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The Great Conditions of Life “As the Father knows me and I also know the Father and I lay my soul for the sheep.” (John 10:15) „As the Father knows me and I know the Father“ – one of the important verses in form, content and meaning. This verse should be placed away from the ordinary human consciousness in order to be understood. Only he can understand the inner meaning of the verse, who knows the language of the sun, the light and the warmth, the air and the water, the dew drop and the wind. The language of the sun is rich, beautiful and meaningful. Whoever knows this language can penetrate the inner meaning of life. Father and son are common words, known not only to humans but also to animals. And the mammal knows his father; And the father knows his son and daughter. Observe the animals and you will become convinced of that. If the horse sees his daughter in a herd of horses, he pushes her out. Indeed, animals do not have the understanding and culture of modern humans, but they also have an inner sense of the Divine Order and obey it. Passing birds know exactly the time of their passage.The spider for example carries the art of spinning. He puts out such a thin and durable thread that the most modern spinners cannot achieve. It will be argued that man is created in the image and likeness of God. This vesre is related to the first man and not the one who has sinned. The man after the fall is said to be in a slavish image. And Christ humbled when he saw himself in this image. It follows that until a man humbles and knows his Father, he cannot think he is bearing the image of God. Why do people suffer? – In order to humble. Why do animals suffer?- For the same reason. When the bull directs his horns towards his master, the latter onе goads him several times and humbles him. Similarly, God directs his goad to the man who wants to punch, kick and bite. Whoever punches and kicks a lot passes as a big philosopher and critic, with particular views about life, who however often comes across the goad. What is the cause for the suffering of the people of today?– The illusions which they live with. Everyone thinks what is not, everyone imagines things as they are not. The mother imagines she is an ideal mother and if she is not recognised as such, she suffers. The Father, sister, brother also think they are better than they actually are and when they are not recognised as such , they suffer. Which are the qualities of the mother and father? Which woman do we call a mother? Which man is a father? The woman is a mather while the man a father not only in shape. The concepts of ‚mother’ and ‚father’ are comprised of great content and meaning in themselves. The mother says the child has come out of her, i.e she has given birth to him and hence she is a mother. What would you then say for the pipe from which the water runs out? Therefore, not everything that comes from or follows from man is born by him. Modern people have lost the inner meaning of language which is why they have confused the concepts about life. However, Christ says: „As the Father knows me and I know the Father“; and I lay my soul for the sheep.“ It is said in the Scripture: Father loves his Son.“ This means- God has put his life in Christ and self-sacrificed through Him. Christ is a reflection of God, and therefore, God knows Him. God is love which manifests through the Son. The Father knows the love that he has embedded in his son. This is why Christ says: “As the Father knows me, I also know Him.“ It is impossible for the son to not know the love that his father has invested in him. It is said in the Scripture: „God has loved the truth in man“. Whoever realises this, he is a beaerer of the truth, he never fails, never lies. The one who loves the truth lives in light. The one who denies the truth lives in shadow, darkness. This is the reason for the mistakes, which we constantly come across. It is impossible for a man to search for things in the darkness and find them. It is impossible to move in the darkness and not to make mistakes. Everything is in its place in the Divine world. In the human world things are mixed up. This is the reason for which people have lost the meaning of their lives. Whoever wants to make sense of their life, needs to put his thoughts and feelings in their designated places. Put your thoughts and feelings in a strictly defined mathematical ratio and your life will be meaningful. Search for the meaning of all phenomena in nature and life in order to make sense of your life. Each phenomena has two sides: a positive or good side and a negative or bad one. The wind for example brings dust but simultaneously it purifies the air and revives the human thought. The wind moves the clouds at places and brings rain, while at other- draught. Water and wind cultivate the soil, but they can not age the sowed seeds themselves. The light and warmth should come in their aid in order that the life sowed in the earth gets ressurected or revived. Light brings striving while the warmth – movement, the light defines the direction and aim ,while the warmth gives power for the realisation of the aim; light directs life upward where it descends from while the heat impulses and expands it. The Word, i.e. the seed in life is Christ, because he says ’I know the One who gives me life and shows me the path. I see the light that shows me the goal, I feel the warmth that expands and moves me to the aim of my life. As I know the light, warmth and life, i also know my Father’. Christ also says: ‚I also lay my soul for the sheep“. So, whatever the attitude of the Christ soul to the human beings is, such is the the attitude of the air, water, light and warmth to the plants. Christ has to water the soil of our life, to fill it with light and warmth in order for the Divine to be revived. Just as Love ressurrected Christ, it will also resurrect the human soul.This is why, knowledge of the Father and Son is necessary. Knowing means understanding and applying the great law of love, which saves and resurrects. Salvation will neither come from the water nor from the air or earth. Salvation comes from the Sun of Life, who is bearer of the light and warmth. Water symbolises hope, while air- the faith. If you have water in yourself, you will also have faith. Hope and faith exist in the world but people have not accepted and applied them. Faith develops the mind, while hope - the heart. Rejoyce in that water flows while air moves and forms winds for they urge people to think and feel. Why do tests and suffering come? – In order to increase the faith, hope and love of people. Whatever the relationship between water, air and light is, such is the relationship between faith, hope and love. Whoever wants to strengthen their faith, hope and love has to consciously work on themselves. Which fighter has acquired strength withought doing excercises and developing his mussels? The hero is a strong person but he has worked on his mussels for years. The philospher is characterised with strong mind and deep thought because he constantly works with his brain. The virtuous man has a good heart because he is constantly excercising it. Water also gets purfied after it passes through a series of processes: precipitation, percolation and evaporation. Nothing is achieved suddenly and completely. To many, efforts are seen as meaningless and stupid but it must be known that the wise and clever things lie in the seemingly stupid, while the stupid - in the seemingly wise and smart ones. When a man thinks he is very smart, he stops working and looses everything he has acquired. When the rich man thinks only about his fortune and relies on it, he gradually becomes impoverished. Such people go in and come out of their home without working and in the end do not acquire anything. They resemble the drones that buzz , come in and out of the hive without bringing a drop of honey. Today, in the Divine Hive, there are a lot of drones, which the bees themselves kill and throw out. Those drones that survive, go around the hive and buzz, they expect better conditions in order to go inside and eat from the ready made honey. Christ says: „As the Father knows me , so do I also know the Father and I lay my soul for the sheep.“ Let everyone says: ‚As the Father knows me so do I also know Him“. The one that knows his Father, takes the plough and hoe and goes to plough and dig. As the child moves in order to find her mother and suckle, so does the man have to lift up and put the hoe in the earth- his suckling mother who feeds him. When the child grows teeth, she begins to chew. The mother is glad that the child chews bread, fruit and crushes them with her teeth withought thinking of the sacrifice which they make for her. After all this, people ask themselves why suffering and unhappiness come. The answer is simple. – People suffer in order to learn the law of the sacrifice. Plants, fruit and animals sacrifice themselves for people, while poeple should sacrifice themselves for the beings that are higher than them. „As the Father knows me “. Knowledge has something to do with the sacrifice. You can only sacrifice yourself for this one who you know. That is why, Christ says: As the Father sacrifices for me from love, so do I manifest His love“. The sacrifice is a Divine law, which has to penetrate into the minds and hearts of people, to make them strong. The sacrifice is related to love. Only the one who loves can sacrifice himself. Where love is absent, life looses its meaning and man relies on the people and not on God. He searches for light, warmth and strength from outside and not from the Divine self within himself. The Divine is recognised according to the sacrifice and love. The power of man lies in love not in words. Whoever talks only about love rather than manifests it is like an empty barrel that makes noise and does not give anything. Words devoid of content and meaning are like commercial adverts that aim at advertising the goods and increase their price. You will say that you love the wheat, fruit and vegetables. Who doesn’t love things they benefit from? You love the apple and pear but you will chew them with your teeth. You like the wheat but you will put it under the millstone. It will be argued that fruit and wheat sacrifice themselves for man. They sacrifice, but forcibly, not voluntarily. The true sacrifice is a voluntary, free act. The ripe fruit falls alone from the tree and sacrifices itself but if you pick it green you apply force on it. Therefore, the sacrifice takes place on time and voluntarily. „As Father knows me“. By speaking of knowing the Father, people want to hear His voice, to speak to them. God can speak to men, but they must know His languge and understand Him. If they do not understand Him, they will always argue whether the Lord has spoken to man or not. The Lord has spoken and is speaking, but not to all people. If the king enters one of his stalls and caresses his best horse, it shows that he has spoken to him. This horse may say he has spoken to the king, but the others either have to believe his words or deny the truth that the king can talk to the horses. So God has spoken in the past, speaks in the present, and will speak in the future, but only to those who have love. Where there is no love, the word of God is not heard. If anyone says that God has spoken to him, I will ask him: Are you ready to sacrifice yourself for God, for mankind, for your people? – ‚I'm not ready yet. " If you're not ready for a sacrifice, and God can not talk to you. It is impossible for God to speak to a man, and the man not to be ready for a sacrifice. It is impossible for the stone to sit all day in the sun and not to warm up. If they are exposed in the sun, both the stone and the tree become warm. God speaks to a man only under certain conditions, in certain relationships when He wishes, not when the man requires it. God alone sets the moment when He has to speak to one soul. Millions of wheat grains are in the barn, but they will not all be sown. Part of them will be thrown into the field, while the rest will become bread. Only the advanced souls will hear the voice of God and will recognise Him. - Who is advanced? – The one who is strong in mind, in heart and in soul; that is who carries within himself the faith, hope, and love. He who perceives and absorbs things, as the absorbent paper swallows water does not have a strong mind. Then it will come out that the photographic plate is strong too. It is enough to bring it to light in order to print the images that fall into its path. In fact, it is due to the light, not to it. Good comes out of light, and man combines the conditions in such way that allows the light to manifest itself. Man looks like his portrait, but the portrait is not a live photograph. The artist has painted your image well, has put the respective colours on the face, and has made you beautiful, but that is not real beauty. Do not be deluded by external things. Many live in delusions which is why they have wrong perceptions about life. One looks at herself complacently in the mirror and says to herself: I am rounded, healthy, beautiful and also rich. – Don’t be misled, these are photgrpahes in your mind that can be replaced with new ones at any moment. Any philosopher or scientist can break your happiness. It is enough to read a pessimistic book to say that life does not make sense and lose your happiness. If love has deeply penetrated the human soul, no force in the world can take away the peace that God has put into it; No power in the world is able to take away the light of the human mind and the warmth of his heart. That is, living in reality. When he comes out of this reality, man loses his peace and seeks help from outside. Faith is necessary to man: faith in God, in neighbor, and in himself. „As Father knows me, so I know Father“. This verse implies son’s attitude. The son does this which the Father does; the father also does this which the son does. In other words said: as Father has put life into me, so can I put life into others. You will say that only Christ talks like this but not a man. If you are a photographic plate it is so, but if the light is within and outside you, you will do that which Christ does. Why should not everyone say like Christ that as Christ knows his Father so does he know Him and lays is soul for His sheep. Don’t think it is brave to compare with Christ. Christ came to the earth to show the man the path on which he has to go through. Due to Christ’s self-sacrifice, there are 500 million christians today whom Christ knows. Why should the Christians then not know their Savier? Which father does not know his son today and which son – his father? Which maid when she falls in love with a man does not love his father. The girl says to her beloved: ‚I am prepared to lay my life for you and follow your path.’ As soon as the ones in love understand and recognise eachother, they also know God. This happens every day in the ordinary life but as soon as a word about the spiritual is mentioned, everyone gets scared of it. There is something scary in life - these are the teeth of death. However, love is a powerful force that brings joy, happiness and activty to man. Love is necessary to the people of today so that when they are filled with it to say: We know Christ as he knows us and we lay our lives for His sheep. This is the new tecahing that makes life meaningful and releases it from hardship and unnecessary suffering. Why do people of today suffer? – Because they live in illsuions and delusions which are destroyed every day. There is no man in the world who is free from illsuions and delusions but this doesn’t mean that he needs to deal with them all day. The little girl plays with her doll, while the little boy- with his horse but this doesn’t mean that they have to give up eating because the doll and horse cannot eat with them. A man should eat, work and develop and the delusions will one by one abondon him. It will be objected that God should take the delusions, hardships and suffering away. If suffering is taken away, every activity and initiative of the human being will be stopped. This is impossible. You will live, make mistakes, suffer and will rectify your mistakes on your own. Concsiously or subconsciously, you can break the leg of your brother, but God will teach you the art of curing broken legs. You will get your brother’s eye out but God will teach you to cure eyes, to put new eyes in the place of the ones that have been pulled out. You will kill someone but you will become a mother in another life, you will collect the requisite material in order to build a new house for the murdered one. He will become your child in order to understand how much a man’s life is worth. This is how you will learn the law of addition and subtraction. – Giving birth is a scary thing. – It is scary but you need to learn to build. The more difficult a woman gives birth the more bills she has to pay. When a woman is giving birth, she needs to turn to God with a request to be taught to fulfill His will. – Why does man suffer?– In order to learn something new, to understand the Divine will and realise it. What do people of today do? – When they are joyous, they are satisfied; when they suffer, they grumble and search for the reason outside of them. There is someone at fault for people’s suffering but who is to blame? This is a task with three unknowns: The fault may be in God, your neighbour or yourselves. The most important is to understand who is the main culprit. In reality, the fault is in teh man who wants his doll or horse to eat with him. The son has made a series of crimes and the mother wants the Divine blessing to come upon him. I tell the mother: Do not expect this which your son cannot benefit from. Call the doctor to lay him in bed and massage him - his leg is dislocated and has to be adjusted before the Divine blessing comes upon him. The hearts of some people are dislocated while others – have dislocated minds. They have to be adjusted. What a bigger blessing one can expect than the adjustment of the dislocated body part in the human organism? This is a necessary phisiological process, which the whole humankind is going through. If your stomach is upset and cannot digest the food, it will be better if you spend a few days in deprivation than burdening it with unncessary material or the food to rot in it and new complications to appear. When will people get better?– When everyone says: „As Christ knows me, so do I know Him and lay my soul for His sheep.’ Many ask themselves how this verse is related to their life. Why is it necssary to know God and Christ? This verse is related to the human life, for every human being is a sheep in God’s flock. God has sacrificed His life because of him. It is enough for you to understand this thought in order to experience the Divine blessing on yourselves. As the sun energy does not reach you directly but passes through the etheral space first, so does the Divine Love reach to people through Christ Who is a mediator. A man is not what he externally manifests. From the outside, he is nothing else but a small poor little house. A day will come when he will leave his small house and will start working consciously on himslef in order to prepare a new, hygenetic one. A day will come when the human being will make a new, healthy body which he will become the master of. However, only this one can become a master, who has been a slave. Christ has been a master in the Heavens, a Divine Son but with his descending to the Earth, He put on the image and accepted the status of a slave. So he showed to people how to serve. Even today, people still serve one another, torture eachother, grumble and do not know how to get rid of this situation. One thing is needed from the people of today: humility and knowledge of God and Christ. When you leave for the other world, the first question you will be asked is: Did you sacrifice your life for Christ’s sheep? Therefore, humility, knowledge and self-sacrifice are the first qualities that the man of today needs. Only in this way, he will make his life better and will head towards the greatest purpose of his existence - the immortality. Why do people fail in their lives? Because they do not aim at pleasing God; they want to please eachother This is impossible. You can be polite, kind and helpful to people but you can never satisfy them. If you meet a hungry person feed him. If you meet a thursty one, give him water. In both cases, however, do not expect from them to be satisfied and grateful to you - there will always be something about which they will be unhappy with you. Even now God is trying to please and satisfy people but He has not achieved any result. It is a great science to satisfy the man. First, God will apply this science and then people. Even to this day, no person has be found who can satisfy people in order that they can be grateful to him. A mother thinks that she has satisfied her child. Let her leave her child hungry for a few hours to see how much she has satisfied him. And the man is happy with his wife when he is fed. As soon as he gets hungry, he becomes unhappy. Only the light remains loyal to people. It cannot change, or manifest as both light and darkness. The Light always remains light. It reveals things as they are. Nothing remains hidden before it. Light is related to the Truth. As the light reveals all hidden things so does the truth touch everyone regardless of where it passes by. The truth reveals man in all his nakedness. You will say that the truth is scary. – Why is it scary?- because it undresses the man. What’s wrong with nudity? Thinking that nudity is a bad thing, shows the tarnished and perverted human thought. The animal essence of the human can be neither cultivated nor ennobled. Regardless of how much he is being cultivated, he will ultimately manifest his nature. An Englishman found a small tiger somewhere in India and took it with him in order to tame it. One day, caught up in his thoughts, he dozed off. His already tamed and grown up tiger who had constantly been leeking his hand out of gratitude was sitting near his feet. However, the skin of his hand got rubbed sore from the sharp tongue of the animal and started to bleed. The smell of the blood awoke the wild instinct of the animal, which was preparing to throw itself over its master. If he does not consciously work on himself, a man always comes across unwanted manifestations of his nature, which destroy the good and beautiful in him. Often when in good spirit, a negative thought that starts to strungle and torture him, appears in man’s mind. If a negative state of mind takes hold of you, turn to Christ in your thought, without talking to Him, and he will transform your state. The Light visits you without you talking to it. It suffice that you open for it in order that it enlightens and shines upon you. It is said in the Scripture that many words lead to a sin. Some religious people think that they can put their affairs to right only through prayers. It is not the case. If you want to put your affairs to right and be healthy, lie down on the heated earth and direct your look upwards where the light comes from. When the earth is cold, turn your back to the sun while you look to the earth. Many men of the world are rich, scientists and healthy because they expose their backs to the sun in order to benefit from its light and warmth. The religious people who think that they are connected with Christ do not expose themselves to the sun and therefore they gradullay become poor. It is a law: if you want to be rich, a scientist and healthy expose your back to the sun. In this way, you will know God and Christ. If you are angry or hate someone expose your back to the sun, direct your sight to the earth and it will take the poison that has penetrated your blood. The sun and earth are people’s best healers and teachers. Someone wants God to talk to him. Before talking to people, He has talked to the earth - their mother. Your mother is beautiful and good but when you don’t know her you find her black and rough. The earth is black and rough because it works for its children. It looks after the small grass, all plants and trees and all living creatures that crawl on it. Doesn’t the mother do the same? She works the whole day for her children in order to feed and bring them up. Her hands are black and rough but she lifts and puts the hoe down while her daughter is sitting in the shade at home with a white face and soft hands, but in the end, the soul of the mother becomes beautiful and noble while the one of the daughter remains rough and crude. Often you meet cultural people, christians with smooth faces and hands, and a noble look but outwardly only, in form. Their deeds are not pious. In cotrast to them, you meet a rough peasant, with a burnt face but a noble soul. He has drunk a little bit more than he has to do, he could hardly walk, but when he sees an honest person, he becomes immediately sobre and says: ‚Apologies brother but I got drunk as a donkey.’ With this he wants to say that he has done something that is not in accordance with the Divine laws. In fact, he hasn’t got drunk as a donkey because the donkey does not drink anything else but pure water . The words ’ got drunk as a donkey’ mean one of the qualities of the donkey - its genuineness. A man becomes genuine and willing to speak the truth only when he gets drunk. When he is sobre, he thinks, beats about the bush, filtrates his words so that he first could swim above the water like butter. „As my Lord knows me, so do I know the Lord, and I lay my soul for the sheep’. A day will come when all people will know their Father, will be ready to speak the truth and sacrifice their lives for His sheep. This means an attitude of a son towards his father and one of the father towards his son. God is great because he has first sacrificed His life for His children; He has looked after them and is constantly doing so without asking for anything in return. One is people’s duty towards their Father - to fulfill His will. If they don’t fulfill it, He does not judge them but searches for the reason about that and helps them. He sees the people’s helplessness and does not judge it but He teaches and helps them. What differentiates the human manifestations from the Divine ones? The former are devoid of truth and love, while the latter are penetrated with truth and love. The Divine manifests light and joy. As soon as this light goes into the man, it manifests as intelligence. Everything in the world moves around the light. It is the end goal of the Genesis. The meaning of life is when a man merges with the light that comes from God. A few acquire such light. Christ carried the Divine light within Himself and manifested it as wisdom and knowledge. He came among people in ordert o show them how to live in order to achieve the idea of their souls. He went through such suffering that to this day noone has ever known of. People have gone through and are still passing through different suffering, big and small but have not yet come to the Christ suffering. That is why, Christ sits above all people. Many times, man will come back to the Earth until he acquires the light which will take him to God. When a man is being born and reincarnated, as well as works consciously on himself, he sculptures his face until he presents himself to God as a completed and perfect picture. A human face is full of many shortcomings and uncultivated features, but the human must work and move forward. Everyone must say to himself: I know God as He knows me; I love Him as He loves me; I will sacrifice myself for him as he sacrifices Himself for me. Tell this to yourselves, begin to work quietly and calmly without discouraging yourselves. Whoever rushes and wants to achieve something soon, he only discourages himself. The rushed things do not lead to good results. A young man has visited a famous German professor in philosphy in order for the latter to recommend a short course to him - to study philosphy in short amount of time. The professor thought for a shortwhile and responded to him: When God wants to create a pumpkin, He uses only six months; when He wants to create an Oak tree, He needs tens of years. Therefore, if you want to lead a Christian life with the requirements of the pumpkin, you will spend little time on working on yourselves. If you live with the requirements of the oak tree, you will work consciously on yourselves for decades; if you want to perfect and purify yourselves like the diamond you will work even more. Lots of work is required from a man in order to harmonise his mind, heart and will. A man’s look and movements need to be harmonious. In this way, he influences his close ones and elevates them. As the harmonious movements affect people and elevate them so do the dishramonious movements affect them and lower their mood. Be careful with yourselves and your close ones. As the sun light comes through the windows of the houses so does the Divine light have to come through a man’s eyes to light up his way. It is enough that one candle illuminates one’s path in order for one to understand where he is going. The Light is a live serman that everyone needs. – Why people should be preached to?– This is a necessity for the one who preaches and for that one who is preached to. – Why the mother has to give birth? – this is a necessity for herself and her close ones. This is so necessary as is necessary for the man to eat, drink, breathe, think, feel and act. To preach to people it means to give an opportunity to God to manifest as light and warmth and in order to light up people’s paths and warm them.– Is it possible without preaching? - No it is not. People are preached in many ways: through talking and silence, through the light, warmth and air. Often nature is silent, quite, but one perceives its vibrations without any contradiction or confusion. A man needs a bright mind in order to perceive love without hate, the truth without lie, the wisdom without stupidity. This is what it means the man to know his Father and say as Christ: ‚As my Father knows me and so do I know Him and I am ready to sacrifice myself for His sheep.“ What are the sheep which Christ is talking about? They are Divine souls who go through a process of development. They are compared with the sheep and not the goats because the first ones are meak and unevil, ready to sacrifice voluntarily. All animals, plants, insects and butterflies are a symbol of something Divine. For example, the butterfly with its beautiful colours and patterns manifests something Divine. God talks throught it too. Nature is alive. God talks through it and preaches to people. Look how and what the butterfly eats. It sucks the sweet nectar of the flowers and shows a way of eating to people that is more pure than the one they follow nowadays. Whoever wants to protect themselves from mistakes and crimes should study the life of butterflies. Study the colours, patterns which they are filled with in order to understand the great philosophy that is hiden in them. The book of life is great and so is its language. Every little grass and insect are a letter of this language. Combine the letters of nature in syllables, and the syllables in words, the words- in whole sentences in order to compose the great thoughts of life. Put love and truth as foundation of the eternal life while the wisdom as decoration! Only in this way will you know your Father and sacrifice your life for His sheep. Only in this way will you understand and apply the Christ teaching which echo is carried away in the whole nature and enlivens it and makes it spiritual. I wish you to know God and Christ and to rejoyce in the light future which is expecting you. Sunday Lectures 12.01.1919 Sunday, Sofia Превод от Пролетина Жонес

The Book - The Salt. Beinsa Douno A Divided Kingdom "And knowing their thoughts He said unto them, ‘Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand."1 "Divide and dominate" is the slogan of the world today as well as of every home, every mother, every father, every daughter, every son, every chief, every king, every nation and every culture. If someone asks me about the reasons for the suffering of humanity, I shall answer that the slogan, "Divide and dominate" is the reason. Therefore, as long as you have this slogan, misfortune will follow you as the shadow follows its master. Christ says, "Every kingdom, every organized life, every organized nation divided cannot stand." I shall tell you why it cannot stand. Every house implies the conditions from which all benefits flow, since the kingdom is built upon the home. Christ says, "If a kingdom is divided, the house cannot stand either." Therefore, both the kingdom and the house will collapse together, or in the commercial language - they will go bankrupt. To go bankrupt is to become a slave, an ox yoked in the field with a person with a prick behind you saying, "Since you have studied how to divide and dominate, come on now - plough!" Today all Bulgarians in the fields preach this teaching all the time, "Go on, son, divide and dominate, divide one furrow from another." You say, "How nice these fields look!" But I ask you, "Cannot wheat grow in the earth without it being divided?" In the distant past, before the existence of human beings, how did all fruit and flowers grow? The way all plants are cultivated today is new. A man says, in order that my wife should cook better, she needs spanking." The mistress says, "If my maid-servant is to tend to her work better, she should not go out often and needs spanking now and then." Whenever the maid comes back from some place, her mistress immediately gets angry and demands to know where she had been loafing all that time. However, what is the result of the present order of life? Every person, rich or poor, hungry or fed, feels a nervousness, a discontentment, like something is lacking. What will happen if your heart, your stomach, your eyes, your hands and feet and some other part of your body separates from it? Today people act according to the Law of Division as sons and daughters are divided from their parents. If you enter a religious society, there you will also find division. The heart, the stomach, the brain and the lungs in all people are not at their places, they are divided. They say that worldly people quarrel about money, but what are religious people quarreling about? Therefore, money is not the cause of this hassle, it is only a condition for that. Why do men and women quarrel, why do brothers and sisters quarrel, what is the reason for that? It is a false idea that people think they will be happier this way. Only unorganized things can be divided, organized things are not divided. You cannot divide virtues, for if you divide them, evil is born. If the bottles in which you carry water crack and fall to pieces, where will your water be stored? If the inkpot of a student breaks and the ink is spilled, what will become of the white dress of the student? It will be stained. The inkpot will say, "Since the teaching is divide and dominate, I became divided and where the black spots are - that is my dominion." Christ says, "Every house divided against itself shall not stand," i.e. when division appears, no rational life can progress any longer. The home is the Emblem (Symbol) of Love; it cannot stand if instability arises or evil, hatred, oppositions are born for these are nothing but gaps. The first impression of gaps is awkwardness. If we step on marshy ground where there is no hard footing, we sink. Therefore, division causes gaps in life that are the places of evil. In present day life, in order to organize a society, it is necessary that all gaps should be filled up. You have strong teeth, but in time a small cavity appears in which the deposited food particles start decaying and the tooth begins to disintegrate and emit a bad smell. Why does it smell badly? Because there are cavities in the tooth. It is in a process of division and its particles are in conflict. Someone asks me, "Why do I have a headache?" Because there are cavities inside. "My stomach aches." Because you have cavities inside. If a particle wants to separate itself from an organ, quitting its job, and if there is no other cell to substitute it; an unhealthy condition in the given place arises, which is nothing other than an interruption of the existing divine bond. If you have failures in life, they are due to this great law. In such cases the doctors say that the cells in such a place have fallen ill. When there is division in us, we feel awkwardness. When does division take place? When avarice appears, i.e. the feeling of possessing and dominating which is called individualization. By the process of division nations have arisen, as well as the home and so on. This process is admissible in nature, but there is no life in it. In cosmogony it is called chaos. Billions of years ago there were great wars among the gods in the space in which they used enormous cannons. The worlds were created by the volleys of these cannons. Out of fatigue, these gods diminished and became the small people who are reasoning today about great questions - "We divided the world after creation" - not realizing they created it. I say, "You gave God the materials, you brought the stones out of which God created the world." The human body is formed the same way. At first there was struggle among the small cells and after they were exhausted, God brought them together and today they all form the human organism. We say, "How wonderfully people are made!" Christ says to His disciples, "No work can succeed, if there is division." You accept a thought and then you doubt, "Am I right?" I say, "You are divided and that is why you cannot have any success." You decide to build a house, or to take up some science, but you start wavering. You will not succeed if you are divided. If a girl and a young man doubt each other, they should not marry. Doing this, both men and women today begin to play with each other during their whole life, creating a fire in which they eventually burn up. In this way the whole family will disappear because division entered therein. Learned people say in such a case, "This family degenerated," but I say, "There is division in this family." Someone may ask me, "Shall I enter the Kingdom of God?" If there is division in you, you cannot enter It. "Shall we become learned, shall we be saved, shall we be good?" If you are divided, you will not become learned, you will not succeed or become good." You will ask me, "But can a person not be divided?" Yes, they can. The process of division is mechanical, not spiritual. In the world there must not be any spiritual division. What you call division, for instance the sprouting of a tree, is not division, but multiplication. Multiplication is an organic process. Division is the breaking of ties with the very source of life. People today frequently create bad thoughts themselves. We see a person aspiring to God but we doubt the purity of their intentions and say: "The reasons they are aspiring to God are not religious or noble, but some devil has obsessed them." We act as some Jew. Today all people accuse the Jews, but the word "Jew" is not bad, it has a deep meaning. Everyone bearing a cross and suffering is a Jew. Why do they suffer? Because they have not learned the deep meaning of this word. Some will ask me, "But what does the word "Bulgarian" mean?" Some philologists say that the word comes from the word boulg`our2, but that is not its origin. Then I would ask you, "But where has boulg`our come from?" In the original language every word had a definite meaning. All languages today are translations of an Ancient Divine Language, which is also the original one. Three languages originally sprang from it: Chinese, Hebrew and Sanskrit. The Chinese write vertically starting from the top down, that is the first translation. Hebrew is written from right to left, while in Sanskrit the writing is from left to right, i.e. from east to west. That is how we also write. The Chinese language is positive, but the other two are passive - from them sprang the rest of the languages. The Turkish word iş3 signifies the original being working. Hebrew has the yod4, while other languages, such as French, have the double u - w. The Turks say, işbu5, meaning that we must listen to that Being which is working within us. We know this root and say, "Shia,"6 i.e. I am doing something. He Who sent me originally to the earth taught me to work. Christ says, "Every Kingdom divided against itself shall not stand." Let us take the following example: if the child in the womb of its mother wished to be separate in the very first month or if the mother wants to part with it, she will abort it. This can happen from the first to the ninth month. When the ninth month is over, the child does not separate but it is born. This process has reached its final stage and the child is born. Everything that has started working finishes its cycle. Therefore, each kingdom which does not reach the end of its way shall not stand. I want you to observe this law, which has relevance in your life. Some ask me, "Why did these misfortunes come to us?" You have divided something within yourselves. What will happen if your heart and mind become divided? Some say, "Let me have a mind, I don’t need a heart." Others say, "Let me have a heart, I don’t need a mind." These are delusions. A young woman says, "I am looking for a young man with less brains and more money." Happiness does not rest on money. Often people say, "In order not to suffer, one must not love." Unhappiness springs from the fact that when a Divine Thought or Divine Feeling comes to us, we want to abort it. This gives rise to great suffering. Therefore such a house, such a society, such people of learning all degenerate and new people come in their place. In the verse I read to you, Christ makes two comparisons: every kingdom and every house. Christ says, "If I cast out evil spirits by God’s Spirit, the Kingdom of God has come to you." Christ does not say that He separates, but that He casts out the evil spirits. Casting out and dividing are two different concepts. For a man to cast out his wife and to separate from her are two different things. If you cast a person out, that means you are looking for another place where they can work; while if you separate that is to break the bond the person had which provided they with conditions to work. When someone tells you there is no God, they separate you. When a man assures his wife that she can live with another man just as well, he has separated her. She starts living with one man after another to her undoing. This is a general law. The Turks say that a rolling stone cannot make a foundation. Some say, "Let us change our ideas," but changing ideas and rolling from one place to another are two different things. To change ideas is one thing; but to roll ideas another thing. To change oxen is one thing, but to turn them into flat sausages or dried meat is quite a different thing. Now we wish to reform present-day society, but the first thing we must learn is to stop dividing. For that, you should learn the art of uniting. It is a very easy thing to divide, but it is a very difficult thing to unite. When the word "divide" comes to your mind, let its opposite, "unite", appear as well and you will learn in time to transform dividing into uniting. You can separate only the unseen things in your organism. Therefore, the hidden law in this verse is: The first and most important thing is not to divide what is good. The religious, the good people must not be divided. In America there are many outstanding ministers, but often people start gossiping and want to substitute one minister with another. If that is done, will the world be set right? In some countries, people are dissatisfied with their king, calling him a bad person and wishing to substitute him by another king. Such endless divisions appear also within us. The evil lies in the fact that we want to change one thing for another. Do you think that the second king, knowing there is a dethroning, a changing, will not take precautions to keep his throne by creating an army with a cavalry and setting up prisons and scaffolds for the criminals? And what is all this that he will perform? Nothing but division. By this he wants to say, "Instead of me losing my throne, you will lose your place." I ask you: what is wrong with the king keeping his place if he is not disturbing you? Would a cock disturb you if he perched on a hedge or a tree and crowed? I have seen children throwing stones at a cock when he crows, but he says: "Why should I not sing in this place?" You are a cock and can take one place; but in this world there is room for thousands of cocks. Then I say - in life the cocks must crow and the hens must cackle. The crowing of the cocks forecasts nice weather, while the cackling of the hens means that the divine work given them to perform is completed. If a hen tries to crow like a cock that is not a good sign. When a cock crows he says to the hen, "There are favorable conditions for you to lay your egg." Then he walks around the hen, asking her, "Did you finish your work?" "Yes." "Well, then, I am glad we accomplished a fine work for the Lord in this world," the cock answers. But more people ask, "Why does the cock crow, why does the hen cackle?" The hen says, "Give me more work." People say about someone that he sings like a cock or that she cackles like a hen. I respect all men who sing like a cock and all women who cackle like hens, but only after they have finished their work. Religious people often cackle before finishing their work, before the egg is laid. What is the meaning of the laying of an egg? These religious people have a project, for instance, to form a society and start talking about it - how they will form it, what they will do and so on, but they only talk and do not act. A young maiden draws up a plan for her life and starts dreaming how she will marry, how she will live with her husband, how she will bring up her children, but all this is cackling before the work is done. When you have a plan, begin to sing, this is the song of the cock; but when you finish your work, cackle. When one thinks, they must sing; but when one feels, one must cackle. When I say that a person must cackle when thinking (these are synonyms), I mean that there is a similarity between thinking and singing. Cackling and feeling are also synonyms. I am explaining a philosophy and it makes no difference whether you sing or cackle. It means that people are free to sing or cackle, i.e. whom the Lord has asked to sing, let them sing, and whom He has asked to cackle, let them cackle. But if the cock refuses to crow and the hen- to cackle, there is division. Many women ask, "Why has the Lord made me a woman?" That you may cackle, which is an excellent work. It means that you must announce to the world that the work is finished. When a cock starts crowing, it shows that the work is in the beginning stage; but when a hen cackles, it shows that the work is at its end. I say that the tail of the snake is much more important than its head. The snake catches its victim by its tail; the wolf catches its victim by its mouth; the horse kills its victim by its hooves; but most animals use their tails. The tail is woman, i.e. that member of the general organism who finishes the work. The head begins the work but the tail finishes it. I shall not go into detail about the tail. Some say, "We do not want to be tails." I ask you, "What is the head worth without the tail?" The whole body is the tail of the head. Therefore, we should get rid of our wrong notions about the tail and the head and know that at times we are the tail and at other times the head. When we perform some movement, we are tails; but when we find that Great Law of Organizing, then we are heads. Many women are tails now, but in the future they will be heads and many men who are heads now will become tails. But there are all kinds of heads: garlic, onion, ox ones, heads of flies and so on. It is very generally said - heads. What kind of a head do you want to be? If you had the head of a cock that crows or the tail of a hen that cackles - would you be doing lofty work then? Taking an egg a hen has laid, you can learn how the world was created for it contains the clue of the whole universe. All truths are hidden in that egg. The whole world is nothing but an enlarged egg. When a hen lays her egg she cackles, meaning to say: "I have laid this egg, the same way God has made the world." You take the egg, boil it and do not understand how the world was made. We act the same way with many fine thoughts which come into our mind. We must take the egg and taste it with our mind and not with our stomach. We sell the fine things in us. A beautiful thought comes to the mind of a girl which makes her features attractive - her nose, her mouth and eyes - but she begins to sell herself. They tell her that a young man owns 1,000 leva but she does not like him. Or another young man has 5,000 leva but she does not like him either. She is looking for a wealthy duke and sells her face. Some author gifted by God starts writing something, but they begin thinking how much money they will get for that. If they think of gain, they cannot express any Divine Idea their writing. Take for example the novelists of today writing a novel in which the heroine faints and dies. I do not understand why the hero or heroine must die. This means that this author understands that the heroine has gone astray from the source of the Divine. A man or a woman who faints have parted with God. When a person overeats, they faint which shows that they have eaten unnatural, impure food. People who eat natural food do not faint. When students read some novels today they like the idea of a hero who faints and try to imitate him. A young man speaks to a girl, she faint out of love and he tries to bring her to. "Every kingdom divided against itself shall not stand." If such man and woman get married, they will not live well together. Keep in mind that what I am talking to you about are relations within nature as well. I am talking to you about that Great Law in Nature, that Living Great Truth which you also may come in contact with, i.e. the new teaching in the world. The Law in this Great DivineTruth is the following: contemporary people of learning will bind and unbind you, yoke and unyoke you; that is why there will be a prick. This is no religion. In the Divine Teachings you will bind and unbind your self. When you come to me and say you want to follow my teaching, I shall ask you: "Are you ready to bind and unbind yourselves?" Now we want all people today to turn from an animal state into rational beings. I want you to put on your yoke by yourselves and to take it off. I ask your ox, "You who have will, do you know why you have a yoke around your neck and can you get rid of it?" You go to church, bow and cross yourselves, but I ask you, "Do you know why you make the sign of the cross, what have you learnt in this life by this act?" You should know that placing your hand on your forehead is a sign that this head must think, i.e. my cock must crow; when your hand is placed down, it means: does my hen cackle? Is there love in my heart? When you place your fingers on your right side you are asking, "Is my egg laid?" On the left side it means, "Is my egg being hatched?" All this means, doing a great work for God. You will say that I interpret these things my own way. You interpret them in a different way then. So when you cross yourself, put this idea into action. I want to say that every act, thought or feeling of ours must have a definite value within our soul. In this world you will have many hardships for the following reason: there are hens which do not lay eggs so they do not cackle and if they do lay eggs, they hatch them in other hens’ nests, or hatch the eggs of other hens. When you hatch the eggs of someone else, discontentment rises in you. Let me explain what this means. Every egg is an Emblem (Symbol) of a life. If you seek the Divine Life, you will find it in a Divine Egg; if you seek intellectual life, you will find it in an intellectual egg; if you are looking for love, you will find it in an egg of this kind. In this respect people are very practical and have common sense: when they want to have