom. Love cannot go without Wisdom and Wisdom without Love. Children in fact, are the bearers of Truth.
The same Laws that govern Nature and all living beings are also related to people.
From now on people are expected to join the blossoming of Nature.
There is a new element in our Solar system now—that is Exaltation.
All inner life is depicted in one’s features. For example, the nose is a symbol of willpower, intelligence, and wisdom. That is evidenced by its shape, lines, and size. People need to work with Love on the left path, with Wisdom—on the right path, and with Truth or willpower—on the straight path.
Considering the conditions of life, every individual is a condition for the development of their nation, and in turn, the nation is a condition for the individuals; its people.
Thought itself comes as a reflection of the Great principles of life. Everyone should comprehend the Laws of Creation and only then can we together create a life of prosperity and abundance. We are just servants of Living Nature. She is generously rewarding, but also relentlessly demanding of us.
Love is a Great power that cannot be resisted. Everything is subject to its power. Evil cannot enter where Love is present, and where there is no Love, evil stays. In the same way, a doctor does not go where Light is present but where Light is absent.
Eating a lot, we think that we will be fine, but what if there is poison in the food?
The Master told a story of an eagle in the region of Deliorman[3] who ate from a poisoned sheep placed on purpose there to kill the wolves. As soon as the eagle had felt the poison, he rolled over on the ground, regurgitated the poisonous meat and flew away to his nest.
There are thoughts, feelings, and actions that can poison us. The toxic food [we have taken] should be vomited in the same way as the food, eaten by the eagle.
We cannot encourage ourselves with cowardice, but only with heroism.
Diseases are from the food we take. We do not understand the conditions of life that Nature has defined for us. The same Law is applicable to the mind, heart, and soul.
Yogis have rules for life. For example, they drink water slowly, in small sips, to strengthen the cardiovascular system and expose themselves to the sunshine to strengthen the nervous system.
For our development, faith is a requisite. Faith is helpful for every person and for all professions. Everyone should have inner confidence that what they say is true. Do not keep in your mind a thought that is not verified; do not receive in your soul anything that is not tested. It is easy to mess, but hard to be cleansed.
The Master gave an example with an old story. Once upon a time there were two neighboring kingdoms of the Esperzits and of the Menzitis. They were in constant animosity because of the poor relationships between their kings. The king of Menzitis was warned by wise men that his son’s life would be endangered at the age of 21. As a precaution the king sent him away from the palace to live with a shepherd in the kingdom of the Esperzits. The prince, in his 21st year, was once grazing the sheep at a mountainous place, when he saw a young lady riding a horse in the distance accompanied by two guards. She stopped to pick some flowers enjoying the beauty around. Obviously, she was a nature lover. At that moment, he noticed that she was bitten by a snake on her left side. He immediately resolved to help her. When he came closer to her he threw himself over her and began sucking out the venom from the snakebite. The guards thinking that he had attacked the princess shot a bow with a poisonous arrow at him hitting his right shoulder. Seeing that, the princess in turn, began sucking out the venom from his wound. In this way, they saved each other and became aware that they could not live without each other. So, they married and lived happily ever after.
Those are the two ways: Love and Wisdom, the left and right side, the left and right path.
Women need to treat and heal the infection that has corroded everything in the society. Some do fight. Be heroes because the Kingdom of Heaven is not given to cowards. Heroes are honored by monuments for their good thoughts, feelings, and deeds.
What about the situation in the past and that in the future? Where have we been before and where are we going to be? That can be determined. All great men have defined the situation of their nations foreseeing everything [in the future] like clairvoyants. One nation needs preachers, priests, teachers, politicians, etc., but they all must be pure in deeds, thoughts, and desires.
What is the application of the Pythagorean Theorem in life? The sum of the squares of mind and heart gives the square of human willpower—a2 + b2 = c2—the sum of the squares of the two catheters gives the square of the hypotenuse. Therefore, mind and heart should go together. Willpower can do and achieve anything. Its function can be defined briefly as follows: willpower can control mind and heart.
Everything in nature is closely interrelated. It is possible to say about animals as well as about people what they are worth. For example, cattle and horse dealers can define very precisely an animal’s price by viewing, touching, feeling, and inspecting their teeth and other outer features.
The left path is the path of Love; the right path is the path of Wisdom. Uniting them, we will receive the third path—the path of willpower.
The left path is designated by the line at the back of human head; the right path—by the line in front of the forehead.
To conclude my talk, I will give you an example that I have already used before.
A young Bulgarian agreed to work as an apprentice for an old potter to learn the pottery craft. He has been serving his apprenticeship for three years. Then he left his master to work on his own and become independent. However, when he began his own business all his pots cracked. He returned to his master and asked him for the reason of his failure. He began to work again with him, and then he noticed that the master, when taking the pots out of the furnace, blew into them saying “Hu”, and thus they did not crack. All mastery and power for non-cracked pots came from that “Hu”.
The pots symbolize our body. The troubles and sufferings that everyone encounters to be tempered and get stronger are symbolized by the furnace. Because without difficulties and pain, there is no ascension, there is no gain. The pots get cracked because we do not blow into them, in other words, we are not in harmony with the Divine Spirit. Mother blows into her hand or the hand of her child and that blow gives strength.
If a pregnant woman says confidently to the baby in her womb, "You, daughter, will become a mother who is smart, diligent, and modest" or "You, son, will become a father who is smart, good-hearted, honest, and just", it will be fulfilled.
And now I can tell you that my lecture will receive recognition in five years.
Do not despair. Be brave. The student should not get discouraged by the teacher's corrections on the weak calculation. Saying “I can correct myself” the student will do it.
The Master gave an example with the American preacher Moody. He was a shoemaker and said to himself, "I will become a good preacher." He had been working on himself, gradually succeeding in achieving his goal, despite the mockery of his employees. Finally, he managed to become a very good preacher.
Now, if [at least] 14 of you have received my thought, I think it is worth it.
Songs that were performed by the Choir of the Brotherhood in Sliven:
Bratstvo, edinstvo (Brotherhood, Unity)—the anthem of the Brotherhood, and
Napred da hodim smelo (Let’s Go Forward).
Public lecture[4] by Beinsa Duno—Petar Danov held on June 13 (May 31 O.S.), 1920[5], 10:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m., Sunday, “Zora” Community Center Hall, Sliven
Translated by Evgeni Vasilev
Edited by Maria Braikova, Antoaneta Krushevska, Beverly Cotton, and G.V. Eyssen
[1][…] Editor’s addition for clarity and preciseness of the text
[2]But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”, Matthew 19:14, NKJV
[3]Deliorman (Turkish) or Ludogorie (Bulgarian) is a region in northeastern Bulgaria stretching over the plateau of the same name. Part of the Danubian Plain, the region is hilly in the east, but merges with the plains of Dobruja and the Danube to the north.
[4] The lecture is taken from stenographic notes, which are probably not full and the examples are retold.
[5]O.S. and N.S. dates – Old Style according to the Julian Calendar and New Style uses the Gregorian Calendar, which was introduced officially at different dates in the different countries. In Bulgaria it was introduced on March 31, 1916 and April 1 (O.S.) became April 14, 1916 (N.S.).
Right and Left Path
Right and Left Path
The Choir of the Brotherhood in Sliven sang Pesen na zorata (Song of the Dawn).
The theme I am going to address now is of great importance. I use the terms “left path” and “right path” as principles, because there are no other ways of development but these two. Descent is on the left path and ascent is on the right path. The right path is the way, the direction of moving up.
Everything in the world is created by the human spirit. However, humankind is at the beginning of its development. To be able to perceive the ideas flowing into the world [from the higher realms][1], we need to get rid of all idle-thoughts [and trifles].
Creating the world; God put Power, Wisdom, Glory and Repose in one cauldron.
In this way, violence derived from Power and knowledge from Wisdom. All that sprung from Glory began to strive in different directions. Repose remained at the bottom of the cauldron and God kept it for Himself. Therefore, no rest exists in the world. To take a rest, one should return to God.
The Master gave an example with two Russian bankers who had a bet of three million rubles that one of them will spend fourteen years in solitary confinement. The banker who stayed isolated in a room read many books and finally began reading the Bible. After finishing it, he said to himself, "I have found the meaning of life. It is in freedom and free development.” There was only one day remaining to conclude the fourteen year period, but he ran out of the window. He had left a written note about leaving the room twenty four hours early and renouncing to receive the reward of three million rubles, because he became aware that happiness was not in [the mere possession of] money. Meanwhile, the other banker who did not want to lose three million rubles decided to kill the confined one, so as to save his millions. He entered the room at night, but found only the note.
For 8,000 years, there have been continuous struggles in the world even among the smallest beings [of creation]. Modern people say that life is a struggle. Life manifests through struggles as they are necessary driving forces.
Descent into the heart was conducted by the left path. But it was possessed by some negative forces that did not observe an awakened mind. Great Teachers came to Earth to set the right course of life. Jesus Christ was one of them. Modern Christians have not ceased to follow the Teaching of Christ.
People believe in coming from God and returning to God. Where do we come from, why do we come [to Earth] and where do we go—that is an important quest for everyone.
The Earth is a school where we study the existing Laws [of Nature]. There are four states of consciousness in the world: sub-consciousness, consciousness, self-consciousness and higher-consciousness.
There are certain Laws of Nature that can remove any obstacles from our lives.
Even one magical word can release the suffering of an entire nation. Nature in its wholeness is a living entity.
The spiritual world is a world where Intelligent Beings rule over all Laws of Creation and they are masters of death. Death is just a transition from one stage of being into another; from one simpler form of existence into another more complex and elevated one. There is nothing as perfect as the human brain. It is where all thoughts, feelings, and desires develop.
Those who do not progress on the left and right paths of life are condemned to suffer. Heroes are born on the right path. To become a hero, one should first descend on the left path and then ascend on the right path. The more heroes who are ready to sacrifice themselves and serve their nation, the greater bounties that nation may enjoy.
No one can restrict our thoughts, but we cannot avoid the effects of them, either.
The Master gave an example with the destiny of Titanic steamer, which had sunk due to the improvidence of the constructing engineers on the power needed for combating the sea obstacles.
Even little children can give ideas.
The left path is related to the development of our heart - all noble feelings originate from the heart.
Moses told the Jews when going to the Promised Land, not to bother the people living there. But the Jews did not obey God’s command delivered to them through Moses, so they came to grief.
Women present the left path; men the right path. Women are the bearers of potential energy; men—of kinetic energy. Women should study the Law of the left path; men—that of the right path. The two paths, by crossing themselves, result in the willpower - the children. They are an impetus for all exalted motives in life.
Fathers and mothers have hope for their children. That is why Christ said: “Let the little children come to me”.[2]
By "little children" Christ meant the Divine Way requiring some special qualities:
The first of them is discernment: to recognize good from evil, to tell which motives [of action] are right and which are wrong. Self-control and positive thinking are needed for attaining that measure of discernment. We should always think in a positive way and keep positive thoughts.
Another necessary quality is endurance: to be strong and unchanging. Those who are not strong enough will become losers. On the other side, resilient people are victorious in life. Such nation is England.
Faith: is another needed quality related to human mind. In this respect, doubt is like a worm for the human mind. Faith also implies the experience from testing whether someone is ready to sacrifice themselves for us.
The Master told as an example the story of two friends who met a bear in the forest. They went for a walk in the woods. One of them boasted to the other that he was ready to do anything in the name of their friendship, even to give his life. At that moment a bear appeared before them. The braggart who had just praised about his readiness for self-sacrifice quickly ran and climbed a tree. The second one laid on the ground. The bear came to him, moved around, smelled him, bowed to his ear and went away. His friend came down from the tree and asked him what the bear had told him. He answered, "Next time, do not go on a journey with a friend like that".
The right and left paths present the two necessary principles, the two conditions of life. Nowadays, the Bulgarians are on a crossroad, thus what they need is endurance and faith. Natural Laws are relentless. The sufferings of the Bulgarian people have not been completed yet, but that should not disturb you. A mother, for example, carries the baby in her womb for nine months, making any sacrifices for her infant, because she believes the child to be a bearer of Love, that is followed by Wisdom. Love cannot go without Wisdom and Wisdom without Love. Children in fact, are the bearers of Truth.
The same Laws that govern Nature and all living beings are also related to people.
From now on people are expected to join the blossoming of Nature.
There is a new element in our Solar system now—that is Exaltation.
All inner life is depicted in one’s features. For example, the nose is a symbol of willpower, intelligence, and wisdom. That is evidenced by its shape, lines, and size. People need to work with Love on the left path, with Wisdom—on the right path, and with Truth or willpower—on the straight path.
Considering the conditions of life, every individual is a condition for the development of their nation, and in turn, the nation is a condition for the individuals; its people.
Thought itself comes as a reflection of the Great principles of life. Everyone should comprehend the Laws of Creation and only then can we together create a life of prosperity and abundance. We are just servants of Living Nature. She is generously rewarding, but also relentlessly demanding of us.
Love is a Great power that cannot be resisted. Everything is subject to its power. Evil cannot enter where Love is present, and where there is no Love, evil stays. In the same way, a doctor does not go where Light is present but where Light is absent.
Eating a lot, we think that we will be fine, but what if there is poison in the food?
The Master told a story of an eagle in the region of Deliorman[3] who ate from a poisoned sheep placed on purpose there to kill the wolves. As soon as the eagle had felt the poison, he rolled over on the ground, regurgitated the poisonous meat and flew away to his nest.
There are thoughts, feelings, and actions that can poison us. The toxic food [we have taken] should be vomited in the same way as the food, eaten by the eagle.
We cannot encourage ourselves with cowardice, but only with heroism.
Diseases are from the food we take. We do not understand the conditions of life that Nature has defined for us. The same Law is applicable to the mind, heart, and soul.
Yogis have rules for life. For example, they drink water slowly, in small sips, to strengthen the cardiovascular system and expose themselves to the sunshine to strengthen the nervous system.
For our development, faith is a requisite. Faith is helpful for every person and for all professions. Everyone should have inner confidence that what they say is true. Do not keep in your mind a thought that is not verified; do not receive in your soul anything that is not tested. It is easy to mess, but hard to be cleansed.
The Master gave an example with an old story. Once upon a time there were two neighboring kingdoms of the Esperzits and of the Menzitis. They were in constant animosity because of the poor relationships between their kings. The king of Menzitis was warned by wise men that his son’s life would be endangered at the age of 21. As a precaution the king sent him away from the palace to live with a shepherd in the kingdom of the Esperzits. The prince, in his 21st year, was once grazing the sheep at a mountainous place, when he saw a young lady riding a horse in the distance accompanied by two guards. She stopped to pick some flowers enjoying the beauty around. Obviously, she was a nature lover. At that moment, he noticed that she was bitten by a snake on her left side. He immediately resolved to help her. When he came closer to her he threw himself over her and began sucking out the venom from the snakebite. The guards thinking that he had attacked the princess shot a bow with a poisonous arrow at him hitting his right shoulder. Seeing that, the princess in turn, began sucking out the venom from his wound. In this way, they saved each other and became aware that they could not live without each other. So, they married and lived happily ever after.
Those are the two ways: Love and Wisdom, the left and right side, the left and right path.
