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Grow in grace! “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (The second Epistle of Peter, 3:18) Growth is a process of development. What needs to grow? It is often said: It is apples, trees, twigs, leaves, and blossoms that need to grow – it is they that have to grow and develop. What, however, is meant in the quotation is the human soul. It is the human soul that has to grow and it is the human spirit that has to attain the knowledge of grace. Which grace in particular? – Lord’s grace. The word grace has many meanings. It is suggestive of the conditions in which one has to live in Heaven and here on Earth. The Earth, often discussed in holy books, is so vast that myriads of people can live on it. It is referred to as The Promised Land in the Epistle. It is this land exactly you all aspire after, the land initially created by God. The Earth you live on is too small and so microscopic that if compared in size, it does not comprise an island as big as Crete. Paul and Peter say that the skies will be ablaze and the Earth will go through fire. Fire is often interpreted as a destructive element but though it truly destroys, it can be constructive as well. It is the fire descending from above, from the Sun, that built our planet and our bodies. It is this fire that imparted thoughts and aspirations in us. Everything gets frozen without fire. So the word growth implies fire. The fire that destroys is the coarse one. Some scientific experiments have been carried out – one dies if a 2/3,000-voltage current is passed through the body. That is why, there are countries where execution is through electrocution. However, if a current of 10,000 to 50,000 V is passed through a person, he or she rejuvenates completely – the face glows with health and youth and all diseases vanish without trace. According to modern logic one has to burn in such a fire. But the fire that really destroys man is his passions. They destroy both the body and the soul. If one has no passions, it means that he is not exposed to the destructive fire. Paul, when saying “grow”, means the effect of the Divine fire – this 10 to 50,000 voltage, which when passing will purify and rejuvenate people. The word knowledge means knowing the laws that have to be observed in the process of growing. Mind that any growth is twofold – upward and downward. When looking at the mirror, you see your reflection. If asked what the physical laws of reflection are, you will give an easy answer – there is reflection. However, I would like to know the basic law that makes the reflection occur. Physicists have an explanation for the mechanic aspect of the object; astronomers have an explanation for the mechanic aspect of the universe, for example, what the Sun was, what its elements were, or what its temperature was, etc. But what exactly the Sun is remains a mystery. Here, on the Earth, we can suppose this or that, but when one becomes truly spiritual, they will be able to see the truth about the growth meant by Paul. You want to know whether there is life or water on the Moon, so you can book a ticket, pack your luggage and within a few hours you will be able to verify the truth. In the same way, you can go to the Sun to check what it is. While, now, we study things only through reflection, and reflections are not always correct. A reflection has an inner and outer aspect. All you can see is only the outer aspect, while the inner side remains hidden. “I know this man.” No, what you know is his shadow. You will say, “His eyes are black”. This is his shadow. “His beard is white” This is a shadow. “He is handsome”. All is a shadow. The person you see as handsome in daylight can be ugly late at night. Changes in the source of light can change the light in man. This is the growth of shadows – a shadow can grow, or diminish and disappear. For example, in the morning, at sunrise, the shade cast is big, at noon it diminishes, and at sunset it vanishes. I am giving this analogy because you are people of shadows – you study things through cinematography. If I put it differently, you will say, “Prove it.” However, to prove it, I will have to book you tickets, and take you with me on a trip to the Moon and to the Sun. You are people of the shadows. You are fictitious creatures, rather unreal. You will see in fifty years that you are fictitious. Where will you be then? To avoid being shadows you will have to transcend from the temporary to the eternal in search of God. I mean that you will seek light and warmth. This light will give you the ideal you are aspiring after. One is born a little infant, grows up and feels discontent all through his growth. One wants to get married and looks for a pretty girl, but when he finds her, he is still displeased because she is as vicious as a snake. Then people want to have children, yet after they have given birth to them, they find them bad. Parents hope that one day their children will get married and settle, but nothing much goes out of this, either. So modern people live in shadows. There is nothing real in shadows. It is a pleasant life, but there is no growth in it, no Divine process. Consequently, what I understand by Growth is that the Spirit has to grow and develop only in what is real and immutable. Thousands of continual changes can occur in the substance within us as it changes by itself. This is a great Divine law. Sometimes a negative thought occurs – this is a shadow. You will say, “I hate him. I hate John.” How can you possibly hate him, when you do not know him? Likewise, how can you borrow money from a person to whom you have never given anything? Shadows in this world exist only because reality has to stand out. The more the shadows in this world are, the more our mind will stand out and become the basis of knowledge. There cannot be any knowledge without shadows. When you say that you suffer, this is just a shadow that makes you study the conditions of a new life. Therefore, growth is the cause of all changes, going on both in the inside and on the outside. So, when we get to know life, we will get to the very reality, i.e. we will be able to test things. When a theory is in accordance with the reality of being or in accordance with the laws God imposed on this world, it can always be tried out. A doctor comes and says, “I have a cure for this disease.” If the remedy is efficacious, it will cure the patient, but if it fails to do so, it is not a true medicine, and the doctor has tried to mislead you. A man comes and says, “I have a teaching which if adopted, will elevate you.” If the teaching elevates you, it means that it is a true teaching. So, growth is a process necessary to build up the spiritual body. The physical body is as necessary as scaffolding – if it cannot be put up, the spiritual body will fail to rise. It is the physical world that was initially built – to serve as scaffolding. The spiritual world is constantly being built and arranged. Some verse in the Scripture says that it was heaven that was originally raised, so it is the Divine world; then Earth was created – the physical world. Earth has not been fully organised, so God is still arranging it. He created the world in six days, made man on the sixth day and had some rest on the seventh day. Now He is at work again. Moses says, “Lord had some rest.” Jesus says, “My Father is at work.” So, He is still working. God’s rest is to get out of His being to examine everything He has created so far and get back to resume His work. His present work carries fire. He says. “This world is deficient in fire.” When this fire comes, the growth and knowledge of grace will also arrive. When speaking about the world, I always mean man. You know the world as far as you refer to it. All elements from the outer natural world are related to your body and mind, and all the changes you undergo and any indisposition of your spirit depend on the changes in Nature. If a wolf fails to find food for three or four days on end, it gets hungry and prays to God for food; you catch its thought, you understand that this wolf is suffering and you sympathise with it. Everything is interrelated – you experience equally intensely both joy and sorrow. Someone will say, “I can’t stand this fellow.” You will have to tolerate him because he is part of you. If you ruin him, you will ruin part of yourself. Anyway, by growth I mean the growth of our spiritual body, by which we comprise Divine harmony. You say, “The world has not been completed yet.” Yes, it is true, but in order to complete it, you will have to work. We are the factories that have to produce things. It is we who have to receive and process the materials and yield them to God. If you eat a hen, a sheep or a lamb, this is part of you and it is all meant to build the world. There will come a day when all sufferings will be justified from this point of view. We will have all suffered, yet we will be all living together. There will come a day when you will understand that the smallest bugs are your brothers. When a bug stings you to suck blood, it says, “I need to make my contribution for the building of this edifice.” All creatures have conscious and unconscious processes. The conscious process is so well-developed, that you will have to grow in a limited time, just as the wheat grows in May, and has to knit, because growth boils down to giving blossom and blossom means fruit. Growing is life, which manifests itself through blossoming, knitting and ripening. There cannot be fruit and ripening without blossom. Are you blooming out? - No. – Then you cannot manifest yourself. People, just like flowers, can manifest themselves only through blossoming out and setting. Love can manifest itself when plants flourish. The same refers to people. When flowering takes place on the physical plane, there is physical maturity, physical love. When this process is over, the spiritual flourishment and maturity occur. One has to flower at least seven times. One has to knit at least seven fruits and come out at least in seven different worlds. This happens at stages. So, as flourishing on the physical plane is already pointless for you, you have to do this on a higher plane. Why do we die? Dying is nothing but moving to an upper plane of growth. When there are no conditions for you to grow, you die. When there are conditions, you come to existence. Those who are not well acquainted with the profound meaning of life find that there is a certain contradiction in the blossoming of branches and in the growth of roots. When water comes out from a spring, will it not disperse in all directions? If you have some gaseous substance or a pot full of vapour, will this vapour not disperse when you take off the lid of the pot? So, Life, stemming from the centre, shoots its roots downward. Science proves that we stand upward during the day, and when the Earth rotates in the evening we stand with our head downward. The same refers to the tree – at midnight the branches are turned upward and then the roots are turned upward. With the Earth’s rotation you take a position with your feet up to God, the roots of your stomach also facing God. The head and the feet are equally significant to God, because when you enter the spiritual world, the feet are the basis of things. Some say, “Why do I need feet?” Why do you need some basis? - To build a house. Therefore, they are the ground on which you lay the foundations of your house and they are also the soil on which your being can grow. Now, in this growth we have to love all the people inside us, both alive and dead, who have affected us and live within us. You have a John inside and outside; an angel inside and outside; a devil inside and outside – both heaven and the Earth coexist in your soul. There are good and evil spirits getting on along within you. Some people who hate evil spirits say that these spirits are at war with the angels. The conflict arises only if we interfere, otherwise there is harmony between them. There is a struggle if we get involved. When there is a contradiction between the two spirits, you only have to listen to them. The argument is a kind of conversation between them. The students are not allowed to interfere with the teacher’s job. The evil and good spirits are great teachers. You are not supposed to adjudicate - you only have to listen to them. Such is the law. If you interfere, they will punish you. They will say, “Listen, you are just a baby! You shouldn’t get involved. You just have to listen!” People often complain about being attacked by evil spirits, but I tell them: These evil spirits are not interested in you, they do not care about your existence. They have just stopped in the shade of your tree and you have happened to overhear their conversation. You are babies; you are not even born yet. “The evil spirits have told me to do this or that.” It is not you to whom they have spoken. They have told this to themselves. You only say, “Let me do it.” That is why Apostle Paul says, “ Grow in the grace of Christ to know the spirits.” Although the world keeps sending conjuration to the evil spirits, and the church also offers prayers to drive them away, they persist. That is why Christ tells us not to defy evil. Evil spirits have their business to do – let them do it. I have often heard Christians quarrel: ”You are ignorant! I know everything because I have a university education!” If you have graduated from university and have some knowledge, you had better remain silent because there is conversation in silence – it is a force, a plant. A person who is not able to remain silent does not have any knowledge – all he knows is to get a hiding. Silence is actually a growth: this is how plants grow – they remain silent, only in the evening some faint cracking can be heard as they are whispering. They are not like people, who after doing some kindness will trumpet it around. The same refers to the hen – when it lays an egg, it will start quacking so that everybody can hear about it. It might have laid an egg, but it is the hen’s duty. It is arguable whether the hen itself laid the egg or had it laid. When a mule is loaded with some precious weight to carry, it boasts, “It was I who carried the load.” What we should know is that in this world we are nothing but God’s servants. Someone might say, “We have free will.” Only one who lives in the essential, immutable world of God, only one who serves God and is able to comprehend His laws and precepts can be free and exert his free will. We need to find the time to foster the growth I am talking about, i.e. the building up of our body. You often find excuses for not obeying the rules by saying, “I can’t find the time for this or that.” An English preacher visited a poor sweeper and asked him, “Has anybody visited you?” “Yes, Gladstone came once.” – “Who?” - “The statesman.” – “How strange!” the preacher said. “How has he found the time to pay you a visit busy as he is?” Why? Who lives within the sweeper? Gladstone is aware that the sweeper is a kind of brother to him, so he says, “I need to see him.” Modern people climbing the social ladder forget about their parents, thinking that their social status will be marred. Greatness is in recognising our obligations. The greatest virtue of God is that despite His numerous duties and tasks, He always finds the time to pay a visit to a sinner. God always finds the time to visit a person, leave a comforting thought and offer His help. It always happens that when everybody is against you attacking you like a swarm of mosquitoes, God always makes an appearance, saying, “Do not fear, I am here, standing by you. I’ll give you a hand.” When God does this, you should tell Him, “Give me the strength to grow and get rid of everything that is transient. Let me know Your will.” Do not ever say, “They came down on me, but we’ll square our accounts!” We often read God’s prayer, “Let it be Lord’s will”. You do not know Lord’s name, nor His kingdom, so how can you know His will? One who does not know Lord’s name cannot fulfil Lord’s will. You will be very much like the mother who started sewing clothes for her unborn children. In the process of searching for Lord’s name, kingdom and will the reign of Heaven will arrive. We need to adopt the chivalry of the Russian tzar about whom Tolstoy tells the following legend: The murder of Peter I, in which Alexander I was involved, caused qualms of conscience and anguish with the latter, who could not find peace of mind. The glory of the throne and worldly pleasures could not distract nor comfort him. He withdrew more and more until, finally, he decided to abdicate and settle in the town of Taganrog as an ordinary citizen. Once, as he was walking round the town, he saw that many onlookers started crowding round two rows of soldiers on the road, who were carrying sticks instead of rifles. At a point an old soldier was brought forward. They tied his hands to the butt of a rifle, stripped off his shirt and then under the beat of the drums he had to suffer the severe punishment of cudgelling. Alexander peered into the poor soldier’s face and was stunned by the striking similarity between them both. He was curious to know the soldier’s fault and was told that the soldier asked for permission to see his dying father and when not allowed to do so, he tried to escape. He was arrested for his attempt, but managed to break free again. On his second capture he was sentenced to undergo the punishment of 8,000 thrashes. This punishment meant sure death. Alexander, who was listening to the faint noise of the thrashes mingling with the soldier’s moans, was appalled. “Good gracious!” he thought, “The poor fellow just wanted to kiss his father’s hand and get his blessing. They are torturing him now so severely and all that in my name!’ Comparing his behaviour to his father with the soldier’s, he realised his inferiority and started weeping. Learning from the doctor that the soldier would not survive another 4,000 thrashes, he arranged for the poor fellow to be dressed in his emperor’s clothes and carried to his home, while he himself dressed in the soldier’s clothes lent his back to the remaining half of the punishment. He managed to survive it because the soldiers took him for the done up soldier and beat him less severely out of pity. The soldier, dressed up in the emperor’s clothes, died in his home and this resemblance to the emperor served to pronounce the emperor dead, who, taking the opportunity, left the city and devoted himself to righteous and charitable deeds. Tolstoy ends the story about the emperor’s death with the following words: ”What a solemn moment his death must have been! What a great liberation of the soul!..” My question is: How many of you are ready to suffer even ten thrashes? Then what claims could you possibly have? How could you expect to be admitted to Heaven? Here is the inherent meaning of growth – one has to distinguish shadows from true essence and to liberate the soul by enduring all sufferings. When the pear and the apple grow, they do it only to give fruit, which, in turn, will give a new life. You have also come here on earth to give life to somebody else. Some want to get married and beget children. Why? I will tell you why. They want to get married because they are already tired and do not want to do any other job. When they get married, they will give birth to a son or a daughter, who will complete their job. You will say, “I don’t want to get married.” It means that you are strong. However, you cannot complete your job, so you have to get married. Do not think that this is an allegory. This is the truth. By development I understand the job God assigned to us, which we have to complete or withdraw and let somebody else take over from us. Here is why people are born and reincarnated – they descend and ascend. Some day, when you say that you have got tired, God will ask you, “Would you like to give up your place to your brother, who will complete your job?” That is it. All this is basic knowledge. You will learn something more in future. God has already started rearranging the world. In this era of growth we experience the most favourable conditions of the effect of the Divine fire. In this Divine fire solid substances will melt. The matter will be purified and refined and God will rearrange it in a different order. God will send those who have not completed their development to a different place. There is no extinction in this world. There is only withdrawal of duties and assignments we fail to carry out. At school a poor student can be kept back a year or two. The same refers to life. It is desirable that you become fully aware of this. It does not matter what job you do – whether you are a mathematician, a chemist, a doctor – these are all shadows, forms of life. What counts is whether you enlighten Lord’s name and accept His will with your soul. One who wants to be strong should hold forth these: Lord’s name, which is the greatest blessing, Lord’s kingdom, which refers to the human soul, and Lord’s will, which refers to life on earth. The spiritual world is interrelated to the physical one: man is both a physical and a spiritual creature. These two elements coexist, as there is a correlation that unites and guides them. This is the soul, which is semi-spiritual and semi-material. This is a condition you will never be able to change. Under physical matter I mean the world of forms necessary for the manifestation and being of things. Under spiritual world I understand the forces working in the direction of creating the forms. Under soul I mean the conditions preparing the building up of these forms. Therefore, life cannot manifest itself without forms. Each soul needs a body to exist as a unit or entity in this world. It needs to possess a body to be visited by God. Can you invite any guests if you do not have a home? When one wants to get married, he first needs to build a home, just like birds, have to nest before laying eggs. Those without houses will say, “Now we are in a nice fix!” Do not take this literally. What I mean is to have a house in the spiritual world. You will not be admitted to Heaven without such a house. By growth I mean having such a house. It would have a garden, trees, and flowers to decorate it. To grow you need to forget about your shadows and misunderstandings. All things that exist in this world are shadows. If you fall asleep for a long time, everything will disappear. France, England, Germany will disappear. There will not be any wars. You will forget about your debts, about sugar and rice – you will forget about everything, because everything is just shadows. To know a person truly you need to love him or her. Only one who loves knows people. Someone will say, “I love, but I suffer and I fear.” There cannot be love if you fear. Love excludes fear. All contradictions give rise to trouble. The human spirit cannot develop without facing difficulties. This is the teaching that has to be preached to cultivated people nowadays. Only then can your homes be free from fears and sufferings, which are fictitious. There are magnetizers which when hypnotising someone, draw a line and tell him that when he gets to it, he will face a wall. So, one who is under hypnosis cannot go through it, while you actually do not see the wall. When the magnetizer disappears, the wall vanishes as well. Now it is the devil that has put up such a wall in human minds. It is just a line, but you see plenty of difficulties, which are nothing but shadows. Nothing is impossible in this world. Anything is possible. Someone will ask, “How can everything be possible?” For example, if I have starved for several days on end and I pray to God for a piece of bread, He will give it to me. But if I ask Him for 7 or 8 loaves of bread, He will give me nothing. What I am telling you is the very truth, which you yourselves can check. You should give up being avaricious. You should not ask for more than you need. For instance, if you have a kilo of sugar, be happy and content to have it and do not ask for two or three kilos. Can all people be millionaires? Just like the growth of a tree has its limits, so one cannot grow further than the age of 21. Then one can grow only in mind, soul and spirit. These are the great things, and when you open your eyes to them you will grasp them. Sometimes it is necessary that someone pray to God to open your eyes. This is what one of the Israeli prophets, Elyseus, did once. The Syrian king sent a powerful army against Elyseus. He wanted him captured and brought to him. Elyseus’s servant, on seeing the army in the morning, got frightened and asked, “What are we going to do now, master?” – “Do not fear! Those who are with us are more than those against us.” Elyseus prayed to God, “ I pray to you, Lord, that you open my servant’s eyes so that he can see what I see.” God opened the servant’s eyes and he was able to see the forest full of chariots and horses surrounding Elyseus. When the Syrians approached, he supplicated, “Oh, Lord, strike these people blind!” Then Elyseus led them to the Land of Samaritans to meet the Israeli king and said, “ Oh, Lord, open their eyes so that they can see!” God opened their eyes and they saw tehmselves facing the king. On seeing them the king asked, “Shall I smite them, my Lord?” So he said, “Do not smite them. Give them some food and send them back to their master!” While we, the modern people say, “ What is in store for us?” Those who are with us are more than those who are against us. What is against us? It is our thoughts, our shadows, which we have been creating for years. You should tell yourselves, “ These thoughts, these bears and wolves, which I have created, should not frighten me.” Some claim that they have a staunch faith. You can test it by placing them amongst bears and wolves. God is not with you if you succumb to fears, temptations and hatred. Christians have to be brave. What this world needs is brave people. We have to bear sufferings and say, “I will praise Your name and Your grace!” You will say, “But so many people died!” I do not see them as dead but as resurrected. I would like to join them – Oh, what glory it is to go to heaven! Some people are afraid of death. They love God, but when the moment of death approaches, they start seeking the help of doctors. God is not with them. When the time comes you should say, “I am coming, my Lord. Give me some other job to do!” I want all of you who are listening to me today to be brave. Go among your lions, tigers and snakes and stroke them. God will not be with you until you learn t constrict snakes and crocodiles. Take Daniel for instance, who was not injured in any way while he was among the lions because he said, “God, who is with me, will tame the lions.” I would like you to call upon God when you are among your lions. Do not be pusillanimous! Have courage! What is more, equality and brotherhood should be preached all along the line and not on the face of it but truly. Great people and people of science have to set an example for you how to live. If you are a chemist, an astronomer, a judge, or a priest – you need to harness all your energy for the sake of humanity. We are not that far – the fire is coming; there will come quite a heat. But you should not lose heart – those who are with us are more than those against us. Let everybody know that God is coming to put the world in order, establishing law and justice. Then you, men and women, endowed by God with these nice names, will have to obey the new order. There is no better name than man or woman in this world. But now both men and women are complaining about their position. Men say, “Woe to us, men, as we were born! It is our duty to join the army and fight in times of war!” Women say, “Woe to us, women, as we were born! We have to give birth to children!” There is no woe about it all. On the contrary, it is a blessing that you were born what you are, destined to do a particular job. All you need to do is give yourselves a hand. Someone will ask, “How can we reconcile?” Do not complain, find some reconciliation with all your brothers, and all the subjects you have got, call upon God to glorify His name and the Spirit within you, and your supplication should be to grow up so that you can fulfil what you are predetermined to do. You are not going to die. From now on more auspicious conditions and sciences are forthcoming; you will be able to study astronomy, mathematics, etc. Some will say, “Mathematics is an easy subject up to the number ten.” But have you considered how many ratios exist between these ten numbers? Some say, “Let us be good.” This is 1. “Let us be just.” This is 2. “Let us be affectionate.” This is 3. “Let us be wise.” This is 4. “Let us be truth-loving.” This is 5. We are up to 5. Let us be both good and just. This is 1 and 2. Let us be good, just and affectionate. This is 1, 2, and 3. Let us be wise – this is 1, 2, 3, and 4. This is no science whatsoever. With 1 we need to understand its laws, the soil and the elements. We need to apply chemistry and see what grows with 1. Then we will say that it is apples, cherries, grapes, wheat, rice, cabbage, carrots, etc. that grow with 1. It will be found out how many elements are necessary for the growth of apples and pears with this 1. So we can say, “Let us be good.” But in order to be good we have to work. We can also be just, but we need to work, too. Goodness, justice and wisdom come from above. You say, “We want to be good.” Come to me, I will teach you and show you how to be good. I will take a nail and heat it. The nail will become good. Where is the furnace? It is within your heart. Take the nail, the bellows, and the coal, put the nail – your thoughts – and heat it. This is the procedure we have to follow when working on ourselves. In this respect Christianity is a kind of alchemy. You are listening to me and perhaps you say, “I feel wretched, I feel miserable.” Why? - Because you have shut the windows and do not let the Divine light penetrate through them. God is alive, but you have not let Him enter. Sometimes if He slaps you in the face, you should say, “Thank you, Lord, for visiting me. You should look upon your husband’s slap in the same way. Why do you thrash a walnut-tree? - To knock the walnuts down. Likewise, God comes and asks, “Do you have any fruit to give me?” If a brother slaps you, you should take him home, offer him food and drinks – nourish him with the new teaching. If you offer him the new teaching, he will start picking the walnuts by hand instead of thrashing them. This is what is going on now everywhere. Men, women, teachers, students, priests and preachers are throwing stones at one another. Sufferings nowadays are the greatest blessing. I am grateful to God for many things. I am grateful to Him that He is the king and I am His servant. Him being a king is the greatest blessing both to me and to the others. Now you are all servants, but if you want to be kings and queens in future, apply the Divine Teaching. In the morning, when getting up, you should say, “Thank you, Lord, that I am alive so that I can serve You.” How do you usually get up? Sometimes you get up with your face up, sometimes with the wrong side up. Keep a watch on how your children get up. You should never get out of bed on the wrong side. What should your first thought be? “Lord, bless my soul! Thank you, for letting me get up today so that I will be able to do my work whatever it is and wherever it is and that I will be able to grow as much as I should.” This is the primary, basic knowledge. However, what is it that you usually do? If any of you is a teacher, he or she will say, “Oh, dear! I have to grade 50 papers!” If he is a judge, he will say, “I have so many cases today!” If he is a preacher, he will say, “I have a sermon to read today, and I have nothing ready yet!’ If she is a mother, she will say, “Why are these kids whimpering?” God is not with these people, so they will not be successful in their work throughout the day. You should blow, and say, “Oh Lord, help me get rid of bad thoughts! Bless my soul!” Try this. Some say, “God was so merciful that he sacrificed himself and was crucified.” How was he crucified? – With his head up. That is why, when you get up in the morning, your head should be up and not down. When stepping out of the house it is your head that should go out first facing God, not your feet. I would go into further detail, but, unfortunately, I am pressed for time. You should go out with your head first, thanking God in your soul. Then all the light spirits will surround you, and you will get the strength and wisdom to grow. It is God who helps things grow. Why am I telling you this? It is God who does things through people. Sometimes, when I am speaking to you, you say, “Mr. Dounov said so.” What I am saying is said from above, it is what all heaven says. I repeat that God is coming to purify the earth through fire, to strip people from their scruffy clothes, give them new bodies, pour love into their hearts, lift their minds and eliminate any hatred or malice. This is what the new teaching heralds in the new epoch. So when you get up in the morning, try to say, “We give thanks to You, O God, for Your grace! We give You thanks for You are good! Your mercy endures for ever!” Keep saying this for a month and then come to me. You will see then what the temperature of your soul will be. That is the whole secret. If you repeated it for ten months, it would be even better. This is the A, the beginning. When I was your age I started studying this practice so on getting up I said, “I thank you, God for everything You gave me and taught me.” You should start with this, too. This is a great teaching. If you do not start with it, you will live in eternal darkness. If you start applying it, God, the angels and all the saints will smile at you and help you become God’s sons. You will be able to bear 4,000 thrashes on you back and when Christ comes he will say, “Let him take my place, and I will bear the rest.” I understand this as a metaphor, and I am trying to put it metaphorically. Disseminate this teaching among the people. This is the only way people can be elevated. Those who are willing should try this teaching and see the results. It is a positive item of knowledge. Each people, society or household that works in this way will be placed. This is the annunciation that Christ brought for the revival of society 2,000 years ago. Let anyone who has ears listen to this. Lecture delivered on 7th January, 1917 Source

The Book - The Spirit and The Flesh. Beinsa Douno Translation from Bulgarian - Vessela Nestorova GROW IN GRACE ! But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?32 Growth is a process of development. What must grow? People often say, "An apple must grow, a tree, branches, leaves, blossoms—these things must grow and develop." But in the quoted verse, we understand that the human soul must grow. The human soul should grow, and the human spirit should attain the knowledge of grace. Which grace? God's. The word grace is broad, it implies the conditions under which a person must live up in heaven and down on earth. The Earth, which is so often mentioned in the sacred books, is so enormous that an innumerable number of people can live on it. In the Scriptures it is called The Promised Land. You are aspiring for this earth which God created originally. The Earth on which you live is so small, it is of microscopic size; compared in size it is not even as large as a small island like Cyprus. Paul and Peter say that heaven will be enflamed and the Earth will pass through fire. Many interpret fire as a destructive element. In fact it is destructive, but it also constructs. For the fire which came down from the Sun has constructed our earth, it has also built our bodies and created thoughts and feelings in us. Everything freezes without fire. Therefore, the word growth implies fire as well. The fire which destroys is the coarse fire. Present day science has made the following experiments: if someone is placed under 2-3,000 volts of electricity, they die and in some countries criminals are electrocuted by such a current. However, if 10-50,000 volts of electricity run through the human body, all illnesses will disappear, the face will become youthful and bright; in a word, one will be fully rejuvenated. According to the present ideas of logic, one should burn up by such a fire. The fire which destroys people is their passions. They destroy the body and the soul simultaneously. Being free of these passions means not warming oneself on destructive fire. When Paul says grow, he means a function under the influence of the Divine fire, or of these 10-50,000 volts that will purify and renew the people they pass through. The word knowledge implies an understanding of the Laws by which this growing may be effected. Growing is twofold: upward and downward. When you are looking yourself in the mirror, you have a reflection. If anyone asks you by what Laws this reflection is effected, you will answer readily, "There is a reflection." But I would like to know the basic Law by which this reflection is effected. The physicists explain the mechanical aspect of an object the way the astronomers explain the mechanical aspect of the universe, as for instance what the Sun is like, its elements, its temperature, but what the Sun actually is remains a secret. From the Earth we can suppose this and that, but when a person becomes spiritual, they will be able to test the truth about the growing Paul speaks about. If you want to know whether there is life on the moon or not, you will take your bag, buy a ticket and in a few hours you will verify this truth. The same way one can go to the Sun and test what it is like. Now we study things only by way of reflection, but the reflections are not always true. Every reflection has an inner and outer side; you access only the outer side, while the inner side remains concealed. You say, "I know this man." But you know only his shadow. "His eyes are black." This is, however, his shadow. "His beard is white." This is his shadow. "He is handsome." All this is a shadow. This man, who looks handsome to you in the daytime, is black at night. If the inner lamp changes its position, the inner Light of a person will change too. This is growth of the shadows, because the shadows can grow too—they can become smaller or bigger. For instance, when the Sun rises in the morning, the shadows are bigger; around noon they grow quite small and after sunset, they disappear. I am making this analogy, because you are people of the shadows—you study the creation of the cinematographer. If I speak differently, you will say, "Prove this!" In order to prove it, I must get you a ticket so you can come along with me to the Sun and then to the moon. You are people of the shadows, i.e. fictitious, not real beings. After fifty years, you will see yourself that you are fictitious. Where will you be then? In order not to be shadows, you must pass from the temporary to the eternal, to seek God, meaning to seek His Light and heat. This Light will introduce in you that ideal which you are longing for. A person is born as a small baby, gradually grows big, but is discontented all the time. He wants to marry and tries to find a beautiful girl and thinks until he finds her, but as soon as he finds her, he is discontented again—calls her evil as a snake. Then the two of them want children and have them, but find the children bad too. Then they hope when their children will marry to be materially well off, but nothing comes out of that. Thus, the life of people today consists only of shadows, but there is no reality whatsoever in these shadows. This is a pleasant life, but there is no growth in it, no Divine process. Therefore, by the word growing I understand that only the spirit can grow and develop; only the real, the changeless grows. This substance which is deposited in us can undergo millions of eternal changes; this is a great Divine Law. At times a bad thought attacks you—that is a shadow. You say, "I hate that person." How can you hate her when you do not know her? Or, how can you ask a person for money, if you have never given her any money? In the world the shadows exist by necessity in order that the genesis of things may stand out. The more shadows there are in the world, the more our mind will stand out and will be the basis of knowing things, because knowledge cannot exist without shadows. You say you are suffering—that is a shadow, in order that you may learn the conditions of the new life. Therefore, growth is the cause of all changes which take place inwardly and outwardly. If you understand life this way, you will come to reality itself, i.e. to the testing of things. When a teaching is in accord with the reality of genesis, or with the Laws God has created in the world, it can always be put to a test. A doctor comes and says, "I have a medicine which cures this illness." If this medicine is real, it must cure the patient as soon as he takes it; but if this does not happen, the medicine is not real and the doctor only deludes people. A man comes and says, "I bring you a teaching, if you accept it, you will raise yourself." If this teaching raises you, it is real. Thus, growth is a process necessary for the building of your spiritual body. The physical body is necessary as a scaffolding on the outside; if it is not raised, the spiritual body cannot be raised either. First of all, the physical world was created as scaffolding, while the spiritual world is constantly being constructed and organized to this day. In the Scriptures, there are verses which say that first heaven—the Divine World—was created and then the Earth—the physical world. The Earth is not organized yet, God is still organizing it. He created the world in six days: the sixth day He created human beings and on the seventh He rested. Now He is at work again. Moses says, "God rested." Christ says, "My Father is working." At the present time He is still working. God's rest implies His going out of His genesis and from there scrutinizing everything. He has created and then returned again to continue His work. His present work brings fire. He says, "This world lacks fire." When this fire comes, it will bring growth and knowledge of grace. When I speak of the world, I always mean human beings. The world is known to you to the extent you have a relation to it. All elements of the external world, of external Nature are connected with your body and with your mind, as a result of which all the changes taking place in you, the indisposition of your spirit, depend on the changes in Nature. If a wolf has been hungry for three or four days, or a week, he will pray to God for food. You respond to his thought and suffer along with him. All things in life are connected; that is why you experience equally both joys and sorrows. Someone says, "I cannot tolerate this man." Tolerate him, because he is part of you. If you ruin him, you will ruin yourself. Therefore, by growth, I understand the growth of our spiritual body which represents a unit of the Divine harmony. You say, "The world is not organized yet." It is not organized but work is necessary in order to organize it. We are the plants which must work; we receive and process the materials, then we give them to God. You eat a hen, a sheep, a lamb—that becomes a part of you which goes to the building of the world. From this point of view all sufferings will be justified. We have all suffered in the world that is why we shall live all together. Some day you will realize that the bugs are your brothers too. When a bug is biting you, or sucking blood from you, it is saying, "I must do this in order to build my house." In all beings conscious and unconscious processes are taking place. The conscious process is effected so powerfully that you must grow up in a short period, as wheat grows in May; and you must bear fruit in a short period of time, because growing has in view blossoming and blossoming—fruit bearing. Growing is a life in which blossoming, setting and ripening of the fruit take place. There is no setting and ripening without blossoming. Are you blossoming? "No." Then you will not manifest yourself. People, like the flowers, find their expression only when they blossom and bear fruit. Love is manifested only when plants are blossoming; it is the same with people. When there is blossoming in the physical world, the physical ripening comes, the physical love; when this process is over, a spiritual blossoming and ripening takes place in a person. One must blossom at least seven times, i.e. set seven fruit at least. We must blossom up at the same time in seven worlds, but this blossoming up is achieved consecutively. Therefore, when blossoming in the physical world loses its sense for you, this blossoming should be taken up above. Why do you die? Dying is nothing other than going to a higher world for growth. When you do not have conditions for growing in the physical world, you die; when you have conditions—you are born. Therefore, those who are not acquainted with the deep sense of life find that in the blossoming of the branches and growing of the roots there is a certain contraction. When water comes out of a spring, would it not flow in all directions? If you open a jar full of steam, would not these vapors spread in all directions at the same time? Thus, the life which has sprung up from a center sends its roots downward. And conversely, at night, when the Earth has turned, we are with our feet up. The same is true of a tree: in the course of 24 hours, first the branches are turned up, and then the roots are up. You will say that people are with their heads up. Human beings are double trees: they have roots up, which means the Divine World; also they have roots down in the stomach, which means the physical world. When the Earth turns, you also turn with your feet toward God, and then the roots of your stomach are turned to Him. So every 24 hours both the feet and the head turn toward God. Before God, the feet and the head have an equal meaning. Why? Because in the spiritual world, the feet are the ground on which you build your house. They are the soil on which your life may grow. Now in the process of growing, you should love all people, alive or dead, who have a reflection and live in you. You have a John inside and a John outside; you have an angel inside and one outside; you have a devil inside and one outside. Heaven and earth live at the same time in your soul. There are good and bad spirits in you who get along well. Some people who hate the evil spirits say that there is disputing between them and the angels, so they think they are quarrelling. There arises a dispute only when we meddle in their work. Otherwise a complete balance exists between them. As soon as we meddle in their work, a struggle begins. When there is a dispute between two spirits, you should only listen. The dispute is a conversation between them. The students are not allowed to meddle with the business of the teacher. The bad and good spirits are great teachers. You have no right to pass judgment, but only to listen; such is the Law. If you interfere in their work, they will beat you and say, "Listen, you are a small baby; you should not interfere, but listen." Often people complain of attacks by the evil spirits. I tell them that the evil spirits do not care at all about you; they are not interested in your existence. They have only stopped under the shadow of your tree to talk, but you have overheard them. People are babies not born yet. "The evil spirits tell me to do this or that," some say. They do not say this to you, but to themselves and you say, "Wait, let me do this!" The Apostle Paul says, "Grow in the grace of Christ, in order to know the spirits." Up till now the world has always used charms and conjurations against the evil spirits. In the church the Vassil Prayers are all conjurations against them, but evil spirits still exist. That is why Christ says, "Resist not evil." The evil spirits have their own work and when they are doing it, let them be free, do not interfere. I have heard how some Christians quarrel among themselves, "You are ignorant, but I have graduated university and have learned something." If you have graduated and have knowledge, you will keep silent, because there is conversation in silence, which brings power and growth. Those who do not know how to keep silent have no knowledge; they know only the rod. Silence is actually growth— this is how plants grow. They are silent, only at night a faint cracking can be heard—they are whispering to each other. They are not like people, who want the whole world to hear, if they have done some good. The hen acts the same way after laying an egg, she cackles so that everybody should hear her. What of it that she has laid an egg? That is her duty. It is a question whether she laid it, or it was laid for her. When an ass carries a burden of precious things, he says, "I carried the precious things." We must know that having come to earth, we are servants of God. Someone says, "Humans have free will." But I say that those who live in this essential, unchanging world where God lives and serve God, understand His Laws and orders, only they are free and only they can have a free will. We must find time to accelerate this growth of which I am speaking, i.e. the building of your body. Often your saying that you have no time for this, no time for that provides the occasions for disobedience. An English preacher once visited a poor boy—a sweeper—and asked him, "Does anyone come to see you?" "Yes, Mr. Gladstone."33 Who?" "The English statesman." How strange that in spite of his great tasks, he found time to visit a poor sweeper! Why? Who lives in this sweeper? Gladstone realizes that one of his brothers lives in him and says, "I must visit him!" When someone rises in life today, they do not recognize even their father and mother, thinking this will infringe on their greatness and high position. There is nothing greater than knowing our obligations. The greatest trait of God is that in spite of His numberless great tasks, He always finds time to visit some sinful soul, the way Gladstone acted. God always finds a few minutes free to visit someone, to leave a good thought, or render His help. And when everyone attacks you like swarms of mosquitoes, God appears and says, "Fear not! I am here; I am with you to help you." When God does this, say to Him, "Give us strength to grow and become free from transitory things, to know Your Will." Do not say, "They attacked me, but they will see who I am!" We often say in the Lord's Prayer, "Thy Will be done!" You do not know the Name of God, the Kingdom of God, and you want to fulfill the Will of God. You will be like that mother who sews skirts and pants for her child which has not been born yet. In the process of seeking the Name of God, the Kingdom of God and the Will of God, will come the Kingdom of Heaven. You must have the valor of that Russian king of whom Tolstoy tells a legend. The murder of King Peter I, in which Alexander I was also involved, cased great pangs of conscience in the latter and darkened his soul to the extent that nowhere could he find rest. The glamour of the throne and the vain pleasures had not the power to distract and calm him. He withdrew into himself more and more until finally he decided to abdicate and start living in Taganrog34 as an ordinary citizen. One day while walking in the environs of the city, he noticed that crowds were gathered round two rows of soldiers unarmed, but each holding a rod. An old soldier was brought with arms tied to a gun. They took off his shirt and while the drum was beating, he was subject to a horrid punishment, "passing under the rods." Alexander looked the soldier in the face and was amazed at the great likeness between them. He asked about the crime of the unhappy soldier. They told him that when the soldier heard his father was on the death-bed, he asked permission to go and part with him. After being denied that, the soldier tried to run away, but was caught. He tried to escape a second time but was caught once more and this time was severely punished to pass between the two rows of soldiers under the blows of 8,000 rods. This penalty meant certain death. Hearing the sounds of the blows and the groans of the dying man, who soon stopped groaning, Alexander was horrified. "My God," he thought, "all this only for a reason that he wanted to kiss his father's hand as a farewell and receive his blessing! That poor man is tortured so cruelly, in my name too!" He compared his attitude to his father with that of the soldier and seeing how much lower he stood than him, Alexander started weeping bitterly. After being informed by the doctors that the soldier would not live after the 4,000 blows, he made arrangements the soldier to be clothed secretly in his outfit and to be carried in Alexander's room. He, on his part, dressed in the soldier's uniform, submitted himself to the remaining 4,000 blows. These he bore to the end and survived because the soldiers, taking pity on the exhausted soldier, did not hit him hard anymore. The soldier, disguised in the Emperor's clothes, was carried to the palace, where he died. The great similarity between the two served for an official announcement that the emperor had died. In reality, the emperor wandered away, giving himself over to kindly deeds the rest of his life. Tolstoy ends the story with the death of Alexander in the following words, "What a moment of triumph must have been his death! What liberation of the soul!" I ask, how many of my listeners will be ready to bear at least ten blows for their brother? And after all this people are pretenders, preparing themselves for heaven! I say, the inner sense of growth is in learning to discriminate the shadows from the real things, to liberate one's soul by bearing all sufferings. When a pear and an apple are growing, that is done for the sole purpose to give fruit which will bear a new being. Some want to marry and have children. Why? They want to marry, because they are already tired and cannot do anything else. As soon as they marry and have a son or a daughter, they will finish their parents' work. Someone says, "I do not want to be married." That means you are strong. If you cannot finish your work yourself, you must get married. By the word development I understand that either we must finish the work God has assigned for us, or give our place to others to finish it. That is why people are born and reincarnate—descend and ascend—on this earth. Some day when you say you are tired, God will ask you, "Do you want to give your place to your brother who will finish your work?" The knowledge I give you now is elementary. In the future, you will learn something more. God has already started the reorganization of the world. In this epoch of growth, we are under the most favorable conditions, under the effect of the Divine fire. In this fire, the hard things will melt, matter will be refined and God will form out of it a world of a different order. Those who will not finish their development will be sent by God to another place. There is no perishing in the world, one is only deprived of the duty, or work, one is not doing. In our schools, they keep you two or three years in the same class until you can pass it. The same refers to life itself. Now it is desirable that this thought should become central in your mind. It is not important what work you are doing, whether you are a mathematician, or a doctor—these are shadows, forms in life. The essential thing is to sanctify the name of God and to implant the Will of God in your soul. Those who want to be strong must give first place to the following: the name of God, which is the supreme good; the Kingdom of God—in relation to the Earthly life. The spiritual world is connected with the physical world—humans are at the same time spiritual and physical beings. These two elements exist in us simultaneously: there is a bond between the two beings, which keeps them together and directs them. This bond is the soul which is semi-spiritual and semi-material. You can never change this state of things. By the words physical matter I understand the world of forms necessary for the manifestation and genesis of things; by the words Spiritual World I understand those forces which work for the creation of these forms; Soul, on the other hand, implies the conditions that prepare the construction of these forms. Therefore, life cannot be manifested without forms. Every Soul must have a body in the world in order to be manifested as an individual unit. She must have a body so that God can visit her. Can you invite guests, if you have no house? When a man wants to marry, he first has his house made, as the birds who want to lay their eggs first make their nests. Do not take my words in their literal meaning. Every person must have house, but where must it be built? In the spiritual world. They will not receive you in heaven, if you have no house; there you must have a house by all means. Growing implies the idea of having a garden around your house with flowers and fruit-trees to decorate it. In order to grow, you should forget your shadows, your misunderstandings. All things existing in the world today are shadows; when you fall asleep for a long time, everything will disappear: France, England, Germany will disappear in your mind; there will be no wars; you will forget all about sugar, rice, your debts, you will forget everything. Why? Because all these things are shadows. To know a person in the real sense of the word, you should love them. Only those who love know people. Someone may say, "I love, but I suffer and fear." Since you fear, you have no love. Love does not tolerate any fear. All contradictions, of one kind of another, cause unpleasant troubles for people. However, the human spirit cannot develop without hardships. This teaching should be preached to open-minded people today. Only then will your home be freed from the sufferings which are essentially fictitious. There are magnetizers who hypnotizing a person draw a line before them and tell them they can go only that far and meet a wall on their way and the hypnotized person actually cannot pass that line where the other people do not see any wall there. When the magnetizer blows, the wall disappears. Now the devil has raised such a wall in the minds of people. He has drawn a line and they see many obstacles and hardships which are in fact shadows, not reality. Everything in the world is possible. How is everything possible? For instance, if you have been hungry for several days and pray to God for a piece of bread, He will give it to you, but if you want from Him 7-8 loaves, He will not give them to you. These are true facts which you can test yourselves. People should give up their greed and not desire more than what is necessary to them. If you have one kilo of sugar, be content with that, do not want more. Can all people be millionaires at one and the same time? As the growth of a tree has its limits, so people have a limit of growth on the physical plane: when they come to the age of 21, they reach a height after which their body stops growing, but the mind, soul and spirit continue their development. These are great things which you will understand when your eyes are opened. You must pray to God to open your eyes as Elisha, one of Israel's prophets, did. One night the Syrian king sent a great army against Elisha to take him and bring him to the king. When Elisha's servant saw the great number of the enemy's army, he was scared and said, "What shall we do now, my master?" "Fear not for those who are with us are more than those who are against us." Elisha prayed that God might open the servant's eyes to see all. Then the servant saw the forest around Elisha full of horses and carriages. When the Syrians approached him, Elisha prayed to God, saying, "Smite these men with blindness." Then Elisha led them to Samaria and said, "God, open the eyes of these men that they may see." God opened their eyes and they saw they were in Samaria by the king of Israel. When Israel's king saw them, he asked Elisha, "My father, shall I smite them?" But he said, "Do not smite them but set bread and water before them and after they are fed, send them to their master." People today ask, "What will become of us?" Those who are with us are more than those who are against us. Who are against us? Our thoughts and feelings—our shadows which we have been creating for years! Say to yourself, "I have created these thoughts—these wolves and bears—and I am not afraid of them." Some say they have strong faith. They can test the power of their faith, if they were placed among wolves and bears in a menagerie. If you fear, if you are tempted and yield, if you hate—God is not with you. The Christians must be heroes. Heroes are necessary for this world. You must bear up all misfortunes and say, "May the name of God be sanctified and may God's grace come!" You will say that so many people have died. In my view they have not died, but have been raised up. I would wish to go with them. It is a glorious thing to go to Heaven! Some people are afraid of death. They love God, but when death comes they call the doctors. God is not with them. When death comes, say, "I am coming, Lord, prepare new work for me there." I do not want anyone listening to me today to fear. Enter the place of your lions, tigers, snakes and pat them. Until you learn to pat the snakes and the crocodiles, God cannot be with you. Take as an example Daniel who did not suffer among the lions, but said, "God, Who is with me, will tame the lions." When you are among your lions, I wish you would call to God to shut their mouths. Be resolute and not faint-hearted! Now equality and brotherhood should be preached everywhere, not only seemingly, but in practice. Scientists and great people must set an example of how we should live. You may be a chemist, an astronomer, a judge, a priest—harness all your forces for the good of humanity. We are not far from this—the fire is coming, there will be a great heating, but be unafraid: those who are with us are more than those who are against us. Let all people know that God is coming into the world to restore order, Lawfulness and justice. And you men and women who are given these lovely names by God, will submit to the new order. There is not better name in the world than man and woman. But now both men and women complain of their state. The men say, "Woe unto us who were born as men to go to war!" The women say, "Woe unto us who were born women that we should bear children!" It is not woe unto anyone; on the contrary, it is a great blessing that you were born such as you are, destined for so great a work! Reconcile yourselves inwardly. "How can we do that?" Do not say anything about anybody! Be reconciled in your soul with all your brothers, with all the subjects you have! Call to God that His name may be sanctified and His Spirit glorified in you and that you may grow up to fulfill what God has assigned to you! You will not die; from now on good conditions for gaining knowledge are coming, you will study astronomy, mathematics, and so on. Some say that mathematics is a very easy science; everything is implied in the numbers up to 10. But how many million relations there are among these ten numbers! Some say: "We should be good," that is 1; "we should be just," that is 2; "we should be loving," that is 3; "we should be wise," that is 4; "we should be truthful," that is 5. We have come to five. "Let us be good and just," it is 1 and 2; "let us be good, just and loving," it is 1 and 2 and 3; "in addition, let us be wise," it is 1 and 2 and 3 and 4. No, this is not any science. In the number 1 we must understand the Law of one, the soil, the elements; we must make use of chemistry and see what grows in the one and then say: there grow apples, cherries, grapes, wheat, rice, cabbage, carrots and so on. This one will determine what elements are needed for the apples, for the pears. In our mind we say, "Let us be good." To be good, we should work. We can be just too, but we must work. Good, Justice, Wisdom—everything comes from above. You say, "We want to be good." Come to me and I shall teach you how to be good. I shall take a nail and when I heat it up, it will become good. Where is the hearth? It is in your heart. Take the bellows and coal, start a fire and put the nail in it—your thoughts—and heat them up. This is the process by which we must work within ourselves. In this sense, Christianity is an alchemical science. You listen to me and say, "My heart is heavy, I am sad." Why? Because you have closed your windows and do not allow the Divine Light to pass through them. God can live in you, but you have not opened your windows to let Him in. If sometime He slaps you, say, "God, I thank You for visiting me." Interpret your husband's slap the same way. Why do you thrash the walnut tree? That the nuts may fall from it. So God comes to you and asks you, "Have you any fruit to give me?" If a brother slaps you, invite him to your house and set for him food and drink. What food? The food of the new spiritual teaching. If you teach him the new teaching, he will pick the walnuts by his hand; otherwise he will bring them down by throwing stones at them. It is like this everywhere today: men, women, teachers, students, priests, preachers—all are throwing stones at each other. The present sufferings are a great blessing for people. I thank God for many things: I thank Him for being the King, so I can be a servant. Since He is King, that is the greatest blessing for me and for others. Now you are servants, but if you want to be real kings and queens in the future, apply the Divine teaching. Every morning when you get up say, "God, I thank You that I am alive, so I can serve You today." How do you get up in the morning? Some get up with their face up, others with their back up. Take care of the children, how they get up in the morning. Never get up with your back up. What must be your first thought after rising? Say, "God, bless my soul. I thank Thee for waking me up today to finish my work the way I should, wherever I may be, and to be able to grow as much as it is necessary." This is the first basic teaching. But what do we do? If someone is a teacher, they say, "Oh, today I have to correct 40-50 notebooks!" If they are a judge, they say, "Today I have so many Law-suits!" If they are a preacher, they say, "I must hold a sermon today, but have not prepared anything yet." If one is a mother, she says, "Why are all these children crying now?" In such a case, God is not with them and their work does not go well the whole day. Blow and say, "Hwuu-u-u! God, purify me of all evil thoughts and bless my soul!" Try this. Some say, "God was so merciful that He shed His blood for us and was nailed to the cross." How was Christ nailed? With His head up. That is why when you get up in the morning, you must rise with your head up, not down. And when you go out, show your head to God, not your feet. Go out with your head first and thank God in your soul. If you observe these rules, all Spirits of Light will be around you, you will acquire power, Wisdom and grow. God makes things grow. Now, do you know why I am telling you all this? You must know that God does His work through people. And when I speak to you, you say, "Mr. Dounov says so." What I am saying to you has been said above, the whole heaven says it. I repeat that God is coming to purify the Earth by fire, to take off people's old rags and give them new bodies with love in their hearts, to uplift their minds and take away from them all malice and hatred. This is what the Divine teaching proclaims in the new epoch. When you rise in the morning, make an experiment, say, "I thank you, God, for the great grace You have for us. We know You as all-merciful, all-truthful, all-wise." Repeat this every morning for one month, then come to me and tell me what the temperature of your soul is. This is the whole secret. If you repeat this for ten months, it will be still better. This is the A—the beginning. In the past, when I was at your age and was learning this science, after rising in the morning, I started thus: "I thank You, God, for everything You have given me and taught me." You start the same way. This is a great teaching. If you do not start with it, you will be in eternal darkness, an eternal gloom around you. If you apply it, God, the angels and the saints—all will smile at you and help you to become Children of God. You will be ready to endure 4,000 blows on your back for your brother, so when Christ comes you will say, "Let Him take my place, I shall bear the rest myself." I understand this in a figurative sense and thus I speak. Spread this teaching among the nations! Only this way will every nation be able to ascend. Those who want to try, let them apply this teaching and see its results. It is a positive science. Every nation, every society, every home what works this way will be blessed. These are the good tidings Christ brought for the regeneration of humanity two thousand years ago. Those who have ears to hear, let them hear. Sermon held on January 7, 1917, in Sofia. ______________ 32. II Peter 3:18. 33. William Gladstone (1809-1898), an English politician Chair of the Labor Party. He supported the independence movement in Italy and took a rigorous stand against the 1876 Turkish massacres in the then dominated Bulgarian territories (ed. note). 34. A south-Russian city at the Azov Sea coast (ed. note).