a nightingale hatched, they place the egg of a nightingale in a nest; when they want to have apples, they sow the seeds of apples. You cannot sow one kind of seed and get a different result. People in this world act the same way, namely those who divide. This dividing exists inside you and all misfortune comes from it for it is a destruction of human power. In our present culture this law of division exists. You have sons and daughters and wish them to succeed in life. If you can bring unity in your own souls you will be able to do the same for them and they will succeed. Make several experiments, not only one; for the first experiment may turn out successful, but it does not imply that all others will always turn out successful. An experiment is successful when in every case it turns out well. I have watched jugglers who skillfully stuck twelve daggers near the chest of a woman without hurting her. All their throws turned out successful. When you watch such a sight, you think the woman will be stabbed to death. You must be such master too. But what are you doing today? You stab the heart or the head of some person quite skillfully. Someone leads a spiritual life for five or six years and then gives it up. Why? Someone has stuck a knife in their head or in their heart. Division has taken place in them. In my view God is not a need but a necessity of the world. Life itself, thought or will are manifestations of God. All that is sublime or noble in us is divine manifestation. No Lord exists outside of this. Someone says, "I want to see God." You cannot see God if you first do not feel Him, as you cannot see the fruit of an apple, if you have not sown the seed of one. Many of you have not laid eggs, but you say, "I got this and that done." No. The work has not been finished if the cock has not crowed and the hen has not cackled. One must think while another must feel; one must begin the work and another must finish it. I want you to finish this work. You will answer me, "We are people incapable, uncultured." I do not want you to turn the earth, it is turning anyway; but I do want you to finish the work that you are appointed. You say, "I cannot set the world right." It is set right. "I cannot help the poor." Not only you, but the whole world is taking care of them. I ask you: “How do those small midges live which you do not take care of?” Therefore, in the philosophy of today and in our minds there are vacuities; a result of which disharmony appears and we pass through painful states. Christ told the Jews they were divided and every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation which means that "since you do not believe in me, your kingdom will not progress." The same applies to your religion. And actually their kingdom ended there. This law is true of all nations. Every nation that says that people cannot live rightly in this world cannot expect anything good. The Bulgarians, for instance, have no success in war. This shows that one cannot make progress on the principle "divide and dominate." A mind and a heart are necessary. You as a nation must learn to think well and to feel rightly. There is no nation which does not feel the oppression today. All nations which have oppressed other nations will be crossed out as an organization. All such nations have disappeared and only ones in which there is no division have survived. Paul says, "There is neither Jew, nor Greek; neither Scythian, nor barbarian." You say, "He is a Christian, but he is an Englishman; that one is a German and so on." There is no division in Christ. The Jews are people of the heart, but since they are very near the stomach, they are materialistic people who like money. They are close both to the spiritual and to the material that is why they pierced Christ in the region of the heart. They said, "We want to become a great nation," that is why they lost what was given to them and for 2,000 years they have been without a kingdom. Now they are being placed again in the old land. The Jewish kingdom will be small.7 God says to them, "Your land will be neither large nor small." So the heart is already defined. You will ask me, "But where are the Bulgarians?" The Bulgarians are in the liver, because they are very rancorous, they like the land very much and say, "We need wheat, wheat." The liver is necessary but when it is enlarged, misfortunes arrive. If it becomes small this is also bad. The liver must function in order to produce bile. Therefore, if the Bulgarian people vanish in the world there will be constipation and thence - great suffering. Today everybody is asking, "What will become of us at the Conference?"8 God is telling those at the Conference to be careful with the liver, because if its bile bursts, all cultures will go to the devil. You will find the places of the other nations. So do not groan and worry for God is taking care of the liver since it is a very necessary organ and the body cannot do without it. Therefore, there must be no division among you. There is a close connection between the heart and the liver. They are very sympathetic to each other.9 The heart is very sensitive, while the liver is more passive, so they like one another. And so I solve the problem of the Bulgarians - as the liver they are in their place and the bile will not burst. Be grateful you are Bulgarians and do not be troubled what will become of you. All of you must try to have unity in your thoughts without any division or fear. There may be fear, but in its place; there may be poverty, but meet it and send it off politely. When a poor person visits you, wash their feet, feed them and then see them off. Act the same way with wealth. Remember that in all our beliefs, every teaching is in its place: that is why Christ says that there must not be any division among us. Today there are many divisions, many parties competing for supremacy in ruling; but it would be better if all of them united and played all together as in an orchestra. At this moment unity is necessary, not division. Bulgarians cause themselves much harm by this division. I do not blame them for this, but rather turn their attention to this fact, because the cells of the liver are the most stupid and uncultured cells, but they contain the conditions of the future culture. Tthere is a great difference among the different kinds of livers. For instance, there is a difference between the liver of an ox and that of a person; between the liver of an angel and a seraph also - for the cells of the latter think like human beings. Do not think that if you are the liver, you are very cultured. This condition in which you find yourselves on the earth is very uncertain for there is much division among you. You Bulgarians do not know which Lord you are serving for you are Anglophiles, Russophiles, Germanophiles and all other kinds of names, but I say, "Turn to God and cross yourselves before Him. He will make you wise and good so that you can lay this egg and hatch it well, or it will become an addled egg." There is a close connection between politics and religion. Know that the present culture has inscription, "Join yourselves and unite." It says in the Scriptures, "If hands are joined there will be no success for thieves also join themselves." When Bulgarians make a horo10 they join hands, but that is a gain. Why do they dance in a circle? To be inspired by the motion of life and then the lad and the maiden get married. Marriage is a strange motion. Do not move in a circle, but walk in a straight line. I make the following analogy: the four wheels of a wagon roll while it is moving, but what do they learn? Nothing, they only raise the dust around. If I ask the axis what it has learned, it will say, "I did not turn like the wheels and I did not learn anything." If I ask the oxen who move forward what they have learned, they will say, "Nothing, we only raised the dust on the road." The driver will tell me the same thing. But culture does not consist of nothing. You will roll and you will not roll; you will move and you will not move; you will hold the reins and not hold them - culture consists of all this. When we return home we shall interpret this and say that the wheels rolled, the axis did not move, the oxen moved; there were reins. We are a Divine Wagon which is moving to transport the Divine Life from one place to another: to the mill, then to our homes to make bread when we return home. Where is our home? In the field, nearer the Lord. I would prefer to eat out in the open, in nature, by a clear spring than to be in the best restaurant in Sofia. The home is amid nature and then it is closer to God. By saying that every Kingdom divided against itself cannot stand, Christ meant that every kingdom and every home based on violence will be divided and vanish away. Therefore this criminal teaching must be discarded and in the future there should not be division among you. If there is division among you, you will only see the back side of life, because you and life will move in two opposite directions. If there is division among you, you will see only the back side of God, the back of the Kingdom, the shadow of things. Do not be divided, but let several sisters unite and attract people. I see you divided into parties now. When I look at you, I can tell who is a radoslavist, who is a democrat or a radical. How do I know you? By your heads, for every head has a special shape. Since you are a radical, do you know how to pull out roots? Do you know their laws? If you are a democrat, do you know the laws of democracy? Some call themselves priests, Christians or teachers, but you must know your subject both in theory and in practice. If you do not know this, you are nothing yet. Sometimes I see you in the position of professors, but where is your practical experience? You will answer, "That is how we have studied." Yes, but I told you to roll and not to roll. To roll means you are in the periphery; but not to roll means you are in the center. They who are self-possessed are in the center. If you give up this teaching of division, all winter days will be nice and you will not catch cold. I cannot catch cold even in the draft, because I do not divide, living under another law by a different stove. They who do not divide cannot catch cold. The Lord says, "If you obey Me and do not divide, your world will be clear and all blessings will be poured down on you." If you listen to the Lord and do not divide, but work for Him, He will manifest Himself to you. How? As a musician in a house. He enters the house and if he is in a good disposition, he takes the violin and starts playing, but if he is in a bad mood, he will not play. You want the Lord to play for you. But if the Lord finds your strings broken how will He play? You say, "We want wonders." Silly wonders do not exist. In the world exists only one great wisdom wherein everything must be in its place. Do not divide, but unite and send out good thoughts everywhere. You ask, "Can this be?" Yes, it can. In my vocabulary there is a single word "CAN". Some say, "Then we can divide." No, this cannot be because they who divide lose their power. You can become weak. To such a person I say, "You can become rich, in order to become poor." But to another I say, "You can become rich." So that the result of these two "can’s" is that one is wealth, the other is poverty. This is what Christ meant by His words to the Jews, "Cast out the evil spirits with the Spirit of God, I put order in life and do not divide; but you will be placed in a school to learn the Law of Uniting." Let the Bulgarians learn this lesson from the Jews and avoid being put in their position. The Jews will say, "It is unforgivable for the Bulgarians not to have learned this law in the course of these 2,000 years. What a sin will they commit, if they do not listen to you now." But today all people say, "What evil people the Jews are!" No, they are very good people, because in my opinion, "the worst people" in this world are the best people in the other world and "the best people" in this world are "the worst" in the other world. Do not divide your mind from your heart; let all men and women unite and let all nations unite in this future culture. Finally, let the human spirit be united with God. Only then can we have a higher culture bringing to the world the long expected peace and joy. Sermon held on December 8, 1918 _____________________________________________________________ 1 Matthew 12:25 2 Bg., pounded wheat, (tr. note) 3 Turkish for 1/ work, 2/occupation, 3/ question (ed. note) 4 יּ- the Hebrew letter yod (ed. note) 5 Turkish, (dated) this very one, the present one. (ed. note) 6 Bg., verb: sew (tr. note) 7 Israel was established in 1948 some 40 years after this talk was delivered, (ed. note) 8 Bulgaria was punished for its part in World War I (through the Treaty of Neuilly) by loosing territories and being subjected to heavy reparations, (ed. note) 9 In 1943 Tsar Boris cancelled orders for the deportation of Bulgaria’s Jews in the face of protests led by prominent political figures and Metropolitan Stefan, head of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. (ed. note) 10 Horo is a traditional Bulgarian dance in which the dancers join hands to form a chain. (ed. note)

A Brief Analysis ‘The words of King Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him.’ Proverbs: 31:1 The word king should be understood to mean the human spirit. The word mother should be understood to mean the Lord; the Divine mother who taught him. ‘What, my son? And what, the son of my womb?’ (31: 2) The word son should be understood to mean a person who is on Earth. ‘And what, the son of my vows?’ (31: 2) Mother-nature always has vows for her children. ‘Give not thy strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings.’ (31: 3) The first thing is not to give your strength to women. In this context, the word woman is understood to mean the human heart, which has deviated from the right Path. Therefore, give not your strength to it. The destroyer shall be understood to mean one of the vices of the human mind, namely pride. ‘It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink: Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted.’ (31: 4, 5) The first rule for the human spirit is not to drink wine. Strong drink should be understood to mean processed wine, which has in it a little honey, sugar, and black pepper. Wine should be understood to mean money. Even the best of people, when given money, lose their self-control. Wine also implies all the weaknesses, which blur the human mind, either thoughts, desires, or actions, which distort wishes. In a human being one’s good thoughts and desires are afflicted. Anybody, who afflicts one’s desires, distorts the internal judgement. Just like you distort your internal judgement, in the same way you will look externally, and the same way you will look internally too. This is the Divine law: one represents the physical world externally, while internally – one represents the Divine world. The people around you can never make your world better than you have made it yourself. And those of you, who wait for their happiness to come from elsewhere, beguile themselves; therefore, they end up disillusioned. Do not expect your happiness to come from somewhere else - it is within you. Who should be given wine and strong drink? ‘Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.’ (31:6, 7) Give strong drink to those who have hardships, while wine – to those who are sad, angry, or gloomy. Give drink and food to bad, angry people! You can’t understand why you should give food and drink to bad people, and not to good people. You can’t imagine this contradiction. If you have a hard strap, which is of no use, you have to place it in oil to get softer, don’t you? Soft straps are not to be put in oil. This implies that the energy, which is hard, has to be fed and put in oil to get softer. Aggrieved people, because they are hard, let them have wine and bread then they will become fit to work. Good people have this softness per se. ‘Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction.’ (31: 8) To "open your mouth for the dumb" means that the smart people should defend those who can’t speak; while those who can speak should not defend themselves. ‘Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.’ (31: 9) You women, who are mothers, should judge righteously. When you are in the judge’s seat, you should forget all of your personal relations; you should not think about yourself, you should be one with God, with humankind, i.e. God’s interests should be your interests, and the interest of humankind should also be your interest. The big includes the small interests, while the small does not include another small within itself. ‘Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies.’ (31: 10) A virtuous woman should be understood to mean a good heart. The Scripture reads, "I shall give them a heart made of flesh, and I shall deprive them of the heart made of stone." A virtuous woman implies a good heart. It is better to acquire such a heart than precious stones. ‘The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.’ (31: 11) A man should be understood to mean the human mind that also has a heart. It reads, "The heart of her husband does safely trust in her," because the heart that is meant is wise. Think for the sake of your heart! As long as one wish of yours allows you to think, it is a wise wish, but if it does not allow you to think, it is dangerous. Note how a mood of anger influences you – you fly into a fury right away and you do not consider the implications. This is the silly woman inside you, i.e. the silly heart. Spoils imply all the joys for which we strive. All the joys originate in the heart; it is the soil where Divine good grows. ‘She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.’ (31: 12) By not disappointing anybody, by not offending anybody, you will have more friends and more people who love you. ‘She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.’ (31: 13) Christ says, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." (Matthew 7: 7) So, according to this line the heart obviously seeks. Seeking – this stands for the wise desires of human beings. She has been seeking during all the days of her life. What has she been seeking? Wool and flax. Wool and flax have two different features: wool retains the warmth, while flax releases it. It is hygienic to wear flax clothes in summer and woollen clothes in winter. Jewish priests always wore flax under-clothes. A wise woman always seeks and works wool and flax; wool and flax denote two noble desires. Woollen and flaxen threads make the best of fruit. The hands here denote that this woman has a wise will, so that she can weave something out of the wool and flax. Flax – this is the thought, and wool – this is the desire. When she can feel and think, she knows what to weave out of all this. Wool implies ardent desires, and flax shows a little bit of equanimity. While the expression "and works willingly with her hands" means that she develops everything using her will. ‘She is like the merchants' ships; she bringeth her food from afar.’ (31: 14) This means that she has a steering wheel and she can steer the ships. Which one is the human steering wheel? This is our tongue. Ships stand for the mouth, where she places the food from afar, from within. So, she is aware that she is like the merchants’ ships. ‘She riseth also while it is yet night,’ (31: 15) This means that the Sun does not see her in bed. She is up before the master comes. ‘and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.’ (31: 15) Her household – this is her body. The heart, the mind, and all the desires – these are her servants, to whom she gives instructions. ‘She considereth a field, and buyeth it: With the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.’ (31:16) She considers a field with her eyes, because the eyes are a source of the Truth. She sees what is useful and what is not, and she buys the field. The field should be understood to mean the external conditions of the physical field, which God has given to us. The fruit of her hands should be understood to mean the world of her heart. The vineyard means that all noble thoughts and desires are planted in her. Such a person is said to be magnetized. ‘She girdeth her loins with strength, And strengtheneth her arms.’ (31: 17) The expression "she girds her loins with strength" should be understood to mean her will. She is a woman who develops her body; does exercises, she is not idle. Her body is very well developed; there is no infirmity. She can tell the difference between her movements, desires, and thoughts very well and thus she strengthens her arms. ‘She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: Her candle goeth not out by night.’ (31: 18) The word night should be understood to mean the time when she is beset with grief and misfortunes. But even then her candle does not go out. A woman who, when in trouble, can say, "So far I have been regularly to church, I have believed in God, but from now on I will not go to church," is a woman without a candle. ‘She layeth her hands to the spindle, And her hands hold the distaff.’ (31: 19) Contemporary people discovered that the Earth spins around its axis like a spindle. And women have long believed that since the Earth spins around its axis, they should also spin around themselves. Which is to say that every woman should turn both her sides to the Sun. Joy and grief are the two sides of women and every woman has to turn simultaneously according to both of them. The side, which is the joy, is light; and the other side – the grief, is dark. This is why women should spin their spindles! When grief comes, spin your spindle! Stand up and ask, "Is my spindle spinning?" And what are you doing? You leave the distaff and say, "The Earth does not spin." No, the Earth spins all the time. This is why women should also spin all the time. If the Earth stops spinning, all people would die, while thanks to this mother, you all have clothes. The distaff stands for the Divine world. This spun thread shows where energy comes from. The distaff-ful of wool stands for the Solar system. The distaff is to be fixed at the waste belt. The Milky Way stands for the belt of the human spirit. The Solar system aspires to this belt. Everybody has to have a distaff-ful of wool. If the spindle stops spinning or if there is no distaff or distaff-ful, everything turns upside down. ‘She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.’ (31: 20) You cannot stretch out your hands to the poor, until you wash and spin your wool. The word poor in this line means all seeds that are still not sown. You open your hand, take these seeds, sow them in the garden – and this is one good deed you can do. Once you open your hand to the poor, you are in agreement with the Divine will. When you help somebody else, you help the weak, not the strong, and the poor are the future of the world. ‘She is not afraid of the snow for her household: For all her household are clothed with scarlet.’ Scarlet clothes in esoteric language mean magnetic clothes. There are people who are prone to any disease - they are naked. Any person, who loses one’s temper and who experiences doubts, is naked. And, indeed, Adam and Eve after the sin lost their clothes, and as a result they could not withstand the external struggle. This is exactly where the strength of Christianity resides – anybody can get clothes. When we start acquiring these magnetic clothes, we notice one Force within us. This fact can be found in everyday life too: when we put on certain clothes, we experience a pleasant sensation, special warmth, but the moment we take off these clothes, we experience an unpleasant sensation. Grief is nothing else but an indication that our clothes were stolen. When we have our clothes on, we are cheerful and merry. This is a very true law. When your children are cheerful, they are in clothes, but try to take their clothes off – grief is fast to come. So, the cause of all the sufferings that you experience is that you do not have such clothes. If you were clairvoyants, you would see what you look like with these clothes on and with these clothes off. ‘She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; Her clothing is silk and purple. Her husband is known in the gates, When he sitteth among the elders of the land.’ (31: 22, 23) The husband stands for her mind. When her mind speaks, everybody will listen to her, because the husband of such a woman is decent. If she is idle, nobody will listen to her, because her husband is not decent. ‘She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; And delivereth girdles unto the merchant. Strength and honour are her clothing; And she shall rejoice in time to come. She openeth her mouth with wisdom; And in her tongue is the law of kindness.’ (31: 24-26) Everybody needs this law of kindness. Think about these lines on your own; I will elaborate on them some other time. ‘She looketh well to the ways of her household, And eateth not the bread of idleness.’ (31: 27) This woman will never take just any food; she chooses healthy food in all respects. It is known that idleness is the mother of all vices. Altogether, contemporary educated people have become very idle. They go to church to lie to God, they light a candle and they say, "Let's pray, let’s light a candle or two, so something might come our way." They take a lottery ticket, and after that, they go and sit in cafes and wait for something to come their way from this ticket. When the draw day comes and when they see that there is nothing for them, they buy a new ticket and start on their way to the church to light a candle and to pray again. They buy shares, but the sale rate falls at times and then they lose everything. Such people are idle. No, you will work; you will develop everything in you! The misfortunes that you have suffered so far are your past and by suffering, you actually pay your old debts. Why does she not eat bread of idleness? In contemporary society, there are many such examples of people eating bread of idleness: a lad courts the girl of a family; he is in nice clothes, has a good house, but has certain debts. He wants to marry this rich girl so that she could pay his debts. The father and mother are in a hurry to catch him, without being aware of his material status and they get the young ones married. The creditors, one after another, start claiming their policies and they say, "Now he is rich, he will pay his debts." The parents are dismayed and say, "How strange, he was a very good person." Yes, but because you united with this idle man, you will bear the consequences. When a spirit comes and tells you that you can have an easy life, you should not put money on that horse and should not believe these promises. ‘Her children arise up, and call her blessed; Her husband also, and he praiseth her. Many daughters have done virtuously, But thou excellest them all.’ (31: 28, 29) It is true that mothers, like these, are respected by their children and the world respects them too. In these lines, Solomon describes the ideal woman or the aspiration of the human soul. ‘Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: But a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.’ (31: 30) The words fears the Lord mean that each woman, who is devout, will be praised. ‘Give her of the fruit of her hands; And let her own works praise her in the gates.’ (31: 31) Study the whole chapter this month. You will make the effort to experience the strength of these old formulas, to see what magic power the distaff possesses. When you are in low spirits, you will do the following experiment: picture in your mind ten kilograms of wool; you will take a big cauldron and should picture yourself washing this wool little by little. You will wash it once, twice, three, four, five times until it is absolutely clean. Then you take one of the carders that the gypsies have and should start carding it. Keep carding it for about half an hour, and then make it into distaff-fuls. Then you place it in big carding machines and make it into big distaff-fuls. Take one of the already prepared distaff-fuls, put it on the distaff to start spinning. I would like you to describe to me what feelings you experience before you start spinning. You will prepare a detailed description similar to the one produced by a natural scientist while observing certain processes under a microscope. Pay attention what thought comes to mind after each distaff-ful. We have this formula about the carding and spinning of wool from Esotericism and for half an hour it will contribute much more than a pedagogue for a whole year. You will do this experiment with the wool at least four times a month. If one of you falls ill with the Spanish disease1, let her wash the wool while in bed. If these experiments yield results, they will be true and authentic. What we have invented and concocted cannot be experimented with. Do not let knowledge into you that cannot impart strength to you. When some thought comes to mind, dwell upon it, keep it for a day or two in your heads and if nothing comes out of it, then it is a futile thought. Do not retain desires and thoughts that contribute nothing. You should be spinning the spindle all the time, the thread should constantly run from above and thus you should spin two or three spindles. You should start running such a process in your mind. It does not take praying only - it takes work also. What does the word praying imply? Breathing is of significance provided your blood circulates. The moment the blood enters the lungs and gets purified – this is what praying stands for. If there is no blood in your lungs, what is the point of you taking in air and praying? And in order to pray, there must be air to purify the blood. Sometimes you pray but you do not know for what. You say, "God, bless us!" but you do not know in what you want to be blessed. You say, "Lord, please, let my situation improve!" Is your situation bad indeed? But you may say, "I want to be like other people”. Are you not like other people? Now in order to pray, food has to be chewed by your teeth, to get into your stomach, and the stomach will do its job – it will convert it into juices, which will penetrate your lungs and only then you can start praying. Only conscious people can pray. Some ask, "Why should we pray?" To get your blood, thoughts, and desires purified! If you do not pray voluntarily, then the Providence will set up conditions for you to pray. Even the toughest people pray: when sick they call the doctor and say, "Please, doctor, help me!" When the Lord places you in deprivation, you are fast to find your way to a creditor and pray the creditor. The Lord made it a law that one should pray. Some people say, "I do not want to pray to God." All right – choose somebody else, whoever takes your fancy. There are people who pray to their horses; they tell the horses, "Come on, gee, gee-up, horse!" You pray to your horse to help you drive your load. From a purely psychic point of view, praying is a necessary law. To pray to God – this is the right thing to do, this is like fresh air. If you do not pray, you will fall further down and down. All the environments that you will fall into are less pure. If you are not in the mood to pray, go down to your stomach and do some work there. When you do these experiments, you should not have selfish aspirations, but all of you have to start studying the Divine laws, the way you study subjects at school – natural sciences, Bulgarian language, and geometry and so on. Everybody who has come to the School has to verify what is true and what is not. This is not like newspapers; newspapers can announce that a city has fallen and within a day or two, they may announce that the city was recaptured etc. For example, newspapers announced that the Romanians2 had invaded the country and everybody was in low spirits. Last night there was an article saying the Romanians did not invade. Somebody comes to you and tells you that you are heading into trouble, and you start worrying – this is how the Romanian invades your head. You resemble that maid who dreamt that she got married and she had a child and then the child died. She got up in the morning and told her mother about her dream. Both of them were upset and started crying. You create many troubles in your mind by such fictional things. A woman says, "I heard that the sisters do not think well of me," – this is how the Romanians invade her head. Shortly she says, "No, I was wrong, they think well of me," – the Romanian leaves her head. Both are equally true. A priest may tell you that you are a heretic, but I tell you that you are not – the Romanians have invaded and left your head. When you enter a School, you have to have a critical mind, in order to examine things, to have an attitude to the Invisible world and to these laws. This is the only viable way to build a solid character. While now you expect everything to be granted to you. I want you to wash, card, and spin the wool yourselves. If you do not know how to spin and card, I will teach you. This is the only way for people to become noble and elevated. One has to work and to work and to work again! I do not say you have to labour, I say you have to work. Difficulties and labour I leave for the people, because these belong to the world. When you are gloomy and grieved, tell yourself, "I should get some work done!" Master’s lecture, delivered on 5 December 1918. ________________________________________________________ 1 The Spanish disease was how the virus flu was originally known. 2 The Romanians – referring to the military actions in the region of South Dobroudja during WW1. Source

He that winks He that winketh with the eye causeth sorrow: but a prating fool shall fall. Proverbs 10:10 This month I want you to read all of Solomon’s proverbs and to learn by heart the ones that impress you the most. I will tell you later on why you have to learn these by heart. Please note that out of all the human senses the eyesight is one of the most highly regarded. The eye responds to light and we get in touch with various objects through light. Certain vibrations in the air make the ear sensitive. With the sense of smell, it is again certain vibrations of air particles through which the smell is transmitted. But when it comes to taste and touch, we have to use purely physical means – touching with the tongue or feeling with the fingers. Hence, the eye is of significance purely to the mind. There are two instances in winking: the one when the eye is closing, and the other one when it is opening. The opening is the day – this is just one moment. When one closes one’s eyes, a period of twenty-four hours passes. It is exactly when you close your eyes when all the crime in the world takes place. All of you do this winking. When a bad thought enters you, you should wink. Somebody is in the wrong – so such a person often winks. A girl winks at a boy and a boy winks at a girl. This expresses an improper movement of the human mind. Winking indicates lowering down by one degree. The eyes of winking people get smaller, and people with small eyes are known to be cunning and wily. This is the impact of winking. Your mind will also degrade under the same principle. As soon as your eyes become smaller, your mind degrades too; all noble thoughts and feelings fade away. This shows that your world and mind get narrower and the knowledge you have also shrinks in scope. Solomon, who compiled these proverbs, says, "He that winks with the eye causes sorrow." To whom does he cause sorrow? To one’s soul. Because its windows are getting smaller and less Light penetrates, but it is Life that enters through the windows as well. If a Divine thought comes to you and you tell yourself, "Now is not the time," this indicates that you have winked. You are asked to do some work, but you say, "Now is not the time,'' – you have winked. You wink today, you wink tomorrow, you wink the day after tomorrow; you wink at a lad, at two lads, at three lads, and shortly after they might set out after you; this is already a scandal. If a maid is serious, nobody will be chasing her. There are many such lads in life; do not think they exist only on the physical level – some of them are in the heart and in the mind too. By a winking person, we understand a person who does not want to learn the Divine principles. We, Bulgarians, are in the habit of motioning agreement or disagreement with our head. When Bulgarians confirm something they move their heads downwards, and when they deny something, they move their heads upwards. You will notice that horses also move their heads like this. This movement is meaningful: when horses move their heads, they mean to say, "Master, the path you, your wife, and children have started along, will not take you to a good end." On the physical level, horses symbolise intelligence. If a horse moves his head when you pass by, this has the following meaning, "My friend, things will not take a better turn until you throw this thought out of your head." Correct your behaviour and go to see this horse again and you will see that the horse will no longer make movements with the head. When your mind makes movements like a pendulum of a clock, this indicates that you will hardly make any progress in your work. Make sure your mind does not make pendulum-like movements; it should keep in its place and should keep working. This is relevant to certain psychic situations: people, who are very nervous, keep winking. When one starts losing one’s spiritual equilibrium, one starts shaking one’s head, winking with one’s eyes, and shuffling one’s feet, but these movements are not right, they are like a whirl, which can only make dust. The principle of sorrow can be explained along the same lines. Somebody says, "I am sad." Fine, keep your eyes open! "But my soul finds it so difficult." Keep your eyes open! "My back aches." Bask in the Sun! Keep your mind vigilant and alert and open your eyes to God! You say, "Why should I be thinking of God of all things right now when I’m in such a plight?" With these words, you have closed your eyes. A maid falls in love with a lad and she closes her eyes to her mother, to her father, to everybody at home, and she can see only the lad. In the same way, we also close our eyes, our souls, and our hearts and start thinking of transient things only. Human beings have three types of eyes: one pair on the physical level, another pair for the soul, and a third pair for the mind. If you find this hard to believe, do an experiment: when you get up very tired in the morning, stop for a while and tell yourselves, "I shall not wink!" Channel your mind to God; start thinking of God, of everything nice, and of the angels. Allow yourselves not more than five to ten minutes to think about this and you will immediately recover the equilibrium of your soul. Well, now, how do you cure yourselves? – You get up in the morning, you feel tired, you place your rucksack on your back and start visiting and complaining to neighbours, "Do you know how heavy it is for me?" The other one replies, "Well, do you know what happened to me?" Afterwards, the two go together to a third neighbour and tell her of their difficulties. She, in turn, complains about her difficulties, and what can come out of it? Everybody carries his or her rucksacks. Not like this! You three sisters get together, take a seat each, make sure you face East, think for a short while, for about ten to fifteen minutes and your mind will immediately brighten up and a certain Light will penetrate it. At that moment even if the smallest thought comes to you, you should apply it. "But a prating fool shall fall." This Proverb has the symbols of the eyes and of the mouth. He, who winks, causes sorrow, and the prating fool is the one who has been winking for a long time. His mind, due to continual winking, has grown feeble, which is to say that he speaks about what should and should not be spoken. All contemporary people suffer from this. Your husband has done something, has said something offensive to you and you immediately start going from one house to another telling others what your husband is like. By repeating the same stuff, you dip in the same basket, "My husband is cruel, a vagabond, and I thought he was a decent man!" While the other one responds, "Yours is a blessing, you should know what mine is like!" Whose fault is it? Your husband has winked and you are trying to wink right now. Your husband has winked and you open your big mouth. The thing that corrupts the world most, that causes the worst sufferings, is exactly these non-harmonic non-beautiful images. For example, you speak to somebody, but that person makes wry faces to you. What is the meaning of this wry image? If you slip, you will fall. So, those who wink will burden their souls; while slipping is nothing else but falling. Say you fall from a bridge during a car accident – this is slipping. Falling always entails loss of equilibrium of the soul. During such falling the greatest misfortunes happen. Most important of all is to keep your mind vigilant and alert. Another important rule is to think carefully about what it is that you want to say. Consider whether what you want to say will be of benefit to you or to somebody else. If what you will say will not be of benefit to anyone, then keep your mouth busy doing something else. The mouth is not a drainpipe. The mouth should give vent to all things supreme and pure, to everything that can ennoble people. However, the bad words coming at times out of your mouth should be channelled in another direction, designated especially for refuse. I will show this principle to you, to make it clear what effect a physical thought has: if you do not keep your thoughts open, i.e. if you do not control your thoughts, these impurities will spill out of your mouth and it will not be long before you also suffer and you will have to have an enema administered. You say about somebody that he or she is constipated. I say, that person must have winked, that person has not watched his or her tongue. Each thought has a physiological impact upon us; therefore, your mouth should only let pure things out. Otherwise, you will have to call the doctor. You need no doctors, what you need is to find the reason for each disease. You will say, "I have made my mouth into a drain-pipe and I have to clean it!" Everyone has made his or her mouth like a drainpipe and want to live happily. Your mouth should be like a fresh water tap. If you are constipated, you are not into science. The intestines and the stomach should be free. Later on, I shall talk to you about the relation between the head and the stomach. There is a very close relation between the soul and the spirit in the body. Bear in mind that the stomach is the head of the soul. The stomach is male. There is a close relation between this man and the head; they get along very well, as they are men. The lungs are the wives of the mind, and the heart is their child. The stomach also has a wife and a child. I only want to bring to your attention the fact that each thought, passing through you, will have a certain impact upon your organism and this impact will manifest itself either now or in a later life of yours. If you do not correct your thoughts now, they will remain like this for a thousand years to come. Some may say, "By blessing I am saved." How? When you fall into the water and when I take you out, you may be saved by blessing, but after getting out of the water, you will have to get down to work. I dwell on the quoted line, because I know that you deal one another many blows with your mouths. Do you know that the human mouth is one of fastest shooting weapons; an awful gun it is. So far, it has been under somebody else’s control, and we have to free it. A person, who cannot think well, beats one’s head against the wall. I put people into two groups according to the shape of their heads: some have sensible heads; others have heads like gourds. If your head is gourd-like, you have no chance of succeeding. You have to make your mind work - to do the work it has to. I do not want you to lose heart and not to work. When you find out a certain mistake, be sure it was planted from outside; it is not a feature of the soul. You have a rucksack on your back – this is not an intrinsic feature of yours, do not think that you were born with the rucksack. A bad thought has entered you; it is not yours, get rid of it. When I tell you that there is a bad thought in you, I mean no offence to you, but I want to make you complete internally. The very thought, while residing in you, will offend you. In order for these thoughts to settle, you have to find thoughts opposite to them. Do not wink, but keep your thoughts open. It does not matter who will come to you, let anybody come, what matters, however, is not to wink at that person. Because Christ says, "Whoever enters through the fence are thieves and rogues." Each thought should enter through your eyes and mind. Each thought coming through your heart is a rogue. Such a thought should not disturb you, but such a thought should be kept outside the fence. There are three compartments within the human being. There are three compartments in the Orthodox Church as well, which have been determined for thousands of years. These show the human development. The first compartment is for the guests, the other one – for the believers, and the third one for the priest, who officiates and who understands how to serve God. The Priest is the Teacher. The altar is the Teacher’s place, from which the Teacher goes out, places fire and incense in the censer and burns it. If contemporary priests wink, why should they do this, why should they burn incense? They do not know why. I know why they do. You also often do this: you place incense in the censers and you start chasing the devil. Devils are not chased away with incense; incense is merely a disinfectant. Burning incense shows that your heart should be equally warm. Nice thoughts should stream out of your hearts to refresh the atmosphere, where you live. If you burn incense in this way, you understand the symbol of incense very well. But if you carry your book under your arm without reading it, it will be of no use to you. This is why God has given you eyes, which are the windows of the soul. Hence, all the time when there is light, we should keep our eyes open and should receive as much light as we need. Sometimes you say, "It’s very light," other times you say, "It’s dark." Well then, open your eyes wider! There are people who travel at night and it is dark for them, but in the evenings, there is also light. Only that it takes more sensitive organs to receive it. This is the light used by clairvoyants. True clairvoyants see better at night than in daytime, but they do not wink. They keep their eyes open. You should always keep in mind that your eyes should be open! Some people are said to have "died with their eyes open" and people hurry to close the eyes of the departed person. Now all teachers and priest do their best to close the eyes of the people. Open the eyes of the people! For example, somebody is parading in life, and you tell such a person, "And you believe that you will become a Christian! You are too late; we have learnt so many things already!" This is what I call closing of one’s eyes. What do you know?! This should not be done, never, never! Tell this brother of yours, "My brother, you’ve done very well, you have started all right!" It is not important when he arrives. When I go out for a walk, I walk slowly, I examine carefully all the bugs, everything I meet on my way, and finally I get there. There is no need to hurry, in order to get sooner to Cherni Vrah1. When you set off to Cherni Vrah, pay attention to the springs on your way, watch what bugs, what butterflies there are; and if your mind is continually vigilant, you will see how God works. I would like all of you to open your eyes in this way. You ask, "What shall we do to save ourselves? How can we save our souls?" Everybody who does not wink is saved, and those who do wink, they are drowning. Therefore, do not discourage anybody. Now, looking at your faces, I can see that they appear to be strict, but they are not strict because of real seriousness, but because of sorrow for the wasted youth. You keep saying, "There was a time when I was young and beautiful!" You are not old; do not fool yourselves! The thoughts you have within, the thoughts are old, your clothes are old, but your soul is always young. When your body gets old, it is no longer capable of transmitting your thoughts and God tells the angels "Go, undress this child of mine, whose clothes are quite impure and cannot be washed!" I say, "My brother, they will undress you." Or put in your language, you have to depart and to come back again. When I speak about open eyes, I want you to keep your physical body always clean. I will tell you what influence good thoughts have upon your physical body. A saint, who has lived a pure life for a long time, has a specific pleasant smell, a sort of very nice internal fragrance, called nux. When you are in a very fine spiritual condition, when you have been thinking about something, you can feel such a fine fragrance that belongs to a supreme spirit, which has visited you. Take fasting for example, during fasting one can have such thoughts and can see such things, which other people cannot. There are religious people who pray a lot, but see nothing, they only think of how to save themselves. Dispose of such thoughts! There are sufferings in the other world, but there are worse sufferings in this world. When you commit a crime, you feel a great hell burning within. Everybody has experienced this hell within one’s soul, why should you be looking for another hell? The other hell is a toy. This one, the internal one, is formidable and then you say, "This worm will not stop gnawing; there is no end to it!" It is like a tapeworm, against which you take medicines, you throw it out, but its head remains. You say, "How did this tapeworm get in?" Because your eyes were closed. An impure spirit got into this tapeworm, which constantly sucks from you. This tapeworm will get out on its own accord if you learn how to keep your eyes open, and your mouth under control. You can train your will in such a way that you will get rid of the tapeworm within one minute. So now, we, contemporary people, who can cure ourselves on our own, need no doctor. You have to strengthen yourselves! In order to find out whether you have strong thoughts or not, you have to do the following: you suffer from rheumatism, which no medicines can cure; find out first what food rheumatism needs and after this, start moving the rheumatism with the strength of your will from one place to another place in your body. The moment it starts moving from one place to another, you should tell the rheumatism, "Mister, you have entered my organism, when my eyes were closed, but now, please, make your way to the back door!" And we have many back doors. When someone gets a cold, doctors prescribe aspirin, which causes people to sweat. The pores, through which sweat goes out, are the back doors. I do not say that you have to sweat, but I say that one thought allowed to enter your physical body, has to leave the body through these pores. The pores sacrifice themselves for our eyes and say, "We are ready to serve our master." Through them, all impurities go out. When one makes a mistake in the moral world, one feels the dregs settling. Do not dispose of this sorrow, but have the courage to study the cause of it. Some say, "I want to be a saint!" If you want to be a saint, start along the Path where saints have walked. But your backbone starts aching, so you promptly find your way to me. Pain, sorrow, and sufferings are necessary; don't be sorry about it, but find a way to utilise them. The devil has entered you, but we shall not throw the devil out, we shall make the devil work for us and we shall tell the devil, "We have worked for you for eight thousand years, it is now your turn to work for us for so many years!" Devils are intelligent creatures and because of this, we have to make devils get down to work. The main exercise for you this month is the following: strengthening of the will. Not the will we have, but the wise