Women need to treat and heal the infection that has corroded everything in the society. Some do fight. Be heroes because the Kingdom of Heaven is not given to cowards. Heroes are honored by monuments for their good thoughts, feelings, and deeds.
What about the situation in the past and that in the future? Where have we been before and where are we going to be? That can be determined. All great men have defined the situation of their nations foreseeing everything [in the future] like clairvoyants. One nation needs preachers, priests, teachers, politicians, etc., but they all must be pure in deeds, thoughts, and desires.
What is the application of the Pythagorean Theorem in life? The sum of the squares of mind and heart gives the square of human willpower—a2 + b2 = c2—the sum of the squares of the two catheters gives the square of the hypotenuse. Therefore, mind and heart should go together. Willpower can do and achieve anything. Its function can be defined briefly as follows: willpower can control mind and heart.
Everything in nature is closely interrelated. It is possible to say about animals as well as about people what they are worth. For example, cattle and horse dealers can define very precisely an animal’s price by viewing, touching, feeling, and inspecting their teeth and other outer features.
The left path is the path of Love; the right path is the path of Wisdom. Uniting them, we will receive the third path—the path of willpower.
The left path is designated by the line at the back of human head; the right path—by the line in front of the forehead.
To conclude my talk, I will give you an example that I have already used before.
A young Bulgarian agreed to work as an apprentice for an old potter to learn the pottery craft. He has been serving his apprenticeship for three years. Then he left his master to work on his own and become independent. However, when he began his own business all his pots cracked. He returned to his master and asked him for the reason of his failure. He began to work again with him, and then he noticed that the master, when taking the pots out of the furnace, blew into them saying “Hu”, and thus they did not crack. All mastery and power for non-cracked pots came from that “Hu”.
The pots symbolize our body. The troubles and sufferings that everyone encounters to be tempered and get stronger are symbolized by the furnace. Because without difficulties and pain, there is no ascension, there is no gain. The pots get cracked because we do not blow into them, in other words, we are not in harmony with the Divine Spirit. Mother blows into her hand or the hand of her child and that blow gives strength.
If a pregnant woman says confidently to the baby in her womb, "You, daughter, will become a mother who is smart, diligent, and modest" or "You, son, will become a father who is smart, good-hearted, honest, and just", it will be fulfilled.
And now I can tell you that my lecture will receive recognition in five years.
Do not despair. Be brave. The student should not get discouraged by the teacher's corrections on the weak calculation. Saying “I can correct myself” the student will do it.
The Master gave an example with the American preacher Moody. He was a shoemaker and said to himself, "I will become a good preacher." He had been working on himself, gradually succeeding in achieving his goal, despite the mockery of his employees. Finally, he managed to become a very good preacher.
Now, if [at least] 14 of you have received my thought, I think it is worth it.
Songs that were performed by the Choir of the Brotherhood in Sliven:
Bratstvo, edinstvo (Brotherhood, Unity)—the anthem of the Brotherhood, and
Napred da hodim smelo (Let’s Go Forward).
Public lecture[4] by Beinsa Duno—Petar Danov held on June 13 (May 31 O.S.), 1920[5], 10:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m., Sunday, “Zora” Community Center Hall, Sliven
Translated by Evgeni Vasilev
Edited by Maria Braikova, Antoaneta Krushevska, Beverly Cotton, and G.V. Eyssen
[1][…] Editor’s addition for clarity and preciseness of the text
[2]But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”, Matthew 19:14, NKJV
[3]Deliorman (Turkish) or Ludogorie (Bulgarian) is a region in northeastern Bulgaria stretching over the plateau of the same name. Part of the Danubian Plain, the region is hilly in the east, but merges with the plains of Dobruja and the Danube to the north.
[4] The lecture is taken from stenographic notes, which are probably not full and the examples are retold.
[5]O.S. and N.S. dates – Old Style according to the Julian Calendar and New Style uses the Gregorian Calendar, which was introduced officially at different dates in the different countries. In Bulgaria it was introduced on March 31, 1916 and April 1 (O.S.) became April 14, 1916 (N.S.).
Right and Left Path
Right and Left Path
The Choir of the Brotherhood in Sliven sang Pesen na zorata (Song of the Dawn).
The theme I am going to address now is of great importance. I use the terms “left path” and “right path” as principles, because there are no other ways of development but these two. Descent is on the left path and ascent is on the right path. The right path is the way, the direction of moving up.
Everything in the world is created by the human spirit. However, humankind is at the beginning of its development. To be able to perceive the ideas flowing into the world [from the higher realms][1], we need to get rid of all idle-thoughts [and trifles].
Creating the world; God put Power, Wisdom, Glory and Repose in one cauldron.
In this way, violence derived from Power and knowledge from Wisdom. All that sprung from Glory began to strive in different directions. Repose remained at the bottom of the cauldron and God kept it for Himself. Therefore, no rest exists in the world. To take a rest, one should return to God.
The Master gave an example with two Russian bankers who had a bet of three million rubles that one of them will spend fourteen years in solitary confinement. The banker who stayed isolated in a room read many books and finally began reading the Bible. After finishing it, he said to himself, "I have found the meaning of life. It is in freedom and free development.” There was only one day remaining to conclude the fourteen year period, but he ran out of the window. He had left a written note about leaving the room twenty four hours early and renouncing to receive the reward of three million rubles, because he became aware that happiness was not in [the mere possession of] money. Meanwhile, the other banker who did not want to lose three million rubles decided to kill the confined one, so as to save his millions. He entered the room at night, but found only the note.
For 8,000 years, there have been continuous struggles in the world even among the smallest beings [of creation]. Modern people say that life is a struggle. Life manifests through struggles as they are necessary driving forces.
Descent into the heart was conducted by the left path. But it was possessed by some negative forces that did not observe an awakened mind. Great Teachers came to Earth to set the right course of life. Jesus Christ was one of them. Modern Christians have not ceased to follow the Teaching of Christ.
People believe in coming from God and returning to God. Where do we come from, why do we come [to Earth] and where do we go—that is an important quest for everyone.
The Earth is a school where we study the existing Laws [of Nature]. There are four states of consciousness in the world: sub-consciousness, consciousness, self-consciousness and higher-consciousness.
There are certain Laws of Nature that can remove any obstacles from our lives.
Even one magical word can release the suffering of an entire nation. Nature in its wholeness is a living entity.
The spiritual world is a world where Intelligent Beings rule over all Laws of Creation and they are masters of death. Death is just a transition from one stage of being into another; from one simpler form of existence into another more complex and elevated one. There is nothing as perfect as the human brain. It is where all thoughts, feelings, and desires develop.
Those who do not progress on the left and right paths of life are condemned to suffer. Heroes are born on the right path. To become a hero, one should first descend on the left path and then ascend on the right path. The more heroes who are ready to sacrifice themselves and serve their nation, the greater bounties that nation may enjoy.
No one can restrict our thoughts, but we cannot avoid the effects of them, either.
The Master gave an example with the destiny of Titanic steamer, which had sunk due to the improvidence of the constructing engineers on the power needed for combating the sea obstacles.
Even little children can give ideas.
The left path is related to the development of our heart - all noble feelings originate from the heart.
Moses told the Jews when going to the Promised Land, not to bother the people living there. But the Jews did not obey God’s command delivered to them through Moses, so they came to grief.
Women present the left path; men the right path. Women are the bearers of potential energy; men—of kinetic energy. Women should study the Law of the left path; men—that of the right path. The two paths, by crossing themselves, result in the willpower - the children. They are an impetus for all exalted motives in life.
Fathers and mothers have hope for their children. That is why Christ said: “Let the little children come to me”.[2]
By "little children" Christ meant the Divine Way requiring some special qualities:
The first of them is discernment: to recognize good from evil, to tell which motives [of action] are right and which are wrong. Self-control and positive thinking are needed for attaining that measure of discernment. We should always think in a positive way and keep positive thoughts.
Another necessary quality is endurance: to be strong and unchanging. Those who are not strong enough will become losers. On the other side, resilient people are victorious in life. Such nation is England.
Faith: is another needed quality related to human mind. In this respect, doubt is like a worm for the human mind. Faith also implies the experience from testing whether someone is ready to sacrifice themselves for us.
The Master told as an example the story of two friends who met a bear in the forest. They went for a walk in the woods. One of them boasted to the other that he was ready to do anything in the name of their friendship, even to give his life. At that moment a bear appeared before them. The braggart who had just praised about his readiness for self-sacrifice quickly ran and climbed a tree. The second one laid on the ground. The bear came to him, moved around, smelled him, bowed to his ear and went away. His friend came down from the tree and asked him what the bear had told him. He answered, "Next time, do not go on a journey with a friend like that".
The right and left paths present the two necessary principles, the two conditions of life. Nowadays, the Bulgarians are on a crossroad, thus what they need is endurance and faith. Natural Laws are relentless. The sufferings of the Bulgarian people have not been completed yet, but that should not disturb you. A mother, for example, carries the baby in her womb for nine months, making any sacrifices for her infant, because she believes the child to be a bearer of Love, that is followed by Wisdom. Love cannot go without Wisdom and Wisdom without Love. Children in fact, are the bearers of Truth.
The same Laws that govern Nature and all living beings are also related to people.
From now on people are expected to join the blossoming of Nature.
There is a new element in our Solar system now—that is Exaltation.
All inner life is depicted in one’s features. For example, the nose is a symbol of willpower, intelligence, and wisdom. That is evidenced by its shape, lines, and size. People need to work with Love on the left path, with Wisdom—on the right path, and with Truth or willpower—on the straight path.
Considering the conditions of life, every individual is a condition for the development of their nation, and in turn, the nation is a condition for the individuals; its people.
Thought itself comes as a reflection of the Great principles of life. Everyone should comprehend the Laws of Creation and only then can we together create a life of prosperity and abundance. We are just servants of Living Nature. She is generously rewarding, but also relentlessly demanding of us.
Love is a Great power that cannot be resisted. Everything is subject to its power. Evil cannot enter where Love is present, and where there is no Love, evil stays. In the same way, a doctor does not go where Light is present but where Light is absent.
Eating a lot, we think that we will be fine, but what if there is poison in the food?
The Master told a story of an eagle in the region of Deliorman[3] who ate from a poisoned sheep placed on purpose there to kill the wolves. As soon as the eagle had felt the poison, he rolled over on the ground, regurgitated the poisonous meat and flew away to his nest.
There are thoughts, feelings, and actions that can poison us. The toxic food [we have taken] should be vomited in the same way as the food, eaten by the eagle.
We cannot encourage ourselves with cowardice, but only with heroism.
Diseases are from the food we take. We do not understand the conditions of life that Nature has defined for us. The same Law is applicable to the mind, heart, and soul.
Yogis have rules for life. For example, they drink water slowly, in small sips, to strengthen the cardiovascular system and expose themselves to the sunshine to strengthen the nervous system.
For our development, faith is a requisite. Faith is helpful for every person and for all professions. Everyone should have inner confidence that what they say is true. Do not keep in your mind a thought that is not verified; do not receive in your soul anything that is not tested. It is easy to mess, but hard to be cleansed.
The Master gave an example with an old story. Once upon a time there were two neighboring kingdoms of the Esperzits and of the Menzitis. They were in constant animosity because of the poor relationships between their kings. The king of Menzitis was warned by wise men that his son’s life would be endangered at the age of 21. As a precaution the king sent him away from the palace to live with a shepherd in the kingdom of the Esperzits. The prince, in his 21st year, was once grazing the sheep at a mountainous place, when he saw a young lady riding a horse in the distance accompanied by two guards. She stopped to pick some flowers enjoying the beauty around. Obviously, she was a nature lover. At that moment, he noticed that she was bitten by a snake on her left side. He immediately resolved to help her. When he came closer to her he threw himself over her and began sucking out the venom from the snakebite. The guards thinking that he had attacked the princess shot a bow with a poisonous arrow at him hitting his right shoulder. Seeing that, the princess in turn, began sucking out the venom from his wound. In this way, they saved each other and became aware that they could not live without each other. So, they married and lived happily ever after.
Those are the two ways: Love and Wisdom, the left and right side, the left and right path.
Women need to treat and heal the infection that has corroded everything in the society. Some do fight. Be heroes because the Kingdom of Heaven is not given to cowards. Heroes are honored by monuments for their good thoughts, feelings, and deeds.
What about the situation in the past and that in the future? Where have we been before and where are we going to be? That can be determined. All great men have defined the situation of their nations foreseeing everything [in the future] like clairvoyants. One nation needs preachers, priests, teachers, politicians, etc., but they all must be pure in deeds, thoughts, and desires.
What is the application of the Pythagorean Theorem in life? The sum of the squares of mind and heart gives the square of human willpower—a2 + b2 = c2—the sum of the squares of the two catheters gives the square of the hypotenuse. Therefore, mind and heart should go together. Willpower can do and achieve anything. Its function can be defined briefly as follows: willpower can control mind and heart.
Everything in nature is closely interrelated. It is possible to say about animals as well as about people what they are worth. For example, cattle and horse dealers can define very precisely an animal’s price by viewing, touching, feeling, and inspecting their teeth and other outer features.
The left path is the path of Love; the right path is the path of Wisdom. Uniting them, we will receive the third path—the path of willpower.
The left path is designated by the line at the back of human head; the right path—by the line in front of the forehead.
To conclude my talk, I will give you an example that I have already used before.
A young Bulgarian agreed to work as an apprentice for an old potter to learn the pottery craft. He has been serving his apprenticeship for three years. Then he left his master to work on his own and become independent. However, when he began his own business all his pots cracked. He returned to his master and asked him for the reason of his failure. He began to work again with him, and then he noticed that the master, when taking the pots out of the furnace, blew into them saying “Hu”, and thus they did not crack. All mastery and power for non-cracked pots came from that “Hu”.
The pots symbolize our body. The troubles and sufferings that everyone encounters to be tempered and get stronger are symbolized by the furnace. Because without difficulties and pain, there is no ascension, there is no gain. The pots get cracked because we do not blow into them, in other words, we are not in harmony with the Divine Spirit. Mother blows into her hand or the hand of her child and that blow gives strength.
If a pregnant woman says confidently to the baby in her womb, "You, daughter, will become a mother who is smart, diligent, and modest" or "You, son, will become a father who is smart, good-hearted, honest, and just", it will be fulfilled.
And now I can tell you that my lecture will receive recognition in five years.
Do not despair. Be brave. The student should not get discouraged by the teacher's corrections on the weak calculation. Saying “I can correct myself” the student will do it.
The Master gave an example with the American preacher Moody. He was a shoemaker and said to himself, "I will become a good preacher." He had been working on himself, gradually succeeding in achieving his goal, despite the mockery of his employees. Finally, he managed to become a very good preacher.
Now, if [at least] 14 of you have received my thought, I think it is worth it.
Songs that were performed by the Choir of the Brotherhood in Sliven:
Bratstvo, edinstvo (Brotherhood, Unity)—the anthem of the Brotherhood, and
Napred da hodim smelo (Let’s Go Forward).