from The Blossoming of the Human Soul THE BROTHER OF THE SMALLEST ONES “Sanctify them by Your Truth.” John 17:17 In the first language (the language of the Virgin Divine Spirit, which is the highest in the Angel hierarchy) God gave a different name to the human being, not the one we know now. This happened at the council of gods chaired by the Lord Jesus Christ, called the Savior of humankind. This council discussed the creation of man and defined his name. The word “man” has been incorrectly translated, but for the present, we will accept it as it is. By “man,” we understand a being who thinks. According to the contemporary ideas of evolution, the human mental process follows two directions: downward and upward. The downward direction of the thought contributes to the formation of the human personality and the human body with its seven layers. The Eastern and Western esoteric schools classify these layers in a different way, yet it refers only to the external, evident side of this teaching. In the core, there is no difference between the spiritual schools. According to the intrinsic meaning of Christ’s Teaching, the human being possesses three essential, unchanging bodies and seven layers. Theosophical literature mentions the seven layers of the human body while the three unchanging bodies are only vaguely discussed. The layers there are called “bodies,” but they are not exactly bodies. “Layers” is a more appropriate name for them. In reality, the human world is transient and the evolution of the world is a Divine process. From the Divine viewpoint, the aspiration of the human spirit is to attain the three unchanging bodies. This concept is so vast and boundless that even geniuses, the great minds of science and esotericism, the upper hierarchies of Angels, and also the upper hierarchy of gods are unable to comprehend it completely, both in the past and at present. By “gods” I do not mean the One and Only God, but the upper ranks of the Angelic hierarchy. Today, however, the word “God” has lost its original meaning and value as it is used for beings who deceive people that they are gods without being such. In fact, there is nothing Divine in them. Free yourselves of this misconception of God. In the archetypal language the word “God” had a special meaning, which has been distorted today. With the distortion of this concept, the human mind also has become twisted. In order to formulate the true concept and understanding of God, we need to return to our archetypal state. Many think of God as a being that changes itself several times a day, as humans do. Even some Western mystics think likewise. This is not meant to be a reproach. It comes as a result of the conflict existing between the groups of Light and of darkness. They have divided humankind into two opposing camps causing the discord and strife that exist in politics, societies, families, individuals, and even in religion and science. These two influences have split the human minds. However, wherever there is division or duality, the Divine Spirit is not there. As soon as you divide yourself and succumb to contradictions, you do not admit God within. This is a psychological law. When I speak of the human being, I am asking you to go deep within and visualize the genuine human being created in the image and likeness of God. This human being of Truth and Love has never desecrated the name of God. Moses, one of the great initiates, said, “You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God in vain.”[1] This is a commandment of the first mystic who sought to study the Great Divine Teachings. He strived to sanctify the name of God. This means to be a true human being. Until you begin to sanctify the name of God in its profound meaning, handed down by the Virgin Divine Spirits, you cannot rise higher than your present position. Often I see how people in Bulgaria and elsewhere separate themselves forming groups of great and small, open and narrow-minded, with positive and negative thinking. They say, “We are open-minded, we are not as limited in thinking as the others.” It is good to be open-minded, but be sure that at the same time you do not lack strength of character and sublime ideas. If you go abroad among the mystics or theosophists, you will find out that they are followers of the Brotherhood of Light as they are working for the renewal of the human mind and bringing a new impulse, a new wave of activity of the Divine Spirit in the future. Today theosophists are divided into followers of Besant and Steinerists, called also anthroposophists. In fact, both groups are anthroposophists. However, they do not get along with each other and separate into smaller groups of narrow and open-minded. The followers of Besant are mostly female, while the Steinerists are generally male. Both groups argue also among themselves. All spiritual movements of the Eastern esoteric tradition are led by women, while those of the Western esoteric tradition have men for leaders. This division is notable, but it is only an external aspect. Those who are not enlightened may be tempted and involved in such arguments, which would not allow them to comprehend Christ. Just as in the time of Christ some were tempted, people have similar temptations today. Ever since man erred and in this way distorted the name of God, he has always fallen into temptation. Those who are tempted cannot rise to the position of thinking people and cannot understand the inner, fundamental Laws governing the human spirit. One needs to understand the Great Laws of the Divine Plan in order to change one’s individual and social life, as well as that of the whole humankind. The theosophists call the higher mind “the higher manas.” The natural or lower mind they signify as “the lower manas.” However, there is no mention at all of the middle mind or the “middle manas,” which is the most important. The lower mind is the foundation upon which the human thought is based. This means that it is like a soil, a substance from the mental world. If you are familiar with the makeup of this soil, you will know what seeds to plant in it. Every thought contains a seed of action. Learning and good thinking means to know what seeds are to be planted in the different seasons of the year. It is said in the Scriptures, “Whatever you sow, that shall you reap.”[2] What is meant here is sowing of mind. There are so many false concepts and wrongdoings among people so that if they do not begin to listen to the Great Teacher, they will destroy each other. He says, “From now on, I will not permit anyone to take even a step forward. If they do not change their way of thinking, if they do not sanctify the name of God, they may knock at My door for thousands of years: pity on them! They will reap the fruits of their karma accumulated over thousands of years.” What is karma? It is the consequence of all the bad fruits you have planted in the past. Christ came to Earth with one purpose only - to redeem the humankind. By redeeming I mean teaching people how to sanctify the name of God within themselves and in the world. The foundation of our existence rests upon God’s name. Its sanctification is the greatest thing indeed representing a philosophy of the future. Some complain that no secret knowledge has been revealed to them. What do they want? A weapon to kill each other? In Western Europe, there are various teachings and societies whose members aspire to discover the secrets of Nature. In this respect, they resemble those women who avenge their partners using vitriol.[3] Why do these women avenge them? It is because they have been betrayed by them. Once they have scarred them, these women get satisfied and say, “Now that he cannot be mine, he cannot belong to any other woman either.” There are men who behave in the same way, as well as some religious people. Christ is grieved by people’s actions. God has decided to punish them, if they do not set right their behavior. According to the Divine Law, wrongdoing is no longer allowed. The old ways need to end because a new epoch, a revival is coming. The Virgin Divine Spirit is descending in a circular wave through seven planes; that is to say, through seven worlds. During the first period, or the Saturn period, the Virgin Divine Spirit descended to the mental world and created the mind or the human mental body. During the second period, that is the Sun period, the Spirit descended to the astral world, creating the body of desires. During the third period, the Moon period, the Spirit descended to the etheric field of the physical world, creating the human etheric layer. In the fourth period, the Earth period, the Spirit descended to the lower field of the physical world and created the physical body. In these periods of descent and ascension, the Spirit passed through a Spiritual day and night. In the first period, when the Divine Spirit worked to create the human being in the image and likeness of God, man was free of sin. In the second period, man began to fall. In the third period, man declined to a very low state. In the fourth, or the Earth period, the lowest period of descent, the fall of humankind reached to the end. Why is it necessary for humans to descend and sink into matter? So that they could clothe in all layers, becoming denser and denser one after the other. After that, from the last layer, ascending and clothing in higher and more sublime forms begins. During each period, there is a partial ascension and descent in a wavy line. The final movement will be ascending. All those who are not willing to connect with God will be tossed out of the Divine Day main flow. Then that person will need to wait for another period of descent and ascension, or for another Wave. All those who move upward toward God will enter Heaven, while those who do not, will remain outside of God. The gates will be closed before them and they will hear God’s Voice saying, “I do not know you.” One day, when Christ comes to knock at your door, those who tend only to their personal affairs and trivial things will remain outside without oil in their lamps. They may come to their senses afterward, but the Divine Ship has already set off - it is not waiting for anyone. Therefore, everyone should be ready to board the Ship on time. Talking like this, it is not my intent to moralize, only to explain the Law and what God speaks. God will not stop the Ship for anyone. Thus the Wave continues and especially now, you have the most favorable conditions for spiritual growth. When a negative thought passes through your mind, remember that it comes from your distant past, it is not from the present. It is like someone else’s child; it is a foundling. Do not accept it. I do not want you to send such foundlings, unwanted by their parents, to me either. As a Teacher, I was not sent to Earth to raise and educate such children. To raise a sinner is one thing, but to bring up a foundling is quite another. Sinners, who have come to their senses, repent their errors and make effort to do God’s Will can be saved. It is such people that Christ came to save. Everyone can be saved. A sinner can also be saved but not a foundling, not a child unwanted and ignored by parents, for it is like a serpent; the more it is fed, the stronger it grows. One day it will coil around the human being and crush its bones. For you personally and your future blessings, you should better nourish only the Great thoughts that God has originally imparted in you through the Holy Spirit. Do not nourish the negative thoughts imparted to you by those on the dark side of life. The mother says, “I have a hard time and much trouble with this child, but one day he will take care of me.” No, one day this child will, like a snake, crush your bones and throw you out of this Wave. “Sanctify them by Your Truth. Your Word is Truth.” No one can learn the Divine Law before they sanctify God’s name. When you sanctify God’s name, your thoughts become pure and positive. With them you will create these enveloping layers, where the body of Truth will be conceived and it will set you free. Truth is the first body that you need to work upon at present. The human soul abides in it. Without Truth, there is no freedom. No matter how many tears you shed, you cannot be free if Truth is not with you. Weeping cannot help you in this case. Sometimes it is good to weep, but sometimes it is bad. Weeping is like rain. If you have sown good seeds, they will grow to nourish and uplift you. If you have sown thistles, once they are grown, they will suffocate you. If you weep for God - this is a blessing; but if you cry for the world, it is a pity for you - in this case, you would better have drought. Positive and noble thoughts will uplift you. With their help you will enter the body of Truth and be free. This way you will come to know Christ and He will come to know you. Some people want to find Christ in me. No, you will find Christ in His Teachings. If you would like to know who I am, I will tell you: I am the brother of the smallest ones in the Kingdom of God. I, the smallest one, would like to fulfill God’s Will as due, to sanctify His name as He has sanctified me. God has been so good to me that I, the brother of the smallest ones, want to repay Him with all my gratitude. It is my wish for you to follow my example. Some of you might be tempted to be greater than me, to be ahead of everyone else. This truly is a temptation. Christ said, “It is enough for a disciple to be like his teacher.”[4] I too do not want anything else. Just being a servant of Christ is enough for me; I would not exchange it for any other existence. The place you occupy is not as important as how you fulfill your obligations to God. You want to be kings. It is good for someone to be a king, but in some cases there is nothing worse than this. A king may accomplish thousands of good deeds; he may benefit an entire society or nation, but he can also bring it to ruin. This is why Christ said, “For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.”[5] If you want to become great, this proves that you have pride and vanity within. Big businessmen operating with a capital of hundreds of millions usually run up huge debts and sometimes it is quite possible to bring many people to ruin. If you have 100 million and lose it all, you will experience great torment. I take the number 100 because it is a sign for one of the higher Angelic hierarchy. There are no words to describe the anguish and suffering of a businessman who has lost his 100 million. The opposite is true as well; there are no words to describe the joy of a person who has 100 million at his disposal and knows how to use them wisely. The latter is as great as the former is terrible. “Sanctify them by Your Truth.” The first thing to learn from Christ’s Teaching is humility. It is the mother of genuine, positive knowledge. Pride is the mother of temporary, transient knowledge. You may have great knowledge, but if you have also pride, you will be in the position of the deluded brothers who have embraced the darkness. If, on the other hand, you obey the Divine Laws, even if you are among the smallest ones, you will have progress. If you want Heaven to come to you and bless you, you need to be humble in the highest sense of the word, not in the common sense as it is being preached to you. Humility represents a Beautiful Angel and a Great Spirit. Whoever has seen it has come to love it. All Divine Virtues which the human soul and spirit long for are conceived in humility. The Angel of humility brings forth compassion, that is the child of Love, being the youngest daughter of God. Love abides among the Virgin Spirits and promises a bright future to the entire humankind and all who seek it. If you want Christ within you to be immortal and powerful in order to uplift you, you need to allow unconditional Love to flow from your soul. It means placing Christ in the highest place within your soul and sanctifying His name within your heart. Some think that they are close to Christ. Only the small one, in other words, whoever has learned the art of becoming small and humble, can be close to Christ. You say that you would like to be like Christ, but at the same time you want to command. In order to be like Christ and close to Him, you need to apply the Law of Selfless Service and to think rightly; you need to answer hatred with Love and wrongdoing with good. No matter whom you serve - this or that person, you are serving God. Names are important only if they correspond to their true meaning. The name Christ is not singular as it has a collective meaning. Christ is like the air and light and everyone has the right to benefit from it. Learn to think in a rational philosophical way. Do not be deluded by the external form of things or by superficial words. Seek the hidden behind the words. If I have thought like you, I would have descended from where I am standing now a long time ago. “Sanctify them by Your Truth.” Now I want you to advance moving upward in a straight line in order to sanctify the name of God within. God’s name will uplift you to be, as Christ has mentioned, His partners and inheritors. Today I would like to shed in your minds and hearts the Divine Light through which you can free yourselves from all negative tendencies. The sword of Spirit is raised and those who oppose the Truth will have a hard time. We need to fight with the weapons that are described in 2 Corinthians 10:4–5, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” This is theosophy, esotericism, spirituality, Divine Wisdom. I would like you to take the following verse as a motto, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God.” Only in this way can you free yourselves from the intentions of the lower manas, from the wrongdoings, which people continue to pay dues to even now. Christ said, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.”[6] The lower manas is the Caesar in man. This verse means that while you are paying dues to the lower manas, do not forget to pay your dues to the higher manas too. What does it mean to render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s? It means to destroy the bad seeds so that they may no longer grow and get rid of all impure thoughts, saying, “Here you are, Caesar, take what is yours.” Then you will be able to embrace the Sublime Divine thoughts and store them in the Divine granary of your soul, saying, “Here you are, God, take what is Yours.” Afterward you may enter your inner secret sanctuary and say a prayer to God without mixing what is Caesar’s with what is God’s. Mixing them is not a genuine prayer. The prayer is powerful and effective only when the heart is pure and surrenders entirely to God. Only when the fire of the human heart burns vigorously does your prayer reach God. Can you imagine what an experience it will be to feel the Divine presence within your heart? An American once listened to Camila Russo, who was a student of Paganini, to play “The Dream of Life” and said, “At that moment I was ready to make peace with the whole world and to forgive all my enemies.” This American had listened to many prominent preachers, but no one had as deeply touched him as Camila Russo did. Therefore, when humility enters your hearts, then you say, “Lord, we are ready to forgive everyone.” I ask: Have you heard the voice of humility? As to me, I have. I do not know any other music to be more beautiful than the song of humility. What harmony exists in humility! What Love flows from the heart of humility! This Love radiates toward the hearts of all people. Every day it sends forth its kind thoughts and comfort to all suffering and burdened people, to the whole humankind. It says, “Be hopeful. I will help you sanctify the name of God in your minds and hearts. I will give you all my blessings.” At present, Christ wants to unite all spiritual societies and groups and religions all over the world. Therefore, you should refrain from judging people; you do not know the true reason hidden behind things. “Sanctify them by Your Truth.” How does God enhance our spiritual growth? Through sorrow and joy. I have walked the path of all human experience; I have listened to the Sublime Divine Spirits. Thus, I have come to the conclusion that all people need to walk the path of joy and sorrow. There is no better path than this. Who dares to doubt this? The path is not so difficult, but most people have served and still are serving the Caesar. A woman complained of her husband, saying, “I do not love him anymore; he has made me unhappy.” But when advised to leave him, she replied, “But who is going to support me?” No, this is no longer a marriage; this is concubinage. Marriage is something sacred and Divine. If you want to enter the Kingdom of God, you are not to complain that God gave you a seemingly bad husband. If you complain, God will tell you, “You have chosen this husband by yourself, it was not Me. You ask Me to improve your husband while you yourself have not improved.” When I mention this, I have in mind women as a whole and not definite or specific individuals. For me, every woman and man are individuals as well as a part of the whole. I use these concepts as real facts, from life itself. Thus, the path of joy and sorrow is the path for attaining patience. The patient person attains great experiences and inner richness. This is the only way for people to comprehend the Great Divine Path and Providence and also for the humankind’s future blessings. If you want to progress this year, never complain. When I say not to complain, I do not talk about the negativities around you, but I have in mind the fact that you should not take them deeply within. Your heart should always remain silent and calm. When someone throws stones and breaks windows, that is not really your fault. But when you, deep inside yourselves, begin to break the windows of your home and throw stones at your soul, I say: Friends, you have not yet learned how to pay Caesar and how to serve God. Anyone can ruin the lives of thousands of beings. Do you know how many centuries it will take to correct people’s mistakes? Sometimes the desire for revenge surges up within you. You tell yourself, “I will smash his head; I will step on him and he will learn who I am.” No, go deeper into yourself and say, “The spirit that has entered me is malevolent. I will acknowledge it and demand it to be silent; I will order it to leave my sanctuary. It must not desecrate the image of God.” You say to someone, “I cannot think well of you.” I am sorry for you. If you cannot think well of your fellow man, you cannot think well of God either. How then will you love God? There are three paths you can follow: the path of Love, the path of Wisdom, and the path of Truth. The last one is the narrow path of Life. Christ said, “There are only a few who follow the narrow path.”[7] However, everyone can walk the path of Love. If you cannot walk the path of Wisdom, take the path of Love. If you cannot walk the path of Love, then take the path of Truth. Therefore, the paths of Love, Wisdom, and Truth are the three paths you need to walk. Do not be upset if no one else is following your path; just go ahead and walk it. The result of all three paths is one and the same. The difference is only in the turns that each of them makes. This is what Christ taught when he was on Earth; this is what He is teaching now as well. If you cannot understand the earthly affairs, how can you comprehend the heavenly ones? If you are unable to understand the easy things, how can you cope with the difficult ones? You insist, “Tell us something great.” You say, “You are our brother.” If you think that I am your brother in flesh, you are mistaken. If you think that I am your brother in spirit, you are right. You say, “You do not love us.” If you speak of the earthly love, I do not love you. If you mean that I do not love you as your Angels do, you are mistaken. There is no other human being all over the Earth to love your souls as me. It is my wish that you love the human souls in the same way. This is the greatest thing that the brother of the smallest ones, the brother of your Angels guiding you in the right direction, can tell you. Do you understand? I know that your Angels are very glad for you today. Do you understand? It was my wish to do them a favor. I came to Earth to serve the Angels and to serve you. When I finish my work, you are going to say that I have gone away somewhere. Where will I go? No, I will go nowhere. I am going to return to the One Who has sent me here and will ask, “Did I fulfill the assignment that was given to me?” If there is still something that I have not finished, I will come again. If I do not finish my work the second time, I will return again until at last I hear, “You have done your work well.” This is the Law for the Small brother in Heaven: to fulfill what God wants from him. This is the great Teaching that you have not heard until now. What I am telling you now you have never heard before. Why not? It is because this Teaching is the teaching of the small angels who have come to Earth to uplift humankind. I am not going to bless you now; I am not going to do that. Why? If I send my blessing and there are still harmful weeds within you, they will flourish. I act wisely according to God’s Law. When the Heavenly brothers see you have sown good seeds, they will send you their blessings so that these good seeds may come to grow and bear good fruits. May God grow and resurrect in you with these fruits and may you sanctify His name! I will rejoice because you will then come closer to God. I proclaim this to you for the New Year, I have not finished yet; I have just begun and you will understand that. What I am telling you is just the beginning. There are many more things greater than this! If you listen to what these small ones are telling you, you are going to experience God’s Power. Wisdom will come upon you, your willpower will strengthen and all affairs in the world will improve. From now on, great work is awaiting the small ones. The Teaching for the Small ones is great. It is the most appropriate Teaching for you. It is the foundation of what the future holds in store for your soul. That is the Divine message for 1917. I do not have in mind the earthly, but the Divine year. I take into consideration several years: 1914, 1915, 1916, and 1917 setting the outline of the New epoch. These four Divine years form a cycle of Divine Blessing. The number 1 in 1917 implies the principle of Justice and 7 - the Law of Tranquility and Blessing. I will leave you now to think about humility, patience, and Love. Through these, try to smooth out the rough edges within you that interfere with the Divine harmony in your lives. Let every one of you, with the help of your Angels, call upon God and ask Him, “Lord, what shall I do for the triumph of the Kingdom of God on Earth and sanctification of Your name among people?” The first thing you will be told is, “Reconcile!” This was the Christ’s message. Read the Gospels by Matthew and Luke. It is said in them, “Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go your way. First be reconciled with your brother and then come and offer your gift.”[8] If he refuses to reconcile, take two more people and go back to him. That person who goes to the altar needs to reconcile with everyone. No one can go to the altar without reconciliation before that. You say in regard to some people, “Let’s go and try to reconcile with them.” How can you reconcile with them if they refuse to go to the altar? You need to reconcile! You will offer, “Brother, let us reconcile!” If he refuses, go with two more people. If he refuses again, bring two more. If he refuses once more, go with the whole community. If he still refuses to reconcile, let him be a non-believer and a tax collector. This is Christ’s Teaching. The squabbles that exist at present are not compatible with this Teaching. I do not want to judge anyone. To me, all of you are equal. I am telling you now: the results cannot be good unless you accept this Teaching. Why should unnecessary suffering be caused in this world? The suffering of the past is sufficient enough. Let joy and blessing come to humankind from now on. What I am telling you today is being spoken everywhere. God speaks of it, Angels are saying it too, all light-workers on Earth are preaching the same, and Christ announces it as well. I believe that this will come to pass. As it has been said, it will come to pass and there is not a shadow of doubt about it. We will all meet again one day; of course, not in the same situation as today, but ten times better and still here on Earth. After ten years it will be a hundred times better than now and after another ten years, a thousand times better. After another ten years, we are going to be ten thousand times better than now; after another ten years, one hundred thousand times better; after another ten years, one million times better; after ten more years, ten million times better; after another ten years, one hundred million times better. And at the end of this cosmic period or at the beginning of the next, we will be one with God. My peace be with you. Lecture given by the Master, January 1, 1917, Sofia. --------------------------------------------------- 1. See Deuteronomy 5:11. 2. See also Galatians 6:7, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” 3. Vitriol is another name for sulfuric acid. 4. See also Matthew 10:25. 5. See also Luke 12:48. 6. See Matthew 22:21. 7. See also Matthew 7:14, “Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to Life and there are few who find it.” 8. See Matthew 5:23–24.

Render to God the things that are God’s And He said to them, “ Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” When they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left Him, and went their way. Mathew 22:21, 22. “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” Unintentionally, Jesus touched a social issue. Should tribute be paid? This is an issue which has been arousing strong feelings for centuries. It can be discussed both in general and in particular. People’s happiness depends on the proper solution of this issue. This is a very tough, complicated problem with ten unknown quantities. It is easy for students to do math problems with one, two or even three unknown quantities. However, when faced with a problem containing more unknown quantities, they give it up. Life, though, offers people problems with ten and even more unknown quantities. It takes thousands of years to solve these problems. All people are baffled and frightened by the unknown. They asked Jesus, “ Should we yield tribute to Caesar?’ His answer was explicit, “Yes, you should.” Throughout the chapter Jesus came up with great ideas, which need a long time to be explored, just like the botanist and the mineralogist will have to examine a plant or a pebble for years in order to study them inside out. It is not easy to come to the profound meaning of Jesus’ verse. There are many Christians who, while sitting in a chair, start contemplating over some issues. Solutions to problems do not come simply through contemplation. The key is hard work. A woman asks, “Do I have to cook for my husband?” Jesus answers, “Yes, you have.” The husband is your Caesar, so you will cook for him. If you cook him breakfast, he will go to work, and you will stay home alone, so you will have the chance to serve God. The woman says, “I wish I were a man.” – Even if you were a man, you would have to render Caesar’s wife the things that are hers. So, there is a Caesar and a Caesar’ wife. If you are a man, you will give Caesar's wife what is hers and to God the things that are God’s. One and the same thing is required of both men and women. In other words, as a human being, you have your duties both to this world and to God. If you go to a ball, you will have to consider the requirements for a ball. The woman has to dress up in accordance with the latest fashion; she should be wearing a white evening dress, special shoes, and make-up. The man will be in a dinner jacket, nice new shoes, and white gloves. – It is not my cup of tea. – Well, if you don’t like it, then you shouldn’t go. Even if you have to see God, you will have to put on a necklace, a tiara, and a bracelet. The necklace is Love. The tiara is Wisdom. The bracelet is Virtue. I have seen women in Romania wearing watches round their ankles. Then, to see the time the woman raises her foot. Many find this shocking. I say, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s.” You are here on earth – that is what life here wants from you. There are people who get angry or envious; they cannot get used to Life as it is. If you cannot accept it, go to heaven. Those who grumble that sugar is scarce or the bread ratio is insufficient should go to heaven. What are they doing here? Give Caesar what is his - pay him a tribute. This is what Caesar gives – nothing more. Man’s first task is to solve Life properly. It is the solving of this problem that gives meaning to Life itself. One who cannot realise what Life is is nothing but a pygmy, nobody, an insect. The point is not in putting on airs or strutting like a peacock. It is enough to come close to them, to make them look down on you. Do not take offence – this is how they see it. You should not get hurt either, when I am telling you the truth. I say: While here, you should think hard and work diligently to find the right solutions to problems in Life. When God expelled man from Eden, He appointed an Angel to guard it. – What did the Angel keep? – Man’s reason, i.e. the Divine beginning. Reasonability remained in Eden. The Serpent seduced Eve, who ate from the forbidden fruit. Then she gave Adam too eat from it too. So God expelled them from Eden and said, “As you do not deserve Life, you will leave Eden. One day, when you understand Life, you will come back to me.” People want to be happy. There is no happiness for people who squander their father’s wealth. I do not mean to expose you by saying this. I am just trying to make a principle clear. You needn’t take offence. All of you, who are attending this lecture, are not true human beings yet. I can see people dressed in clothes, having a certain appearance and weight, but this is far from being a true man. I think highly of man. There is something great hidden in you, which you are not aware of. There will come a day when the Divine in man will manifest itself, and then you will know what Life is and what man is. Jesus said, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.” By giving Caesar what belongs to him, you will find freedom. Each bad thought or desire is not yours, they belong to Caesar, so you should yield them to him. – Who is Caesar in man? – The devil. You will say, “I got angry today.” Did you render to Caesar what is his? Well, you should. Don’t just give Caesar what is his. You should also render to God the things that are God’s. What is Caesar’s is human. We owe much to humanity. Therefore, we should render to anybody what we owe to him. This means understanding the point in Life. A hermit lived in the desert for many years. Eventually, he decided to see a saint and ask him about the point in Life. The saint told him, “ Go to the nearest village and spend a whole day among the village people. You might learn something from them.” The hermit went to the village and visited the home of a man who was about to leave for work in the fields. The hermit decided to join him. On the way to the fields the villager said, “O God!” He then spent the day toiling the soil, ploughing and sowing and on coming back home for a rest, he said, “O God!’ The hermit came back to the saint to tell him what he had seen in the village. “What did you learn?” – “Not much. I saw a villager who uttered “God” twice during the whole day.” The saint gave the hermit an icon-lamp and told him to go round the whole village carrying the icon-lamp. He warned him to be careful not to spill a drop of oil. The hermit carried out the task quite well and came back to the saint, who asked him, “How many times did you remember God?” - “Not once.”- “Why?” – “All my attention was focused on not spilling a drop of oil from the icon-lamp.” Then the saint told him, “You see, the villager, who is providing for both his family and us, found the time to remember God at least twice during a day of hard work, while you, the hermit, could not remember God even once!” I would like to ask today’s philosophers and scholars how many times a day they remember God. The reason for people’s misfortunes is that they do not remember God. That is why Jesus said, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s”. I say that you should think about yourselves, about your arms and feet, your heart and mind, about your progress. However, you should also think about what is lofty and noble, about how to improve life in store for you after death. Today’s life is ours; tomorrow’s life belongs to God. How can you be happy if you do not render to God the things that are God’s? People’s misfortunes come through giving only Caesar the things that are Caesar’s. He only takes; he does not give. God differs in that He both takes and gives. He will take the child from a mother, but in a year or two He will give her another better child. A husband abuses his wife. God will take this husband and give the poor wife another, better than the first one. So, you should not be sorry when God takes something from you. He is just, kind and compassionate. He will give you something better in return of what he has taken from you. In this respect God sets an example of giving. Jesus said that your deeds should be so enlightened that whoever saw you should glorify your Father. – Why hasn’t the world improved yet? – Because your deeds do not glorify God. It is the learned and spiritual people that bear the responsibility. There are many learned people here on earth that are far from knowledgeable when they go to heaven. There are many saints here on earth who are no saints in heaven. There are many noble people one earth who are not noble in heaven. Appearance and reality are two different things. One has to distinguish between what is important and not in order to take the right path. One should be free from ambitions and obsessions. So there are four things necessary for man to go straight: to distinguish between what is important and not, to get free from personal ambitions, to have a decent life, and to cherish Love in his soul. The Angel will not admit man to heaven until he builds up these four requirements. God says, “You know how to serve Caesar, but you do not know how to serve Me. Angry though you may be, I still cannot accept you as My servants.” Which musician will agree to teach your child, who still has not acquired basic skills? He will say, “I don’t have the time to deal with your backward child.” By ignoring ignorance, God let the ignorant grope about in their ignorance. Today, when people are better equipped to understand Him, He sends them His Son among them. What does the modern person do? He gets up in the morning, washes his face, combs his hair, puts on clean clothes and starts some other job. His first job is serving Caesar. Then he asks himself, “Should I serve Caesar?” – Yes, you should serve Caesar, because you are in his kingdom – you need to be just. Someone decides that he should not take care of his body. – Who told you this? If you live in a rented house, you should keep it clean and tidy. – I am a holy person. – No matter whether you are holy or not, you should do the cleaning. If you have come here to earth, even if you were a saint, you would have to do the cleaning. A teacher gives a student a poor mark. The student is displeased with the teacher and threatens to beat him. There are many teachers beaten by their students. My advice to the student is to do his lessons to avoid getting poor marks. My advice to the teacher is to check the student’s progress regularly before giving him a poor mark. The teacher should be sensible in all respects. By living properly, both the teacher and the student lay the foundations for better service. God is gracious and kind. If you serve Him, you will serve in Spirit and Truth. All this requires perfection. It is easy to serve God, but only if you have the deep inner striving to do it. Without that striving it will be difficult for you to serve God. You may say, “I want to see God and learn from Him.” – This is possible only if you are worthy of God. A wife gives her husband a hiding several times a day, and yet she is eager to see God. Well, she can’t. - Why? – Because she hasn’t coped with her husband yet. A husband bullies his wife, but he also wants to see God. His way to God is blocked. The husband and the wife stand for two principles that need to be reconciled. If you are a man, you should pay tribute to Caesar’s wife. If you are a woman, you should pay tribute to Caesar. What happens to the man and the woman on the outside occurs inside people too. Caesar and his wife exist both outside and inside man. Many claim that the world is evil. I don’t believe this. What I tend to believe is that it is people who are bad, so whether the world is good or bad is determined by people. The world is just as bad as people are. When speaking about the world, you should mean your personal world and not the world created by God. If you are indisposed, do not think that the same refers to all people. You have no right to infer from your disposition or indisposition about all people. As for the Caesar in you, you should be kind and gentle to him, ready to give him what rightly belongs to him. You will study his character to treat him properly. – He is a tax collector. – Never mind. You will apologise for being behind with the money and give it to him. You should not swear, nor grumble. You will be calm and quiet. If you are short-tempered here, you will be the same in heaven. People remain the same when in heaven. They will be extremely strict with you there. You can be expelled from there only for knitting your brows, or sulking. You can wear your sulky expression here as much as you want, but this is unacceptable in heaven. An Angel was sent back to earth for a thousand years for frowning just once. Caesar is more lenient in this respect. He fails to see the constant frowning and scowling of man. “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God what is God’s” This means: Fulfill your duty to God. If you fail to perform your duty to God, you will be pretty much like the American whose chief priority in life was money, but in his death bed he became aware of his situation and told his sons, “Do not follow my example. I lived only for my wealth and now I cannot count on anybody in the other world. So, you should put in my coffin all kinds of money. I hope it helps me.” When he went to heaven, he soon felt hungry and thirsty and stopped at a refreshment stall where roast chicken, fish and fruit were sold. He asked how much the chicken was – “1 rupche1. Everything here costs 1 rupche.” – “Well, it is so cheap here! I can buy anything!” The rich man took out twenty levs and wanted to buy everything on the stall. – “We do not use such currency here. The coin of exchange here is the rupche.” The rich man called his sons to send him a bag full of rupches. On receiving the rupches, he went to the stall to buy something. – “We do not take such rupches here.” And this time they kicked him out. “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.” This is the only way man can get rid of suffering. Anyone leaving for heaven unprepared tends to suffer. It is important for everyone to live. – How should one live? – Sensibly. There are people who lose their temper at trifles. Learn from the Sun. When you see it in the morning, it greets you with a smile. On setting in the evening, it turns its back on you. Should you be angry at it? You are often cross at each other without a sound reason. You are often angry that someone has not given you a proper welcome. Once a writer visited a rich man’s home to ask for a loan. The rich man pretended not to be at home and told his servant, “Tell the visitor that I am not in.” Although the writer heard the man say this, he did not get angry. One day the rich man needed a favour from the writer. He went to his house and knocked at the door. The writer opened the front door and said, “I am not in.” – “How’s that? I can see and hear you. Don’t tell me you are not in.” – “How strange! I believed your servant’s words. Why don’t you believe me? I am here, but not for you. So, when in future, you go to God, He will say, “I am not here” – “How’s that? We can see you.” – “ I am here, but not for you.” Now that you know this, you should not be angry with the Sun. It neither rises, nor sets. The sunrise and the sunset are nothing but an illusion created by the rotation of the Earth round its axis. Your earth and my earth rotate in exactly the same way. When coming to me, you should know whether my earth is rotating or not; whether my sun is rising or not. If my sun is setting, you’d better not come. Misunderstandings and sufferings occur as a result of untimely visits. Someone died. He died because his sun set. So sorrow suggests the setting of the sun. The sun sets in some direction – it means that one grows old and dies. The sun rises from another direction – one is born. Old age is to the west and youth is to the east. You will say that this is an allegory. No, this is alchemy. One day, when you get to know this art, you will transform according to your desires: you will get old or young; you will become a man or a woman. The same happens at the theatre: the young man becomes old and the old man becomes young. Such is the law of illusions. “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.” Is this the way people act? Is this the way Christians act? There are Christians who do not stick to this law, yet they criticise others. It shows that they have not learnt the laws of the world. The world and people of the world are in their right place; they have their great predestination. I have respect for people of the world. Most of them are sincere. If they have something to tell you, they will say it directly and not behind your back. Most people speak behind your back. If you have something unpleasant to tell someone, you’d better say it in a straightforward way yet politely and candidly. People of the world are fond of sincerity and cleanness. They regularly have a bath, change their clothes, use scents – they love the fragrance of flowers. Religious people avoid doing this as they find it improper. If they do not use scent, they’d better have a bath more often so that they will not stink. We have to change radically. This is what Jesus teaches us in His parables. “On hearing that those invited to the wedding refused to come, the king sent an army to destroy the killers and burn their town to ashes.”(-7) This is what I say: Forget about yourselves and think carefully. You will say that I am telling you off. I am not scolding anybody, as this is not my mission. I am not adept at this. Scolding is a dangerous job. It is quite similar to performing surgery, requiring Faith and Courage. What I am speaking about is calculus. It deals with the numbers from 1 to 10. When you grasp the inner sense of these numbers you will be able to determine your attitude to God and your fellow creatures. The biggest number is the unit. When you understand the unit, you will be able to comprehend all the remaining numbers and ratios. All the other numbers come as a result of the division of the unit into smaller numbers. So, the unit is the tree and the remaining numbers are the branches, the twigs, the leaves, the buds and the blossom of a tree. Not being aware of his worth, man grumbles and loses temper. He does not have the slightest notion of being just a twig, a leaf, or a bud from the tree. No matter how loud his cries are, they cannot be heard. If you are a leaf you should try to get as much sap of life as possible. If you are a small root, you should try to give the tree more nourishment. – I want to know what people think of me. – Being part of the tree means that you serve God. It does not matter whether you are beautiful or not. What counts is what you do as being part of the tree. Do not look down on the fallen leaves; do not judge them. Falling down is not their fault. There is some force that has prematurely torn them off the tree. Nevertheless, they will pay tribute to Caesar. Later they will appear on the tree again, able to render to God the things that are His. This is how you should think. Then you will suffer again, only that your awareness of suffering will be raised. There are two types of sufferings – conscious, when one is aware of the reasons, and unconscious, when one grumbles and complains, exaggerating them. Therefore a clever, religious and cultivated man is one who can cope with sufferings and use them reasonably. My understanding of culture is extensive application of religion. A truly religious person is one who does not live only with the mind and heart, but with the soul, too. Culture suggests thinning out of religion, while religion suggests thickening of culture. When saying that one has to be cultured, I mean that one should thin out by learning about all existent relationships among people and studying the structure of the state along with its regulations and institutions. This is Caesar’s culture. When one gets to the in-depth relations to God and Nature, discerning the insignificant from the significant, then he will be able to understand Christ properly and recognise Him. Jesus taught people to be interested in culture – how to show and apply it. Caesar stands for culture and Jesus represents religion. I say, “ Render to culture the things that rightly belong to it, and to religion the things that you owe it.” Religion is worthless without culture. One should start from the visible, moving step by step towards the invisible. The personality you can reveal as a cultured man will be just the same as the one you will have as a religious person. If you are short-tempered and fond of lying in your cultured life, you will be such in your religious life. Fondness for lying means concealing the Truth. You should be pure and sincere. Such a person can face God at any time. How will you look at a person who is infectious? You give him a friendly welcome, while he is bringing in your home the germs of some contagious disease. You will be utterly displeased with such a man. You should bear in mind that any visit you pay is an appearance in front of God. You should face God clean and pure. There are religious people who are cursed to bear malediction to the world – the most appalling bacillus. All that can be unintentional, yet they have to be wary of danger and clean themselves. Therefore, if you are not in the right frame of mind or angry, do not pay a visit to a friend. You should visit a friend only when God is with you. This is what Jesus taught people. What is Jesus’ teaching? It is a Divine book, from which anybody could read. I am looking through it every day. Some people say that they have spoken to God. It is possible but only if one has reached a high step on the ladder and purified himself. You will say that you are a learned person and you have access to God. You may be knowledgeable about your surroundings, but certainly not about Christ. Your knowledge does not open the path to Christ. One needs humility. Learned as you are, can you tell me how long you will live, how many children you will have and what they will be like? – I do not know how long I will live, nor how many children I will have. – You do not know about things that refer to you. How can you speak then about things that are far from you? You have to study. There is a teaching about the heart and a teaching about the mind. The heart belongs to Caesar, and the mind is God’s. Some times it is vice versa – the mind is Caesar’s and the heart belongs to God. Therefore, you should devote your mind to what belongs to it, and commit your heart to what is pertaining of it. Do not stop the springs. Do not stop the flow of rivers. Correct and clean their beds so that they can flow freely. Do not dry up your rivers. Do not cut down the forests. A lot has to be said to modern people so that they can understand matters according to their stage of development. Consciousness can be revealed in three aspects: mechanical, physiological and psychological. In mechanical consciousness processes run from the inside to the outside. These processes occur in Nature. Many rivers flow into one big muddy river. Processes in the mechanical consciousness are not Divine. The processes in the physiological and psychological consciousness run from the outside to the inside. You needn’t drop the bucket into the well to pull out water. The water flows naturally by itself. Thanks to this outward flow, the mud goes out and the spring gets pure. This is the spring on which Jesus works. It is this spring that He wants you to have. But as soon as you see Jesus’ desire, you block the spring in defiance to Him. In the end, you have to settle for the small rivers flowing into one big river, saying, “I am big enough.” – Yes, you are big but meddled. You’d better be a small and pure spring rather than a big and muddy river. This is the path leading to God’s Kingdom. You should make a free choice. It is up to you to decide whether to opt for the small and pure spring or for the big and muddy river. Your welfare depends on your decision. This is what rendering to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s means. Lecture given by the Master on 31st December, 1916, Sofia 1 An old copper coin, five stotinki Source

They Shall Be Taught “And they shall all be taught by God. Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.” John 6:45 “They shall all be taught by God.” The implication is simple. To throw light on the essence of God a lengthy, detailed explanation is necessary, as well as profound analysis of the verse. The concept of God is abstract, accessible only to philosophers and learned people. This matter is not known to modern people. You will argue that you are bearers of culture. You are representatives of Aryan culture, the culture of Good and evil. People coming from this culture are not capable of comprehending this verse. If you tell a contemporary that he will be taught by God, he will be baffled, unable to understand how and from where God will come to teach him. What is God? He is the Prime Cause of things. The word cause is prichina in Bulgarian. It contains two parts: pri and china. “China” 1means do in Bulgarian. So God is the one Who does the first things. You, just as all people, are the first creation of God, only not in the same appearance you have now. I mean that your souls are God’s first deed. Your souls are hidden in the outer shell – the body. “They shall be taught.” To be taught one needs an impetus, inner motivation and aspiration after what he is going to learn. A motivated disciple will easily find his master. A lad, cherishing Love in his soul, will easily find his beloved. Therefore, if you have to find God, Who will teach you, He should first talk to your heart, mind, and soul. Then you will find me. What do I mean by “Me”? – the Son. You will say, “I want to be the Father’s Son.” This is the greatest thing. One who cannot serve reasonably to God cannot call himself a Father’s Son. Service is not just to one. You should first serve your soul, your people, your nation, and finally, humanity as a whole. These are duties one has to learn and carry out. This is a great teaching. If you want to become a musician, a good violin player, you need long practice of learning how to position the violin and the bow. You need a lot of practice before you start playing better. When learning to play the piano, you also have to learn how to position the fingers. This is not an easy matter. You might say that it is easy and you can manage, but it is easy to speak of things you have not tried. It is everybody’s task to ask himself whether he is Father’s Son or not. In other words, you should ask yourselves whether you have served God or not. If the answer is positive, the solution to all problems comes easily. It means that you have already learned how to position the bow, and now the next lesson is to learn how to pull the strings. You will say that it is even easier. What is a bow? – To the married woman the bow is her husband. If she has learnt her lesson, if she knows how to hold the bow, then she can get along well with her husband and run the home efficiently. If she starts chasing flies and beating the children with the bow, she is not capable of running the house. Just as the music teacher gives elementary lessons to his students, so God begins step by step with those who want to learn something from Him. He will teach them how to position the bow, then how to position the violin, and finally, he will start with elementary practice. He will say, “Take your violin! Stand still! Start now!” By starting with easy exercises, you pass onto more difficult ones, until finally, you master all positions. This is what being taught by God means. You have come to earth, which is a great school. Those who learn to play will become great artists. Those who do not learn will remain behind the stage. Such is the great law. – Why has man come to earth? - To learn the law of Mercy and Compassion. “They shall be taught by God.” I will explain this verse through the legend about the creation of the world. God made the Heaven and the earth, the plants and animals and decided to have a rest. Shortly, it occurred to Him to create man in order to serve Him as a connection between the Heaven and the earth. Learning about His decision, the Angels came one by one to advise Him what exactly His creation should be like. First came the Angel of Truth and said, “Lord, do not make this creature. It will conquer the world.” Next came the Angel of Justice and said, “Lord, do not make this creature. It will be cruel and merciless. It will think only of itself. It will never sympathise with those who suffer.” Then came the Angel of Peace and said, “Lord, do not make this creature! It will sink the world in blood. Appalling bloodshed will occur as a result of its appearance.” So God gave up His idea to create man. Eventually, the youngest daughter of Mercy came to God and said, “Lord, do as you have decided. Make that creature. Even if all the others turn away from him, I’ll show it how to love and care.” On hearing these words, God cheered up and said, “I will make this creature in My own image.” So, man was created thanks to the Love of Mercy’s youngest daughter. Even today, anyone who knows this daughter is able to keep the image of Who made him. Those who do not know the daughter are doomed to perish. The youngest daughter of Mercy is Christ. You will say, “How can Christ stand for the daughter of Mercy?” Can He be compared to a girl? Christ bears the two beginnings – the male and the female one. By man we mean a reasonable creature that bears one of the greatest God’s attributes – Mercy. It is said, “They will all be taught by God.” What will they be taught? – Mercy. This is a great teaching. It means to have learnt how to move the bow and play beautifully. There will come a day when you will grow from a disciple to a Master, teaching the others. So, you should study Jesus’ teaching as a teaching about the human soul. This is the only way one can know his attitude to God and find where he belongs. Someone will be willing to study astronomy. He should ask himself how astronomy relates to his soul. It tells us about the eternal conditions under which the soul can live in infinite space. Only one capable of mastering the bow can live in infinite space. – You want to adopt the Holy Spirit. - How can this be achieved? – By letting Mercy enter your life. If you fail to do that, the Angels of Truth, Justice and Peace will come to God and say that they were right when advising Him not to create man. When one of these Angels sees that man errs, he says, “I knew it.” Mercy and Good need to work on man hard and continuously in order to restore his initial image. Good in man exists in a ratio of 1: 3. 1 stands for Good, while 3 stands for the three adversaries opposing it. They are delusion, selfishness and bloodthirstiness. You will say that you have never shed blood. There is not a single person who has not shed blood. The last century was a century of bloodshed. However, Mercy, working for elevating humanity, is close. Another culture is to come to this world – the culture of Mercy, which will determine the relationship of man to God. This is the first relationship, the primary art. If this art is mastered, the others will come naturally; all secrets will be revealed easily. The bow stands for human will. If the will is not cultivated, one cannot express his thoughts and feelings correctly. When the will is not built up, life is disorganised and disharmonious. There is order and harmony in one’s life only if will is cultivated. The thoughts and feelings are the tones, which the player conveys through his violin. – Which violin player is admired by the audience? - The one that plays harmoniously. – Why is it so that some men and women cannot stand each other? – Because their violins are not set. – What has to be done so that they can get on well together? – They have to turn to Mercy. It hides the skill of bringing reconciliation to people. You will say, “I want to learn how man was created.” – I cannot tell you about it. I can show you how to hold your violin, how to use the bow, but you will have to practise by yourselves. The bow and the violin need to be of good quality, and your task is to try to accomplish your job. Each man is given a bow and a violin. Each has to ask himself, “Do I use the bow properly? Do I position the violin as I should?” Each of you will find the answer, and if you are not pleased, you will have to correct yourselves. You will position the violin horizontally, i.e. in a passive position of acceptance. – What is it you are going to accept? – The Divine tones. If you tilt the violin, you are in one of the active processes. The tones, produced by your hands are the light rays, which are in constant growth. “They shall be taught by God.” Once you get the aspiration, knowledge will come naturally. If the aspiration is directed upwards, one starts learning from God. Such a person is thought of as musical. The stronger the aspiration, the greater the cooperation. All good people assist such a person. There is not a person in this world that does not respond to the Divine. It manifests itself in the form of Mercy. Where Mercy exists, the soil is prepared. The desert is said to be barren. It is a childless woman. Those who have no children are believed to be cruel. If you are aware of this, you should be wary of cruelty, hindering human development. When Nabuccodonosor conquered Jerusalem, he decided to visit the Jewish temple. When he entered it, he saw that blood was spurting near it. Utterly amazed at what he saw, he called the priests to ask them where the blood was coming from. They answered him that the blood was coming from the victims the Jews sacrificed to God. So, it was animals’ blood. Nabuccodonosor took a goblet full of blood and compared it with the animals’ blood. It turned out that the blood round the altar was not from animals. He insisted on being told the truth. What did it turn out? He found out that years ago, in this region, there lived a pious priest, Zachariah, who often spoke to people that they did not live a decent life. They soon hated him and killed him in order to get rid of him. Angry at hearing this, Nabuccodonosor ordered his people to kill all the priests and put their bodies in the bubbling blood. However, the blood did not stop coming out. Then he ordered his men to kill many children and throw them in the blood spring. The blood did not stop pouring out, either. Nabucodonosor could not understand what kind of blood it should be that would not stop bubbling. In the end he ordered the murder of young boys and girls. The blood did not stop though. “How strange”, he thought, “this is the blood of just one person killed, but his blood cannot be satiated. How will then the blood of the thousands I killed be satiated?” He repented and started crying. A few tears fell on the spot from where the blood was coming out. To his great surprise, the blood stopped bubbling. Just a tear was enough to satiate the blood of the murdered Zachariah. You will ask, “Why does man cry?” What is the purpose of tears? A tear shed from the eye can save one from the crime he has committed. This is the tear of Mercy. Everyone who has learned from Father comes to Me. True culture and true Knowledge start from here. By culture, in broad sense, we understand the knowledge and art encompassing Life as a whole. It includes the manifestations of the mind, the heart, the soul, and the Spirit. Every creature has its place and purpose in this culture. Each creature is given the necessary conditions for its growth. The first reasonable creature that came into existence with this culture was the human being, i.e. man. By man we understand a reasonable creature, able to think. This was a culture in which only men lived. Women did not exist then. – How can life be possible without women? – I am not going into detail here, but I say that this culture can be considered to have been one of the most significant cultures in this world. It is a culture free from sufferings. Man was related to God. God was his mate. In this friendship man acquired much knowledge but became lazy. You will say that old people are lazy. What counts is that it was laziness that made man seek for a companion to help him. He asked God to give him a mate. His desire was satisfied. God sent him one – the woman. The woman came but soon was fed up with Adam. She found him too old and sought a younger companion. She found one in the snake – the black adept. From here the second culture began – the one knowing of Good and evil. The present culture belongs to women. Men do not have the say. A new culture is coming. It will join the two principles of thought and Life. This is the culture of Mercy, or the culture of Love. The first culture was of Wisdom, the second - of Justice, and the third - of Love. This culture will join man and the woman in one. You will say that the merge suggests losing one’s identity. No, it is not so. To merge means to expand, to find harmony and more strength. The Bulgarians keep the motto: “Union is strength.” One word is missing in this motto: “Union in Love makes strength.” You should all aspire after this union – men with women, women with men – union in the name of great God’s Love. You will say that it is one and the same union. No, there are two unions formed – one is with man in the first place and the woman in the second, according to the order of their descent to earth. The other is with the woman in the first place and man in the second. The two unions come together in one place and give Life. Nowadays all people, both men and women, want to live well. Women think of how best to dress up and put on jewellery – diamond necklaces and tiaras like crowns on their heads. That is all good, only that these necklaces and tiaras cannot be kept long – men will pawn them. How many men have ruined their wives! When a young man decides to get married, he is in search of a rich girl. When he marries her, he soon squanders her wealth and leaves her penniless. An American inherited a lot of money from his father, who spent all his life herding cattle. His inheritance amounted to 3 million levs. On seeing so much money, he indulged in eating and drinking and within six months he dissipated the wealth. When this happened, he had nothing to do but follow his father’s career – a herdsman. He tilted his cap, picked up the crook and took to herding. It means that he took up studying Life. Many of today’s women prefer men who possess a lot of money and indulge in eating and drinking. But they soon lose everything and become herdsmen. Being a shepherd means to keep your feelings and thoughts to yourself. Just as the shepherd guards his sheep from the wolves, so each man has to keep his thoughts and feelings pure. The wolves in man are the bad thoughts and feelings, which he sometimes has to keep off. He should keep them at a distance so that they cannot spoil his mood. His pen has to be very stable. God will teach Modern people how to live. He is teaching them now. – How? – Through His thoughts. A noble thought enters your mind, but you are too shy to fulfill it. You say, “A trifle, childish thought has come to my mind.” – It is not childish, it is a Divine thought. – It is for young people. – Let your thought come true and do not be so shy. Divine manifestations refer to young people. The Scripture says that if you seek Wisdom, you will find it in old people. If you seek Strength, you will find it in young people. Man is old; the woman is young. They have to unite in order to create harmony in Life. Man is the first violin in the orchestra, and the woman is the second. Man and the woman are the two principles, complementing each other. However, a human being can be a man and a woman at the same time, a woman and a man. The woman says, “Why am I not a man?” She does not know that a person bears the two principles. Therefore, man is prone to errors. – Why does one err? – Because of the free will. If one does not know how to use the bow, he will play out of tune. While listening to such a person, you will say, “Here is one who does not know how to play, and yet he wants to teach us.” Many of you ask, “How can we understand what the present culture is?” Go to the country to see how the peasants treat the cattle working for them. Go to the bakeries to see how bread is sold. Visit the families to hear their shouts and cries. This is the culture of bitterness and fierceness. Whoever you meet, you will see hollow eyes and a pale face, as he is demagnetised. What culture is this? Today Mercy teaches people how to apply Mercy and Strength. This is what Jesus’ teaching boils down to. This is what Christ does on descending to earth to teach people. Some expect Christ to descend to earth accompanied by a host of Angels. What is an Angel? Man has a physical body, a body of desires, and a mental body. The Angel, though, is deprived of a body of desire, as a result of which an Angel cannot err. Therefore, Christ is accompanied by Angels and saints, i.e. people without a body of desires. If you want to become an Angel or a saint, you have to give up you body of desires. It is preached in churches that Christ is coming to punish people. It is not the case. Christ will come to put everything in this world in order. This is the only way for the world to get instantly straight. What does instantly mean? - At the blink of an eye. When does one blink? - When shutting and opening one’s eyes quickly. So does the cat when it wants to show the mouse that it no longer has a body of desires, so the mouse should not be afraid of it. The mouse is misled to believe the cat and keeps entering and leaving the hole until it falls prey to the cat. People who pray do just the same. They shut their eyes pretending not to see anything and say, “O Lord, we do not have a body of desires. Give us what we need.” When they receive an answer to their prayers, they open their eyes and forget about everything. Man should get rid of the unnecessary desires and the constant complaints about not having this or that. Only then can God teach him what he needs. Man should get rid of the body of desires. If two lads happen to be in love with one the same girl, how will they solve the problem? Today the usual solution is murder. Would it not be better if one of them gave up the girl to the other and loved her at a distance? There are cases when a wife does not love her husband and falls in love with another man. Or just the opposite, a husband does not love his wife and falls in life with another woman. The one who considers himself abandoned finds this wrong. Well, it would be far better if both spouses loved each other, but Love does not obey human laws. It would be good if the wife loved her husband, but how could it be possible if he beat her every day? A prominent English reformist, John Wesley, got married. Since he communicated with many people, both man and women, his wife was really displeased with him and started beating him. On the third day of his marriage he told his friends, “It’s no use getting married.” Such are the relationships of the people of today’s culture. This comes as result of the desires of the physical body of man. When the child is small, he or she is placid and meek, without any desires. As soon as the child starts developing the body of desires he or she becomes recalcitrant and self-willed. This is especially noticeable at the age of 7 to 14. From then on children begin maturing. When they grow up they work more with the mind, become sensible and between the age of 28 and 30 they are already conscious – they are already in search of God and Jesus. Now I am offering you the new Teaching, which will lead you to Jesus. I have been observing people’s Life and what I see is disharmony reigning everywhere – at schools, in societies, at home. This gives me anguish. Nowadays people are constantly having rows – husbands and wives, students and teachers, vicars and parishioners. This makes all these people martyrs. – Why are they martyrs? - Because they have given priority to the body of desires over God. Nobody listens to God now. All people want to be happy, educated, clever and rich. If you distribute all the existing wealth, only a sum of 40 levs will go to each living person. Can you be happy and content with 40 lv.? You will say that what you need is at least 40,000 lv. per month. Where can all that money come from? You will have to take it from someone in order to make yourselves happy. That cannot be a solution to the problem. The key to the problem is hard work. If you work hard, you can have anything; if you do not, you get nothing. This law is true only in this physical world; it is not applicable to other worlds. Try this: Instill in your minds the idea that you should work only with Love for God. You will see that you will accumulate considerable wealth within a few years. If this attempt fails, come to me and I will pay all your debts back. I am ready to do anything to prove the validity of this law. If each nation were determined to serve God, there would not be any wars. By not serving God, today’s people destroy everything they have created. There will come a day when they will become aware of their fallacies. Now they have nothing to regret. They act in accordance with the law of necessity. What is important is to avoid such destruction in future. I would like the Bulgarians to be the first to set an example. Let the priests commit themselves to serving God with Love. If they want, they can approach me. I shall pass this Teaching onto them so that they can preach it. I am ready to go somewhere else, relinquishing to them all my rights and privileges. I find it important that the Bulgarian people be spiritually enlightened and able to take its due place among the other nations. If all adopt this Teaching, their ways will go straight; their schools and families will be improved. Then it will be a real pleasure to cross the country, which will be like a paradise. You will be walking across the country happy and content that you are in service to God. Wherever you pass the trees and flowers will blossom smiling at you, the fruit will readily and gladly welcome you. Boys and girls will be greeting you with Mirth and Joy. The air will be alive with songs and plays. I have nothing against playing. Everybody will be dressed up and groomed. I am not against decoration. You can wear jewellery, necklaces and tiaras; you can wear crowns, but everything has to be done with Love. This is what being taught by God is. Religious people today expect Jesus’ Second Advent on earth. This is impossible. He has already tried people’s love. A Russian governor said once that if Jesus ever happened to come again, he would arrest Him. Jesus knows this. If He enters a church, the priests will chase Him away, saying that any prophet or preacher who comes after Christ, will be Antichrist or a false prophet. You will say that Jesus might come as a king. Well, are the kings so few that Christ should come as a king? If He came as a king, He would raise turmoil among the nations. Jesus’ kingdom is not one of this world. The kings now take their proper places. If they, along with their subjects, followed God’s will, people would be happy. This is what the verse “They shall all be taught by God” means. “They shall be taught by God.” This is the basic principle in Life. – How will they be taught? – By serving God. Mercy has a bearing on service. You should set your hearts on serving God. This is the new Teaching anybody can apply. Before you take to serving, you should reconcile the man or woman in you. You will tell them, “You will either get reconciled to serve together, or you will leave my house. Just as the wife issues an ultimatum to her husband to give up having affairs or she will leave him, so you will embrace the new Teaching and serve God with Love. The female in man should obey the husband, but the male in the woman should obey the wife. Such is the Divine teaching. The left half of any human being is female and the right one is male. The left half is smaller than the right one, i.e. the male part. These two principles can be seen in the human hands, face and eyes. The left hand and the left side of the face are female, while the right hand and the right side of the face are male. That is why the left part of the face is more delicate than the right one. The light coming from the right eye is harsher than that of the left one. The lower lip is female and the upper one is male. The lower part of the nose is female and the upper part is male. A long nose is male and a short one is female. If there is something rough in the male or female part of the human body, it is a result of former cultures. The first culture formed the length of the nose, and the second culture – its length. This is how the cross was created. “You will be taught by God.” Those of you who are already taught by God should observe yourselves in order to note which part of you – the male or the female one is indisposed. If you get angry, you should know that the woman in you is to blame, because anger as a vice is pertaining of women. If you are proud, it is the man in you who is at fault, because pride is typical of men. If an anger-prone woman and a proud man gather, they can set a house on fire. We do not need such people. This cannot be judged, nor explained. By man and woman I mean services to humanity. When you enter the third culture, i.e. the culture of Love, then you will understand what man is and what a woman is. Then you will become aware of their origin. Now I would like to discuss Mercy. Although this word is of neuter gender, it actually represents a woman. Mercy is the noblest feature of man living on earth. I am speaking of the Mercy of today’s society, of modern Christians, the Mercy of you, who are listening to me now. I am speaking to those who have been seeking Christ for two thousand years. I am teaching you, because you all want to be happy. I want you to be happy, too, to be taught by God. You want to be strong, and I want the same for you. You cannot work unless you are strong. The Mercy I am talking about is not an abstract notion, nor is it dead. It is real and alive. It descends to earth every day. It is the first ray that awakens you in the morning. It is Mercy that first gives you the idea to work. If you do not take its advice, you will make a mistake. It whispers to you what to do, but you put it off. Mercy tells you, “There is no time to put things off.” If you put things off, you will miss the opportunity. New opportunities for work lie ahead. If you do not sow, you will have nothing to reap. “They shall be taught.” - By whom? – By God, by the Prime Principle, which is within you, teaching you. Then comes Jesus, the second principle, Which determines your relationships. Finally, it is I who teaches you. I suppose you think that I have come to proclaim some denomination. No, I have come to teach you how to work. Where are you going to work? In church, at school, at home, in society. Once you have learnt how to work, anything you achieve will be yours. When the master learns how to thank his servant for the work accomplished, then he can call himself a Father’s Son. Being a Father’s Son is not an exclusive privilege. You can all be Father’s Sons. If you do a small favour, you should not expect any reward. May you show Love and rise from the dead. I will write out from the book of Life all men and women, all teachers and judges, all priests and preachers with old-fashioned, conservative views. God bless the good preachers, the good mothers and fathers, the good daughters and sons, the good teachers who are eager to accept the new views. They will be taught by God. God bless you! Lecture given by the master on 24th December, 1916, Sofia 1 I in china is pronounced , not [ai] Source