will, the Divine will. While developing your will, your thoughts should be strictly defined. You should not be dwelling on two thoughts simultaneously. You will first understand one thought; you will first do one job, and only then should you move to another. Everything within you is linked in a chain. I shall clarify what I mean – we follow a Divine plan and each one has different work to do. Let’s assume that one of you is a weaver, another one is a clerk, a third one – a vineyard farmer etc. Tradesmen will apply their thoughts in trade, weavers – in the weaving business, farmers – in farming; altogether everybody in his or her individual callings. Weavers will weave hard and steady; their yarn should be strong, the thread should also be strong, not irregular. Because each thought is actually spun from the thoughts and desires dwelling in your minds. This is how the entire thought is formed. This thread should be strong and made according to all rules. This thread, thus spun, will penetrate your Will in the form of a Force, because human will, must always be applied in the material world. We shall encounter obstacles and challenges where we want to apply our thoughts. Such a world is a puzzle for us. For example, you marry a man and you want to be happy, but the two of you can’t agree. Whose mistake is it? Something is missing in the man, but something is missing in you too. Both of you have entered with eyes closed. If his head is slanted or flat at the back, if his eyes are rather small, and his lips are very thin, what do you expect from such a man? This shows you are not meant for each other. Well, what else can you do then? To make your lips fuller, to develop your heart! In order to develop your heart, you have to put your will into action. Phrenologists argue that contemporary people have forty-one doors through which they receive visitors. You try one of the doors – no entry, try another door and you will finally find the door, which will let you in. So, there are many ways to influence people. Even children are aware of this principle and please note that when children want something, they start with these words, "Mummy, give me this!" – No way! The child starts caressing and kissing you and finally you agree. The child has opened one of your doors and has entered. These are smart children and thus children apply their will. But you may say, "I do not want to be a hypocrite." You have no choice, you will caress, you will fondle and you will indulge this man! His hand is soiled – you will wash it, you will bandage it too. You have to study the human soul; this is not an easy art to study. I mean the relations between healthy people, but if the two of you are sick, then you will ask a person close to you to help you. Sometimes a child is born – the child will cure the father and the mother. Each individual member can save the whole family. Open your eyes to God! You will remember that there is no Creature brighter, kinder, more sensitive, and more responsive than God is. No angel, cherubim, seraphim can be compared to God. Some say, "Do you think God will have time for me?" By not having faith in God, you cause Him suffering. Philosophers say, "Do you think God will have time to spare for you? You are nothing more than a low pigmy!" Remember that God spares time for the smallest creatures in the ocean; he can hear even them! Don’t you believe He will hear you? And what you, the people of the 20th century, do is keep your eyes closed and deprive yourselves of the Divine Light. If we live in a cellar for decades on end, we will have many diseases. I assert this is true not only for the physical level, but also for the Spiritual world, where the same causes are at work. We pray to God, but we wouldn’t get out of our cellars. The first thing for you to do is to open your eyes to God! Well, you may say, "I do not know what God is." This is not important. I may not know the elements of the Sun, but I bask my back in the Sun and I enjoy the sunrays. While educated people say, "Do not enjoy the sunrays, as you do not know what they are!" A person having started on the way to God, no matter how little one thinks of Him, is a saved person, no matter how bad such a human being may be. Remember that no human being can perish in the Teaching I preach to you. Even if you lose your hands, your legs, your eyes, your ears whatever, you won’t perish. You say that someone was "ordered to leave". It is all right a person is ordered to leave the school for a year or two, but later on, they will admit the same person again to study with them. Those who disturb the others are ordered to leave. If you do not follow what you are taught, you will be ordered to leave, so that others, who want to listen and follow, can come. Now, from a spiritual point of view, I often hear you beat the desks. Science is not learnt like this. Beating the desks at school is of no help. Those of you, who have will, should not practice it on the desks, but on their rheumatism or when one has a stomach-ache. Embrace pure thoughts and you will find out what strength pure influence has. If you make progress of one hundred millionth of the millimetre, this is a success. Do not think that by starting with this Teaching you will accomplish a lot. I will consider it a great success if you make progress of only one hundred millionth of the millimetre. This is a kind of progress too. Knowledge progresses uninterruptedly in the entire Eternity. This is the speed I progress at; do not lose heart! Any scientist, who wants to observe life, progresses slowly. But you want to finish quickly and to say afterwards, "I am fit for professorship." This one hundred millionth part of the millimetre is an eternal and accurate measure. I will present to you a figure: imagine the projection of the centre of infinity and assume that it has to make a complete circle for 24 hours. Do you know what speed it will need to be able to travel one hundred millionth part of the kilometre? It moves so slowly here, but the speed it develops travelling above is very high. Movement is very slow at the centre, but it is very fast above. If the matter of your heart starts moving at such a speed, your heart and mind would melt. Therefore, we have to move warily down here, so that the movement above can be harmonic. Do not lose heart! In order to be able to practice your will, you should always replace one unpleasant state with another pleasant one. I will give you a method to strengthen your will; for example, you experience a very unpleasant feeling and you can’t get rid of it. Stand up, spare an hour and go visit a family, which is in a much worse situation than yours. Do not say, "I am at my wit’s end and do not know which way to turn, why should I go visit other people?" Go to a family that has neither fire-wood, nor bread, has nothing at all, stay for about ten to fifteen minutes and see if there are any protests in there. Come back home and compare their situation with yours. I want you to build up your edifice. Implement whatever noble thought comes to your mind. You will not implement it by the book, but by the way your heart tells you to. You will implement it, not because you have to, but by following the principle of the Divine Will. You may say, "Well, first, I will repair my home." Look, aren’t all people homes of God? If we manage to help one person, it will all go to the home of God! Do not trespass the law of your father and mother, let your will be in agreement with theirs and you will be saved. Do not go to excess in strengthening your will. It is enough if you do an infinitesimal job every day. For example, it would be enough, indeed, if you give somebody a glass of water. You may say, "Well, so small a job!", This is also something accomplished after all. Another rule: do not go visit various houses and families, when you are very sad or aggrieved, in order to relieve yourselves. Do not take your rubbish to the people close to you. This is not scientific. This is not the way to relieve oneself! Thus, you will go there in order to take advantage of them, but unwittingly, you will allow others to take advantage of you. If you visit other houses to relieve yourselves, to leave your rubbish there, everybody will get to know about this and nobody will let you in. I want all of you to be clean, not to have anything under your nails. Clean your clothes, wash your hands, and then you can go to God! Because the very thought to be clean, is a will, the very thought to go to God clean, influences your mind. If you are not clean, take off your clothes, wash your hands and go to God, go and pray! Students who are not clean are not admitted. This is not to say that you should be pedantic and scrutinise other people whether they are clean or not. Everybody should see for oneself. Those, who pay attention to other people’s impurities, become corrupted. So, we shall start moving from the physical to the Spiritual. I like secular people because they go down very well; they pay attention to physical cleanliness. It takes just a step for them to enter God’s Kingdom. If they possess this art – physical purity, they will move on to spiritual purity. These things are useful to create a favourable atmosphere for the human thought. The impurities set up a sort of unpleasant atmosphere, where students get demagnetised. It takes Purity to get the mind working; it takes a clear night to be able to see the sky. When Christ says that those pure at heart will see God, He points out that Purity is a necessary condition for seeing. So, you will look upon Purity as a condition for the strengthening of your will. This can only be acquired through studentship. This is a religion! The goal of religion is to cultivate the heart, but we should not stop there. God should be revered in Spirit, in Truth, and in understanding. We have to know how to manage the strengths that God has given us. There is a sort of constipation in the soul and in the heart, which has to be used wisely. You say about something, "Let's have it like an ox on a lead." You can’t do this! What does lead mean? The lead is a principle, which can rule the thoughts of your soul, mind, and heart. Do not pay attention whether you are in the mood or not. Read a little bit today, and when the day is gone try to understand what you have learnt. Put this down in a notebook. So far, you have lived a promiscuous life at random: you get up in the morning and until noon you are in the kitchen, in the afternoon, you again have various chores to do here and there and in the evening, you go to bed tired. You think the following day has the same promise for you and you ask, ''When shall we get free?" You will not get free, because you acquire knowledge while working; you strengthen your will in these difficulties. Do not judge others; leave them to their mistakes, but the stronger should help the weaker. There is no better prayer than the one to help your brother. God, to whom you pray, is wise and says, ''Listen, don’t go against your conscience before Me, go out and get this job done!" But you will say, "God, I am not in good humour." You are not in good humour, because you have placed a bigger burden upon your shoulders than you can carry. This is as if a child has taken an algebra book and peruses it, though the child can only do the sums. The situation is similar to your thoughts: sometimes you have very nice thoughts and feelings and you say, "I’m in a very good mood." This mood you have from a friend of yours who visited you and treated you. Do not fool yourselves about these treats, because tomorrow you will be left without any treats. The important thing for you is to work and to remember that every day you should perform a job necessary for you. The heart should beat neat, the soul – fresh, the mind – alert, and the spirit – strong! Help one another during this month. Do not scare each other that the Master said this or that. I have said everything on the spot, but you interpret things in the wrong way. Those who study are always ahead, while those who do not, always lag behind. Many human souls have risen so high that they have reached the angels; however, there are also many angels, who have fallen. Keep in mind that you have all the possibilities to study and if you do not study, this is a sin to your soul. You should not say that you have grown old. Only the devil is old. Keep in mind that you are young for this Divine knowledge and apply your will in the knowledge! Some are rich; others are poor. Poverty is work; wealth is a rest. Look here; there is a good poverty and there is a bad poverty, i.e. bad work and good work. Work is good when you know how to do the job, while it is bad when you do not know how to do the job. Similarly, there is a bad wealth, and there is a good wealth. But at some other time these conditions will change roles. Today you are poor, you should say, "Thank God, I have a job," and start working. Tomorrow you are rich, you should say, "Today I will take a rest." Now I say we will move the world by one hundred millionth part of the millimetre, but all of us have to work together. When I tell you to transform hatred into love, you find it incredible, but hatred can always be taken out, because it is within us. How can it be taken out? If you want to purify water, leave it to settle or put some alum in it, so it can clarify. Bear in mind that you are in a School and you will follow the lessons taught. Those who listen to me, but do not follow, do you know what they look like? It is as if these people are taken around an inn and allowed only to smell the dishes and then asked to leave the place, while these people, are very hungry at that. Smelling will not sustain you through life. In the same way by a lot of smelling they only serve Christianity and say, "It is excellent, it is delicious!" Those of you who want to enter Christianity through knowledge, should understand that you can be saved, can be cured, can be dressed, but knowledge cannot be imparted by blessing. This is human. Paul says, "Partly we know, party we study." It’s not only thinking that counts. To think is a duty of yours. Praying indicates that you have to pay back your debt. You say, "I breathe." You must breathe; this is not a job for your spirit. Knowledge originated from the Freedom of the human spirit, from the understanding of the Divine Will. I want you to be free, to reason; your mood is not of importance. Teachers cannot give marks to students by blessing; if the students do not study, they cannot be given excellent marks. The excellent mark must be within you. I have no excellent marks, I give nothing by blessing; excellent marks I give only to those who know how to work. What is the meaning of the excellent mark? This is a matter of progress, of development. When I give you one grade above excellent, this is a matter of perfection. You want to start with great deeds, but you have to go back. When Christ came from the other world, God sent him into the lowest position, to school. He studied for thirty-three years, although he came from most noble roots, he humiliated himself, he was diligent, he got into carpentry and made chairs. He made chairs for you, who now argue about chairs all the time. Chairs symbolise a certain position, which a human being has to have in the world. Both at home and outside – people argue all the time about chairs. Christ studied the art of making chairs, so that you feel comfortable when you sit in one of them. Christ also wanted to save people. What does this mean? He taught them to eat healthy food. You have to feed your soul with healthy food, your mind – with healthy thoughts, and your heart – with healthy feelings. Master’s lecture, delivered on 7 November 1918 ___________________________________________ 1 The summit of the Vitosha mountain near Sofia, 2 290 m. Source

Those Who are Called Upon “But they all with one accord began to make excuses” (Luke 14:18-20, New King James Version – NKJV)”. As you read the 14th chapter of the Gospel of Luke, there you would only find parts from a very long lecture, in which Christ had elaborated on common principles that are applicable to the whole of humanity. The parable underlines the fact that a person arranged for a grand dinner and invited many people and the ones who were invited to the dinner are also being described in those verses. The words “invitation” and “culture” have something in common. On one hand, the word “culture” represents the material and spiritual achievements of a nation. On the other hand, every newly-introduced idea or manifestation is also a representation of a new type of a culture. Moreover, every transformation from one state of mind to another state of mind represents a brand new type of a culture as well. The word “invitation” implies a personal journey from one state of common understanding and interpretation of life to a new, advanced state of consciousness. And indeed, in order to be invited to the grand dinner, we have to leave our everyday life behind and enter a new festive disposition. One may ask what is the relationship between the three people who refused to join the dinner. The first one refused under the pretext that they needed to take care of their land; the second one refused under the pretext that the five pairs of oxen they bought need their attention while the third one mentioned their spouse as an excuse. Those three archetypes of people, who rejected the dinner invitation, are three categories of human beings who are unwilling to accept the New Culture. The first category of people gives up because they need to take care of their land; the second category refuses because they wish to work with their oxen, while the third category rejects the invitation because they have already married. Those three categories of people who have denied the Christ culture can be likened to the seed that has fallen onto barren ground. The first category of people are the seed that fell on the road; the second category depicts the seed, which fell between the thorns and the third - the seed that fell on a stone. Christ offered a new path and a new culture to many people, thereby inviting them to a new way of life, but they all refused to join forces with Him. They preferred to work on their land, to conquer more land and to expand their borders. The Jews were that first category of people who refused the invitation under the pretense of the need to cultivate their fields. They said to Christ: "We disagree with your heretical doctrine." Next, they crucified Him. Christ demonstrated the new approach to life to the Latin race as well, but it nevertheless chose to deal with “the five pairs of oxen” instead and also declined to join the new culture. After all, the Latin race created the so-called Holy Inquisition, supposedly in the name of Christ! History bears witness to the fact that around fifty million people have been tortured by the very same inquisition. The third category of people are the modern day ones, who marry and completely give up on the acceptance of the new culture and the new way of life. They reason as follows: "Why do we need a new culture, a new life? As long as there is something for us to eat and drink, we shall eat, drink and rejoice with our spouses and our children", but this is by no means a sound philosophy. That is what king Solomon, who had three hundred women and six hundred concubines, was affirming as well. Having tried all the earthly pleasures, Solomon concluded: "… and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind.” (Ecclesiastes 1:14, NKJV). Today both the believers and the non-believers quote the thought once expressed by king Solomon, thus having in mind both the physical and spiritual life, but this assumption is a misconception. Solomon drew his conclusions after he had tried all the transient earthly pleasures. If you draw the same conclusions, could you possibly confirm that you have also, just like Solomon, personally experienced the vanity of all earthly pleasures? If you have not experienced them, you then have no right to speak like Solomon did and if you draw your own life’s conclusions from your personal life’s misdemeanors, then your understanding of the ubiquitous Life is without any solid grounds. What is symbolized by the “fields” and “land” that are being cultivated by the first category of people? The answer is - the human body. The young woman marvels at her own beauty in the mirror several times a day and being happy with her own self, she doesn’t want to marry. Why? She does not desire to become a mother, to give birth to children – she prefers to marvel at her own beauty instead. The young man, on the other hand, roams freely in the streets with his fashionable walking stick and also doesn’t want to marry and become a father, because that would limit his freedom. That is the type of choice, which is made by those who choose to “cultivate their own fields” only, regardless of whether they are young or old, but then again, the old grandma nevertheless says that the young people are just acting foolishly. It's not foolish what young people do - not all young people are reckless and not all elderly people are wise. Are the small streams murky when they have just left the spring? Initially, all the small streams are clean, but as they move ahead and pass through the earthly layers, they collect sludge that makes them impure. Therefore, all young people, just like the rivers, are clear and clean at the beginning of their lives. As people move on with their lives, they gather different impurities and get old. Old age is not a bad thing – it implies a progressive forward movement. However, what could be possibly expected from those young people who dress and undress themselves several times a day and put their shoes on to only take them off immediately in order to try on any newer and more modern shoes? – The answer is that nothing can be expected from such people. They are standing in front of a mirror, just looking at themselves and if they are to be invited to Christ’s dinner, they would certainly refuse. Why would they refuse? – because they are working on their own “land”; they are “cultivating their own fields”. Then, these people would pass themselves for nationalists, patriots and servants to their respective countries. Do not trust such people, as they only think about their own new clothes and shoes, houses and properties. Such fake patriots are to be seen today in all countries all over the world. They speak about the splendor of their homeland, but, in fact, they work to their own personal benefit only. The second category of people are those who refused the dinner in order to enjoy “the five pairs of oxen”. The five pairs of oxen symbolize the five human senses. This second category of people represents those who enjoy the earthly pleasures. Life is a give and take for them and they would inevitably choose money as their highest priority. Their main life goal is money. And they say, as the Bulgarian writer Slaveykov put it in one of his poems: "Oh money, money, my all-powerful queen; Without you I’m in hell and with you in my pocket I reside in paradise." This second category of people acts as they please and wherever you may go - in a tavern, in a theater or to a concert, such people are invariably in the very first row. Where there are bountiful pleasures and fun, they are always prominently seated. The desire to fully utilize those “five pairs of oxen” – that is all they can perceive through their five senses. If you tell them something about Christ's doctrine, about the new, upcoming culture, they will answer: "This is unimportant now – in today’s world the “five pairs of oxen” are important." In their opinion, the one who goes beyond the five senses and appreciates life in a different way, is a stupid, loony and uncultured man. You see this type of people in all the cafes and beer gardens, with full glasses in front of them, their legs crossed and telling each other stories about the meaning of life. Where is the meaning of life to be found - in “the cultivation of the fields” or in the work with “the five pairs of oxen”? You can try these belief-systems - I do not mind those who work on “the land” or trade with their “five pairs of oxen”, but I say that whoever sacrifices their higher consciousness for the sake of their lower instincts, does not understand the meaning of real life. Everyone needs to ask themselves what their life purpose is. As the child grows, it becomes interested in its own physical growth. It constantly measures its height, compares it to that of other children in order to see how much it has developed. The little girl, for example, wants to be as mature as her mother, to have her mother’s black, long hair and her mother’s eyebrows, which are black and curved like a rainbow and also to have her mother’s red and slightly plump lips. All those desires are achievable and the young girl would eventually become a beautiful slender lady, who would enjoy her own beauty and the others around her would enjoy her good looks as well. Typically, the young boy would want to become like his father, to have the same mustache and beard and to become strong and powerful. As the boy grows up, he eventually becomes a handsome young man who starts paying attention to the young ladies around him. However, the day comes when both the young man and the young woman lose their youth, their hairs turn grey until finally the old age settles in and then their backs become hunched and so they say to the young people: "Dear children, our life is over. Vanity… everything is vanity." These are the people who have tried their “five pairs of oxen”. They are the ones who revolve around their five senses only. And then I ask these people: “Did you try to plow the soil with the five pairs of oxen?” – and they answer: "Yes, we tried, we plowed along with them", to which I respond: "As long as you've done it already, you should know that there is a life’s purpose higher than just plowing along and you should strive to attain it. Next, I am now moving on to the third category of people, to those who think only of themselves and want to be in possession of a high social standing. If you tell them about the doctrine of Christ, they would