Public lecture[4] by Beinsa Duno—Petar Danov held on June 13 (May 31 O.S.), 1920[5], 10:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m., Sunday, “Zora” Community Center Hall, Sliven
Translated by Evgeni Vasilev
Edited by Maria Braikova, Antoaneta Krushevska, Beverly Cotton, and G.V. Eyssen
[1][…] Editor’s addition for clarity and preciseness of the text
[2]But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”, Matthew 19:14, NKJV
[3]Deliorman (Turkish) or Ludogorie (Bulgarian) is a region in northeastern Bulgaria stretching over the plateau of the same name. Part of the Danubian Plain, the region is hilly in the east, but merges with the plains of Dobruja and the Danube to the north.
[4] The lecture is taken from stenographic notes, which are probably not full and the examples are retold.
[5]O.S. and N.S. dates – Old Style according to the Julian Calendar and New Style uses the Gregorian Calendar, which was introduced officially at different dates in the different countries. In Bulgaria it was introduced on March 31, 1916 and April 1 (O.S.) became April 14, 1916 (N.S.).
-
Work With Love1
I want to know why you insist on this meeting.
(Somebody from the audience): We would like to be once again with you, Master!
Do you have any questions to put?...
Do you know the origin of the Bulgarian word for guess? It is derived from an old root meaning to live a conscientious life. This is the only way that knowledge can be meaningful. Living a conscientious life is living Life Eternal. So, these two - Life and Conscientious Life – are synonymous. Hence not only that one has to live, but one has to live a Conscientious Life. Knowing presupposes living in the absolute sense of the word.
People live nowadays too; they get wealthier, but live in uncertainty. You have watched certain students who start taking lessons in music, but can’t understand anything, i.e. they can’t play. I ask you: does the teacher invest anything in them? If such students do not possess that great urge and love for music, would the teacher be in a position to develop anything in them? No. Likewise, if you do not have that great, intensive desire for Life, what can God do for you? So, what you are looking for is deep within you. However, there are things that are not within you.
Music teachers always make their students practice exercises and etudes, rather than having the students distracting their attention with various musical pieces or giving concerts, because this will corrupt them. Students should first learn the art of playing. Life here goes on in a proper manner. Students achieve their goal within the time they study. Similarly, a person who wants to acquire the Divine Life has to have the methods for the achievement of this Life. Every student has to have specific methods.
Now I notice that those of you, in whom the Spirit starts talking, say, “The Spirit already talks to me”. However, do you know what great differences there are when the Spirit talks? To Elijah and to Jesse did the Spirit talk, but the point is how the Spirit talked. This is to say that the Spirit does not talk in the same way to all people. Some music teachers can teach fifty to a hundred students, but one of them has hardly learnt the notes, the second one has barely taken two or three lessons, while a third one has covered fifty lessons etc. You cannot understand that there is a gradation among you in the manifestation of the Divine Spirit. The point is not that the Spirit talks to us, but that we have to understand the living laws of God. Contemporary inventors provide the best examples: they experiment once, twice, three times unsuccessfully; they keep experimenting for fifteen-twenty years still unsuccessful, until finally some of them achieve the goal, while others do not. It takes perseverance. Those who walk along the Divine Path should also have perseverance. It’s not a teaching if it can be achieved overnight. Not that it is difficult, but it takes time. When you start studying this Teaching, you will encounter many impediments. Imagine that a teacher had twenty to thirty students in music, but imagine them under different conditions: one has a rich father, who has bought a good instrument. The other one has a poor father; this student has no shoes, and has to make up for the external conditions where he lags behind, and at that he has to keep up with learning his lessons. However, it is often the case that poor people develop better characters than rich people. Poor people have stronger wills. Many of you resemble these rich students and you want to acquire the skills without encountering many obstacles. This is what you want.
There are two categories in contemporary Christianity. In one of the categories there are certain layers, similar to well-fed pigs, with lard that is getting thicker and thicker, fat is gathering, however, there is no muscle strength. Likewise various layers settle upon the earth or similarly layers of dust settle in a house that has not been cleaned recently. This is external acquisition and wealth. In the other category of Christianity the acquisition is an external growth, each particle is linked to the others and Life participates in this particle. Sometimes these particles are not linked, each one having a life of its own and saying, “Nobody should interfere with my job!” While in other cases each particle is linked to another and all of them are living particles.
Hence your experience should be in the second category. For instance – you finish reading a book – this represents another layer. An author wrote something, which might as well be true, but having read it you think that you understand it. You cannot understand due to the simple reason that you are not in the same conditions, you do not understand the author’s conditions, and you do not know what made the author write. Read the Gospel, read what Christ said, what Isaiah said, but you do not know what made Christ say so. Until you reach the same conditions in Life you cannot understand this Teaching. When the Spirit comes, it will create this understanding in you. Therefore, sometimes when your life settles and when you start trying it, only dust comes out of you, and you believe you know life. All those particles fly away but this is not something organic. It exists in you and you say, “This is not so, we must have beguiled ourselves.” Yes, as long as you have settled, I am telling you, you must have beguiled yourselves. This is not a living thing. If water runs through your dust for some time and if the dust still stays, without flying away, then this is something organic, but if it flies away from you, this is insignificant. Now, I reveal to you the law that governs Life.
You cannot escape doubts. These are natural, inevitable. I am not saying that these are laws of some kind, but under the present circumstances these are unavoidable. With all people of poor faith, anger, hatred, envy, lies, and many others are unavoidable.
(Somebody from the audience): If this candle is lit in our mind, as you say, are these also inevitable?
No, when this little candle is lit in the Divine mind, i.e. when God lights this little candle of yours, He will place it in the candlestick and will say, “Let this Light shed light upon the Path of people”. This is its significance. Thus people will glorify God.
(Somebody from the audience): Does the lighting of the candle depend on us or on God?
The lighting is a result of a contact with God. These fiery flames that appeared to the Apostles, were they not such candles? Everything depends on the Holy Spirit. It is different from all other spirits. There are many spirits.
Things are said and sown, but each one in its own specific time. I am telling you not to fool yourselves that the time has not come yet. These things do not get done by worrying. Do not think that if you start weeping and pitying yourselves, this would be of any help to you. This will be of no use to you. Weeping has a completely different meaning: when you go to a cruel person, you cry to soften his heart; dry soil needs watering, doesn’t it? Do you need to cry when you go to a good person? When he sees that you are naked and barefoot, won’t he dress you? Do you think that after telling him that you will commit suicide he won’t defend you? God is an intelligent Being and when you go to God with positive faith, you won’t find Him in two minds.
Now we go to God with our human understanding. Sometimes we are very anxious and impede the Divine Spirit within us. Imagine that a mother is making a cake while the child is walking after her and making hassle. Imagine her spreading the dough while the child is asking, “Is the cake ready yet?” Let the child wait for a while, until the mother kneads and bakes the cake. Will the cake be ready sooner if the child keeps breathing down her neck, fretting and asking time and time again when it will be ready? No, let the child fetch some water, some chopped wood, let the child turn on the oven, let the child participate enthusiastically and assist the mother and the cake will be ready sooner.
It is easy to live a Christian life, but there are certain distorted understandings. You may say, “Haven’t we been Christians for so many years?” You are Christians but there are differences among various understandings. You may have two or three sons, three or four daughters, but only one of the children understands you. I am now asking you how you get along with your other sons and daughters. You get along with them too. They are like guests coming to visit you and saying, “I want this, mummy, I want that one too, mummy” and they go out, while the other child stays home to help you. Similarly you say, “God, grant me this, God, grant me that one as well!” or you declare, “I have told my father to get me this thing and that thing also, and he will do this for me”. This is one of the obstacles that prevent many from making progress. Now, in this true Life, there is one other internal understanding that cannot be understood verbally. You will get to that depth, to that internal equilibrium, to that Peace and understanding of Divine Life. These are abstract matters, but you will get to the practical aspect of the Teaching, in order for you to make your homes like oases in the desert, with fruit-trees, so that any traveller with loaded camels can pull over to have a rest at the oasis.
(Somebody from the audience): You said in one of your previous lectures that when we want to change our attitude to the people close to us we need to change our attitude to God.
(Somebody else from the audience): How can we apply this Teaching in practical life?
There are three aspects to this: the first one is when we serve people; we are in the situation of servants then; the second one is when we serve ourselves; it then strengthens our individual life; the third one is when we serve God. You should distribute your service proportionally every day and find out where each of the things you do belongs. One serving God can serve people as well, but the situation of such a person will be different. This is exactly how you can alter your original situation – you will serve God. You will find this desire deep down your soul; it is an inclination of the soul. This is a situation, which you are familiar with in the first place; it is not a situation that you will have to get to know from now on. You are all aware of this, you know it, but you say that now it’s not the right time. This is a difficult service; it takes going to School. You stumble down when you want to serve God. You have to liberate yourselves from your situation and stop saying, “We are women”. Men want to serve God, but say, “We are men”. Children want to serve God, but say, “We are children”. Teachers want to serve God, but say, “We are teachers”. This is a temporary situation where you are supposed to stay to learn certain lessons. For example you play the part of a servant in a theatre. This role is granted to you to learn, since in every part there are particular features and characteristics that you have to learn. But you are neither the one nor the other part that you perform on stage. Being women you have come here only to learn this part. You haven’t mastered as yet the essence of the art of being a woman, i.e. not that you do not know it, but that you are learning it right now. Somebody looking at you from an external point of view may say, “Is this a woman?” and shortly afterwards such people will offer their opinion. Now, when I talk to you like this, I do not mean that you have to release yourselves from this situation, because life goes on, and the part assigned to you is just a role to play. Apart from this you will have to study the things that belong to the essence of your soul.
Imagine that there are four of you sisters at home; that your father is sort of more predisposed to one of his daughters; your mother – to the other; your brother – to your third sister, while nobody fancies the fourth sister; everybody jostles her and whatever she does is wrong. It is only natural that she would feel despondent, aggrieved, and sad until she grasps the meaning of Life. Let’s assume that everybody around you tortures you, calls you ignorant and stupid, clumsy and when guests come to pay a visit you are constantly being talked about. You will be at your wits end and wouldn’t know which way to turn. Let’s assume that you feel a desire to pray to God to let you free and let’s assume that God does not touch the heart of any of you. At last you find a friend from outside the family ready to sympathise with you; you immediately feel refreshed, you are prepared to gladly endure everything. A change is in progress within you: you still carry your burden but you feel light as a feather. So, your situation in the world won’t change but you will find a friend and it will be pleasant for you to bear your burden. The world will wonder at you and everybody will be saying, “This woman has some extra qualities!” Afterwards a doubt will start gnawing at you whether this friend is not just for the time being; you will then be in a negative phase. Thus the world won’t change, your father, mother, and sisters will be still the same, they will carry on with their plans and ideals, but a new element is bound to come to them. I shall explain to you how things are arranged in Nature: you water those flowers that are closer to the window the way you water the rest of the flowers, but they look fresher, because they get more light. While those that are placed in isolated places, more to the north, they will be frowning all the time. They are the fourth daughter – nobody takes care of her, she is always wrong and everybody says, “What shall we do with her?” I find a small window, place her there and she starts growing. Light is what she needs.
Hence you should first make sure that Divine Light flows constantly into your souls, because the world may go down the drain, but the Divine Light will be there forever. God is Light!
The second situation in the world is that everybody expects from the others more than they can offer. Please note that there is one other law that says that souls do not vibrate at the same frequency. There are certain believers the contact with whom not only does not elevate you, but it drags you lower to their level. Just like in physics the temperature of the mixture of two liquids of different temperatures is the mean temperature of the two components. This is why, according to this law, you have to progress in consistence with your soul vibrations. Souls that have equal vibrations can assist one another, but if the souls do not vibrate at equal frequency, they lag behind. Ducks flying in the same way fly ahead, while those not flying identically lag behind. Can you have an ox and a horse harnessed to the same cart? This will be a combination not making any sense.
Now, try to find out what bothers you, try to get free from the dregs you have inside you. Freeing from dregs supposes that there should always be an influx of New Life, since old water, no matter how much you try to cover it, is old water all the same; old clothes, no matter how often you may wash or sow them, are old clothes all the same. You need a new garment. Now, you may say sometimes, “A long time ago, when I was a child, I believed that!” The faith of children and the faith of adults are two different things. Faith also discloses itself. Apostle Paul says, “When I was a child, I was as wise as a child, but when grew up, I gave up all these childish stuff.”
Those of you, who can’t understand, will get interested and they will continue from the point they had previously reached. Everybody will continue from the point they have reached! Just like plants shoot off springs, you should similarly shoot one everyday. If you do not shoot one a day, there will be no growth, there will be no understanding. You have to reach that state when the moment you feel a desire to do something, you feel the presence of God so vividly, that you can stop before you have done it. While now you argue that you feel God’s presence, but when you are put to a test you fail and then you repent. You can find your way when the cart is upset, but it is important to find it before it gets upset. The Power of Life lies in it.
At the present course of development of Life you will encounter difficulties and you will be told, “You are not on the Right side of Life, this is what the Scripture says!” I say that a lot has been written there but you do not understand. Sometimes people, who say that the Scripture reads whatever, act like those who write instructions on the Easter egg paints packs. They contain information on what paints there are inside, what eggs can be painted, how to dissolve the paint, how much water one needs etc. They read, “This paint should be dissolved in that much water, then you put the eggs like this and then the colours will be all right.” Everything will be done according to the instructions in this pack, but you have to follow the entire process. There is other knowledge, much deeper than the one about paints.
Under the present circumstances people keep stumbling. The atmosphere is thick with non-advanced souls, who drag themselves up to you and you often feel a sort of unpleasantness, a sort of a discontent. They are the reason for you feeling like this. Theosophy calls such souls elementary souls. You all have to shake them off; you need a rake to do it. These souls should be educated, should learn to respect the Divine Law, to work.
(Somebody from the audience): Do such souls represent obstacles for us?
Yes, they do.
(Somebody from the audience): They are probably benefiting from this?
Yes, they come to rob you.
(Somebody from the audience): Don’t we need a method on how to protect ourselves from them?
When they come, make them work, teach them to weave, to spin, give them kitchen work. They affect only the mind and you will say, “This thought is not mine, this desire is not mine!” You will repel them in this way. If one is to succumb to all of one’s desires and thoughts that cross one’s mind and one’s heart, what would happen? These thoughts and desires should go away like the water and wind, while we shall take only what we need from them. Not everything is meant for us.
I leave you free and I want you to study on your own accord all the rules that I have given you and to apply them in such a way that you can control yourselves on your free will whenever you feel like doing it. I do not impose any discipline upon you; I leave you to do whatever you decide on your free will. You sometimes want to cheat on me, but I benefit from this while you lose. You undermine each other in this way. I see that you often spoil things that I have mended. It is often the case that you, led by your good desire to do a thing or two, you exhibit the ardour of Apostle Paul and you say, “I had the ardour, but not the right understanding.” Where will you go if you enter a garden? You will go to the pear-tree or the apple-tree with the best, the juiciest of fruit, won’t you? You are in the habit of doing so, aren’t you? There is no stupid person in the world that will go to the sour fruit tree. Anybody will go for the best of fruit. If there are no apples at all, only then will you go to the sour fruit tree, but if there are good apples you will find your way to the good apples, won’t you? The same law governs the world too. This is the practical aspect of things. If you have good fruit in you, people will visit you without needing any invitation. This is the practical aspect of things and it is very true: your relations with the people around you will be determined according to the wealth of your mind and the richness of your heart.