Save Us And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, and “Lord, save us We are perishing!” Mathew, 8: 24, 25 Now, you will ask yourselves what it was, after all, that the boat contained. Then, the Sea of Galilee is not that big – it is just an ordinary lake, though when Christ lived, it was one of the biggest ones. I would like you to focus on three elements in this verse, namely, the boat, the disciples, and Jesus. The boat is the human body, the disciples stand for the Astral world, and Jesus represents the highest principle in people, while the lake symbolises Life, it is the world. This is an analogy from which we want to infer a law, applicable in Life. In my opinion, anything that is not applicable to Life is a hypothesis, a conjecture. Anyone capable of comprehending this teaching will be able to apply it in Life. If you apply it at a time when the sea is stormy and you say, “It is over! We are perishing!” then you will have to wake up your Master, i.e. the highest principle, sleeping within you. When you chatter idly, your Master is asleep; when you are angry, your Master is asleep; when you are bored, your master is asleep. When your burden is so heavy that you cannot bear it, you awaken the highest principle, saying, “Get rid of that load.” Now, can you tell me in which part of Palestine all this happened? – In the Northeastern part, in Galilee. Palestine is divided into Judea, Samaria, and Galilee. Jerusalem stands for the inferior principle in man; that is why, Christ was crucified there. Everybody bows before Jerusalem, especially when having chicken and wine on the kitchen-table. It is exactly in this Jerusalem where Christ was crucified. There are pilgrims who look upon it as a major honour to go to Jerusalem. It is the greatest pleasure in this world to be invited to lunch or dinner to high laces. Yes, but in this Jerusalem Christ will be crucified. Samaria stands for the psychological beginning, while Galilee symbolises the highest principle. In the semantics of the Scripture lakes and rivers stand for Life as they both move; therefore, there is an analogy. The lake is said to have been rough. It is quite acceptable that the lake is stormy, because it needs renewal, i.e. winds are most welcome, otherwise the waters will remain still. It is movement that brings Life. By the same token, human life also needs movement. It is not bad when your brain, stomach, or breasts surge, because it means renewal, proven by facts. Nowadays diseases come as a blessing. If people did not fall ill, they would fall to pieces and decay. Therefore, the storm has to occur in order to awaken Him, Who is sleeping in the boat. You all enjoy pleasures and are eager to have everything ready, without much effort. You want to have fifty maids and servants, all the money in this world and everything done without you lifting a finger. When I say you, I mean humanity. So, there will be turmoil and misunderstandings in real life. They exist in the state, in church, at home, at school, in trade – practically everywhere. I would like to see a person whose sea is not tempestuous, but if such a person existed, he would be a saint, and not one from this world. That is why, if someone said that he does not get excited, he would be lying. Every human being living in this world gets excited. No matter how elevated one is, he will always get excited, as such is Life. Some tend to believe that when they go to heaven, they will find peace. There will be agitation there, too, only it will be of a different kind. When you experience something pleasant, this is an excitement. When you experience grief, this is also an excitement, though unpleasant. So excitement can be pleasant and unpleasant. If you are clairvoyants observing light, you will see that it is a movement of waves. There would not be any light without the movement of these waves. Your brain responds to the ethereal waves, so without agitation, thinking would be impossible. When the energy coming from the Sun reaches your eyes, it diffracts, so you can perceive the light reaching your optic nerve. Light is an act from the psychological world. Movements are physical, but the concept of light is spiritual – it is an act of the Spirit. Therefore, we can see through the Spirit. Now, tell me why Christ was sleeping in the boat. Sleeping is a law. One has to sleep to relax. Tired by His daily work, Jesus got in the boat and fell asleep. However, the winds did not let Him sleep and told Him, “Wake up! You must help these people!” Generally, a storm occurs when one is asleep, i.e. when disasters occur, God is asleep. Jesus is sleeping in the boat, but the storm and the cries of the people will wake Him up. When He wakes up, wars will cease. When Christ raises His hands, the storm will subside, seas will calm down, and the boat will come safe ashore. I will give an example to clarify my thought. On conquering Jerusalem, the Roman military leader Titus entered the temple, looted all its wealth, removed the golden shroud from the ark, took out the parchment with the ten Commandments, and said, “Where is the Jewish god? Let him show his power now!” Loading all the riches on the ships, Titus set sail for Rome. Initially, the weather was fair, but half the way to Rome a severe squall broke out and the weltering sea began tossing the ships. Gritting his teeth, Titus said, “The Jewish god is mighty only at sea so the pharaoh’s servants perished there. I would like this god try his strength against me on land!” The storm abated, the weather changed for the better and Titus noticed the sky clear up. Then a voice was heard saying, “You mean worm, now you will know me!” Titus landed, and quite excited at the narrow escape, asked, “Where is the Jewish god now?” He led his army to Rome, but at some distance from the coast a mosquito entered his nose, wormed its way to the brain and started bothering him. This went on for seven years and though he saw many doctors, nobody could help him. Once, when passing by a smithy, he heard the smiths hammering so heavily on the anvils that the mosquito got startled and stopped bothering him. Titus called the smiths to work at his court, but soon the mosquito got used to the sound of their hammers and began torturing him again. What does this story mean? You may have your inner conflicts, you can loot the shroud, and you can try convincing yourselves that there is no God, but this mosquito will inevitably come sooner or later. While this war is going on, the mosquito will come to both teachers and preachers, no one being able to find a remedy. This mosquito will come to anyone who has violated God’s laws. Some listening to this lecture might say that all this is old wives’ tales, but believe me, you will all experience this. According to the scripture God cannot be desecrated. Jesus will not be crucified a second time. He was crucified once for people’s sake, and from then on it will be you who will be crucified without being helped if you have Titus’ temper and attitude. You have to wake up Jesus sleeping inside you. This is the only way for you to grasp the inner sense of your lives. Each of you has a Jesus inside, which is typical of every individual. But I would like to ask you what Christ is for you. This reminds me of those mothers boasting about their children. One mother will say, “Look at the beautiful eyes of my child! Isn’t my kid lovely!” – “No, mine is lovelier!” another will say. It is not the child’s appearance that matters. What counts is the mind, the wit, and the heart the child has. If you manage to wake up the Christ living in you, He will be able to calm your sea down. He is the God you are seeking. If the sea abates, you are on the right way, holding onto your God. A god that cannot establish peace in your soul cannot be a true god. He can be wearing a mantle and a gold crown, but he is just an idol. From time immemorial man has suffered from his idols. Be aware of them, as they bring on misfortune. So, you will know Christ, because He will bring peace to your heart and mind and will make you important in heaven. You want to be important here, on earth, but this is ridiculous. How important can a root be? The aspiration of a root is to shoot deep downward; therefore, the more important you are, the deeper you go. In other words, the more important you are on earth, the farther you are from God. There are four types of people: good people who do not do any good, bad people who do not do evil, good people who do good, and bad people who do evil. The last two types are constant and the first two are transitional. Which category would you prefer? Which are better than the first two types? These types have to be crossbred and mixed so that they can produce a good result. A woman will say, “I am a good person, but I can’t do good." Arrange it for her to marry a bad man and she will turn into a saint. If you let a bad woman who cannot do evil marry a good man, she will be elevated. This is how these two principles work. The first two types are weak-willed people, while the other two types are people of strong will. Jesus’ disciples are like those who are basically good but incapable of doing good, because they were impotent. “Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him.” Each rest is followed by active life. Since the storm gives rise to the conditions necessary for life to exist, it was crucial for the storm to break out, so that Jesus could appear. Such is the law: Jesus cannot appear without a storm. Some might say, “You are after God, but there is a chain of misfortunes befalling you!” This is the privilege. A farmer, growing a vine, will often check its progress, and prune it, while the vine will cry. Some will say, “I’ve cried my eyes out”. I feel sorry for people who have never cried – it means that they have not been pruned. If God prunes you, it means that He is awake and is going to help you. You will tell him, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” How will you greet God when he wakes up? You can greet Him just like the woman whose husband comes back home bringing something and she tells him off for having forgotten a certain item. When your God wakes up, you will start complaining about something that slipped His mind. He will say, “I should have slept longer, because these people want to sleep in their graves.” From the verse cited above the last line is more interesting: “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” By perishing I understand the assimilation of the superior principle by the inferior one. When reasoning falls victim to your stomach, the inferior principle manifests itself. People nowadays are quite happy when they become obese, which, in fact, is the greatest misfortune. Then they turn into a fat pig that is going to be eaten by its master. When you become fat, you will be eaten by the Devil. You will be a mere turkey, while the devils will get together and say, “We have been feeding this person for years, but his meat is worth the effort.” This is death; that is why, you have to wake up Jesus. The disciples awoke Christ to avoid being eaten. This is true both metaphorically and literally. To all who understand religion, it means that an inferior principle can engulf a superior one, which means descending. If you want, you can call this “eating the pig”, but anyway, an inferior principle eats up a superior one. When a man eats up a pig or a hen, it is the superior principle that eats them, but at the same time man lowers himself. When I say that one should abstain from eating meat, it means that the forces of inferior life oppose our life. That is why vegetarian food is better. If one wants to be physically strong, he has to eat meat. If one wants to be spiritually strong, he has to eat fruit and vegetables. If one does not eat meat, it means that Jesus is awake inside him. Under meat I understand all inferior thoughts and desires, comparing them to hens, turkeys, etc. Someone will say that he does not like pork, but prefers poultry, lamb, etc. It makes no difference. You have never asked this lamb whether it wants to be eaten. How many times you have eaten the human lamb! The husband comes back home merry and cheerful, carrying a lamb, but his wife meets him brandishing a knife, spoils his good mood, and so, he loses his lamb. Do you remember how many times you have slaughtered lambs? Someone will say that he has never slaughtered a lamb. You are all lying. God says that whoever gets angry with his brother without a sound reason slaughters a lamb. God will look for these lambs. What I want you to learn from today’s lecture is not to slaughter lambs – this is what I think. When the husband or the wife carries that Lamb, you should greet him or her and give the lamb some feed or water. The Lamb is Jesus, bearing Joy. When Jesus awakes, the five principles are awakened, too – to keep to Truth, to stick to Justice, to learn Wisdom, to make friends with Virtue, and to enjoy Love. Some say that they stick to Justice, but they do not enjoy Love. You should by all means do the five things, as this is the highest principle. Some day, if we are still alive, as long as you do not slaughter me as a lamb, I will talk to you about Virtue, Love, and Justice. The love you have is made of potatoes, and I have heaps of books on it. The Love I am speaking about sustains the whole world and heaven – God and all the Angels live in it. It is immutable and is never in two minds. A man cherishing such Love can see deep. While you are like shallow marshes. I can see that the love some have is 15 to 20 cm deep. Actually, it needs to be 10 or 20 km in depth – or at least as deep as the oceans. Disasters are impossible to occur where there is depth. If our lives are as deep as that, no storm is capable of stirring their water. The Sea of Galilee was shallow, which made it possible for the storm to occur, but such phenomena are impossible in deep places. A person who worries much, no matter whether he is a philosopher or a preacher, has love not deeper than 15 cm. Although many have tried to lie to me, I cannot be misled in these matters. This is the measure I apply to my love. You should find it, too. When Jesus woke up, he said, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” According to the Scripture perfect Love chases away all fears. Disasters do not occur where there is depth. So, when getting married, you should test the person you have chosen. If he or she worries too much, their bottom is shallow and there will be many storms – do not swim in such a lake. Some girl will say, “When I marry him, I will change him.” No, you will find the bottom. Even if he promises you golden mountains, you should not get in his boat. No matter whether he is a preacher, a priest, a merchant, or a judge, you should never get in his boat. Jesus asks you why you do not have that Love. The one who sends you the storm wants to test how great your Love, Wisdom, and Truth are. For example, there are Christians who would not lie for a farthing, but would gladly do so for a shilling. I knew a gentleman who used to say, “I would not lie for 10 or 100 lv., but if I were offered more, perhaps I would.” I, however, would not lie even if I were offered the whole world and all the glory. I would not pluck a hair from my beard; I would not ever lie for all riches in this world. A hair from my beard is worth more than anything, and if I ever gave someone a hair from my beard, it would be because the man is worth it. There are about 250,000 hairs on the human head. By a hair I mean a law. That is why women have long hair. Now you all comb your hair without being aware of these laws. You just think that putting hair on your heads and face is just God’s whim. God knew His business when He gave you hair, but I would not dare reveal His intentions. I would reveal this to you, but before that I would examine you. Do you have an idea what was all that in aid of? Why did Jesus suffer crucifixion? Satan appeared, tempting Him and saying, “I have seen many like you here.” Then he showed Him how people would spit at him and do evil in His name. Then Jesus turned to God and asked him, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Then God spoke deep to His soul, so Jesus said, “It is finished.” Now, some of you have been listening to my lectures for weeks, saying, “We are not doing any good.” I consider you to be good people who do not do good. You say that you do not have the conditions to work and deal with it. God has imparted everything in you, so you should not waste your time. You get in a boat, saying, “We are going to rule the waves.” You need to wake up Jesus, sleeping in the boat. There are a lot of spirits in your mind, scaring you. But the time when God is going to judge you for each word uttered by you is near. At first, He will judge the righteous, and then the sinners. Everyone will appear in front of Him to say what has been done for thousands of years. You may have done just one good deed in your life, but the point is in quality, and not in quantity. When Jesus comes and opens the book, He will see how many lambs have been slaughtered. You do slaughter lambs every day, and as a result, there is no peace in your homes. God, Whom I am speaking about, said, “Let Jesus wake up in you!” Now I am speaking to you, but this is a voice crying in the wilderness. When Jesus wakes up, you will rise from the dead, finding yourselves not in Jerusalem but in Galilee, your sufferings will be over, turning into a pleasant agitation and you will find yourselves in a pleasant atmosphere, favourable for your growth. The inferior and the superior lives are connected; however, the inferior life should be subordinate to the superior one. Do not let your stomach, heart, and mind rule over you – they should be your servants. Lift any desire to serve the Divine Principle. You reckon that you will understand the Jesus I so often talk about, trying hard to see Him. I would like to ask you whether your sea calmed down, and whether you came ashore. No. What you have seen is mock Christ; you have yet to see true Christ. When He appears, you will stand firm on the rock of Virtue, in the frame of Justice, and amongst the true mother of Love, who does not judge and avert from anybody. Love does not divide people into righteous and sinful. It lives both in Heaven and on earth, in hell and above. It enjoys performing its duty wherever it is. You will say, “I can’t stand this fellow.” You are a good person, but you do not do good. Somebody will say, “It’s good giving alms, but really, that’s the limit! I’m not going to be the slave of it!” You are such, too. So, it is time you listened to what Your Jesus in the boat, tossed in the rough sea, is about to tell you. What He is going to tell you should be kept sacred and secret. When I tell you Titus’ story, you say, “I haven’t done it.” But remember the times you get angry, saying that God built the world badly. Then you remove the shroud and happen to be just this Titus who destroyed Jerusalem. You will say, “How cruel that man was!” Remember the times you have defied God, while He said, “You small worm, do you know how you will die?” Some give Him advice – God does not need any advice. If all people understand the world in this way, if they are all able to apply this teaching, Christ will come. I would like all preachers, priests and judges think in this way – to keep to Justice, enjoy Love, learn Wisdom, and follow Truth. This is the only way people can make some progress - everything else is vanity. Only then can everything become meaningful. There is sense in cooking and washing. Someone is doing the washing, complaining, “Why should it be my duty?” For example the daughter-in-law, is doing the washing, saying, “Can’t I get rid of these old folks? It’s one thing washing my own clothes, but why should I wash theirs, too?” No, while washing, you should say instead, “Just as I am going to wash this shirt, I want you, Lord, to clean me!” If I am doing the washing, I will say, “ God, those people stained me! Now, make me clean again!” If I start writing something, I will say, “Just as I am doing this, I want you, Lord, to give me some colour!” Someone will say that the book was stained. A book cannot be studied unless it gets stained. If you examine the word mercy, you will see that the letter M has four lines forming two mounts and a valley. Therefore, to be merciful, you need two peaks, among which the valley lies. Likewise, human life cannot be made up of peaks only; it needs its valleys. The valleys are the dark, shadowy places. Sometimes your eyes are not well. Some weeks ago a young lady came to me, complaining that her lower lids were darkened. She had got it into her head and the thought haunted her. The problem, actually, was that her eyes were a bit popped out and cast a shade at different angles in the light. Similarly, when you see some shade, you start thinking that you are great sinners and nothing good will come out of you. These are just hollows and bulges, casting shade. God has sent you to serve someone, for instance, to take care of some orphans, while your ambition is to become first, to be Prime Minister and run the country. Give me the name of a minister, who has solved the problems of Bulgaria, England, or Germany. When your God wakes up, then all storms will abate, and you, along with Him, will have the power. You cannot do anything without Christ. Christ has to wake up so that you can be strong. And He can wake up only in five possible ways – when you are with Virtue, Truth, Justice, Wisdom and Love. Now, will you be in two minds if you are offered 1, 5, or 10 million levs? Imagine you were given all the riches, would you hesitate then? You might remind me of that quarryman who lived at the dawn of Christianity in Egypt. At the time a pious hermit lived, who used to weave baskets and sell them in Alexandria. On the way back from Alexandria he always met a poor quarryman, who invited him to his house, washed his feet, and offered him food. The hermit felt sorry for the quarryman and decided to ask God how to help him. God allowed him to help the poor man but only if his life would change in some way. “Well, will his life change if I offer him some money?” asked the hermit. “Well, I’ll show you a place where there is some money buried. Find it and give it to the quarryman.” The hermit found the money and gave it to the quarryman. The latter rose in life, built a huge house and soon became a grand vizir. One day the hermit met the former quarryman, who had become so important that pretended not to see him. The hermit, who was deeply hurt, walked on, but soon, met an Angel who gave him a nice hiding, saying, “It is you that lost a soul!” Then the hermit started praying to God to help him save the Quarryman’s soul. There followed rumours and plotting against the vizir, who as a result, lost his fortune and ended up cutting stone again. One day he saw the hermit and talked to him, “You know, I recognised you the time when we met. I only was too proud to say Hello. Pray to your God to give me some money again.” The hermit answered, “I do not want to be given another hiding.” You are pretty much like the hermit as you tend to give priority to the inferior, but the Angels will come and beat you, so you will have to raise the superior in man then. I am telling you all this, because I want you to be as virtuous, just, true, and wise as is God Himself. In our lives we should do just as God does to us. We are often discontent, but he sends us His blessing. It is always we that are the reason for our misfortunes. I shall give the following example: Once Nessredin Hodja climbed a tree and started hewing the branch on which he was sitting. A passer-by saw him doing this and warned him, “Don’t do this, or you will fall.” – “How do you know?” asked Nessredin Hodja and went on sawing the branch. And, indeed, on cutting off the branch, he fell on the ground. Then the hodja rose and ran after the fellow to ask him, “You told me I was going to fall off the tree and you were right. Now, tell me when I will die.” The man answered, “You will die in three days. You should dig yourself a grave under a pear-tree. You’d better lie in it and wait to die.” Nessredin Hodja took leaves with his wife, found a tree, dug himself a grave, lay in it and started waiting to die. Pears were falling off the tree and he ate them. Three days passed when a caravan of camels came along. On seeing him, the animals got frightened and ran away. The angry herdsmen caught him and gave him a good hiding. So he came back home, where his wife asked him, “How did you find the other world?” – “It’s really nice there. Pears fall right into your mouth, but if you frighten the camels, then it’s a different story.” You too happen to frighten camels, have a mosquito in the nose, or cut the branch on which you sit. Wake up Jesus, and He will teach you how to live. The highest principle has to come and free you from slavery. You are all slaves to each other: the husband waits for salvation from his wife, the wife from her husband, the daughter from her mother. Do not trust in people; wake up Christ in the boat and you will get to grasp the inner sense of everything. When the disciples saw that Christ was capable of calming the sea down, they realised that He had the power to control the inferior principle. May your Christ wake up and lead you to your Peace, give you Wisdom and Knowledge so that you can carry out the mission God assigned to you. Lecture given by the Master on 17th December, 1916, Sofia Source

[1] Alpha-Centauri – the brightest star system in the southern constellation of Centaurus; Alpha Centauri is the closest star system beyond our own solar system being 4.3 light-years distant (about 25 trillion miles). [2] Lev – the basic unit of money in Bulgaria [3] Stotinka – 100 stotinkas equal 1 lev [4]An ancient city in southern Bulgaria

I shall elevate you “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up: That whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:14, 15 Like the serpent that Moses has elevated, the Son of Man will be elevated as well… The West people are not acquainted with the symbolic language of the East ones at all. The culture of the East differs from the culture of the West. You might say that the culture of the East people has been involutionary, i.e. it is descending from above downwards whereas our, the West culture, is evolutionary, i.e. it is ascending from below upwards. Consequently, the methods to comprehend these two cultures have double meaning and those who are not acquainted with this double process often find contradiction. Hence, the contradiction is not in the cultures but in our views. And so, there are two cultures – culture of the serpent and culture of the Son of Man. Both should be elevated. You might ask what culture may exist in the serpent. In all peoples, the serpent has played the important role of one great culture. In the Bulgarians, it has remained in the legend about the dragons, “One dragon is in love with me, my mother” is mentioned in the Bulgarian folk songs. These are remains of that ancient culture of the east peoples. How can a dragon love? It represents the culture of people who have been descending from the Invisible world downwards whereas people of today are ascending from below upwards. These notes are necessary so that the thoughts I am going to present become clear to you. Often, people encounter great contradictions in their life. If you wish a nice silk fabric to have a dress made, you will not search for it at some shepherd or at some woman working wool but will search for it at the shopkeeper selling such fabrics. In order to make the nice fabric, so much effort is needed from people to breed the little silkworms, to gather mulberry leaves to them so that they can spin these nice threads and the modern girls can dress up with silk clothes. In this sense, if someone wants a good material they should go to good people – the nice fabrics are there; and if that one wants bad material, they should go to bad people. This is true in Nature as well – roots deal with the soil, with a raw material while branches deal with the better substance. I want to make you think not that some people are good and others are bad. Discussing things in a philosophical way, we should not look at them, as people look at them today, as the Good is Good in a certain proportion and the evil is evil in a certain proportion as well. Not much evidence is needed to prove this true. For example, if your eyes are sound, when you go in the morning out in the sun the view will make a good impression on you. However, if your eyes are sore, the view will make a bad impression on you and you will have to retire to a dark room as doctors often recommend when eyes are sore. So, in this respect light is an evil for people and it should be removed; an obstacle should be put before it until the eyes return to their normal state and start accepting its vibrations. This is how things might be discussed from philosophical point of view but when we come to Life, then it is more difficult. Everyday people make attempts, everyday you elevate both the serpent and the Son of Man. God took the Jews out of the wilderness so that they elevated this serpent. But this people that had got used to such a culture as the Egypt one, these Jew rich people and aristocrats (though the common people had been making only adobe for a long time), Moses had to lead them through the wilderness for forty years in order to make them a bold and resolute people. Thus, Moses got himself into great trouble – they started to murmur for having not cucumbers, onions, water, etc. By their murmuring, the Jews brought about the appearance of many serpents that bit to death a great part of them and in order to rid them, Moses made this copper serpent so that everyone could heal himself or herself by looking at it. Why had this serpent been made of copper? Copper belongs to the so called plain metals. The ancient alchemists related it to Mercury – one of the main elements of the human body and by the name Mercury, the ancients called the Greek God Hermes – the secretary of Gods, the bearer of thoughts in the world. Therefore, Moses wanted to show people that meat is not so much necessary to people and people should be wise from the point of view of their body. Moses elevated the serpent that is the lower human intellect or what we now call human egoism – one thinking of oneself only. Right are those saying, “Until not elevating the serpent, until not looking at it, one would not get well.” Now I am going to the question in a different sense: let us assume that you are lazy and are waiting for some friend of yours to give you something; you are too lazy to wash, to do your hair, etc. I am asking, would these serpents not come around you then? Then you would have to become a bit egoist, i.e. from the point of view of the old culture, from the point of view of self-preservation you would have to defend yourselves. This is a law concerning equally man, family, society, peoples and humankind. And one who comprehends this law as regards oneself can apply it for the others as well. That is why there is a parallel drawn in the Scripture: as Moses elevated the serpent, even so the Son of Man - Christ should be elevated so that man might learn the other culture. This does not mean that these two cultures are in contradiction, but they should unite into one in order to lay the beginnings of a third culture that is coming now. It is said, “So that no one is perished, who believes in Him.” What should not perish? That, what is noble in man. Before speaking further, I will give you a scheme, i.e. the teaching of the old ones. There are the following three principles in this scheme: free will, providence and inevitability or fate. Free will is the future of man, providence is the presence and inevitability is the past of people. This is what they have taught both in Egypt and in Greece; this is what they will teach in the future. Providence is the base point from which inevitability results. When someone is in disagreement with providence, they have no free will but if they are in agreement with God and His arrangements, they have free will. Then you will solve very easily the problem why fate pursues you. Because you are in disagreement with providence. Why fate does not pursues you? Because you are in agreement with providence. Under “will”, I understand the Divine will. Three principles derive from it: the body, the human mind and the soul. The positive side of the soul is Virtue and the negative is vice; the positive side of the mind is Knowledge and the negative is ignorance; the positive side of the body is the instinct and the negative is brutality. There is another category of three things - emotions, consent and sensations. The positive side of emotions is Love and the negative is hatred; the positive side of consent is Truth and the negative is delusion; the positive side of sensations is pleasure and the negative is suffering. And so, there are two forces: putting providence as meridian in our life, from one side is one hemisphere and from the other – the second hemisphere. From one side is the positive side of Life and from the other – the negative side of Life. Whatever you think, whatever big words you use, there is no other situation. I accept philosophy but the one that is able to build Life, to build Virtue and to create conditions for its manifestation. Under “mind”, I understand one able to create conditions by their will for the manifestation of Knowledge. Under “rational man”, I understand one able to create conditions for the manifestation of the instinct. Under “emotions”, I understand one able to create conditions for the manifestation of Love and Truth, able to give vent to senses to manifest as real sensations. And since you cut across providence, ignorance, then vice and lack of knowledge will surely appear. Therefore, each one should strive to be in agreement with the providence. As soon as you have free will the noblest germs that have been staying within you in drowsing state for millions of years, will arise. For this reason, Christ had to be elevated! The serpent has been elevated within you when you started suffering so that you could acquire consciousness, in order to live in agreement with the providence. You are not people, you are slaves of your desires and passions and that is why you will suffer. Go into agreement with the providence and your sufferings will transform into pleasure. You should elevate Christ and He will cause just the opposite process. Coming into you, Christ will bear all Virtues. Moses has elevated the serpent in the wilderness in order to remove vice, ignorance, brutality, hatred, delusion and suffering. Christ had to be elevated like that serpent so that this Virtue, this Knowledge, this Truth, this Love and real pleasure could bear within us. Virtue is as regards the soul; Knowledge is as regards mind, Love – as regards emotions, Truth – as regards agreement and pleasure – as regards sensation. Christ had to be elevated so that people could take advantage of these great goods. In the contemporary society, in the contemporary peoples, contradiction exists between these two cultures and that is why the war broke out. It results from that Moses has elevated the serpent that is biting the peoples now. And it should be elevated so that Christ can come – this is a living law. Do not think that in the world, people settle their fortunes by themselves. They will notice that at present God arranges their fate very easily. If the Balkan peoples had listened to God, if the Serbs had not sacked Macedonia, if the Greeks had not conquered another’s countries, if Romania had not deprived Dobroudzha, these sufferings would have not taken place. That is why God punished Serbia; that is why He is punishing Greece. And as regards Romania, He is saying, “Give it twenty five sticks now!” That is why they are beating Romania today. This is how every dishonest thief should be beaten, no matter who he is. Today, God did not drink and that is why we should be careful. He looks on all peoples as on His own sons, but He is not like the other fathers, He soothes them not and punishes them when they deserve. I am going now to tell you a story to explain my thought. Its subject is taken from the ancient Bulgarian history, even before the Christianity. A mother loved her son very much and for that reason she always praised him, no matter what he had done – good or bad and she never found any bad thing in his deeds. She used to praise him until finally he became a great villain and for his crimes he was sentenced to death by hanging. When they brought him to the gallows, he said, “Call my mother so that I kiss her before departing.” His mother came and he said to her, “I love you very much, mother, I want to kiss you on the tongue.” The mother took her tongue out, the son bit it and said, “If not this tongue, I would have not been in this position; if you had used it properly, I wouldn’t be on the gallows…” Hence, we should not always praise one another. Romania came to Bulgaria as if to enforce peace, to bring to equilibrium, but for this reason this son is biting its and the other countries’ tongues. They ought to have said, “What happens is not good.” It is not good to seize the land of a people. The land of a people is its body, and the people living on it are its soul. Therefore, from a purely Divine point of view no one is allowed to seize the land of a people, in which it will study and exercise. And when people do not act as necessary, the sufferings come. When I say that Christ will come, many might understand me wrong. Try to comprehend well as Christ is an inner Light. All of you have been in love. When speaking of love all are smiling and this is natural – all should smile at it. However, it is various in its manifestations. If you go by the Law of Moses, it will manifest in a certain way. For example, a husband loves his wife but he is jealous of her - this is typical for the Bulgarians – and if she only looks at some other man, he tells her, “Why are you looking at him?” The wife loves her husband, too, but she is jealous of him as well and if he looks at some other woman, she tells him, “Why did you look at her?” Why has the world been done? The evil is not in the looking but in the wishing that springs. Hence, until we have no evidence we should be afraid of nothing. I am going to give you an example from the Bulgarian folk life: one evening, a young girl dreamt that she had got married and had born a very pretty child that later had died. In the morning, the girl got up and started crying. After that, she told her mother the dream and the mother started crying too. The husband was working in the field and on returning home, he found both crying. They told him that the daughter had dreamt that she had born a child and the child had died. The father decided to get away from them and said, “I have never seen so stupid people. If I do not find more stupid people than you, I’ll not come back, but if I find more stupid than you I’ll come back.” He set off and at a place he saw a man who had trousers made for Easter but he did not know how to put them on. He was thinking to climb up a tree and to jump from there so that he could go in his trousers. The traveler called him, “Stand, you are going to hurt yourself, I will show you how to put them on but you should promise to give me these trousers.” –“I will give them to you, you only show me” – the other replied. After that, the father resumed his journey and saw at a place that wedding-guests were gathered before a house and were crying, as the bride was very tall and could not go through the door, so they had to cut her head to go in. The traveler told them, “What is this disturbance? I will make her go in if only you give me one necklace.” – “We will give you even two; you only make her go in.” Then he took the sash of her husband’s father, bound the head of the bride with it, pulled it down, she bowed her head and entered the house… Listening to this, it seems funny and stupid to you but your thoughts are often the same. We often cry for not existing children, we often put our trousers on by jumping from the tree, we often want to cut our head so that we can go in. For that reason the Bulgarians say, “Bend your knee and save your head.” Sometimes this saying is understood in bad sense but it has good sense as well. For example, when there is a flood you should not say, “I am not going to run away, this is not befittingly for me.” You must run away, as otherwise the flood will sweep you away. When a rock is falling near to you, you must run and it is not unworthy of you. There are moments when you should run away and there are moments when you should stay. Moses elevated the serpent so that the Israeli people could see it. Some make amulets now in accordance with this law of suggestion. You can put only one thousandth part of the used salt in a small quantity of water and can cure the sick if only you put your good thought in it. Consequently, the law of suggestion is necessary and we will succeed with it, will elevate ourselves and will be good. Your thoughts should be always in a positive mood. For example, when saying, “I am going to revenge”, you are from the old culture. Then Moses will elevate the serpent for you and you will suffer. If you are from the new culture, you will elevate Christ within you and will elevate yourselves like Christ. As He has not suffered for His sins but has suffered for the sins of the other people so that they elevate themselves. You live among a people that may be not cultured, may have vices but you should be patient like Christ in order to help it. You might be nicknamed many things but this should not discourage you. I have investigated the psychology of the Bulgarians and have come to the following conclusion: along with the other good features, the Bulgarians have one distinctive feature. When someone preaches whatever teaching, the Bulgarian wants first to know whether they preach for money or not. If you preach them for money, they would say to you, “I know why you preach, for money, I can preach too” and after that, you cannot have any influence over them. The Bulgarians say, “I am not going to open my door to you, I know why you preach”; but once learning that you preach for nothing, they will say, “Why does this person preach for nothing, there is something in them”… Sure enough, the Bulgarian is right. Many times, evangelists have asked me why they have no success among this people. I tell them, “Because you preach for money.” – “How is it possible for nothing?” – “Then leave this job for the priests, you are not better than them. But if you want to have success and to have this people listening to you, do a good to it and leave it to work by itself.” I understand the word “priest” in the following sense: that one who can take the best seeds and after that meet all people and give away the seeds to them. I am asking you, what has Christ done? If one person comes among a people as Christ was among the people and starts to open the eyes of the blind, to cure the sick and so on and the entire people follows him, I am asking you, does this person do wrong? If this person is able to give all good seeds, to create peace and consent, does this person do wrong? Hence, everyone who comes to the world to bring the Divine teaching should keep in his or her mind that this is Christ within us. Now, we are making ready for another culture, for the culture of the next world. What is the next world? The next world will be the world coming after the present one. It will be not at another place – when this world is over, the next will come. Take, for example, the theatre: there is a scene; the first act has been played, the sets are replaced, the second act is being played. The place of both acts is the same but the situation is different. Some think that going to the next world they will dwell on some other planet but you have no enough money for this, you all are poor. In order to go to Alpha Centauri[1], for example, you need 43 million levs[2], paying 3 stotinkas[3] for every kilometer. Who of you is so rich? You cannot be brought gratis to the next world, you should have money. Freely give what you have freely received but not what is yours. If they send me to distribute one thousand levs among the poor, I should give them freely as I have received them freely. But if I start laying down terms and demanding either butter or eggs or wool and so on in return, then this will be not Divine, not Christ’s teaching. Preaching the teaching of Christ, I mean the whole humankind. Speaking of priests, I speak of the whole priesthood, not of particular individuals. One law is common for all peoples, for all families. The same is the law for the Angels. I say: that whoever has living Faith within him should not perish. Christ, of whom I am preaching, is living, He is among the people on the Earth – this is how I see Him, how I know Him, how I have talked with Him. He is among people. But someone may say that this is not sure as the Holy Fathers say different. I have talked with these people as well – all are here, on the Earth and are working. Christ said: “Go and preach and I will be with you always, to the end of the world.” Under the expression “Until I come” I understand “until I teach the people”. By this Christ said: “At present I work from within and when I go from outside I will see what has been done, whether there are any defects and then I will go in again.” It has its meaning in Heaven. Under “Heaven” I understand “A Divine world.” By this I want to tell you that this world is not only what you can see. What do you know of this world? There is a curtain in front of you and if it would be raised, you would see how many hidden things there are there! If your eyes open, you would see how many relatives of yours there are around you now – your grandmothers, great-grandmothers and so on. You would say there are dead among us. There are not dead, they are alive. In other words, there are two kinds of people alive: half dead and half alive. You are from the first – half dead. Hence, there is no past, present and future; these are just different aspects of things. Someone says, “This is past already.” What is the past? For example, I am here now and I am leaving to another town – now I am in Sofia and not long after that I can be in Plovdiv[4]. However, Sofia is not from the past, it exists simultaneously with Plovdiv; and Plovdiv is not a future, it exists simultaneously with Sofia, i.e. both cities exist now. If I climb a mountain, I will see both the past and the future and the mountain is the present. If we look at our past, it is our life that we have not finished yet. You have been knitting and knitting the life you have now and how many millions of years will past until you knit it. Consequently, there are two kinds of knitting. One is the knitting of the serpent that seduced Eve and expelled man from the Paradise. After that Christ came, climbed the Tree of life, they crucified Him and now he is saying, “Eve, take from this fruit.” What is this fruit? This fruit is the free will, the providence and the inevitability – the soul, the mind and the body. Take from Love, from the Truth and from the pleasure of the Divine life. Christ gives this fruit. As Eve became bare after eating from this fruit, so you will dress yourselves when you elevate Christ. You all will resurrect. A people that eat from this fruit will be a great and elect people. What a people is an elect one? A people in whom there is Love, Truth, Wisdom, mind and body. When people say, “If only God takes not our land”, they are right. The Bulgarians are very practical because land is our body. Hence, in today’s war, Christ comes to say, “Everyone should resurrect and take their land.” That is why the Bulgarians are ready to die all but not give their land. So, all preachers, priests, all peoples should hold out hands to each other according to Christ’s law – not according to the law of the serpent but according to this teaching. According to the new teaching, if you are strong, you should be in support to the weak; if you are intelligent, you should teach the others who have no this knowledge. This is the only way to build our future life. It is in front of us. Now you are waiting for Christ to come. Yes, Christ is coming, coming for you. He will come one day to knock like a bridegroom; He will send matchmakers. What do people do at present? When they have chosen the girl, they send old people, matchmakers, who sit down around the fireplace but do not go straight to the point but begin talking about other matters. They begin, for example, like this, “You have a good field, good cattle and we wish to buy them” and in the end they say that they want the girl. Then the parents of the girl begin playing up on their part, they answer not directly but say they will first size up the boy and then will give an answer… In the same way Christ will come to size up the girl. In order to become engaged to Christ, you should have Virtues, Knowledge, instinct, Love, Truth and pleasure. If you have no these things, there will be no matchmaking. You might be a member of any church but there will be not matchmaking. It is not enough to be just a member of a country, one should have rights. Hence, we should not just enter the rational Divine world but we should become citizens, should vote and elect. But great disinterestedness is required for this. Once, a foreigner, doctor by profession, told me an experience from his life. He wished to do people good; he had been working ten years, saving all money made out of his patients in a money-box and looking for a way to help the poor. One day, a young widow with a little child came to him and said, “I am very poor, and couldn’t you help me with anything?” The doctor gave her the key of his money-box and said, “Open it and take as much as you need.” The widow lifted all the money, built a house with them and prepared a marriage portion for her daughter in order to marry her. However, the son-in-law turned to be a bad person, he ate and drunk away everything, nothing remained. But after all this the widow came again to the doctor and asked him, “Couldn’t you help me with anything?” He said, “Here is the key, take from the money-box as much as you need.” – “But there is nothing in”, the woman replied. Then the doctor said, “Now, you have to learn to work, you have to learn a different law. I have a garden, I will give you tools, you will hoe it, will take care of it and what you earn will be yours”… Now we have also eaten everything from the Divine money-box and have to go to hoe. Christ is coming to teach us how to work. And Christ is right when saying, “One who does not work is not able to be elevated”. Personal endeavor of self-sacrifice and work is needed by all means. All three men, women and children should be provided with work. Do not leave children idle. Do not give them books that are not suitable for them – this is a hard food that they are not able to assimilate. Every author develops a certain idea in their books but this idea is not for that small boy or girl. The greatest misfortune we suffer today is the lack of honour. For a father, there is no greater misfortune than not being honoured by his son; for a mother, there is no greater misfortune than not being honoured by her daughter; for a teacher, there is no greater misfortune than not being honoured by their students and for a master there is no greater misfortune than not being honoured by his servants. Moses said, “Honour your father and your mother.” How will obedience be introduced? Obedience is a result of Wisdom whereas subjection is a result of Virtue. When we want someone to honour us, we should introduce Love in their heart. No Love, no honour; no Wisdom, no obedience; no Virtue, no subjection. Going in some way or another in the world, if you do not perceive Christ in this sense, you will not acquire anything. In this teaching, Virtue and Rationality are living matters. Virtue is a society of ghosts that are living. They are not apparitions, they are reality. If you could see a being of Virtue, your heart would start beating at once and your melancholy would disappear at once. How beautiful these beings of Virtue are! If only you can see what the eyes of someone expressing Virtue are, if only you can see what the nose, the mouth, the hair of that one are! Yes, hair indicates how virtuous we are or not. Touch lightly the bristle of a pig and you will see how virtuous it is; touch lightly the prickles of a hedgehog and you will see how good it is. Touch the mind of a person and you will see how much he or she honours; touch the heart of a person and you will see how much he or she loves. Thus, many beings of Virtues will open before your eyes, as millions of suns in the space open before the eyes of an astronomer observing by telescope whereas they remain hidden for him when looking with the naked eyes. Looking in this way, you will comprehend what Divine Wisdom is. As soon as you look through its telescope, when you see these billions of beings and enter the Divine wave of Wisdom, you will elevate yourselves. Then I will not hear you singing, “Let me be closer to God.” He, who has composed this song, has not comprehended this thing. Not we should be closer to God, but He should be by us. This God should get down from above; He should be close to me. For example, someone has fallen in the mud and someone else is coming to save; not the fallen goes to their rescuer but the one to save the fallen goes to them. Be closer, my God, to me with Your power, wisdom and knowledge. In this way every people will be strong; in this way the Bulgarian people will be strong as well. If the Bulgarians listen to God, they will be a real people. I use the Bulgarian expression “a real person” what means very good and wise person. Everyone should bring this thought within themselves: unification and unity everywhere. Some think that I have come to disunite. No, to join, to unite – that is why God has sent me here, to the Earth. I have taken freely and I am going to give it to you freely. I want nothing else from you but to love God. And do not think anything about me. I would like that the Bulgarians accept this teaching and after that let them erase my name, let them forget me. Here they know me as Mr. Dounov but they do not know what my true name is. How will they seek me one day? Only God is immortal. Do have hope in God; do not put your hope in people. A man should have one woman – this is the teaching, polygamy is not allowed. You should have one man, one God. And through His eyes you will look at the outer world and will comprehend that your brothers and sisters suffer too. I know you all, I see that you suffer, you have trouble, you fall, and you rise. You have fallen; I say, “Rise, mend your ways!” – “I have broken my leg.” – Never mind, it will be all right. – “I have upset my stomach a little.” – Never mind, drink a little water, take light food and it will be over. Do not worry, it will be all right. If you accept Christ’s teaching, all of you will be bold and strong. I wish that you, the Bulgarians, are good. I am speaking about you as there are other Bulgarians as well, but they are in the next world and wish to know what you do, how you live. They are in the Divine world. Everyone will be in the Divine world from where will send their own messengers. One day you will leave some others on the Earth and you will go overhead. I wish that Christ be elevated within you! But to be elevated not in the sense of a serpent, as some girl loses her life, her heart, her mind and becomes deranged. Take this girl out, elevate her, send her to school, restore her heart and mind and cleanse her thoroughly. This means to elevate her. We have to cleanse and to elevate this Christ whom we have violated. This Christ will elevate us and will say, “Come, Bulgarians from this and from next world, who have elevated Me, who have cleansed Me, come, I will elevate you!” The serpent to be elevated – these are we; whereas to elevate Christ – this is He Who is within us. Then we will be together with Christ. 8. Lecture held by the Master Beinsa Douno on 3rd Dec.1916, Sofia

Zacchaeus “And Jesus said unto him, ‘This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.’” Luke 19:9 Hebrews 1 By content, this verse is of the ordinary ones. We should not disregard flowers as they have their fragrance as well. Important are the words, “This day is the salvation come to this house.” When someone has been ill for a long time, the life of that one passes through an important crisis – to stay or to depart. The doctor puts the hand to pulse in order to find the heartbeat and says that the crisis has been over, that the drugs have worked, i.e. a crisis of salvation has come. This is how it stands as regards the physical body, but a similar crisis exists in the human life as well. Tolstoy has gone through such crisis, too, prior to passing from his old to his new life. Many times, he had wanted to kill himself not finding any sense in life and one day, a very small reason gave the cause to save himself. When he was in a forest, he said to himself, “The robber who was on the cross passed through a crisis but saying, ‘Have mercy on me, Lord’ he was saved. He was a dying robber and I am a living robber.” Christ said to Zacchaeus, “Today, you caused your salvation.” What was the reason for his salvation? Although rich he was little of stature, i.e. he was physically unimposing. However, a desire to see Christ arose within him and he chose a mulberry tree along the road and climbed up into it. Every person seeking to achieve an ideal should hold a high position, to stay not in the crowd. When Christ came and looked up, He saw that there was an idea in the soul of this person and told him, “Come down; for today I must abide at your house.” In this man, there was not only a desire to climb high but also a spirit of justice and he said, “The half of my wealth I give to the poor; and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.” Then Christ said, “This day is salvation come to this house.” And you, too, should climb up into a high tree within your soul - you should climb up to the highest position. Until you go hand in hand with the people, until you share their views and act like them, you can never find the Kingdom of God. Saying that you cannot find it, there are reasons for that. The Kingdom of God is an elevated life with different laws. It is not for common mortals, it is a place for immortal people, for people wanting to serve God. Hence, one who seeks to pass from the life of death into the immortal Life should climb up into the mulberry tree and give the half of their wealth to the poor; and should restore the people accused by them fourfold. Only then, one would pass from death to Life. Until not individualizing oneself, one is a moth. What is individualizing? This is a state of sacrificing. One who seeks to rise to a more elevated life has to devise a means of doing it. The means that people use on the Earth is suitable for there only, but is not suitable for Heaven as what is useful for the Earth is not useful for Heaven too. What is useful for a worm is not useful for a tree as when the worm goes in the tree, it withers. What is useful for our personal life is not useful for the social life. One should be neither a worm, nor a moth or a parasite. Mind that Zacchaeus was little of stature. When one seeks to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, the smaller that one is the better. Very true are the words of Christ saying that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich person to succeed to the Kingdom of God. In order to enter into the Kingdom of God, people should lay aside all their old desires and views. When a girl marries, she leaves not with her old cloths, with her broken shoes but she throws away everything and dresses pure new apparel. It is strange that people of today want to go to God in their rags. And when I preach the law of self-denial, you wonder how it is possible. It is possible for young – for girls and young men but it is impossible for old people, as they do not get married. Those of you who are old should not take offence. One should be young in the aspirations and as long as is alive should never say that there is anything impossible. The future is of the young, as they have ideals. Zacchaeus was such young person. Although rich, he climbed up into the mulberry tree. If you were in the place of Zacchaeus, you would start discussing what people would say; you would think that you occupy such and such position and would not succeed. Zacchaeus wanted not to know what people would say. And when passing, Christ saw him on the mulberry tree and told him, “Climb down, you are the one who will lead the way in the future. Climb down, in the future ages people will draw a lesson from your deed although you are a publican.” In order to justify this, Zacchaeus said, “I give the half of my property to the poor; and for the offences I will restore fourfold.” I am asking you who are listening to me, how many of you are ready to give the half of your property to poor men and to restore fourfold for the offences? Many of you want to enter the Kingdom of God very cheaply. One, who says that it is cheap to enter the Kingdom of God, says not the Truth. People should be young and there should be a spirit of self-denying, of self-sacrificing in them; they should be honest, should keep their word, should not deny what they have once said. If today people were keeping their word fairly, ninety per cent of contemporary evils would disappear. One should act fair, speak fair, sell fair, there should not be ambiguity in things! And what do we do? Once we make a mistake, we try to find a way to justify ourselves. No, do confess and say the following, “I have done it this way.” Right is right, wrong is wrong. And there is a deeper sense in all this. The little man Zacchaeus was not robust but was noble by mind and by soul. And Christ said, “This day salvation came to this house.” An ancient Greek king, hating crimes very much, issued an order according to which everyone caught in adultery must have both eyes gouged out. Unfortunately, king’s son was caught in adultery and he was brought to his father. The king said, “You will gouge out one eye of mine and tone eye of my son…” This is a person keeping their word. One, who commits crimes, should pay them off. The same did Zacchaeus – he gave the half of his property, which is one eye. For contemporary people wealth is their life and to take their wealth means to take their life. Today money makes people – one, who is rich, is nice and good. Often, girls say about some young man, “Let him be foolish but rich.” The same says the young man about the girl, “Let her be foolish but rich.” And afterwards they ask why their life is not quite successful, why they have so many misfortunes. This is because both of them are rich but stupid. When you feel yourself discontented with the world, this means that you are stupid. You want money and wealth from God but you want not the essential. A preacher wishes that many people listen to him but no one wishes to be listened to by a single. Like Zacchaeus, one should be ready to give away half of one’s wealth and to restore fourfold for the offences. You ask how you can find Christ. Apply this law – climb up into the mulberry tree. Many times, I have watched how all sheep were passing along a shepherd looking after a big flock but he was choosing only one to caress to, to talk to. This shows that it is his favourite sheep. And he names it a pet name; for example he calls it “Maro" and the sheep answers him. This shows that from all others, this sheep has individualized itself. Like Zacchaeus, it has climbed up into the mulberry tree and the shepherd knows it. By the same law, we should individualize ourselves as well. We should give up with all our old habits and aptitudes. This is the aim of contemporary culture. Every science aims at reorganizing the human mind. Science works in the mind and religion works in the heart. They are two methods of rectifying the human soul, of preparing for the way of the elevated Life. This is because pride appears in the mind and evil – in the heart. Sometimes you think you can reform the world or you feel sad for people having no respect for you. Pride appears when people start individualizing themselves. Now, I advise you to keep the fast for five or six days so that you try how much your power is. Usually, when two or three days of the fast pass, you cannot stand it anymore. Christ tried his life – He has kept the fast for forty days so that He could know His soul. If you cannot go without food, that means you have no power and are unable to find Christ. Contemporary people have laid up this wealth as they consider they must eat and drink and have become slaves of the kitchen. Women are servants of the kitchen. Priests, too, order all day long what and how should be cooked. And how many servants have been given thrashing just for not having cooked the dish well and on time. The high-priest comes and asks at once whether the dish has been cooked. This is the ideal at which people aim. Do not get me wrong, I speak not against eating but making it a cult of life is wrong. For example, at present, people are given a quarter kilogram of bread per man (in the old days this did not happen but today, people live even with that). The day before yesterday I met a man who had been given three-quarter kilograms of bread in all at the baker’s shop. He was wondering how he would satisfy the whole family for this quantity would hardly last him only and was saying to himself, “What times have come!” I say, you should climb up into the mulberry tree. Today, too, Christ is passing through the world; all are crowding around Him. This is a discontent and Christ wants to see how many people will be up in the mulberry tree. You should understand this image internally. Until your souls do not pass that great way of self-denial, you cannot enter the Kingdom of God. It is a place for strong people. It is said, “Who wins.” Winning means giving. Evil in the world results from that we want for ourselves only. God has sent us not to take possession of things, not to take possession of nature forces as everything belongs to Him. Taking possession means governing wisely. A day will come when the property you have will be taken from you. Where will your bodies be after twenty or thirty years? They will come, will expel you and will tell you, “Go out!” Why? If you had climbed up into the mulberry tree, Christ would tell you, “Today the salvation of this house came”. Zacchaeus will not be expelled by anybody. The one who expels people from the world is not God. When God sent man to the Earth, He gave him servants to serve him but man corrupted them and today they are expelling him. Microbes are the ones that spoil people and expel them. And people rightly say that as one eats the others so they eat that one as well. Within ourselves, we have created a variety of parasitic thoughts and desires able to kill us. Often, a single thought is able to kill someone. A bad thought is able to change our pulse and mood. Do you know how much a word costs? It is able to cause a whole fire in the world. That is why when we become masters, we should avoid evil, should avoid these base coins that spoil the world. They are vermin we feed within us. If we feed a small snake in our womb, growing up it would eat our stomach through and would go out. They say there are such small snakes eating through their mothers’ stomachs. If such bad thoughts and desires act within your soul, they will eat you through and you will die. Then the whole art of science will remain useless, the whole philosophy will be unable to be of use to you. Salvation happens only when Christ enters this house. This is because there was a spirit of self-denial in Zacchaeus. And so, no salvation is possible in the world without Christ coming in. As a sick one is unable to recover if there is not light getting in their house, so there is no salvation if Christ enters not your minds. Salvation is prerogative of God only. In order to save yourself you should comprehend, should rule over these forces. You may say that you have aspiration, you know. Try to see how much you know. A French officer wanted to oppose a law but before that, he went to a friend of him and said, “Beat me as long as you wish!” When he was thrashed two robust sticks, he said, “That’s enough, I will see how much I will be able to endure in what I have planned to do…” If you are unable to overcome a bad thought or a bad desire, how will you be able to win the world? If you cannot rule over your tongue, you would not rule over the world either. Someone says, “My daughter has become very bad.” She has not become bad now; I know that she had been such even before she was born and you ought to have known what she was going to be. What we see now is within us, it is not external. Someone may ask why God allows these great trials. He is a Great master and He tries us. He uses the stick and says, “Prostrate this son on the ground, hit him twenty five sticks!” And, if this son picks himself up and embraces his father, this means that he knows the laws. God says, “I want not all your wishes, thoughts and actions, all your rags, here is not a rag-fair.” This thing can happen neither by prays nor by reading. People are very strange! A gentleman comes to me and says, “Please, do influence so that I win fifty thousand levs in a lottery, twenty five thousands of which I will give the church and for charity deeds.” No, the Kingdom of God is not a lottery. We should define flatly and clearly why Christ has divided goats from sheep. Now Christ is dividing people one from another as in chemistry a compound breaks down and one element divides from another. You have to take either the position of Zacchaeus who is the man of the future or the position of the crowd that does not belong to the future. Zacchaeus is a collective being – people able to renounce their beliefs and hold their hands to one another, this is Zacchaeus. I have visited churches although I had been blamed for not visiting the church. I know all people and all priests as I know myself. I will liken contemporary religious people to that king who called his ten ministers prior to starting on a long journey and divided his kingdom in ten parts so that they rule over them until he comes back. Coming back, the king disguised himself as a beggar, went to his first minister and told him, “I am poor, don’t you have anything to give me?” The minister said, “Wife, give him my torn trousers so that I get rid of them.” – “Thank you” – the beggar said. – “Of course, you will thank me – the minister replied, - they are good for you.” After that, the king went to the second minister, “Sonny, don’t you have any garment to give me?” – “Wife, give him the torn garment!” He went to the third minister and was given a torn shirt as well. At the fourth minister, he was given a torn hat, at the fifth – worn shoes and so on. All gave him something. At the end, the king arrived officially to the palace and invited all his ministers to feast. They thought, “What presents has the king brought us?” Everybody put on their ceremonial dress, took their places around the table and waited. And the king began presenting them: he gave the first minister the torn trousers, the second – the coat, the third – the hat, the fourth – the shirt, etc… So Christ, having many torn trousers, shirts, shoes and hats, will gather you at a feast and will present everybody some of these torn things. You will now say, “Thank God, we aren’t as them.” I do not know, there is a verse saying, “And their thoughts walk after them.” Thousands years ago a shepherd had much sheep and in the place they pastured, there was a wolf visiting the flock constantly. The shepherd used to chase and beat it, but it managed to steal a sheep from time to time. At a time, an epizootic appeared in that place taking away the life of all sheep. Hearing this, the wolf began crying, went to the shepherd and told him, “With what great disaster both of us met – your sheep died, so you lost wool, milk and meat and I lost the opportunity to take a sheep from time to time”. The shepherd said, “Why are you crying, it doesn’t matter that we suffered such a disaster, at one time we lived like enemies and now we live like friends.” And the wolf said, “I would prefer that you chase me always but your sheep were alive…” This is not a noble idea, this is a self-seeking idea – let others have so that we have as well. This is how contemporary dogs have appeared. This wolf was the first turned into a shepherd dog. This old-time wolf keeps its promise even to this day and is the one going with the shepherd. And the shepherd says to it, “Don’t be afraid, I will always give you from a sheep I stick, you only don’t steal!” Christ, too, entered the home of Zacchaeus in order to raise him. If Christ enters you soul, He would raise you. If Christ enters and says, “Today, the salvation of this home will come”, you would become noble for all Angels, for all people. For the then people Zacchaeus did not do anything unusual but for us he is an ideal – he did a noble deed. I would like that this striving appears in you as well and Christ finds you in this mulberry tree. Some are asking what they will do when they die. See that Christ find you on the mulberry tree and tell you, “Come, Zacchaeus, today the salvation came to your house.” And when Christ comes, you should not hide but should say, “I give the half of my wealth to the poor and I will try to correct all my mistakes.” How many years must wait in order people become noble? If you have the courage of Zacchaeus, you can become noble for one day, i.e. within one life. If you have no this courage, many days, many lives will pass, but anyway you will have to climb up into the mulberry tree, i.e. into the Divine tree. The snake climbed up into a tree and lured Eve whereas Zacchaeus climbed up into the Tree of life and Christ called Him. Now you, too, have to climb up into the Tree of life. Which is this tree? It is the conscious Life that Tolstoy has described – to live for God and to break off all connections with the old. The old is an unnecessary and poisonous food for us. With what are you full now? If I dissect you, I will find envy, hatred, anger, pessimism, disbelief, unwisdom in your larders and eating-houses. You would say it is insulting. I would like that you look at my larder as well, to see what is there. Everyone should open his or her souls so that the world see what is there, as Nature opens Its soul every spring. Everyone should open their souls, their source and show what is there. Now, they say about a girl, “Don’t smell her as your nose will fall off.” Or, they say about a young man, “When you smell him, your nose will fall off.” Yesterday in the Boris’s Gardens[1], I met a young man and a young girl talking but they were unhappy even there. The young man was staying from the left of the girl and she told him, “You have changed, you are not as before.” If now they have already changed, say nothing of later when they marry. The teaching of Christ is not such a science. As per this science, both man and woman should know each other very well. If you know your husband, only then you will find his love. If you know not each other, do not marry. If you know not your husband, do not marry; if you know not your wife, do not marry, if you know not your child, do not marry. If you want to marry, climb up into the mulberry tree. And when you are going to marry, see to find the young man or the girl up into the mulberry tree and they to say, “The half of my wealth I give you and if I have insulted you, I restore you fourfold.” Contemporary young men and girls marry so that they make provision for themselves. God has not sent you to the world to make provisions; He has sent you to study. If someone wants to become a judge, appoint him or her to this office if he or she has been on the mulberry tree. If someone wants to become a priest, appoint that one to this office if he or she has been on the mulberry tree, if he or she gives the half of their wealth to the poor. If someone wants to become a bishop, he has to have been into the mulberry tree. Then Christ will say, “Climb down, today I will be at your house.” In this case, ninety percent of your choice will be right. Think of the Tree I am speaking about – it is marvelous, it is a Tree of salvation and each one who climbs up into it will be saved. One should study from a high what the Divine laws are, what results our actions will cause not now only but after thousands of years as well, what result my words will have in the future. For this reason, I will go on talking to you. I do not want that either of you reproach me for not have said what you should do. When I meet you some day, no matter where, I will tell you, “I had talked everything you ought to have done.” I will still meet you no matter as a sinner or as a good one. However, I do not wish that you were like that American about whom I am going to tell you. In 1895, a prominent man, American by birth called Shlatter, appeared in America. Seized by a Divine spirit, he secretly past to be Christ’s messenger and successfully used to cure many people. One day he set off for San Francisco and met a sick beggar on the road. Shlatter had only ten dollars with him but gave the half to the beggar. They passed together a river, stopped at the hotel of a town, but in the night, the beggar stole the money and the trousers of the American and ran away. Waking up Shlatter saw that his cloths were missing. However, one month later Shlatter met the beggar again and he was ill again… How many times you had stolen the money and the trousers of Christ and later He has found you poor, sick and suffering again. You have to leave the old habit of stealing, the old habit of being self-seeking. It is a cause for miseries. When Christ comes and shares His money with you, do not steal His trousers. Robbing a poor man means taking his trousers; selling the house of a poor widow means taking her trousers. I see many selling the trousers of Christ. This is the old culture. The new culture requires something else. We should not take the trousers of Christ but even we should give Him ten new ones. Christ may appear in your home as your child, sister, friend or enemy while you are waiting Him to come from Heaven. As soon as He finds you as beggar, He will tell you, “Well, my friend, are you ill again?” If He finds you as minister at the king, He will tell you, “Here are your presents.” I say, Christ is coming. Some claim that it is no time for Him. I do not know whether it is time or not but when flowers are blooming, it is time for Him. There is no doubt for Christ having come into the world but it is another question whether you will see Him. Saying “the world”, I mean your world. When Christ comes with the Angels who are bearers of good thoughts and ideas, then we will have a new culture, we will have the good we are expecting. Many are waiting for Christ coming from outside but He will not come in this way. You may call me a heretic - this is your business. When Chris came as a son of a carpenter, they did not acknowledge Him but today they burn incense upon Him. Two thousand years later, they found that He was great and after four thousand years, He will be even greater. And you are meeting this Christ, you should be into the mulberry tree. Let Zacchaeus revive within yourselves; let everyone be Zacchaeus – little by stature but great by heart and mind. How pleasant it is to meet a person with enlightened mind and noble heart; what powerful influence such person has! What a blessing it is when harmony exists in this world and there is a salvation in such a house! Here is Christ. The tree I am speaking about is so big that all of you cam climb up into it. All of you can bloom like the blossom of this tree and then the Divine bees will visit you; you will knit, will become fruit and then Christ will say, “Are you here, Zacchaeus?” – “I am here, God.” – “Come, today the salvation will come to this house.” What do you find in this fruit now? You find small seeds and do what you wish with them. Most often you give them to hens, you throw them; you do not value them. But when Christ comes, He will put this wealth in a small box and then you will feel its inner and deep sense. Now, I try to speak indefinitely to you, because if I make my thought clear, you will become blind. As Paul lost his sight and could not see Christ. And much time had to pass before the peel from his eyes fall. You say, “Mr. Dounov is speaking but things aren’t just so.” You are right; you have peels on your eyes. Some say, “As soon as we go out from here, we will be as we have been.” Try, I do not want that you accept anything without checking it, without applying my words into practice. What I preach is a teaching of the Divine laws, a teaching of the Angels, of the saints, of the noble people – try it. You cannot give your wealth to anyone until this Love and this thought are not born within you. A girl does not give her heart until love is not born within herself. Old people often say, “You marry and love will come later.” This is a false teaching. Until you do not love, do not marry. Until you do not love a thought, a desire and an action, do not do it. Let every impulse in your life be an impulse of Love and then you will be in the Divine way and whatever you do, will be blessed. I want not that you accept unconditionally my teaching as true – try it and then accept it. Accept what is Divine and do not accept what is not Divine. My words are packed; throw the packing and go deep in their content. Today, when you are listening, you are not alone; your friends from Heaven – the Angels – are with you. They all are looking at you and are keeping an eye on you how you are going to apply this task. They say to themselves, “Let me see whether my acquaintance will climb up into the mulberry tree.” As, if you climb not up into the mulberry tree, you will be unable to find Christ. He will pass by, will go to other people who accept Him and will give them the name to be called God’s sons. This mulberry tree is within your soul. All your forbears will watch you to see whether you will go out of the fur cap. You would say this concerns men only. There are no men and women in this teaching; for me, there are only souls. They say for someone, “He or she is a preacher, a priest, an officer, etc.” We should not delude ourselves by our title; today you might be a mother, tomorrow you might be someone else. Each one should be a Zacchaeus and should say, “My God, I give half of my property to the poor.” Only when you do in this way, Peace will come. I know people. With the new teaching, they have new names as well but every name should have content. We should be rich in thoughts and feelings. When you go out of here, you all should think and start watching at this world as if it is a school. And you should think that this school is for you only, not for the others, as, if you become a Zacchaeus, this means that a better worker will appear in the world and the situation will be improved. Only one Zacchaeus was found at the Jews. When God visited Abraham before destroying Sodom and Gomorrah, he asked Him, “If you find ten like Zacchaeus, will you burn these towns?” However, God found no even so many because of which the towns were damaged. Zacchaeus was only one. It would be good to have more than one Zacchaeus in Bulgaria. If you go to France, England, Germany or elsewhere, how many Zacchaeuses would you find? Today, Christ looks how many Zacchaeuses there are in the world. Today, a great drama is being play-acted, a drama of sufferings and tears. As, if there were ten Zacchaeuses at the Jews, they would not have met with these disasters. The Jews – these are all the people of today. People who know only to fight and kill one another are your brothers calling themselves cultured. These are all Christian people. Christ does not approve the action of the Jews and finds them all guilty. He will come to put order on Earth and to impose the Divine law. And then, you will come to know whether He can impose this Peace or not. Christ reserves two more things by which He will impose the Peace in the world if people solve not this matter by themselves. If Peace does not come, a very great famine will come that has never been in Europe and a great earthquake shaking the entire world will take place. Then Christ will come, will wipe the tears of daughters, mothers, fathers, sisters and will say, “What are you doing old Jews?” Then guns will be heard no more, this rumble will stop and people will start living as Christ wants. But I say: each of you has to be a Zacchaeuses. And when I say these words, this is the decision of Heaven. Earth and Heaven will be over but what God has said will not be over. Good in the world will triumph, Zacchaeuses of the White race will come to climb up into the mulberry tree and Christ will say, “The salvation will come to this house.” I would like that all priests speak this language and then the peoples will see whether God works or not. God has awakened, He allows the Entante and the Central Powers[2] one year more to settle this matter. It will be finally settled by 1921. This is the new Spirit. All Angels are coming to influence and the world will feel what no one has ever felt. The question is in what condition will they find us? One day we will leave this Earth. And with what will we meet Christ? I am leaving you with the thought to be true brothers and sisters, to love each other, to know that you have one Father, one Brother loving you. You have one Zacchaeuses and you should follow him. Men, women, children, brothers, sisters – all of you should follow him. This is the New teaching – a teaching of revival creating Joy and rejoicing in the suffering soul. Yes, I would like that Bulgaria has more than one Zacchaeuses on this Tree. Go and tell what I am saying! Tell yourselves! Christ is coming for you. He is coming and will come - you will hear His voice. He will say to some like Zacchaeuses, “Come with Me”; and He will leave the others. Those, to which Christ will come, are from above, and those who will leave are from below. Through those who are from below, He will pass and will leave them as spring waters pass through countryside and leave behind. Let today be the salvation of your house! 7. Lecture held by the Master Beinsa Douno on 26th November 1916, Sofia ________________________________________________ [1] Popular gardens in Sofia [2] Interstate coalitions, participating in the First World War (1914-1918)

Examine How Are Growing The Lilies In The Field Examine how are growing the lilies in the field: they neither work hard, nor spin. St. Matthew’s Gospel 6: 28 Christ was great not only in the large things: creating of people, worlds, but in the small things as well. He says: “Go and learn from the lilies…” What will you learn? Firstly –patience. Secondly - silence. They do not worry about their garment although they are poor. They have only two bodies. They do not have a body of wishes and a mental body. In the new life, Divine life, it is required: first to have calmness when we have nothing, and not when we have and when we are not in need. In the evening, when you go to bed, take off your jewellery; the soldier leaves his rifle, his rucksack and he is free. Go and examine the lilies, they are white. A person could not be calm, if he/she is not white and pure. The person has sediments left from his past that do not enable a quiet and calm life. All people do worry: preachers, office workers, statesmen, etc. That trouble, you have, it is movement; it is the initial impulse of the movement. We should understand the law of movement. That law means that God works in all of you; do not worry. A donkey rides over the lily but it grows again, and it becomes better and gives better flowers. Let us save ourselves through the art. The lily has understood that art. Many of the Christians look alike to the hermit who has been living for 20 years on the mountain top and thought himself to be pure and holy; he decided to go down in the town to meet his brother. His brother was a shoemaker. The hermit took a ball of snow and dismounted at his brother in order to show him that he is as pure as the snow. There, one maid visited his brother to have measurements taken for shoes. The brother has taken the measurement keeping calm. The hermit looked at the semi-raised hem of her dress, he saw maid’s leg and his snow ball started to melt. His brother told him: “Brother, your ball of snow is melting.” Twenty years of holy life melted because of a woman’s leg; a man’s twenty years of holy life melted because of a woman’s leg; a holy life of twenty years melted because of 10 oka[1] of gold. The holy man says to himself: “Why I was so silly during the twenty years and did not marry and have children instead,” and other examples. That parallel is not an episodic case in life. We are an audience; people are melting every day (he gave the example with Ibsen’s Irene, who escaped because of a marble statue). The life is not only kisses. And Judas had kissed Christ. How many hearts were broken by kisses! And the cat smiles to the mouse. “Go to the lilies,” says Christ. The lilies snow does not melt. Christ’s colour does not melt. The Jews were elected as a nation with 36,000 promises by God, but their snow has melted by that woman’s leg. They have slaughtered cattle, sheep, and made statues in God’s name, but their snow has melted. You want to act in the spiritual life and I am saying to you: Learn from the lilies. There are three positions in the world: physical field, atmosphere and world. The physical field is the base – this is the influence and action of the acting and working forces; the world is the relation between the living and rational creatures. God fell in love with the world; this means that he came down to teach people what the relations between them should be. The maiden brings a lily and tells the swain: “How clean it is, and white!” But when the priest says his last prayer of blessing, after three months the white snow starts to melt. I want that lily to grow up in your hearts. They are growing up well in the field, but in few hearts, in few children, in few nations, in few churches, and in few speakers have I found that lily. I have come now, I am walking on the Earth and I am with you in order to see where and what lilies there are and how are they growing up. The women are guilty – they are the reason and the God was expelled from the Paradise. [A1] I am not accusing you, but I am telling you one truth. There are no men and women but only human beings in God’s Kingdom. If men and women came in there, they would spoil it. I do not want to offend you, I am saying it this way, because you are human beings and because your snow should not melt. If I was a rich man having millions, I would have more people around me. My position is as follows: A dervish has entered a bath-house. He had had a bath but he has no money to pay. But the bath attendant wanted the charge. The dervish prayed: “God, give me either a penny to pay my charge, or demolish this bath-house!” There, something quaked. The bath attendant came out to see what happened and the dervish had been set free. He had seen one imam praying. He told him that he had prayed for a penny. And people always pray to God for money, but it is not His; He has not created it. It is in the soil. Knowing the law, we shall dig it out as gold and we shall make coin money. And, again for the lilies…Christ sends the people to see the lilies. Their calyx is open upwards i.e. it looks at God; to the Life-giving Spirit and if your hearts are open to God, they will be pure as the lilies. Let us grow up as the lilies; we should not mix the Heavenly world with the mundane one. Whatever goods we want for ourselves, we should give and wish for all people. It is a law that we should lay a stone every day, in order to grow up and develop. The first thing that Christ says to us is to stop, and to stop means to peer at ourselves. There are wishes in people to visit different countries…But no, stop like the lily, appeal to God, and peer at yourself. And then your snow will not melt. For 8,000 years, people’s snow continually melts. People come and tell me: “A man named so-and-so pestered me.” And what is this? “My snow ball has melted.” Under the word “woman’s leg” I want you to comprehend an emblem in the broad sense. The snow of the saint was carried outside, and the snow of his brother, the shoemaker, was inside him, in his heart. Be the same. Have always satisfaction. Now, these pains, which are in the world, they are managed. The soldier’s bullet is guided by a smart power, intelligent. You defeat, you are in the shoemaker’s place; you are defeated, it means that your snow has started to melt. External things always might be taken away from us. The lily receives all from the sun, wind, and moisture. Let us stop as the shoemaker, as the lily and God will work upon us. Forget the illusions of your life. Take the essence, like when you are going to travel, you do not take your entire house with you, but only the necessary things. Take with you the required amount and when robbers seize you, give them the money. Do not be like that commercial lawyer who never had money with him, but when robbers caught him on his way to…, he had nothing to give them and they beat him; he has already promised to bring money with him. Why are you not a learned man; why are you not a distinguished person, rich, why are you not a successful one and so on; it is because your snow melts. The snow is an emblem of water; it should not be lost. Our Heavenly wish should never change its direction of movement. Every life grows in a certain direction. The plant grows in a circle, the animals in the type of a cylinder, the humans – in the type of a spiral, stepwise upwards to God. A glance and a kiss are one and the same thing for me. You have become irritated – it indicates that your centers of the spiral of your growth are not properly arranged. That lily is one great Spirit-Cherub, who always stays in front of God’s face and who could never be bribed. I am not going to make a conclusion. I would like you to be in the position of the saint, when he has come down from the mountain, and the position of the shoemaker, and to be in the place of Moses at the blackberry bush. Go to that splendid white lily growing now in Bulgaria everywhere and you will know that you will become good persons and you will serve your nation. Amen. Sunday, 10 – 12 o’clock. (Notes taken in a conversation with the Master Beinsa Douno) Do not ever let in your Soul, in your holy of holies, one impure man. Do not try to put him right – let him sort himself out in the external courtyard, and not in your inner courtyard. Somebody is speaking to you, you do not want to listen to him; stand up, go home, but you should not interrupt him – he is a spring that is running. Let this spring flow out and talk, after that; go home if you do not want to listen to him. Christ is the sold brother in Egypt. After that He was sold again to the pagans, but He has come back again. Now they are going to Him, and will bow to Him. Human beings should pray constantly to be in touch with God. Fate should be submitted to His hands with Faith. Sometimes He will bring you within a hairbreadth of death but He will not leave you. The father is good, but when he has children, he leaves them “to have enough of life”, and this is his first mistake. What was good for the father, this should be done for the children too. They are sly and they understand the weakness easily. People start often with Christ and end with Moses. The law is: start with Moses and end with Christ. Have always one God – one center but not many centres[A2] . When your God gets angry, it is bad, but if someone else gets angry – do not worry. As long as you have not accepted God to be your teacher, no one teaches you; but when God Christ starts to teach you, immediately other teachers will appear to teach you about this and that and to show you other ways. They are false, do not listen to them, but only listen to Jesus Christ in secret without making this known to other teachers who have appeared. The sufferings should not be the reason for discouragement, on the contrary – for encouragement. All writers have written their best works when they have suffered most. The Thessalonian campaign4 is the Grecian horse – the Greeks put it in Thessalonica and Bulgarians first pull it. The end that comes is good. You would like to know more about the new age – here it is. _____________________________________________________ [1] Oka= old unit of weight equal to 1225 g [A1] [A2]In a text, use only one variant in spelling a word, not center and centre.