immediately ask you what this doctrine has to do with their social status. They are already “married” to their social and professional ranks and would just say: “What do the teachings of the Christ have in common with our family? Just leave us alone!" For two thousand years, Christ has been inviting all people and all nations to the grand dinner in order to explain to them the principles of the Great Divine Life, but they still keep on rejecting His invitation. What could they expect from their own refusal? What happened with the Jews? Where did the great Roman Empire go? Likewise, the modern society of nowadays is going through a major crisis as well. As of recently, has it become evident that the salvation of humanity lies in the unification of all people who need to live as brothers among themselves. Only now, does it begin to dawn upon people that the humankind does not live on the Earth only and humans start to perceive their lives in the same way they perceive plant life for example – there is the life of the roots, which is the low, material life and there is also the life of the branches, which has a higher spiritual purpose. Earthly life gravitates towards the center of the Earth, while the spiritual life aims towards the center of the Sun. The Earth inhabitants, who live in the “roots of life”, have one type of life interpretation, while the inhabitants of the spiritual world, who live in “the branches” of the Tree of Life, have totally different notions. However, life in itself is not limited to the roots or branches only. There is more types of life – the life of the blossoms and the life of the fruits, for example. When you come to understand and live the life of the fruits, then the process of maturing would have already started for you. Christ spoke to his disciples in parables to explain to them the reasons why people could not yet enter the Kingdom of God. The reasons lie in the fact that people's attention is attracted to “their fields”, “their oxen” and to the high-flying positions they occupy in society. Let the “fields”, the “oxen” and the societal positions all exist and thrive, but the human beings still fail to envisage how they may enter the Kingdom of God, while they are willing to do so only in the presence of their “land”, their “oxen” and their occupations. How would one visit a friend who lives a few miles away? One would harness the horse-wagon and would make their way. Then, when they get to their friend's house, they'll stop the horse-wagon and will be greeted by their friends. Next, the visitors would bring the car into the yard, send the horses into the barn, then they would enter the house, shall remove their coats and only afterwards would they enter the guest room. The traveler’s horse, wagon and luggage in this example represent both the “land” and the “oxen” that prevent one from entering into the Kingdom of God. The coat worn by the visitor represents the temporary professional and social responsibilities one has momentarily assumed during their life on Earth. One should leave their social and professional occupations behind and would only then enter the “guest room”, i.e. enter the Kingdom of God. Don’t the court judges also do the same? When the judges preside over the court, they put on an official robe. After reading the verdict, the judges take off their official robes and remain with their ordinary garments to live and interact as any other ordinary people. For example, while on the battlefield, soldiers instill fear into their enemies, but once they lay down their rifles and bayonets, they become ordinary people. Do you think that this way of living could be described as a culture of a higher rank and purpose? When people pass away, they leave their “fields”, “oxen”, wives and children behind and go on to live in the invisible world on their own only. What happens to their earthly culture? - Everything that has made them cultured, civilized and extraordinary on Earth remains buried in the ground and one leaves the Earth the very same way they entered it. What remained of the Jewish culture when they lost their land and became Egyptian slaves? One may say that the Egyptians were cruel and were killing the Jewish babies. Don’t people do the same today? Doesn’t everyone do the same thing? One kills the noble and Divine within oneself and then pretends to be a cultured, civilized person. To kill the Divine within oneself means to be killing the children of God. How about those who refuse Christ’s invitation? Are they ready for the new culture? - No, they are not. “Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind” (Luke 14:21, NKJV). These newly-summoned people did actually accept the invitation and therefore they have become the bearers of the future, new culture. What are the character traits of those represented by the so-called “maimed” guests - those are the ones who do not steal and do not abuse that which belongs to others. Which are the ones who are “halt”? – those who do not commit crimes. Who are “blind”? – those who have no greed. Every greedy person eagerly strives for money and considers them a necessary unit of exchange, but fails to appreciate the Kingdom of God, which brings the only true wealth. Money and coal, for example, have exactly the same value and meaning in the Kingdom of God. Indeed, money are only of value in the Kingdom of God when they serve a noble cause. On the other hand, the one whose hands are tied against committing any evil crime, has a heart, which is free and open to Love. Such a person is denoted by the term “mailmed” in the above verses. Furthermore, whoever has no envy and does no evil, is depicted as the “halt”. “Then the master told his servant: ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. 24 I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet” (Luke 14:23-24, NKJV). Who are the ones who were called upon – those are the poor and the maimed, the halt and the blind. They are the ones who accepted the invitation. Outwardly, they may look ugly and unrefined, but a day will come when they too will show their beauty and strength in terms of good deeds and great feats. People would love them for their deeds the way they nowadays love the rich for their money. It is better to be loved for one’s deeds rather than only for one’s money and outer beauty. Which is better? - to be outwardly beautiful as the sunlight, which illuminates everything during the day and disappears at night or to be inwardly beautiful and illuminated by the Divine Light? The first type of beauty is what we call physical beauty and the second type of beauty we call beauty of the human soul. The first type of beauty is manifested during the day, when even without it, it is anyway bright everywhere around us; the second type of beauty shows its face in the evening and illuminates the path of those who suffer and are tormented; it shows the path to the oppressed and those who have lost their way. So that is why it is said that the beautiful things grow in darkness. The biblical king David said: "Hide me under your wings (Psalm 91 Prayer)." The Bulgarians who believe in witchcraft do not allow the young and beautiful girls to go out during the day in order to protect them against any possible evil spells being cast upon them. What are those evil spells? – those are the unsavory human thoughts and desires. Such thoughts and desires contain an evil force of great magnitude. In some cases, such thoughts and desires are more terrifying than the weapons of war, as, for example, a book of a writer, full of distorted thoughts and feelings brings poison into the minds and hearts of many generations, since the war cannons are temporarily dangerous only, while the war is still ongoing. Christianity comes to save mankind from the bad and distorted thoughts and desires that have been in the minds of men for thousands of years. One may say that Christianity is a new teaching, which is only two thousand years old. This is definitely not a new teaching. It has been around through three different eras: the first era dates back to the creation of the First Man in the image and likeness of God. This Man is still living in paradise today. The second epoch stretches from the time of the second man, who was made of earth and was cast away from Paradise for his disobedience. The third era is the time of the present humankind, when man left paradise at one’s own accord and was dressed in leather. This is the modern day man who affirms to believe in Christianity. The contemporary people have a very limited understanding of Christianity. The attitude of some believers to Christianity is the same as the attitude of the illiterate towards an expensive, well-bound book. The illiterate examines the book and its binding, checks what kind of cover it has, where it is made, what the name of the publisher is and so on. After doing the research, the illiterate tells their acquaintances that this is a good and well-bound book. Such observations are important, but above all, one should be able to read and understand the book’s content and make use of it. Christianity is a valuable and useful book that a person may benefit from, only when it is opened and read. In this “book of Christianity” everyone would find the methods and laws to live by for the sake of harmony and peace. If this book remains closed though, then it does not make any sense. It is the same as if the doctor has a valuable medicine that gives life to people without dispensing it to those who need it. Another example would be to examine the bottle containing the medicine from outside only, to turn it up and down, but not to open it. Alternatively, if the bottle is broken, then the medicine would be lost. What is the benefit of the book and the bottle when they cannot be utilized? No matter how good they might be looking on the outside, they would not contribute anything whatsoever to one’s improvement. There is another book more valuable than the ones that a person could visually inspect and this “book” is the human soul, as it contains all the secrets concerning the Divine Life, from the moment this world was created to the moment humans shall reunite with God. When something is mentioned about the human soul, many people are asking themselves, if the soul really exists or not, while very few people tend to open and read the "book“ of the soul. A famous Greek philosopher once said: "Know thyself." This thought reflects the doctrine of the soul and for human beings to be able to recognize their own Divinity, they need to open the books of their souls and read from them in order to discover Life’s secrets. The Holy Bible contains less mysteries than what God has imprinted within the human soul. One needs to examine the contents of the soul to find out how all living beings and all angels have lived before us. That is the only way all the existential questions would be given a satisfactory and truthful answer. Is it possible for the humans to get in touch with the angelic hierarchies? It is possible indeed, since I do it everyday. You may say it's impossible, but if you try it yourself, you will discover that it is all quite achievable and possible. Quite many angels are knocking on the door of our hearts at present, but people prefer not to let them in and say: “Leave me alone!”. Some people refuse to accept the angels’ bliss under the pretense of “cultivating their fields”, others are trying their “five pairs of oxen” and the third group are the ones who are going to “marry” to society’s norms. King Solomon, for example, had offered shelter and convenient life to around 900 hundred women in his palace, but this fact, despite the sheer numbers, cannot represent a true marriage in the name of the Holy Spirit. The modern day man leaves his wife and then marries a divorced woman and the same is what women tend to do as well. And after all this, such people are categorized as civilized and cultured?!? What is the culture in the lives of the divorced men and women? - to divorce yourself from the spouse with whom God has united you and to connect oneself with a complete stranger speaks of no true culture. When people encounter difficulties, they say life is a struggle, so they need to fight on in order to survive. It makes sense for the lamb to resist the wolf, but what is the point of two sisters or two brothers fighting each other in the home of their Father? The fighting among people who are serving different deities may make sense, but should they fight when they serve the one and only God? The master of the house, about whom the Christ speaks, invited many people to a dinner, but they all rejected the invitation. This means that these people are not yet ready for the arrival of the new culture. They deal with transient things that divert their attention from the real purpose of Life. To illustrate, the larva is allowed to deal with its body for forty days only. It then gives up such activities and assumes the shape and form of a cocoon. Next, it gives up the cocoon’s way of life and ultimately turns into a butterfly. The body to which people pay such great deal of superficial attention is not the most essential or the most sublime thing in life and the body should be transformed and perfected instead. Saint Paul said: “It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body (1 Corinthians 15:44, NKJV)". The natural body is what does not withstand the diseases and it is called a physical body and the Spanish flu clearly showed how strong the physical body can be. When the Spanish flue enters the body, the body either makes it through or not when it is medically treated, but in such cases it is best to be consciously aware and to succumb to the microbes, only as far as they are permitted to eat only what’s unnecessary inside the body and to afterwards stop their actions with the power of one’s thought and will. There is, however, something far more dangerous than the disease-causing microbes and it is the human malice. Christ is inviting all people today to a stately dinner. This is the New Life you are called upon to embrace. Try it and see what good it brings to the human soul. Whoever accepts the invitation and acts righteously, would have their eyes open and shall see the Truth. Then, one would see the angels descending and ascending, would be able to communicate with them and shall begin to obtain the Word of the Living Water. In that case, whatever a person may learn, shall be passed onto their younger brothers and sisters. This is what true knowledge stands for. Whoever acquires such knowledge, would be helpful and useful to both oneself and one’s brethren. Such a person shall retain their knowledge always and forever under all conditions of life and such knowledge would become their true flesh and blood. What knowledge may a donkey or a horse possibly have, if they have their backs loaded with the sacred books of the entire mankind? Would such a donkey or a horse have any real knowledge? The donkey may bray back and forth, but still it wouldn’t know anything about the valuable books it carries on its back. Therefore, people should seek the knowledge that can be taken along into the spiritual world by their soul when one leaves the earth and not the artificial knowledge, which may break one’s back. The third category of people who refused to attend Christ’s dinner are those who prefer to get “married”. They are similar to the patriots who love their homeland, but seek to take an advantage at any given moment in order to progress their own agenda. On the contrary, real patriots are those who sacrifice everything for the sake of their country. Such people should be role models and worthy examples to their countrymen. Whoever sacrifices for their brethren, country and for a noble idea, shall not pass away into oblivion. In the souls of such patriots, all people and nations are resurrected and reborn and such heroes act as the souls of nations. One day all nations would be resurrected and along with them and the white race will rise up as well. Then Christ shall come. Therefore, the Christ’s descent upon Earth would be signified by all nations gaining their freedom. Every nation which is trying to dominate other nations by taking away their freedom, shall be deprived of God's blessing. Do not assume that you are something, which is separate from the Whole. If you deny Christ’s invitation and say that you are going to work on your “land”, try your “oxen” or get “married”, then that would not excuse you. Such beliefs would not relieve you of the obligation to serve the Whole. Each person's life should contribute to the Life of the Whole and so together build a better new world. I wish that all Bulgarians were from the “blind”, who were invited to Christ’s dinner. What virtue is represented by the so-called „blind“ person? – it is the virtue of having one’s eyes closed for all evil, but open for all good and noble instead. Bulgarians typically love their corn fields, but every person has as much land as necessary, neither more nor less and taking more than what has been already bestowed upon us by the Lord, shall be easily lost. Everyone has the right to cultivate the land, but not to occupy it; that is what God requires from us and that is what Love requires from us as well. What is Love? Some use the word “affection” instead of the word Love and vice versa, but those two words differ in their meanings. Love is a creative force that gives life, while affection builds on what Love gives away freely and happily. In general, true Love gives, while affection always takes. Once, a disciple went to a Hindu teacher and asked him what Love is. The master kept silent and answered nothing. The student visited the master for five days in a row, continuously asking him the very same question, but the guru was still remaining completely silent. On the sixth day, the disciple insisted on the teacher revealing some wisdom on what Love really is, but instead of giving an answer, the teacher grabbed the disciple by the hand and the student was led away into the Ganges River. The master then sank the disciple into the water and held the poor soul under water for five minutes. The student kicked about and resisted in order to escape the teacher's strong hold, but could not manage to escape. Finally, the teacher drew the disciple out of the water and asked: "What did you feel when you were in the water?" - “Great inner tension and desperate need for air.” The master then replied: "When you feel such an inner need for Love, then you will understand what it is. The same way you breath when you open your mouth is equivalent to the way you will truly experience Love, once you open your soul to it.” The real, living Christian culture, just like the above-mentioned Hindu teacher, has now constrained the European nations and keeps them under water. “Five minutes on”, since these nations have been trying to set themselves free, while Christ is asking them at the same time: "What do you feel and how do you feel?" - "We need freedom" is what they answer. All nations shall be free when they return to God and when they begin to love each other. Love makes you free. Refrain from selfishness, from the thought of fretting for your own personal survival. Do the will of God who lives inside of you. Christ says: “I do not receive honor from men” (John 5:41, NKJV). Instead, Christ seeks the glory of God. Man is part of the Divine Oneness. If the whole Divine Oneness is in a healthy state, then all its parts shall be safe and sound as well. One may ask: “And what will happen with Bulgaria?” - it all depends on your behavior, whether is virtuous or not. When all Bulgarians live in harmony with the Whole, then their lives will be peaceful. Ever since the creation of the world, God has set the Bulgarian territorial boundaries and established the correct form of government that needs to be applied. One day that plan shall be fulfilled one way or the other. Everything has been envisaged and foreseen not only for Bulgaria, but for all other nations and for all individual people as well. Now when you return to your homes after this lecture, each of you should enter their own personal private spiritual abode, open the pages of the book of their soul and make note of what is written in there about you and what your life’s purpose is. What’s bad is already left behind. Now the blessed days of resurrection and rejuvenation are already knocking the door. You would all be young and at the age of “thirty-three”. You shall live on Earth as long as you wish and would leave it when you finish the job you have come here for. You would be able to gather your relatives and friends before you start off your return journey into the spiritual world and tell them you are going back to the Source. You would be able to say goodbye to them and let them know you are departing for your true homeland. As you are leaving, they shall not cry because they would know and understand where exactly you will be going. In order for you to be able to come to the Earth freely and leave it freely, you have to give up hatred, jealousy, envy and all other useless dispositions. The fact that somebody may have hurt you, should not disturb you. What’s truly yours, remains always yours and nobody could possibly take it away from you, but if still something truly yours is somehow taken away from you, then it will be soon or late inevitably returned to you. I wish to all of you to become personally acquainted with the Christ. How Christ will descend upon Earth and where you may meet Him is not important. – think of it as you may please. Expect His arrival the way your understanding permits you to do so. If you are a Christian orthodox, you may expect Him to descend from Heaven, accompanied by angels, who shall make known to the whole world that the Christ is returning. If you are a Theosophy follower, you would probably wait for Christ to be born somewhere and then grow and mature, as He walks among the different nations to preach to them. If you are an occultist, you might believe that Christ would appear at different times and in places among all people. Christ’s arrival shall be known by the great perturbations that will occur all over the world. Christ is now knocking on every door and is inviting people to unite forces with Him. Whose door is Christ knocking on? He is knocking on the door of the ones who have the will and yearning to accept His invitation. Rejoice yourself, all of you who are called upon! Do not doubt the Truth. Wherever it may be coming from, it is always the same and does not vary. In order to perceive it, you need to get rid of your materialistic approach and perceptions. The material world relates to the form of things, while the Spiritual and Divine worlds respectively relate to the content and the meaning of those forms. Therefore, do not just ponder over the physical forms, but move on to their content and meaning. What did the devil say to Christ whilst taking Him onto the mountain? - "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me” (Mathew 4:9, NKJV). Jesus answered: "Away with you, Satan! For it is written: ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only you shall serve” (Matthew 4:10, NKJV). Christ does not make deals with the devil, as He knows that all the devil’s contracts and promises would not last. Humans have come to the Earth not to become kings and queens, but to serve God with love. Every person should be pleased with their state of affairs and not seek wealth and glory that will inevitably fail them. If someone meets you and asks you, if are you are a Christian orthodox, evangelist or a catholic, then such questions should not concern you. In such cases, everyone should whisper to themselves: "I know one God, who loves all, heals all and gives life, food and water to all." God is everywhere - everywhere we do hear His voice. Some hear His voice and trust Him, while others hear Him and doubt Him. This is the difference between believers and agnostics. You may say that some people are claiming to be the real Christ. If such people abide by the laws of Love, Wisdom, Righteousness, Virtue and Truth, then they are the living Christ. Therefore, all humans could be just like the Christ Himself. Do you think this is impossible? Christ said to himself: "I and my Father are one (John, 10:30)." Whoever follows the God’s law, is one with God. In the very same way, it is possible for the Spirit of Christ to live in all people, since the Christ shall reside inside all humans and all people shall in their turn live within Christ. You may say there are hidden things that are kept as a secret with regards to the human existence. There are certain secrets in life, but that does not mean they are impure. Both life in Heaven and life below Heaven are full of secrets and Nature is also full of secrets. The human beings themselves and their bodies represent a great secret. Those who love God and their brethren, who learn and work, are gradually uncovering the secrets of Nature and the secrets of their bodies. In this context, one should know that the human body is a divine, holy creation. Treat it with reverence and devotion. The forces necessary for the development of any human being are hidden within the inner self and the conditions for their manifestation are to be found in the outer world. In water and moisture lives the Divine life, in heat – the divine Love and in light – the divine Truth. Use these conditions to grow and progress. You may say: "We want to be happy and full of joy" and that is indeed possible. How? - By opening your hearts to the light and warmth of God's Love. Once upon a time, an Indian fakir spent thirty years of his life in a state of motionlessness, being willing to discover the meaning of Life. For days he sat motionless like a tree and birds even made their nests on his head. One day an impoverished widow came close by and affixed a cradle on the nearby tree, where she left her child. The mother went to work thinking that she could rest assured for the safety of her child, since the child was under the watchful eye of the nearby-sitting fakir. After a while, a cobra approached the cradle and was about to attack the child. The fakir asked himself the question, whether to help the