I do not call what changes Love. This is a funny thing. One loved somebody but in ten years time one turned one’s back to the person one loved. Paul says, “Love never ends”.
(Somebody from the audience): I have often thought that whoever makes the effort will enter Heaven!
(Somebody else from the audience): Which is the most powerful virtue with regard to achievement of results?
The words getting into God’s Kingdom takes effort mean that only those who keep moving will enter God’s Kingdom. Imagine that you are climbing a mountain peak in the morning to see the sunrise; if all of you scatter in different places, rather than staying at the same spot, the Sun will give each of you its strength. If all of you line one behind another and wait in a queue to receive its benevolence, a certain disharmony will inevitably occur. All of you should bask simultaneously in it and wait for its benevolence. This is the Divine Teaching: there is time or order in it; you will all present yourselves at the same time.
(Somebody from the audience): We all know our shells; can’t we get to know and love each other so that we become a huge power in Sofia?
What prevents you from doing so? The obstacle resides in your minds.
(Somebody from the audience): Will you take us a little bit higher up in the mountains?
Nowadays even little children climb the mountains. It is not difficult for a person to climb the mountains.
You asking questions remind me of being closed in a room with a large window and a mirror opposite the window, where the Sun is reflected in the morning. You are all now standing in expectation to see the Sun in the mirror – this is the situation you are in. I want you to go out of the room and not to look at the Sun in the mirror. You will never find the Truth in this way. The mirror will show you that the Sun rises from somewhere deep, i.e. it will show that the Truth is behind your back.
Each one of you should take a deeper look into your soul. You do not know your soul yet. You need experience, which should be gained individually by each one of you.
So, you have to turn to God and say, “God, pray Thee, light my candle in whatever manner you like, I want my candle lit!” You will leave everything to the discretion of the Divine Spirit and it will light the candle. This candle will be lit in the manner God chooses. The Spirit that distributes all gifts to people is not what you understand it to be. We have a special understanding for the word Spirit.
Isn’t this candle lit within you yet? The candle has to be lit, to be placed in the candlestick; you have to take [quarter of a] bushel2 and say, “Let it be Light!”
(The Master takes a look through the window: it is drizzling outside)
The drizzle outside shows that you need more Life. The weather tells me that the upper fog hampers you, and this is an emblem for Life. The obstacles you have are not as big by themselves as you imagine them to be. You place a small obstacle under a microscope, you observe it and you say, “There is no bigger obstacle than mine!” This is true – your obstacles are meant for you to tackle. You will get closer, will walk along the Path of Love and you will see what God can do for you. Get up quietly in the morning; try to concentrate your thoughts, to hush yourself down, to penetrate into the Divine thought, because certain experiences you have are karmic and inevitable.
(Somebody from the audience): You said yesterday that when the candle is lit, things disappear karmically.
Yes. You can decide and do away with them. Do you, for example, have this positive faith? I look upon the positive faith as an expansion of consciousness. Whatever, I will help you the way the wind does: I shall remove the dust so it won't disturb you. Things in the Divine World resemble getting into a train. You will have to observe the rules of the train; if you are late the train will not wait for you. You will get on the train, you will travel in the train for some time and you will get off at a certain place. You won’t have to bother what the engine driver is like or to be scared that any of the wagons can break loose from the locomotive along the way. These are all speculations. You may say, “Let’s pray to God to watch for us along the way!” You will go to God, but it is your soul, not your body that will do it. You will invest all of your faith in God. Make sure you do not disturb Him - a live faith is needed!
Let’s say that you are in bad circumstances, you are in distress. This situation is sometimes the result of some poorly digestible food that you have eaten that leaves certain residues behind. At times it is your contradictory feelings that give rise to pains: for example, you love and hate at the same time and then you will feel stabs in the region of the heart. You say, “It hurts!” No wonder it hurts! Abolish the contradicting feelings and the pains will disappear! At other times somebody may attack you with their thoughts, which will produce certain pains. Therefore, you have to learn to fence yourselves, to lead such a life that all life arrows bounce back from your body. You have to free yourselves at times from the devil. Do you know what it does? It is especially clever: you owe money to the devil, the devil comes over, you repay the policy, but you forget to take it back. On the following year it will again visit you and say, “You think you repaid? Oh, no! Pay now!” Hence you have to take your policy back from the devil. Twenty years ago you forgot about some sins, you prayed to God to redeem you, but after twenty years the devil will come again and will say, “Pay!” You will tell the devil, “I paid; there is nothing more to pay for! Take me to court!” This fills you with remorse. One should know what is right and what is wrong. There are things moral and things immoral, there are deeds righteous and deeds sinful, and there are actions right and actions wrong. Your soul should throw away all wrong and sinful actions, it should free itself from the old remorse, and you should only keep the experience.
(Somebody from the audience): We shall break free, but if they do not let go of us?
They will leave you. One has to work a lot in this school, and sometimes people get in trouble because of lack of knowledge, therefore, everybody suffers. Make sure you are rich in faith, in knowledge. One should be getting richer! In old times people went to monasteries and spent in solitude ten, fifteen, twenty years, in order to become stronger.
This is one task that you can accomplish: every school has its difficulties, therefore, try to liquidate your old karma now, do not postpone. Try to sow new thoughts, new ways of understanding, which can grow and expand your soul, so that you can become stronger. Now all of you have a certain debt, a certain policy that is already mature. The maturity day will come and you will all start looking for money to repay your debts. These are all new debts.
Do your best to perform what you can, to have one job accomplished, to study one exercise. Some of you are more experienced, while others – are less experienced, some of you have experience in some aspects; others – in other aspects. The Spirit talks to everyone of you in a different way. All of you need to pray passionately.
When we talk about a lit candle, we imply another meaning. A candle is lit in a person but no two candles are lit in the same way. For instance, there are ordinary lamps that burn gas and produce an odour; then there are other lamps where gas is transformed into a gas state and is thus lit; burning in such lamps is stronger; and finally there are gases where air is injected additionally; they burn even stronger and produce a more powerful light. This is to say that the mind should be transformed into this Divine status without leaving any waste; it has to contain pure Light, it has to be a pure burning.
Try to find your soul and turn your eyes inward. When you find your soul you will feel an internal completeness, while now you feel emptiness and are falling behind by the day. Both when you take something and when you do not take anything, you should feel full! Christ says that you are not that live spring that takes water from within, but a spring, which takes water from outside and it runs a little drier by the day. The Scripture also says, “Pray for one another so that you can be healed.”
So, what has the Spirit told you so far, what is the most elevated thing it told you? Sometimes people talk to themselves, sometimes somebody else talks to them. There are new elements in the word of God; there is something special. When God starts talking to people, the latter feel this talk in their mind, heart, and will. It penetrates everywhere; it is a living Word. Those who hear the voice of God - they are alive; they are not dead. Deep down in your soul you will feel a special Joy, and only people who have experienced it know what it feels like. It is like those quiet waters that never run dry, but can be lost. The moment you make one mistake – it is gone and you are back to your usual state. And later on you hear again this quiet voice and again you feel elevated. Most difficult of all it is to keep hold of this state of affairs. It is experienced everyday, but you can’t keep it going. You will have to learn to sustain it.
(Somebody from the audience): How can we make it sustainable?
To do this you need willpower. You have to be ready to work in the name of Divine Love, in the name of the living God. When we work in the name of Love, we do not mention its name. When I save a person and cure this person, do I have to tell this person that I do this in the name of Love? I do this for myself – whether the person will understand it or not, is all the same to me. I am not going to read prayers or to talk about Love, instead I will do all the favours and I will leave! When the Sun gives you its light, does it say to you, “I am Light”? Does Love tell you, “I am Love”? If it says so, it limits itself. Love will not tell you that it is Love. You will be very surprised if I asked any of you, “Do you live?” Those who live feel they perform good deeds; they, certainly, live.
There are many things that hinder people. These hindrances are something very bad. Get together according to the law of freedom, share thoughts and do not interrupt one another. You still haven’t mastered the art of giving way to others to talk. People who have not mastered the skill of listening should do their best and try to listen! Some say, “Why should I be listening to nonsense?” Well, does the blowing wind say only wise things? When you join a society, do you think you are going to say only wise things? Well, how about you, who have listened to somebody and have condemned this person, do you always say the right things? Learn to turn a deaf ear! When it comes to understanding, discard the thought that some are more intelligent than others. You fool yourselves that there are intelligent people and silly people in the world. You are intelligent at a point in time, while in another moment – you are silly. You shall have to make an effort within the Spiritual world, before God, not to consider things silly. If you find something silly, just leave it. People who do silly things have to learn something; they have to gain experience. This is what is silly: let’s assume that you are dressed in a nice white silk dress; somebody with hands covered in grime comes over and tries the dress, somebody else comes and does the same. You may say, “Oh, how silly this is!” I now ask you, “Why did you stain yourself?” – “Well, somebody came, after that somebody else came and they stained me.” Yes, but each one of you has a desire to try while your fingers are not clean. In this particular case, your dress should be kept clean. The danger when you enter Christianity is in the point that you get into the situation of these traders who offer their goods for sale; they start competing and cannot stand one another. Likewise you offer your experience. Give it up, make room for others to sell their goods, and when your turn comes you will sell as much as you can. If nothing is sold you will have to take it back. But you say, “But I paid so much money for it!” and thereby starts the competition.
(Somebody from the audience): It’s all down to the fact that we have no patience for one another.
Patience is generated by Love. Once you get to love somebody, you will be able to be patient with this person. However, there is another law and you also have to take into consideration the following: let’s assume that you have gone hungry for three days and I tell you, “Let me tell you one of my experiences.” You are irritated. Then I tell you, “Come on go home!” and afterwards I complain that you do not want to listen to me. I do not put myself in your situation that you are hungry that you haven’t eaten for three days. One should first say that one is hungry, and only after this one can listen to what is being said. This requires ingenuity.
You can work outside. You are full of knowledge; you have to give [share] some of your knowledge externally. You suffer from having too much, not of having too little. You may ask, “Shall I say this?” There are many workers in the world too. Believe that everything in the world develops along a specific way. There is no way that the Divine Plan can be distorted; it follows its own accurate mathematical calculations. If you stray aside, you will suffer, while what God has determined for you will happen. For example, somebody wants to take you for a walk, but you do not feel like having a walk; they tie your hands, you put out a fierce fight, but anyway you get to the place, however, this time you feel very tired. Therefore, you can go there without putting up any opposition. So, you will do your job regardless whether you offer resistance or not.
You have to pray for one another. The good thoughts you will send have a good effect, while the bad thoughts have a bad effect. If you play music I want to come too and dash a little bit of hot pepper into your noses, and I would like to see how you could play. There will be a lot of sneezing. These rules are true, the Scripture reads, “Pray for one another so that you can be healed.”
The whole world lies in the hands of the Sly one [the devil]. What do you expect from a world, which has come out of the devil? And since it rules today, nothing can happen. Everything is debris, everything falls to the bottom and one day when lots of residue gathers there, God will lift it, will remove the water and will make gardens, fields, and mountains out of it. This is what will happen to the sea bottom.
Believe that you are all good at soul. There is no reason to say that you are bad. Yes, when you act, according your will, you are bad.
(Somebody from the audience): Do we need evolution if we want to find our soul or it all depends on the individual willpower of the person?
The obstacles should be removed. Imagine that you place a thorn upon a flower; do you think it will be able to grow? No, it won’t. The same happens with you: if you can’t grow there must be a reason for this - that somebody else must have stuck a thorn into you. You should watch out for thorns stuck onto you.
If you are given scales to measure solid and liquid matter, and if you observe the rules while measuring, everything will be making progress. But imagine that somebody comes and tells you, “These scales are not sensitive enough! We shall give you other scales”; then the ratios will change. You should place everything on the Divine scales and should take your measurements according to them. There can be no disharmony then. If you experience disharmony, it will bring about trouble. When God wants to make somebody listen to Him, he gives them problems, diseases, famine. And when they understand Him, He talks to them intelligently. There are two ways in which God speaks: the one is by the physical mind, the other one – by the intelligent Word.
If you achieve agreement and harmony among yourselves, we are ready to help you. Even if somebody is not present here, if a person is ready, I do help this person. I help everybody who has reached the conditions. Some have a desire to study; I stop by them and help them. Some have filled their heads with rules, knowledge, and experiences, while they do not live within them. Such people say, “Let’s love each other, let’s be kind to each other, let’s be compassionate!” Well, all right, but all of these are qualities not rules. How can we love each other? You come to me, you request twenty leva, I do not have the money, I do not do you a favour. I walk along the path, somebody passes by me, wants me to pick up his/her bag; I say, “I can’t, I’m in a hurry!” Somebody has fallen on the road; you will stop to help him! In every single moment you will stop and apply the law of Love. Say you go to a house, your sister is aggrieved; she asks you, “Can’t you help me a little?” – “Well, may God help you!” No, you should stop, you should help your sister, you should tell her, “God will help you and He will help me as well!” You tell her, “Let it be!” I can do favours [good] to you but I often refrain from doing so because of the following considerations: is it wise to pray to God to send you rain when your fields are neither ploughed nor sown? Ask if your fields are sown; I am ready to send everything to you. I will send as much rain as you want. Knowledge, knowledge, and a lot of knowledge you have [at your disposal] today! You haven’t spared the time to stop for a while and think over what I told you, to understand at least one hundredth of all the formulae provided. You say, “We understand this.” Well, but you do not apply it.
Remember that there are more living beings in the world than you suspect. You are not alone. Do not think that when you are alone in the room, nobody watches you or monitors your actions.
Start working on something for this Christ, for this God, whom you love! Do something for Him! When I say “do”, I mean doing something conscientiously, so that you can feel satisfaction when you have done something good for God.
Christians have power. If four-five or ten thousand people gather together and concentrate upon one thought, they can help anybody but it has to be reciprocated. They can help you today, tomorrow they can help somebody else, after tomorrow – they can help a third person and gradually all fields will be ploughed, sown, and reaped. While at present you will have individual internal troubles in your homes, obstacles in your minds and hearts. You will have hindrances of public nature and difficulties in earning your living. These difficulties are real and you have to remove them. Your husband is discontented, he prays and you cannot help him. You anoint him with ointments, but there is a thorn. You say, “I anointed it, but nothing can relieve him.” Yes, ointment alleviates places where there are no thorns, but in places where there are thorns ointments are no relief. You will take out the thorn! People, whose thorns cannot be taken out, experience difficulties that cannot be eliminated. You, for example, have such difficulties and you say, “I am not loved.” This is one of the greatest problems. You can’t force people to love you. Why are you not loved? Any esoteric person says about somebody who is not loved that this person has become demagnetised. Such a person starts looking at the bad side of other people, everybody avoids such a person because he has become demagnetised. Therefore watch out! When you stop seeing the good aspects in people you have demagnetised and few people will love you.
At present God has given you entertainment. Looking at you in your troubles [plight] He says, “These people do their job very well.” Sometimes I find mistakes in the very teachers. If you sit at my table and if I give you to eat according to the rule, you will remain hungry; if I give you more, some will eat more, others will eat less and I will scold you in the end. It is not right to treat everybody to three nuts and a slice of bread when you come to visit me. This is what you should try to learn!