From the book, “To fall in love with God”, Sunday’s lectures (1916-1920), First issue, IK “Janua”98, Sofia, 2009 The book to be downloaded – PDF Content of the book Five discreet and five foolish virgins Then the Kingdom of the heavens will become like ten virgins that took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were discreet, and five were foolish. (Gospel of Matthew 25:1-2) This is a piece (quotation) that Jesus Christ had taken from a great Divine book and the ten virgins are characters from this Divine book. Of course, you haven't read this book, and few have read it. I will do my best to explain the deep inner sense of this section, but are you going to find out what is useful for you? Why does Jesus Christ take the ten virgins and not five? Then, He makes the difference between them-the five were sensible, and the five- foolish. Why were not two of them sensible and eight foolish? There is an association between things. Many are asking the question, who are these virgins? These virgins-this is the whole mankind. So half of the people are sensible, and half are foolish. In this respect, we can split the people into blacks and whites. There have been so far four races in the world: red, black, yellow and white. White is the youngest race. It was a time when the black race was on the pick of their development. Black people were not as unintelligent as they are today, in contrary, they used to be the most intelligent people. From this race the sin starts, and those five foolish virgins represent the black race, and the five smart represent the white race, which is now working to restore the Kingdom on Earth. Perception is incorrect when you say that some people are good and others bad. A person cannot be both good and bad. A person can be either good or bad. Gold cannot be at the same time valuable, and worthless. The valuable stone cannot be at the same time priceless and worthless. The thing that is precious is valuable, and the thing that is of no value is worthless. One of the qualities of these five virgins was sensibility, they were sensible. The word "sensible" is used by Jesus Christ with deep meaning. The word "einsof" had been used rather than the word "intellect", which means everlasting Divine beginnings, which occurs often in a man. These five Virgins had Divine beginning within themselves. Now, you need to keep one thing in mind: the difference between the sensible and the foolish, the good and the bad is that the bad guys have their blowholes, pores in themselves, very quickly they lose their temper, and good people have no pores in themselves, they do not lose their temper. I don't use the word "pore" to associate with channels in people’s body, but I use the word in the chemical sense. Just as there are unstable compounds, such as compounds of nitrogen, and when a person dies, his flesh starts smelling-then all nitrogen compounds decompose, every element is released and goes to its place. So at this time, when the master passes away, each element goes to the place from where it had come. This is called decay, smell. Make a note of the fact that heaven is a place of purity, of sense. Now when I speak about it, many people can understand it incorrectly. That twisted understanding lies in the fact that often people do not think. And when you speak to them, when the truth is given to them, this truth causes bad smell to them, because people, who have bad eyes, they often smell badly. Abdominal pain is accompanied with such bad smell. In blood circulation there are also such reactions. So, a good person, a sensible person is able to manage these elements and turns the wickedness into good. You say: "This is a very interesting thing when a person can handle the wickedness and turn it into good.” And in today's chemistry and Alchemy there was striving to convert no precious metals into precious ones, into jewels. We might say that religion is a science, with which we can make the basic elements into more valuable, to convert simple thoughts into valuable ones. This is the deep science; it is the pursuit of religion. All religions that exist in the world have different methods that teach how to turn bad into good, how people can get on during their lifetime. Therefore, from this perspective you can have any religion, as long as it gives you a method to grow closer to life. This issue practically is very easy to solve. For example, you go to a town, stay there for a while and visit a restaurant. If the food is not good in that restaurant, you leave it and go to another restaurant, which is better and more expensive. If the second restaurant is good, you will continue going there. If someone asks you why you go to that restaurant, you will say: “It is really more expensive there, but the restaurant- keeper serves good food”. Therefore, the point is not in the cheap. Anyone who sells cheap, he bears no truth in themselves. When I want to sell, either I will take a lot, or I will not give anything. We have to value the Devine material. Someone might say: “God gives without money, as a gift”. It is true, but how do you understand – “gives gifts”? When a Bulgarian bride is getting married she gives away presents to her guests: to one she will give a shirt, to another a belt and etc. But, don’t you think, that when she gives them these presents she does not expect from them something else in return? It might be e baking tray or a pot or something else. Nowadays, people expect God to give them presents and they do not want to give anything in return. There is no such a law in the world. When God gives, He manifests His responsibility, but we also must give- not because God expects our gift, but because this way we become more graceful. When we give something to a beggar, we dignify our feelings. When we see a beggar, he reminds us about the law of giving. These beggars are like restaurant- keepers, who feed us. If someone asks why beggars exist - the answer is- they will exist until people reach the time of their development. Jesus Christ says that five virgins are sensible and five are foolish. This law is valid for every person as well. In every person there are two individuals –sensible and foolish, who are in constant fight inside him. When the foolish person comes and tells you: “Give me from your butter”, you should tell him the same way: “I cannot give you from my butter, because it will not be enough neither for you, nor for me. This is why you should buy it for yourself.” Now you understand why a person should buy butter for himself. According to the parable, the five virgins returned, and the door was shut. And the Lord told them he did not know them. Why doesn’t The Lord know them? Each Lamp, which they were carrying, represented the human body, the oil inside was the heart, and the need of it to burn-this is the human mind. So we need to love, to think and to have a body. The Lord says: “I do not need people, who don’t have a body, a heart and a mind. Their minds do not glow. Go to the appropriate places for you.” But you will object it: “Why would not He accept them?” To give you an example I will use the following analogy. You have ten servants; you want to send them to work in a mine. And if five of your servants’ lamps do not work, they are damaged, will you send them in that mine? No, you will not. This means, that the light is necessary for them. The person, who enters the Kingdom of God, he will still be on the same land. I do not mean that it is the land that you know. I'm going to ask you: do you know what was the earth ten thousand, twenty thousand, one million years ago, etc. Some of you will say it was steam, but it is not the Earth. The steam was a process in the past development of the Earth. This steam was necessary for the development of the Earth. There was fire which also was necessary for the development of the Earth. But the steam and the fire are not the Earth, this is an inner process necessary for its development, the same way we have similar processes for our development. We have blood, warmth, moisture, but all this is not the human soul. Human soul and Earth are synonyms in relation to the Devine life. So these five Virgins are inside you. You have five feelings, but from a purely phrenology perspective every person has two halves, and in each half- there are five centres, so all together there are ten feelings. Five of the feelings stand in a passive state, in stock. When all these ten feelings begin to work inside the man, then the person is good. You do not know how many wedding guests were there. Jesus Christ didn't say anything. You think there were just the bride and the groom. They had been ten, so we have the number 20. But then ten and twenty, that is a sum of all creatures taken together. Under the number 7 we understand God, and number 2 represents the material, which means a combination of all the small particles that are alive, all of them work. There might be that half of them are sensible and half of them are foolish, this is a different matter. The example which Jesus Christ gives is that every person wants to reap the fruit of their work. Your mind will serve only to you and therefore we must never rely on others. For example, someone leaves - leaves this world. You do not rely on him to solve your problems from there; you have to rely on yourself. A teacher can convey good lessons, but if you are dull, he can't do anything for you. A doctor can be very good, very knowledgeable but if you have more negative elements inside yourself, he would not be able to restore your health. And that is why Jesus Christ said: "you will be receiving according to your faith." in this sense, faith is a quality of the sensible person. Faith and hope are the two wings in birds, and love is as head of the bird. These three things suggest one more thing, the fourth one. "Why do I need faith and hope?"To fly, and if you go down to the ground, these two wings are turning into legs. Hope and faith are similar for this, and for that world. Under the senseless" Jesus Christ understood that they did not have faith, they think that it is possible to live without oil. They think: When he comes, because He is Generous, He is merciful, He will give. He will give, but there are some terms and conditions. Why is it like this, why did God not give? He gives, the Earth has a lot of natural recourses, but you need to have a grain to plant it. This grain will collect vital juices out of the ground and will give you what you need. This grain must be your mind, you need to have understanding. You need to take out the extract in order to use it. When somebody says, '”Isn’t it possible to be not like this? “This shows that he knows more than the Lord. I've never asked: "why did God do that?", and I study the root causes. If you ask the question: "Why is it like this?" you will never be answered. Somebody asked Hermes a very important question - “Who was greatest teacher in Egypt”, Instead of answer, he just shrinked his mouth, without saying a word. And if you ask me, I will answer that you do not have to question such things. You ask: "Why one saint is further away, and the other is closer to God?" Have you ever been in heaven, to know that one is closer, another-further away? I see all the Saints are in the world and work hard, one is in the lab, another is in another place, etc. they are on Earth. And people are right thinking this way, and I am right as well. I speak what I know. There is nothing to argue, the experience will prove it. When Jesus Christ says above parable, He determines the reason why these five Virgins were stupid. They have not done four things: they did not feed the hungry people; they did not give water to thirsty people; they did not take care of ill people and they did not comfort the ones who were in prison. Good virgins have done it, but foolish virgins have not. Jesus Christ determines what is frenzy, using as an example the three servants and the master in the same parable. Two of them acted as wise servants and one of them was stupid. Two of them have doubled their benefits from what the master has given them, and one of them buried the money and told his master: “I knew that you are cruel and want to harvest what you have not planted. This is why I was afraid of you and hid the money. This is in my opinion what you should receive”. When we are cruel, stupid, when we lie, we think that all people are like that. Everything in the world is a reflection of our inner world. These five sensible virgins are a big power in a man, which we can use accordingly. This is not only for an individual person, not only for us. When Jesus Christ comes again, He will not separate one nation from another. Why is in the Gospel written, that He will separate sheep from goats, the same way like the Sheppard does it? I know that goat milk is healthier than the sheep milk; it is better and safer for children than the milk from the sheep. But in the book, from where Jesus Christ takes this parable – goats and sheep are symbols. “Sheep” refers to a sensible and noble person, while a “goat” refers to Crotchety and unreasonable man. A goat goes to places where nobody goes – on mountains, picks. It is as an acrobat. Sheep like plane land. This is the essential difference between these two animals. Therefore, the stupid people love adventure. And in history there is one such example. One Greek King, who wanted glory, issued an order to burn the Temple of the goddess Diana. This is how he became well-known. So, these are the consequences in life. -everything we think and wish hard, will happen. With a little story I would explain that. This is a story that was created perhaps ten or twenty centuries before the Christian era. One Persian King had the habit to look at the way the people in his town live. One night, having passed a very poor House, listening, three sisters to talk to each other and he along with his assistant listens to their conversation. One of the sisters said: "I would like to marry the Baker of the King, so I can eat white bread all the time." The second sister said: “I would like to marry the butcher of the King”. The third sister said: “I would like to marry the king’s son. I will bear him the smartest and well-behaved child”. This was what they were talking about. The King’s son wanted to fulfil their wishes and the next morning he invited them and fulfilled their wishes. A man receives what he wishes. The King’s son married the third sister, but the other two sisters became very envious. They were not happy and they were very jealous because of the difference in their social status. This was what they wanted, but when they received it, the two sisters were not satisfied. I will stop this story here – this is one part of it. There are some people in the world who think only for bread, the Lord gives it to them. Others think only about meat, it's a rich food; the Lord gives it to them. What is meat? It is the meat of the animals; it is the meat of the gold and silver items. And the one who wanted to marry the King refers to people who exist in the divine life, they want to bear something. And those who want to eat only, they are a watermill, the flour is digested, washed the stone again lay the wheat etc these people are dissatisfied with life; they say that life has no meaning. How to make no sense? If they wanted this thing, there is meaning in life. If you want your life to make sense, ask to marry the King's son, to have a smart and a good kid. Our soul must have that target-to get in contact with God, to deliver something. When we give birth (deliver), we will forget about our personality. Personality is an external mask. An Individual matter- it is a higher status in man, where we have to focus. It is not important what are my relationship with people but what can be my relationship with the angels, the most high-ranking people. If I participate in an orchestra, people are not going to look at my pretty face or soft hands. They will see my good playing, whether I am in tune with others. To feel, to think properly that means you know how to play nice. If you feel well, your face would be nice. Everyone can make his face beautiful, as long as he feels the thinnest vibration of love, and then your face would be nice. Why should we think well? To be healthy, and then in our body we will have this jitter that will bring us joy and fun. Our misfortunes come from the fact that we, like these girls, want to get married to a Baker, butcher, and fulfilling our ideals, we will say: “it was not worth it to marry this man". Yes, I agree, it is not worth it. And I for Baker and butcher wouldn't be married. On one side we will put the Baker and on the other side the Butcher. The one who created this story, he was a great thinker. He said that in the physical life there is always a division, but in the spiritual world there is no separation. When the divine element, the divine sense is born in us, IT's going to teach us how to collect the oil, how to use it, how to lit it. And when Jesus Christ comes, He will recognize us for sensibleness because oil, the candle –they represent the wisdom within us. You can't have butter, oil, unless you are sensible. Exploring the deep meaning of life, you will see that the first manifestation of God was the logos, sensibleness, the word, and after that it appears to be the light. The light is one of the results of this divine element, like a virgin, who says: "I want to give birth." and then you're not going to be a servant, but a master. Jesus Christ said to the five foolish Virgins: "I don't know you." Do you know why Jesus Christ says: "I don't know you." When friends come over and you say: “I know this person, I know that one." What is the relationship? Both are human beings. Someone you know in some point in your life made you some service, some good, and the one you don't know- you don't know him because he has never done any good to you. The person who saved your life, you owe him something, and the one who has done nothing for you, he has not lost even a single hair from his beard for you, the one who has not given you anything, you do not owe him anything. And Jesus Christ says: "Since you've fed me, you have taken care of me, I be obliged to you and you will be with me in the Kingdom of God. And those who have not done anything for Me, you'll stay out, I will send you to work in another era and, in future time, maybe something can be done for you. “Some say, ' I want to be in heaven with Jesus Christ." You can be, but I would like to ask you, have you ever sacrificed your live for Jesus Christ? If you have sacrificed it, you will be with Christ, if you have not, you're going to stay out. You can believe in one or the other, one may be true or not, but there is no a middle way. The right thing can be verified, to be demonstrated. There is a hidden power in your brain and in your body which has to be developed. Some people say: “Mr. Danov does not want to reveal this power.” I am not a magician. Everyone can reveal it. Spend one hour a day to think about great things and you will see that on the day when you get married to the King you will see the thing differently. Now, I will continue with the second part of the story. The third sister, who married the king, gave birth to a child. However, her two sisters stole the child and gave it to people to take it away from the parents, and they gave a crippled child to the queen. And the father became furious because his wife did not keep her promise, but gave birth to a child idiot; this is why he ordered to put her in a jail. The king’s son ended in a family of a gardener, who worked in King’s yard. The king’s son grew up as a very handsome young man. In the same area where he grew up there was a very beautiful girl, called Halyal – Kazya, and lots of kings sons who wanted to marry her, went there and to all of them after she was pronouncing the words - “Became a stone!” they turned into stones. As a result of this, all that area was covered with stones. The King’s son also decided to try his happiness. He went up to this place and shouted twice: “Halyal- Kazya!” and his legs turned into a stone till his knees. He told his horse, that when he called her name for the third time the horse must start neighing very loudly. After he shouted her name for the third time, the horse neighed very loudly which surprised the beauty and she did not said the words to turn him into a stone. The king’s son then asked her to wash him and to turn him into a human being again. After that he rode his horse and shouted – “Raise all you heroes from the past centuries, follow me!” He took Halyal – Kazya with him and told the story of two sisters. This Halyal- Kazya is a human soul and all you are the stones. Some people say that all the people are alive. There are two types of people – some of them who have died when still alive, and the other type- who lives even they have died. I would like everyone to be alive. When the human mind manifest the divine light, each maid would say: "He is the one, I am looking for." Everyone on the earth is looking for God. I don't want people to look for me but to seek the Lord. Christ said: "this word, which you hold, this is God, not Me." Which one of you has devoted a year to find out these Virgins? Read this parable. But after you read it, stop, pray to God for one - two or several days and little by little you will be given some kind of revelation. You will understand these Virgins now after you heard this thing. You have four Virgins, and you are one, this is how you become five of them. The four Virgins-will all become one in you. These five Virgins, I work out that are: the body, the heart, the mind, the human intelligence and the human soul. They all have to come together with Christ. Until you reach to the heights of your mind and enter the field of your soul, you will not be able to find Christ. It is not because the fault is in you, it is not because you do not have the desire, but you need to climb high, because if the horizon on which you stand, is a Valley, hence you won't see anything. And if you get high, you'll see that the Earth was a bright woman and from her belly button a great light goes out. They say the Earth was sinful. It is not sinful-it is a woman from whom the light comes out; It only sometimes becomes angry, shakes around and say: "Children, please behave." I would like you all to be patient as the earth-it was burrowing, threshing, reaping, etc. All you get from it, but only ever the earth steams and dissolves all the entrances. Let's all be patient – not as The God, but as the Earth. Some say: "when will I be free of Earth?" the Earth is a paradise, a place where Saints live. And there, where you live, there's a terrible place. Although in Scripture they say that the Earth is deplorable place. You are deceiving yourselves; the Earth is an excellent mother. You say: "It's got us." But you never know who's got her-you got it, or it got you So, we are blind to this mother, who has fed us for so many years, prepares us to meet Christ. Some say: "I would like to live on another planet." wherever you go, there is a land. No one planet will accept people who don't respect their mother. If you go, for example, of Venus, you'll need a passport. Some say: "I will go to heaven." Where is the heaven? On the Sun, on the planets, or elsewhere? You will be on the Earth, because you have not paid the tax on the land of his mother. So says the Lord: "by not listening to, send him to his mother." and as she accept it, they bury him. The Earth says: "don't worry; I'll make you another nice outfit." As it sends you back to the Earth, it will send you those ten Virgins again, but did you know that in some cases the Royal sons spoil the servants? These ten Virgins are you. Modern philosophers imagine the life in the following way. For example, a Wolf met a lamb and asks him: "Why did you swear at me last year?" The Lamb responded: “But I wasn’t born last year, how is it possible to swear at you? "Why are you muddying the water?" asked the Wolf. "I do not muddy it"-Lamb said. The Wolf leans and ate it. We in life behave in the same way. The Wolf can eat a lamb, but it does not matter how many he will eat, he will still remain a Wolf. Someone has done a bad thing to you and you say: "I will take revenge on him." Today you will take revenge on somebody, tomorrow, and finally you will have wrinkles on the face. And when Cain killed his brother, the Lord put wrinkles on his face, so people can recognize him and do not kill him. Let him live, because otherwise he would be more damaging. Your bad desires, your thoughts- the devil, engage them in work. Induce people say- “ Kill all your desires”. However I say: “Force every desire in hard work, do not kill it”. Jesus Christ said: “Reject yourself”, I say “Love yourself” How you can understand me? You can say that it is a contradiction – why do you have to reject yourself? Now it's time for you to get in love with yourself. The one, who cannot love himself, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. In a different place Christ says: "who does not love himself, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.", when you fall in love with yourself, you're going to be one of the smartest and most noble people in the world. When you fall in love with the Lord or yourself, or have an ideal, you will become a better, noble person. I don't want to leave in your mind now the consideration, among which of these two types of people you will be, because this will scare you and you will start thinking where are you? Are you among smart ones or fools? I suggest you to think that you are among the smart ones, because of the fact that you have come to listen to me. Therefore you do not need to think whether you will be the ones, who have been chosen. If you think that you have to be chosen now, it is wrong, you should have been chosen long time ago. It is better not to know whether you have been chosen or not. The urge to become richer, without knowing that you're already rich, is better. Firstly, these five Virgins have relation to the human mind. It has three sections: first, objective or deliberate mind, second, higher intelligence, and third, the mind of remembrance or the memory. Then, there are special, high feelings in a man-his moral feelings and love he has towards his closed ones. These all are the five Virgins. One Virgin is in the rear of the head, the other is on top, and the remaining three are in the front of the forehead. All form a triangle. Those Virgins are inside us, they are, that make us think they are that make us sublime and noble. They say that a man has two angels. And I say that he has five such angels, who are smart, and five that are not smart, so all-ten. When you are visited from the five foolish, you go out of the way, and when you are visited by the five smart ones, you work; your job is successful, going forward. When the foolish ones come to you, they strip you and when the others come, they bring to you all the blessings. So, when you have these blessings, which follows all periods of your life, you're not lost, you are in balance. Every person in their life needs to have the right balance-it does not matter how many times he is dangling, he should go toward the direction which they know. I will make a comparison: this life can be compared with a modern ship - very well built, equipped with good machines and with its sailors, passengers. This ship goes on a long journey in the great ocean. You can have the confidence in the Capitan and question him whether your life is secure and safe. Or you can have a look at the equipment - how the machines are built, whether coal is enough, etc. In any storm you will be scared, but it's not going to help you, because if the ship is not strong enough, you are powerless. If it is strong, there's no reason to be afraid of. The Earth is a ship that carries us, it is the most beautiful, the most firmly made and all the forces inside of it are in place, and after some time it will bring us in the divine world. Earth will never be destroyed. It can grow old and will rejuvenate again. Again the mature age will come, again it will become old, but there is no demolition. In the world there are only four periods during which a person passes: youth, adolescence, adulthood and old age. This is the Earth. When the Lord comes, says the Scripture, sinners will not rise. When the ship is passing a harbour, all passengers get off it, and their passports are checked, and if you don't have one, you will be returned back to the ship. And those who have a passport, they will go down to the city. Those who reach the port and return to the ship will say: "We reached the sky." and those who come into town, they say: "We have seen the sky." This is what happens with all the people in the world. They will return again to the mother Earth. It will only take care of your better behaviour in order for you to improve and you will all become good people. There is no other way, just some will come earlier in the Divine world, and others later. The five Virgins came earlier, and the other five were left out. You might say: "Why do we have to live such a stupid life, to create the conditions, to live so many years and still suffer?" But we have to realise, that we are the ones that create sufferings. Now I will preach you to listen to your mother, the Earth. And when you eat a fruit, say: "Mom, thank you for this PEAR, and from now on I will try to be better person." when you get a loaf of bread, say: "Thanks for this bread." But what you say now: "How bad this bread is.” But the Lord is very strict. He will ask you: "Why don’t you respect your mother?" This is why when you return home, you must learn to respect your mother, the Earth. This land is not lamentable icon, It is very good. God has created this Earth. Earth and Heaven is a whole large thing. The one, who lives well on Earth, will also live well in heaven; and the one who lives well in heaven will live well on the Earth too. If you learn to live here, you will go through the entire situations on the Earth; you'll learn all the rules and orders in life. There is something good in any animal in the world. For example, an Ant has hardworking skills; a spider- has a good skill to interlace. And a caterpillar is a good Weaver, too. All the things that have been created in the world are good and pleasant. Sometimes you condemn the louse, but it has its sense, it makes you good. It is the same with fleas. They are doing you a favour. People, who do not want to have lice and fleas, they need to have a comb. If you don't wash, the lice will come to give you an experience, in order not to follow a bigger evil. And now they all say: "Everything is worthless in this world." We are the only one important. A gentleman in America meets with an editor of a newspaper in New York City and asked him: "Where have you been?" "I went to see a gentleman and find out how he trained fleas." "Do not mess with me!"-said the first gentleman. "It is true” - the editor replied. “ I saw fleas lined up on two squads, battalions, regiments, and I saw how they have been commanded.” The gentleman became interested in this matter and decided to check the truth of the words of the editor. He went to check everything himself and saw that it was true, indeed. He saw that the fleas were well trained in military art. If the fleas are able to learn the military art, are you not able to learn the Divine art? They asked the gentlemen how he had managed to achieve this success. "The biggest difficulty I met in this was to get out of their habit to jump-he replied. I achieved this, by putting them between two pieces of glass. And so they stood there until they got out of the habit to jump, and after that I started training them. "Sometimes Lord put us between two pieces of glass in order to quit jumping. This is an exercise for your heart, your brain. And in this way of thinking you can realize who the five sensible are and who the five foolish virgins’ ones are. Prudential people say that everything in the world makes sense, and foolish people say that everything is meaningless. Now, I want you not to marry bakers and butchers, but the king’s son. And I advise you to give birth. Then go and find the King's daughter Halâl-Kazâ, let’s make your horse winning before you start talking. Think about this matter, and a new light will come into your mind. I am giving you the framework, and you need to fill in the rest. When you fill in the rest, it will be a blessing to you. 16 November, 1916, Sunday, 10:00. Sofia translated: Maria Ivanova

To Become One with Christ Within “Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:8, New King James Version, (NKJV). I will focus only on the last phrase: "… and count them as rubbish that I may gain Christ." The word “gain” in the sense of acquiring something is familiar to all young and old people, to scholars and to simpletons, to good and bad folks, to the very intelligent and to the unwise beings – as a rule of a thumb, everyone is willing to acquire and gain something. There is no being that does not seek to acquire something, no matter how small and undeveloped this being may be. It is a completely different matter, though, whether such aspirations correspond to the actual evolutionary needs hidden in the essence of Life’s deep root causes. Truly important is the pursuit of such acquisitions, which provide for the real growth and development of human beings, but it is important to remember that the body, the heart, the mind and the Spirit have their own, different goals. When we talk about “gaining” Christ within, we need to understand what such a statement involves. I know that you may have different opinions and that all of you want to become one with Christ. You could buy an ox and place it in a barn, you can buy a horse and restrain it within a bridle, you may buy a hen and place it on a roost, you can get a nice dress and put it in the closet, you may acquire a new hat as well as many other things … You could become parent to a child, but you will not place the child in the hen-house or barn, or in the closet, but you will hold the child with your hands and keep it close to your chest. Therefore, a fundamental difference should be drawn among all things, which are of different value, capacity and meaning, as we need to possess the quality of discerning the true nature of all manifestations. Anyone who has set out on Life’s upright path, the so-called “true path of mankind”, or in the supreme sense - anyone who intends to undertake the true Divine Journey – any such person should distinguish between the essential polarities in Life and be able to differentiate between good and evil, truth and untruth, justice and injustice, love and hatred, wisdom and foolishness. Such a capacity is a must as it is the essence of Life. You believe that you understand well the essence of all things; you may think that some things are positive in their nature, but in fact they may turn out to be evil. When we talk about good or evil, we understand the perception of the divinely intelligent human soul towards all that is, has already been and will ever be. So what are the aspirations of the soul? Someone may say that they are hungry and may believe this is a personal need of great importance. Your soul, however, does not care about food, since it does not need any physical food substances. One may think that eating is everything life is all about, but that shows that such people do not understand things correctly. You may ask yourself for example: "Well, when I die, will I eat and drink in the outer world?" And if you cannot find an answer to this question, you could begin to think how the outer world may look like. Rest assured that in the Kingdom of God people do not eat and drink - these are things required by the body in the material world only. But the body and your true self are two completely different things and when the body acquires food and drink, please do not assume that your soul acquires or needs them as well - that is an illusion. Then, you may experience hate, jealousy, lust for revenge and other similar emotions and you may assume that such sentiments are part of the soul's pursuit for Divine Truth. These are but the aspirations of your heart, because anger and jealousy can be indulged in by the heart only and not by the soul. Occultists would say that such emotions are aspirations inherent to the astral body. For example, someone may have several houses and you would envy them; you may envy someone for their good looks or for their knowledge; you may also become disenchanted with somebody who hires and “steals” your servant away from you and then you become angry and so on … Afterwards you may say to yourself: "I was angry, I did experience all these negative emotions." – no, that is a lie, as all those perturbations are the desires of your heart. Next, someone may begin to think that they know much and then he becomes full of pride as a result. Such people think that they are very scientific, very powerful, that they know more than the others. Such people start to think they are the center of the Universe, that they are truly elevated beings, that they have acquired something of great value. Such people are so proud of themselves because they believe they have a lot of indispensable knowledge which allows them to teach others and to preach to them – such people believe they know it all. All such and similar dispositions are a manifestation of the mind - this is an expression of your thoughts, not of your true self and one should be able to separate the games of their own mind and behavior from their true self. So, where could we ultimately find the Christ? We shall find Him neither in the body, nor in the heart, nor within the mind. Where then shall we find Him? I will tell you. Some of you would understand me and some will not understand me. In the past, I have given some very clear examples in order to show you how to reason properly, but some of you have still not learnt how to think. Let’s take for example a traveler who, whilst tripping and falling into an abyss, caught himself on a tree branch and held onto it for 4,5 hours. After the traveler became exhausted and let go of the branch, what was then their astonishment to find out that the abyss beneath them was only fifteen centimeters deep! Some people may now ask me how to let go of such a similar “branch” in their lives. The answer is simple – if you have a desire that bothers you, just release yourself from it by setting it free and do not assume that the interests of your heart are your own true interests – let such artificial interests go their own way. Many of you are in the position of that Turkish tough guy who caught a robber and then both of them became so much embroiled into their struggle that they could not let go of each other. The tough guy said to his father: "Dad, I caught a robber." - "Let the robber go." - replied the father. In this example, it is a certain desire which wants to rob you and neither can you release it, nor is the desire able to leave you alone. You may ask how to possibly get rid of such a desire, but such a question only demonstrates the illusions of your mind, since as long as you really want to get rid of it, you'll inevitably learn how to leave such desires behind. If you go to a chemist and ask them to execute the simplest of trials, and namely, to break water down into hydrogen and oxygen, then do ask the chemist about the properties of both the element and ask him to also show you how to separate the elements from one another. Start thinking properly and you will learn how to conduct similar trials effectively. Inside yourself you also have a similar compound element which has been created by the merger of the body and the heart. Within yourselves, you may have a compound element consisting of three different substances – such are the acids for example – they also consist of three elements. Therefore, from the union of your body, heart and mind, you would have alchemically created an acid and all chemists say that acids are dangerous to life. Sometimes acids are used to cure, but should be given in a small dosage as otherwise when used in larger quantities, they may cause poisoning. Now, when I am giving such examples, I do not mean that you do not need a heart, a mind and a body, but I claim that your body has its own interests and it is in its full right to do so; your heart has its own aspirations and it is in its own full right to do so and finally, your mind has its own desires and it is also in its full right to do so. However, the human soul has its own striving as well, and in particular, that is to manifest Mercy, Faith, Hope, Higher Consciousness and Love of God. These are the most exalted feelings of the soul and we live in them and they live within us. The human soul itself is our true life and vehicle. Therefore, if we want to understand the way humans were created, if we want to find Christ and if we want to build upon a body of strength and vigor, we should then live within the sublime atmosphere of the human soul. If you serve your body only, you would merely be a servant and it will be your master. One day you would eventually grow tired of serving it the very same way young women become disappointed with young men, as they make the mistake of searching for young men with their hearts and not with their soul’s essence which is the only right way of doing so. In such circumstances, people tend to say about such young women that they had lost or had their hearts broken, but these young women would rediscover and mend their hearts because the heart could be “stolen” and then also rediscovered again in the very same way someone may steal money and that money can later be redeemed. Your mind and your thoughts can also be hijacked because the mind is not what matters most – such a “hijack” shows that one is not able to master and control their mind. When the heart is forsaken, then a person tends to become more crude and people say that such a person has become cruel. The body, the heart and the mind have been fully studied already - do not seek to elaborate more on how they function. Whoever wants to become One with Christ within, must go beyond these three worlds of the body, heart and mind and enter the fourth kingdom of the soul. I would describe it to you as a magnificent and grand world inhabited by enlightened and noble beings. Perhaps after some time, when people develop their consciousness and perception organs further, they would become able to see and speak about this world. Nonetheless, even now we can talk about it when we share our thoughts on righteousness, peace and Love. This world of the soul has two layers – the first one is called Universal Consciousness, while the second one is represented by the process of internally merging with God. “Eden’s paradise” is what Christians call this world of the soul. So, in order to find Christ, you should enter into your soul, raise yourself to a new level and acquire the first necessary quality - unselfishness. Talking about unselfishness, we do not mean the negative connotation of abstaining from all things and then subsequently pining away, but to understand what the essential things in life are and also what you need to acquire and what to avoid by all means. Self-centeredness, for example, can be witnessed when you wish to indulge in things that are despised by your Higher Self, such as pride for example – in this case when acting out of mere self-interest, you desire everyone to extol and love you. When you learn to think correctly, i.e. only when you find the Divine Door in yourself and arrive at it, would you be able to knock on it, so that Christ, who resides within, may open up the gates. How can one become One with the Christ within? The body wants to absorb food and it intakes the food by first placing it into the mouth. The mouth is the journey’s departure point, where the thirty-two “tooth-servants” are located, each of which is chewing on the substances and stripping them of their outer shell. At the entrance of the mouth stands the tongue as a chief inspector who monitors the inbound food, orders the teeth to work together with the saliva, to chew the food up and to then send it to the “reception room” represented by the stomach. The food then passes through the “corridor” of the intestines to where all other food substances have taken their place and after four hours have passed, then there would be no sign of the food that had entered before, as everything would be completely transformed by then. What’s left of the food would thereafter leave through the “back door” in a different form altogether and not in its original state. When the food then reappears in the open world, it would definitely be a leftover. Such is the desire of the body - it accepts food through the front parade entrance of the mouth, but then sends it out through the “back door”, i.e. it takes all the food in, bit gives nothing of any significant value back. Do not blame the body, such is the way it works. The actual trouble is that many of you are willing to accept Christ within themselves in the very same way, but in this way one would achieve absolutely nothing. When it comes to the heart, the same thing happens as with the food and the body - you may be attracted to someone and say: "I love you very much.", but when you start abhorring this person, you shove them out through the back door. And then the man or woman complains that they have had their hearts broken. I assure you that such men and women have never had a heart - they all had no heart, as they were not in true possession of it. The same is true for the mind as well - before the mind absorbs and consumes you fully, it may compliment you first, but one day it will also send you out through the back door. That is why we say that our relationships are unstable as our mental goals tend to fluctuate. These are, however, only various developmental stages. The body, the heart and the mind are forces given to the human soul which it must conquer in order to thrive through them. The body should never become your master, but must be only a servant instead; your heart should also never be allowed to become your master and the same applies to the mind as well. Someone may say: "I do love with my heart". Whoever loves with their heart only, will love you today and today only and tomorrow they will detest you. That's why people say that living without hatred is not possible. The world of the heart is polarized and I cannot be fooled by its behavior. All those, who want to create a noble and good home for their soul through the polarity of the heart in order to live in peace and harmony, have not grasped the real meaning of Life. If you live a physical, emotional or mental life, you cannot enter the Kingdom of God. Modern chemistry signifies the states of the bodies as solids, liquids and gases. The physical body resembles the solids, the heart is associated with the fluid and the mind represents the air. Therefore, you can choose to utilize and work with these three states of matter – those are three powers, three mighty elements. Saint Paul says: “Yet indeed I also count all things loss." The knowledge of Christ operates under completely different laws. To understand the laws of the body, you need to study anatomy and physiology. Modern people should not be ignorant, but should study the changes within their bodies, know how many times a minute their hearts beat in the morning, at lunch and in the evening and feel their heart’s disposition both during the day and at night. Then, they should also comprehend the state of their mind – at what times and when they think more clearly and when they are less prone to reason well. People need to have a clear picture on what goes on within themselves and to distinguish among these three separate areas of life – body, heart and mind. When you begin to distinguish your body's wishes (for example, it sometimes wants to walk and sometimes needs to rest), then you can jump on top of your “horse”, i.e. step in charge of your body and take care of it, but you would simultaneously with that know that a walk, for example, is not for your own true self, but for the sake of your body. And when you rest, always know that it is not your real you who is resting, but it is your body having a break instead. If you despise someone, on the other hand, do say that in this way you are exercising your heart. If you love someone, again, be aware that you would be still exercising your heart because it is the heart that thrives in the atmosphere of hatred and love. Know that you can use hatred and envy as a workout for your heart only, but not for your soul. For example, when you wish to acquire many houses or anything of that sort - take your heart out for a walk, show it quite a few houses, say to your heart that it will have them, say to it that it will have everything it wants. The next day, you shall place the “saddle” on your mind instead and you would take it out for a walk just like you did with your heart previously. - The mind would want to know the mystery of God, it may become agitated and you would tell your mind that you already know everything, that you have all the earthly glory and that you have written all the books which exist in the world – the mind would then certainly be glad to hear such news. And so, in this way you will know that your body, heart and mind are being active and are still being kept satisfied in a positive way. Next, you shall “take your soul for a walk” - for example, you may encounter an unhappy person and help them as much as you can by giving them more faith and hope. The natural inclination of the soul is to give and share with those around you. Then you will say to your body: "Please wait a little bit for me until I give this person something." Following, you would spread love, faith and hope and when you return to your home, you shall find Christ to have appeared within you. You would then say: "How easy it was; it was not hard work at all!" It's very easy to become One with Christ. All you have to do is to take your body, heart, mind and soul for a walk and you may then come back within yourself to find the miracle of finding Christ to have already happened. Through the expression "Yet indeed I also count all things loss“, Paul understands that the knowledge we can have about the body, the heart and the mind, cannot be compared to what Christ can give us in resonance with our soul when we learn to give and share with those around us. When the plants begin to bloom, note that each blossom turns its face to the Sun. Place a plant, such as an apple tree, into a dark, confined space and watch what happens to it - the plants live in open places where there is plenty of sunlight. Therefore, to find Christ, you must illuminate your heart, mind and soul. Your soul must not be disturbed by anything. For example, if you feel like eating a chicken or if you say: "How dare they criticize me!", or alternatively state that you wish to be intelligent and scholarly, you would then never be able to find Christ and you will not find Him because you have chosen to stay in the dark confined space and not in the realm of the Divine Light. Alternatively, you may go to a church to find Christ in there, but He is not to be found in there either. Someone may say: "I belong to this or that church." When it assumes that there are many churches, the modern Christianity is effectively advocating polygamy. How many churches are there in the world? I say there is only one Church as a symbol of the Feminine principle. About this Church, Christ says that it is a reasonable and wise principle. Initially, God created one man and one woman only and that is the accurate picture we should have in our mind. And if someone asks me who I am or what I stand for, that means that they are asking me, if I tend to associate myself with my body, my heart or my mind. The Church that I know has always been only One and throughout all ages there will be one such church only. Anyone who wants to find Christ should have the right understanding and the right concepts of these things. Some may preach to you for thousands of years, but they will not tell you the Truth. A priest who tells you that this or that church is the best one, does not tell you the Truth. If, by their own church, the priest understands the Divine Church, which acts as a spring which shares its water for free, thus pouring out its blessing into the world, then I would agree. But if a church takes advantage of people to just use and abuse them, then such church is not the real Church of God. Christ came among the Jews who were the chosen people, but their church was a church of robbery. If the Jews are scattered around the world nowadays, it is because they were greedy and the Lord cursed them and punished them. The Lord did not actually curse them in the literal sense of the word, but they have brought this suffering upon themselves completely on their own. Some people hate the Jews; the Jews should not be hated, but accepted as an example. I believe that if the Jews one day receive Christ within themselves properly and come into the realm of the soul, they would say: "In Jesus Christ, there are neither Greeks, nor Jews." Christ unites all beings in Himself! These things are not contradictory, but the trouble is that you are unable to differentiate between the interests of the body and the mind and that is why your inner peace and harmony tend to disappear. For example, you are born a woman and you are unhappy because of your gender. What is represented by the woman? The woman lives in the heart, i.e. the heart is a house, in which the human Spirit has entered in order to live in there. You rented this house and you should know that in this heart you are a “tenant” and this heart should be a good friend and companion of yours. The man, however, lives on the “third floor”[1], i.e. the woman lives on the “second floor” of the heart figuratively speaking, while the man lives on the third floor, but both the man and the woman are just “renting”. Someone may say that being a man or a woman is in accordance with the law the Lord has placed. The fact of matter is that the woman should reside on the second floor, while the man should inhabit the third floor. If the man falls down from the third floor, he would hurt himself more than if the woman falls down from the second floor. Therefore, in order to find Christ, you must cease to think of yourself in terms of being a man or a woman and you have to go out in the open, to go out into the realm of the soul. Then, when you turn yourselves to God and send your true and natural desires to Him, you will blossom. Only then would the Divine energy and Divine Light descend upon your blossom and the Divine in you shall be conceived. When you leave your heart, your mind and your body behind, only then could those blossoms of the soul be pollinated and you would then enjoy the real fruits of Life. Try doing so in order to rediscover your true selves in the next one year! Paul says that if you sacrifice your riches and your body, you will never find Christ and that in this case you are on the correct path, but are not yet walking on it yet. When you enter the realm of your soul and then arrive at the next realm of Love - to love Christ and to hold Him as everything for you, then you would have found Him. When you stop thinking about yourself, your body, your heart, your mind and your soul, when you stop thinking on how to save your own self only, then you will find Christ. When you have gone beyond these four areas of the body, heart, mind and soul, you will understand the great meaning of Love and you would understand it through a single experience only. Only when you are nailed down to the cross in this state of Divine Love, as Christ Himself was nailed, then you would say: "Forgive them because they know nothing." Now, I happen to know many men and women who say: "I will find Christ." The woman then starts praying and the man listens to her and says: "I will take four nails and I will crucify her.", but she starts crying and complaining becomes angry and the man says, "You are a true liar, don’t you know that I live on the third floor and you live one story lower?" Another time the man is praying and the woman listens to him, takes four nails and wants to crucify him, but he then gets angry, shouts and then she tells him: "Oh what a true liar you are!" In this way, the two of them try to find Christ every day. For eight thousand years there have been plenty of partially crucified people and I do see how they shout at each other. Now, people ask why Christianity had not advanced much over the centuries. Any person, who wants to evolve, should understand the deep inner meaning of progress itself and free themselves from their bodies. You can live without a body as it is a mere collection of many cells, which can manage on their own just fine without your help anyway - they are your servants and one day, when your earthly life comes to an end, they will leave you. The same will happen with your heart and with your mind one day and they will tell you: "Come out of your body, so that its true master may enter." To elaborate on the joint work of the body, the heart and the mind, I will share an analogy that somewhat explains these notions. Imagine that we have a horse-wagon which represents the human body and also a horse which represents the human heart and the true human being is to be found inside the horse-wagon. If the wagon breaks, you’d get on the horseback; if you go uphill, you will leave the horse behind and you shall walk on foot. Therefore, you should leave these three areas for good and reach out beyond them. And when Christ says: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself” (Matthew, 16:24, NKJV).” This phrase calls for the denying the domination of the body, the heart and the mind and accepting your soul as your best companion instead. Because the soul is an “righteous dame”, its interests are in common with the interests of the Spirit and it would give everything away for the sake of the Divine. That is why Christ says: "For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul (Matthew, 16:26, NKJV)?” If you are a soulless person and do not seek the companionship of your soul, then your body, your heart and your mind will one day leave you and you will lose everything. So Paul says: “Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord." Now, I want this thought to become clear to you. I do not want to use empty words because the thought I am expressing is precisely defined in my mind. I do not want you to lie to me either. For example, I recognize the facts when some of you come here once, twice, three times and so on. This example is a scientific one indeed because I am able to find how exactly long it will take before someone comes back again. There is a fairy tale about a wolf which ate a donkey in springtime and after nine months the wolf thought: "Let me go back to the same place to see if there is another donkey in there." If it is spring- or summertime, the donkey might potentially be found in the same place, but if it is winter, the donkey would be somewhere safe and warm. So the third time the wolf would come back to the same place, it should be during spring or summer and may only then find another donkey in this very same place indeed ... This is a fairy tale that has a very great meaning and significance. Someone may say: "Something terrible happened to me" and I say to him: "In future, something good will happen to you." If someone is very happy and pleased, then I say to them: "When time passes, some misfortune will happen to you." Ask yourselves why is this so because these relationships need to be examined. Whoever wants to find Christ should understand these profound concepts. For me, these concepts have a dual meaning: for example, music has a purely instrumental and also a purely psychic side. If you want to play a musical instrument in order to acquire the necessary skills, you need to have a teacher. If you want to listen to quality music performed by a great musician, then you will have to pay ten leva for a ticket. During the second case scenario while just listening to the music, you’ll be benefiting from the music at a far lower cost. Now, if you want to listen to me playing the violin, I will tell you that my tickets cost ten Leva (for the poor it is free of charge), but if you want to learn how to play, then you will have to “pay” me more. For example, if you want to study a violin, you will have to pay your teacher every single time and every day you will use a few hours to exercise yourself. There are four strings in the violin and you will have to play the first one first, then the second one, then the third and finally the fourth one. Your mother may become tired of all your screeching, but when you finally learn how to play the last fourth string, you would say: "I have already completed my violin course." In order to find Christ, you should know very well how to play your violin - only then shall Christ become your Master. The modern educational system is very well-established: first you need to pass through pre-school, then through high school, then through college and university and only afterwards can a great master come into your life. Someone says: "I will come to Christ", but Christ has no time to deal with you. He can only offer you one concert to listen to, but if you want to learn the art of Life, you have to live as violin players do. The great violin player Paganini had been playing the violin twelve hours a day and what he has done in the past cannot be repeated by anyone today. Now you say: "I have gained Christ." When you become one with Christ, then you will understand the meaning of Life and there will be nothing impossible for you in this world. Then you would be like the Indian prince, who visited a Hindu saint, who had a very fine cow. The prince liked the cow very much and offered the saint a large sum of money, but the saint refused the deal. The prince threatened to take the cow by force, but the saint replied: "Just try it." The prince then sent a whole army of soldiers, but the saint laid the entire army on the ground by just throwing a glance at it. After this, the prince decided to examine the life of the saint and after studying the life of the saint for one thousand years, the prince gained some strength and knowledge and went back with his armed men to take the cow, but the same thing happened again. Then, for another one thousand years, the prince again studied the life of the saint, acquired more new powers and knowledge and reattempted to take the cow by force, but again he did not succeed. The prince nevertheless persisted in studying the life of the saint, gained extra new knowledge and became so strong and virtuous that even all the gods bowed to him. Finally, after all these three thousand years of learning, the prince went to the saint and told him: "I no longer need your cow." This means that when the prince went beyond his body, his heart and his mind, the cow was no longer of any value to him. How many times does the body complain because of the way the heart acts; thus causing the body some suffering. Sometimes the mind is acting poorly and then the heart suffers - such is the law. Be aware that all sins start from the mind. All diseases originate from within the mind, the heart or the body, so the diseases can be categorized as mental, emotional or somatic. Cast away all your negative thoughts and all somatic diseases shall disappear. Bring these new soul juices into your life and your body will thrive. This strategy is also practiced by the modern medicine - when someone's blood is very impure, doctors open one of their veins, transfuse blood from a healthy person into the patient's body and the patient then heals. The juices of the soul must pass through your mind, heart and body and then you will become the master of all three of them. In order to acquire Christ, His Spirit must unite with your spirit and once both of them unite, you will feel completeness, you will feel that the whole universe is in peace and that all things, whether good or evil, are in perfect harmony. Good and evil things only happen in relation to you because you perceive them this way, but God, who has been generous enough to place His Spirit in everything that surrounds us, has a reason to allow for Good and evil to exist. He knows, for example, why he sent the wolf to this world and you are not the one who could judge Him. God said: "I have made you a man; therefore don’t act as a wolf, as a bear or as a snake, but act as a rational being instead." So if you hate, you do live within your heart; if you enjoy eating, you identify yourself with your body; and when you are disproportionately proud of yourself, you are living within your mind then. In all those cases, you are not One with Christ yet. Humans need to learn what is essential for them and should realize that their true food is different to what they are used to in their normal everyday lives. Truth, Love, Wisdom, Righteousness and Virtuousness - this is the “food”, through which you will unite with Christ. When you indulge in this type of “food”, Christ shall join forces with you because there will be something of value that you can offer to Him. As soon as all of you begin to live with this food for the soul, you will be all fine and will look in a different way. You would be good-looking, will have a correct posture and your body will then say: "Thank God that my master became prudent, otherwise he would have dug himself even deeper into me, without setting himself free." The purpose of all humans is to free their minds, hearts and bodies from all evils and diseases. Now, you can say that I express myself as a professional public speaker just for the sake of producing a certain effect within my audience. I could possibly talk to you about these things in a lower voice, but when I raise my voice, I want to insert a “nail” deeper into you, so that you may grasp the ideas better. When you are hungry, say to yourself: "This is not me"; when you are afraid, say to yourself: "This is not me"; and when you are overflowing with pride, do say: "This is not me." Then you should ask yourself: "Then who am I?" and your soul will come down to you, so that you may show your mercy and maybe help someone with a little bit of money for example. Giving money to someone does not, of course, mean that you love someone because if you give away some money, the beneficiaries may be able to use them wisely, only if they are intelligent. The most serious crimes nowadays happen because of money. If you look back into history, you shall see that money has wrecked our world due to the heart’s desire to acquire more and more. Courts and galleys have been erected, but those who are being sentenced to death because of their transgressions, upon entering the outer world, become even more dangerous. That is why I believe that criminals should be placed in jail to be able re-educate and transform themselves. This has to be done in future, as those sentenced to death are far more dangerous to humanity than the ones who go to prison. To illustrate - if you pour a poison into ten liters of water, it will infect more people than if you infused it into a few milliliters of liquid only. And so, in order for you to get to know Christ, you need to acquire the essential knowledge that is necessary for our life as individuals. If you’re feeling afraid or hungry, just say: "I have not found Christ yet". If you love glory, say the same. If someone boasts that they are going to church – this means they enjoy their bodies more than what is necessary, but I do not criticize such people because I also eat. Eating, however, should not be one’s purpose in life. Sometimes they ask me what I would like to eat - I say: "Give my “horse[2]” whatever is there for the taking, give my “horse” some beans, some salt." Sometimes when people invite me to a meal and prepare many dishes, I do say to myself: “Well, what a great honor they bestow upon my ‘horse’!" All this means that they have not found the Christ yet and it is better to give food to the poor and those who suffer instead. Food is necessary for the body, for the mind and for the heart, but the soul should also eat its own correct type of food. Saying the word “food” I bring in a connotation, which includes, for example, feeding a person who has been traumatized or has decided to commit a suicide. And now you only think of how to save yourselves and say, "Let's go to Mr. Deunoff in order for him to tell us something; he knows a lot, he is a great scholar." Why do I preach? If the water spring does not flow down the slopes of the mountain, it will implode on itself because the water within it needs to make its way through. That is why I preach – in order for you to receive a blessing. Somebody may say: "I want to be loved", but who can possibly drink from a dry water fountain and possibly love it for its dryness? Let your living waters run freely and observe how everyone shall love you and kiss you afterwards. For people to kiss you, you have to give them something. Someone stops in front of a water fountain and says: "How beautiful is the stone of this water fountain!", but it is not the water fountain’s stone that is important, but the Living Water – the new Word, the new creed and the new teaching that comes into the world. One day when I see you all happy from within up above in the invisible world, I will rejoice and say: "I am glad they have found the Lord!" You have to be happy and to act joyfully because when the heart is joyful, you pray and when the mind thinks, you pray again. Rejoice in the body when it eats; rejoice in the heart when it feels; rejoice in the mind when it thinks – those are all devices that will guide you throughout your life’s journey. When you are traveling through the physical world, your body shall be both useful and necessary to you. The heart is required in the astral world and the mind is needed in the mental realm, while in the spiritual planes, the soul is the one which is indeed needed. That is why Paul says: “… that I may gain Christ.” Christ is a great master and in whatever form or shape He may appear in front of you, whether He is a woman, a man, a child or a servant, He can always show you the path leading to the Truth. Let the thought that God is One and Only remain in your mind. The Word can enter into you through various places, but its source is only one - there may be many rivers in the world, but the spring of the Fountain of Life remains irrevocably one. When Christ becomes one with you, He will teach you the right way of understanding things and you will learn which of your deeds are good and which are bad. You do not have to say: "I have now improved a little bit as a person; I’ve become a little bit wiser." That is not sufficient and you should complete fully all the tasks you’ve been given. When a teacher shows a student a particular object to paint, the student should paint the object well. The body is a teacher, the heart is a teacher too and the mind is also a teacher. And when you enter your soul, afterwards you will find the Christ and then your body, your heart and your mind will resurrect and you will become masters and no longer be servants of your bodies - all of you shall become an eternal Oneness and you will be strong in your manifestations in the world. In future, your children will not look like today’s children. Now you are surrounded by strangers who pretend to be your children. What is represented by the body? - it is a “house” that is inhabited by human beings. Someone says: "My child doesn’t know me". – In order to understand why, try to identify your child's most prominent character trait. In order for you to recognize and know your children, with whom you have come to Earth many times before, there must be a union between you and them - the mother should sacrifice for her child and vice versa. If a son or a daughter is unwilling to sacrifice for their parents, then they are not their true children. I would like all the sons to sacrifice for their fathers, the daughters for their mothers, the servants for their masters and the disciples for their spiritual teachers. When Christ comes to Earth, then true order will be implemented and this will be a completely different status quo. This is the teaching that can reform the world – the teaching of unity within the Christ. I told you in my last lecture that Christ is now descending from up above as Light upon us and all of you, who are willing to blossom, will eventually blossom. Those of you, who are unprepared to blossom, will fall behind until the next suitable era arrives, when you will again have the conditions to flourish. If you are not ready to sacrifice, do not worry because the world has never been as good as it is now. You may say that there is a Great War going on – don’t worry about it and fear not, as this war is cleansing the world and its people. It reminds me of a woman who gets up early in the morning and starts sweeping around. She thinks she had cleaned the house quite well already, but after four or five hours, the dust settles down again. I see that everyone who got killed in war has fallen off their “horse”, but such people are better off now, as they are no longer thinking on only how to fill their stomachs. Someone may ask what the soldiers’ fate in the invisible world is. The fallen soldiers are better off than you are right now and will most certainly live. You will live with them and with the Christ, Who is now coming and has come many times before on Earth. Somebody may say that Christ has come only once to Earth. Yes, but He is coming again – and is coming to see how His teaching is being applied, to see how the judges preside over courts, how men and women live together, to see how the soldiers live, to observe how things are done. Everyone has to be in the right place because the world has been created by God Himself. And if harmony comes to dwell in us, we shall know that we are already serving God. Do not envy the kings and don’t sympathize with the poor – you don’t help them out in this way. Love them and tell them: "Brother, you are doing well at learning your lesson, I am glad for you." – That is how I talk to those who suffer. And you say: "Poor fella, look how they are trembling!" - If anyone trembles, help them out, give them something to eat, offer them a warm shelter! Do love the beggar and don’t think about their past sins. Some people have become sinners because they have lived in such conditions. But whoever has not passed their exam and has had no chance to sin, should better keep silent, for not having sinned yet does not indicate that one is righteous. Be alert in your thinking and remember that you are not the physical body, that you are not the heart and that you are not the mind either. Only when you connect to your soul and rise up to a new level, only then you will become a powerful force in its own right. I would like all Bulgarians to understand things in this very same way and if we live in that way, we shall be great beings because God is our teacher and we are all His children. Sunday Talks, November 5, 1916, Sofia, Bulgaria. [1]The third floor represents the mind, while the lower second floor represents the heart. [2]“Horse” denotes the human body in this case. Translated by: Pavel Iordanov