child or to leave it in God’s hands. He thought: "God created both the child and the cobra, He can foresee everything and I do not know what to do in order to fulfill God’s will." While he was reasoning, he did not move and instead let God alone solve the matter. The cobra bit the child and it died. The fakir then said: "Such was the Will of God". Ultimately, it turned out that he had spent in vain thirty years of his life in meditation, since he had not grasped the real meaning of Life. As he departed from Earth, God summoned him to inquire, as to why the fakir had not saved the widow's child. "I did not know what Your will is - to save the child by killing the cobra or to leave the cobra alive and to leave the child in Your hands”, said the fakir. God replied: "My will was to keep the child alive, so you should have made a move to kill the cobra. Why were you meditating so many years, if you could not resolve this dilemma successfully? For punishment, I will send you back to Earth to spend another one thousand years in tribulations in order to learn what My will is and how to fulfill it”. Many people nowadays are sitting still like this Indian fakir, motionless and meditating on the purpose and meaning of Life, but have not drawn the relevant conclusions. Their friends who are coming nearby being pursued by cobras and are asking for help, but the modern day fakirs tend not to make a move and do not want to raise their hands to kill the snakes. They say: "God has created the humans and the cobras and if He wishes, he would save my friends on His Own". The cobra represents the deceitful human life as the result of a distorted mind and a distorted heart. The cobra suffocates both the human mind and the human heart. One may say that the world has been created in such a way. This is not how the world was created. On the contrary, the world has been created according to rational principles and is based on order and intrinsic harmony. To see what in fact the world is, one should obtain a free ticket to tour it. Only then, would one have a clear idea on the way the world was pre-designed and created. But only those, who are willing to learn and work with Love, could deserve such a free ticket. The world needs great people, it needs heroes who are wounded not in the back whilst being in retreat, but heroes wounded in the chest whilst attacking and moving forward. The Spirit of God is descending upon this world to work and to encourage all people to work as well. The times of peaceful resignation have already ended. Today everyone needs to do their job and we see that all people are under pressure from the Divine world to do so. Thinking of sleep and rest only is sheer laziness, a result of an inner inertia. One person was very lazy and did not know how to cure himself. He visited an experienced American doctor and asked for help. The doctor took him to his lab, placed electrodes on his body and started the electric current. The sick man started shouting, stomping with his feet and waiving his hands. "There's nothing dangerous" - the doctor said calmly - "These are gymnastic exercises that will help you heal". Human life needs to re-embrace the sound foundation that God has originally set up. Apply the science of Truth and Love in your lives. If you see that your brothers and sisters are impure and unwell, do not criticize them, but help them recover; if they are hungry, offer them a meal; if they are sick, treat their disease. Why do you at all criticize the people who do not go to church? - Do not blame them for that. I find that some of you spend more time in church than they should. The term “church” symbolizes the self-centered human existence. Everyone has one such church within themselves. Exit your church of selfishness and enter the Divine Church of Love, Righteousness, Truth, Virtue and Wisdom. In other words, stop thinking about yourselves only and think of your brothers and sisters as well. Only in this way will the situation of families, societies and nations be improved. Only in this way will Bulgaria's political situation improve. All people - priests, teachers, judges, government officials, mothers and fathers - should pray for victory over the evil. "Which side should we support?" - Only the side of God and the side of Christ. I'm already at the battlefield. I have drawn my sword and I am fighting. If all men fight against evil, first within themselves and then in the outside world, the planet would easily be saved. Rest assured, great is the future of mankind. - "And what about Bulgaria?" – Don’t worry about Bulgaria. Bulgaria’s destiny is sealed, but your personal destinies remain undecided. I wish for all your work to be successfully accomplished by means of abiding by the Divine principles. I wish everyone to be healthy, cheerful, active and wherever you may meet each other, to treat each other like brothers and sisters. There is no greater feat than recognizing and treating each other like brothers and sisters - this is what is preached by the living Christ. I wish to all of you to be the “poor”, the “maimed”, the “halt” and the “blind”, so that you are called upon by the Christ Himself. Christ will send His servants to invite you to join forces with Him. God bless you and may the Lord be with you now and forever and throughout all ages! Sunday Talks; Sunday, 3 November, 1918; Sofia, Bulgaria Translated by: Pavel Iordanov

Keeping Spiritual Energy Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD. Isaiah 62:3 The word crown has a double meaning. This word implies a proper circular movement, proper giving. All the bodies in space, which keep their energy, move along a circular orbit. What is true of space bodies is also true of human beings. Therefore a person, who wants to keep one’s energy, should move along a circular orbit, or put in simple words, this is a job done in the easiest of ways. The science that teaches methods of how to keep spiritual energy is very necessary for the proper development of human beings. All modern sufferings – individual or common – result from the loss of Divine energy. While you were young, the energy you had in your organism was so much, that you were inclined to believe that it was inexhaustible forever. This, however, is just an illusion in earthly life. This energy can be lost the same way you can lose your money. It flows out of you just like water flows out of a cracked bottle. Similarly some wine-makers pour sweet wine in bottles and bury it in the ground for several years, where it ferments slowly. During this time, a certain quantity of carbon dioxide is formed in the wine, therefore it should be opened with utmost care, because all the liquid can burst out at once. Likewise, human energy, stored in the human soul, can at times flow out at once, which is what happens at times of great joy or great sorrow. This is why one should know how to rejoice and how to grieve. This is also an art. No mistakes should be made in this respect, because one may be harmed. I shall give you an example, which clearly shows the impact of great joy: an English ship, worth about four to five million leva was raffled in Tsarigrad1. It went to a porter, who was invited to go and see what he had won. However, along the way, the porter went crazy out of joy. Now people go crazy due to a great joy or great sorrow. What does crazy mean? This is a loss of spiritual energy or the inability to comprehend spiritual language. There is no point in being too glad, but we should not be too grievous either, because great joy implies great grief and vice versa. This is a true law. You say, ‘When we go to Heavens, we will be very glad, but when we descend to Hell, we will be grieved’. These are two opposite poles. You, who do not understand the Divine principles, who are not familiar with them, say, ‘Why do those, who are down there in Hell, suffer?’ I would ask you, however, ‘Why are those, who are up there, rejoicing?’ What is the difference between suffering and joy? Grief results from the fact that we have lost what was given to us. For example, if we lose our health, money, hearing or something else, we will be aggrieved. Hence, we have to learn to keep what God has given us. In order to be able to keep what was given to us, we shall have to inevitably double our energy, to which purpose there is a principle in the Gospel: doubling is actually the principle of sowing; if farmers do not sow, they will lose. In this respect your mind is a field, which has to be sown. God has placed the seed in your depository, and when the right time comes, God says, ‘Sow the field!’ You answer, ‘I shall not sow this year, because I have plenty of food, I shall take a rest’. You leave your minds uncultivated and they, to put it scientifically, fall in atrophy. The core art in keeping spiritual energy is the cultivation of the human mind. There are three ways to spend human energy: firstly, in the physical organism – through your hands, legs, muscles, stomach, lungs; secondly, through human thought and reasoning; and thirdly, through human passions. Most dangerous of all, in terms of spending energy, are human passions. Those persons, who complain that their memory grows fainter, they will know that passions have taken the upper hand in them. This can be noticed in young girls and boys at about fifteen-sixteen years of age. At this age, they start falling in love and therefore they start forgetting and cannot learn their lessons. This is also true of adults – they fall in love with other things, but this is no love, this only seems to be love, this is love for the drink. Any drunkard is in such a situation – he is in love with the glass, a glance at the glass can make any drunkard happy. There is a similar situation in respect of thoughts too: from an esoteric point of view, there are purely physical thoughts, there are thoughts of desires and there are spiritual thoughts. The thoughts of desires are the thoughts that bring suffering to contemporary society, i.e. such is the epoch we, the people, live in today. This movement is within us; this striving should be a crown in the hand of the Lord. By the hand of the Lord we understand God’s Will. One should have a strong will in contemporary society and I will give you methods to strengthen your will. You believe you have a will. Yes, you do, but this is an ordinary will. In order to have a will, you should know how to move in a circle. In America, there are chairs called rocking chairs, which are the most foolish invention. Whoever sits on such a chair gets rocked. Do not sit on such chairs; do not rock. When we want to get apples down from the tree, we shake the tree. When you have an unvaried thought – say for example that you do not love someone, you send thoughts from you to him and from him to you, which is just like sitting on the rocking chair, and within less than a day or two you will feel spiritually upset. You will ask me why someone called you by an offensive name. That person must have called you so in order to try your will. The Scripture reads, ‘you need a helmet, to repel the foe’. The foes from the invisible world may only fling one bad thought at you through anybody – through your wife, through your husband, through your children or through somebody else; even those whom you love most, can toss a thought to you which you do not expect. You have to beat off every thought! You have heard the old saying, ‘God will do everything’. How can he do everything? Let’s assume that you grow and feed silk worms in a room and then you let in a boy of two or three years of age. What will the boy do with the silk worms? He will go round and smash all of them. The same will happen when you let a two-year old thought of yours in the most sacred of all of your rooms and within an hour it will have smashed all your silk worms. By silk worms, I mean certain types of thoughts, actions or desires of your will. We have to follow strictly the methods which nature applies in our lives. In nature we can never imagine the Sun to be a dark circle, because it would not be any Sun then, we always picture it as a light circle. Light is a circular movement. Firstly, you impart into your mind that each thought, desire or action, which penetrates us, is sent from the Invisible world and keep in mind that whatever happens to you, has had to happen inevitably! If you understand these principles of movement, you will know that a thought, which was thrown away by somebody and which has travelled from the one end of your orbit to the opposite end, will fall away on its own. If you are at this end, you will be able to understand it; therefore never grasp a newly arrived thought at the moment it crosses your orbit at the one end. Therefore Christ says, ‘Do not oppose the evil’. This means; do not oppose, but stay at the other end and try to catch it. You will certainly need experience now. What does this experience consist of? Many have asked me the question of how to develop, to make progress, how to see this or that? I would like you not only to see, but also to acquire things. You may see a wheat grain – this is one thing, if you take it and sow it – this is another thing. So it is not sufficient to feel one Divine thought that is granted to you, but you have to acquire and apply it. Say for example you want to see an angel. You may see as many angels as you wish, you may go to them, but when you come back, you are still the same, you only recount what you have seen as performance and this is the end of the issue. You have to learn these principles. It is important when you see an angel, to interact with the angel’s intelligence, with the angel’s spirit. The same is true of Nature – it all starts with feeling and then comes seeing. There are many animals that neither feel, nor see. One day when they grow up, when they come to where we are now, they will say, ‘We can now see what our obstacle in life was’. I will give you an exercise to do for about a month. Many of you can do it. Do not think that when you experiment, everything is pleasant and everything leads to results. Sometimes there may be a bad result, but this should not discourage you. Sometimes the worst results have the best of effects. I shall give you an example to elaborate on this thought: a wife of a Turk laughed a lot, her jaw got dislocated and her mouth was distorted. Many doctors were called to fix her jaw, but none of them could do anything. Therefore one day her husband took her in his cart to drive her to a very good doctor. Along the road, however, the horses got scared, over-turned the cart, the wife fell on the ground and thus her jaw was fixed and back to normal. The Turk wanted to visit a famous doctor and see whether the doctor could help his wife, but God found it good for the woman to fall off the cart and thus to get her jaw fixed… This is why you should not consider that falling off a cart is something bad; on the contrary, it will restore your jaw back to normal. The experiment consists of the following: firstly, when a thought of hatred comes up within you, it should be transformed into love! I shall give you a methodology how to transform hatred into love: try to put yourselves in the shoes of the person you hate; assume that you also make the same mistake in respect of God and say, ‘God loves me despite of all of my mistakes, therefore I will do the same to that person too – I will love that person!’ Whatever mistake this person could have made or whatever his or her behaviour might have been to you, you are in the same situation in respect of God. God has not changed his attitude to you. He loves you. Start moving your thought from you to God, and then start moving it from you to others – to the person you hate. The love, that God has for you, will pass on from you to the other person and the other person will be placed in the same situation in respect of you, as you are to God, i.e. the attitude will be generated in the mind of that person. Secondly, during the entire month, do not spread any gossip about anybody, or if gossip is spread about you, keep silent, pretend this does not concern you. You may be a little sulky, but consider this is another person, not you. If a woman places her hands into stale dough, are her hands stale too? Even if your whole body goes stale, believe that your soul is not stale. Do not assume that external staleness is necessarily internal. Do not think it is easy to give up gossiping, this is a serious business. I do not want you to refrain from gossiping for a lifetime. I want you to refrain only for one month, to test your will. When I ask you to transform hatred into love, the former shall not disappear all of a sudden; it will keep on showing up. If you succeed in all of your experiments, you will feel an internal peace and acquisition of a drop of energy. However, if one day you fail to succeed in your experiment, you will lose a small part of your energy. You will be losing and gaining during these thirty days, but what counts is that the final result should be good. You may fall off the cart, but in the end, you jaw will be restored back to normal. I give you these two experiments, because they take effect along the natural Path, according to which the angels work now in the world. They will assist you. Thirdly, produce a good thought within you and keep it for the whole month. When you make this experiment, you should always think that you are free, do not think that the external world or your attitudes to people can counteract you. Before starting the experiment you will say the following, ‘At this moment when I start this experiment, through the Might of God which is in me, I can do anything!’ Do not be confused by the word anything; it implies anything good, not anything evil as well. There is no force that can beat you at this moment. In your mind you should keep alive the thought of ‘whenever one wants to do something good, the Divine conscience is vigilant. As soon as you decide to do a good deed, there comes a bond between you and God, a conversation is started. The moment you decide to do good for God’s sake, God takes care of you. These three experiments, which I give you, will be the foundation for the renovation of your thoughts and hearts, before you start fighting. I can see that quite a few of you live the life of people buying lottery tickets and waiting for something good to come down their way. The second year they buy a ticket again, and again in the third year, but there are no sure chances that any gain will come their way. This is not the way leading to the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God can be taken by Force, knowledge is acquired by Force, and everything in the world is acquired by Force. By Force means through those wise creatures placed higher up than the angels. These are the Divine Forces and through them everything can be acquired. These creatures are the archangels. Later on, when you will have done these experiments you will be able to get rid of rheumatism, headache, heartache, tuberculosis and other diseases, which exist not only in the organism, but up there in the mind, and in the heart. The Scripture reads, ‘Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord’. Crown should be understood to mean most supreme angelic Creatures. To have a crown of the Lord is to bond with the supreme spirits of Love, who are the spring of Divine Love. Anybody, drinking from this spring, shall no longer be thirsty. There are two categories: a crown and glory. Glory – these are the archangels, who are the bearers of God’s Will in the physical field. When you want to strengthen your will, you will call an archangel who is mighty and strong. This is one principle, which works without any suggestion. The ideal the mother had, before she conceived, her child will be exactly like this. Our thoughts and desires become exactly like the creatures we think of at a particular moment. If a maid is in love with a stupid lad, such will her child be. She looks upon the lad through different eyes, she imagines him to be much more ideal, while in fact he is not; her imagination is one state of affairs which does not correspond to the state it manifests itself. We should not be looking at the lad’s soul, but at his manifestations. We should not be looking at his outer appearance, that he is handsome, that he is neat and tidy etc. He may be neat and tidy at one point of time, but such a tidy horse has no intelligence. I understand movements in terms of wisdom. Tidiness, I understand as a case when someone fixes your broken leg or relieves you when you feel indisposed. Let’s take, for example, somebody whom we believe is tidy. He goes to a prayer meeting and has bad thoughts about one person and about another person. These are the tidy people, who spoil the mood of a prayer meeting; these are the good-looking maids and lads, these are the dark-eyed and dark-haired people. If you are tidy you have to go out predisposed, and to predispose others also. Different is the crown and the glory of the Lord and, indeed, in such a meeting one soon gets older. How can you not get older? If I start punishing one of you all the time for being ugly, you will see that within a month this person will darken. If you keep telling somebody that he or she is good looking, this person will improve. When I sometimes see darkened people, I say, ‘Somebody must have been working upon you!’ I do not want worms inside God’s home. If there are worms, let them stay outside! If I catch anybody, I will throw out such a person over the fence. And those who do their experiments well, if they have fallen over the fence, I will take such people back. This is an excellent experience. When I decided to speak to women, it was raining. And I told myself, ‘This rain shows that women are not lucky’. But I see the weather improved today. This indicates that women are also given credit. The shining Sun indicates an agreement as well. This is not merely comfort; these are facts. When you decide to start with the first experiment, do not let yourself stumble over anything. Do not waste your feelings, your thoughts and religious beliefs that you have. Each man or woman should apply his or her experience. We have come down to Earth to gain, so that we return richer to God. Not losing is easy, but to gain is an art, because the minds of many of you are idle. This loss is called by esoteric scientists demagnetising. If you cannot do these assigned experiments on your own, ask somebody else to help you, and work together. You have to have patience in all this work. You should usually start with the experiments in the morning or when you feel like doing them. You may ask whether your prayers will be accepted. We are bound to pray, but should not be interested whether God will accept our prayers or not. In order to be successful in this life, you need a strong will, a strong mind and a strong heart. These can be acquired only through a pure and holy life. Without these no success can come to you. If you go over the entire history, from one end to the other, the most successful have been those men and women who lived a most pure and holy life. Do not think it is easy to be a pure and holy human being. If you are soiled you must have been drinking and you must have fallen. Altogether, purity and holiness have the upper hand in the world. We are wrong to think that we were conceived by our mothers in sin. Anybody who does not follow God’s Will was conceived in sin, while those who follow God’s Will were not conceived in sin. Some say, ‘We are sinful’. Yes, we are, I do not deny that we make mistakes, but I do deny that we were conceived in sin. Anybody following God’s Will was conceived in Love. Christ wants human beings to be righteous in their souls – what one is above; the same one must be below. You are worried – do not hide it. When you are worried, this means that your children, who are within you, are very unwise. But this will be taken care of too. By doing these exercises all difficulties will fade away and bliss will come to the world. In this way, we will finally make people not steal and not lie. You will now train your will in order to become pure and holy. When you attain this you will have the will power to pick fruit from the Tree of Life, to see that everything is possible. This is the only way to make life interesting. From now on, you will always be at School. So far, you have not attended such a School. Up to now, you have been washing the dishes, chopping onions and so on, from now you will make a start with the letter a, which is the voice of the will. This is the only way to apply your will. Master’s lecture, delivered on 26 June 1918 * * This lecture and the previous one are immediately after one another in a common paper in the decoded shorthand notes, having only one date (26.06.1918) in the beginning. It is possible that Saving Spiritual Energy lecture was delivered later. (Editor’s notes). ________________________________________ 1 Previous name of Constantinople. Source