(Somebody from the audience): What does great Joy stem from?
From a profusion of energy. Sometimes when there has been refraining and abstaining, great Joy follows. This state is to be observed in all people. Joy often comes down to the physical life. Joy, expressed on the physical level, is the Joy of soul.
I shall give you an example, to see where evil is to be found: let’s say that your spring is clean, but the glass you hand water in, is not clean and the person is displeased. The evil rests not in the water, nor in the desire, but in the glass. The glass has to be clean. The bread you give to people is not bad, but your hands have to be so very clean that this person can be grateful to you. These rules have been preached for the last eight thousand years.
You will now move a stage further up. If you want to kiss somebody, you have to be aware of what you will express by the kiss. Or similarly what does contemporary hand-shaking mean? Do not think that kissing is a human invention; it is a sort of a energy-saving mechanism in Nature. These are two currents: the upper lip is the positive pole, and the lower lip is the negative pole; when a person gets his lips closer together, the current from one of the lips flows into the other one. When the mother kisses her child, both of them, the mother and the child, are renovated. Have you noticed that she does not kiss the child on the same place? However, how many times has this law been applied properly? Hand shaking follows the same law: it also facilitates the internal exchange of energies. Hand shaking stands for familiarizing, congratulating.
Expand your heart, look the world in the eye, be grateful for everything, aim for Purity! The first thing that you need is internal Purity – Purity of the soul! To sustain Purity is most difficult of all. This is why in order for a person to become pure, one must befriend God and good people. You need new experiences to change your mood. When you graduate this School there will be a lot to learn ahead of you. If you become very sensitive you will notice what a grave aura people have. You will feel the vibrations of their thoughts and desires; you will detect discontent and ingratitude in them. Meanwhile you have to allow all this to settle down and you have to say, “For God’s sake I have to allow everything to settle down!”
Make sure you develop yourselves. Spend ten to fifteen minutes in silence everyday, in order to learn the art of being silent. Each of you should be deeply absorbed in themselves and should be thinking in simple terms, without expecting to be told something. Just like in Nature everybody looks in various directions or just like everybody chooses what to have at a table, just in the same way you should be engrossed in your thoughts and you should try to acquire this energy. If you watch others – the way people sit, the way people pray, this is nothing close to meditation. A large room is required for meditation, where nobody can disturb you, and you should be at half a meter distance from one another. It is good to examine the features of a flower, of a carnation, for instance, of strawberries etc., during your meetings, to examine the psychological performance. All flowers should be studied on the spot; they should be examined under a microscope. You are bound to notice how sensitive flowers are to love, but for this purpose you need to take more excursions.
Aspire to more freedom - aspire to no restrictions! Many rules lead to the other extreme, but make an effort to give up self-condemnation, to avoid blaming yourself. We shall start discussing more abstract topics. You have to be impartial in the discussions; you should not be personal when you speak on some issue. You may at times imagine somebody as a model figure and depict this person, but this person should not be your target. This model will be in front of you as long as the model likes. When you sit for your portrait to be drawn, you stay as long as you like, don’t you? This is how you should behave in life too. Because you have not learnt the law of concentrating yet, the Invisible world uses negative methods to develop your concentration: when you start hating somebody you carry this person in you and thus you concentrate. At other times you experience a pain, a blister comes up and you concentrate. You have a stomach-ache or you have a headache – these are natural methods to concentrate your thought. When it comes to loving somebody, you lose your concentration - you are distracted. In concentration the mind should be in its place and all the good desires should be separated from the bad ones.
When you train yourself, you should keep developing something in your soul every day. Do not fear whatever you do! Do not think that it is a deficiency; it may only appear to be a deficiency. Religious forms, judgement, moralizing – these are great obstacles. This is how I understand the issue: I do not have to preach sermons to you; you are flowers that have to water and tend themselves on their own. They will grow on their own accord. Some say, “I want to become better.” If you walk along the path you will develop properly. Since you are at different stages some of you say, “I am in low spirits.” We do not understand this philosophy and we befriend each other, we do not get on well, we stumble. People cannot be equally situated in the physical field. Sometimes a person is in the situation of a tree having all its leaves and blossoms fallen, and you say, “We changed our opinion about this person.” No, this person has only shed the clothes; the flesh will put on clothes again.
Work with Love! Work with the Love Tolstoy speaks about: to be prepared to leave everything, to be prepared to serve everybody without expecting to be paid for this. This is Love – to put on everything and to be a servant everywhere. If you can do this, you have Love; if you can’t do this, you still have love, but your love cannot elevate people. If you can do this, the problem is immediately solved in an intelligent way. When you are a servant in Love, you won’t bargain, you will be free, you will work for free, you should not feel obliged, and you should not be accountable. You will do what Love demands voluntarily. This Love demands both the king and the servant to give up what is theirs, to become servants. This Love says, “I recognize no masters!” And having worked for a long time for Love’s sake, it says, “You deserve to be a master of your rest, but the moment you have had enough rest, you should immediately get to work!” So, while you are having a rest, you are a big shot, while you are working, you are a small man. Do you know how difficult it is to work like this? People are so selfish and they think that you are made of steel. They won’t ask you to stop for a while even if you work for twenty-five hours. Nobody should be influencing others. You will leave each other to behave and to work the way they feel like, because they will develop in this Love. Somebody comes to you and tells you, “This is what should be done!” Well does this person know what should be done? Contemporary society [is said to have] recommended so! Well, is contemporary society ideal – it also has its deficiencies!
Most important it is to start with Love, to become heroes, so that you find it a pleasure to work for it!
Maiden’s tears show that one has to clean oneself. Crying is always a method of cleaning oneself. When one has sinned, one has to cry to clean oneself. When you come to the earth you cry – because you are sorry for your sins in the Invisible world. Do not think in any other way – all souls have come here to the earth to have their sins redeemed. When a soul recalls a mistake, the soul has to cry a little bit, to free itself from the mistake. These sins can be yours or somebody else’s, but this is a general principle. Tears show a softened heart and an elevated consciousness; this is what happens to people along the path of renovation.
You are abandoned in order to develop yourself. You sometimes feel that your mind is getting feeble, which at times can last for a short while, and at other times it can take days and afterwards you feel refreshed. These are illusions; these are not real things, these are temporary states, which you have to undergo. When somebody feels forsaken, in some cases, they can become bitter, full of venom, they become worse, while in other cases they go to God. The latter is good; therefore, we should remain on our own more often. When one is full of Life within, it is easy to clean these states and even if one’s hand gets dirty, it is also easy to wash. But when there is no water, impurities stay with people for a long time. The moment Divine Life comes, it is easy for people to wash, but if this water is not available, people carry on the impurities on their three fingers.
Learn the law of satisfaction; not the external, but the internal satisfaction, to feel satisfied deep in your heart! Whatever happens to you, when you are satisfied, you will forebear it in full awareness. You may be groaning, suffering, but you will endure everything voluntarily, gladly. One has to forebear one’s sufferings in dignity. Show your Love to everybody – to the weak, to the feeble, to children! As soon as you feel aggrieved, go among people who are more aggrieved than you, do some good for them and you will feel better; or get down to reading the biography of a great person who suffered a lot. There are many methods to heal a person.
I call this world – from the beginning to the end – “a world of disenchantment”. Some call it “a world of enchantment”, but I call it “a world of disenchantment”. When a baby is born everybody rejoices. During the first year everybody tries to please the baby as if the baby is a king, everybody listens to whatever the baby commands, everything is given to the baby. But afterwards, little by little the baby is being taken down from the throne: in the third year the baby is already a prince, in the fifth – a minister, then a manager; until in the end, the grown up person becomes a servant, the servant is sent downstairs and is told, “It’s not like the old times when you were a baby!” The grown up person is given a hoe and off he goes to the vineyard. In the Spiritual world God starts in the opposite way: you are first placed as a servant and in end you are made king. This is why you are beaten here on the earth. You marry a man; he is your teacher and he tells you, “This is not your father’s house, do you know who I am?” and in several years he will have bent your neck. You say you do not love your husband – there must be reasons for this. Some other time you love someone, because he did you good; in a couple of days your state changes and you love that person no more. Why so? Because he had wronged you. Then you say, “I’m fed up with this man!” The husband, in his turn, says, “I’m fed up with this karma! I hate you, I feel like in prison for twenty years with you, I have wasted twenty of my years!” Then things change: you come into another life, mistakes are corrected and you say, “I will rectify my mistake, I shall not place you in prison!” This is a law, which turns like a wheel. When you become clairvoyants, you will transport yourself into the epoch of your previous life in Egypt or elsewhere, you will see scenes from that time, you will get to know what role you had and you will say, “Thank God, I finally understood what I used to be!” Therefore, when you become clairvoyants, when you are elevated, this situation of yours will become clear and pleasant to you. This is how everybody can find that life is pleasant. We shall try to rectify our life according to God’s orders, and to understand it the way it was made. If you are clairvoyants you will see magnificent pictures.
Master’s Lecture, delivered on 10 May 1920 (Monday).
1 The lecture was delivered at the request of the sisters before the Master left for the country (notes of the original editor)
2 The word is used figuratively, as antithesis of the Gospel image of the candlestick under the bushel.
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Faith
What was the main point of our last meeting?
(Somebody from the audience): The point last Friday was to learn to be silent, to become like children, to develop compassion, to do exercises about the Spirit, about virtues, about developing our senses, and about our preparation for the forthcoming Pentecost1.
On Whitsunday one has to get into the law of self-sacrifice. Those who receive the Divine Spirit have to obey the will of God, and not to do as they please. However, even now you do not do as you please, but somebody else’s will interferes with you.
You will try to strengthen the faith in yourselves. There is one line, which reads that without faith one cannot please God, but it takes faith to perform miracles. Have you practiced your faith and what exercises have you done? In order to develop your faith, each one of you must build an internal Peace. One has to adapt to the contemporary lifestyle, to the circumstances in one’s life, so that one can start developing from the point where one is right now. For instance, how many of you would be brave enough to board an airplane? A few would do this because it takes courage. And how many similar experiences can there be in life. If one can board an airplane, one will strengthen one’s faith. You should understand Faith to mean the roots of a plant that you sow in the ground and through these roots this plant can actually, find support and stand firm. According to the same law, thanks to faith, human beings find support in God to stand firm. When you stand firm, God will support you. In all times and in all suffering, people, who had faith in God, have never been deluded. Certainly there is faith that can be realized, but many, though they had a strong faith, have also been exposed to great suffering because their development needed suffering. By having faith their suffering starts making sense. All of you have experience in faith; therefore, you will not have to build new faith, but will develop the faith you have, so that it can reach a new phase. Let’s assume that you have a boat that you want to pull ashore. Somebody keeps pulling it, but cannot pull it ashore alone and loses faith. There comes one more person, the two of them keep pulling, but cannot manage; there comes a third one, a fourth one – but again they cannot get the boat ashore. In the end about ten people gather and get the boat ashore. They believe [have faith] that only ten people will be able to pull the boat ashore. Similarly you will apply this law in practice: if one cannot do whatever job, two or three or up to ten people will get together until finally you manage to get the job done. This is the law of faith. When all are united, the Divine law starts having effect. The weakness of Christians is that they are not united and when one of them cannot do the job, they lose heart and think that more people won’t be able to do the job either. No, ten, twenty, thirty people should get together and do the job with this common power! You can achieve results only if you act in this way. It takes will, willpower it takes! In order to be successful in keeping silence, you will have to develop your good will. The good that lurks within you must grow one way or another. Each person has one’s own method, which allows one to work.
Currently people are in the situation of clerks, expecting their salary each month. Well, if these clerks are made redundant, what will they do? So, faith is such a state, such a Power within the soul that allows one to adapt, i.e. not to be surprised by the circumstances at any given moment. But you have to think, to remove this thick atmosphere that exists among you. Keep reflecting, until you get a feeling that you start acquiring one small Power. The muscles of those of you who practice gymnastics start getting stronger, and they lift much heavier parcels afterwards. This is a process that will develop gradually. The faith of a child and the faith of a saint differ: the faith of a child is in one direction, while the faith of a saint is in another. Angels also have faith, but their faith is completely different. Faith implies a great law, in which there are no exceptions. If at times we get no results, the reason is that we have disregarded this law. If some of you beg and do not get results, this is so because you beg poorly. People who are in two minds, shall not get want what they want. The first rule in faith is not to be split-minded, not to be in two minds.
Since so far you have been talking and talking, the best you can do when you get together on Friday is to spend an hour or so in silence. Try to apply what we talked about on Sunday and what we talked about on Thursday. If you do not apply some of these rules, you will accumulate lots of material without any application. The same happens at school, when the teachers teach many lessons: students cannot learn the lessons, their memory is overburdened and this is why they become more stupid. Will, intuition, faith, and many other things have been talked about and one does not know what to choose. Start your contemplations on faith. So, when you get together, start keeping silence in the beginning, start contemplating, until you feel that there is harmony within you and that all of you experience an elevation. This indicates that your minds are achieving harmony. However, it takes work to achieve this. Keep practicing like this for a week, for two weeks, for three weeks, keep doing such exercises here all the time, and then start doing them outside.
Are there any particular issues, any particular objective, which you would like to discuss this Friday?
(Somebody from the audience): We shall split in groups in order to achieve unity, harmony among us, in order to be able to work,
Have these groups started functioning?
(Somebody from the audience): Some groups have started.
Two-three sisters can make a group and they will be able to do what a group of ten people can do. Sometimes two people will be able to do the work for thirty people – altogether it does not depend on the number of people. What it takes is faith, and faith again, so that you can achieve a quiet disposition in the Spirit; it takes immense confidence, so that you are not split internally, so that you can rule your nature, in order to be able to endure everything during the silence. There are methods about these things, but there are also so many distractions, which capture your attention, and you are left with no free time. However, on the other side, this is much better for you, because otherwise you would not know how to utilize your time. This place where God positioned you is the best place for you. He has allocated the work very well, but you have to know how to go about it. For instance, can you imagine how much you can achieve if each one of you sets a goal to herself to introduce harmony among all the people she knows who do not get along, to speak to them about noble elevated issues, about God, leaving her personal problems aside! If you keep waiting for the world to become a better place, even in ten thousand years this won’t happen. If you do not work, you can’t become better than what you are now. The progress you will make depends on your will to. The wealth that you will get also depends on the strength of your will. You can get to know a person by giving this person a hundred leva and watching what this person will spend the money on: if he goes to the pub and spends the money, tomorrow when you give him a thousand leva, he will do the same again. Do you think that if a bee has no opportunity to sting you with its behind, it would not do anything else to you? The point is not what you have, but how you utilize it. If God has given you a talent and if you disappoint thousands of people and push them over the edge, I would like to ask you what do you need this talent for? Similarly contemporary scientists invent various means, which kill people. What do they need science for? Your knowledge should be applied only for the sake of the good of humanity.