Wisdom "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy." Letter of James 3: 17 I will take this verse in reference to the foundation of life. How does Wisdom relate to human Life? The relation between Wisdom and human Life is as that of a mother towards her child. What would the child profit from if the mother was ignorant? We can never reach that profound, inner understanding of human Life. It has a double meaning - a wider and a narrow sense. In a narrow sense it is transient Life, in a wider sense it is eternal Life. We said that the relation between Wisdom and Life is like that of a mother to her child. Therefore, you would be incapable of beginning your life unless Wisdom takes the role of a mother. Apostle James defines Wisdom, defines one of its qualities, one of its attributes, which is namely - Purity. If there is no Purity, there is no Wisdom. The same way as a mother who does not love her child is not a mother. So, if we have Purity inside us, we have Wisdom. This is the first connection and all success in Life depends on this Purity and Clarity. Clarity and Purity are synonymous. That is, if our eyes do not possess purity and clarity, then what are we to do if we begin on a long journey? We would come upon many hindrances, of course. Therefore, if you have obstacles in your life, it shows that wisdom lacks its main attribute - Purity. So we should elevate Purity. It is also necessary in science. All Great teachers who have come to enlighten the world have had this Purity, i.e. have possessed Wisdom's main quality. Purity suggests that there should never be any desire and passion in the human soul. One of the main characteristics of Life are Passions. They stand like a hoop around our brain. Situated three fingers above the ear are the human feelings and emotions. People who love literature have emotions. Feelings make up the highest level of human life. By feeling I mean that a man is listening, i.e. to have feelings means to hear. In a Divine sense to feel means to hear, to experience the slightest nuances of feeling that a man is capable of. When eating, when reading, when writing we enjoy what we experience and feel. This is Life; beyond these experiences everything is invisible. James says that the main quality of Wisdom is Purity. And then, Wisdom is peaceful, its surface is still, calm and unruffled. What kind of people get unsettled? The people in whom passions prevail, people who exist at the base of their brains - above their ears. This area of the brain is connected with the olfactory centre, and when you pass by a restaurant you feel like eating some meat and having a drink. So you come down from a higher level and start thinking of having some chicken, beef, some wine and other stuff, and when all this fills your mind, your Wisdom is gone. Then woe to the cook who has not prepared a good meal! Half of all troubles stem from this little centre in the brain. This is Epicureanism. Such people could say that Life has no meaning. A person should be a scholar or a banker in order to feed that part of the brain. And after feeding it for fifty, sixty, one hundred or more years, it finally breaks, the watermill falls apart, loses its trade and people go to another watermill. Since we have come here on earth, we should aspire to reach our inner Divine life. Only within it can we be happy and blessed, that is, as far as we can follow the Divine law. Many people stumble from the words of this message. When James spoke, he had the Divine spirit, he had a revelation and that is why he spoke those words. Many have read the Bible, but do not understand it. In order to understand it, they should have experienced what the apostles had; they should have the apostle's spirit, soul and mind. Some say: "I want." Good, but there are three things that one needs: first - to search, second - to understand things, third - to apply them. This is equivalent to what Christ says: "Ask, seek and knock." If you do not seek, you will not find. These three elements should unite, in order for man to understand the main cause of things. A good gardener should first of all have knowledge of the soil, then plant a tree, plough its soil and after a few years it will give fruit. The same applies to Divine Life, we plant a thought and after a while it gives fruit. You will plant the Divine desire in your heart, and plant the Divine thought in your mind. But before you plant them, your mind and heart should be pure and peaceful. Man should exempt himself from the greed existing in the world. I will tell you a story, which originated thousands of years ago. This took place during the reign of the ancient king Harun On Rashid. He had the habit of disguising himself and visiting the city, in order to see how his people lived, and whether there was law and order. He was generous and performed good deeds. One day, he met a beggar and gave him a golden coin. The beggar told him: "My lord, if you slap me on the cheek, you will do me a lot of good." The king did not want to comply, but since the beggar insisted, he ordered one of his men to slap him. The king found it strange that the beggar would want to be slapped and invited him to the palace to inquire about the reasons behind his wish. The beggar began telling the story of his life. He had been the son of a rich merchant and after his father's death he had bought about eighty camels and thus became rich himself. On one of his journeys he had met a dervish, who had told him he knew of a great treasure and needed the camels to transport it, and in the end they would divide the treasure between themselves. The merchant agreed, they put the treasure on the camels' backs, but the dervish took a small box filled with some kind of oil, and hid it. They began dividing the treasure and the merchant asked the dervish to give more camels to him and keep less for himself, since the dervish, being a spiritual man would not need many material possessions. The dervish agreed, gave up most of his camels and kept only ten. After some thinking the merchant asked again: "Give me all the camels, keep only one." The dervish again agreed. Then the merchant asked for the last camel and got it, but had noticed the dervish hiding the little box and asked what was in it. The dervish replied that it contained an ointment which had the following effect: if you rub your left eye with it, you can see all the treasures in the world, if you were to rub your right eye, you would go blind. The merchant asked him to rub his left eye with the ointment and indeed saw the treasures of the world. Then he wanted to put ointment on his right eye, the dervish refused to do that, warning him that he would turn blind. Thinking that he would be given the ability to see even more, the merchant kept on insisting. Finally, the dervish put some of the oil on the merchant's right eye, and he became blind. He started yelling and crying and the dervish said to him: "Since you were so greedy, you should suffer all the consequences." So the beggar ended his story and said: "That is why I want you to slap me. And everyone else who wants to do me good I ask to do the same, i.e. to put ointment on my right eye." Thus God has rubbed one of your eyes. In men it is the left eye, in women the right one, however; they want both their eyes rubbed. This is how people go blind - this is the way they sin. The Knowledge and Wisdom that God gives us, we cannot obtain from Life. Life on earth is clearly determined - man has an inner striving to elevate his soul. By 'elevate' I mean to enter the other world and take the elements needed for his existence. For example, the human heart has desires, but some desires are poisonous, and when they enter the human soul, they destroy it. For instance, how insatiable is the desire to be rich. And the richer one gets, the harder his heart gets, in the end it gets so hard that it breaks. The extreme end of this condition is the body becomes fragile. In social life such greed leads to isolation from people and then ruins the person. A person lives while he is surrounded by relatives and friends, to live individually means to be outside God. If we live in disharmony with people, we live in disharmony with God. You say: "I hate him." - Thus you hate God too. You say: "I will steal his money." -Thus you steal from God too. These are negative states and vice versa-if you do good, you do good to God too, you work with Him. Wisdom comes from above, to teach us, the children of God, to seek true Knowledge. Many want to learn, but are dissatisfied and say: "Why has God done this?" I say, if you have started judging Him, then you do not understand God. If something bad happens to you, do not ask why it happened in that way, but say to yourself that it is for your own good. When we assume that things in the world are not harmonious, that means that we don't understand them. For instance, in America there are desert areas, where people walk, raise a lot of dust then think that everything around them is enveloped in dust, and they do not realize that they are the ones who raised it. The same happens with your thoughts and desires - you have raised a lot of dust around them. Let your Wisdom be pure and peaceful, let the dust settle and only then you will understand the profound meaning of your soul. For two thousand years now, people have preached about Wisdom, but it appears not to have influenced them. Rather, it has not influenced those who are here on earth, but has affected those who are in Heaven. Some say: "I want to live." Good, but try to utilize Life properly. Those who want to go to Heaven should understand the inner Divine Wisdom. What is the reason for that? I would like to see one church in the world, where the priest preaches out of Love. Now he preaches, because he has a wife and children, but says: "I preach in the name of God." You do not preach in the name of God, but because your wife pushes you to. A teacher says: "I preach in the name of God." You do not preach in the name of God, either, you do that for your wife and children. I do not mean to say that this is bad. For instance, a preacher gathered some ideas, put his lecture together well, hoping that he will make more money, but his audience did not give him as much as he thought he deserved, they put less value on his speech and in his next lecture he began reproaching those who did not give him money. A lecture in which money plays a great part is not pure. I speak of clergymen who claim to be servants of God. That title should match the person's purpose. Everyone should do their job so that it matches their title. For example, someone says that he sells clothes, and indeed that is what he does. We should be pure and sincere. And if I do not preach the Truth, I will say: "Pardon me, for I preach only half the Truth. Today I preach only for money, because I need it, one day I will preach for free." James uses the word wisdom in a wider sense. Many Christians say: "I want to understand the Divine Wisdom." Are you prepared to give everything for God? Christ said to deny yourself, which means to give all riches you have on earth to the poor, work together with them and teach them labour and perseverance. Some people point at Carnegie's achievements. Funny are those people who consider Carnegie to be an ideal. To be rich is a burden. There is the saying of the donkey, which was carrying icons and crucifixes on his back, wherever it went everyone was bowing, and it thought that they bowed at it. You might be in Carnegie's position and be a donkey. People's respect for you should be respect for your Spirit and Wisdom. Your head should not be filled with Biblical verse and sentences; they should be in your soul where they would form a Divine tissue. This is the purpose of true Christianity. Someone might tell me: "You do not preach well." I have nothing against the order of today; however, the pants of a five year old do not fit a ten year old child. And since humankind has grown up, we need new things, new order, and new thoughts. The little girl can play with dolls, and that will be fine, but when a grown up girl does the same I will tell her: "You need live dolls; you should view life in a different way." When a little boy plays with a toy horse, that is fine, but when a man does the same, I will tell him that he needs a real horse. The horse is the human mind, and the doll is the human heart. When the mother gives birth to her child, she gives birth to her heart in order to educate it again. And when an old man cannot educate his heart he should die. That is why God has said: "Until a man becomes a child, he cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven." Man should see his heart go through rebirth - it should become small. By "small" it is meant a flexible element, capable of evolving properly and not losing the elasticity of Life. A woman says: "I gave birth to five children." Good, but did you rear them? "No." Then you haven't learned the purpose of Life. Another would say: "I haven't given birth to a child." You should give birth. The Wisdom that comes from above says: You should give birth and your child should be peaceful. It is good that you have children, but sometimes you worry, get annoyed, then become red with anger, and your head aches, your stomach or your lungs too, and you say: "Hurry, call a doctor, I am going to die." How do you know that you are going to die? That means that we don't understand the relations and interconnections among which we exist. Everyone, in whom Wisdom is not pure and peaceful will die, will decay. That means that in the invisible world there are other laws, according to which hard matter should turn into soft matter, so that it becomes suitable for Life. Because of these new conditions our body should become subject to that law. Every one of us should sacrifice their body, as the flower sacrifices its petal, in order to produce its seeds. This means that we should let go of our petals. Nowadays people want to live in the physical world, but they do not consider that world to be the best one. In the Physical world, your view of the Invisible world is that of a child in its mother's womb - it lives in its small surroundings and to it that is the whole world but when the child is born, these surroundings, this body should be sacrificed, it should die. Therefore, in comparison with the Spiritual world, this world is only a womb and that is why man feels confined and uncomfortable. Some say: "I want to set the world straight." There is no need to set it straight, you should come out of your mother's womb. Sometimes the child moves inside the mother, but does not want to come out. Even when labour begins, he still refuses to, so they call for midwives to take him out, that is why the mother screams, and yells. In the same way, we don't want to come out, and God is pulling us. We should go out of the physical world and enter the Spiritual one, which offers better conditions for our evolution. Now you look at your body and say: "After some years I will lose all this." Or you look at yourself in the mirror and notice that you have grown old. I say: You will come out of your mother's womb. Christianity is a science, which shows how people should go out of this world. It is a narrow passage - narrow so that only one person (at a time) can go through it. So, one should remember, that Purity in the heart and in the mind is a quality and an essential attribute. Striving to be rich is right, but the fortune that we acquire must be placed where it won't be lost. We should not be poor. Some cite: "Blessed are the poor of spirit, because theirs is the Kingdom of heaven". That does not mean that man should be poor, rather it refers to the man that is immortal, who has understood Life. The Kingdom of God belongs not to the poor, but to those whose hearts bear no thought of robbing the world, who are always content, ready to sacrifice themselves, complain of nothing, and to whom everything is good. If you should send them to hell, they will feel good there, if you send them to heaven, they will be good there too. Such are the poor of spirit. Some say: "I want to be poor of spirit". Fine, you can be that right now. But if you say that with a smile, that would show that you still want to live a little. If you have lived a month in your mother's womb, then you have some more time to live, if you have lived there for two - three months, then you have some more to live, if you have lived there four, five, six, seven or eight months, you have more time to live. However, if you have lived there for nine months, you must immediately come out, and if you don't, you will die in your mother's womb. When a time comes for a person to die, he must come out. So when man dies, the soul is born. It should leave its physical body and remain with its ethereal one. After a few days, it will shed its second body too and will enter into its Astral body, i.e. the purgatory, until it is purified. When it has purged itself, it will leave its Astral body and will ascend to its Mental body - a much finer one and a garment that does not tear easily. And when it reaches Heaven, the soul arrives at the so called buddha state – that is: a man who is fully awakened and understands the Divine Wisdom and Love. In this state of awareness, there is no memory of any earthly suffering that man has gone through; there are only pleasant memories of what has happened on earth. And from this height, man will be able to see why things happened this way. The people of today do not understand themselves. Some say: "I, too, know Christ." I ask him: "Have you ever been out of your body?" - "No, I haven't." So you do not know Christ. And when Christ says: "I am the Way and the Truth", He means the ability of man to know how to exit his present surroundings and how to come back. If now a Christian starts to go out of his body, he faints, and doctors are called to help him. Let him come out of his mother's womb. For example, if someone is suffering, let him be, do not bother him, let him suffer. This is a great blessing, in suffering he experiences what nobody else, who is not in his position, could. Therefore, only to those who suffer, does God reveal Himself, to those who eat and drink, God remains an unknown being. Through the suffering people undergo today, God reveals Himself to them. Some are fighting at the warfront, others are recovering, i.e. two forces are simultaneously at work - one is destructive, and the other one heals. Thus, conditions are created for people to live well together. For instance, two people who previously did not agree, now meet at the warfront and become close. So, until he is born from his mother's womb, a man cannot understand the outside conditions. According to the same law, if we do not enter into the inner world, we would not discover what God thinks. This is definite. Passions are short lived - they might rise as a fire, but then die down and give way to tranquillity. Sometimes when you get angry, and you get mad at something, your face turns red, after half an hour you start feeling tired and say to yourself: "What a headache!" So, that passion produced an adverse reaction. Tomorrow, you will get angry again, and again a negative reaction will follow. A wolf catches a sheep, and is raging until it has eaten it, and knowing that after that he will suffer for it, he goes to sleep. Often, men too, after having a quarrel with their wives, go to the pub, in order to forget everything, and say: "The passions of my wife will not kill me." After they sober up, however, the suffering starts anew and they go back to the pub. Passions create drunkenness. Forces should be found, that will uproot them. Passions should be controlled, and then they will be removed. If you let a swine into a garden it will create a mess. But you can't blame it for that. Tame your passions! Nowadays, people say: "I want to free myself from my passions." Good, but when you free yourself from them, what will be left? You should get to work like an industrious woman, and solve the riddle of all such passions. Don't ask why they are given to you, but try to tame them. That is what people today do too. The Iskar River has caused a lot of trouble up to day, but people have now made it work for them, they have brought it into Sofia, where they use the power of its waters to generate electricity. In such a case you will not say: "God, rid us of the Iskar River!" if you want to rid yourself of your passions, you will become dry, because they are your springs. The basic law should be found to put passions to work, to give them mental diversity, to turn emotions into feelings, feelings into happiness, happiness into bliss, and bliss into harmony, and into merging with God. You cannot be happy, until you know what the relation between emotions and feelings is. When we say that a man cannot be happy, we mean that he doesn't know how things in the world work. However, there are happy people, too, who can take the sorrows of the unhappy. Many people come to me and I take their worries, take their passions and tell them: "Now get to work!" The swine should be restrained; passions should become noble and turned into sheep, i.e. into emotions, and then should be transformed into feelings. Then I am thankful to God that he has given me work to do, since even the happy people sometimes feel bored. And to be happy means to help people. Do not be sorry that there are people who suffer, but be thankful to God for everything. And in thanking we will come to that true understanding. Thank God for your money; be thankful for being robbed too. Now there are many examples of this. For instance, many people gain some weight and people say: "Look how much better he looks!" But the next day the same man suffers an apoplectic stroke and they say: "How is it possible that such a strong and healthy man died?" Don't be sorry for that, now he has become healthier. Another man is ill and then he recovers, that means that he has been reborn. You should not be worried by those minor things. Always say: "I have been sent with a mission", and you will feel instant joy. Now, I will relate this line of James' message with Christ's parable of the father who goes to his two sons. One of them had said that he would go to the field, but didn't; the other one said that he wouldn't go, but repented and went to the field. There are people who go to church but do not do God's will, and there are people who say that they do not want to serve God, but actually do. The latter are the real Christians. That is why Christ says: "The last on earth, will be first in heaven." The new teaching does not come for the church but for the great sinners, for the worldly people. Let those who belong to a church not presume and say to themselves, that we have Abraham as our ancestor. God says: "from these stones I can raise up children to Abraham." That shows that there should be no sectarianism, we should not claim, that we are this or that. You need to search and apply. How, someone will ask. - First of all Wisdom should be pure and peaceful; then it should be gentle, willing to yield. But everyone will ask: what is the way, through which we can enter and then exit. To a person who does not possess these qualities of Wisdom, I will not reply. You might say that this is cruel. It is not cruel, why talk to a deaf man when he will not hear me? Someone might say: "You are being haughty." By the word "I" I mean God. If you are pure, that Divine "I" will tell you everything. When a child says to me: "I will tell you", I will stop and answer: "Speak, Lord, I am listening." For instance, someone has planted a garden and I go into it, I notice whether it is rectangular or elliptic, what is the shape of its flowerbeds, what kind of flowers are planted there, are they white, red, yellow, what is their size and so on. After I have taken a look at all of that, I will tell you what kind of person planted the garden. If I have a letter, I will tell you about the culture of the person who has written it. Some exclaim: "Look at the hats women wear!" I like looking at the hats women wear, and at the clothes men are wearing, because all this is a sign of culture. The teaching of Christ is the teaching installed in you. Open your libraries and you will find your books. If you want to enter into the higher state of Life, you will have to find St. Peter - he will give you the keys, he will give you the book of Christ. If you want to move to the lower worlds, you should go down, and in hell you will find Christ. St. Peter has one key, Christ has the other. There are two Testaments, when you read both, you will understand them and will see what the Wisdom that comes from above is. Why doesn't wisdom remain above? There are reasons for that. It comes down, because of you, it is a mother and a father, and it is food and comes down for us. Only after you acquire this Wisdom, you will find your Father, you will see what God is. You will find Wisdom that is pure, peaceful and gentle, and then you will find the inner meaning of God, you will discover what He is. When you get in touch with the Angels, in your Spirit and in your mind a new Light will shine, you will hear such music, as you have never heard before, and you will say: "There is a meaning in life; this is the profound meaning of Life." Now all of you, who are listening to me, apply Purity. Stop assuming, you are pure and strive toward Purity. Someone says: "I am pure enough and peaceful enough." No, you should be absolutely pure and peaceful. By peaceful, I mean the most intense forces in power, in the world. The Light that comes from above is peaceful, but does the most amazing things. By peaceful I mean the force that will urge you to work and think. I will not teach you how to think, but I will give you an incentive, that will encourage you to work. I would like to take you for a walk sometime, so that you can see what a wonderful feeling one experiences in the midst of Nature. In it one senses the Divine Mind, Wisdom, Power, Love, which are at work., which come down and say: "God, how Great You are!" I always want to know more. I am not saying that I know a lot, because today we have one vision of things, the next day we have a different one, a different understanding. Therefore, in Life we should see the Divine harmony. Someone might say: "I am growing old." The earth is growing old too. If it wasn't growing old, it would not possess such beauty. The ravines, the valleys, the rivers, the mountains-these are her wrinkles. When a man has wrinkles, he has greater expression. Those lines going upward or downward, reveal what kind of person he has been, i.e. every line has its meaning. Today, the artists and photographers use the brush to smooth the lines. They do not know what is valuable. For example, such a book as the Bible, today you can buy at a very low price or you will see somebody wrapping various goods in it. We, today's people, take the Divine and wrap our cheese in it, then wonder at our lack of culture. With Divine Wisdom we should wrap our minds, hearts, and souls, and then we will be strong and powerful people. There comes a transformation in social life. Changes occur in today's science, various theories emerge. For instance, until some years ago, science considered the elements simple and indestructible, scientists thought they had reached the ultimate limit of division. However, nowadays science which advances faster than religion, succeeded in splitting atoms into ions.16 They say, for example, that in the hydrogen atom there are 700 ions some of which are positively charged and others negatively. So there too, exist men and women who quarrel, i.e. there are 350 men and 350 women. In an atom of oxygen there are 11 220 ions - that is 5 500 positive and 5 500 negative ions. An atom of natrium contains around 16000 ions, that of radium contains around 100 000 ions. Some day science might reach a point where the division of the ion will be possible. I will make the following comparison: if an atom was the size of the "St. Cyril and Methodius" church, then an ion would be as small as a hazelnut. There is great space between ions. When we talk of a fourth dimension, we mean in space. That is why Christ says: "Until you become a child, until you become small, you will remain a fool." The path of progress is, knowing how to become small, i.e. to know the forms through which one could pierce the world. Big people are not accepted above. Some think that at the second coming of Christ, they will be resurrected with their present bodies, which weigh 150 kilograms. No, man will be resurrected in a specific way he should have an insight, then a Divine body will come in man, which will be capable of becoming so small, that it would go through all worlds, or so big that it would fill all worlds. We should learn to become small, and we should not wish to rob the world. This world is for us, for as long as man wishes. Gradually man will go through all worlds, all planets and then again will start coming down. That is why they say, that Life is a movement from the centre to the periphery and from the periphery towards the centre. This is the inner meaning of Life, which is moving from Love to Wisdom and from Wisdom to Love, from Truth to Wisdom and from Wisdom to Truth, from Righteousness to Love and from Love to Righteousness, from Righteousness to Truth and from Truth to Righteousness, from Righteousness to Good and from Good to Righteousness. Do you understand the meaning of this? This is the space between whole worlds. When we say "Good" that is a whole new world. Righteousness and Love, these, too, are great worlds. Some ask what Wisdom is. Wisdom is to enter its world and live in it. Then you will discover how great it is to live there. Now, I want this Wisdom to be pure and peaceful for everyone and when you leave here, I want you to be able to share it not through words but by contact. One cannot share with others something that he doesn't have within himself. Wisdom is shared through Wisdom, Love is shared through Love. We should love everyone, without thought of ourselves. And then everybody will love you. If they do not want to love you, there will be a conflict; when all people start loving, there will be harmony. For example, one hundred musicians gather to form an orchestra, and they have to choose a conductor. If they start fighting over whom to choose they will come to no decision, and there will be no harmony in their work. In your soul turn to God, He is Life. He is in you and the insight that He will give you, you owe to Him. If Life is viewed thus, a great transformation will come in the world. The Wisdom that is coming into the world is God, it is Christ. Christ is coming down from Heaven. What a multitude of Great souls are following Him! They say to people: "Come witness the Divine!" They bring Purity, Peace, and Divinity. Some ask when this Peace will come. It is coming, I see in humankind a great procession - They come and sing. And when they arrive, there will be harmony in the world, and Peace and Love. This is the second coming of Christ. There will not be an end to the world, but the world will be purified. I wish that all of you greet Christ thus. With gladness and joy await Him! Let that Wisdom from now on be felt. Now the human soul would have to be examined. You have never studied it before. Now you will learn what a priest, clergyman and a teacher is. Now the Divine Wisdom is coming to teach us the language of things. And for us everything will transform into harmony. 29 Oct, 1916, Sofia 17 ________________________________________________________ 16 Ions-this most probably refers to the elementary particles, according to science of the first half of the twentieth century. 17 The lecture "Wisdom" was first published in the compilation "In the Beginning Was", Sofia, 2003 Source

Should I not drink it? The cup that the Father has given me, should I not by all means drink it? John 18:11 “Any people, national group or language that says anything wrong against the God of Shadrach, Mechach and Abed-nego should be dismembered, and his house should be turned into a public privy; for as much as there does not exist another god that is able to deliver like this one.” Daniel 3:29 “The cup that the Father gave me, should I not by all means drink it?” Everybody knows what this cup means. In the present Life the cup holds an important part. It is essential in all parties and enjoyments. It is filled with wine, rakia and a variety of alcoholic drinks. The doctors use the same cup. They dilute medicine there and give it to small children, who hesitate in taking it. Jesus says to his disciples: “The cup that the Father has given me, should I not drink it?” This cup means a process of a human’s development; it is a symbol of something valuable. It is observed that the flowers of all plants have a shape of a cup. Drinking from Jesus’ cup means to go through a certain process in your life, inner or outer - physical, sociable or mental. Three young men Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, who were thrown into a burning hot furnace by command of Nebuchadnezzar, present the meaning of three different characters. On rare occasions we can find three men with the same character or the same intellect. These young men stood out of the crowd with their high intellectual, moral and spiritual growth, which was experienced in their lives. They had been faithful and loyal to their beliefs. When the people of Babylon wanted to impose their social and religious points of views to them, they did not yield. There are certain principles in life to which a man must stay loyal. This is the only way in which a man can progress in his life. The man that cannot stand up for these certain principles will experience the results of his digression. This testing is valid not only for a man, but also for a home, for a nation and for the entire human race. Do not be surprised that everybody has experienced this trial today - a person, a home, a nation and the entire human race. Where does this test come from? –Does it come from the new world or from God? Everybody will experience the same tests like those three young men. They represent three of the greatest principles in a man’s life. Nothing good can be achieved if harmony does not exist in the Spirit, the Soul, and the physical body of a man. Many priests have talked about this verse of three young men in a burning hot furnace, but they treated it with another meaning, different from my point of view. These three men mean three steady characters. A real man passes his exam with great success. A student or a pupil receives his certificate when he finishes his studies and passes all his exams. The same rule is valid for Social life and for Nature. All living beings, from smallest to the largest, have to take these exams, and after that they get their places in life. Unless difficult exams are experienced in life, people have airy points of view. They look for benefits, for happiness, but they do not find it. Only the person who knows what happiness means is able to find it and once having done this he can keep it. In the same way people look for Love. Do you know what Love is? You can say that you feel Love. A man feels pleasant and unpleasant things, however all this is not Love. Everything in the world is a manifestation of Love, but the minority of people know what exactly Love is. There is no scientist, philosopher or writer, who can define Love. You will say that God is Love. You say that God is Love without understanding what Love is. The answer of this question is in the future. A man will have a clear idea of Love in thousands of years. Till then stick to your present idea about Love. Let’s look at man’s character now. Character means stability, firmness. This is its main characteristic. A firm character is only the one which does not change during man’s life, which stays the same in all different situations. If a man changes his character when he experiences some problems we say that this man does not have any character. All living beings that do not have any character are without any personality, lay figures. In order to develop his main feature – stability, a man goes through four processes; it means four levels of his progress: a process of sub-consciousness, of consciousness, of self-consciousness and super-consciousness or so called cosmic, Divine consciousness. A contemporary man has reached the level of self-consciousness. In this consciousness the conditions of his downfall are hidden. A man has a desire to rule the world and says: Everybody must obey me and serve me because it is just me that lives. If something is good for me it is good for everybody; when I feel bad then everybody feels the same. This opinion has created the two philosophies: pessimism and optimism. When a man is ill, when his affairs do not go well he is a pessimist. When a man is healthy and his affairs go well he is an optimist. These opinions do not define the state of the universe. These are subjective opinions and they do not have anything in common with the great and permanent laws of God. What is the main goal in a man’s life? The main goal in a human’s life is to find out one’s own main feature of his character; to find out his main support in his life; to find out his Father and to return to father’s home; to find out his teacher and to carry out the work that has to be done[A1] . - What shall I do when finishing that job? Asking these questions means misunderstanding in the human’s final goal. The job never finishes. When you finish one job you must start doing the next one. Knowing that, do not ever ask what the final goal of life is. Tend to finish the work you have already started. Do not postpone your work. In that case only you are able to feel happy. Direct your mind and your heart to work given. Only after finishing the job started, can a man ask why he has come to the Earth. The answer is very simple: You have come to the Earth in order to learn and to work. Jesus said: “The cup that the Father has given me, should I not by all means drink it?” Every man has one bitter and one sweet cup that change one after another. Throughout an embittered cup man’s life purifies constantly. Why should it be purified? Man’s life is as spring water that has travelled a lot and has collected some mire, which has made him dirty. In order to be cleared the spring must go through different layers of sand. This way water filtrates and as a result gains its initial purity. On account of this God gives every now and then a bitter cup in order to purify our life. When you experience this bitter cup a few times, you will understand why you had to drink it. The bitter cup will purify your life from all mires and dirty things in your life. What do these mire and dirty things mean? They are man’s bad thoughts and desires. They are elements that pollute man’s life and his character, destroying it. This way a man loses his confidence in his Life and starts fearing for his health, for his age, for his wealth. Once he is afraid of being ill, losing his wealth and getting old all these bad things happens to him. The things he is afraid of happen. What is the philosophy of this? In his fear a man imagines situations that do not exist. A traveller arrived in a mountain area where he had to spend the night. As it was getting darker he got lost. Suddenly he slipped and felt that he was falling down an abyss. He managed to grasp a branch of a tree and hang on it a few hours. Finally, his hands were so tired that it was impossible for him to hold that branch anymore. Before releasing his hands from that branch he started shouting and saying goodbye to all his relatives. When he said goodbye to everybody he released his hands and was expecting his death. How big his surprise was when he realised that the precipice he was afraid of was only 15 centimetres deep. Very often you do the same; you hold to a branch and shout: “Good bye everyone, I am dying!” When you release your hands you realise the precipice is only 15 centimetres deep. This way a man himself enlarges his sufferings. The new teaching says that the abyss below you is just 15 centimetres deep. Let yourself down and you will see that my words are right. Unless he inspires to the Truth a man feels fear and says. What will happen to me? There is nothing fearful in life. Leave the branch you are holding and you will see that the precipice is just 15 centimetres deep. If I die? This is not fearful, too. One day you will become convinced that the fear, which has grasped you and does not allow you to think, is worthless. It is quiet and calm everywhere. Experience the new teaching where the Truth of life is hidden. You are able to experience Truth at any time, because it itself is Life. Jesus first understood the meaning of life, its final goal and as a result he drank his embittered cup and he did not regret drinking it at all. If Jesus had not drunk this bitter cup, the world would have been left without any of life’s bounties. What is hidden in the bitter cup? –God’s Love. You will say that it brings sufferings. Without suffering it cannot bring the fruit of life. Jesus is the live fruit on the tree of life. When the disciples of Jesus did not understand the laws of life they advised him: “Master, do not expose yourself to sufferings.” This implies: Master, do not blossom. Jesus knew that then it was time to blossom and to give fruit. If he had not blossomed he could not have given fruit. His fruit gave the blessing to all mankind. So, when the bitter cup comes to you it means that it is time for you to blossom and give fruit. Therefore, do not regret that you suffer. Only through suffering a person, a family, a community and all mankind ennoble. Jesus had first to blossom on the tree of life and to give fruit that can cure. In this fruit is the meaning of new Teaching, which brings elements of inner Peace and Calmness. This way only will man enter Cosmic consciousness of Life University in which all great creatures, all Angels and everything in Heaven serve God. A good man feels well wherever he is, in Paradise or in Hell, whereas a bad man will feel awful even in Paradise. The three men experienced a hot burning furnace and were not burnt. A fourth man looking like Jesus joined them. Only when a man goes through the fire, will he find the fourth element of life, the Spirit, named by philosophers “Supreme I”, heavenly source in a man. In terms of Christianity - when you unite with God, this means to live in harmony. It does not mean to hold someone’s hand, keep your hands together. If you sing some following tones you will defer very clear each of them. [A2] However, if you sing several musical tones in harmony you will create chord, consonance and harmony. I say: Enter a Divine Life in order to live in Its harmony. God does not need us, we need Him. He does not have a desire to take us in and to make us impersonals[A3] . His only trend is to show us the right direction of knowledge. He is a Master for the souls which want to understand Him. This way only a man can be clever, good, beautiful, healthy, and he can live in harmony. Why do we need sufferings then? They come as necessary obstacles in order to achieve harmony. Without obstacles harmony is not achievable. Is it possible for a train to move on a smooth surface and to reach its destination? When a track of the train is smooth it will move without going forward. Sand is an obstacle, but without it a train will stay at the same place. Do not ever think that you are going to be happy if you do not have any obstacles in your life. Sensible creatures, who understand laws, place in front of you some sand in order for your life to move forward. You will say that your happiness is destroyed. This is just outer distraction. When you move forward you will then understand the reason of obstacles, of sufferings. You will say: My hair turned grey from all these sufferings. Even this is for the best. It depends what you are preparing for. If you are material for clothes it is good to turn white. If you are soil it is good to turn black. The black soil gives the best fruit and wheat. In this meaning I wish all soil was black. Jesus says: “This is everlasting life, to know God, to know Love”. This is Divine fruit that brings harmony to mankind. The person, who is ready for suffering, will blossom and will give fruit. If I am fruit I will be eaten. Let you be eaten. You have a seed from which you will be reborn again. In this seed is the strength in your life. Unless a man experiences his strength he is not able to grow. Once you know that law do not feel afraid of sufferings and difficulties in your life. All people, all the living creatures go through them. Only that man will get over them, the one who releases his hands from the branch he is holding. He will find out that the precipice, from which he is afraid, is only 15 centimetres deep. All difficulties are surmountable. I have seen people that are not able to die easily. When that hour comes they start kicking, they cannot be separated from the body. I say: Relax, let your soul go out freely. Under you there is only 15 centimetres of deepness. The relatives of a dying man are afraid from death as well. They give him medicines, injections in order to extend his life a little bit more, but they cannot achieve anything. Loosen your hands from the branch you are holding as the precipice is only 15 centimetres deep. Stand on your feet and say: Thank God, I have avoided a big misery. People now are not able to understand that and say: poor man, he has passed away. I see that the dead man is alive and standing 15 centimetres away from his body. Now, whatever I say you find it very funny. When you have some difficulties you grab the branch again and do not dare to let it go. I say: loosen your hands from the brunch and stick to God. Only this way your life will change for the best, your way of looking at things will change. There are writers who after publishing a book are afraid of the reviews. They are anxious, worried and when the crisis is over, say: It is better that everything has finished. I say: write your book and loosen yourself down. This Jesus wanted to say about the cup, which his Father gave him. Peter said to him: “Master, do not drink from this cup.” However Jesus answered in reply: “The cup, that My Father has given me I must drink”. Each man holds in himself one Peter and one Jesus. Peter takes out the knife from the sheath and cut the ear of the servant. Jesus says to him: “Peter, put back your knife”. In order words it means: Drink the cup that your Father gives you in order to understand Divine harmony. The bitter cup comes to every one of you. I wish for you to drink this cup with certain dignity, like real Christians. After drinking the resurrection will come - the new Life. This is the outer meaning of that matter. There is some analogy between Jesus’ Life and those three young men which Nebuchadnezzar ordered to be thrown in a hot burning furnace. The furnace was so hot that the executioner who did this, burned to death. It is said that God is fire which burns out[A4] . However, the one who lives in harmony with God’s love and Jesus’ spirit is safe. God’s might manifests in difficult moments in our lives, not when a man is poor, but when he is rich. Wealth is getting fat from inside towards outside, whereas poverty is a process of development from inside towards outside. Wealth must turn into compost and poverty in honest labour. Without wealth it cannot be but without poverty as well. These are two processes that work together for man’s development. Unless a man loses everything in his life he is not able to find God, and cannot be happy. Happiness is an extract that is derived from all the acknowledgement and experience of thousands of generations of mankind; it is similar to rose oil obtained from the petals of roses. You need three-four thousand kilograms of rose petals in order to obtain only one kilogram of rose oil. This means to turn earthly happiness into heavenly happiness. In other words until earthly life has not turned to spiritual, a man cannot find real happiness. “The cup that the Father has given me, should I not by all means drink it?” Jesus drank this cup and has become a Great Spirit. He united with God and said: “Me and my Father are together”. In these words His might is hidden. He said: “I did not come to fulfil my will, but the will of the One Who sent me here.” If Jesus had not fulfilled God’s will he would have been similar to mankind. Very often religious people ask a question who among them is more religious, smarter than the others. These things are relative. Studying people at the present times, I see that they cannot love more than one person. If they love two persons at the same time they either will argue or will be forced to lie. You love in unison two people [A5] and start lying to one or the other, you become dishonest. Is this love? This is a display of a man’s egoism, a manifestation of man’s self-preservation. A man in his egoism manifests as a kind of small cruel god, in the shape of a son or a daughter, in a shape of a beloved one. Everybody has experienced that. I have seen how this kind of god beats his beloved. Sometimes a son beats his father, a daughter beats her mother. Unless this kind of god goes down a precipice, unless he loses everything earthly, he can not understand the inner side of a Divine Life. This kind of god in a man is what torments him, constantly makes him unhappy and unpleasant. If he becomes pleased then Jesus manifests in him. One day you are unhappy and angry - that day Peter has visited you. The next day you are happy and pleased - that day Jesus has visited you. He says to you: “This cup must be drunk up”. In the first case a man speaks about ideals, for the human good, but he cannot stand by what he says. An 80 year old black lady lived in an American city, beside the University. She was bored with the difficult life and prayed to God to come and to take her soul in order to be free from her sufferings. Passing her home, students heard her prayers and at once decided to play a trick on her. One night, two of them went closer to her house and knocked at the door. She replied from inside: “Who is there?” – “It is me Archangel Michael. God has heard your prayers and has sent me to take your soul.” – “Tell him that that woman is not here,” - answered the terrified old black lady. It is the same situation with contemporary people. They speak about ideals, about what is good and what is bad, but when Archangel Michael comes, they say: “Tell him that they are not here.” So, people speak about ideals, about great things, but when it comes to the manifestation of those great things they say: “Why must we just work? Let other people work as well”. Someone was told to carry a roasted chicken, wine and pears. He was carrying them and did not complain about his load. When he was asked to dig a vineyard he said: “Let somebody else go to dig; it is not only me who must work”. Remember this: While a man passes laws of his development he always will dig his vine yard, e.g. he will suffer in periods. Suffering leads to the Greatest Happiness in Life. While passing the law of development a man will drink from the bitter cup in life, which brings blessings for his soul. This cup brings suffering, but it brings happiness, too. When a man learns how to drink from this cup, only then will he understand the real meaning of Life. The Father gives this cup to everybody. It is important for a man to discover the main feature of his own character. Courage is the thing which a man needs for that, and as a result this discovery will bring Peace and Calmness in one’s soul. This is the only way for him to bring to an end his particular job. Every day one experiences anger for different, but not important things. A husband gets angry at his wife, and the wife gets angry at him. When does a man get angry? When does a man boil in anger? It happens when something is boiling in him. When a woman prepares jam, first it foams and after that it starts boiling. So, a woman must take away this foam with a spoon. When a woman is boiling with anger let a man take a spoon and clean away all her foam. The same action must be done by a woman when her husband is boiling with anger. Foam is the sediment of Life. When a man and a woman get rid of this sediment they become good, polite, loving. Today a man is boiling in anger, a woman, a daughter, a son -everybody is boiling in anger. What should we do in this case? Just take a spoon and clean up the foam. As much foam as you take away the cleaner and better you become. This is not an allegory, it is a reality of Life. This is why, when you come across the sediments in your life, do not worry about what will happen with you. Just take a spoon and clean the foam away. God, who has created the world has a special plan and knows what will happen to everybody. He has a path for everybody. Is God going to care about me? Yes, He is. He is going to care for you as He has done so far. He has already fixed your way, and it does not matter what is happening, just do not doubt in it and keep going your way, and have faith that God’s purpose will be exercised the way it was purposed. Be patient! One day Mohammed was running away from his enemies, who were chasing him because of his principles (teaching). He managed to hide behind a tree. He observed from there how an ant was trying to carry a big load. It picked it up 99 times and dropped it on the ground. Not until 100 times did it managed to bring it to the certain place. Astonished from the enormous patient and constancy of the ant, Mohammed thought to himself: If an ant can make its desires reality how much more I am able to do so. God helps all creatures. When He sees sufferings and efforts of a man, God blesses him. He turns his bitter cup into a sweet one and gives him His blessing. God cares for everybody - righteous and sinful, well educated and uneducated, animals and human beings. It is a different story what scholars and scientists speak about God. Stick to the thought that God does not have any disloyalty. It is spoken about God’s anger. God gets angry when He puts you on a fire. His anger is a fire; it is that flammable active power that cleans up. You cry and pray to Him, but he says. Only a little bit more and I will clear you up. How long will he keep us on fire? We will be kept there until we become clean and stop foaming. Then God will take us off the fire, will smile and will say: I am happy that you are clean now. Cleanliness is a compulsory quality of Life. Life in which we are entering now, insists on right, bright thoughts, which sustain all mankind. Right thought excludes any worries. While one worries, one is exposed to a variety of illnesses. Some people are not afraid of illnesses or Death. They do not believe in God, do not believe in the other Life and say: Let’s live well on the Earth, only this is important. Life is on the earth and we must take advantage of it. Some people live a shorter life than others. Everybody’s life is definite. Life on the Earth is good, but Life in Heaven is better. Some people say: “It is not for sure that another Life exists, it might be.” This means: Light in my mind either exists or not. God either exists or not. If you close the curtains on your windows, it will become dark in your room, but this does not mean that light does not exist, that God does not exist. God is at the same time in Light, in darkness, in joy and in sorrow, in Love and in hate. He exists in each manifestation of Life. Hate is something temporary, whereas Love is everlasting. Hate turns into Love, as Jesus says, “The bitter cup in a certain time will turn into great prosperity, because of that I must drink it”. If his disciples and followers manifested Love, the entire world would be in good working order. They spread hate in the world, which after a certain time will turn into Love. Then all scientists, philosophers and writers will start writing in a new way, in a way of the Spirit of a new Love. A new wave of Love is coming. It will turn sufferings from the past into fertile ground, “on which will grow, blossom, and ripen the prosperity of Love. Furthermore, the entire mankind will eat from them. Once you know that do not be afraid of death. Do not be afraid of the precipice over which you are hanging now. Who is guilty for that? People close to you like your mothers and fathers, your husband, or your wife. To feel pleased just release your hands from the branch you are hanging onto. If you become angry say to yourself: I will release my hands from the branch, I am holding. If you are not in a good mood do the same. If you cannot trust somebody, again do the same. Why don’t people succeed in their lives? Because they use negative statements. They say: Do not hate, do not lie. A negative statement does not have this power to influence people. So that I say: Love each other and speak Truth. Love each other and manifest good things in order to make your character. The man, who has a steady character, is not a bad influence to people that surround him. If a mother leaves her young daughter with a young man and he does not do any bad thing to her, this means that this man has a character. A young girl has a steady character as well if she is not a bad influence to the young man. Get free from each self-interested thought in your mind that brings hate in your heart. Keep yourself away from lie and theft that brings hate in one’s heart. Lie and theft shows unsteadiness in one’s character. Can we say that somebody has a steady character if he uses somebody else’s wealth and woman? The meaning of drinking your bitter cup is in the meaning to pay back to people everything you owe them, but at the same time to help them. The meaning of love is to help a man in all his needs. What does Love mean? Some people think that it is gentle touch, hugs and kisses. In my opinion this is not Love, this is not any Good. If a healthy man and a healthy woman hold their hands this still is not Love. Real Love raises weak and ill people, it helps those who suffer. If you have Love, kiss a sick person and help him to become healthy; kiss the weak one, kiss the person who has failed in his life and help him to stand up. If you are a loving father kiss your weak, disabled children. Do not give a kiss like the one Judas gave to Jesus. When you kiss a healthy person, you betray him. One must know who to kiss and who not to kiss. This means that one has a character. Telling you this statement, I do not want to expose to you what you have already done, but I want to tell you how to behave from now on. You do not love me. I do not love you because you are rich and healthy. Become poor and sick and I will love you. Give from the kisses of your Spirit. When people love each other their spirits must be close whereas their bodies must be far from each other. If a man and a woman do not live well then God separates them. He takes a man or a woman. When they separate, the one who stays on the Earth starts to idealise the one who has passed away. When they are far from each other they start to love each other and get on well. An American man wanted to invite to his house a friend who he had not seen for ten years. He phoned his wife to ask her to prepare the dinner, but she replied. “Do not bring this hypocritical man; I do not want to see him”. The American man thought, even on the telephone I was able to recognise that my wife was speaking. He knew her way of speaking. Now you speak about God, but at the end you say: Do not bring Him in our house. How many times has he come and only brought suffering. This is a wrong and bad understanding. You mislead yourself. When Freemasons approve a new member they test him to see whether he will pass these exams. The first test is about his courage. If he does not pass it they do not accept him as a member of their community. A man with a sword stands in front of him and this man is ready to pierce him. If he gets scared he fails the exam. The sword is made of paper. When he decides to stab him it bends. The same way God tests us using “paper swords”. Sufferings are paper swords, which on meeting our fear will bend and fall on the ground. You stay healthy and harmless. Even the biggest human sufferings cannot be compared with the glory that awaits you later. Start from now to prepare for that glory. Be aware that sufferings are exams which will lead you to future glory. What is going to happen with Bulgarian nation? –A great future is expected for this nation. They must have faith in the living God and say: once God is with us nobody can be against us. The living God will guide us. He will bring harmony and peace involving all the nations. He will forgive all mistakes and will destroy all crimes. He will sort out all the difficulties. Everything that I am preaching will happen. A great Goodness is coming for everybody. God carries this Good from the Heavens. One thing is required from everybody. Be real Bulgarians. If you do not think bad about others and if you experience the new teaching, God will be with you. He is almighty, all wise and all kind. Do not be scared from sufferings, because the precipice is only 15 cm deep. 2. A lecture from the Master, given on 22 October, 1916, in city of Sofia, Bulgaria. _________________________________________________________ [A1][The main goal in a human’s life is to find out the main feature of one’s character; to find out what the main support in his life is; to find out who his Father is and to return to his father’s home; to find out who his teacher is and to carry out the work that has to be done.] or [The main goal in a human’s life is to find out the main feature of one’s character; to find the main support in his life; to find his Father and to return to his father’s home; to find his teacher and to carry out the work that has to be done.] [A2]This is unclear. The problem here is with the words [following] and [defer]. [A3]Unclear. Usage. [A4]The meaning is not clear. [A5]The word unison means harmonious agreement or union. I am not sure if this is the meaning intended, if not here are two examples. [You love two people at the same time] or [You love two people]