This is what you can do: let’s assume that you are a key to an installation – this is the job God assigned to you. You may say, “Does anything depend on me?” A lot depends on you! When you turn around, there will be light everywhere. If you are a key, it depends on you whether somebody commits a crime or not. If you turn around and bring light to him, he will have the opportunity to see clearly and he will commit the crime; if you do not turn around, he won’t be able to see anything in the darkness and the crime will be avoided. Good people are keys. Some say, “Let’s pray for the evil people!” There is no point. You will hold the key and you will open or close it, as the case may be. Once upon a time Elijah prayed to God for rain, because God had closed the sky for three entire years and did not let it rain. This is how we should look upon the issue: each one should remember that we are keys and that we can accomplish a lot. If one is true to one’s duty, one will be very useful. But if one leaves the key at the mercy of fate and says, “Turn this key the way you like”, children will be the first to come and play with it turning it to one side and to the other, until they break it. When people leave children to lead the way, they lose all their strength. Some old people, looking at what is going on now, say, “Contemporary people are ruled by children!” Similarly many mothers let their children do whatever they want; mothers do not contradict their children, until the children take control of the keys. No, it is the mother who should turn the key and tell her child, “When you are hungry I will feed you, when you are thirsty I will give you a drink, when you are naked I will dress you, when you are ignorant I will send you to study, but if you do not want to study, or to write or to eat, I will spank you!” And indeed, this happens to everybody in the world: a person is unhappy about this or that, protests against it, grumbles about it, and this is why God sends suffering to such people, subjects them to Divine education, and gives them a sound spanking. So, when God feeds us, we shall eat, when He gives us a drink, we shall drink, when He teaches us, we shall study and thus we shall avoid misfortunes in life.
What is it that we have and is actually the key, where is this key hidden? Knowledge is the key. How did Elijah lock the skies? What did Elijah do for the sky to open? He prayed and said that it should open. You should have faith and knowledge. If one does not know, how can one pray? Praying implies knowledge. And there is a lot for you to pray for: you have to pray to be intelligent, good, honest, and fair. One is required to do a lot of work, to cultivate one’s soul. What one can do for oneself, nobody else can do it for them. Therefore, one should withdraw in oneself and should spend a long time thinking, removing gradually all those feelings that are an obstacle, and should bring in positive feelings. Not to allow fear in, in order not to make mistakes, but to bring in intrepidity. Not to ask oneself what one should not do, but what one should do. Not to think of what one should not believe in, but to think of what one should believe in. Get together and spend some time thinking and each one of you should find her greatest weakness in herself. Each one of us has at least one weakness. Have you noticed how pigs, when trying to find a way out, go around to and fro and they get out at the place where they find a weakness in the fence. Everyone has a weak, poorly fortified spot, and this is why you should try to fence it properly. The pig that finds it will pass through it; this hole is easy to find. Everybody has such a weakness – various people in various aspects. It is often the case that one weakness spoils the good features of people, i.e. makes people useless.
(Somebody from the audience): How can impatient people become more patient?
Stick a pin somewhere in your arm and see how long you can endure. You do not have to this to yourselves; there are people to stick needles in you. You are good at this at least! The one who wants to learn patience should ask another one to stick needles into her. Bear in mind that all the desires that you feel within are not yours. Experiment along these lines and see for yourselves. You decide for once to do something for God, but at the same time you experience a desire to get a dress or shoes made for you. Thus the first desire gives way to the second and the most important thing is postponed. It is always the case that the most significant thoughts visit us hand in hand with the least significant thoughts. You will do your best to eliminate the insignificant thought, because, through suggestion, it has come from the Black Lodge. As soon as one decides to do something good, one is told by the Black Lodge, “This is not for you!” Many times you have told yourself, “I’ll be patient!” The Black Lodge would tell you, “You are not mature enough; therefore, you cannot be patient.” So, you postpone this for a more favourable time. But well, it is exactly before becoming mature when you need patience. When you become mature, patience comes on its own accord.
You will now have to learn the art of keeping silence. The best blessing for one is to learn to be silent.
(Somebody from the audience): There are people who appear to be silent only externally, but they are boiling with rage internally.
You should understand the Divine silence – to keep silence before God. When you get together, try to be in isolation from one another: make it a habit of yours when you think of something, believe you are alone; when talking about something, believe that you talk about yourself; when you think about silence, believe that you keep silence for your own sake. This is the only way students can learn to be silent.
If I give you a rule, keeping in mind that you have children, husbands, social work, and if you cannot apply it, this won’t be very wise on my part. In this situation that you are in, you want to be strong, but the first thing you have to do is to win a victory over the little difficulties you are having at home. Your problems at home are a very serious issue. For instance, somebody may say, “I can’t stand what’s-his-name!” This is your weakness. How do you imagine you are going to enter Heaven? The first condition, in order for you to enter Heaven, is to put up with everybody. It is said that all of us would change. If you do not change, if you come again even in ten thousand years, or in a longer time, you will be in the same situation. Similarly, an American professor said that there were certain people he would not like to see in ten thousand years. But even if he sees them then, if he does not change, he will have to fight the same feeling. Time in itself is no cure for any problems; time cures inasmuch as we make efforts to change ourselves in the present.
I would like you to start with yourselves, with a self-confession; this is the most challenging of tasks. You will develop your faith, compassion, your heart, your prudence, imagination, and music too. All of this lies ahead of you to develop it, besides the progress you will make shall depend on the time you have to spare. For the time being, God asks you to work for two hours. What do you do during this time? I have seen how some donkeys that have been kept closed and are let free afterwards, go rolling around not in grass but in dust. I do not laugh at such donkeys, they act very wisely – they have fleas troubling them; therefore, they say, “I’ll teach you a lesson!” and they cover the fleas in dust. Donkeys symbolise human stubbornness. Stubborn people wallow in dusty places and say, “I’ll teach you a lesson, make sure you do not lock me again!” These are simple comparisons. Animals that wallow in the dust have a completely different attitude. We look upon donkeys from a human point of view and we see that donkeys do not act wisely. If it is summer time, donkeys are supposed to go to a green meadow or to clear water and wallow [roll over] there.
Some of you have made a better progress, but all of you have to work. Everybody has certain weaknesses that are not the result of one’s ill will, but are of a karmic origin.
(Somebody from the audience): Can one alter [the position of] one’s soul through persistent work upon oneself?
If we are in the situation of caterpillars, notwithstanding how many leaves we can eat, we shall not be able to transform ourselves into butterflies, for a shorter time than it takes. During this period, strength needed for the transformation into butterflies have to be gathered. You may get polarized. One may make obstacles that can delay one for a hundred years, and similarly one may make an instant progress that can take one a hundred years ahead. One has to clean oneself before God every evening, which does not mean to become soft. Good people should also be strong. It is often said that one has to win a victory over oneself. The point is not to win a victory over yourself, this is bad, but you have to [get to] know yourself. So, winning a victory over oneself would not take us very far. Let’s assume that you are in the habit of fighting off and on, and now you break your arm in order not to fight. Did you gain anything out of this? Why did you have to break your arm? On the contrary, you should have said, “This arm should listen to my will, and I have to be in control!” I do not want you to win a victory over yourselves, but to be in control of yourselves. When you are angry [furious], when you have a bad thought in your mind, try to get control over these thoughts and tell them, “You do not belong to this place, inside me, this is a canal and you may only pass through, but you may not stay!” You should be like that railways officer, who opens the rails with a special key so that various trains can pass, who clears the way for the trains. Similarly you, with the key you have, will be able to send your thoughts and desires in the right direction.
(Somebody from the audience): Sometimes people look composed, but they are trembling internally; how can this trembling be mastered?
Let them tremble! I could cure all of you within a year, if we could have a beautiful flower garden at our disposal with various flowers and beehives, an orchard with various fruit trees, and a vegetable garden, and shall send you there to cultivate them, so that you can draw energy and peace out of the gardens. If you are anaemic and in low spirits, I will send you to cultivate the cherry tree and you will see that your spirits will change. If your faith is weak – I will send you to cultivate cabbage, to water it and keep an eye on it. These are formulae, albeit from an external influence. If you are in low spirits – place your hand upon your forehead and everything will change within five to ten minutes. If you do not apply this means, let those of you who enjoy maths, writing, or drawing, apply one of their favourite past-times. Draw a triangle, paint it black, blue, or green, and before three or four minutes are out, your spirits will change.
(Somebody from the audience): In order to have one’s attention distracted, isn’t this the point?
No, this gives you certain strength to make the devil work and you tell the devil, “Do you make anything out of these triangles?” And the devil replies to you, “I do.” While now you stay at home, this one annoys you, that one annoys you; even if you are the most patient person you will lose your temper. The most difficult thing for one is to be always patient, to be polite. Sometimes I watch other people: some of them are rather tense, they can hardly wait for somebody to pass by and regardless whether one is guilty or not, they slander him, they fly against such a person with all their might and they say, “Don’t you dare pass by this place!” Then they feel relieved, but after a while, giving it deeper thought, they realize that that person was not guilty at all, that the person was merely a passer-by. These are purely psychological states. The atmosphere can also be in a tense state: say for instance two dark clouds meet, their electricity attracts them, the air becomes thick with ozone and you start attracting this electricity upwards2. If you are angry, go into the forest, start yelling, shouting at the trees and stones, they will become thick with ozone and you will feel better. You will see how funny it will look to you afterwards, when you notice that you are in such a state. An American professor was telling me a similar story: he was not in the habit of going to balls, but he enjoyed dancing, therefore, whenever he felt a strong desire to dance, he grabbed a chair and danced with it at home. He himself found the situation funny, but he felt relieved afterwards.
You can apply the methods that I granted to you, and some will make use of some of them, while others will make use of other methods, as the situation may require. We have to make good use of Nature, it has the true method of healing. The present urban lifestyle is not quite natural, leading to unnatural states in people, lack of energy, because there is nowhere to draw energy from. Everybody needs energy - there is no energy to hand.
You have another method of work at your disposal: for instance one of you has great misfortunes, therefore, some of you try to direct their good thoughts to her and try to help her. When someone is sick and cannot plough one’s field, let twenty people close to that person, go and put in twenty hours of work for him and the field will be ploughed. It is said that we have to help one another, don’t we! Most difficult of all, is when one lives alone. Nobody lives for oneself; nobody dies for oneself! Why is it that in Nature many grass blades shoot up in the same place? To retain the moisture! Wherever there is only one flower growing, it withers very soon. Similarly, when there are more people in a certain society, they retain moisture for a longer time. But when one is alone, that person has to be under very favourable conditions, to be very knowledgeable, so that one can survive in the world. You have these conditions now too; you have everything.
I often notice that when I use certain symbols, you interpret them in the wrong way. For instance, I quote a law, I say that there are no exceptions to God’s law, but that there are rules in God’s Mercy, and these rules may tone down the law. I also say that nothing is given for free, and this is also true, but God’s Mercy is another law. According to it, if one is ready to receive things, things are given to that person for free. Both are true. Outside from God nothing is given for free, while inside God everything is given for free. If a general wants to climb up in society, this is dignity, but he would have to do it by virtue of the knowledge he has, by virtue of his valour. Professors can climb up in society only by virtue of their knowledge, not by virtue of benevolence. When you are invited to a table, you may be placed at the head of the table, but in society you cannot be placed at the top if this is not well deserved. So, being at the top presupposes work. Some may say, “I want to be talented!” You know the story about the donkey’s discontent: when God created it, it was looking around among the many animals and it noticed that all of them were very big, while it was smaller even than rabbits and was exposed to a lot of suffering. It prayed for a long time for God to make it bigger, with a high-pitched and strong voice, so that everybody can hear the donkey. God finally listened to the donkey’s prayer and granted the donkey height and a strong voice, but people started making donkeys work and this made donkeys even unhappier. So, the meaning of life is not in the abundance, but in the scanty that God has given us and in the place that Providence has destined for us. Now you do not know where God has placed you and what will come out of you. If you are a small seed and if you are sown in a sandy soil, nothing will come out of you, but if you are sown in a rich soil and if you are taken good care of, good apples can come out of you.
You will now spare a thought on your self-development. Do not think that there will be no temptations or irks for you. Christ was also bored. There will come a moment when one will say, “How long shall I bear this burden?” Let’s set a premium for those of you who can develop one virtue. What premium shall we agree on?
(Somebody from the audience): We can’t set it ourselves.
Oh, how clever you are, you can sell me out ten times at the market place! Some people say, “We know nothing about this issue, you tell us!” But when it comes down to their interest, they argue, “This is not the case, do not believe it!” So they also have an opinion, do they? Others say, “We are prepared to face everything, we are prepared to listen to you!” Easy to say, but the truth is that you are not prepared to listen to everything. If I prescribe to all of you to get up at midnight and to go out to the centre of the town, how many of you would do this?
(Somebody from the audience): We will, as long as it is for the better.
This is not important; some will do it, some won’t. If I tell you that you, your children, and your husband will die, if you do not go out, then you will go. You will do it out of fear. In such a situation even with a gun at your back, you will go out even to a war. You should do what your Spirit at a certain moment and in a particular case can agree to [allow].
Now, the good will of none of you is strong. Ill will is well developed. This is not to say that you are not good, but this is to say that ill will prevails over good will. These two powers – the good will and the ill will – take one direction or another and since part of the matter of our body is not pure, we experience perturbations. We have to purify ourselves from sins, because there is something impure within us, which holds back our good will and we have to make great efforts to get rid of these impurities, to call [invite] the Divine matter, i.e. to create the New Man. You say that somebody is weak. Certainly, one cannot be strong until one gets rid of the matter that holds one back.
So, now you will work to develop your faith and will. In order to develop your will, you must place an ideal in your mind. Take Christ as an ideal, i.e. the Living God, Who is manifested in the world. Take notice of the most supreme, most intelligent moments you experience in your life – these are manifestations of the Divine. Rare indeed are such moments, but you will have to try to keep the image manifested within you. During such rare moments, God has spoken to you. He speaks at the most once, twice, or three times in a year, and this is why you have to try to keep this speech. The more God speaks to you, the more He distances from you, the more suffering you experience. This is quite natural: you have one child, whom you love dearly, but once it distances from you, you start worrying about the child and you suffer. God acts similarly. By coming closer and going farther away God cleans your temple. God will come only when your temple is cleaned. This is why the Old Testament reads, “The Glory of God filled the temple.” So, good will you all may have. I talk now about experiences that you all may also have. What you need is will, will is what you need! You are all good! You laugh when I say that you are good. Do you know what I mean by telling you that you are good? I mean that nobody who lives with God can be bad; as you all aspire to God, you must all be good. This is what I mean.
I will show to you the categories into which certain of your experiences fall. For instance, you feel hungry; what kind of feeling is hunger? Physical. You have your meal – and you feel a certain pleasantness spreading in you. What kind of feeling is the pleasantness in this particular case? Again physical. You cannot rely on this pleasantness, since it is in the physical field. You have a friend, whom you love, and who is with you, and this is pleasant for you, you feel strong, powerful, but the moment this friend is gone, you feel a certain unpleasantness. This is a spiritual state. This feeling is also fleeting; one cannot build a house upon it. We shall now come to these feelings that express the most supreme manifestation of Cosmic love3: when you love someone and feel no change, regardless whether he is with you or not, this is a Divine feeling. All forms that change in you are insignificant.
You imagine Christ the way you used to know him previously. Certain intelligent powers flow out of this plastic form that stays in your mind unchanged.