You Shall Love The Lord “You shall love the Lord your God; you shall love your neighbour, as well.” Mathew 22: 36-40 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” Now, I would like you to pay attention to what I am going to talk about. The Teaching that I am delivering to you today is the basis for the development of the soul, the mind and the heart. It is a Teaching that brings Peace and Tranquility to the heart; it is a Teaching that brings Light to the mind, rejuvenation to the soul and Strength to the Spirit. This Teaching has the power to heal the legs of the lame, and open the eyes of the blind; this Teaching makes the deaf hear, restores health to the sick, and raises the dead. It brings harmony to everything. This Teaching knows no obstacles. It is the Teaching of the living God Who is among people, among stones, among plants and among animals alike. The living Lord Whom I am talking about is everywhere; He is known to all. This God is the only real and essential thing in this world. Some want to solve philosophically the question of God’s existence. I say, leave aside the philosophical speculations and the brain gymnastics, for this question can be solved only through experience. The important question is this: why do we need to love, why do we need to have one command. What is a command? It is a foundation; it is the soil on which one can build; it is a Force with which one can work; it is a point of support from which one can start. How can we tell if we have a point of support or not? You can tell by standing in one place and lifting a heavy object. If the soil under your feet is sturdy and you do not sink then I can tell you that you have a point of support; if your feet sink, then the soil is not sturdy, i.e. your point of support is not reliable. If, after having done certain work, you sink lower instead of rising higher then I can tell you that you do not have a foundation under your feet. If your mind becomes disturbed when you think about something, then you do not have a foundation under your feet; when you love and you doubt your Love, then you do not have foundation under your feet. You can give a number of philosophical explanations of the concept of “command”, but they will be pretty only on the outside and empty inside. These explanations are like sweets and pastries. If one eats sweets and pastries, one becomes very ethereal. A man needs healthy, high-quality food that contains all of the essential elements. Such food provides the necessary conditions for the development of the human mind, the human heart, the human soul and the human Spirit. The elements which man uses are all the same but the methods for their absorption are different. Every food is good for man. It is important, though, for man to know how to absorb it. I am not telling you what food you should eat and what food you should not, but I am advising you to eat with Love. It is of secondary importance what the hygienists, the physicists and the chemists have to say on this topic. What is most important is for you to use food that gives strength. Sometimes you feel week, but then you eat certain food and it makes you feel strong and energized. Such food is essential food. They asked Christ, “Teacher, which is the great law?” The great law is the law that can teach us how to live. This means to know God. For the past two thousand years philosophers have been trying to explain where God is: in Heaven or on Earth, but they cannot answer this question even for themselves. This causes a number of contradictions due to which some people accept God’s existence and others deny it. God just stands aside watching both sides and is amused with them for not knowing Him. Why is it that they do not know Him? It is so because they have put on glasses of different colour. Some say that their Father is red, others say that He is yellow, the third lot say that he is green and yet others say that he is black. Everyone sees Him one way or another according to the colour of his or her own glasses. “Could God be black?” some of you ask. Now, don’t be so literal, I say. The colour black has a few meanings. It can also stand for rest. The word “bad” also has two meanings. When we say “a bad person” we mean an energetic person. The bad, the evil carries a force in itself and this force should be applied correctly. If it is not used right then the evil can be destructive. Which is the great command? To love the Lord. This command teaches us to think right, feel right, and act right. This is an experiential philosophy; one needs a few years to understand it fully. A man needs to do a lot of work in order to learn to think right, to feel right, and to act right. A man needs a lot of time to get to know the Lord. To me God is Great reality. He is more real than you are as I see you standing before me here today. You may say that I am using strong words. If I could find stronger words, I would use them to explain what God is. God can be just as real to you as He is to me. You can know Him after years of searching, but you can also know Him in an instant. You know from physics that when two electric poles come in contact, they produce a spark, a light. Here’s what I say: turn to the opposite pole of Life in order to find the Light that you are looking for. This can happen in an instant; it depends on you. You are standing with your back to this Light, asking, “Where is God?” Many people, both learned and simple, stand before the Lord’s doors and ask themselves if the Lord will let them in or not; if they are worthy of Him or not. This is all idle chatter. You have come out of the Lord and you will return to Him. He will accept you because he is All-gracious and All-merciful. “Am I a good person”, you wonder. I have no doubt in your Goodness because it is my Goodness, too; your Wisdom is my Wisdom, too. “Is this true”, you ask. Yes, it is true. People are so interesting! Should a feverish person believe that not having an appetite is a normal condition? Today, being sick, he does not have an appetite and he does not enjoy his food, but this is not permanent. He used to enjoy his food before getting sick. Once he is healthy again, he will be able to enjoy his food again. There is a certain difference between how the nervous system is today and how it used to be in the past, but this state is temporary. Therefore, if you become ill, you should tell yourself, “Listen, do not succumb to your illness. It is here to visit you only temporarily. You are a healthy person; you can think right, feel right, and act right.” Often people discuss what sin is and they say about someone: This man is sinful. I do not know which people are sinful according to the way you understand sin. I do not know any sinful people but I know some people make mistakes. From the standpoint of the great law of Love my view of sin and those who sin is different. For example, a teacher gives his student a task to draw a picture. The student starts to draw, but smears the lines, then erases them, then smears them again and so on until one day he finishes the picture according to his teacher’s requirements. Would you call this student a sinner, because he smears and erases his lines? This student is not a sinner but simply has not worked hard enough and has not practiced enough. In the future, after having practiced enough he will draw the picture well, with no smearing and erasing. He will be able to avoid all mistakes. Do not slander the Lord in you by saying that He has made you sinners. If he sees that you are disheartened, God will say to you, “Do not despair, my son! You will become a good and just person in time.” Some philosophers, not understanding the laws, talk about the mistakes people make. They make mistakes themselves, but speak of the mistakes of those around them. Christ says, “We shall love the Lord!” People also talk about Love, but without knowing what It is. Someone says, “I’m dying for love.” After getting married, he says, “I’m dying of love.” Before getting married he was dying of love and after getting married he is dying of love again. You need to take the word “death” to mean something else. One is dying even while being born. To be born on Earth means to die in Heaven. To die on Earth is to be born in the other world: one is being born to a superior Life than the earthly one. In the greater sense of the word, both to die and to be born mean to go to work. Whether going up in Heaven or coming down to Earth you will be working regardless. Work and labour are two different concepts. This is why Christ says, “Come to Me, all you who labour and I will teach you to work.” When I talk about Christ I do not mean the man Who lived two thousand years ago. I have in mind this other Christ Who is among people even to this day. It is a different matter how He manifests Himself. The important thing is that everyone who is in need can go to Christ. Those who regard Christ as a man who lived two thousand years ago go to Him with black scarves on their heads. Those who can see Him in their midst go to Him with white scarves on. Why do you wear white clothes at weddings? You say that this is what the church advises. God has said, “Those who are going to get married and carry Love in their heart shall dress in white. Those who have lost their Love shall dress in black clothes. For how long should they wear black clothes? For as long as it takes them to find Love. You should wear white scarves on your heads, white scarves in your hearts and white scarves in your minds so that you can find the Lord. You can find the Lord right now, right at this moment - it all depends on you. As long as we love God we are in Heaven, in paradise. As soon as we start doubting Him we find ourselves in hell: at the place of suffering, darkness, and embitterment. “We shall love the Lord!” This is the great commandment on which our Life is based. How should we love the Lord? As our neighbour? The love of God and the love of one’s neighbour are two diametrically different things. If you are to understand the Love of God you need to forgo what you know and try what I know. You have tried your knowledge; now you can try mine. If yours is better I am ready to accept it. I am one of those people who can both give and take. That man who loves God is a man of great concentration and a great inner Life. On the outside he seems to keeping his distance from all other people and is regarded as an eccentric, but he isn’t that way, really. The love of God is like venous bloodstream that takes the impure blood to the heart and lungs to be purified and turned into arterial blood. Venous and arterial bloodstreams exist not only in man’s body but also in his feelings and thoughts. Hatred and jealousy, for example, are the venous blood in man, whereas Love and Joy are the arterial blood. The light and pure thoughts are the arterial blood, whereas the dark and negative thoughts are the venous blood. Therefore, by loving God man can transform the current of negative forces that runs in him into positive forces, and can transform the impure blood into pure blood. He goes to God, Who asks him, “Now, do you know me, son?” “I know you now, Father.” After this, like the arterial blood, man goes around the whole body to feed all its cells. This is the Love of one’s neighbour. By loving God you enter into His lungs and into His heart and you can purify yourself. Being thus purified and focused you leave to take the blood to the most remote cells of the body - to your neighbours - thus feeding them. Now that you know this, may you love God and may you take His blessing out to the whole world. As you spread the good among the people you may feel tired and you may feel the need to return again to that Life center, which purifies and restores the energy. Every twenty-four hours man goes back to God for rejuvenation and purification. Thus purified he leaves God again to go to his neighbour. After all this he finds himself wondering, “Where is God? Does He exist?” This shows lack of understanding of Life. And so, when you are on your way to God do not stop to converse with people. You should say to whomever you meet on your way, “I am going on important business. I will meet with you and talk with you after I am finished with my work. Then I will tell you about God: what He does and how He lives.” Let’s say that someone is ill and needs medical help. He goes to a few doctors but they cannot help him. What should he do then? He should turn to God with all his Trust and Hope and he should say this, “I put my faith in You, my Lord; I give my burden to You.” Once you have shed all human philosophies from yourself and have put your faith in God, He will help you. The stronger your faith is the sooner you will receive help. God helps the weak, the sick and the laboured alike. Man’s Love of God can make all ailments, both external and internal, go away. Both blindness and deafness will go away as soon as you turn your love to God. People today suffer from knowing too much. I do not mean to offend you, but I have decided to speak to you in an unusual way. Please, try to understand me right. You must cast aside the black clothes that you have donned. You must cast aside doubt and suspicion. They are like manure for Life. If there is the slightest shred of hatred left in your heart you must cast it aside. If you tend to become angry easily you must renounce your anger or take it to some factory where it belongs. If you are often visited by anger, why don’t you put it to work? When you put it to work, the anger says, “I have a clever master!” Is it possible to live without anger? Yes, it is possible. If you are visited by jealousy and hatred, you should put them to work, too. Through working they will connect with Love. Whatever negative thoughts and feelings might visit you, take them to God. Tell them, “I’m going to God. If you want to be with me, you should come along.” Take along with you all who are blind, deaf, lame, and maimed and take them to God. “But we are naked and we are embarrassed to show up before Him”, you might say. Go to God the way you are. He will clean you up and will dress you in new clothes. God does not need righteous people. Enter the Divine fire to cleanse yourself and then you can say, “We saw the Lord and we knew Him.” It says in the Old Testament that Moses ate with God. “Is this possible”, you may ask. It is possible. Eating is not only a physical process. One eats in the physical world, in the Mental world, and in the Heart world, as well. Thoughts and feelings are food just like bread is food in the physical world. Many want to be loved. Why should they be loved? They are hungry and they want to be fed. If someone says that he wants to be loved this means that he is hungry and that nobody thinks about him nor wants to feed him. Tell such a person, “Come to my home, brother, and I will feed you.” You will feed him and God will bless you. As long as they are in the realm of Love people sing and praise the Lord. They forget about the bad and wrong relationships they have with each other. As soon as they come down to Earth, they start quarreling. “We are sinful and that is why we have quarrels,” you say. Do not think that you are sinful or fallen people. You can be saved in any given moment. You say, “We will do good to propitiate God.” Put the good deeds aside. God loves you at all times; He is ready to help you at all times regardless of whether you are righteous or sinful. God loves us despite all our sins and wrongs. His Love has never faltered. Some people may say bad things about you: let them do it. In response, you should say to them, “Come to me, brother, and let’s go to together to the Lord.” No matter what difficulties you are enduring, just tell yourself, “I will love the Lord, Who is living in my soul.” Some may object to this, saying, “I cannot see the Lord.” This does not mean anything. If you cannot see Him today, you will be able to see Him tomorrow. Today even the simplest person knows that the friction from rubbing two pieces of wood together makes fire. A man and a woman are having a quarrel somewhere. Let them quarrel so that they can produce more Light for the two of them. Let them rub together and make fire. Once they have made fire, they will reconcile. It does not matter in what direction they will rub together: parallel or cross-wise; what matters is that they produce the necessary Light. And so, according to the language of the new Teaching, when there are frictions, you should say this, “Rub me, brother, until I produce Light for you.” This friction is necessary for the making of Divine Light. Even in the battlefield people rub on each other until they produce this Light. I see these people some of whom are blind, others, lame or maimed, and they are all going to Christ. He says to them, “It is better for you to be with one leg, with one hand, or with one eye, but to come to Me.” God greets these people, feeds them and asks them, “What are the rest of the people doing down on Earth?” “They are still rubbing on each other.” Then God says, “Let them rub. I will go down to Earth among them and they will all reconcile with each other.” I can see the ones who are up there with Christ. They are joyful and merry. When I say that they are up there, do not think that they are some place very far away. “I want to go to them.” “You should go to the battlefield first. From there they will send you up to your brothers.” “But I am afraid.” You need heroism, and not fear. You need to understand the deep meaning of Life. Remember this: there exists no evil in God. He makes everything right and fixes people’s mixed up deeds. He sets broken arms and legs. He puts in eyes that have been taken out. He brings order to everything. He is Father to all. Therefore, when you are ready to love you should go deep inside yourself and focus; feel neither doubt nor hesitation! Be certain that God will give you from His Love and will make you joyful and merry. If someone asks you how you know this, you should tell him, “Get away from me, don’t tempt me.” I say to you: each impulse you have comes from God. “When will I find God?” “When you fall upon difficult times.” “How will I find Love? What is it?” A disciple went to one of the great Teachers of India to ask him what Love is and how to find it. The Master was silent, saying nothing in response. On the second day the disciple asked the same question but the Master remained silent. The disciple visited his Teacher six days in a row looking for an answer to the same question, but the only response was silence. On the seventh day the Teacher took the disciple with him and took him to the Ganges River. He took him by the arms and pushed him under the water. The disciple kicked and struggled until, finally, the Teacher took him back to the shore and asked him, “What did you feel while you were in the water?” “I was suffocating. I needed air. I was about to burst for lack of air.” The Teacher told him, “You will understand Love and will really start looking for It when you feel such need for Love as you felt for air in the water. What the disciple felt in the water is what all those fighting in the battlefield feel. They feel the need for Freedom, for space. Now God has people by the scruff of their necks; He has dipped them into the water and will hold them there until they feel the need for Freedom. This is the Divine school that everyone needs to go through if he is to learn something. So many times our body parts have been strewn across the battlefields but God collects them every time and puts them back together. “Prove this”, you may demand. I will prove it. Say you are blind or lame. I open your eyes and you start seeing. I set your broken leg and you start walking. What other proof are you looking for? The proof is in restoring the harmony between all parts. Everyone needs to find proof for oneself; everyone needs to find Truth for oneself. One should go to God alone and one should come back alone. This is how one can acquire a deep inner Knowledge. This is how you will understand what temptation is. Sometimes you are happy, but all of a sudden your mood changes. You say, “I am unhappy in Life.” This is not your thought; you have been visited by some devil. Do not fight him but say, “Thank you, Lord, for sending me this brother to talk with.” You think that the devil is evil. I will speak well of him. Once he used to be good but then he fell and sinned. You may object, “The Scriptures say that we should resist the devil, the evil in the world.” This means: rub the devil until he opens his eyes and sees the Light before him. Once there is Light in his mind, he will renounce the wrong way. The second commandment is: “You should love your neighbour as yourself.” This Love is the way our heart and soul manifest themselves externally. It is through our neighbour that we can manifest our Love externally. The Love of one’s neighbour is also indicative of one’s Justice. Here is a story to explain this: one mother gave birth to two babies at once. She was able to nurse both of them at the same time, and so each baby was given its own natural pacifier. However, one of the babies had a bigger appetite and wanted to suck from both pacifiers. What did the just mother do? She spanked it to teach him a lesson. Not understanding the law, the baby decided that his mother was bad. God, too, allots one pacifier to each one of us that we should keep well. Christians today have each other by the hair and fight because everyone wants to take the other person’s pacifier. If you have one pacifier, do not be greedy for a second one. Those men, who have not yet produced fire, can have frictions. However, those, who have already made fire should return to God and bestow Him their gratitude. A woman told me once that she took care of her sick husband for twenty years, and she never got tired of this for a single moment. Why was that? She loved him. A man took care of his epileptic wife and never got tired of it. Every night he kept a close eye on her lest she should have a fit and he never said a word about it. He loved her and that is why he never got tired of taking care of her. Years and years ago an American ship had an accident and sank in the ocean. Most of the passengers were able to get into boats safely. There was only one space left in the last boat. A woman and her little boy were trying to climb into it, but there was no room for two people in the boat. Those people, who were in the boat looked at each other, trying to find a way to solve the situation, but then the mother quickly pushed her boy onto the boat, bid him goodbye and told him to send her love to his father. Which one of you can show such a spirit of selflessness and composure and can say like this mother, “Give my love to your father.” What do people do today? Most of them think about themselves and leave their children at the mercy of fate. People ask someone, “Where is your brother?” “I don’t know,” he says, “My brother is a big sinner; he must have gotten lost somewhere.” God tells this person, “You are not doing the right thing. You should extend your helping hand to your brother.” Once there was a great artist painted two beautiful pictures. Both paintings were of people who were drowning. The first picture was of a terrified woman who was reaching with both hands for a rock to hold onto for her own safety. The second paining was also of a woman, but she was holding onto the rock with one hand and was reaching out with her other hand so that someone else might be saved as well. I am telling you this: do not hold onto the saving rock of your life, Christ, with both hands. Hold onto Christ with one hand and help your neighbours with the other one. Do not think that people are sinful. Only God knows why people commit sins and suffer. If you follow the way of Christ you will understand why He loved people and how He showed His Love. Therefore, if you are feeling ill, say in yourself, “I love you, Lord.” As soon as you say this, you will be cured. He who goes to God will be cured if he is ill. If you are healthy, it means that you are with God already. If you are ill, it means that you have not gone to Him yet. Why haven’t you gone in to Him? Because you still need some more friction before you can produce Light. Once you have acquired Light, you will be saved by grace. This means: “We have come out of God and we shall return to Him.” “You shall love the Lord.” How? Not the way merchants associate and love. Two merchants liked each other and became friends. Because they shared common interests their families, too, lived well together and loved each other. This is the love of sinful people. It is said about them that the Lord will teach them the way. I also love sinful people: the blind, the lame, and the maimed. They need someone to show them how to live. They can be helped. If you are sinful, do not be afraid, for this is a test that you have failed. You may have a low grade today, but tomorrow when you learn your lesson you will earn the highest grade. Why are you afraid to receive a two for a grade?[1] The Scriptures say: “Love makes all fear go away.” Now I am here to preach about God’s positive forces. I am telling you this: go to God and love with no fear of hatred or jealousy. If hatred pays you a visit, tell it, “I love you, sister. I forgive you all that you’ve done, for this is your nature.” You need to say this from your heart, not just to say the words. If all you have is empty words you will be like that count from the story who fell in love with a young and beautiful woman and every time he saw her he would speak of his love for her. At the same time, the count’s servant was also in love with the young woman but he reverently kept his feelings to himself and did not talk about it to anyone. One night the count went out on a walk with his beloved. They climbed into a boat and rowed down the river. When they reached the other shore they were attacked by bandits who jumped out of the forest. The count was very scared, but managed to run away, leaving his beloved behind. At this moment the servant who accompanied them in a separate boat pulled his boat onto the shore and saved the young woman. He comforted her and took her safely home. The next day the count visited his beloved to make sure that she was all right, but she told him coldly and sternly, “You stay away from me. I do not want to see you any more.” The same happens today with God. You are in the boat with Him, but when the robbers attack you, you run away and leave Him alone. You say, “I don’t want to suffer because of the Lord.” And then, once the danger is over, you go looking for Him and you tell Him, “Forgive me, Lord, for I have sinned.” He who loves the Lord must be brave! God is the only One Who knows how to Love and we, too, must learn to love. God is the only One Who knows how to work and we, too, must learn to work. Even in your hatred you can show Love of God. Once you have entered the realm of Love you will be able to see things the way they really are. Then you will be able to understand why some objects are hard and others are soft. In the light of Love you will be able to see clearly what you could not see in the dark. The diamond, for example, is the hardest mineral, but is very valuable despite its hardness. If one swallows a diamond, one will choke on it. It is valuable, but you will choke on it. Why is that? Because you did not use it wisely. Likewise, both hatred and jealousy are forces with a great purpose, but they need to be used in the right place. From the point of view of the Divine teaching everything in the world is Good, everything is harmonious only when it is applied correctly. Christ says, “The first and great commandment is this, ‘You shall love the Lord.’” When you love God you will be able to accept Life and death equally. Years pass and you grow old: your eyesight and hearing become weaker, your arteries are not so supple any more and you can see that the end is near. Your relatives call for the doctor hoping that he could help extend your life. I say this, “If one’s time is up, one should move along.” But one needs to realize this for oneself and one should tell oneself, “I have been called for now and I need to go. I am leaving my fortune to my smaller brothers, the worms. Let them have a meal and be happy.” The butterflies are beautiful. I converse with them very often. They tell me that they are sorry that sometimes they inadvertently do mischief. They say, “This is our job now. In the future, when we evolve to your position, we will be good, too.” I tell them, “It is all right. We forgive you. If we were you we would have been doing mischief, too.” And so, you must thank God that you are able to see the Good in the world from the situation in which you are now. The world is good but you need to be pure and holy. If you have not learned your lesson, do not make an excuse, but say this, “I love my teacher and I will learn my lesson for him.” You must say like David, “Anywhere you send me, Lord, I will gladly do Your will because I love You.” If you refuse to do God’s will then you do not love Him. We must love God and do His will. Why should we do that? Because everyone has been through losses and disappointments, but the Love of God will restore everything that has been lost; the Love of God will restore one’s health and will set all broken legs and arms. This Love will restore families’ broken lives. It will restore the disturbed balance in Nature. Now those who were killed are having a feast with Christ and those who were left down on Earth say, “Those poor people left before their time was up!” The great truth is that these people are with Christ in Heaven. They are happy. “Now we doubt this”, you say. He who doubts has no Love in his soul. Remember this: God is at work everywhere and among all people. When there is Peace among people it is God who is among them. God is among people even when they are having quarrels. He manifests Himself among all people. When one speaks good things or bad things to me, it is God Who speaks to me. According to me, there is no evil in the world. It is important that we should accept that everything comes out of the Lord in Whose presence we live and move. The Scriptures say, “God can make a new sky and a new earth.” Love brings the new in the world. God is already coming down to Earth and He is bringing the Love into the human hearts and souls. I can see the Lord; I can feel Him and I can understand all His acts. If there is bounty and fruit somewhere, this means that God is there. Will the uncultivated field yield any wheat? People look for the easy way. They wish that the apple could ripen without light and that the lentils could cook without boiling. No pain, no gain. It is through pain and suffering that God pours his Love onto you. If you find yourself wishing to commit suicide do not chase this feeling away but listen to it, and talk to it to find out what it brings for you. Do not realize this wish but look at it to find out why you are so disappointed and desperate. Committing suicide means leaving the confined world in which one lives so that one can work in some other, bigger world. Some young woman is desperate because her beloved left her and did not want to marry her. Why did he leave her? He found another young woman and says that he cannot love two young women at the same time. The young woman should not despair, but she should remember that there is Someone Who loves her through all times and ages. Be true to that Love, in which there is no change. Once you have started working in the name of this Love, do not give up until you see some results. If you grow tired after sowing your field, you should have a rest and continue on. When you rest, God works. While you are resting you can use the time to watch God working on your field. Work, rest and think when you have spare time. Think without worrying. Why would you worry about the food that you use? Accept this food with Love and do not worry about it any more. God will finish the work. If you have a headache, do not worry. Trust in God; say a prayer and He will help you. If you have doubts you will not be able to achieve anything; you will not be able to accept the new Teaching of Love. This Teaching is the Teaching of experience. The healthy accept the new Teaching and serve according to its principles. The thinker also accepts the new Teaching. All of you are required to think correctly. Do not say that your husband has taken to the stray path, but say that he has made a mistake that needs to be corrected. When the little child makes itself all dirty this does not mean that is has taken to the stray path. The child is not at fault for being dirty. Clean it up and wait for it to grow up and realize its mistake. A man from Varna once shared something that he went through. He had a son who was always unhappy with something. One day the man tied up his son’s arms and legs wanting to throw him into the well and get rid of him. When he realized his father’s intention the son said, “Father, you can do as you wish, but think about the consequences. You will be locked up and will not be able to provide for my mother and my sisters.” The father thought about it and then freed up his son, but would tell him from there on, “Nothing will ever come out of you.” One day I met this man’s son and after talking to him for a while, I said to him, “You will become a great person one day.” My words and the faith that I put into these words encouraged him and he really did become a great person. Therefore, if you want to live well then you should tell your wife that she is good and intelligent. Tell your husband that he is good, just, and loving. When he comes back from work, make sure you greet him well and with joy; then give him water to wash his feet. If you tell him that he is lazy, you will make your life worse. What is required of man? Man is required to elevate his consciousness each day by being aware that God works in him. When God goes up, you will go down to work. When God goes down you will go up to work. This is how Love works. Knowing this, you need to apply the Teaching of Love in your life. Think only about what is required of you, and not about what is required of those around you. Then I will welcome you even if you are a sinner. I am not interested in righteous people; I am interested in lame, blind, and maimed people: those are the ones I am taking with me to God, and there they will be welcomed with a feast. This is the new era: the era of renaissance. “You shall love the Lord.” This is the great commandment, on which the law and the prophets hang. Everything in our life will go well when we honor this commandment and when we apply Love to our lives. Everything will follow the law of eternal harmony. 1. Lecture by the Master held on October 15, 1916 in Sofia [1] Grading in the Bulgarian educational system uses the numbers 2 through 6: 2 being the lowest, failing grade, and 3 through 6 being passing grades with 6 being the highest one. Source

Note 3 Because Of The Joy “When a woman gives birth, it is through grief, because her hour has come; and when she bears the child she doesn’t remember her sadness because of the joy that a man has been borne into the world.” From Joan 16:21 This is one of the ordinary verses – verses from which all women are afraid; and because they are afraid, they often want to become men. It is like the son, when wants his father to pay him, he puts himself in the position of the servant and says: “Why does my father pay the servant but not to me, I work for him too.” There is the evil of the world, this means an understanding of their own position. It is like that not only between the women and sons but and between the people from all the professions: the sweeper wants to become a policeman, the policeman wants to become a police-officer, the police-officer wants to become a chief, the chief – a minister, the minister – prime minister etc. – eternal striving. It is not bad. Christ uses this verse to express one great idea; He says: “One woman, when she gives birth, it is on grief.” Why does this grief generate itself? Because of the man who was conceived in the woman – through the man who is conceived in her, she will become a man. As Adam bore woman, so and the woman bears a man; from the bone of Adam God made woman, and from one little embryo the woman bears a man; the law for the likeness exists – you were borne, you will bear. In you there has to appear one great idea. The contemporary century is a century of twaddle, speaking, etc. Every thing has to be put in its place; when the kid talks twaddle, it is in its place because it learns. When somebody learns to play the violin for example, he will creak on the strings for a long time and this is necessary, but if he appears to give a concert somewhere, they will throw him out – he has to creak somewhere outside till learns, and after that he may enter in the hall to play. The birth in this sense may compare to one piece of music because the conception itself starts from one little embryo. In the contemporary life it is hard to speak on these questions because the minds of the people are very distorted, we have lost the primary sense of things. Contemporary people say that when a woman gives birth, it’s all the same a she-ass gives birth; when Christ entered into Jerusalem he rode on the she-ass. The Donkey and pig are symbols of a distorted thing; why are the pig and the donkey such prosaic formulae? The donkey is one of the most modest animals, they beat it a lot and when it begins howling they say: “It brays like a donkey.” It is necessary to understand the primary, the inside sense of the things; we think that we understand things. For example, when a woman gives birth to, this is a Spirit of Life, this is one principle; when gave birth to, the woman is glad that a man has come into the world. In the Divine world the woman is the bearer of the Divine thoughts and from this point of view everyone may be pregnant. One Bulgarian how his turn has become: “In time of the Turkish war17 one sadness attacked me one day; I can’t gather in my skin, I shall burst. I started to walk. About one time I heard that in one tent they sang the song “The way in world is broad”. Suddenly one light came in my mind and then I understood the sense of life.” The soul of this young man had been pregnant, he was born in the tent and then in it the Joy had come. Christ says to his disciples: “You have grief because something is conceived in you.” And Christ had to die. In the world there is birth and death; when a man comes down from the Heaven to the Earth, he is born. The process of conception is interesting: when a man conceives, he is in the high circles of the Divine world, after that the soul starts to come down passing through nine circles for nine months, i.e. for every circle - one month. Thirty six weeks are needed for the child, which make nine months, or 362 880 minutes or 21772 800 seconds. Nine shows that when a man comes down, he has to fight for the Earth, has to go out on the war-path, has to be in movement – 9 is the number of Mars. Thirty six weeks is the number of the progress, of the evolution. These numbers shows how much time it was necessary in the past for man, to conceive. It was time when for a man, to born, deprived twenty one million years, after that the period decreased; the second period continued 962880 years, the third period – 6048 years, the fourth period – 252 years, the fifth 36 years, and the sixth, the present, continues until nine months. When she conceives, a woman contains in herself all these periods and if they observe, they may understand from which souls her child is, through which period it passed, what person it was in the past life, etc. Some people ask: “What is my child? “ If man observes he can define what his child will be. This may be familiar to the mother through the period of the pregnancy. For example some pregnant women suffer, want to steal something, they grow dispirited so, they want to kill themselves and etc. – these their conditions show that that sort was their child. Often the mother says to her child: “My angel” – it is not an Angel. The child and the mother are closely connected between themselves and because in the past she spoiled it, now it comes to her to correct it: the child says: “I shall be born from you and you will correct me.” Often people lie that they marry with love, and after they conceive, miscarry their child and then the grief is eternal. When one live woman miscarries, the grief doesn’t get away from her, and when she bears, her grief is eliminated – this is law. Till one thought, one desire, one action isn’t realized, you can’t free yourself from their consequences, therefore whatever thought comes, i.e. whatever conception, has to be realized. No matter how the man philosophizes, this law reigns, it is a law of Freedom. God gave to the man the Freedom to do everything what he thinks, but for every thing he will experience the consequences. If God is weak, He even wouldn’t allow these things, but as power and all-powerful He in the end will repair everything Alone. Some ask how he will repair it. He will let the people bear; for example some man thinks something but starts to hide – this shows that he is a man from hell, from the place of the sufferings. Some will say: “I belong to so and so church, I believe in Christ.” What is faith? It is a symbol of the world, spring of the Life. If this water runs constantly and is not in harness in some water-mill, it will not bring any use. If this water falls from high woods and hills, it cascades down, carries away many things, digs up, with one word – it brings ground for one future life, but if it is used in a good sense, it will be useful. The soul firstly passes through the mineral kingdom, after that – through the steam and the waters, afterwards – through the area of the embryos and lastly God gives it to see by itself. First of all He gives it minerals, liquids, steams, waters and seeds; after that it passes through the area of the fire to purge; afterwards it passes through the reflection, afterwards – in the atomic area, after that it passes through the thick matter. In this way the soul passes through generally ten spheres and there why the child brings to its mother great wealth. In this sense the mother is one big laboratory in which enters one great wealth from that world. I want to think philosophically, to grasp the things sensibly, to understand the inside sense of Life. Some man says about another: “I outtalked him.” For example one Bulgarian did boast that he knew Turkish well; one day he met with one bey, began to speak with him and in the conversation he beat him. When they asked him why he did it, he answered “I outtalked him.” When the child comes we have to understand the high sense of this coming, and now for what the mother is glad? He is glad that her son will become eminent. The question is if the mother acted the Divine Will to bear one child, and what will become from it is question of secondary importance. Christ says: “When this child conceives the mother will grieve, but when it is born, she will be glad because God will bring it up.” The mother says that she brought her child up but I haven’t seen either one mother die for it. For example the brood-hen breeds its chicks, feeds them till they are yet completely unable to care for the living by themselves, but after they grow up she abandons them and starts to peck them; It means that in this hen there was one creature which let it breed these chicks. Thus, what forces the mother to bring up her child, it is God who is in her. One father said to his son: “If he was not my son, till now I would throw him out.” The truth is that God loves the kids and He forces their parents to bring them up. In the verse Christ takes the image of one normal woman, who is conceived, goes on the Divine law in which she has grief. But Christ says: “I shall go and you will be pleased.” I shall give you one example which will explain the diversions which happen in the world. From one eminent German preacher one young girl was interested; she visited all his sermons regularly, became a very zealous adherent of his teaching when in the end the preacher married her and said: “I found one woman-worker who will help me.” But after they married she said: “Till now I played a role, from now on you will play a role”; in this way she started to want pleasures of all kinds and refused to take part in the previous activities. The preacher started to feel discouraged; in fact, when he married, he conceived and started to suffer. He turned to God with a request to rescue him and one day, when he read the Writing, he met the verse: “You, women, subordinate to your men.” The preacher had been pleased, started to quarrel with his wife, beat her, and she also started to beat him; and when they beat mutually, they were both borne. Many people go to Christ till they marry, and after that they say to Him: “Now we want money, wealth, houses.” Then Christ opens the other door and says: “You, women, subordinate to the God, because God is head and to the man, and to the woman.” Now, as I observe you, I see that sometimes the man gives birth, and sometimes – the women; one grieves, and the other is glad. Let all bear, but to bear on time, but not prematurely born children; let every started thing, when it is born, when it happens, to carry Joy. That is why in the religious life man has to make a choice. Some people think that after they turn to religion they will become saints. A young man called Joan fell in love in one religious girl, but one English reformist advised him not to take her for wife and said: “She may be good with Christ, but not with you.” The young man listened to him and after sometime he got married to another woman who through his whole life tormented him; but then Joan said: “I shall execute the will of God, even if this woman pull me for my hairs in home hundred times.” In this way many of you are pulled Christ for the hair in home and when you go to the Heaven, Christ will say: “This is my good, excellent woman who pulls me for the hair.” I would like Christ not to be only one by name and to expect to see Him in Heaven. Where is Heaven? In the beginning God made the Heaven and the Earth. “When a woman gives birth, it is through grief.” This is the law of purging of the human soul. The scrub is the Earth, and the Joy is the Heaven; the grief always brings Joy after itself, and Joy always brings grief after itself – this law is unchangeable, the grief is a shadow of Joy. Christ in the Heaven is great with the fact that he bears the sins of all people; He bore the sins of the whole humanity not only of His time but and today He bore human sufferings. A man who cannot bear sufferings is one fly, amoeba, microbe, but a man who suffers consciously is a great man, maker and to be stupid. Every one who suffers and bears like a man his sufferings is Christ on the Earth; woman or man who suffers most and bears his suffer lightest, is Christ. The Heaven and the Earth is in our mind and heart; when our mind is spoiled, there is no Heaven and Earth. They say that God made Heaven, and the Earth was indeterminate and destroyed. And that is why God built the world in six periods to create this big land – the woman; how much she had chattered, how much fire she had thrown till she calmed down! Man has to give birth, and the birth becomes only in one Divine organized world. “Woman gives birth, it is through grief” says Christ. When it comes to birth there is no man and woman. One time the man gave birth and today namely after Christ, the woman gives birth– that is why she has to give birth well. The law of the birth understands the following: when it lands in the ground, this little embryo starts to gather all thoughts and feelings and to form a number of bodies, a number of worlds on which the man becomes master. When she conceives, the mother has to follow how God works, the birth looks like to one great painter who works and after he finishes his work, he displays his picture to present to the people this great idea. Because every day, every hour, every minute and second man has to bring in new thoughts, and when we don’t accept anything new, we start to be bored. Therefore the mother, together with her son, passes through the high worlds. There are mothers who are joyful in conception because they feel the connection between themselves and the child. Now, the oculists present different theories for the birth of a man but many of them may be wrong. Some maintain that as one soul drops, a mother immediately is being found for this child; after that three of its leaders round the world, afterwards they sink the soul of the child in the water of oblivion and in the end they bring it to the mother. This going about in Heaven is not so easy, in every step there are hindrances and this is why man has to find the way. The three leaders who bring the child to stay with the mother and if she keeps it, they tell her many secrets, teach her many things. In the same way, if a man keeps his thought, he will be able to bear some great soul after time. A man can’t conceive simultaneously many desires but has to give effect to only one desire, and the others to join in one and to serve to the main desire; it is the same and with the thoughts: all little thoughts have to join and to form one big one. A man has to have one big thought, a bit to be good; for example a man breeds many pigs, but it is better if there is only one but good. The pig is a symbol of desire; if it is one it is noble and sensibly desired. They say for someone that he is one pig in the Astral world; after some time, he will bear in your hearts and minds, you will see him in yourselves and then you will be pleased because he will carry in you and the Heaven, and the Earth. Together with him and Angels will enter, and Archangels, and Cherubs and other great creatures. In the Christian church the law is such that ones are on the Earth, and others are on Heaven. When the windows of Heaven are open, from the Earth it may be heard what it is talking about there; and may from Heaven be heard what it is talking about on the Earth. Your grief is that you have conceived one child and let this grief translate into Joy. Man may suffer intensively, man may even be discouraged but let him say: “Because of this Divine child, who I bring with myself, man has to suffer!” In the Writing, it is said: “When we, the dead men, resurrect”, and I say: “When we, the live men, bear” – this means a man has to live in his desires, in his thoughts, in his ideas. And every thought which comes, is one Angel sent from the God. Man should not be angry to the thought and the desire which causes grief, because it will bear Joy and then a man will say: “Life has sense.” When Christ gives birth He drops His spirit and in the world it is set in darkness – His Glory was so great, His Light was so big that the world darkened. And our world will darken, and we will enter into that world where we will see what in reality the world is. Man has to know this experience and only with this we will be acquainted with the inside sense of Life. Some will ask how they will recognize them in Heaven. Man has to have features. Once the famous singer Adeline Patty18 went to New York but it happened in a way that her money was used up and one acquaintance of her sent her remittance to the New York bank; the director of the bank asked her with what she will certify her personal identity. She hadn’t any other document except her voice, and started to sing. After he heard her, the director gave an order to grant her the adduced sum. When he goes to Heaven a man has to take his Divine thought. 8th of October, 1916, Sofia Source

Note 5 You Know „And he said to me: you, son of mankind, can these bones come back to life? And I said: God Jehovah, you know.” Ezekiel 37: 3 „Can these bones come back to life?” You may ask yourselves what secret is hidden in this sentence. You will say: „We know those bones, we have boiled them many times, we have seen them many times at the cemetery – it is a bone.” But the bones that I will tell you about you have never seen. What you think you see in the world, is as real as the state when someone is dreaming that he is rich for example and when he wakes up, there is nothing left from his wealth. God asked the prophet: „Can these bones come back to life?” the bones in this sense represent an obscene life, a life in a potential state; in the religious sense the dead bones mean life without motion. You will ask if life without motion is possible; in the metaphysical sense this means non-conscious life. Each bone lives a separate life and if someone moves it or sets it in motion, it will say: „Thanks God, that there is someone to move me.” The bones represent the Israeli people, disunited by the bad life and since there is no unity between the separate individuals, they are dead. The bones represent the man after his death. They are the only thing that is left unchanged; according to the occultists a new Life is hidden inside the bones and when the man returns to Earth, he will take what is hidden inside the bones – that is why we keep the bones of our friends and relatives. Some people say: „For me it doesn’t matter what will happen after my death”, but outside his bones man is nothing. Now the man has to learn to think philosophically, to look at everything as something inevitable, necessary, and not just a mere chance. For example from geometry we know that the shortest distance between two points is the straight line, which is a movement in one direction; it is a sum of many points, i.e. of many movements that form it. Therefore our thought can move only along one straight line. If we imagine that we live in one point and our thought moves only in a straight line, then we would not have any notion of the world – the man would say that beyond the straight line nothing exists; therefore there are creatures on Earth that have the imagination for one thing only. But when the point moves, it forms a straight line, which is alive and if one day it decides to change its direction along its perpendicular, it will form a plane; the plane is formed of millions of straight lines. So, there are other creatures that understand that the world moves not only in one direction – along the length, but it also moves along its width; the snail for example, has the notion that only two dimensions exist. Of course, the plane is alive, too, because everything in Nature is alive; and if it moves it will find another dimension – height and in that way a cube will be formed. You are three-dimensional creatures and the philosophers think that beyond the three dimensions nothing exists. However there are creatures that move in even higher dimensions. If the cube moves into another, fourth direction, then the whole world will move and a tessaract will be formed; this fourth perpendicular moves in a direction that we cannot imagine. So, before the man is able to understand things, he is like a dead bone, i.e. he is a one-dimension creature; God asks: „Can these creatures change and form creatures of two or three dimensions?” And God said: „Prophesy! – only when the man starts talking, does he begins to understand things. The first man was without bones, but the present creature has bones. Every man is one bone, the word bone means something that is essential and unchangeable in man, that can be put in action, to be organized. Moses said that initially God had made the man from soil – then the man was able to move only in one line; when the man was made of bones, he was given the ability to move in three dimensions, but then he was still dead; just after God breathed in his nose, then the man started to think – therefore today we breathe through the nose and only then we can think. For example a thought comes in the head of a woman that her husband does not love her, which means that she moves along a straight line; in this case she has to stop and form a plane in her thoughts – only then she will get along with her husband. Otherwise both the man and the woman will move along a straight line and they will not meet. When Moses wanted to see God, he told him: „My face you cannot see, but you will see only one piece of My clothing, otherwise you will burn out”; philosophically this means: since the man lives in the world, he cannot understand things; therefore he sees only one part of it. So, to change their state, the bones must be destroyed. These bones were dead, but only God knows if they can acquire higher life. When someone starts to talk to them, they begin to fuse together, muscles and nerves are formed, but still they cannot think; in order to start thinking a Spirit of the four winds, of the four sides, must come, i.e. there must be a fourth dimension. Until man lives in three dimensions, he cannot understand the meaning of a spiritual life; the contemporary people think that the world ends with death – this is what the frog, the snail and the man think, too. If I go to the vineyard to dig, if I work a day or two and I do the work, this does not mean that the world will end. The world comes to an end means that Life comes to an end; these are the thoughts of a snail, of a dead bone – this is the contemporary philosophy. When these bones start moving, they say: „Our job is done”, i.e. our role in the field like bones is finished; but after that they deliberately start moving. The contemporary people can compare themselves to the character in the following joke: a Bulgarian, named Stoyan, started out to a town to sell a donkey; the town was far and he stopped to have a rest; he tied the halter of the donkey to his wrist and fell asleep. Some naughty kids saw that he was asleep and untied the halter from the donkey’s head and took the animal. When he woke up with the halter in his hand and saw that the donkey was missing, the Bulgarian said to himself: „If I am Stoyan, I have lost the donkey; if I am not Stoyan, I have won the halter.” Life is the donkey, but if I am not, it is just a halter. The halter means that a man lives with a thought, inside which there is no existence. God says: „These bones will come back to life.” When the Prophet speaks, this is the Spirit of Christ. Sometimes you might fall in such a state of stiffness, as when a man thinks, feels, but cannot give a sign that he is alive; the mind can exist outside the world, but to move means to live. When a man wakes up in the morning, he moves and starts living, but when a man talks discursively and absent-mindedly, he is a dead bone. This is a small analogy: our thoughts can be discursive like these bones, we can cry and say: „What is the sense of life?” – The man is in a position of the prophet, whose thoughts are like dead bones. And God says: „You son of mankind, can your thoughts live in the field?” – Then the man starts thinking about the sense of Life and answers: „You know, God!” When the man thinks that God knows, then He says: „Speak!” When God sent Moses to the Pharaoh, he did not want to talk, because he stammered; then God got angry and ordered his brother Aaron to come; and to make Moses talk, Aaron gave up his place to Moses. Everyone is Moses and Aaron, i.e. a soul and a Spirit – in that way man will save himself. Sometimes the soul gets discouraged; for example a young maid gets disappointed with a man, she falls into despair, throws away everything, becomes gloomy and says: „That is the end of my life”. Every one of us is a deceived maid or lad – this is the original sin. When the devil came, the people became infatuated with him and then the man stayed neither with the devil, nor with God. God asked the prophet: „Can these dead thoughts, desires and actions come back to life?” – The prophet answered: „You know, God.” And after the Spirit came, the bones turned into a great army. Now, to make it possible to determine the things, they must possess certain features. The contemporary physicians say that electricity has two flows – though air and through earth: when there is a movement above, there must be a movement below. Hence, God’s thought cannot work in a man who has no bones. And since this is power is a Life in a hidden state, this movement must come from outside the bones. The human thought does not belong to the three-dimensional things; the feelings belong to the fourth dimension, the thoughts belong to the fifth dimension, and the mind – to the sixth dimension. One day when we will be among the Angels, they will teach us about these dimensions. We live in three worlds, and according to the cabalists there are ten worlds in total – the man lives in the third world, and God – in the tenth world; this is a great philosophical thought. After we have lived millions of years, we have come only to the third world, and still many years are necessary for us to come to the tenth world. The charm of the world is that it is unlimited and there will never come a day when the man can say that he knows everything. From this point of view there is consciousness in everything; for example in a stone there is consciousness of a stone; a flower, a snail, an Angel – everything lives with its consciousness. The man understands this, but let’s try to communicate with a tree, for example; for us it is just a tree, but it has its own life – it stays still, does not talk, but it knows everything because it has learnt it when it was up in Heaven. That is why the trees point upwards – when a man goes up there, he will learn everything. The contemporary scientists investigate an apple, what chemical elements it is composed of, but there is something in it, which they cannot find out. Life does not consist only of these elements, but there is something else that has to be learnt. For example in the past people thought that electricity could be transferred only through wires, and today we know that this is possible without them. There are two worlds – a physical and a Spiritual one; the man is in the Spiritual world, as he is in the physical life. People move from above downward. Today it is considered that culture goes from below upward, but I contest this and I say that the apple is nourished from the Sun, rather than from the saps; for example in the course of several years a tree grows in weight by twenty kilograms and all it has taken is from above, not from the Earth. We take everything from above, i.e. from inside – from a world much wider than the external one. We can compare it to a cone with the point down – the point is the external, and the base is the internal world; if the man is placed on the top, he would say that the internal world is smaller, but in fact it is not like that. Those who have decided to study the religious matters philosophically must be very calm. At the time of one of the Turkish sultans there were a lot of sluggards; one day the sultan decided to see who is the laziest sluggard of all and ordered the building they were in to be set on fire. Frightened by the fire, all sluggards started running, but only two of them remained inside. When one of them saw the fire becoming bigger, he turned to his friend and asked him what to do; the other one answered: „How aren’t you lazy to talk?” When it is destined for a man to die, he will die wherever he is. For example a rich Frenchman wanted to free his son from the front and by means of much money he managed to place him at the rear, but there too, although protected from the bullets, his son was killed by a shell that fell nearby. Very often people are afraid of epidemic outbreaks. The man must not be afraid of anything, because he may die of fear. For example, the plague started one day for Baghdad; a man met it and asked where it was going. – „I am going to Baghdad to take a thousand people.” The Plague arrived in Baghdad and twenty thousand people died. When it was on its way back, the same person met it again and asked it how many people it had taken. – „Twenty thousand” – replied the plague. – „And why did you tell me that you would take only a thousand?” – „The other nineteen thousand died of fear.” The man must be careful in his life. A traveller was buying a train ticket to the town of Gorna Oriahovitsa, but he was short of thirty silver coins; he asked a lawyer to help him, but the lawyer refused and saw that the man had no choice but to walk. One day the same lawyer was in London and when he was on his way back he noticed that he was short of thirty silver coins and he could not buy a ticket - he was repaid in the same way. This is to show that whatever you do, it will come back to you. In this case the man is a dry bone and you have to open your purse widely and help everyone who needs help. And today, as many people are killed, some lay up wealth; God holds us responsible for that and says the money must enliven. Money means everything we can use to help – it is knowledge, it is a feeling, it is a desire. Our thoughts and feelings must enliven us, therefore God says: „Talk to yourself, talk to your dead thoughts, desires and actions!” – In that way gradually you can notice some kind of a movement, some kind of life. Is there a mother, carrying her child and not suffering? She suffers, but a new life is formed in her. When the Spirit comes, then the man will understand why he is here, on Earth, and he will see how good it is to live, to suffer and to die, to come out of this world and to live in another, where the people will live on good terms. We, the present-day people, are of first, second and third dimension, because in us we do not have eternal Love, it is only temporary. The Love in us must enliven our soul, must strengthen our heart and Soul. So says Christ: „If I am with God, I will feel well in hell, but if I am without Him in Heaven, then why do I need to be in Heaven?” Let God be with us; and He is in us and with us. When God says: „Talk!”, we have to talk. We want to set the world straight, as we set ourselves straight, but only the Reasonable Life can straighten man. Every thought, even if it is a good one, is a bad thought if it cannot be used in a reasonable way, and vice versa. In the contemporary science there are many examples like that: for instance the carbon dioxide, which suffocates people, is pleasant and necessary for the plants – it gives them carbon for food, and oxygen is released. So, if one thing is harmful for us, for other things it is useful. Give your sins to the plants, and take the purity from them. Therefore the man should not complain. So says the Scripture: „Give your sins to God”; when God takes our sins, He asks: „Can these bones come back to life?” So, everyone must say to himself: „God Jehovah says that all our thoughts and desires, all our purses must be open for our fellow-men.”(retranslated fragment!) 1st October 1916, Sofia Source

Note 4 Compassion He saw in a vision evidently, about the ninth hour of the day, an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius. And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, "What is it, Lord?" And he said unto him, "Thy prayers and thine alms are coming up for a memorial before God." The Acts of the Apostles 10: 3-4 You can ask yourselves the question: what connection exists between Cornelius with his vision and us, who live in the 20th century - people with modern ideas; men sophisticated, with critical minds; men who claim to have mastered the forces of nature. We have to constantly bear in mind the following thought: our outlook and theories, our explanation of Life do not represent the actual world as it is in reality – these are only our concepts of the world. What the world is in reality is an enigma which even if we were given a million years of life we wouldn’t be able to solve it. The quoted verse relates to the individual life of man. On the Earth, in the present state of his development, man has a threefold relation and does three jobs: to himself, to his neighbour, and to God. When we speak about man, we have to ask ourselves the question whether we are referring to his individual life, or to the life he manifests in his relations with his neighbours, or to the Life which manifests itself when we are connected to God, because in any of these three viewpoints, the world takes a different perspective. If we decide to find out how modern science views Life we will see that it has the following concept: personal or individual life cannot continue after death; life is contained inside the body and is solely a product of the body; thinking is a product of the brain and consequently, when these organs are destroyed, both life and thinking perish forever. So modern science says; such are its concepts. According to it, thinking is a product of the brain, but from a purely philosophical point of view in the world there are organs that exist with a function other than the energy-producing one. If Life originated from the cells of the body and if thinking were in truth a product of the brain, as science states, then its conclusions are correct. But we have three types of organs and three types of functions: organs producing energy, organs releasing energy, and organs transmitting energy. If we take for an example a shell of a modern military gun and the tiny fuse igniting the explosive, I want to ask you, ''Does the gun generate energy in any form?'' No, it only passes and directs the energy. The gun has not produced the explosive, its function is only to release that energy which through a certain transformation of the molecules inside the substance expands their volume and thus produces an explosion. There are also other organs which release energy. Let’s say we have a prism exposed to sunlight, which refracts the sunrays and due to that, certain colours become visible; and I ask you, is it the prism that creates the colours? No, it only refracts the rays, and even if the prism breaks, the colours will continue to exist. In the same way, the energy of human thought exists even after the brain is destroyed. In that sense we can say, that the brain is a device through which the Divine Thought; the initial Divine Energy is refracted and manifested in the form of mind and thought. Therefore, the brain is not a source of thinking; it is only an organ transmitting thought; while the Divine Thought continues to exist even after this organ perishes. In this way, we live in a Divine world, where certain organs exist, which are imperishable. We know that in the physical field there exists certain compounds which undergo transformations, but in the higher worlds, and in the initial higher conditions of matter there exists unchangeable compounds. I call them stable compounds – initial types, out of which the world of today is built. This world in its physical manifestation we call a physical world, i.e. it does not possess the higher consciousness, which exists in the Spiritual World. For instance, your fingers do not have the sensitivity your brain has, and your ears do not have the sensitivity to perceive light, as your eyes do. What is this sensitivity of the eyes due to? Quite naturally, we can give various answers to this question, but we have to first adopt one statement as a starting point of our reasoning. In Mathematics, there is an axiom stating: any two lines equaling a third line equal each other; in other words, we always have to have one condition, one measure, as a starting point. This sensitivity is a function of the human soul. Now, I have no time to tell you what the soul is like. The human soul is something large; it manifests itself both individually, in man and collectively. In truth, the soul is one; Life is one; but those who do not comprehend this philosophical concept may come up with very wrong views when I say one and many souls. Just the same, as they talk, for instance, about the acorn: the acorn is one, but when we plant this acorn, first it builds up one branched sprig with three branches; then three more are formed above; till it ramifies more and more and forms thousands of individual leaves and acorns. Someone, who has no idea of the acorn’s nature, while looking at the tree, will consider the leaves as separate individuals; however, they all come from and are contained within the acorn – within this seed. This seed is God. Create the conditions and plant that seed within yourselves and it will unfold all talents, all secrets, and wonders. This seed, this acorn can shrink; it can grow; it can transform itself into a beech, a bear, a whale, a man, an Angel. This seed is within – it is one, and at the same time, many. Therefore, things can unite or disperse depending on the viewpoint: if we look from above, things will seem numerous; if we reach downwards, we will see that all things are sustained by the one trunk. We should apply the same point of view to all people: for me, some of them are like leaves; others – like branches, like roots, like seeds, like unripe fruit. Quite naturally those of you, who belong to the leaves, will not understand my philosophy, because your lifespan is short – it is a six-month’s life. When spring comes, you become beautiful, wonderful; yet when autumn comes and frost falls, you wither and say, “Our time has gone.” Some day a storm may break the branches of your tree in two and eventually your whole tree may fall. But even then and there, in the soil, one acorn will remain, which contains Life and says, ''I have the power to bring you back to Life,'' – and it falls down to the soil, drinks up its sap of life and restores all things back to life. Where, then, is the end of all things? This is a constant process, as infinity has no end. When the leaves fall on the Earth, do not think that the entire world has come to an end. Do not think like Nastradin Hodza,1 who said, ''When my wife dies, that will be the end of half the world. When I die, the whole world will end.'' This world may die, but the other, the Divine World will not – not at all. Why do we experience death, why is our world imperfect? When we reach a certain point, we have to transform ourselves into new flesh in order to receive a new impulse for work of the soul. Cornelius was not an uneducated man, in my belief he should have possessed deep knowledge; he was initiated, because God shall not appear before foolish people. It will be foolish for a great musician to play before a man who cannot hear and then ask him what he makes of the music; such a man will answer, ''I can only see how you are moving your fingers to and fro.'' And the musician will say, ''You are stupid,'' meanwhile both are stupid. Or, imagine a painter who has painted a beautiful picture, and shows it to a man who cannot see, and asks, "How do you see it?" and that man answers, "There is a canvass before me, but this canvass is a little bit silly here and there, you must have bought it some place," and the artist will say, ''What a simpleton you are, you don’t understand anything.'' They are both simpletons – the one for not seeing and the other, the painter, for not understanding that the other man is in no condition to understand. In the same way, when a Higher Being comes to us, we have to be able to understand the inner nature of all things. I have read many works of philosophy, I go through them every day and at times I burst my sides with laughter; some philosophers resemble men who cannot see – they work gropingly and write, "This world is a canvass with imperfections; with too little suffering; and all men are fools." You are right, I say, but these conclusions are valid for you only. This world is more than a canvass, more than these up and downturns; there should be Light in the eyes, ears, in the mind, in all the brain centres of the man, in all his strengths and abilities; so that he may understand things. And the one who understands the world must have lived a long life – one life only is not enough for a man to understand the world. What can you comprehend within a life-span of twenty, thirty, fifty, or one hundred years – under the present conditions in the world, what philosophy can you learn? You will constantly read in the papers which army2 is the prevailing one; how many people the Romanians killed; how many prisoners-of-war the Bulgarians have captured; what inventions the Germans have made. For example, the Germans have devised 42-cm guns; the French are developing a 52-cm gun; the Americans – a 54 cm gun; the Germans had so-and-so zeppelins, the French – so-and-so airplanes; I ask you – what philosophy will you learn from all that? Laws exist that regulate things. Wars break out for a reason. What are the reasons when a storm arises and dust swirls in the air? The scientists say that someplace the air has been heated more; someplace – less; and currents have originated. Why should air be heated and why should it be cooled; can't we do without that? No, we cannot. You may say it’s something bad, because there are storms which destroy houses. Yes, but at the same time the storms will bring you moisture, will clear the air, etc., i.e. to the vegetable kingdom they will do more good than harm. What are the reasons for a war to break out? It is a storm in the Spiritual World, which comes to refresh people. After that storm, the people will become very intelligent; writers will appear who will reason very intelligently. Now we can only see the harm but in fifty years we shall return to see the outcome. In the Divine World everything comes into use and nothing happens by chance. The one killed on the battle field was meant to be killed; the one who had his house burned, he had to have his house burnt; if one had a leg cut, it was because this leg had to be cut. Statistics exist, proving the natural course of events; there are laws, regulating the events in Life which only seem to occur by chance – for example, how many ships shall sink and how many should be built for ten years; when will the period of the greatest number of sinking set in and then – the period of the least number of sinking; or let us take for example fires: how many houses should burn every year; then let us take for example births and deaths – how many people have to be born and how many have to die each year. And more: I have, for example, the study of a mathematician, who is also an astrologer; and he did calculations in the following way: for ten towns in England he studied the number of the boys and girls born in the course of ten years; and afterwards he succeeded to mathematically establish with an error of one percent only how many boys and girls will be born in each of these towns in the course of the following ten years. Some reach even farther with their calculations and foretell, let us say which tickets will be the winning ones in the next draw of a lottery, which is drawn four times in a year. Therefore, a law exists, that regulates things. This is a new science, which has deep roots and a rational foundation. Now, you are starting to scratch the backs of your heads; this scratching might seem, at first glance, to have no meaning at all, but I know why it is happening. Or, someone has confused his work and puts his index finger on his forehead above his eyebrows; to such a man we say, "You have not judged right, and that is why you have confused your work," – you should judge carefully. In this laboratory above the eyebrows everything is stored that you need; there is your library where you can find the book; this and that page or this and that article of the law, which will enlighten you. Some have the habit of pressing their head but with pressing you cannot open a door; this is the way to crush nuts only. To be able to open the door of learning, men should have the key. Hence, we have to live mindfully. Many books are written on the issue of what Mindful Life is. It is your task – you have to live according to the way you comprehend things because a student with no comprehension of his own will never understand the subject matter his teacher is teaching. Now we are placed in the following contradiction. There is a legend, that God originally created two men on the Earth, but they could not get on well together; they started hating each other; and that is why God placed them in the two most distant places in space, so that they could not see each other. But they began to miss each other; started to love each other and in order to join, these two souls built a bridge and this bridge is the Milky Way. Therefore there is a way through which people can get on well together – and it is the Milky Way of Harmony, of Love. Christ descended via this way, too. Some want to know what an Angel is; while what I want to know is what man is. The old Indians have defined man as a thinking being; then, what is an Angel? Angel in Sanskrit means servant, but it also means glowing fire, and also love. If you love, you are an Angel; if you do not love, you are a man. But I say to someone, "You are not an Angel, you are one of those souls, who have not agreed with their neighbour, and for that reason God has nailed you somewhere in space and you have no bridge to join you." Peter in Sanskrit means spirit (Pitar); in fact, they told Cornelius, "Go to the Spirit, It will tell you all." Peter in Old Greek means stone. There exist living stones – only the Spirit can be a living stone. By stone Christ means things unchangeable within, Divine, mindful. Cornelius had to pray – here is a task. Many still do not know how to pray; some say, "What am I expected to tell God, doesn’t He know?" And others ask how they should pray. If you ask a theosophist, he will tell you, "I am God, I have nothing to pray for, I will only reason." While the philosopher will say, ‘I will think.’ But prayer is necessary – it is the breathing of the human soul; it is communication between God and the human soul. When God speaks, you shall keep silent and listen carefully as a student and when He stops, He will tell you, "I want you to repeat what I have told you." The word prayer means to ascend and descend. There are people who talk incessantly; they are chatterboxes – even when they sleep at night, they talk, while they should keep silent. What is sleep? I will tell you; when you sleep, God teaches you lessons – because you are isolated from the external world, from family, house, etc., this is the time when God can speak to you. When man wakes up, God would tell him, "Repeat what I have told you." And what will this man repeat, if he has not heard and comprehended well God’s commandments? He will beat his wife, will spank his children and will live the whole day indisposed, because he has not comprehended the lesson, and has not understood the meaning of Life for this day. When a Divine Messenger descends from Heaven to us, he wants to tell us that without Purity we will never see God; that without Holiness we will never comprehend Him; that without Kindness and Love, without Compassion and without Justice we will not feel Him. We have to understand what Love is. Some say, "We understand what Love is," some of you, I believe, do understand what Love is; but you have to understand it deeper. Love is always the stepping-stone to hatred; if you love Good - you will hate evil; if you love evil - you will hate Good. Consequently, Love alone cannot solve the question and bring deliverance to man, if it is not accompanied with a constant evasion of its antipode. Who, then, will save the world? - The Angel of Love, accompanied by the Angel of Compassion. Only in Compassion there is no shadow, only in the Mercy of God there is no division – we have to study the law of Compassion. For this reason this Angel came to Cornelius – to teach him the law of Compassion. And when the people of the world learn to be compassionate and apply Compassion everywhere, then all will live in peace. Truth makes men free, teaches him what is Good and what is wrong; who is foolish and who is wise; but it does not contain within itself the element to reconcile people; Love, too, alone can not bring about peace. Divine Compassion is the key that reconciles Justice with injustice, Wisdom with foolishness, Good with evil, so that they shall not fight within us. They say about someone, "He is good, I cannot stand him; he is foolish, I cannot stand him; he is bad, I cannot stand him." The World is not bad, what is bad is our understanding of things; we are bad within ourselves, and the world is very good. The soul which you hate agonizes, it suffers, it is chained somewhere in Heaven. Some people now say, "You will never save your soul; you will eternally live in hell." And I ask, who among those philosophers is the advisor to God to know what He thinks? They are like the man who could not hear but listened to the great musician; and like the man who could not see and touched the canvass of the great artist. Are they the men who will show us the way to Deliverance, the way of the new civilization? No, they are not. He is the Angel who descended to teach us Compassion – Christ; in the soul of Christ there is Compassion and self-sacrifice. Sometimes you say, "We are very educated, that is why we shall hide, so that they will not demagnetize us, or rob us," no, open your safes, open your hearts, open everything! Do not shrink into yourselves like the snail, which protrudes its antennas and then draws them in again – you have to leave your shells. I do not talk to snails or shells – I talk to people who ask themselves the questions, "What is the meaning of my life, what is my purpose, what shall I do?" I answer: you have to learn Divine Compassion. Whenever I have spoken about Compassion, they have, every time, been angry with me, saying, "You wish us ill, you do not understand us." I understand you, I understand that you love Truth, Justice, but I have not met a compassionate person among men yet. Yet, deliverance is in Compassion – this is the teaching of Christ, this is the culture of the future. After this war Compassion will come. The disabled, who will be in the millions, with their thought will create a new movement – they will ask, "What was all that about, for what reason we fought if not to correct our previous mistakes?" The people of today who are fighting are civilized, they are not barbarians, and they will contemplate on this issue. They are now only quarrelsome men and women. The woman cannot stand her husband, because he cast a glance at another woman – how could he possibly look at another woman? Well, he should be blind not to look. The man, on his part, quarrels with his wife, too, when she casts a glance at another man. Some say that Christ on his coming will put the world right. Christ is coming now to introduce the New Teaching of reconciliation between people, the teaching of Compassion towards everyone without making any differentiation – as with Cornelius. And when we start to pray and do good deeds, then God will send us to this Peter – to the Spirit. And the Spirit will bring us Joy and Rejoicing and will reveal to us the great tasks. The Spirit will create the Milky Way in our soul and we shall travel from one sun to another; from one planet to another and we shall see how great God is. Firstly, we shall head to the nearest star; then, after having lived there, we shall proceed to other stars. For each and every one of you there are great goods in store, a great future there, if only you embrace Compassion. What are you expecting now? - That Christ shall come to save you. I know that Christ has at least a hundred times lifted you from the earth; you have many times thrown yourselves into the water and Christ has saved you. It is very clear what is happening in the world today – it is the arm of God at work; God is forming a new world. What will happen with Bulgaria? The situation of Bulgaria and of all people in Europe will be much better than it is now. When a corpulent man with a fat belly weighing one hundred and fifty kilos catches typhus and slims down to fifty kilos, they say, "Poor man!" While actually, he has now become a man, before this he was not a man. This war is healing us from a similar disease – all people are ill and God will heal them. Those who are dying now will revive again, like the leaves which fall – the new acorn will raise them from the dead and will bring them back to life. Nothing perishes in the world, the outer form is not the reason for the inner Life – as God lives so will we live with Him. Even in this world we have to make an effort to be good servants and good sons; to work honestly, so that when we return to Him, He could say that we have fulfilled His will. Now some say, "I will not see God" – everyone shall see Him. When we join Him, he will say, "Why did you disgrace your name, why did you kill your brother, why did you dishonour your sister? You will return again." God will not talk sharply; I can imagine what He will say. He will give you a serious look and will say gently, "I am very sorry, son, that you have not yet understood My Compassion. Now, go back to the Earth to learn Compassion, return there to show men what I Am like. I Am the God of Compassion. They think I Am cruel, unmerciful, everybody is complaining about Me and discredits Me, and this is not good." And when people see the compassionate man, they will say, "Here is one, who is walking the ways of God." And now people say, "Even those, the religious people, are quarrelling." And that is why I am not asking you if you are religious; I am asking you whether you are compassionate. We can say about someone that he is a learned man, but has no Compassion – he is supposed to be an intelligent person, but says to his neighbour, "You are stupid, I cannot stand you." About another person we can say that he is a good person, has love, but does not have Compassion. I want you to keep within you this morning one word only – the word Compassion. In 1875, in Chicago, a gentleman was milking his cow by the light of a candle; the animal kicked the candle, the straw was set on fire and most of the city burned down. The cost of the damage was billions of dollars. When the fire approached his house, a wealthy man told someone who was there, "I will give you two hundred thousand dollars if you take my safe out." "Dash!" - said the other man running to save his life, as the fire was following on his heels. Thus, the wealthy American had to run away without his wealth. Now someone may say, "If only I had been there to take the two hundred thousand dollars – what a stroke of luck it would have been!" Yes, but the fire is following on your heels. It is not money that decorates Life. And Chicago, having lost so much after the big fire, has now an even more magnificent outlook. Now, likewise, the war introduces the same into the world – on its ruins a greater culture will be built. Now, if you understand the Spirit of Compassion, which God is sending to you, you will comprehend His teaching. September 17, 1916, Sofia __________________________________________________ 1 Nastradin Hodza, or Hoca which means teacher in Turkish was a wise, witty man with a good sense of humour, whose stories have been told almost everywhere in the World. The year 1996 was proclaimed Nasreddin Hoca year by UNESCO. 2 The Master refers to the First World War, 1914-1918 Source

Note 4 The Truth ‘The truth shall make you free.’ John 8:32 Pilate asked Christ the question: ‘What is truth?’ Here is one profound philosophical question which is easy to ask, but difficult to answer. Truth in itself is something specific, real, and unchangeable – it is eternal Light, eternal Wisdom, eternal Love, eternal Justice, and eternal Life. But, on the other hand, this very definition requires defining more precisely what Truth is. I am going to dwell on the thought: ‘It is Truth that gives us Freedom’. Freedom is an aspiration of the human mind, heart, Spirit; Freedom is Life; and Life’s purpose is to seek Truth. And seek it in a way different from the one Tolstoy relates in his book ‘My Conversion’. In this book, Tolstoy recounts one of his dreams, which is a clear illustration of his state of the mind before his conversion. ‘I am, says Tolstoy (I am giving a brief account of the story he tells), asleep on a bed. This bed is neither comfortable nor agreeable; I turn over and over to feel what this bed is like, what material it is made of – whether it is made of wood or iron; and I notice, at one point, that the bars of the bed on the sides of my head and feet are starting to fall down, one by one, till finally only one is left under my waist; and at that very moment I hear a voice shouting: ‘Do not dare to move either your head or feet – keep your balance!’, and I see beneath myself a huge pillar and a profound abyss. Very often, you may come upon philosophers who are lying on their backs and from that position are studying the Divine World; however, in the end, only one bar is left under their backs and God says to them: ‘Keep your balance!’ The moment you articulate the word balance, the catastrophe is evaded. When you are studying the Truth, you have to stand upright on your feet instead of lying on your back – only the dead lie in that posture. I use the word dead in its figurative meaning, to describe someone who is narrow-minded, one who doesn’t think. It is better if you turn to the East, so that when Christ approaches, you are able to meet Him upright. Many are those who do as Tolstoy does, but Christ says to them: ‘Balance!’ ‘The Truth shall make you Free’. Truth is real; it is Life itself, do not think it’s something imaginary. It is a world with a beauty of its own; with colours, tones, music of its own; it is a world which has always existed and will always exist. Christ says: ‘Whoever understands this world, these laws and forces, he shall be free’ and also ‘To this end was I born … that I should bear witness unto the truth.’1, and then, Pilate asked him ‘What is truth?’ People of today have strange notions of God. God is Truth; and every time during the day when you feel joy and happiness and start singing, then at this very moment Truth – the living God – is within you; whenever you think Good and do a good deed – God is within you. Truth means progress, an impulse; and when Christ says ‘I am the Way’ He means that a man should make progress and never stand in one place like a tethered animal. In this world, everything is strictly mathematically defined and there is nothing unforeseen or happening by chance; your life, your hardships, pain, tortures – they are all foreseen; and they bear a sign - plus or minus. Truth contains all four mathematical rules: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. One who has plenty can add; one who is in short supply can add, too, but using a different kind of addition. You have, for example, two thousand leva2, but with a sign minus or plus, i.e. borrowed or lent - that’s what will determine the correlation; if you say ‘I have got a two thousand year’, and put in a minus, I understand that in the past you have lived a vicious life for two thousand years; while if you say ‘two thousand years plus’ I understand that you have lived a life virtuous and therefore you are in truth a rich man. Christ says: ‘The truth shall make you free.’ Freedom is a necessity for both man and woman; it is the foundation of the entire social order. Everyone strives for Freedom and has the right to live in Freedom; however a person shall be given this Freedom to the extent they are able to make use of the goods Truth provides. The sufferings a people undergo are as essential to the entity, as they are to each and every individual. Tortures and torments are man’s invention; for example, your husband is paid his salary, it is fifty leva, and the money is hardly enough to see you through the month: ‘Besides’, you say, ‘Easter is coming, how are we to afford Easter cake? Sugar and eggs are expensive, we have no money to buy new shoes, and a new hat will cost fifty to seventy leva. How I wish I had one hundred and fifty or two hundred leva instead.” To make peace, leave the Easter cake for next year; there is not only one Easter in this world, is there? – ‘No, I want the money now!’ - Well, but God had provided only fifty leva, so be content with what you have been given, do not ruin the Easter holiday. In that respect, the wife should grant freedom to her husband and the husband should grant freedom to his wife, and down with Easter bread! That is what Freedom is about; and Truth, too. That is the reason why the Scripture says: “Give thanks for all you have been given!” and do not think that God has not granted you riches, because He has; and you all are rich men; but you have the task to uncover your riches. In our perception of the Divine principles, we have to have inner Freedom, and not to be preconceived. Truth does not depend on either your or my conceptions; no matter whether you think in one way or another; regardless of whether you are approaching or drifting away from it; you will never change its relations; it will always exist, as it is, in this world, which is very rationally created. The Light we have originates from the Light of Truth. Love comes from above; from the Truth; and the moment the Truth triumphs over the world, it shall make you free – as Love unyieldingly aims at Truth. Beauty is another manifestation of Truth; what Beauty is in relation to man, is what Truth is in relation to the Divine World – it is the one and only face of this world, which is a world of harmony and beauty. That is why when you ask: ‘Why are we unhappy?’ Truth answers: ‘Because you are ignorant, because you transgress the law.’ I remember how, once upon a time in Varna3, Gagauz4 girls used to fall in love with Bulgarian young men and wanted to marry Bulgarian men, because, as they said, Greek men were drunkards, while Bulgarian men resembled handsome and good-natured little donkeys. Yet, it is by no means an understanding of the Truth; because Truth is a science teaching what, in truth, should be the reciprocal mindful relations between men. A person cannot be free unless they bring their mind, their heart into balance and in harmony with Truth. Only in this way, will they be able to join the Divine world. Many are those who ask whether we can do without suffering. - Yes, we can. ‘And without pain and tortures?’- Yes, we can, without a doubt, but suffering is indispensable for the evolution of men. Man wants to study the world, and that is why he is bound to suffer, and the Earth is the abode of suffering. ‘But’, man says, ‘how should I have known that?’ -Why haven’t you asked the Mindful Souls above before descending? Once upon a time, a little Angel, after having listened to the stories being told about the people, said to a grown-up Angel: ‘How I wish I could see these people. Please take me to the Earth so I can see them.’ And the grown-up Angel took the little one to the Earth. Then, the little Angel said: ‘I asked you to take me to the people, and you took me to hell.’ ‘But, hell are the people’ – replied the grown-up Angel. And, in truth, we, the people, are the inferno. By saying inferno we mean boiling; bubbling from beneath; seizing by the throat; brothers fighting for their father’s legacy – because the one has taken more than the other; while what is needed is fairness – let the elder brother take more, by the right of seniority. What we have on the Earth are precisely the relations that God has laid down and for which His laws testify; and when we apply these laws according to the Truth, in consequence we obtain Freedom. Therefore, the one who wants to study the Truth will have to study the quality of the Freedom. If you ask me what music is, I will not be able to give a definition; yet what I can define is what music in itself can stir, and it is harmony and relation between the tones. Just sit at the piano or at any other instrument, start playing and you will see what music is like. But, for the manifestation of music we need three things: first, the idea of a song in our mind’s eye; second – an instrument and third – an artist; therefore we need some talent for music in our mind; an insightful ear and subsequently – an artist to play the music. And if you ask me what a teacher is like, I can tell you what a teacher makes: they deliver knowledge and if you learn what Knowledge is, then at that very moment you will find yourself close to the Teacher. You ask what Virtue is; but you should better ask what the fruits of Virtue are; or, in other words, before you venture to study the substance of all things, you should better study their fruits first. How do we know Freedom? We know Freedom by the broad expanse of action it gives. The road of necessity is a one-way road, which you walk in harness. Even if you wear the finest bridle of gold, you still have only one direction to go – ahead; and if you dare to stop, the whip will crack on your shoulders. With Freedom, quite the opposite, you have choice. You have the choice to climb a mountain peak walking the track you choose; and, on the contrary, when you roll downwards, you go in one direction only. ‘But, why should a person think like that?’- Because he is free to think as he chooses. ‘But, he is an atheist!’ - Well, it is only a temporary misconception. ‘He is a wicked person.’ - His sense of Good has not developed yet. ‘He errs.’ - His will has not been fine-tuned. ‘So-and-so has given birth to an illegitimate child.’- Straighten out the relations between the sexes. I consider all men free; only cowards are not free and it’s them who commit crime, as they haven’t got the courage to undertake responsibility. Who are the strong men of the world? Those, who are free and who can endure hardship and suffering, discredit, disgrace – all these are tests, and whoever endures them, is a man of courage, a hero. Suffering is given to put men to the test, to see who is a hero and who is a coward; one who does not want to suffer, one who prefers, without making an effort, letting others do his chores is enlisted into the catalogue of the cowards; if you suffer you are a hero. Tell me; who are the men the Bulgarian people glorify: are they the cowards who in Turkish times5 betrayed the people; or are they those who suffered for their people? And those who suffer for the Truth will be even more glorified – the principle is the same. That is why the science of Truth is a science of social life; Truth always makes people free – those who die for the sake of the others make men free. If Stephan had not died, Pavel would not have been born; when Stephan died, his spirit inspired Pavel and they both started working for God. Stephan taught Pavel to suffer, to endure three times thirty nine sticks; it is for this endurance that Pavel is renowned for. And do you know what the purpose of the thirty nine sticks was? Three plus nine is twelve; the number 12 represents the law of rounding up the evolution of all the days in a man’s life. And the one who has been beaten on the Earth like that; in the other life shall no longer be beaten. If you ask why they beat Christ, He will answer to you: ‘I suffered so that you shall be free.’ Whenever here, on this Earth, someone beats you, a string is broken which ties you to your evil fate; that is why Christ says: ‘And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other.’ (Luke 6:29) Only the strong one can beat; and when the strong one is beating, it is a blessing. What do village people do? When they want a field to yield more crops, they send sheep on this field to graze on it; when it comes to fields, they know the law, but when it comes to their own selves – they do not know it – so, eventually, let the sheep of the world graze on you. Christ says: ‘To this end was I born into the world.’ By saying birth, he means not outer, but inner birth into each and every mind and heart, to testify this Truth. When Truth initiates its birth into you, you will start feeling Freedom. A woman, after getting married, wants to have children, because she is filled with the Truth that this is the only way to observe the law - to inherit property. It is the same in the Spiritual World – if you have not the Truth in you, you cannot inherit the Divine riches. Hence, Truth has to be born into you and then you will have riches and you will live an easier life. There is a legend about Moses – when walking to the Sinai Mountain he met a joyous shepherd and asked him: ‘Why are you so happy?’ The shepherd answered: ‘Because today God was my guest and I slaughtered a lamb to offer Him a treat.’ ‘God does not eat lamb, it was your mind that fell prey to delusion,’ disagreed Moses and left. But sorrow overcame the shepherd, and he became downhearted. When Moses reached the Mountain of Sinai, he noticed that God was angry at him for making a great mistake and returned to the shepherd with the words that God will be his guest and will eat from his lamb. Moses said to the shepherd what God had told him and found a hiding place to see what would happen. At one time, he saw that the shepherd was sleeping peacefully and from Heaven fire fell and burnt the lamb. The shepherd got up and said: ‘I am full of joy, because God came down and ate the lamb.’ And when Truth falls into you, the fire of Truth - Love, will make a sacrifice that is pleasing to God. This is the real world of Truth; for some it is unreal, but there are many (they are neither one or two, nor ten, they are thousands in this world) who know this Truth, and its seeds have to be planted for a long time ahead. You see how beautiful these flowers in front of you are – yellow, red, blue – and you pick these flowers, but are you aware of their meaning? You say: ‘This flower smells very good’, but do you know what this smell means? It shows the deep sorrow of this flower; and this sorrow generates the nectar, intended for your life. There are people, who, when surrounded by their wealth, say: ‘There is no God’, but the moment they lose their wealth or their health, or their social standing; the moment God limits them, they start to smell: ‘There is God.’ Wealth was about to kill their minds, and the moment God takes their wealth away, they start to adopt the correct outlook. What you can see on the Earth is something transitory, it is not real: you see young beautiful girls, but some time passes and their faces become wrinkled; and at some point they become old ladies; and I ask, where did those young girls go, the ones we used to admire so much? The same is with young men – where did their strong build go? You still do not know your own selves; when you study the law of Truth, it will give you power over the matter to understand its inner patterns and to perfect your Life. This is the law of motion, according to which man constantly transforms to pass from the transitory to the eternal; to comprehend the unchangeable nature of the Truth. People say: ‘Christ was born and preaches the Truth” – let us see what this Truth is. Christ wants to introduce a lively spirit into your mind, to give you an impetus to one thought, to let you connect to the Divine World – you are all eternally connected with God. In the world you have friends and if these friends sometimes seem heartless, it is for a reason and the reason is that of your deeds, which are prompted by ignorance. Paul says: ‘God looked down upon men’s ignorance and let men go their own ways, but now He is calling them to abide by the law.’ What has the mother to do, who is called, too, to abide by the law? First of all, she has to give birth to good and intelligent children – this is her task. Some women complain, saying: ‘Why am I a woman?’ – And who should have taken their place, I ask. The man is intended to prepare this material of thought, will, character; to pass it; and the woman is intended to give birth. People look for amenities in this world, but they have to understand that essential law, which is valid for the music, too – the law of the minor and major scales. God has placed some in a minor key; has put them in flat – in the grief, in the sorrow, in the deepness of emotions; while others He has placed in the major key; has put them in sharp, in the shallow waters of Life, as they have no depth of emotions. What can one see in a dance or a march? Dancing, marching, and… exhaustion. With the sad song you will not move about, you will stay peaceful and contemplate; with the minor tone God had created you to think of the other world; with the major – of this world. Sometimes, you want to assume another role: ‘But can religious people play? ‘Yes, they can, but what kind of game? David, when carrying the coffin, was jumping and his wife said: ‘Look, why are you fidgeting before the entire people of Israel!’ ‘Why should I not jump before God? He objected. God has not limited us, He gave us the glorious Freedom to do Good and evil, but the Good can, in certain aspects, be evil, too. You may say: ‘How can that be possible? Look at a man and woman, they live together very well; and when Christ, on His behalf, says: ‘Give away your wealth’; the man in his desire to follow the teaching of the Savior wants to give away his possessions, but the wife says: ‘You must have gone mad; you want your wife and children to be made miserable, don’t you?’ – ‘But I want to follow the law of God.’ – ‘And I do not want this law.’ You have no right to give away the property that belongs to your wife and children, because it is theirs; if you have one hundred thousand leva, divide them equally and fairly between yourself, your wife and children; and only the share that falls to you is the one you can give away; you have no right to do something in the name of God at your family’s expense – this is Christ’s law. – ‘But I am right’ - No, you are not, who gave you this right? Your wife, where did you take her from? Not from your legs, it’s from your ribs that God created her to be your friend and you have no right to torment her. That, of course, suits the women and they say: ‘That’s right! That’s right!’ Never approach the issues solely from your point of view, but from the reciprocal point of view. In the universal Life there are plenty of possibilities: in this life you are a man, but in another life you can be created a woman and vice versa. If, in this life, you write: ‘I give no freedom to the woman’, in your second life, when you will be created a woman, you will feel the sweetness of this provision of the law. ‘It is not’, you will then say, ‘a good law,’ although it was you who wrote it beforehand. Men, set good laws, because the second time, as women, you will come under their rule. Of course, it is not only the man who writes laws, the woman also writes laws and set restrictions to other women. Many women have written bad laws into their daughters and sons – to hate their father: ‘Your father is a scoundrel, vagabond.’ Do not write such laws, because your Father is only one; and this man or this woman, they are a tool of the Divine Spirit wishing to become clothed in a form or idea; and when you are complaining, you are grumbling against God. You should not change the fundamental traits of the idea incarnate in form. Within the shadows you can introduce some changes, make them brighter or darker; but the foremost, the one which embodies the Divine Idea, has to remain unchanged. April 24, 1916 (May 7, 1916, Sofia - Old Style) ___________________________________________________ 1 John 18:37 2 lev – Bulgarian National Currency, pl. leva 3 Varna – a city in Bulgaria, on the Black Sea coast 4 Gagauz –in Bulgaria: an ethnic group, Orthodox Christians, speaking a language related to the Turkish language 5 The Master refers to the period of the Ottoman dominance over the Bulgarian people (1396-1878) and the struggle of the Bulgarian people for Freedom. Source

From The Truth The Truth "And the truth shall make you free." (John 8:32) Pilate asked Christ a question: "What is truth?" Here is a deep philosophical question. It is easy to ask, but difficult to answer. The truth in itself is something concrete, real, unalterable - everlasting light, everlasting wisdom, everlasting love, everlasting righteousness, everlasting life. But this very definition requires us to more concretely establish what sort of a thing the truth is. I will dwell on the thought: it is the truth which gives freedom. Freedom is an aspiration of the human mind, heart, soul and spirit; freedom - this is life; and the purpose of life is for us to search for the truth, and to search for it but not in the way Tolstoy describes in his book: "My conversion". He speaks there about a dream of his which clearly characterizes the state of his soul before his conversion. "I find myself", Tolstoy says - I am relating his story concisely - “lying in a bed in my dream, it is neither very comfortable, nor do I take pleasure in it; I move about to see what [the nature of] this bed is, what it is made of - of iron or of wood; I notice at some point that the bed-slats near my head and my feet begin to fall one by one; finally only one slat is left below my waist. At this time a voice calls out: "Do not move any more, neither with the head, nor with the feet - keep balance!" And I see down beneath me a large column and a bottomless pit". Often, there are philosophers who lie upon their backs and investigate the Divine world [in this way], but only one slat is left under their waist and so the Lord says to them: "Keep balance!" And you, as soon as you utter "Balance [Equilibrium]!", the catastrophe is avoided. When you investigate the truth, you should stand on your feet and not lie upon your back; only the dead lie like this. I take the word dead metaphorically - a narrow-minded [limited] man, who does not think. You should be turned towards the East, so that when Christ comes into view, you may receive Him. Many act as Tolstoy did, but Christ tells them: "Balance [Equilibrium]!" "The truth shall make you free". The truth is real, it is actual, immediate life itself. Do not think that it is something imaginary. The truth is a world which has its beauty, its hues, tones, music - a world which has existed and which will always exist. Christ says: "Whoever understands this world, these laws and forces, shall be free". And also: "For this was I born - to bear witness unto the Truth" (Jn 17:37). And then Pilate asked him: "What is truth?" Contemporary people have rather strange conceptions of the Lord. The Lord - this is the Truth. When some day you feel joyful and glad and start to sing, behold, the truth - the living Lord - is within you. You think something in goodness, you accomplish a good deed - the Lord is within you. The truth - it is motion, instigation. And when Christ says: "I am the Way", He implies that man must have motion, and should not stay in a single place like some tied-up animal. In this world [all] things are strictly mathematically defined, there is nothing unforeseen, nothing accidental; your life, your sufferings, your sorrows and torments - all this has been foreseen. They are plus (+) and minus (-). The four arithmetic operations are included in the truth: addition and subtraction, multiplication and division. Whoever has much, adds; whoever has little, also adds; only the addition here is different. You have two thousand levs, but with a minus or a plus – to be able to give or to take away. This will determine the relation. If you say: "I have two thousand years" and put a minus, I infer that in the past you have lived two thousand years of a dissolute [immoral] life. If you say: "Two thousand years plus", I infer that you have lived an excellent life, and, therefore, you are indeed rich. Christ says: "The truth shall make you free". The truth is a necessity for the man and for the woman: the whole social system rests upon it. Everyone strives for freedom and is entitled to live freely; but this freedom will be given to one insofar as he one is able to make use of the gifts of the Truth. The sufferings of a nation are [just as] needed for the latter as they are for the separate individual. The torments and torturings are our inventions. Your husband receives a salary, say, 5 levs, which are barely enough to carry you through the month: "But Easter, you say, is coming; there is not enough for an Easter cake [1] - the sugar and the eggs are expensive, there is not enough for shoes, for a hat 50-70 levs are necessary, why shouldn't we have 150-200 levs?" For there to be peace, leave the Easter cakes for next year -there is not only one Easter in this world. "No, now!" But the Lord has granted only 50 levs, be content with what is there already, do not spoil the Easter. The wife [2] in this respect should give freedom to her husband [2], and the husband - to the wife. Down with the Easter cakes! This is what freedom is, and also the truth. And this is why the Scriptures say: "Be grateful for everything". Do not think that the Lord has not given you wealth; He has given it, you are all rich, but you have to search for it. In comprehending the Divine precepts [3] we should have internal freedom, we should not be mannered [4]. The truth is independent of both your conceptions and mine; whether you will think in one way or another, whether you will draw near or drift away from it, you will not change its relations, it will always exist, as it is, in this world which has been created very wisely. The light {videlinata}, which we have, originates from the light {svetlinata} of the Truth. Love comes from above, from the Truth, and, when it conquers the world, it will make you free. Love always has an aspiration for the Truth. Beauty is also an expression of Truth: what beauty is in relation to man, Truth is in relation to the Divine world; it is one face of this world which is a world of harmony, of beauty. And when you say: "Why are we miserable", the Truth replies to you: "Because you are ignorant, because you transgress the Law". I know, once upon a time in Varna the Gagauz [5] women would fall in love with the Bulgarian men and wanted to marry them; the Greeks were allegedly drunkards, while the Bulgarians supposedly resembled good and gentle little donkeys. But this is not an understanding of the Truth. Truth is a science to learn what the mutual intelligent relationships between people should be. Until man brings his mind, his heart, to equilibrium, to an accord with the Truth, he cannot be free. Only in this way will he be able to unite with the Divine world. Many ask: "Is it not possible without sufferings?" It is possible. "And without sorrows and torments?" It is possible, of course! But the sufferings are necessary for the evolution of man. Man wants to study the world, which is why he inevitably suffers. And the Earth is a place of sufferings. "But", he says, "how could I know?" Why, before descending, did you not ask the intelligent beings above? Once a little Angel, who listened to much being spoken of men, said to a big Angel: "I would very much like to see these people; do take me to the Earth to see them". He took the little Angel to the Earth. The little Angel then said: "I asked you to take me to the humans, but you took me to Hell". - "But Hell - this is the people", answered the big Angel. And in truth, hell - this is us. Under the word hell is understood here boiling, bubbling from below, flying at each other's throat, brothers fighting one another - why one took more from their father's inheritance, while the other took less. "Equality is required". He is bigger [6] - let him take more. We on the Earth have exactly those relations which God has established and to which His laws bear witness, and, when we apply them according to the Truth, their result will be freedom. And whoever wishes to study the Truth, has to study the quality of freedom. If you ask me what music is in its essence, I cannot give you a definition; but what music gives birth to by itself - this I can define. It is harmony, a relationship between tones. Sit in front of a piano or any other musical instrument, play and you will see what music is. But for the manifestation of music three things are necessary: firstly, an idea in your mind of some song; secondly, an instrument, and thirdly, an artist. Consequently, what is needed is a certain musical ability inside your mind, a sensitive ear, and then an artist to perform. And if you ask me what a teacher is, I can tell you what a teacher produces. He gives knowledge. If you learn what knowledge is, you will be close to the teacher. You ask what virtue is; it is better to ask what virtue gives birth to. Before you embark on studying the essence of things, study their results. By what is freedom distinguished? By this, that it gives broad scope for action. In necessity there is only one way - you are harnessed. Your bridle may be made of gold, it may be quite nice, but you must only walk in one direction - forward; if you stop, the whip will land on your back. In freedom, conversely, you have a choice. You have the choice to climb a mountain peak, to climb from any side, but when you roll downwards, you are already going in only one direction. "But why does man think like this?" He is free to think. "But he is ungodly". This is a temporary delusion. "He is mean". The consciousness for goodness had not developed in him. "He errs". His will is not regularized. "Such-and-such gave birth illegitimately". Set the relations between the sexes in order. I consider people free. Those who are not free are the fainthearted, and it is precisely they who commit crimes; they do not have the heroism to take responsibility. Which people are strong in the world? Those who are free and are able to endure predicaments and sufferings, bespatterings, dishonorings - these things are trials and, whoever endures them, performs [an act of] heroism. The sufferings are given as a test to find out who is a hero and who a coward. Whoever does not wish to suffer, whoever wishes others to do the work [7] for him, is considered to be in the catalogue of the cowards. If you suffer - you are a hero. Tell me now, who do the Bulgarian people revere - those cowards, who during the time of the Ottoman Empire would betray the people, or those [men], who suffered for this people? And how much more exalted will those be who suffer for the Truth! The principle is the same. This is why the science of Truth is a science of the public, of the social life. The truth always makes people free. Those who die for others make people free. If [st.] Stephen had not died, [st.] Paul would not have been born. When Stephen died, his spirit entered into Paul and then both began to work together for the Lord. Stephen taught Paul how to suffer, how to endure three times 39 rods. Paul is renowned for this endurance. And do you know why there were 39 rods? 3 + 9 = 12: the number 12 is the law of rounding the evolution of all the days of a man's life. And whoever is beaten thus on Earth, will not be beaten any more in the other life. If you ask why they scourged Christ, He will answer you: "I suffered, so that you may be free". When here on Earth someone strikes you, one thread, which keeps you attached to your ill fate, breaks. This is why Christ says: "If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also". Only one who is strong is able to beat, and when he beats, it is a blessing. What do the peasants do? When they wish the field to bear more fruit, they send sheep to trample on it; they know this law with respect to the fields, but with respect to themselves, they do not know it. So, finally, let the sheep of the world trample on you a bit. Christ says: "For this was I born". [Jn 18:37] Birth is understood here not externally, but internally - in every mind and in every heart, so that this Truth may bear witness. When the Truth starts to be born in you, you will begin to feel freedom. A woman, when she marries, wishes to have children because she is permeated by the Truth that only in this way can she observe the law - to inherit a property. And in the spiritual world it is the same - if you do not have the Truth, you cannot inherit the Divine riches. Therefore, the Truth must be born in you. Then you will have wealth and you will pass through your life more easily. There is a legend about Moses: when he was going to Mount Sinai, he saw a joyful shepherd and asked him: "Why are you so cheerful?" The shepherd replied to him: "Because the Lord will be my guest today, I have slaughtered a lamb to give a treat to the Lord". - "The Lord does not eat lambs; this is a confusion of your mind" objected Moses and left. However, the shepherd began to feel sad; he was deadened in spirit. When Moses reached Mount Sinai, he noticed that the Lord was displeased with him because he had made a big mistake, and so, he went back to the shepherd to tell him that the Lord will visit him and will eat from his lamb. When he had told the shepherd what the Lord had instructed him, he secretly began to keep a close watch on what would happen. At one moment he saw that the shepherd quietly went to sleep, while fire descended from the sky and burnt the lamb. The shepherd got up and said: "How glad I am that the Lord descended and ate the lamb!" And when the Truth descends in you, its fire, Love, will make a sacrifice pleasing to God. This is the real world of the Truth. For some it is unreal. But there are many, not one or two, nor ten, but thousands all over the whole world, who know this Truth. It must be planted for a long time yet. You see how beautiful these flowers are in front of you - yellow, red, blue - and you pick them, but have you understood their meaning? You say: "This flower has a very pleasant scent." What does this scent mean? It shows the profound sorrow of the flower. From its affliction is formed the nectar intended for your life. There are people who in the midst of their wealth say: "There is no Lord", but once they lose their wealth or their health or their social status, the Lord fastens them - they begin to give off a scent: "There is a Lord". The wealth would destroy their mind and, when the Lord takes it away from them, they begin to look at things correctly. What you observe on the Earth is something transient, it is not real. Young, beautiful girls, when some time passes, their faces become lined with wrinkles, and in a short time they become old grandmothers; I ask, where did those young girls go, which we had admired so much earlier? Likewise the lads: where is their handsomeness? You do not know yourselves yet; when you learn the law of Truth, it will give you power over matter, to understand its internal combinations and to perfect your life. This is the law of movement - man must constantly alter and must pass from the transient to the eternal, in order to understand the unalterable nature of the Truth. People say: "Christ was born and he preaches the Truth". Let us see what this Truth is. Christ wishes to introduce vigor into your mind, [He wishes] to give you instigation for a particular thought, for you to enter into communion with the Divine world. You are all eternally connected with God. You have friends in the world, and, if these friends occasionally show themselves to be insensitive, it is because of your relations, due to ignorance. [st.] Paul says: "God despised man's ignorance and left people to follow their ways, but now he calls them for the Law to be fulfilled". What should the mother do, who is also called to fulfill the Law? First of all she should give birth to good and clever children - this is her task. Some women complain and say: "Why am I a woman?" Who, then, should have been in their place, I ask. The man [male] must prepare this material of thought, will, character, to impart [it], while the woman should give birth. People seek comforts in the world, but they have to understand that essential law, which exists in music as well - about the major and minor scales. The Lord has set some [people] in a minor key, He has put them in flats - in grief, in sorrow, in the depths of feeling; others he has set in a major key, he has put them in sharps, in the shallowness of life, because they do not have depth of feeling. What can one see in a dance or a march? Dancing, marching and ... exhaustion. In the sad song you will not move, you will keep quiet and will reason. In the minor tone the Lord has created you to think about the other world, while in the major tone - about this world. Occasionally you wish to take someone else's role; but can religious people dance? They can dance, but what kind of dance? David, while he was carrying the ark, leaped and danced, while his wife said: "Look, why are you wiggling before the whole people of Israel!" (1 Chron 15; 2 Sam 6:15) - "Why should I not leap before the Lord?" he objected to her. The Lord has not restricted us, He has given us great freedom to do good and evil; but good in certain respects may be evil. But, you will say, how can this be? Here [is how]. A husband and wife live very well. Christ for His part says: "Give away your possessions" (Mat 19:21), the husband, in his desire to fulfill the teaching of the Savior, wants to give away his possessions, but his wife tells him: "You have gone mad, do you want your wife and children to be miserable?" - "But I want to fulfill the law of God", - "And I, however, do not want this law. You have no right to give away the possessions of your wife and your children, they belong to them. You have 100 thousand levs, divide them duly, equally between you, your wife and your children, and only the share which is apportioned to you, only that you have the right to give away. You do not have the right to commemorate the Lord with their money [8]. This is the law of Christ". - "But I have the right". "You do not have the right. Who gave you this right? Where did you take your wife from? Not from your legs, but from your ribs the Lord made her your companion, and you have no right to torment her". This, of course, is now convenient for the women, and they say to themselves: "Just so, just so!" Never observe the issues from your viewpoint, but from a mutual point of view. In the universal life there are many possibilities; in the present life you are a man, but in another they may make you a woman or vice versa. If in this life you write "I do not allow any freedom to the woman", in the second life, when they make you a woman, you will experience the sweetness of this provision of the law. "This law, you will say then, is not good". - But it is you who wrote it earlier. Men [males], set good laws, because the second time, as women, you will be under their supremacy. Of course, the man [male] is not the only one who writes laws, but the woman writes them as well, and they themselves create restrictions for each other. Many women have written bad laws for their daughters and sons, to hate their fathers - "your father is a good-for-nothing, a vagabond". Do not write such laws, because your Father is only one; this man or this woman have become an instrument for the Divine Spirit to clothe a certain idea in a certain form, and, when you complain, you repine against the Lord. You should not alter the main outlines of the form-embodied idea. In the shadows you may change something, making them lighter or darker, but the main-substance, which gives countenance to the Divine idea, must remain. 24 April 1916 --==[][][]==-- _____________________________ Notes: [1] kozunak is a traditional Bulgarian bun, which is also made for Easter. The equivalent in the US and other English speaking countries is the hot cross bun. [2] In Bulgarian, there is a single word for "husband", "male" and "man", and similarly for "wife", "female" and "woman" [3] or: orders, regulations [4] or artificial, even snobbish [5] The Gagauz are Christians (Orthodox or Catholic) who speak a language belonging to the group of Turkish languages. There are different opinions about their origin. The Gagauz lived until the 19th century in the European territories of the Ottoman Empire. [6] or "older"; In Bulgarian the adjective describing a brother/sister as 'older' also means 'bigger' [7] This is a colloquialism, which literally means: others to do the housework or chores for someone, without that someone putting any effort themselves [8] This sentence is built around a Bulgarian proverb, which can be literally translated as: 'To commemorate the departed using someone else's damper/loaf', which means: to do something at someone else's expense.

The Book - The Spirit and The Flesh. Beinsa Douno Translation from Bulgarian - Vessela Nestorova THE TRUTH The truth shall make you free29. Pilate put a question to Christ, "What is Truth?" This is a profound philosophical question. It is easy to ask this question, but difficult to answer it. The Truth in itself is something concrete, real, unchanging. It is eternal Light, eternal Wisdom, eternal Love, eternal Righteousness, and eternal Life. However, this definition requires a more concrete determination of what Truth is. I shall stop on the thought, "The Truth gives freedom." Freedom is an aspiration of the human mind, heart, soul, spirit; freedom is life and life is destined to our seeking the Truth and to seek it not as Tolstoy speaks in his book, My Conversion. There he speaks of one of his dreams, which clearly describes his psychic state before his conversion. I shall tell you briefly his story. "In my dream I find myself," says Tolstoy, "lying in a bed, but I feel neither comfortable, nor in a pleasant state; I start moving to find out what kind of a bed it is, what it is made of— iron or wood. At once I noticed that the bars of my bed started to fall one by one, starting at my head-side until only one bar remained just below my waist. At this moment I heard a voice crying, "Do not move either your head or your feet anymore! Keep balance!" I saw below me a large post and a bottomless chasm." I say, there are such philosophers who are lying on their back, investigating the Divine World, but only one bar remains under their waist and God says to them, "Keep the balance!" So as soon as you pronounce the word balance, the catastrophe is avoided. When you investigate the Truth, you should stand up straight on your feet, not lie on your back. I take the word dead in a figurative sense—a limited person who does not think. You must be turned to the East so when Christ appears, you should meet Him. Many act as Tolstoy did, but Christ says to them, "Balance!" "The Truth shall make you free." The Truth is real, it is real life. Do not think the Truth is something imaginary. No. It is a world which has its beauty, its colors, tones, music—a world which has always existed and will always exist. Christ says, "Those who understand this world, these Laws and forces, will be free." In another place He says, "To this end was I born and for this cause came I into the world, that I would bear witness unto the truth." Then Pilate asked Him, "What is Truth?" People today have strange ideas of God. God is the Truth. When you feel joyful and happy and start singing, the Truth— the living God—is in you. Think well, do a good deed—God is in you. The Truth is movement, impulse. And when Christ says, "I am the Way," He means a person must move and not stay in one place like a tied animal. In this world all things are strictly mathematically determined; there is nothing unforeseen, accidental. Your life, your sufferings, tortures and anguish—all is foreseen. These things are plus and minus. Within the Truth enter the four rules of arithmetic: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Those who have much—they add, those who have little—they also add, but the addition in both cases is different. For instance, you have two thousand leva but with a minus or a plus—that is, you either have to give or to take. If you say, "I have two thousand years" and put a minus; this means that in the past you have lived two thousand years of vicious life. If you say "Two thousand years plus"—that means you have lived two thousand years of excellent life; therefore, you are truly a rich person. Christ says, "The Truth shall make you free." Freedom is a necessity for the man as well as for the woman. The whole social structure rests on the Truth. Everyone is striving for freedom. Actually, everyone has the right to live in freedom, but this freedom will be given to us to the extent that we can benefit by the blessings of the Truth. Sufferings are necessary for every nation, as well as for each individual. Torment and torture are human contrivances. Let us say a man gets a monthly salary of 50 leva which is barely enough for a month. The wife says, "Easter is coming! There is no money for Easter bread, the sugar and eggs are expensive; there is no money for shoes and a hat. Only a hat costs 50—70 leva. Why don't we have now 150—200 leva?" I say, in order that there may be peace, leave the Easter bread for next year. Easter is not only once in a lifetime! "No, now or never!" If God has allowed you only 50 leva, be satisfied with what you have and do not spoil your Easter! In this case the wife must give freedom to the husband and he—to his wife. Down with the Easter bread! This is freedom! This is the Truth! That is why the Scriptures say, "Be thankful for everything!" Do not think that God has not given you riches. You are all rich, but you must discover this wealth. In the perception of the Divine orders, you must have inner freedom and not be biased. The Truth is independent of your and my conceptions: whether you think one way or another, whether you approach it or draw away from it, will not change its relations. In this world, which is wisely created, the Truth always exists such as it is. The illumination one has proceeds from the Light of the Truth. Love comes from above—from the Truth. And when the Truth conquers the world, it will make you free. Love always aspires for the Truth—what beauty is in relation to a person such is Truth in relation to the Divine World. It is the one face of this world which is a world of harmony and beauty. And when you ask why you are unhappy, the Truth answers, "You are unhappy because you are ignorant, because you violate God's Law." In Varna in the past days Gagaouz women would fall in love with Bulgarian men and would marry them. They thought the Greeks were drunkards while Bulgarian men were as gentle and nice as little donkeys. No, this is not a conception of the Truth. The Truth is a science of the mutual, sensible relations of people. Before a person has achieved balance in their mind, their heart and their will in accord with the Truth, they cannot be free. As soon as they attain this, they will make contact with the Divine World. Many ask, "Can we live without suffering?" You can. "Without torment and torture?" You can; why not? But sufferings are necessary for the evolution of humankind. A person wants to learn about the world; that is why they must suffer by all means. The Earth is a place of suffering. You say, "How should we know?" Why did you not ask the rational beings what the Earth is like before coming down? One time a little angel who had heard much about people said to a bid angel, "I want to see the people very much. Why don't you take me to the Earth so I can see them?" The angel brought him to the Earth. Then the little angel said, "I wanted you to take me to the people, but you took me to hell." "Hell—that is people on this earth," answered the big angel. Indeed, hell—that is us. By the word hell, people in our country understand something boiling from underneath, bubbling up, people taking each other by the throat, brother fighting with brother because one has taken a larger part of the inheritance, and so on. Today everybody says, "Equality is necessary!" I ask you, what is wrong in taking a larger part? One of the brothers is older, let him take more. Thus, people on the Earth have just such relations as God has ordered and of which His Laws witness. If you apply them according to the Truth, their result will be freedom. Those who want to study the Truth must study the quality of freedom. If you ask me what is music in reality, I cannot define it, but I can describe what music gives expression to. The result is harmony—relations between the tones. Sit at a piano, or play any other instrument, and you will see what music is. Three things are necessary for the expression of music: first, an idea in your mind of a song; second, an instrument and third—an artist. Therefore, a musical ability of the mind is necessary, a sensitive ear and an artist who can play. If you ask me what a teacher is, I can tell you only what a teacher produces. A teacher gives knowledge. When you learn what knowledge is, you will be near the teacher. You ask, "What is Virtue?" Better ask what it gives birth to. Before going into a study of the essence of things, study their results. What is the distinguishing feature of freedom? It gives a large scope to action. In necessity you have only one way; you are harnessed. Your reigns may be golden, but you must go only one way—forward; in case you stop, the whip will lash your back. In freedom it is just the opposite—you have a choice. You have a choice to climb a mountain top from any side, but when you are rolling downwards, you have only one direction. "But why does a person think that way?" They are free to think. "But he is an atheist." This is a temporary delusion. "She is a bad person." Her consciousness for good is not developed in her yet. "He makes mistakes." His will is not regulated yet. "A woman has an unlawful child." Settle the relationships between the sexes. I consider humans free. Only the fearful are not free and it is they who commit crimes, they have not the heroism to assume responsibility. Which people are strong? Those who are free and who can bear hardships, sufferings, getting spitted on, being dishonored. These are trials for people and those who can bear them are considered heroes. Sufferings are given to people to test them—who are heroes and who are cowards. Those who do not want to suffer, but want to be served by others, are enlisted in the catalogue of the cowards. If you suffer, you are a hero. Whom does the Bulgarian nation glorify: the cowards who betrayed the country during Turkish times, or those who suffered for the liberation of this country? How much will those who suffer for the Truth be glorified? The principle is one and the same. That is why the science of the Truth is a science of social life. The Truth always makes people free. Those who die for others make them free. If the martyr Stephen had not died, Paul would not have been born. When Stephen died, his spirit entered Paul. Then both started working together for God. Stephen taught Paul to suffer and to bear three times thirty nine blows with the whip. Paul became famous namely for this patience. Do you know why they lashed Paul thirty nine times? The numbers 3+9 equal 12. The number 12 is the Law of rounding up the evolution of all the days of human life. And whoever undergoes so many blows with a whip on the Earth will not be beaten any more in the next life. If you ask why Christ was beaten, He will answer you "I suffered that you might be made free." When people beat you on the Earth, it shows you that a cord that holds you tight to your evil fate is torn. That is why Christ says, "If they hit you on the one side, give the other one also." Only the strong one can beat and when the strong one beats you, it is a blessing. What do the peasants do? When they want the field to yield more produce, they let the sheep thread on it. They know this Law about the fields, but do not know it about themselves. Let the sheep of the world thread on you a little. Christ says, "For this cause I was born." The birth that Christ speaks about is not an external, but an inner process. It takes place in every heart and mind, in order that this Truth may be witnessed. When the Truth is born in you, you will feel freedom. When a woman marries, she wants to have children, because she is aware of the Truth that this is the only way the Law can be observed—that she may have an inheritance. It is the same in the spiritual world: if you have not the Truth in yourself, you cannot inherit the Divine riches. Therefore, the Truth must be born in you. Then you will have riches and spend your life more easily. A legend tells the story of Moses. When he was going up the Sinai mountain, he saw a shepherd who was very happy, and he asked him, "Why are you so happy?" "I am happy because today the Lord will come down to visit me, so I killed a lamb to give Him a feast." "The Lord does not eat lambs, you are deceiving your mind!" answered Moses and went away. However, the shepherd was saddened and lost his joy. When Moses reached the Sinai Mountain, he noticed that God is displeased with him for having made such a big mistake. He returned to the shepherd to tell him that God would visit him and eat of his lamb. After telling this the shepherd, he hid in a nearby bush to see what would happen. At one time he noticed that the shepherd fell asleep and fire came from heaven burning up the lamb. When the shepherd woke up, he said, "I am very happy that the Lord came down and ate up the lamb!" So, when the Truth enters us, its fire—Love—will make a sacrifice pleasing to God. This is the real world of the Truth. For some people it is not real, but a great number of people—thousands on this earth know this world—the world of Truth. I say, much time will pass before the Truth is planted and understood by all. See how beautiful the flowers are! They are yellow, red, and blue. You pick them, but have you understood their meaning? You say, "This flower smells very sweetly," but what does this fragrance mean? It shows the great sorrow of the flower. Out of its grief is formed a nectar necessary for your life. There are people who, in the midst of their wealth, say, "There is no God!" As soon as they lose their wealth, health, or social position, and God takes them in hand, they begin to emit fragrance, "There is a God." The wealth would have stunted their mind if God had not taken it away from them. Thanks to that, they began to take a right view of things. What takes place on the Earth is something transitory, not a reality. You see beautiful, little girls, but as soon as they come of age, their faces begin to wrinkle and in time they become old women. I ask: where are those little girls gone whom you admired so much at one time? The same thing happens to the boys. You do not know yourselves yet. When you learn the Law of the Truth, it will give you power over matter that you may understand its inner combinations and perfect your life. This is the Law of motion—that a person should constantly undergo a change and pass from the temporary to the eternal, in order to understand the unchanging essence of the Truth. People say that Christ was born to preach the Truth. What is this Truth? Christ wants to invigorate your mind and give you an impulse for right thinking that you may make contact with the Divine World. You are eternally bound to God. In the world you have many friends; however, if at times these friends are insensitive to you, it is due to your relations which spring from ignorance. Paul says, "God despises human ignorance and has let people follow their way, but now He is calling them that the Law may be fulfilled." What should a mother who is called upon to fulfill the same Law do? First of all, she should bear good and sensible children. This is her first task. Some women complain of their state and say, "Why are we women?" I ask—who should have been in their place? The man should prepare material for thought, will and character. He should pass all this on, but the woman should give birth. People today are looking for comforts in the world, but they must understand that essential Law, also expressed in the music—in the minor and major scales. God has placed some people in the minor scale, in the flats—sorrow, grief, depth of the feelings; He has placed others in the major scale, in the sharps, on the surface of life, since they have no depth of feelings. In a dance, or a march, what can one see? Dancing, marching and finally—fatigue. In a sad song you cannot move—there you will keep still and reason. God has placed you under a minor tone that you may think of the other world, while in a major tone you will think of this world. At times you want to play another's part and say, "Can religious people dance?" They can, but what kind of dance? When David was carrying the tabernacle, he was jumping and dancing but his wife rebuked him saying, "Look how you are contorting your body in the presence of the whole nation of Israel!" "Why should I not hop before the Lord?" he objected. God does not limit us, He gives us great freedom to do good and evil, but in certain cases good may be evil. You will say, "How can this be?" Here is an example. A man and wife are leading a good life. Christ says, "Give away your goods." In his desire to fulfill the teaching of the Savior, the man wants to give his property away, but his wife says, "Are you crazy? You want to make your wife and children unhappy?" "No, I want to fulfill God's Law." "But I do not need this Law." I say to the man, "You have no right to give away the property of your wife and children, for it is theirs! If you have 100,000 leva divide them as a brother among your wife, children and yourself equally, and you have right to give away your share. You have no right to serve God with another person's money. This is Christ's Law. "But I have the right to do this." "You have not! Who gave you this right? Where did you take this woman from? God did not make woman your mate out of your feet, but out of your rib and you have no right to torture her!" Now this appeals to the women and they say, "That's right, let the men know this!" No. You should never consider a question from your own point of view. In the universal life there are many possibilities: in this life you are a man, but in another life they may make you a woman. And the opposite is true. If in this life you write, "I give no freedom to woman!" in the other life when you are made a woman, you will taste the benefits of this provision of the Law. Then you will say, "This is not a good Law," but it was you who wrote it in the past. Men, make good Laws, because when you come a second time on earth as women, you will be placed under their power of course, not only men, but women also write Laws and as a result they create limitations of each other. Many women have written bad Laws in their sons and daughters; for instance they have written that they should hate their father. They say, "Your father is a good-for-nothing, a vagabond." Do not write such Laws, because one is your Father. This man or this woman whom you call father and mother have become an instrument of the Divine Spirit in order that an idea should be clothed in form. And when you complain of your state, you murmur against God. You must not change the basic features of the incarnated idea in a form. You can make some changes in the shades—to make them lighter or darker—but the main substance, which personifies the Divine idea, must be preserved. Sermon held on April 24, 1916, in Sofia. _________________ 29. John 8:32

The Book - The Salt. Beinsa Douno Birth "For there has been born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."1 "Has been born" is the most promising word in the life on earth. What does this word contain? Birth contains the sublime, the dynamic and powerful impulse, urging all humanity to perfection. People often ask, "How can one enter the kingdom of God? How can we be freed from the limitations of the laws of nature, and can we master them?" I answer, "When you are born." I am speaking of the word birth, not of reincarnation. People have been reincarnated thousands and millions of times. They first started their life as microbes, enlarging and reforming until finally they were born as people in the full sense of the word. Reincarnation is a process, while birth is a completed cycle of this process. When it says in the Scriptures, "Today has been born," we should understand that he, who was conceived millions of years ago, was finally born. Who was born? Christ the Lord was born. The word birth contains a great idea, which God has deposited in the Spirit. And when each one of you realizes that you have been born, you will be saved and then comprehend the meaning of life. For many years you have not yet been born. You are in the process of reincarnation and in this process you must be born someday. Then, the angels will say about you, "In the city of David has been born." Christ must be born in every heart and in every soul. People say, "He was born in Jerusalem,"2 and make pilgrimages there to worship Him, yet they do not understand the sense of this birth and they do not aspire to live like Christ. He was born among the Jews who were the chosen nation, but they also did not understand the deep meaning of His birth and what He was bringing to all humanity - the Love of God. Every birth is accompanied by suffering; therefore, in order for Christ to be born in the human soul; by all means, this suffering should be experienced. It is the same with a mother giving birth to her child - she must experience certain sufferings and take all the necessary care of the child. According to the same law every nation or the whole humanity in which Christ must be born, must make provisions and prepare the conditions in which this child is to be born and grow up. This idea may, perhaps, be somewhat dim, but this should not worry you: it depends on how near or far and in what light you consider things. Every person understands things according to the degree of Light they have. When the Angels proclaim "this day a Savior has been born" they mean the Joy He brings to humanity - Peace, the highest manifestation of God. The Lord manifests Himself as Peace which is the Law of Harmony, of the Unity of the Mind, of the Sublime Character, of Love, of Wisdom, of Truth, of Goodness and Righteousness - that is what Peace means. Only those who brings Peace can be born. You can not be born until you understand these deep Truths, until you achieve Peace in yourselves. Now let me consider psychologically the word birth. This word has a relation to mysticism. A Christian who wants to become a mystic and studies the Divine Nature in order to deserve the name "human" must understand well the word birth. You have read in Genesis that "God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul." At that time, the process of breathing took place, while at the present time the process of birth is to take place. I would have explained the word breathed to you, but my explanation would have been incomprehensible, for in this word there is something unexplainable for people today. However, a day will come when you will understand it. Now I will consider the opposite which the Law of Birth requires, as it is a Law of Internal Development. By this Law, God is manifest fully in your Soul and the Spirit works positively through it. All your aspirations are under the Law of Birth and through it the Supreme Divine Consciousness in a person is manifested and perfected. The ordinary human consciousness is an obscure idea. There are different conceptions of birth. If you are asked what this word means, you would say, "Birth means the conception and birth of a child." We should not perceive birth in regard to the body, but to the human Soul - the conception of that Divine Germ and its birth. So that when we say, "a man has been born", we mean that process of knowledge and wisdom in addition to that of conception and growth. A person cannot say that they were born until they obtain knowledge. Animals, fish and microbes are reincarnated time after time in their effort to complete this cycle of reincarnation. In the Bulgarian language the word rebirth means ‘processing of things’. Chewing the cud or ruminating like the ox is not different from processing. That means that, here on earth, we are merely processing certain experiences acquired during millions of years. Some ask, "Where do we come from?" “From the Big Sea.” You may ask, "How many years have we been there and how has our exit taken place?" After the Sun of Life had been shining on you for thousands of years it raised you up, and by the Law of the Cooling of Bodies, you have come down. Therefore, the Spirit has raised you as the Sun raises the vapors of the sea and has sent you to the earth. Do not think it is a great misfortune for you to be here. On the contrary, this is of great benefit to you. I tell you there is no greater knowledge in the world than to know how to suffer. Suffering is the highest manifestation of Love. They who have not understood the sense of suffering are still animals, microbes that have to be reincarnated many more times. And the contrary is true: those who have understood the sense of suffering have been born and are human. Suffering is the lot of human beings only. Animals do not suffer the way people do - blows are only a massage for them. A dog yelps when being beaten, but as soon as the beating stops, its suffering passes away. The deep sense of life - the so called ‘Cosmic Grief’ - is hidden in suffering; the secret in life is concealed in suffering. If you want to acquire the Divine Wisdom and the Secrets of Nature, I tell you - there is no other way than that of suffering. When a person asks God to be sent to the earth, God asks them, "Do you want to pass through the Law of Suffering? If you do, I shall send you down." If they should answer, "I do not want to," He will say to them: "Stay by Me in the Great Sea because as soon as you leave here, you will be a worker who must labor and suffer on earth.” But what is the earth? It is the Great Woman - your Mother - who bears and raises up human beings. Once having accepted you, She will hold you for millions of years and cultivate you until finally you are ready and She will say, "Here is my child who can now speak to you of things with the Divine Language." I shall make a small digression. In birth lies a great power of motion, it is the most powerful impulse that a person can be given. If you could visit the Sun with the Eye of a clairvoyant, you wouldl understand the magnitude of the energy with which it sends out its rays. You say that a cannon is very powerful because it shoots out a shell at a distance of 120 km. But imagine the power and speed of the light waves emitted by the Sun every second and the distance they pass before stopping at a place! According to the physicians, light travels at 300,000 km/sec. Can you imagine this power? These rays gradually weaken and their brightness decreases since light depends on the rate of velocity. The greater the velocity, the more powerful the light until this wave reaches the final limit; stops and turns into darkness. Do you know what darkness is? It is the opposite process: the discharge of light is from below upwards; while that of darkness which reaches the final limit is movement from above downwards, i.e. from the periphery toward the center. It is the weakest movement. Thus light is down while darkness is above. But you will say, "We know that the dark place is hell." What is hell? Some think that hell is a special place of torture. What is a place of torture? A woman wishing to bear a child passes through torture. The same way the earth has conceived and millions and billions of creatures on it want to bear children. This is hell. Some do not want to be there, wishing to be in heaven and say, "I do not want such a hell." If you do not pass through hell, you cannot become a human being. That is why birth means such a hell. It is not so terrible, however. A person who is born and sins digresses from the law, so a terrible fall awaits them. They will be placed in the cannon of the Sun again, powerfully shot out and will travel through space for millions of years. Where they will stop will depend on the power they were thrown out with by God. If they are discharged with great force and travel for 100 million years, they will need that many years to return. The greater their velocity through space, the slower their movement back to God. But when they draw nearer Him, God will attract them to Himself with greater speed. Therefore, being born means that a person has reached the final limit of which their Soul was thrown in space. There they will stop and start their evolution anew. When they thus end their reincarnations, they will be born. Humanity lost hope by the sin of Adam and Eve. Two children were born to them, but death captured them. There was no one to comfort them and they complained like the rich who have no children: "We have no heirs so all our possessions will go into the hands of strangers." They are discouraged by this. Humanity also found itself in such a state, but God gave it an immortal child to save it - that is Christ. New thoughts are often born to your minds. Once I heard a renowned preacher say, "I have so many ideas that 10 or 20 years will not suffice for their expression." But after no more than 10 sermons he confessed that he had exhausted all his material. When you think you have many ideas, you are under the Law of Reincarnation. Were not the lower creatures created first - bugs, flies, etc.? Your numerous thoughts are of such a small value that if you cannot harness them in some useful work for you, they cannot help you in perfecting your life. However, when that basic Divine Thought comes, it will be alive and one with you, developing as a newborn child. What in Christianity is called the visitation of the Spirit is this Divine Thought which some call subconsciousness; others – consciousness; still others – superconsciousness; the theorists - the awakening of the higher self; the occultists - the emergence of the sublime and so on. When you achieve this state, you will feel peace and constant joy which does not change. Someone may say, "I have this joy," but half an hour has not passed before this "joy" has evaporated. That joy is transitory and inconsistent with the Law. How can a precious stone disappear? You deceive yourself. That is not a joy, but a short-lived fly which dies and you begin to cry. Someone says, "I have peace and I am calm," but on the morrow a trouble comes to them and they start wrinkling the muscles of their eyes. Where has their peace gone? It has not been real peace. Someone says, "I am a Christian and for ten years I have been reading such and such writers: Spencer, the Epistles of St Paul, etc." All these writers speak very well, but what do you say? For when you go to the Lord, He will not ask you what St Paul has said, or what Spencer has done, but what you have done. You will not take the Apostle Paul, nor Spencer to Him; they will go themselves. But whom will you go with? Therefore, this is the basic idea about which we should think today. I know that some of you have wrong conceptions about the Holy Spirit; thinking that the Holy Spirit and the evil spirit are one and the same thing. The good and the evil spirit are diametrically opposed. There is no such law where out of the same source should flow both sweet and bitter water. Bitter water is always bitter and sweet water is always sweet; so the good is always good and evil is always evil. What good and evil are is a profound question and if you think you can learn about them in five, ten or a hundred years, you are deceiving yourself. It is necessary for Christ to teach you at least 1,000 years until you acquire a somewhat right conception of the one and the other. I do not wish to discourage you, but I want to tell you what the Laws which direct our lives are and help you get rid of some of your illusions. Every day and every hour of life has its program. Our progress depends on our completing this basic work of the day. You should not worry, therefore, whether you will develop or not, for I tell you positively that you will develop. Some ask, "Shall we develop?" When you are cast onto the earth, by all means you will develop. "How long would it take?" “A thousand years.” "That is too long." But 1,000 is not a big number, it is a human number. 100 years is much more than 1,000, while 10 years is still more. In this process things are reversed: 1,000 years is the smallest number, 100 years is a greater number. You are perplexed. The number 1,000 has three zeroes showing the three conditions, the three stages though which you will pass. You must form three bodies in 1,000 years - in the last zero you will form your physical body; in the second - you will form your heart; and when you enter the third zero, you will form your mind. When you come to the number 1, you will be born, you will ascend and say to the Lord, "Here we stand before you, Father, now we can work for You." This is birth. A great epoch was marked by the birth of Christ - the appearance of the Son of God. That is why we all should triumph. The temporary sufferings you pass through are the greatest blessing for you. There is nothing better than suffering, for only through suffering will the Lord give you His Blessing. When someone complains to me about their sufferings, I say to them, "Give me of your sufferings, I will give you my Joy," and I add, "now I feel how pleasant life is." They say to themselves, "This man is very good," but I also say to myself, "I thank you because you gave me more than you received since sorrow is more precious to me." The Lord also preferred to leave His Greatness, His glory and descend on earth and suffer. There are reasons for this - the greatest Love which God manifested. When we begin to perceive and comprehend suffering inwardly, we shall come to the true process which Christians call salvation. We cannot be saved if we do not admit that sufferings are a Blessing. Stop and say, "Suffering, I need you that I may be born." If you suffer more, it shows you are nearer to God. When suffering reaches its extreme point, joy is born immediately. A mother feels the greatest suffering when giving birth. At that moment all run away from her, but when the child is born, all rejoice. In order that the child may be born, all must cry - both the woman and the man. Once I was told a story of an incident which had taken place in the village of Nicolaevka about 50 or 60 years ago. The wife of an eminent Turk had a toothache. There was a Bulgarian man in the village who pulled teeth out. The Turk took her to that person to have her tooth pulled out. The house had two stories and the Turkish woman went upstairs while her husband remained downstairs, on guard. At one moment the woman started yelling, and the man downstairs started yelling too. The dentist began to wonder saying, "I am pulling out the woman’s tooth here, why is the man downstairs yelling?" We are bound to one another the same way and when a person’s tooth is being pulled out, we should cry out as well. I am telling you all this, because you are living in an epoch of great sufferings. You should regard suffering as do Mystics and not as do ordinary observers, with indifference. Know that sufferings are the greatest Blessings the Lord is giving us. Some day you will test this. People are killed; there is famine and pestilence; fathers and mothers lose their children; sisters are dishonoured; families get disgraced. You should draw some benefit from all these sufferings and send joy to the sufferers by saying, "Give us of your sorrows." You sit and say. "How good that we are not on the battlefield or starving." But what experience do you have and what will you gain? On the contrary, try to put yourselves in the position of the suffering souls and go and help them; then you will get a blessing. "But how can we help them?" It is the easiest thing to do: if you cannot help people directly, you can help them spiritually. Every person is obliged to take at least half of their friend’s sorrows and to give them their Joy. You say, "Let God bless you." God blesses people through you. But you say, "Let Him find someone else, not me." The electric current passing through an iron rod magnetizes it. If the divine current does not pass through you, how do you expect to be raised? Now you all think your ideas have been destroyed. Many different flies, bugs, fish, birds and mammals have come to birth in you and when you clean yourselves of all of them, you will become wise. When you gradually build up your temple, the Lord will be born in it. You do not benefit in the least by the fact that 2,000 years ago Jesus Christ was born in Jerusalem. You may sing this song for 4,000 years more of no avail. You will be raised only when the Angels enter your Soul and say, "Today a Savior has been born in the house of David." And when Christ comes to birth, there will be Herod, Pilate and the high priest Caiaphas. Now you may say, "This child is dangerous, let us get rid of Him," and give Him to Pilate to have Him crucified - then the child will go to others. Just as Christ left the Jews and went to the gentiles, the same way your child will go to others - to those who will give Him shelter. And you will be a chosen, but forsaken people! And when you are asked why you suffer, you will answer, "Because we delivered our child to Herod and Pilate to be crucified." That is why I say you should stand by your Lord saying: "I shall live with the Lord. If He lives, I too shall live; and if He dies, I too shall die." And just as Christ rose after the sufferings, you will rise the same way and learn the Law of Immortality. There are people who are close to the Resurrection. The Apostles have risen and are working on the earth. You will say, "Why do we not see them?" The Risen can see the Risen, just as a musician can understand a musician; as a doctor can understand another doctor and so on. You must have the ability to understand that this is why you are staying on earth. Christ, therefore, has appeared. He lives and is among you, working within all of you. What people call "resurrection" is birth in reality. What Christians mean by resurrection is the coming out of the tomb. You are all tombs to me: some bigger, others - smaller. I see different inscriptions on your monuments: John lived so many years; Helen - so many years; and someone after dying was buried in the grave of another and so on. How many times this Helen has died bearing her monument with the inscriptions of all her relatives! You are asking, "When shall we rise?" You can rise today, but your tombstones are very heavy. An Angel must come down to remove them. If an Angel had to come down to remove the stone of Christ’s tomb, how much more necessary this is for you! In 33 years Christ underwent a great Transformation which, in the end is called "Resurrection". By the word "resurrection" I mean the struggle and the victory of a child over death. This is the significance of being born - to fight and overcome death. When you conquer death, the day of the resurrection will come. Some say, "When Christ was born and the Angels from above proclaimed peace on earth, why did not people correct their lives?" Because they have not learned the teaching of Christ as they should. Christ will preach in this world again. “You will see Him”, I state this positively. Some of you will not see Him. Why? Naturally, because you are blind. You will cry a long time like that blind man, "Son of David, have mercy on me, touch my eyes with your hand!" When He touches your eyes, He will ask you, "Do you see?" "Lord, I see people as trees." He will touch you again asking, "What do you see now?" "People are moving." What does this mean? It means that your thoughts and desires are static at first like the trees, but when you begin to see, things become alive like people. Then you will understand what Virtue is. Christ has come to show us that we must fight death, conquer it and rise. This is the meaning of birth. Sermon held on Christmas, 1915 _____________________________________________________________________ 1 Luke 2:11 2 As it is Bethlehem that is usually considered the birthplace of Christ, here ‘birth’ refers to His resurrection, (proofreader’s note)