(Somebody from the audience): Is this form the same for everybody?
It is different for different people. When you are in the situation of a hungry person, you will imagine Christ walking bare-foot in Palestine. Some have seen Christ in Light, having an aura around his head etc. There are forms through which Christ sometimes manifests himself in the physical world, sometimes in the astral world, and sometimes in the Divine world. You think that by experimenting and observing your thoughts you will come to a point when you will receive them in way that they generate no split-mindedness within you. When thoughts come from the astral world, they contain some small doubts.
(Somebody from the audience): When Christ appears to a soul, won’t it understand that He is its ideal?
Christ will tell everybody, “If you do not renounce your father, your mother and yourself, you cannot be a student of mine! If you do not lift the cross and if you do not come after Me, you cannot be a student of mine!” This is the first form through which Christ will be manifested. As soon as you receive Christ in this form, all suffering will disappear. This will bring about self-development of your consciousness... This is abstract matter. Some of you have religious experiences, while for others it is a complete darkness.
Something else that you have to master is to learn to keep silent. The one who has seen Christ should be silent. Christ will then be a power within you. If I were a burning candle, would I need to prove that I am a burning candle? Does the rose need to prove that it is a rose? No, it doesn’t, the scent will prove it. If you do not believe in its scent, is it the form that will make you believe it is a rose?
I relate this thought to another lurking thought of yours: you want to break free from a lot of suffering and hesitation; you want to become strong. Do the following small experiment then: take a poor sister of yours and start working upon her, see what you can do. What do you think you will have to do with her? I shall give a figure as an example: let’s assume that a sister of yours has lost her fortune, she has no money, no house, no property, and she is at her wits’ end. How can you help her? Let each one of you, who has more than they need, give her something – one will give her soap, another one will give her a pan, a third one – a pillow or bedclothes etc. You will see that shortly she will be back to normal. These are forms by which I would like you to grasp what I am telling you. Help everybody with what they need. Someone may have no patience – let this person have your bowl of patience. Someone else may have no faith - let this person have your pan of faith. A third one may have no pillow - let this person have your pillows. It won’t be long before you see that your brother or sister have improved and they say, “How good these brothers and sisters are!” If you do not take anything to them you will suffer. One cannot do this, but many can. However, you all need a bowl each. Do one experiment in this respect. Collective prayers are powerful as well, because when everybody prays at the same time, in the same direction, and is sincere and hearty, prayers have effect. Prayers have effect when there is harmony among you. Disharmony is what happens when a person who knows nothing about this art has tried to tune you. Therefore, disharmony can be called poor harmony or tuning. Indeed, the best part of a concert is the tuning of the violin and the other instruments.
The first thing I want from you is to compete in paying mutual respect and reverence. What we perform externally should correspond to our internal predisposition, which is in the name of God. Let’s assume that you find one among you unpleasant; do the following manoeuvring: imagine you are in the greatest of hardships or that you are drowning in a river and it is exactly this sister of yours who saves your life. Take your time for a while and see what feeling you will experience. You will immediately start softening and you will say, “If my sister can do this, I will change my opinion of her and I will start loving her!” Or conversely: let’s assume that this sister of yours, whom you do not like, is drowning in the sea. Go to her immediately and tell yourself, “Come on, I will save her, because I am stronger than her, and the strong one should always save the weak one!” These are cases given to work upon your self-development.
You will now do experiments. You may ask how? If you feel a desire to do such an experiment, you will pray for a day, two days, three days, four days, up to fourteen days in a row to achieve it and you will then feel an internal predisposition, that you are ready to do it and only then will you proceed to this good enterprise. And now you wait for things to settle on their own accord. Indeed they settle in this way too, but the results are completely different. You should all try to do these experiments. This is the only way to make the following line meaningful, “Pray for each other, to be healed.” Keep praying for up to fourteen days and the Spirit will say, “You may now do the experiment!” The Spirit says, “When one’s Path is worthy for God, God will reconcile that person.”
Well now, you all have to start praying for your Paths to become worthy for God, in order that God reconciles you with the others and brings harmony and the Divine into you, so that you can understand and love one another.
This is the Path; these are the experiments that you have to do to prepare for Whitsunday.
Master’s lecture, delivered on 5 March 1920 (Friday), 16:00h.
1 [or Whitsunday] A Jewish holiday of gratitude for the Divine Laws, given in the Sinai Mountains, celebrated eight weeks after Passover [Easter]. On this day the Holy Spirit flows onto the Apostles for the first time (Acts 2,1 – 4) and the law gives way [precedence] to His gifts (editor’s note).
2 To editor: the Bulgarian text reads ‘upwards’ – but somehow I’d rather translate the word as ‘downwards’.
3 There are two words in Bulgarian for Love: “любов [lyubov]” and “обич [obich]”, translated in English as just “Love” [Lyubov] and “Cosmic Love” [Obich], the latter designating the human manifestation of Love as universal energy.
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[translator’s notes are placed in square brackets]
The Great Mother
The written assignments on the bone system, on the heart and its function, and on the digestive system were read.
We were sent to the Earth not for leisure, but for work. However, even the Earth can put up with its guests for no longer than three days. All contemporary misfortunes result from the fact that we want to be guests to the Earth. And since I talk to you from a purely esoteric point of view, if you ask me what the misfortunes in the world are due to, I shall tell you that they stem from your desire to be just visiting guests here on Earth. The Earth is a place for more [most] [M1] serious work to be done. Each creature, regardless of how small it may be, has its mathematically strictly determined place and work that it has to do. Even today, more superior creatures live on the toil of the more inferior ones.
I intentionally asked you to describe the digestive system, as way of explanation, because you, esoteric students, do not even suspect what is going on within you at any single moment. Every one of you should investigate one’s organism thoroughly. The only real thing that you have in this world is your organism. Until you investigate your organism, you will be ignorant and won’t be able to understand Nature. Our Great Mother – Nature, restricts her children under all the rules she has. Bear in mind that she is ruthlessly blunt. No esoteric students should beguile themselves that this would pass them by unnoticed. When this Divine Mother gets hold of you, she will take you through all the rules of education without blinking an eye.
I talk to you about education, because this is where you should start from: Nature has the correct way to educate. What seems to people callous in the world, what we, contemporary people, notice as certain disharmony in the world, is in fact a most harmonious action. I still do not dare tell you that Nature should be studied from its rear side. You should start studying your life from its rear side too. For example, the goodness of someone depends on the badness contained in the roots of one’s life. Hence, we can mathematically determine that one’s goodness would be as big as is the badness in the roots of one’s life. I exclude your moral concepts and here I do not mean bad actions. The word badness stands for that matter in your life that acts against your life.
I told you that you have to investigate Life from its rear side. Now many of you feel a desire to show themselves better than they actually are, or worse than they actually are. This is a misleading situation and Nature does not tolerate such falsities. Nature has two methods that it applies: you should strictly determine things from a mathematical point of view, absolutely accurately, or otherwise you should not measure things at all. In order to measure precisely the powers active in us, we have to develop the senses we have in our organism, so that they can start working, i.e. to develop the sensitivity of our soul. Let’s take for example the concept of coldness; it denotes a physiological process, the physiological reasons for being cold. How can you translate coldness; what does it stand for? It stands for hatred. So, hatred is similar to coldness. Can you make an analogy between coldness and hatred: what is the effect of coldness upon the organism? Shrinking. Indeed, all bodies shrink to a certain extent in the cold. Hatred gives rise to the same action – it also makes one shrink. Warmth is the opposite of coldness. Warmth translates as love. What does warmth give rise to? Expansion. What does love give rise to? Also expansion. Hence, esoteric people, who understand the laws, can influence hatred through warmth, and love – through coldness. The white magi in the White Esoteric School use warmth against hatred, while the black magi use the cold to counteract love. The White magi use warmth to strengthen love, while the black magi use the cold to strengthen hatred. If you ask me why the winter is cold, I will answer that these two lodges – the Black and the White - act in Nature. And according to this law, those of you who observed what the weather was like when the Central Powers and the Allies were at war[1] might have noticed the following: when the Central Powers were winning the weather was always cold, and when the Allies was winning, the weather was warm. And then, from a purely esoteric point of view, we made the conclusion that the White Esoteric School sided with the Allies, and the Black one sided with the Central Powers. Whether they were aware of this or not is another issue. When peace was to be signed the Black Lodge changed its tactics and started influencing the Allies, while the White Lodge started influencing the Central Powers, i.e. they swapped roles. I shall not dwell upon this; I wanted just to note this fact in progress. The situation you - supporting an idea - are in any given moment, might be sustained either by the White Lodge or by the Black Lodge.
So, if you want to train yourselves, you should first determine where the ideas that preoccupy you are being commanded from. Someone may say, “I believe in this and in this.” This, however, does not solve the issue though. Stupid people also believe. But when a stupid person is given something, say one hundred leva, the stupid person is ready to immediately take it and says, "I will give you back one hundred and fifty”, although the stupid person may as well lose everything shortly afterwards. It is not profit that is at stake. Mind you that all of our acts and ideas on earth bear an impact on our future. Perhaps a thought at present may influence your future life in a thousand of years. Therefore, bear in mind that what you do now, you do it for your own sake. A thousand years may pass, but you cannot evade taking the right direction. Now, these false teachings of the Black brotherhood come to distort the lines of the Holy Scripture. And when they want to entrap you in a certain sin, or to distort something, they immediately quote a line that suits their purpose. The Black brothers, when willing to make somebody sin, can be very polite and kind, they will offer chickens, apple pies, until they manage to harness the person. But as soon as they harness a person, they start goading this person, start making him/her work for them and neither apple pies, nor chickens do they offer any longer. This is the beginning of the so-called black doom. The Bulgarians say, “I ended up with what I was given in the beginning.” However, esoteric students cannot and should not be thinking like this. Opinions on life have to be strictly determined; they should not rest on those silly interpretations and beliefs, inherited from the past. Esoteric students should verify things fundamentally for themselves, and the shadows of things, the secondary and tertiary things will come on their own accord. Everyone should understand the law properly, to be sure whether one observes the law or not, whether one believes in God or not. I do not understand the word God in the sense you understand it. I see the esoteric law in the sense of faith in the living law of Nature. However, [i mean] not [M2] the law as effect[M3] , because you are familiar with any effect, since impact is the result of and is generated by a living and intelligent centre. Consequently, when we say that something affects us, this is due to the thought vested in this influence. When I take somebody by the hand and influence this person to start walking, this is the result of the thought vested in me. Hence, you have to be absolutely determined in your thoughts whether you have faith or not. What is your definition of faith? As soon as true faith comes, doubts will also come, and alongside this contradictions in life will appear. Where there are contradictions, Life must have begun. This feature indicates that the true life of esoteric students has begun. If there are no contradictions, you are very far from the Truth. This is a law on the Earth. Such contradictions should not grow into obstacles before those who want to learn. When I said in my previous lecture that those of you who are not ready to follow the Teaching should not set foot in the Esoteric School, I meant not to set foot in the School of this Mother of yours, because it will throw you out according to all the rules of art. You may enter it, but you will need all the humility of your soul and you will need to speak tenderly and kindly. Any rude intonation of your mind or soul will attract all the counteracting forces and you will stumble along your Path.
The Old Testament reads, “The Lord scorns the scorners: but He gives grace unto the lowly.” The Lord is understood to mean the Mother, the Living Nature. How can the Mother express her opposition? Living Nature opposes its disrespectful children by taking them by her three fingers, then Nature lifts them up, then she throws them away and says, “Do you know me, do you know what I can do to you, are you going to lose your temper again? I can turn a human being into the smallest infinitesimal animal!” You may say, “No, it is not possible for a man to go back in the evolutionary development and to become an animal.” It’s not true; one may regress in one’s development and at that according to all the rules of this great law of the Mother. Christians say, “A man born once is a man forever.” Yes, correct, but if one trespasses upon the rules of the Mother, she will send him back and then he will start on a long journey changing forms and millions of years will have to pass, until he is purified. Before he comes out at the end of this Path he will have filled ten tubs of tears, he will keep his memories of them, so that when a passer by incidentally asks him, “You are not going to sin any longer, are you?” he could answer, “Have you filled ten tubs of tears?”
When Christ says that He will send somebody to eternal suffering, I clarify that He will send all the clergy, scientists, philosophers, as well as their servants to suffer, to fill tubs of tears. They will pass through a great fire. This fire is not what it is described to be; it is a quiet fire, it has its pleasures, it is a fire that purifies and makes people humble. I warn you to watch out for the three fingers of your Mother – Nature, she is dangerous! When people cross with three fingers in the Orthodox Church, this is also a warning to be aware of the three fingers of the Mother, not to be grabbed by her three fingers. Crossing has a particular meaning in esoteric sense: remember the three fingers of your Mother in your mind, in your heart and in your will! But religious people say that in crossing, one of the fingers stood for the Father, the other one – for the Son, and the third one – for the Holy Spirit. It could as well be so, but you have to know that these are the three fingers of your Mother, the three intelligent Powers working within her. And she is remarkable, remarkable indeed your Mother Nature is. Those of you, who tend to cause a stir, should keep it in their mind that I can complain to your Mother, without having to unmask you, and I can tell her to grab you by her three fingers. And then regardless whether it happens to be a man or a woman, a boy or a girl – they will get it. She will feel you and will say, “Did I send you there to study or to philosophise, to serve or to give orders?” Christ, as a disciple of the Great Esoteric School, also understood this law. The Scripture has it that when he found himself in a human body, he became humble. For the grace of this Divine Mother, Christ was ready to endure any suffering. The Father is known as Mother in Esotericism. He is the Love, but not the way you understand this Mother – Love. Don’t even think of comparing this Divine Mother with the love you know! There is no image comparable to this concept. I call her Divine Mother, not in the sense that she delivered God. The Esoteric School perceives the Divine Mother as the essence in everything living in the world.
Let’s go back, because these are abstract things that may stir fear and anxiety in your minds. My point is not to make you fear, because fear is just one feeling, while so far human beings have been found to have forty abilities. Fear is only one fortieth of the present life, so that your attention to fear should be one to forty. If all your life turns into fear only, you do not understand Life. Fear is supposed to be only a warning to human beings, reminding them whether they have properly understood what they studied and whether they acted accordingly. Thus, fear is necessary to show you that you have your responsibilities. After fear, conscience comes and tells you, “You did it according to all the rules of the Divine Law.”
The first thing that all of you are required to do is to accept the following motto as a rule “If you do not become like little children, you cannot enter the Kingdom of God.” I shall translate this for you: if you do not place yourselves in the shoes of little children, you cannot enter any Esoteric School, any branch of this Great, Intelligent Esoteric School.
The second rule is that students of the Esoteric School should learn to keep silent – to keep silent in order to be able to think. Their thoughts should be strictly determined, their thoughts should not be roaming, they should not contain similar opposite thoughts or doubts. Some say, “I think”, but what is it that you think about? If you look at the faces of the people around you, you will see that these people are not thinking, but wasting their time. The present philosophising and thinking is just a waste of time, but the skulls and bones of people reveal how righteous their thought is.