Note 5 Freedom Of Spirit “And where the Spirit Divine is, there is freedom.” Second epistle to the Corinthians 3:17 And so, a condition for Freedom is the Spirit. By the word Freedom, we understand a free Life; we understand the inner sense of things, their relations – the relations of thoughts, desires, and volitional incitements which are displayed in the world. Where there is a living soul, there is movement, which is a result of the will; but this movement can go in a certain direction, and it can go in various directions. In the New Testament it is said: “Where the Spirit Divine is, there is freedom.”, and in another place: “A Divine Son will liberate you.” The Son and the Spirit are one and the same thing; the Son is a display of the Father and Mother; the intelligence of the Son is an expression of the intelligence of the Father and Mother, like the sunlight is an expression of the inner state of the Sun – we recognize the Sun by it. How can we recognize man? By the light of his thoughts, desires, and actions. I am talking about Freedom of Spirit, because in religious people there is a danger: when someone becomes religious, he becomes twice as bad as the worldly people. Sometimes it does not make me happy that people are religious; by the world religious I understand a man connected with something, like the cow or the horse are tied with a rope; connected to the house – it is a religion too, connected with some political party or with some philosophical teaching – it is also a religion – yes, a religious teaching, but what kind? That which connects the Freedom of man or society. If you are connected with a teaching which degrades you, which deprives you from your Freedom, it is an antiquated religion, an old wine-skin, and all who seek that Freedom (the meaning of Life, as this supreme consciousness is called by contemporary philosophers, or citizenship, as political people call it; you can also call it whatever you like), have this rationality within themselves. How would they know if you have the Spirit? If you are judicious people and if, by your thoughts, desires, and actions, you are distinguished with the power of your Freedom, and anywhere you go, you carry that blessing. The word Freedom in contemporary life infers Light. When you are travelling at dusk, you are not as free as you are when you are travelling during the day, because of the simple reason that your path is not clear; and thus all religious people, when they are mistaken, they have something vague in their conceptions. You do not know what the Lord and God is, but the local kings and governors you know – and like they punish you, so does God punish; those results, which we see in the world, are born out of this comprehension. And from that inner slavery we have to liberate ourselves – how would we liberate ourselves? A fundamental change in the structure of our brain has to happen; you have not learned that structure yet. Each morning, you pray and seek the Lord, you shout and say that sometimes He is not listening to you; God listens only to those people, whose ears are open; he does not listen to the deaf and to them he does not speak. You need to have a very delicate ear, clever, to easily understand what God is saying to you; He likes to watch and listen to people who work hard, who do not occupy themselves with nonsense, because He does not occupy himself with stupid things. Track the contemporary religions and you will notice the stage of development they are in; in every religion there are certain fallacies – I will tell you what they are. When we want to understand a certain religion, we often leave a community and enter another. A lad wished to stamp about a bit in the ring dance, and borrowed the boots of someone else; the guy who lent him the boots, however, told him after the dance: “Listen, stamp more lightly, I did not give them to you to stamp hard.” Another one came by and told him: “Because that guy embarrassed you, I will give you my boots”; and when he started dancing, he started shouting at him: “Stamp, my friend, even if you wear them out, I will give you others!” Whether he would say “stamp” or “do not stamp”, it is all the same – that man is no longer free; whether you have stamped a little or a lot, it is irrelevant – once they embarrass you, your freedom is taken away. Furthermore, our mind has to be enlightened on the real Freedom. Christ has given a definition for Freedom: “Do not do unto others that which you do not want them to do unto you” – that rule has to be an inner law of ours. We have to speak and do that which gives Freedom unto others. A couple of days ago a woman came to me and said: “I am amazed at contemporary people: they stand and pray, their prayers are excellent, but once the prayers stop, they start to gossip about each other – one saw something, the other did not see it well, the thing which one of them saw was not from God, but from the devil, “you are lying” - “no, you are lying”; we see that none of them has and gives the others any freedom. I want to have freedom, to serve God; not their God of course.” I told this woman when she finds herself among them again, to tell them what she told me. Since you have no tolerance towards people, you do not give them Freedom, you do not understand the teaching of Christ, and you have a take-off notion of him. Throw those caricatures away from you; do not imagine God in this way. Now, what kind of thing is religion? Both a science of forms and a science of the Divine Love. If you study an outer form, and not its inner content, you will be misled and you will change it in the same way as the lady who changes her costume every day. When she lives for fifty-sixty years, she could make ten - twenty costumes of various colours, add some nice ribbons and buttons, but these clothes are not the lady – form is still not a religion; these forms are really necessary for religion, like costumes are for the body, but they do not compose the body of the lady. If some relative dies, people start saying: “I have to blacken (blacken означава че потъмнява човек, а не дреха!); I should not wear white clothes”; wear the clothes you like – black, white, red, green, blue, motley, of every sort and kind, it is not a sin. However, when you go to someone who is dead, you will not wear white clothes, like when the street is muddy, you will not put on white shoes, but such as the season requires. Worldly people are very smart; in my eyes they stand ten times higher than the overly religious people – through the worldly people God has decided to fix the world. Would-be politicians and socialists – they will fix the world, because they want freedom. But someone would say: “How come, they destroy” – when you are building a new house, do you not destroy the old one? If you do not throw away an ageing point of view of yours, no new thought will spring up in your mind. Some want to give people a science of how to think: only “seven plies up, seven plies down”, a science of “молчать, не рассуждать” (Literally “keep quiet, do not reason” – a Russian idiom, meaning submissive implementation), of that which is written – things outside of that are of the devil. Others say that theirs is from God, and that is from the devil; this means to be a strong „задным умом” (from Russian again – “Background mind”). We have to judge any given teaching by its results: if it can be applied in social life and give good results, then it is good; if it cannot, it is not good. We have to apply the Freedom of Spirit; ask yourselves that question: are you free, do you have that Spirit within yourselves? When the Spirit comes, He will produce Light both in your mind, and your heart – that is the sign. Once you start to restrict the Spirit of man – how he is supposed to think, feel, and act, he will immediately leave you. Just like when the teacher comes in class and wants to present his lesson: if the students are noisy, he just goes out; then of course their parents and guardians will come and beat them up because they would not listen to the teacher. So was Moses a guardian of the Jews – he came to beat them up and ask them: “Do you listen to your teacher?” And now, when you say: “Why has that punishment befallen us”, I answer you: because you have not listened to the Spirit, you should have listened to him. Let us explain the word “Freedom”: if you find a man with his hands and feet tied, and start comforting him: “God is good, he will untie you”, when you can untie him yourself, are you preaching a teaching of Freedom, I ask? No, take out your knife, cut the ropes loose and rescue him. And what do you do? You tie him even tighter so that he cannot escape. People have to be untied; and when Christ says: “Go and preach”, he infers namely that untying. And this Freedom clearly has to be inward. All irritations and misconceptions between people are due to the lack of freedom; if it is a matter of irritation, how much more would God, who has created this world and sees what the world does, be irritated? If God is angering, that is good, but if I am angering, what is the use – it is of no use. But does God anger? God does not anger; in the Old Testament it is indeed mentioned The Wrath of God, but that has to be comprehended in an inward sense. The fact that God does not anger is seen in the phrase of the Christ: “Why are you calling Me kind Master, kind is only the one God” – he who is kind cannot anger. Prophets, have written that God angers, I impugn that – can someone tell me where God Alone has said that he angers? At one place Jeremiah says: “My God, You have fooled me, I was fooled” – how would you agree with that contradiction? That is a fallacy, we should not accept such fallacies about God into our minds; we can acknowledge that it is our comprehension. And the right thing to say is: “Where the Spirit Divine is, there is freedom” – that is what God has actually said. Love can not be awakened without Freedom. As long as man is blind, he cannot be loved; nobody loves he who torments. That which brings destruction cannot bring Freedom. We pray to God and in the prayer, if one of us would make a mistake, the other would push him; this is not Freedom, this is acting – down with those masks; to poke one another when standing before God, that is not a prayer. Man, when praying, needs to forget the surroundings, needs to seclude himself, to enter his secret room – in his soul, nothing outward must bother him. None of you, who are listening to me here, are free: I can see how you are tied to a stake, others – to two, three, ten stakes; and I can prove it to you ten times, even now – not only theoretically, but practically too. Because you are preparing for a world of Freedom (The Kingdom of Christ and The Kingdom Divine is a Kingdom of Freedom), with these old forms, with old wine-skins you cannot enter it, you would barely be able to go near its gates. I am not suing you for being misguided, but I am showing you the way, because you are seeking Freedom. The reason for your slavery is not woman, neither is it man – we know the reason: slavery came when both of them ate from that corrupted apple. If we want to understand Christ, our Spirit needs to be free. In the Jewish language there are two words: the one is “ruha”, which shows the supreme manifestation of God, and the other is “nefesh”, which shows the lower state of the soul. Take a child that is still not developed: it starts crying and making wry faces, and with its crying works its will on the mother; eventually its mother gives him a breast and it says to her: “That is how you should obey me” – and the mother carries out the will of the child. Why was that child sent to you – for you to obey or it? If you are a free Spirit, you have to learn the relations of things. How can we gain that inner Freedom? Often there is a good and bad side both to prayers, and gatherings. When two people gather, they have to be on the same level, so that an exchange of magnetic powers can happen; otherwise arguments arise, because in every man the Spirit of Freedom prevails, and so they do not share a common view of life. That is also why in Christianity there is the process of cleansing before going to God. The first thing is to settle down within yourselves. How does that happen? Before praying along with other people, pray alone, because when you go among the people, you need to be somewhat ready; first of all you have to pray on your own, then with two, three people, etc. And all of you have to contemplate – the Spirit will come to only give you certain lessons. And when the Divine Spirit comes and enters two souls, he will immediately notice peace and understanding in them – when one speaks, the other will carefully listen and find pleasure in the speech of his interlocutor. And when he does not find that pleasure, he would say to himself: “I will listen to your blether, you will teach me!” – The Spirit is not there anymore, the devil is there. The gathering and praying – it does not happen on command, but on the frame of mind: if the Spirit wants – he will pray; if he does not, he will keep quiet. The first thing is to grant this Freedom and to have patience to listen, when someone speaks it should be as if God spoke. If you enter a religious community and become more nervous, you have not won anything, on the contrary – you have lost. Many doctors and people know how man is built, they know physiology perfectly, they know which food is healthy and which food is unwholesome for people, but they are living life in the old way: they say that smoking is bad, although they smoke themselves; that drinking wine is bad for the health, but they drink themselves; that eating meat is bad for the health, but they eat meat themselves. They have the knowledge, but when it comes to applying it, and building it, they do not practise what they preach – where is the Freedom of their spirit then? And Christ wants that Freedom. Some want the freedom only for themselves, and for others to obey them; some may obey out of fear, but there is no Love there. I will adduce an anecdote for that reason: a Bulgarian tailor was once summoned by a family to cut out and sew breeches and a doublet for the groom; he raised his scissors and thimble, took the servant with him, and went on his way. It was around noon, they baked him a chicken, but the master, in order to get the whole chicken for himself, said that his servant did not eat chicken, but beans instead. The servant, in front of whom the master said that, said that he would take revenge, and after lunch in private he told the hosts: “My master is sometimes crazy – if he starts looking around, know that he has gone mad.” Before his master started work, the servant hid his thimble; at one time his master started turning and looking around for his thimble; the housekeepers, when they saw that, jumped on him and tied him up. On the way out, the servant turned to his master: “Your servant does not eat chicken, he eats beans, huh?” Do not say that your servant does not eat chicken, because one day, when you start looking for your thimble, he will make sure they tie you up. The first thing in your attitude towards others is mutual respect. I have noticed in my observations that some people want to learn, and initially come in awe, but afterwards start saying: “We know more than him”, and then dismiss themselves. Like those young brides, who first stand meek and bashful; hardly a month passes by, and they open a mouth this big, and ruin the house; in the church, as long as they are brides, they stand quietly, but should they get married, it is as if they obtain civil rights and show their real images; they will marry again a second time, but the one who has married them once, will not marry twice. We should not distress God by breaching His Spirit for Freedom when someone provokes us. I can see what thoughts reflect in me and you – a whole notebook of curves have formed, like graphs on a telegram. So many telegrams of yours have been written, a whole sheaf – it is shown there how free you are; one day those telegrams will be presented to God, when you go to the hereafter. Everything in the world is overt, nothing can be hidden before the Eye of God; and I am not saying this in order to frighten you, no – God in His genesis is a Spirit that wants to always teach and correct, not to punish and avenge. That which we perceive in the world as suffering and punishment is only regarding the form. And if God punishes us in this relation, He does it in order to free us from slavery – if you decide to free a sheep from the mouth of the wolf, would it not suffer until you get it out? Freedom, inner Peace will bring forth calm and Joy, and will raise our Spirit high. Now about religion again – that religion, with which we want to serve the Lord, what is it based on? Christ says in one place: “I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not receive me as a guest, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me”1 – there, that is why God would pass judgement on the world. You can pray ten times a day like the old Pharisees in the streets; you can begin to resemble that mother who started praying because her food was burning – do you know what kind of thing the psychic drunkenness is? It is not a religion; a lass who often likes to meet some lad, not that she earns anything, but feels some kind of pleasantness, although that pleasantness, that tickle, does not show that she is in a Divine mood – she wastes energy. When God comes close to us, we would feel that His action is not a single moment, but a long period of time; and that mood we would feel in our soul, in secret. When people argue, I go to them, but I do not tell them to cease speaking, because I have to cease speaking first (when two people argue, even if I go to them, I will not be able to help them), I do not preach morality to them, but instead I stop and pray to God for them. In Varna2, some thirty-forty years ago, there was a priest named Gantcho, orman-papaz (Turkish expression meaning “a priest of the woods”) they called him; he often reproached those who made him a priest. He once saw a gagaouz (Turkish-speaking Christians of the Varna district) beating his wife, he took a whip and started to beat the man in order to free the woman. But both of them, the man and the woman, immediately jumped on him, and the woman said: “What kind of right do you have to beat my husband, we will work it out on our own.” Then the priest said: “Why did I have to rescue the woman from the man.” You too, like the priest Gantcho, might get involved in settling other people’s business; do not get into that, you can only interfere if both of them, the man and the woman, call you to dispute – show them the law of Freedom, and how to settle their relations. And so, religion has to bring Freedom, Peace, and Joy to people. If old-time persecutions get raised, the world will not be put in order; how many doubts will be raised for the outer forms of religion: people would say: “Your teaching is of the devil.” – “Was not yours from Satan”. He who is not on the side of Satan must serve humanity selflessly, out of Love, and even sacrifice for it. Since you want a prize or first place, or to fix the world and do not carry out the law of Freedom, the Spirit is not in you. You have to be last in the world, in order to be first before God; should you become first in the world, you are already last before God – that is what I know. I do not want human glory, I prefer God to think well about me. As I am preaching this, some of you would not accept it for themselves, and say: “I am not that, it is just him” – that is from the devil; each man deep inside himself has to forget about what the others are, and to think that he is more wrong than the others – that is right. That you are in this condition, I do not sue you, but since I want you to overcome it, I am showing you a way out. Follow the Spirit which is in you: you want Freedom – give it to the others, you want Love and Justice – give them to the others, the similar attracts the similar – that is a law. If you love people sincerely and candidly, they will love you too; just like when you look into your mirror – if you are beautiful, it will show you a beautiful face. And when you meet someone, do not tell him: “I love you”, do not talk about love, because it would disappear – then you actually do not love him. A man, who talks most about Love, has the least of it; he who speaks the most about Freedom of Spirit has the least of it and gives the least of it to others. If my attitude towards you is not what it should be, it is not the sweet sermon, which sounds like sweet music, which will make it such. Music which creates noble impulses, brings benefit; that which leaves only tickles to man, does not bring any benefit. Now those frictions between you about “narrow” and “wide”, “the Spirit is there” and “the Spirit is not there” should cease. To those of us who have the Spirit of Freedom, I would give a white pebble on which I would write my name, and when God comes, He would see what is written. When I look into your eyes, I know your Spirit: when the Spirit enters, your eyes are not very dark, but they are not very bright either. Sometimes your eyes may shine like the eyes of a snake, but it is “nefesh” – the desire to devour, to eat someone. You have seen how the eyes of a cat shine in the evening – she is looking for mice. Light differs from light: there is a light which robs, which kills, and there is a Light which enlivens. The Spirit is sensitive to the weaknesses of people and has the ability to enter into those who are on the Path. When you gather again, the telegrams will show whether there will be any pokes – God does not want such prayer gatherings. In order for all prayers to be accepted by God, I will give you a method: if you come across an uncomforted, weary soul, pray to God for it and with it; if you see a poor man, help him. God does not want the rich to gather with the rich, but the rich with the poor, erudite with ignorant. It is not necessary to only gather and sing in a concert – go to a worldly concert, you would do well. That lady whom I told you about a while ago also told me that when she had been to that prayer gathering, a half an hour later the women started to look round and to whisper: “She saw us”; and she, after noticing she had embarrassed them, went out. I am not saying that it was in Sofia; what we are talking about is that in the church, other people may not pray correctly, but we pray thus ourselves. Oust the old devil, give Freedom and deference to others, and pray in secret within your soul, none of you shall talk and gossip about the others. When a couple of women gather together, they start talking about someone; men, when gossiping about others, cannot psychically develop. He who has this weakness should leave it behind; should talking about someone enter your mind, restrain yourselves, do not let the devil in, do not be his herald – hang up your telephone and do not put his opinions through. The devil never says any good words, he talks about people: “You are a scoundrel, a thief, a fornicator” – he entices you to help him do his work; and when the sufferings come, through them God tells you: “Next time do not listen to the devil.” Anger, envy, hatred, suspicion, lie, all the negative things in the world are characteristic of the devil; throw that old father out and you will be free, you will be with God, who is wise, kind-hearted, equitable, resourceful and affectionate, who forgives and helps the sorrowful and the poor. If you transgress a hundred times and turn to Him, He will forgive you. He only punishes the devils; He has cursed them and has created a great fire for them. So, one who does not want to be related to the devils has to be merciful and resourceful. Let us from now on begin to apply the teaching of Christ; not to show the world that we are religious people (let our piety be hidden within us), and to the world let us be like the beautiful ladies who go out with their faces covered, so that the sun will not burn them or the dust blacken them. Hide your beauty within; do not parade it outside – do not talk about how good you are, or magnanimous, ready for noble deeds, that you pray for three times a day, so that you would not become a laughing-stock to the world. And Christ says: “In the world you should be smart like the snakes, and harmless as the doves.” The worldly people are not foolish, but clever; regarding the superior Life they are worse, but regarding the mind they are smarter – we are foolish. Give them an example of a good deed, so that they would give some of their mind. They now say that we have to be straightforward, and not be generous; well how are we going to put the world in order then? When someone looks askance at us, we anger; well how many times have we looked askance at people, and not taken it into account? God has not created us with our eyes askew, but with our eyes straight; a religious life is namely this – to have and to give Freedom to people, to forgive their mistakes, and to look for every opportunity to unite spiritually. Now, let us say we will apply the teaching, and preach it to the others. No gossiping from now on, let us vow for one whole year not to gossip about anyone; make a notebook and say: “Today, thank God, I have not talked about anyone.” – put a mark seven; if you talk, put a one, take account of this through the whole year, and see how many sevens and ones you are going to write down, how much you have managed to restrain yourselves. I often see – someone’s mouth trembles: “I want to say something too”, “I also have the right to speak”, “I know something too” – starts talking, others also start, and before you know it, someone has become a target of gossip; tomorrow they would begin the same thing. When a lad gets near to a marriageable age, many damsels start falling in love with him, and all of them praise him and compete with each other for attributing the most qualities to him: his father, mother – noble, their family – very noble; should he choose one for a wife, all those who have been praising him so far start: “He is a savage, a fool, a boor”, when they too should say: “It is a good thing he has chosen a damsel among us – we are happy.” Do you know what this looks like? I have adduced this story before, about the welcoming of a prince in a big European city: from the chosen twelve most beautiful women, who were invited to elect the one that would present a bouquet to the prince, each of them voted for herself. Now you too look in that direction (still not entirely prepared) about who should give a bouquet to Christ – everyone says: “Me”. Do not vote for yourselves, even without your votes Christ knows those who deserve. That is the teaching of Christ – to be alert, not to talk about the things we might know about others. Occultists say: “If you want to be strong, do not speak about people, because at the moment you begin to talk you enter a connection with their spirit, and become infected with bad thoughts.” It is better to think good things about people instead of bad, because otherwise you harm yourselves; the one about whom you gossip benefits psychologically. You know that God says: “Since you are rich, give some of yours.” How much earnings do you have? “Ten thousand.” – Give half of it. When we speak good things about a man, God takes him and says: “How much did you earn?” – “Twenty.” – “Give half of that to the one who thinks well about you.” When we speak well about other people, we gain, and when we speak ill about the others, they gain – that is the law. If you consciously did it so that they gain, I would be glad for such self-denial, but then do not complain, you are great spirits, right? If one of your sisters has some sort of an infirmity, pray ten times for her to be free from it, and then go to her and tell her gently: “In you, sister, there is a vice, but do not be cross with me because of what I told you” – then you will be blessed. So now chase that devil – the gossip, away from yourselves. God has decided this year to tie the devils, and let no one get angry when he gets tied – he will be roped into work. Just as the farmer needs an ox to plough, so are the devils needed for work – it is either us who will be roped in, or them. In order to rope them in, the Spirit has to be in you, you have to be strong and powerful. I will talk on the matter of the Freedom of Spirit again. I will now make a little experiment in order to see how much you have utilized from my lecture for today. Religious freedom has to be absolute – God is a God of Love, of Freedom. Then each of us would find his place – when he ploughs, and when he digs, and when he does any kind of work, he will do it with gratitude. Such has to be the life on Earth according to the Freedom of Spirit, according to the Freedom by which even Socrates was distinguished. He was an inferior man, but many kings were forgotten, and his name remained. Whatever office man might hold, he might still not be noble; the Spirit requires from us to be both like kings, and like inferior people, equally free. It is the teaching of Christ that I preach: to have and to give Freedom, to have and to give Freedom, and again to have and to give Freedom – mental, and cordial, and religious, and civil, and domestic – Freedom everywhere. August 23, 1915 (Sofia, September 5, 1915 - Old Style) 1 Matthew 25:42-43 2 town in eastern Bulgaria Source

The Book - The Spirit and The Flesh. Beinsa Douno Translation from Bulgarian - Vessela Nestorova LIBERTY OF THE SPIRIT Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.21 The condition of liberty is the Spirit. By the word liberty we understand a free life, i.e. the inner meaning of things and their relations—the relations of the thoughts, feelings and incentives of the will power which are manifested in the world. Where there is a living soul, there is motion which is the result of the will. This motion may have a definitive direction, or take different directions. The New Testament says, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." Another place states, "The Son of God will set you free." The Son and the Spirit are one and the same thing. The Son is the expression of the Father and the Mother. The intelligence of the Son is an expression of the intelligence of the Father and the Mother, as the Sunlight is the expression of the inner state of the Sun. How can we know a person? By the Light of their thoughts, desires and acts. Now I am speaking about the liberty of the Spirit, because the religious people are exposed to the great danger of becoming worse than the worldly people. In this sense a person cannot be happy by becoming religious. By the word religious I understand a person tied to something, the way a horse, a cow, or some other animals are tied with a rope. To be tied to a house is religion; to be tied to some political party, or some philosophical teaching is religion too. What kind of religion is it? A religion that ties or limits the liberty of person, or of society. If you are tied to a teaching which debases you, or deprives you of your liberty, this is an obsolete religion, an old skin. All people who seek the liberty which gives sense to life and which philosophers today call higher consciousness, but political people—citizenship, are sensible people. How would you know you have the Spirit in yourself? If you are sensible, if your thoughts, feelings and acts are free and wherever you go, you leave a blessing, the Spirit is present in you. In life today the word liberty may be understood as Light. If you travel at night, you are not free as in the daylight for the simple reason that the path is not clear. In the same way when the religious and worldly people delude themselves, they also have something hazy in their notions. People today do not know God, they do not know what the Lord is, but they know their kings and rulers. They say, "As the kings and rulers punish us, so God punishes us also." Because of these wrong ideas of God, life is full of contradictions springing from such false views. We can all see the results of these contradictions. However, you must be set free from this inner slavery. How can you be freed? A basic change must happen in your brain, or a thorough transformation. What is the structure of your brain and what changes should take place is not clear to you. Every morning you pray, you seek the Lord calling to Him, and He does not listen to you. God hears only those people whose ears are open. He does not hear the deaf22 and does not speak to them. If you want the Lord to hear and answer you, your ear must be delicate and perceptive so that little would be necessary for it to understand much. The Lord likes to watch and hear those people who work and do not busy themselves with vain and foolish things. If you consider the religions of today, you will see on what level of development they are. In every religion there are certain delusions. One of the reasons for these delusions is due to the fact that when a person wants to understand a religion, they enter one or another society and in this way get more confused. A young man wanted to join a village dance, but had no strong boots. He borrowed a pair of boots and started to dance. The one who had given him the boots seeing him stamping his feet vigorously, said to him when he got near enough to hear him, "Listen, do not stamp your feet so hard, I have not given you my boots that you should stamp your feet so!" A friend of his, after hearing these words, said to him, "Since this fellow put you to shame, I shall give you my boots." The young man put on his friend's boots and continued dancing. When he was passing by the second man who gave him his boots, the latter cried to him, "Stamp your feet, my friend, do not worry if you tear the boots; if you tear them, I shall give you a new pair!" I say, it does not matter whether you say to a person "Stamp" or "Don't stamp" your feet, it is all the same, for he is not free already. It does not matter whether you have stamped you feet much or little. Why? Because you are already deprived of your freedom. Therefore, our mind should be elucidated as to the question of real liberty. Christ has given a definition of liberty. He says, "Do not do unto others what you would not have them do unto you." Everyone must accept this rule as an inner Law. One must speak and do that which gives liberty to others also. Someone says, "I wonder at people today how they gossip. You see them in the church praying so nicely, but as soon as they stop praying, they start gossiping about each other: this man does not live right, that woman does not speak the truth, and so on." Those who gossip do not have liberty and do not give liberty to others. I say, if you are not tolerant to people and do not give them freedom, you do not understand Christ's teaching. And in reality, most people today have a perverted idea of the teaching of Christ. They must throw out of their minds these caricatures and think of God and Christ in an entirely different way. And so what is religion? Religion is a science of the forms as well as of the Divine Love. If you study only the external form of religion and not its inner content, you will find yourself in a delusion and begin to change religions as a lady often changes her clothes. If she lives fifty or sixty years, she can change many suits of different cuts and colors, but these suits do not represent the lady. Therefore, the form is not yet religion. Actually the forms are necessary to religion, as the suits for the lady, but they do not represent the body of the lady. When people die, their kinfolks say, "We shall wear only black, not white clothes." No, you may wear white, black, red and blue clothes—any clothes you wish. The sin is not in the colored clothes, but you should have in mind the following—when you go to a dead person, do not dress in white, as when a street is muddy, you will not wear white shoes. Thus, everything requires its time, its season. In this respect, the worldly people are wiser than the religious ones. They stand ten times higher than the religious people. God has decided to set the world right by the worldly people. The politicians and the socialists will rectify the world because they want freedom. You will say, "How is that? These people destroy, they do not build." I ask, when you build a new house on the place of the old, do you not first destroy the old house and then build the new one? If you do not throw out of your mind an old idea, a new thought cannot be born. Many want to teach people how to think, so they say to them, "seven stories up, seven stories down," or "keep silent and do not reason," this is their true science. Everything else is of the devil. What was written in the times of Moses, in the Old Testament? "This is of God; the rest is of the devil." And today, many are preaching that their ideas are of God and those of other people—of the devil. This is what it means to be strong with your posterior brain. This is not right. Every teaching should be judged by its results. If a given teaching can be applied in the private life of people and give good results, it is good; if it cannot be applied, it is not good. One thing is important for a person—to apply the liberty of the Spirit. Everyone must ask themselves, "Am I free? Do I have this Spirit in me?" When the Spirit comes, He will produce Light in the mind and heat in the heart. This is the sign by which you will know the appearance of the Spirit. If you begin to limit the human spirit, forcing a person to think, feel and act the way you do, the Spirit will withdraw from you immediately, as a teacher leaves the class when the students are making noise and obstruct the teaching of the lesson. When the students do not obey their teacher, their parents and guardians will come and punish them. In this sense, Moses was the guardian of the Jews. He came to them to tell them that they should obey their Teacher and when they were disobedient, he punished them. And if you ask now why so many misfortunes assailed you, I say, "The misfortunes and sufferings came to you because you did not obey the Spirit. You should have obeyed the Spirit as your Teacher." Now I shall explain the meaning of liberty and how it manifests itself. Suppose you meet a person with bound hands and feet and you begin to comfort him that the Lord is good and if he has patience, He will untie him, and so on. I ask, if you yourself can untie this man, do you manifest liberty? No. You must take out your knife, cut the cords binding the man's hands and feet and set him free. What does your comforting do to him? You tie him faster so he cannot run away. People must untie one another; they must set one another free. Christ says, "Go and preach among people!" By these words, He means exactly this untying, this liberating. This liberty should be inner and not external. All misunderstandings among people are due to the lack of freedom. If it is a question of anxiety and worries, how much more should God worry for He has created this world and sees what is happening? It is good when the Lord is angry, but of what use is human anger? There is no profit in human anger. But God also does not get angry. The Old Testament says, "The wrath of the Lord," but these words must be understood in their inner sense. The words of Christ: "Why do you call me good Master? Only God is good," confirm the idea that God cannot be angry. Therefore, the good and the kind people cannot get angry. Some prophets have spoken of the wrath of God, but I object to this. Has God said anywhere about Himself being angry? In one place Jeremiah says, "Lord, you deceived me, I was deceived." How can you explain this contradiction? This is a delusion. You should not have any delusions about God. Everyone must admit that these are their own delusions. The right thought lies in this—we should say, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." This is what God said. Love cannot be manifested without liberty. I say, while a person is blind, no one can love them. A person who tortures others cannot be loved. What brings destruction cannot bring freedom. Several people pray together to God, but if one of them makes a mistake, another one nudges them for the small mistake. This is no prayer; this is no freedom, but acting. To nudge one another when you are standing before God is not praying. Down with these masks! When one is praying, they must forget about what is around them and be alone, then enter their secret chamber—their soul—and not be disturbed by anything outside of themselves. All of you who are listening to me are not free. Some of you are tied to one post, others to two, still others to three, to four, to five, to ten posts. I can prove this to you not only theoretically, but practically as well. Now since all of you are preparing yourselves for the Kingdom of God, for the Kingdom of Christ, which is a world of liberty, you must know that with these old forms, with these old skins, you cannot enter It. With these old forms you will barely come to the gate of the Kingdom of God, but you cannot enter it by any means. By this I do not judge you and say you are deluded, but I am showing you the way. You are seeking freedom. The cause of human slavery is neither the man nor the woman. Slavery, sin came into the world after the first people ate of the forbidden apple which had in itself corruption, death. Therefore, if you want to understand Christ, your spirit must be free. In the Hebrew language there are two words for the notion of liberty. One of them is ruha which signifies the higher manifestation of God. The other word is nefesh which signifies the inferior manifestation of the soul. The small child, for instance, manifests the inferior state of his or her soul. While we are babies, we cry, make faces and in this way impose our will and want to submit our mother. Finally the mother gives her breast for the baby to suck and it thinks, "This is what I want, and you should always obey me!" And the mother is constantly fulfilling the child's wishes. I ask, why was this child sent to earth—should it make its mother submit, or the mother should submit it to her will? Whoever is free and has the Spirit, they will learn the relations of things and know whom they should submit themselves to and whom they should serve. You will ask how you can acquire inner freedom. When people have common prayer that also has two sides—a good and a bad one. Why? Because people are not on the same level of development, so that a regular interchange of their magnetic forces may take place. Since the spirit of freedom is predominant in all people, but their views are different, as a result of this arise many disputes and misunderstandings. That is why before going to God, Christianity recommends purification. One of the purifying processes is that of deposition.23 How can this deposition be effected? Before praying with others, one should pray alone and prepare themselves. First, you should pray alone, then with one other person, then with two more people and so on. In this way you will learn to contemplate. Only then the Spirit will come and teach you certain lessons. When the Divine Spirit comes between two souls, He will immediately restore peace and mutual understanding between them. When the one is speaking, the other will be listening with great attention and feel pleasure in what their friend is telling them. If these two people are not at peace mutually, they will get bored with each other, "Are you the one to teach me now, I have no time to listen to your nonsense." This shows that the Spirit is not between them. The making of common prayers is not done by order, but by a disposition of the spirit; if the spirit wants you will pray, if not—you will not pray, but keep quiet. The first thing required of all is to give one another this freedom and have the patience of listening to one another. When someone is speaking, we should think that God is speaking. If you enter a religious society and become more nervous than you had been before, you have not gained anything. You have sooner lost than gained. Many doctors, many specialists know human physiology, they know which foods are useful and which are harmful, but in spite of that, they live the old way. They say it is harmful to smoke, but they smoke themselves. They say that drinking of alcoholic beverages is harmful, yet they drink; that eating meat is harmful, yet they eat meat. They have knowledge, but when it comes to applying it to build, they do not do what they say and preach to others. I ask—where is their liberty of spirit? Christ wants this freedom for all people. Many people today want liberty only for themselves, thinking that the other people should be submitted to them. Many people will submit themselves, but they will do it out of fear, not out of love. I shall cite the following anecdote for clarification of this thought. Once, a Bulgarian tailor was invited by a rich family to sow a pair of full-bottomed tight-legged breeches and a doublet for the bridegroom. The tailor took along his instruments—scissors, a thimble, called his servant and both went to the house. They arrived about noon, so they were invited to a lunch. A roast chicken was served and the tailor, wishing to eat the whole chicken alone, told the housewife that his servant does not eat chicken, he preferred beans. When the servant heard this, he started thinking of some way to revenge his master. After lunch, he told the hosts secretly that if they saw his master turning this way and that, they should know something was happening to him, because at times he went out of his mind. In order to succeed with the revenge, the servant hid his master's thimble. When the tailor started working, he began turning this way and that, looking for his thimble. When the hosts noticed this, they immediately caught him and bound him. On going back, the servant said to his master, "Your servant does not eat roast chicken, only beans. Is that so?" You also should not say your servant does not eat roast chicken, because some day, when you start looking for your thimble, he will become the cause of your being bound. The first thing required of our relations is mutual respect. In my observations during a number of years, I have noticed that some people have a strong desire to study, that is why at first they begin with a feeling of veneration and reverence, but later they slack it and say, "We know all this!" In this respect, they are like some young brides who are very gentle and shy before everybody at first. However, in a few months time, they get over their shyness, open their mouth and spoil the home. While they are in church as brides they are calm and quiet, as soon as they are married, it is as if they receive civil rights and begin to show their naughtiness. They will want to marry a second time, but the man who has married them once will not even think of marrying a second time. No. A person must not grieve God by violating His Spirit of freedom, even when they are provoked at times. Whole books have been scratched full of the scribble of human thoughts like the dashes of telegrams. A whole pile of such telegrams are written by your thoughts. By these telegrams one can see how free you are. Some day when you can go to the other world all these telegrams will be presented before God. There is nothing hidden that shall not be revealed. Everything in the world is apparent. Nothing can be hid from the Eye of God. This should not frighten you, but you must know that in His genesis God is a Spirit Who always wants to teach and correct people and not to punish and revenge. The sufferings and punishments in the world have a relation only to the forms. And if in this sense we say that God punishes us, this shows that He wants to liberate us from our slavery. If you set out to free a sheep out of a wolf s mouth, would she not be hurt by the time she is pulled out? Therefore, God wants our freedom, our inner peace, which will bring us calmness, joy and happiness and raise our spirit high. Now I shall refer again to religion. What does religion, by which we want to serve God, consist in? Christ says, "For I was a hungered, and ye gave me no meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink; I was stranger and ye took me not in; naked, and ye clothed me not; sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not" (Matt. 25:42,43). Here is the reason why God will judge the world. If you do not fulfill what Christ is talking about, if you pray ten times a day, like the Pharisees in the streets, you will not attain anything. You will be like that housewife who prayed all morning and her cooking all burned up. What did she attain by her long prayer? Nothing. Such a prayer is like drunkenness. There is physical drunkenness, but psychical as well. Do you know what psychic drunkenness is like? It is not religion. When a young maiden likes to meet young men, she does not acquire anything by that, but only some pleasant feelings. This pleasure, however, does not show that the maiden has a Divine disposition. At these meetings she wastes her energy in vain. However, when God approaches us, we feel His effect not only for a moment, but for a long time. The pleasant state we are in when God is drawing near us and unnoticeably penetrates deeply in our soul. When some people are quarreling, I do not tell them to keep silent, or preach moral to them, but I turn my gaze to God and pray for them. In order that they should keep silent, I must keep silent first. This means that first, I must pray for them that God may bring them to their senses. Years ago, there was a priest called Gancho in Varna whom people called orman papaz24. He often blamed those who made him a priest. One day he saw a Gagaouz25 beat his wife. In order to save the woman from her husband's hands, he took a whip and started lashing the man, but immediately the wife and her husband jumped at him. The woman said, "What right do you have to beat my husband? We shall settle our affairs alone." Now I say to you, who are like this priest: do not meddle in other people's affairs, trying to settle their accounts. You can do this only if the husband and wife call you to help them. As soon as you are called, show them a way how to determine their relations according to the Law of freedom. And so religion should bring liberty to people, peace and joy. If a persecution rises against a religion, or against some teaching as in old times, that will not set the world right. How many doubts may be raised against some forms of a religion! Some will say, "This teaching is Satan's." But of whom is your teaching? Those who preach a Devine Teaching should serve humanity selflessly, out of love for people and be ready for all sacrifices. Those who want a reward, or the first place, or want to set the world right, they do not fulfill the Law of liberty and the Spirit is not in them. You must be the last in the world, if you want to be the first before God. Instead of wishing human glory, it is preferable for God to think well of you. This is what I know and wish for myself. When I preach this, many people say, "This does not concern me, I am not such a person, these words are about so- and-so, she is such a person." No, this is wrong reasoning. Everyone should forget what the others are like and consider themselves more sinful than these others, and start correcting themselves. If you are in the state of sinful people, I do not judge you, but want you to come out of that state by showing you a way out. Follow the spirit in yourselves! You want freedom for yourself—give freedom to others as well. It is Law that like attracts the like. If you like people sincerely and open- heartedly, they will like you too. The Bulgarian proverb says, "What you call, the same will be echoed back to you." If you are beautiful and look yourself in the mirror, the image in the mirror will be beautiful too. When you meet a person you love, do not tell them you love them; do not speak to them about love. Why? Because as soon as you tell a person you love them, Love vanishes. Those that speak most about Love have the least Love in themselves. Those who speak most about freedom of the spirit, they give it least to others. If my relations to you are not such as they should be, no matter how pleasing and musical my sermon may be it cannot change this. Only the music which creates noble incentives in you is profitable to you. Every other kind of music, which evokes only pleasant feelings and moods in you without ennobling you, is of no benefit to you. Now, put an end to all friction and separation into left- wing and right-wing socialists, i.e. those who have the Spirit and those who don't have the Spirit. Those who bear the spirit of liberty in themselves will be given a white stone on which I shall write my name so that when the Lord comes, He will see the inscription. When I see the eyes of a person, I already know whether they have the spirit or not. When the spirit is present in a person, their eyes are neither very dark nor very bright. If a person's eyes glisten as those of a snake, this bespeaks their desire to swallow up, to eat up somebody. You have noticed how a cat's eyes glisten at night. Why do they glisten? The cat is looking for mice. However, there is a big difference between one kind of light and another. There is a light which robs and kills, but there is a Light which invigorates and brings one to life. The Spirit is sensitive, responsive to the human weaknesses, as a result of which He enters those who want to walk in the Way. I say, when you get together for a prayer meeting next time, by your telegrams it will be evident whether you have been nudging among yourselves or not. If there have been nudgings, you must know that the Lord does not want such meetings. In order that your prayers may be accepted by God, I shall give you the following method: when you meet a sorrowful, burdened soul, pray together with her to God; when you meet a poor person, help them as much and with whatever you can. God does not want rich people to get together only with the rich and learned only with the learned, but the rich must get together with the poor and the learned with the ignorant. Prayer does not consist only in saying prayers, singing and playing at concerts. If it were a question of music, one may go and listen to a worldly concert. That, too, will be of benefit to them and give them some satisfaction. By this I want to say that as the religions of the church do not pray correctly, so those who want to pass for spiritual people do not pray as they should. Get none of the old things! Chase the old devil away! Pray secretly in your soul and do not gossip about other people! Have reverence and respect for others as for yourselves. What do women of today do? When two or three women get together, they at once start talking about this and that man or this and that woman. What profit do you have in gossiping? Those who gossip hinder their right development and put psychic obstacles on their own way. Therefore, those that have such a weakness should give it up. If a thought enters your mind to speak evil of someone, stop for a moment, concentrate your attention and do not give way to the evil in you, do not become its town-crier. Shut your "telephone" and do not do service to evil. The evil in the world, as a living being, likes to attack people, to entice them to get its work done, after which it deserts them. Much time has not elapsed before the sufferings come. Then God says to people, "Be careful not to yield a second time to evil." Therefore, anger, jealousy, hatred, suspicion, lying—all these negative things are peculiar to the devil, to evil. Cast this old father out and you will be free, you will be with the Lord Who is all wise, good, just, condescending and loving; Who forgives and helps the suffering and the poor. If you do wrong a hundred times a day and turn to Him, He will again forgive you. He punishes only those who break His Laws. He has created a big fire for them. Those who don't want to make contact with these evil beings must be merciful, considerate, quick-witted and careful with God's orders and Laws. And now, begin to apply this teaching of Christ without demonstrating before the world that you are religious people. Let your piety be concealed even from you, but before the world, you can be like the beautiful ladies who shade their faces to protect them against getting sun-burnt or against the dust the in streets. Hide your beauty deep in yourselves; do not parade with it externally. If you do not want to become a laughingstock to people, do not speak about yourself that you are good, magnanimous, religious, and ready for giving alms, and so on. Christ says, "Be wise as the serpents and gentle as the doves." The worldly people are not foolish. They are not wise in regard to the higher spiritual life, but in regard to the mind, they stand higher than many religious people. Give an example of a good deed to the worldly people that they may give you a piece of their mind. Some say we must be straightforward, others say we must not be very generous. I ask you, how will the world be set right then? So if someone looks askance at you, or tells you an offensive word, you should get angry? Have you ever given yourself an account of how often you have looked at people askance? No, God has not given us eyes to look askance at others. The true religious life is namely in having freedom and giving freedom to people and forgiving their mistakes, as well as in looking for every possibility to unite with them in spirit. Now, desire deeply to apply Christ's teaching to yourself as well as for the sake of others. From now on no gossiping! Give yourself word not to gossip a whole year. Keep a small notebook and every night before going to bed write down how well you have kept your promise. If you have not said a bad word about anybody, write down the mark seven and the words: "Thank you, God, today I did not say any bad word about anyone." If you have said something bad, write down one. Then at the end of the year make an account how many ones you have written and to what extent you have succeeded to abstain from gossip. When several people get together, everyone gets excited and wants to say something and show what they know. One begins to speak, then a second, a third one and unnoticeably someone becomes the object of gossip. On the next day the same story is repeated. When a young man wants to get married, all the girls praise him and each one tries to surpass the others in eulogies. They praise his qualities, his noble family, and so on. As soon as he selects a bride, all those who had praised him begin to say, "He is a wild cat, a simpleton," and so on. In reality, these young maidens should say: "We are glad this young man picked his wife from our company." Do you know what this can be compared to? In a big European town a prince was to arrive, so twelve beautiful women were chosen as a committee for the welcoming. When they were asked to vote which one of them should give a bouquet to the prince, each of the twelve voted for herself. Now you, although not quite prepared yet, are trying to see which one of you will come out and offer a bouquet to Christ. Everyone says, "I, I!" Do not vote for yourself. Without your voting, Christ knows who the worthy ones are. Christ's teaching requires of us to be considerate and not speak about others what we know, or what we do not know. The occultists say—if you want to be strong, do not talk about people. The moment you start talking badly about someone, you get in contact with their spirit and are affected by bad thoughts. In this sense, in order not to harm yourself, it is better to think good of people than to entertain evil thoughts of them. When you gossip about someone, this person benefits psychologically. When you speak well about a person, God asks them, "How much did you gain?" "Twenty." "Give then half of it to them who think well of you." This means that the rich person should give half of their riches to those who have nothing. When we speak well of people, we gain, but when we speak badly, they gain. Such is the Law. If you speak badly of people on purpose so that they should profit by it, I shall be glad for your self-denial. But then you must not complain. If one of your sisters has a defect, pray ten times a day for her to be freed from this defect. When you pray for her you can tell her in a kindly and sisterly manner, "Sister, you have a small defect and you should work to get free from it. Do not get angry with me for telling you this truth." Now all of you try to get rid of this defect—gossiping. This year God has decided to bind evil. Those who get bound should not get angry. God will bind them and put them to work. Either you or evil will be harnessed. In order to harness evil to work, the Spirit must be in you that you may be strong and powerful. Today I spoke about liberty, but I shall speak another time about it again. Some day I shall make an experiment to find out how well you have understood and applied today's sermon. Religious liberty should be absolute. God is a God of Love, of liberty. Those who live in this liberty will find their place, whether they plough or dig, or whatever work they do, they will do everything with thankfulness. Such must be the life on earth according to the liberty of the Spirit, according to the liberty by which many great people were distinguished, as Socrates had been. Socrates was among the "last" people, but many of the "first," many kings, were forgotten; yet his name remained. A person may take a high post and not be noble. The Spirit requires of us as kings and as the "last" people on earth to be equally free. This is the teaching of Christ which I am preaching—to have and to give liberty; to have and to give liberty and again to have and to give liberty: of the mind, of the heart, of the home, religious and civil freedom. Freedom everywhere! Sermon held on August 23, 1915, in Sofia. ______________________ 21. II Cor. 3:17 22. deaf in the figurative sense (ed. note). 23. Deposition in the sense of leaving a layer of something, e.g. mud (ed. note). 24. Orman Papaz—(old Turkish) A rebellious priest, often referring to Bulgarian nationalist priests (ed. note). 25. A member of a Bulgarian minority group, living in the Varna district, who speaks Turkish, yet is Eastern Orthodox Christian (ed. note).

Note 4 Old And New Wine-Skins 1 “And no one pours new wine into old skins … But the new wine has to be poured into new skins, and both to be protected.” Luke 5: 37-38 This small parable is a classic in terms of expression and content. Christ makes a great generalization of the ideas: he says that nobody should pour new wine into old skins, because the latter would crack. Should we take that in the literal sense? No, it is true in its figurative meaning – an analogy is made between the new teachings and the new wine, and between the old people and the old skins: the old wine, as it has ceased fermenting, can remain in the old skin, however, the new one, since it is fermenting, if it were poured into an old skin, it would burst into pieces. This parable contains a hidden thought, a great law, and that is for the Divine ideas, which are implemented into this world, new skins are needed – more elastic, so that they withstand the pressure of fermentation, i.e. people who have a mind and a heart, receptive to the new truth. When the mind is busy with old ideas, thoughts, and feelings, the new cannot penetrate; in other words, in the old forms a display of strength for feats cannot be found. In this respect young people are generous; you have to ask the ninety-year-olds ninety times to give you a nickel, because they have a natural fear, they feel too weak and feeble to dispose with their own strengths and tools like the young ones do. And that is why Christ says that the new wine has to be poured into new skins. When the New teaching pours into the world, it raises a reaction in the old ones – they think that it is not good and that it will spoil the world. Nevertheless there is no father who would want to have a son born with old ideas – everyone dreams that his son will be contemporary, and apprehend the thoughts and ideas of the century. The wine, on its own, represents Strength; in order for the human evolution to be given an impulse, there has to be strength; strength is nothing but the human Spirit, taken in a broad sense –judicious strength that works according to the Divine laws. In the aims of God, everything grows and develops; God does not like the old skins, He puts them into the lower cellars, like the old wine makers do – a time will come when there will be people who will drink from the old wine as well. When you understand the New teaching, you will be mistaken if you think that it won't ferment in you, that you will remain the same humans – that is impossible, it is the same as when the sculptor works with a hammer on marble, without breaking off some piece. Many pieces will scatter to the left and right, and old people should keep a slight distance, if they fear that some piece could hit them in the head; it is not the sculptor’s fault, but the old people, if they choose not to move away. – “I am sculpturing a statue for the future generation – he says – and everyone should keep their distance.” The artist might be working with a brush, he might be working with a bow, he might be working with a hammer – it depends on the way he works; it is not important, what is important is whether he works according to the Divine order of things. When the work gets rough, we should not say “Our heads exploded” – eternal tranquillity reigns over the graveyards; whoever wants to go forward, whoever aspires to God, whoever wants to grow in the Divine life, needs work and struggle. In this aspiration the good part of the individual resides, the good of the community, the good of all mankind. Those who want to rest, and remain with the old understandings of Life, do not comprehend the active life of the new ideas, expressed by the parable of the new wine. Do you know how much time it took the vine-stock to gather that amount of wine, and furthermore, do you know its strength? Initially it is sweet, after that it becomes sharp, and finally it becomes so strong, if you drink too much of it you lose your normal condition. So he who wants to adopt the New teaching has to free himself from the old skins. If you do not have new skins, stay away; other, new people will come, and into them the new teaching will pour. It could be poured into you, too, but first you have to sell the old skins – to free yourselves from any desire and vice that will hamper you on your way to adopting the New teaching. In India there are famous snake-hunters which tame and send many specimens of snakes to Europe; to do this they use barrels where they put the snakes (from the smallest to the biggest ones, from the least to the most dangerous) and there they tame them. One evening, however, because of incautiousness while closing the barrel, the lid was not closed properly; during the night all of the snakes managed to escape from the barrel and coiled around their hunter; in the morning he woke up and when he saw what had happened, he did not make a move, because a single move could cost him his life – he had the presence of spirit to remain calm. After some time his servant arrived and started wondering why his master had not gone out yet; he opened the door and saw that all kinds of snakes coiled around his master. The servant, however, was very clever – he immediately went and fetched a big cauldron of boiled milk, and placed it in the room; the snakes, getting scent of the milk, uncoiled from his master and went to the milk. The Indian got up and carefully placed the snakes back into the barrel, while saying to himself: “That barrel must be closed well.” You will also find yourselves in the position of that snake-hunter some time, and then you will need presence of spirit, and milk – and that milk is the spirit of the Rational life. Christ says: “You should not pour new wine into an old skin, because it will unsettle you.” If some religious man becomes unsettled, he is an old skin that could not hold the new wine – the New teaching. Two ideas which collide cannot reconcile; the law of Moses states: “An eye for an eye.”, however, according to the teaching of Christ, the law is just the opposite – to love our enemies, and if they hit our cheek, to turn the other. How would you reconcile this new teaching with the old one, while keeping it too? The law of Moses is for an old skin, the teaching of Christ requires a new skin; according to the law of Moses, the old people are not capable of coping with the new, they want to grab their foe and take out his eyes so that he cannot see and find them, and the teaching of Christ says: “You can turn your opponents into friends, you can disarm them, and you can even make them serve you.” Now, let us come to the inner psychological meaning of the words of Christ. We must never think in life that we have completely understood the Truth, and that there is nothing left for us to study – then we would be such old skins that have stopped their development on Earth. – “We are learned.” – Yes, but what is your learning based on? – “We have read a lot of books.” – So what? We have to probe deeply into that philosophy that could straighten our lives and give us the happiness we are looking for. I have explained the word “happiness”2 to you before – which letters does this word contain? The letter ‘ш’3 three pillars, turned upwards – represents the human hand that is working; ‘т’ shows a directive or strength with which the work is thrust; after these two letters comes the ‘а’ – it is the human nose – it does not need only effort, but also wits, to know how to work; when you take the letter ‘с’, it represents the human heart, and when you turn it up, it will become a boat – that which is earned will be stored; in the letter ‘и’ there is a descent and an ascent – from up to down, and contrariwise; these two angles, when put next to each other, form the diameters of the circle – the wheel, which drives the car forward; ‘e’ shows the centre that you have to hold. And therefore you need a hand, strength, wits, heart, and an aim above. I will adduce an anecdote from our Bulgarian life. Here people believe that when fever comes, it is alive. A shepherd stopped by a bridge and started listening to what two fevers were talking about; one of them said that it would go and get that shepherd up on the mountain; the second one asked how the first one was planning to do that, and the first one answered: “I will get into the first spoon of milk he is going to have at the spring.” The shepherd, when he heard that they were talking about him, planned to take some safety precautions; the same day one of his sheep died, he skinned it, and from its pelt he made a skin. When the time for the fever approached, he put the first spoon of milk inside the skin and fastened it. Then the fever inflated the skin and shook it every day. In the autumn the shepherd unfastened the skin and let the fever go. Again the two fevers gathered by the bridge, and the first one said to the other: “I had the misfortune to get into the empty sheep skin!” You too, if you wanted to use the old skins, would look like that fever, and when they let you go, you would say: “We have learned how to shake skins.” I see such people constantly, and when they are let loose in Life, they say: “We have learned how to shake skins.” Such are the contemporary dogmatists, who only shake skins – “It is narrow for us”, they say. No, it is wide, but there is no food next to them. In the folk belief, which I just told you about, there is a whole philosophy: the judge must be brought to reason, because he incorrectly decides fate – for a new fate to come to the world. New wine must be ingested in our children, because it is Strength. Mothers who want to have good children have to be ingested with new ideas; if you have old ideas, I would not suggest child-bearing. Who are you going to give birth to? Scoundrels of life, which run into thousands. The Holy Writ says: “Breed and multiply”4; that does not mean giving birth to abortions, but to people in the image of God. This is the New teaching that Christ preaches and if understood will repair the world. Both the vine and the sap are within us; when one day our vine gives fruit, the sap of the grapes will start fermenting – it is an inexorable law in the world, and he who plans to live without fermenting does not understand Life. Christ also says: “Whoever wants to follow me, let him take his cross.”5; the new wine – that is the cross. The cross represents strength to those who understand. In the world there are various crosses, and people complain about them, but here is what Paul says about the cross: “I would vaunt with the cross of Christ.” You are complaining about your sufferings, and say that they are extraordinary, unbearable, but you look like the one who was complaining about the burden of his cross. Here is what happened to him: God said: - Take it from him. And he led him into a great hall, and told him: - In this hall there are big and small, silver, gold, iron and stone crosses – choose one. The man, when choosing, found a small cross, and said: - I want this little cross. - But that is the cross you have been wearing all along; that is the cross I had given to you – said God. We often overstate our sufferings, and want to alter our fate; we cannot alter it, and throw away the burden that we must bear. You would say: “When I fix those matters up, me and my wife, and even the children, will take the new path, and then the new wine will ferment.” If you are planning on settling your worldly matters, and then follow God, you are in for a big mistake. Upbringing is a process which must go simultaneously for everyone – the father, the mother, and the children; when the father and mother become brought up, their children will be brought up as well. I will adduce another example: they say that the American preacher Moody, once while he was preaching, a child that was listening to him asked his father: - Dad, why are you not singing? - I am solid in my faith, it is you who should be singing; these things are for you, we old folk have listened for all we are worth – he answered. The child then said to himself: “It is a very good thing I have a solid father.” One day the father put a horse to a small cab and went travelling, but somewhere at the top the horse stopped, and then the child said: - Dad, the horse got solid. Once we have stopped, we have become solid – we are an old skin, in which the new wine cannot ferment. And to think we are preparing for the Heavens, we are planning on going to Eden, to start living an angelic life, to understand Divine truth! How can we understand that when we are living in those cellars? That is why Christ turns and says: “New skins are required.” – Old people are old skins, young people are new skins; old people are not bothered by anything, but the young ones tell the old: “Let us pour some of the new wine into you too.” The old ones should not be given new wine – the old ones have finished their evolution, the new wine has to go through the arteries and veins of the new people. There is struggle within us; there is complaint, because the old wine and the new wine are battling. Christ wants to say: “Do not ingest the new wine in yourselves, unless you are ready”, so he says: “Cleanse yourselves first” – of every teaching and every philosophy; we can take advantage when we are clean. Plasticity in progress, upsurge spiritual – that is what the New teaching infers. If we could look inside the consciousness of the old man from an occult point of view, we would see a candle that is glimmering; if we looked at the new man, we would see his candle burning bright. We could compare the old man to the Earth which is lit by the Moon, and the young one – the Earth lit by the Sun. For the spiritual development new wine is necessary – let us ask ourselves if we have it. He who has drunk old wine and not tasted sweet wine says: “The old wine is better”, but the wine, once it ferments and settles, becomes old, and it cannot ferment any further. It can only make people drunk, cheer them up a bit, but make them work and progress – never. If we are woebegone, it is because our life is fermenting, the wine becomes sour or sharp, and it is no longer sweet. I have watched the Bulgarians who come out of the church and go to the tavern to drink, first they gather in pairs: “Give me a mug of the old wine – cheers!” – they drink a round or two; then the group increases to three-four people, they continue drinking and the conversation becomes more lively, the whole tavern starts talking; at some time a racket starts building up and before you know it – they have started beating somebody up. Why are they beating him up? He has not erected a hedge around his field – they have to beat him up in the tavern, so that he erects a hedge. That is not only in the taverns; visit the exchange markets, where there are commercial operations going on – you would say that all of the people there are mad; even a woman who had visited the market told her man: “Why did you bring me to that madhouse, I want you to bring me to noble people, not the market!” Once they have started quarrelling and separating at home, the wine has started to ferment – when they cannot create something new, they want to engross what belongs to another; just like a mother who cannot give birth takes somebody else’s child. Furthermore, for the new wine that will give us New life, which will teach us how to live and work and how to create strong relations between ourselves, new skins are required – that is the Teaching of Christ. They say it was not applicable – it is applicable. Just stop to think about it for five minutes every day; take that parable, read it, and stop to think about the new wine once a day – you will see what results there will be. Stop for five minutes and think about God, about the good people on Earth, who work without end, about the good mothers, who raise their children with patience, about the good fathers, who take care of their families – you will see what process this new wine will produce. The woman says: “I got married, but my husband is worthless.” – Well, who forced you to take an old skin? Do you know that this way you look like the man who, during the time of the Turks6, stole a donkey and told the judge: “I was on the pear-tree and I fell on the donkey, and it carried me away.” Tell yourselves: “What I need is new wine – in the heart, in ideas, and in the world alike.” Become sixty-eighty-year-old, about to get married and have children; I understand, there are exceptions, like Abraham, who gave birth to children in his old age, but he had new ideas, he was not old – today they get old at forty. – “Bless our children, we are done for!” – You are then an old skin, they have to put you in the cellar; you are a sluggard, who does not want to understand the Will of God. You have to say: “My God, I understood You, I now want to work for You, as a stripling does.” Down with your old age, put your old skins aside, take them away – people with old skins and old wine are not for the Divine Kingdom! I do not want them to pour their old wine out, but I want them to pour the new wine into new skins; once they catch that Divine thought, it will lift them up with its strength. They wonder how to train people; the method is very easy: when a boat at sea starts leaking, they put a stopper in the hole – if they do not put a stopper, the boat will sink. Check if your boat is not leaky, plug it up, and then you will be safe. Some days you are unhappy – you have a leak in your boat, your skin is cracked; there is no good in store for you if you do not plug the hole up. There are times when man has to be strictly obedient, like that child of a motorman whose house was near the railroad; the child was playing, and when the train approached, they shouted from afar: “Get down!” – The child obeyed, he ducked, and thus was saved. Sometimes they tell you: “Get down!” – “But why?” Get down, do not ask why – when the train comes, you will see why. There are dangerous moments when we have to kneel, and when the danger passes away, to thank God. But someone says: “I do not want to get used to the conditions, I do not want to be elastic” – You will get used to it; the rain will not take into consideration whether you are dressed or not; the Sun will also not take into consideration whether you can stand its light, it is you who has to get used to all the changes, and be ready to take them. The rain and the Sun do their job very well; let the Sun shine, let the sea undulate, let the old skins crack – this should not bother you, as God has decided to burst the old skins, and pour new wine into the new skins. If the people with old ideas and thoughts want to live under the new conditions, they are bitterly mistaken – such is the fate, such is the Divine law, God wants you to rejuvenate, to be reborn. – “How are we going to be born anew?” - Some will ask; you will be reborn, a new shape will form, in which you will put your Life – a real form, not a dream. If you could understand the law under which you now live, you would have been able to rejuvenate – how can this be? When you learn the law, you will renovate your soul inwardly. When speaking of Resurrection, I understand those forms with which God works inside us. We have to prepare the new skins; then God will say: “Bring them, so that we can pour the new wine into them.” Some would ask: “What is God now doing with the world?” He is preparing the new skins, he is creating new wine– and thus speaks Christ: “Father of Mine works, and I work with you.” And we have to be ready not to impair those skins, because it is a very easy thing to impair the mind and heart of man, and very difficult to repair. Let God see that you have begun to work. You are asking yourselves why this life is such; in the eyes of many I see they are intoxicated with old wine, they are dopey, they are drunk – they have to sober down, joy has to fill their hearts, because this world is created for you, with all conditions for your development. – “But the war, the sorrow.” – Ничего”7, as the Russians say. – “But a world is lost.” – Ничего7, nothing is lost – maybe thousands of houses will be destroyed; old skins, but new ones will be created. Now God is pouring the new wine into new skins. Only the intoxicated fight; men and women, if they are fighting – they are intoxicated. Where there is new wine, there is music, singing, conciliation – that is the Teaching of Christ. Read the Gospel put that teaching in yourselves, think for five minutes a day about the Eternal life, about God, about the good people, about the good mothers and fathers, about the good friends, think about something noble and it will elate you. Then you will understand the deeper things – oh, what things there are for you to study! But first of all you have to prepare for that understanding. – “What is the future life going to be like?” Excellent – that which you have not seen, heard, dreamed of. How will man see the beauty of the world when he is asleep? Your sleeping souls have to awaken – you have to put the cauldron of milk, in order to stow the evil away. Be carriers of the new wine, of the New teaching; preach Joy, Merriment to the world. And when you are suffering, say that you are suffering because you have not carried out the Divine law. We often say that circumstances create Life, but man also creates circumstances. I have already told you about an English lord who went with his daughter and his servant on a journey, and they were shipwrecked. So in the world you can be both master, and servant: if you have knowledge of how to apply the Divine laws – you are a master; if you do not know how to apply them – you are a servant. One who wants to reign has to be ingested with the New teaching – it carries the clue to Life. That shipwrecked lord, if he had not landed on the deserted island, he would not have known how to cultivate Life – he learned that art there. In Life we can lapse into misfortune – when someone becomes our master; let us learn to serve, and God will lead us out of the deserted island. Thank the Providence that you have landed on the island to learn how to cultivate grain, i.e. Life. So far you have not learned how to cultivate your mind and heart, and as a result there is hunger and dissatisfaction in you; you eat four-five times, you fatten, you groan – there is such obesity also in your mind. And that fatness has to be converted into energy; you have noticed that people who work intensely mentally, who are active spiritually, never grow fat. Should you accumulate fat, put it in the car of the spiritual life, and move towards realizing some noble dreams of yours – there lays your welfare. July 12, 1915 (Sofia, July 25, 1915 - Old Style) 1 The word “skin” is used in the meaning of “bag” through the text. 2 “Щастие” in bulgarian. It is pronounced [shtastie]. 3 The bulgarian letter щ [sht] is comprised of two consonants: ш [sh], and т [t]. 4 Again should be a quote from the Bible. 5 Again should be a quote from the Bible 6 The turkish slavery, which lasted 500 years. Although this sounds more like an anecdote than actual event. 7 Russian word which means “Nothing”. 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