The first thing that you are facing is to restore your righteous thoughts. You may ask, “How can we know which thought is righteous?” This cannot be proven. This is a law, implanted in human beings from the very beginning – their ability to think righteously. So, since the soul always thinks righteously, I am not going to prove this, anybody can try it. It will be sufficient if one goes back to that point where one deviated from the right path. What will be the first result that you will notice from this righteous thought of yours? As soon as you manage to experience righteous thoughts, any gloomy thoughts will leave you, a Light will appear in your mind and you will start feeling reconciled with everybody. The curtain will begin, little by little, to open, you will start understanding the correlation existing between causes and consequences, and you will understand why things keep happening in this way and not in that way. The Scripture reads, “The Earth should be silent, for the Lord to speak.” Silence is the first rule in every school: when pupils come to school and when the teacher comes in after them, all pupils are silent so that the teacher can speak. This is why, when this Divine Mother starts speaking, everybody should fall silent. Sometimes she makes us to be silent against our wishes. She sends a big misfortune to us, thus telling us, “Keep silent!” Then you say, “I do not feel like talking,” and you become immersed in thought. You keep thinking and thinking and in the end you say, “Life is meaningless.” In this silence you must have heard the voice of your Mother, coming from the depth of your soul. This voice is calm and it will speak to you in such quiet and tender tones, as no other voice has spoken to you. But when will this voice start talking to you? When one has been through the worst pains and miseries and after having filled ten tubs of tears. Here on earth the contact of this voice is called love, kindness etc. This voice provokes instant magical changes in human beings. You might have been the person most slighted and hurt on earth, you might have been close to your death-bed, but as soon as this voice starts talking to you, you immediately feel safe. You are looking for the secret, for the Truth of Life somewhere outside you and you tell me, “Teach us how to find it!” Learn to understand yourselves and to find this secret within you.
Sometimes unwittingly you place your hand on the forehead of a weeping child. I now ask you why you place your hand there. How many philosophers and scientists in Bulgaria know the reason for this? I will tell you, “When you place your right hand upon the upper part of the forehead, you arouse one of the noblest feelings." Many centres are located in this part of the head, but you influence compassion above all – the Divine Love. And if the person placing his/her palm on your forehead is compassionate, you will immediately feel a certain pleasantness spreading all over you. The mother, by placing her palm upon her child’s forehead, tells the child’s spirit, “Mother Nature that entrusted you to me, loves you and her Love never changes.” And the mother, who places her palm upon the child’s forehead, is a step-mother to the child, entrusted to raise the child. So, when you are upset, place your palm or let somebody else place their palm upon your forehead, concentrate your thoughts in this place, call your Great Mother, and everything will pass on its own accord. This is a beautiful gesture. You should know the meaning of each and every gesture – these are the new education methods. Each movement in Nature is strictly determined and from this point of view, all people can be either good or bad. If your child is crying and if you take the upper side of the child’s hand, if you bring it close to your mouth and blow against it, the pain will pass away. But if in similar cases you curl your lower lip and thrust it forward, you have already tarnished your mind. Any gesture of your hand or mouth that is incorrect brings dishonour to your mind. And these gestures have their impact. Therefore, any movement of the hand, of the eyes has to be strictly determined, has to follow all the Divine rules.
Contemporary highly educated people are like children who start writing for the first time and this explains why, when they take the writing pen, they start scribbling on the paper. Children scribble and scribble on the paper and tell their mother, “Mother, look what I have written!” This scribbling, however, contains no Divine thought; it has no content at all. This scribbling refers also to the present newspapers. Similarly, at spiritual séances, a medium starts scribbling first upon paper, and afterwards some letters come out. The minds and hearts of many contemporary Christians resemble this childish scribbling – they scribble, but nothing comes out. So, you should first start scribbling, then you will start drawing circles and finally you will start writing letters. Learn to stop and take a look at your actions, so that you yourselves can be pleased with whatever movement you do with your hands, head, eyes or mouth. Watch your movements, but do not be afraid! Often some poets shake their heads while talking. I interpret this movement in the following way: “Oh, I hope these rotten pears would fall!” You think about them, “There is something substantial in these ideas of theirs; they are poets, they will surely write something.” They will write nothing. So, be careful to ensure that your movements are harmonic.
You may in time feel a desire to correct somebody. Nobody is allowed to correct anybody in the Esoteric School. This is an insult. Both the one correcting, and the one being corrected, both of them commit a crime. Do you believe that the movement of the wheel in the factory, which has once started rolling and keeps rolling, is not strictly determined? Do you think that the master of that gentleman, who has lost his temper, has not predetermined this reaction? Do you think that you have to block the drainpipe through which all waste goes out? No, you should not, because by doing so you will bring about the greatest misfortune to people. The person who flares up, is just a channel, so, let all impurities flow out of him, do not interrupt him. This flaring brother of yours is on duty today, he is throwing up so many things, so you should rather tell him, “Brother, you did a wonderful job today, you are throwing up impurities and thus you are helping so many people.” If you do not have such understanding for things around, you will be on duty tomorrow. So, intelligent students should understand properly the causes and the consequences of each action and should remember the following: Life is determined very intelligently, there are no exceptions to it, no accidents, and everything, even the smallest details, have been provided for. This is not a restriction of the human will, because at your stage of development, you have no will whatsoever yet. I am telling you the truth. I believe that only a person, who can forgive after being insulted, has Will. People, who can forget that they were deprived of all of their wealth, have Will. People, who in spite of having a lot of work to do, help fallen people, have Will. While ordering one person or another around, does not count as will. Will starts in sin. If you look upon this issue in this way, you will immediately feel enlightenment.
Do an experiment, so that Mother Nature can start talking to you. If you stick to your conceptions, the conceptions you have today, your Mother shall not start talking to you in a thousand of years, but will only grab you by her three fingers. When I say that your Mother will grab you by her three fingers, I do not mean your individual life; I mean it on principle, as per the laws. There are exceptions to these laws, they are not absolutely mechanical. So, when I say that your Mother will hold you by her three fingers, this will be so as long as you oppose her. The moment you change, she will also change her attitude to you. No philosophy, no logic is not in a position to alter Nature. However, the moment you feel repentance within, that the path you follow is not the right path, your Mother will change her pre-disposition to you. No sooner has she become pre-disposed to you, and you will experience certain pleasantness, a certain relief. You will struggle until the moment you feel this pre-disposition, and everybody coming your way will be [considered] bad[2].[M4]
Now, Nature does not regret having such obstinate children, on the contrary, she rejoices for them, because they do such a wonderful job. She places these children in their proper place. When they get tired, they say, “Mother, we learnt this art.” The Mother replies, “All right then I will take you to another area.” As I see you are tired of life and you say that life is meaningless. What have you learnt so far, does not satisfy you any longer, and the beliefs you have are not positive either. How many of you, if tortured for their beliefs, are ready to make a self-sacrifice, to die for them? You may say, “We have to think a little, and then we can answer whether we are ready to sacrifice.”
Now, let me go back to the talk about the beautiful movements. I will give you two examples: the day is clear, the sun is shining, you can see a high rock facing south, and there is a crystal clear spring under its eastern side, which gives rise to a small river flowing eastwards also. I will now draw the same picture, but situated oppositely: a high rock facing north, a crystal clear spring to the west of it. If you visit two locations similar to the ones described, two different ideas will rise in your mind. Watch the people living on such northern slopes where rivers flow westwards, and the people living on southern slopes where rivers flow eastwards. Compare the people in these two areas, take it as an assignment. Some of you may solve this task in a week; others may need a month, still others – a year.
Therefore, in education, we have to make the best of Nature, because there is a fundamental, great idea underpinning the various forms it has created – to alter the mood of our mind, heart, and will. I shall elaborate a little bit on this, so that you can start paying attention to the clouds, you can start relating with them. Do not think that clouds are dead, you should always consider them living: sometimes there are whole mountains of clouds in the sky facing north or south; watch these living clouds in space, reflect why some of them face north, while other face south. Contemporary people today are exhausted, small-minded, because they do not go out to watch the sky. They turn their faces only to the ground, to what they themselves have created, and this is petty. If people went out to watch the sky, the clouds, and the stars, their mood would change, and we, contemporary white people, would be nobler than we are now. Since we do not want to voluntarily give up the old habits, the White Lodge has decided to make real people of us, to free us from these buildings, so that we can watch Nature. In previous times people made idols, bowed to idols, but today we ridicule them. However, contemporary people make houses, have property, and take their joy out of it, because this is how they earn their living. Is it not idol-worshipping as well? Don’t you ever rely on the thought that your house, field or vineyard will earn your living! Do not vest your hopes in them. If you think along these lines, you can be sure that you have taken the wrong direction. I talk to you as students of the Esoteric School. Throw out of your mind these houses of yours; you will have to look upon them as a simple exercise for you. In America there are houses of twenty-thirty floors. I say what we have now is not houses, these are the most dreadful prisons ever seen in the world; these are cemeteries. There are dwellings where the sun has not set a single ray for years. This is no culture; don’t you admire these big buildings. I’d rather live in the simplest Bulgarian hut out of town, than in a twenty-storey building, costing a couple of millions, albeit having the latest amenities. There is an analogy for you: a writer describes the houses of a town, the streets, the layout of the town, and when you read this you think, “Why I am not moved by all of this?” Because there is nothing new. Let this writer set the plot in the open, in Nature, let the author describe the movements in Nature, and then you will find out whether it moves you. This author describes how two people fell in love – the one was on the stage and the other one – in one of the theatre boxes. Is there anything more misrepresented than this? Being esoteric students you should not waste your time on similar novels, you should be selective in your reading. If some of you start writing, mind you do not imitate these authors. See what the psalm writer writes in the songs! A song reads, “Let the rivers murmur, let forests and tall cedars bend low.” In psalms all people are compared to trees, to mountain peaks, to rivers, to springs, while the world is compared to the sea etc. All this makes sense. The psalm writer, from an esoteric point view, implanted these true Divine ideas that govern the world. The interpreters, when analysing these forms, misrepresented them and now contemporary people cannot think properly.
There is one task ahead of you – to go back at least eight thousand years, to come to the Gates of Paradise, so that I can show you that you have taken the wrong direction. There were two paths opening before people on coming out of Paradise, and they had to choose one of them. The entire humanity took the wrong one and said, “This is what is destined for us!” No, there was another Path destined, and it was the so-called straight, narrow Path. Narrow Path should be understood to mean that Great Path of the Living Nature and this is the Path you have to take. You cannot return along the path you took on coming out, but I will take you back along the other path, along the narrow Path. When you reach this initial point, I shall show you the Path which you have to take in the new course of development in your evolution.
Do a short mental exercise; this is what you should ask, “Where was I a hundred years ago?” Take a break, then try to figure out where you were a thousand years ago, two thousand years ago, three thousand years ago, four thousand, five thousand, six thousand, seven thousand years ago, and where you were eight thousand years ago. Take such a small notional transition and allow yourselves a break at each point. You will not resolve anything of particular notice, but by returning in your mind along the path that you have travelled so far, you will follow this law and when you come to the point where you were eight thousand years ago, please take notes of your condition, of what you experience, and also put down the thought that comes to mind, and afterwards come back to your present condition. If no thought comes to your mind or if you do not experience any condition, you should not worry, try to return once again. I shall gradually show to you the mathematical correlations that will be of help in your work. These are the smallest exercises that I assign to you.
You are wondering how you can go back eight thousand years, how you can do this. Take little children as an example: when they stand up for the first time on their feet, do they have any idea how to take steps? No, children follow their instinct: they stand up, fall down, they stand up again and fall down again and so on. Similarly your mind is a four-legged animal too. Mental people are four-legged, they try to stand up, they fall down, and again they try to stand up and in the end they say, “We cannot think.” No, we shall fall down, shall stand up, shall bow, until finally we shall stand firmly on our two feet and shall start thinking. So, remember, that your mind is not human, it is four-legged, and this is not an insult. If our mind was human, our Life would have been organised differently and we would not have been in the situation we are now. Anybody can check [and verify] [M5] that our mind is not enlightened. Can you find two people at home who are in the same mind, who live in Love? Very rarely is it so, and only when they are in the mood for this. This is not due to a lack of desire to live, but it is due to something distorted in us. As soon as we reach our original situation, we shall immediately be set free. Then we shall find ourselves in the situation of a person who is being healed with water or sun rays – such a person keeps sweating until all impurities are thrown out, and afterwards such a person feels like a new born baby.
Therefore, first we have to get rid of the impurities that have accumulated within us for thousands of years, so that only pure blood remains, i.e. the pure Divine thought and the pure Divine heart. Then we shall experience the same as a person, who before falling ill with typhus used to weigh a hundred and twenty kilogrammes and then he lost weight and became like a dried mackerel. The same will happen to you. You will throw out everything that is useless and you will feel stupid. Until you yourselves feel stupid, nothing will come out. After having thoroughly emptied yourselves, New Divine Life will come from elsewhere and it will fill up your bottle.
To succeed in this small experiment does not take much courage, but only faith and diligence. You may recite to me that line, about whether this is in agreement with God’s Will. Any good action is in agreement with God’s Will. Any good thought, any good deed, regardless how small it may be, is in agreement with God’s Will. Keep in mind that every good deed yields results and can be accomplished, but it takes a long time to do it. Therefore, the smallest desire, the smallest urge will in time produce good results. Every good thought and desire is a result of the urge of your Divine Mother, who wants to advance your present level.
There is a small disharmony between us now. I will check whether it is me or you who are the cause of this disharmony. You will do your homework, and I will do mine, and having solved the problems we shall meet at certain points of contact. Have faith and do not hesitate!
You will make this a rule of yours: you are demanded to have faith in yourselves, in your intelligent souls, just as much as it can be free to think and understand everything that God did. Inasmuch as your soul is awakened inasmuch you will benefit from the Divine goods in the world.
So, faith should be the first among all rules!
Master’s lecture,
Delivered on 26 February 1920
[1] Coalitions among different countries, that were at war during the time of the World War 1 (1914-1918); The Central Powers (The Triple Axis) included Germany, Austro-Hungary and Italy, while the Antante included Great Britain, France and Rusia (notes of the editor)
[2] To Michaeli – the original text translates ‘will be bad’ – of course, there is a great difference between ‘be bad’ and ‘be considered bad’. However, reading the text I somehow got the feeling that [considered] is implied – since in speech as different from writing many words may be omitted as meaning is through non-verbal means. I placed [considered] for you to see and comment upon – I understand that it is next to impossible to recover the non-verbally conveyed meaning – as none of the non-verbal means were taken down in short hand. It makes a worse sense without [considered]. I do realise it’s a personal judgement which is not allowed, but two minds make a better product.
[M1]{The Earth is a place for the most serious work to be done.} or {The Earth is a place for more serious work to be done.}
[M2]{I do not mean…}
[M3]Unclear. This word needs more definition in order for this sentence to be understood.
[M4]There is a big difference between {will be bad} and {considered bad}. The first one is a statement saying that everybody coming your way is bad. And the second implies that you will think that everyone coming your way is bad.
[M5]delete
1922_04_05 THE TWO DIRECTIONS
в 1922
Публикувано
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!”
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[M1] The Bulgarian word for the conjunction ‘with’ is ‘s’
Edited by Viktoriya