Getting Full and Getting Empty 1 The Scripture reads, ‘Without faith one cannot please God’. I shall paraphrase this line a little and I shall say, ‘With faith one can please God’. Bear in mind that it is faith that appeals to the Lord. The Scripture reads that we shall be granted whatever we ask for in line with God’s Will. This is not the commonly accepted faith, not that faith that people have, but it is the faith of children – among children you will look for it. You have to have the faith of children, not the faith of adults. I want those who listen to me, not to think that they are adults. If they so believe, there is no point in them coming here, there is no need for adult people on Earth; they are people for Heaven. You may say, ‘I am fifty or sixty years of age’. Do not fool yourselves with your years. I say that one’s age is appreciated by one’s experience. The more experience you have, the older you are and vice versa. What matters is what valuables you have in the backpack of your life. You may carry a load of fifty kilograms, which is fifty leva worth; you may carry a diamond of only one gram, which may be tens of thousand of leva worth. It is not the quantity, which is important for the load, but the quality. Some say, ‘I know that the Sun spins.’ I ask whether your Sun spins. You say, ‘I know that the Moon gets full and gets empty’. I ask whether your Moon gets full or gets empty. This is where knowledge resides – to discern what is good and what is evil. Keep an eye on your heart as to whether it is getting full of good and empty of evil. Only then you will know the meaning of getting full and getting empty. You know that the Moon takes fourteen days to get full and fourteen days to get empty. Similarly, your heart should spend fourteen days on getting full of good and for fourteen days your heart should work on emptying all the swill out of you and out of society. Afterwards, you will feel light. This is what doctors do too. When people see that somebody’s stomach is upset or that somebody has diarrhoea, they immediately call the doctor to put an end to the disorder. Hang on, let the sick person throw up, so that the sick person can be relieved, let everything, that has gathered inside, flow out. A man may be in a fury, flying at others; do not stop him, let him shout, so that everything can get out. If this annoys you, close your ears or go farther away; it is none of your business to interrupt the flow. This is the philosophy of the New Teaching; this is the Teaching of Christianity! Sometimes, your husband is cross with you, he shouts at you, and you feel an urge to stop him. Easy, let him throw up. Well, but he will make me dirty all over! You keep away from him, not just right in front of him, pass him the bucket and stay behind, meanwhile let him throw up. Do not interrupt him, help him and be grateful that he has relieved himself from such a burden. But what do wives usually do? She will start going from one house to another and telling people, ‘You know what misfortune beset me – my husband threw up!’ On the contrary, this is quite fortunate, as he is now relieved. I regard all people who throw up as reliable. So, from now on, you will speak less and do more. This is what teachers do with pupils at school – in order to teach them to work, they give them tests, homework, to write compositions etc. Do not think that after entering the Spiritual world you are already holy and pure. This will come on its own accord; do not worry about it. If, on seeing a candle, you start thinking how it spreads light, when it gives better light etc., this will bring no benefit to you. Leave thinking aside, strike a match, light the candle and make use of it. Only an aspiration to be obedient to God, Who is complete in all respects, is required from you now. The Lord, I speak about, can see you, because He has millions of eyes and ears. He sees you through cats, flies; He can see you when you chase them. The Lord sees everything, because there are many secret places from where He watches you. The Lord is neither in cats, nor in flies, but He sees through them. When He sees you passing by a pear tree or looking at a flower, He is already aware of your intentions. Everything is known to God. When you drink a little water, He, through the water knows you internally. The most important and necessary things for you are as follows: obedience and attention. What does obedience mean? Obedience means to do something, and attention means to be attentive when the Lord does something. The same with you now – you will have to listen and pay attention. You may ask yourselves what else I have to tell you. You are only required to be obedient and attentive! If you are sent with a hose in hand to any garden, you are required to point the hose and to water the garden, not to think why you were assigned to water the garden, why not somebody else? You were found; the hose is in your hands, keep watering and do not think any longer about it, because the one who waters the Divine garden, benefits from its fruit. Read chapter nine by Prophet Daniel. This chapter is closely related with what I asked you to do. You do not know your future, it is hidden from your sight, and you do not know what the Lord has in mind. It is said, ‘Pray, in order not to be tempted.’ Many of you are busy with a lot of work, but there is also more important work for which you have come. I shall be brief, what you have to do is to think within yourselves for about four to five minutes and to see whether you are ready to do this voluntarily, without repenting your decision later on. You will do the following: for ten days on end starting on 27 June, you will get up at about four o’clock in the morning, and during the time from four to five o’clock you will read chapter nine by Daniel, you will carefully think upon it, you will pray and you will confess to God, as you do to a priest, your sins, the sins of your relatives, the sins of your people. And if the Lord so wishes, He will forgive you. In this way you will send your petition to God, however, what resolution it will get, is up to God. At the same time, the departed people close to you will also pray for themselves and also for you, so there will be prayers below and above – just like trees feed from below and from above. You will leave yourselves in God’s hands. You will eat twice a day: no butter or eggs, only vegetable food. You will eat in the morning after praying, and in the evening before praying. In the evening, you will eat before the Sun sets, and you will pray and read chapter nine after the sunset at about eight o’clock. The Lord has imposed fasting all over the world. After breakfast in the morning, and after dinner, you will thank God very much. During these ten days you will observe absolute fasting of your heart and your mind: not a single bad thought, bad desire or word of gossip. During these days ask God only for important and necessary things, not for stupid ones. You will pray to God to strengthen all of your brothers and sisters, wherever they may be; to help all the suffering people, and everybody who fights evil. You may read the Good Prayer, the Lord’s Prayer and others. Be careful not to overdo it, make sure your heart is always warm. Approach the Lord with faith! Have faith in His grace and kindness. And you will see the result. Master’s lecture, delivered on 26 June 1918 in Sofia ______________________________________________ 1 The lecture was titled ‘Lecture to Women’ in the decoded shorthand notes Source

God Is Spirit “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and Truth.”[1] “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and Truth.” Christ has pronounced this thought as far back as two thousand years ago. The fact that this thought was said at a gathering reveals that those who assisted at this gathering were not so particularly people of culture. They were discussing the question of how should they worship God – so Christ gave them an answer. There are many ways in which people can serve God, but Christ indicates one of the proper ways: to serve God in Spirit and Truth. Here the word worship is taken in the meaning of serve. “God is Spirit.” The word God is vague, uncomprehended – mainly to those who examine questions from the philosophical point of view. However, the Existence, or the Essence of things, cannot be grasped through the mind, e.g. in a philosophical manner. Why? Because, according to the laws of the thought, there are things determined and finite; and there are also things undetermined and infinite. One of the undetermined notions is that of God. God is a Being Who has neither beginning nor end, and Whose limits within He moves are unknown. He is a basis, a Principle upon which we ought to build our relations. “Those who serve God must serve Him in Spirit and Truth.” What does the word Spirit mean? People say about someone that this one has “yielded up his (or her) Spirit to Father” – that is, this person has died. So the Spirit is that intelligent force within humans which brings life. If we would like to define what the Truth is, we refer to the Gospel in which it is said, “The Head of Your Word is the Truth.”[2] So the word through which we express ourselves represents the body of the Truth. Everyone knows what the head is for the body. The most valuable, the most precious part of human beings is invested in their brain, in their head. Therefore, namely, humans are being determined by the quality of their own brain. “To serve God in Spirit and Truth.” What is God, in His Essence? Many consider God as a great, abstract Principle about Which they cannot have any notion at all. Very little is demanded from people in order that they get to know God. It is enough for them just to make an attempt, make an effort to serve Him in Spirit and Truth so that they may have contact with Him, so that they may find the common points of contact between God and their own Soul. How would you know that you have already established this contact? By the consequences, namely: if you have been dead, you shall be resurrected to life; if you have been sick, you shall be healed; if you have been ignorant, you shall be enlightened; if you have lost the meaning of life, then Love shall visit you, impart Light into your mind, and give meaning and purpose to your life. The moment you lose your bond with God, you will lose everything. Everyone has experienced that, thanks to which the question of serving is not abstract but vital. Those who have managed to find a solution to this question have made their way to the inner sense of their individual life and have built their own philosophy of life. Many philosophers have written on the topic of serving; whoever is interested in that may read what the different philosophers have said. There are works written in various languages on that topic. Outside literature, the question of serving has its inner side of experience. Which one of the two sides of the question is the true, the real one? According to Me, the reality of matters is dual: external, or objective, that has form; and internal, or subjective, that is without form. As a matter of fact, real things are those that have no form. You might object that it is impossible for the real things to have no form. What would you say, then, about the feelings and sensations you experience? They are real – and in spite of that, they have no form. What form do the sensations of pleasantness and unpleasantness, the feelings of joy and sorrow have? What form would you give to the notion of Truth? Therefore, real things are not always dressed in form. In the present stage of development of humans, there are real things that do not need any forms. Scientists call these things subjective, or internal. “Those who serve Him must serve in Spirit and Truth.” It means: To serve God with that profound, inner understanding of life which people carry within themselves; to serve God with that understanding of the inner sense of life. Everyone seeks the Truth, discerns the Truth, and, when someone else is talking to them, they want to know whether this one is speaking the Truth to them or not. The Truth determines the relations between souls. Taken alone, the Truth is something specific, concrete. To be a bearer of the Truth within yourself means to have Light in your mind and Warmth in your heart, to be free in your own beliefs and convictions. The Truth imparts inner freedom and strength into humans. Once having lost the Truth, one begins to hesitate and have doubts. Whatever such people undertake, they feel fear and confusion. The Truth is a living quantity, and therefore, wherever it enters, it gives inner sense and Spirit to things. To speak about the Truth as a mere notion, this is equivalent to saying the names of people without the very people, without the living notion of them. The name Ivan is lifeless; once we link it to the very person, this name comes alive. People often talk about the Truth as about something void of life; however, when it is said that “The Truth is the Head of the Word” or that “God is Truth”, this Truth is immediately filled with Spirit and life. Therefore, those who carry the Truth within themselves are healthy, intelligent, happy, beautiful, and strong. If you wish to be beautiful, to be loved by other people, then apply the Truth in your life. Some keep complaining that their skin has turned yellow and do not know what to do in order to obtain a vital complexion. The answer is very simple: They have to apply the Truth. The Truth shall give them whatever colour they like. The Truth is the Philosopher’s stone of the alchemists – the stone that transmutes matters. Those who are bearers of the Truth within themselves are immortal; they are masters of the situation, the whole Nature knows them, and, wherever they pass through, every living creature greets them: flowers, animals, and humans. Even the rivers, the wellsprings, the rocks and the mountains salute them. Those who are not bearers of the Truth within themselves constantly encounter contradictions and hardships. Each time you meet people who are constantly attacked by everyone else, you ought to know that those people either do not carry the Truth within themselves or the society they move in keeps away from the Truth. Christ says, “We ought to worship Him, to bow down before Him.” The verb bow down refers to human will-power. When working, people have to bow down. What does the one digging the vineyard do – or another one, who is reaping the harvest in the field? They bow and bow down all day long. They raise up and put down the hoe or the reaping-hook, and keep bowing down. Those who eat or drink water also bow down. You meet someone you know in the street, man or woman – you bow down again. This shows that people bow down before God wherever they see Him: in a human, in an animal, in a plant, in the food and water they constantly need. Then the verse pronounced by Christ about the worshipping takes on a broader sense and already means, “Those who bow down before God, wherever they see Him, bow down in Spirit and Truth.” Whatever home you walk in, see whether the man and the woman in there bow down before God in Spirit and Truth. If the woman is not pleased with her husband and her children, and if she wants to get rid of them, then she does not worship God in Spirit and Truth. And if the man, too, is discontent with his relatives and constantly hurls abuses at them, then he also does not bow down in Spirit and Truth. Many people would like to know why Christianity, being such a great Teaching, does not bring the expected results. This is quite natural: very few do understand it. And even among those who understand it, most people do not apply it. They consider that, if they apply the Teaching of Christ, their interests will be affected. This is an incorrect comprehension of things. “Spirit and Truth.” These are two elements that can be compared to man and woman. The Spirit is the woman; the Truth is the man. Therefore, all men and women who serve God have to unite in Spirit and Truth. Worshipping, bowing down, as a process, represents the coming of the child into the world. Therefore, when the man, the woman and the child unite in Spirit and Truth, they shall worship God in the proper way. This is what we call veritable worship. Where the Spirit, the Truth and the serving are, there God is. The fruits of the Spirit are Love, joy, kind-heartedness, gentleness, self-control. A woman ought to give birth to such fruits, namely. Each woman is capable of giving birth – however, the important thing is what she gives birth to. As women, may you wish that from now on you give birth to the fruits of the Spirit: Love, joy, long-patience, peace, gentleness, self-control, kind-heartedness. In giving birth to these fruits, true serving of God lies. Which fruit trees do people love? The ones which give birth to sweet, delicious fruit. Is there any fruit sweeter than Love? Therefore, women, who represent the Spirit, can be loved only when Love is born. A woman is a symbol of Love. A child born by Love is loved by all. A mother rejoices that her child is in the good graces of the love of people. However, people say about the mother, “Blessed is the one who has given birth to the child of Love.” Unfailing and eternal Love is – yet its fruits are eternal, too. Give place to the Spirit within yourself so that you may give birth to Love. “Those who serve Him in Spirit and Truth.” Why is this necessary? In order for them to link themselves to the Reality of life so that they do not feel naked when they take off their flesh and go to the Other World. God is the Centre of the Universe, the Spirit is the Wellspring of Life, and the Truth is the Head of the Word, of Wisely Intelligent Life. The Spirit and the Truth have to unite in one and thus return to God, become one with Him. Christ says, “I and My Father are one.”[3] With this, He would like to say that He carries within Himself both elements – Spirit and Truth. Christ has gone through great sufferings but gave birth to the fruits of the Spirit and showed to people how they ought to live and serve God. For a human, to give birth means to take the position of a woman who gives birth to children and raises them up. To be a woman means to be a bearer of the fruits of the Spirit within yourself: Love, peace, joy, long-patience, kind-heartedness, gentleness, and self-control. Whether you are women or men, all of you are required to serve in Spirit and Truth, not only by the letter or the form. A Christian lady in America happened to listen to the speeches of a prominent public speaker who spoke against Christianity. Embittered inside her soul by his preaching, she decided to visit his home and have a talk with him there, to prove to him the power of Christ’s Teaching and turn him towards Christ. The speaker welcomed her politely, let her express herself freely, and invited her to lunch. After the lunch, he told her, “You see, I do not serve God according to your understanding, neither do I bow before Him, and nevertheless, I live in plenty in my home, I have everything I need at my disposal. You’d better visit the home of my neighbour who prays to God three times a day but he still lives in privation and poverty. Go to him, console him, and feed him: he needs your support, not me.” Religious people often wish to turn people into Christianity by external ways, by the form. Christianity does not need external worshippers, by the mere form. External serving does not bring salvation to humans. True salvation implies right though, right feelings, and right actions. Whoever do not think, feel and act in the right way come upon contradictions all the time. They are said to be believers but actually are not such. In general, it is hard to define who is a believer and who is a non-believer. Some people visit churches regularly but are not religious; others do not go to church at all but are religious. There exists a certain science by means of which you can precisely determine who is religious or spiritual and who is not: this is written on the head, the face, and the hand of people. It is enough to take a look at those parts so that you may convince yourself in the presence or absence of religious feeling in a human. Two young people walked into a café and started to discuss the question of relations between humans. One of the two claimed one thing, and the other – another thing; so, after they could not come to one joint solution to this question, they began to argue. Meanwhile, outside, along the sidewalk, a poor old man was passing by, bent under the heavy load he was carrying on his back. They saw this but continued their fight. In the meantime, a gentleman from the table next to them who did not take part in the argument walked outside immediately and lifted up the burden of the poor man. Having settled the load firmly on his own back, this gentleman returned into the café and saw that the two young people were still going on with their dispute. Even to this day, some religious persons go to church, debate on the question who are believers and who are non-believers, whereas, outside, in the streets, poor old people pass by, burdened with their chests, panting and moaning, tortured by their heavy weight, no one coming along to help them. Stop the argument, leave your seats, and walk outside to help those who are panting under the weight of their load. They are heavily burdened, suffering, and full of contradictions and hardships. Help them, whether with your good examples or with your good advice and philosophy. Christ says to His disciples, “Do not criticize people, do not attack them, and do not speak of what they hardly understand.” You might say, “The words you speak – are they right or wrong?” They are right to Me; as for you, I do not know. I have one thing in mind: What is tasty to a wolf is not tasty to a sheep; and what is tasty to a sheep is not tasty to a wolf. So the religion of a wolf is of one kind, and that of a sheep – of another kind. Which one of the two religions is more right? Both are right: each professes their own religion. Therefore, let each one profess their own religion freely: let flowers grow, let trees blossom, let fruits ripen, and let humans do God’s Will. In other words: A wellspring has to gush forth, to give away from its pure, crystalline water. A river has to be long: wherever it passes, to water all grasses and plants, even those whom people do not love. By flowing, the river waters and floods everything it meets along its way: it does not make any difference between flowers and trees, it does not divide them into pretty and ugly, useful and harmful – it waters all of them. Therefore, if you are a wellspring, then give from your abundance to all who visit you; if you are a river, then water all flowers and trees you meet along your way; if you are a flower, then grow and develop properly; if you are a tree, then blossom; if you are a fruit, then ripen; if you are human, then do God’s Will! When studying the processes in life, a human has to know the Law of transmutation. If you hear someone saying that he or she wants to grow, then you ought to give this one the necessary conditions: humidity, warmth, and light; if people want to blossom, they need warmth and light, they do not need humidity. When they grow ripe, they also need light and warmth. It is an art for humans to know what they need in each given moment, and to provide themselves with what they need. It means knowing and applying the Law of transmutation of energies. It is said the Spirit transforms matters. Since the woman represents the Spirit, she has to transform, to transmute matters. Therefore, it is not enough for a woman to say that she has a man but she also has to transform him. He is a fruit on the tree, and this fruit has to grow ripe. With that end in view, the woman has to shine upon the man so that he may ripen and attain the necessary sweetness. In general, a woman has to know the man’s nature, and, if he is a flower, she has to water him so that he may grow; if he is a tree that blossoms, she has to dig around him and cultivate him; if he is a fruit on a tree, she has to shine upon him; if he is a human doing God’s Will, she has to assist him so that he may serve in Spirit and Truth. The same is true for the man. He, too, has to know the woman’s nature and help her. And, if she is a growing flower, he has to water her; if she is a blooming tree, he has to dig around her, but the wind and the rain have to cease: all arguments and misunderstandings have to stop; if she is a fruit growing ripe, he has to shine upon her – that is, he ought to embrace her with Love. And, finally, if she is a human doing God’s Will, he has to assist her in serving God in Spirit and Truth. Then both will get along well together, living in Love and agreement. Those who do not understand the processes of life expose themselves to hardships and sufferings. Someone is still blooming, and you want fruit from him or her. Let those people shed its blossoms in peace, let them set fruit, and after that expect fruit from them. Others have just set their fruit, and you want them to have sweet fruits. Let them grow ripe freely. At first, the fruit will be bitter, sour; but later on, it will grow sweet, delicious. People nowadays suffer, torture themselves because they do not understand the languages in which they talk to each other. In whatever language people may talk, it is important that everywhere and in everything they may see the manifestations of God. It is an art for humans to know, to discern what is wise from what is unwise. Given that, whoever might be speaking to them, whatever language they might be listening to, people should grasp where God is and where He is not. Where wise intelligence is, there is no hesitation and no doubt. How should you resolve your questions? If you wish to find a solution to a question which is very important to you, pick a moment when you are peaceful and quiet within. If you are angry, indisposed, discontent, or if you have doubts about something, then do not make any decision on that question. Let it all calm down, and then direct your thought upward, towards your mind or your Soul, and wait for an answer. Fifteen of twenty minutes later, you shall receive an answer. If you are in a hurry, you will make some mistake. Many people ask something from God and hurry up to quickly fulfill their desire. Things do not work well by hurrying up. Once a gospeller was in need of 3,000 levs and, without thinking much in which way he should provide them to himself, he went to an American missionary and told him, “God sent me to you so that you give me 3,000 levs.” “I do not have money at my disposal” – the missionary replied calmly. “Since I have no money in my safe, I come to the conclusion that it is not God who sent you. If He had sent you, I would by all means have money to do you this favour with.” So when someone connects with God, there will be, by all means, an outer and inner coordination between things. Given that, people whom you address to do you a favour of some kind will accept God’s commandments and will come to help you. Someone might say that he or she serves God in Spirit and Truth. If this one actually serves in Spirit and Truth, his or her friends – men and women – will come to help. Why? Because God understands your needs, knows your wishes, and, in order to do these favours to you, will give orders to your friends in whom He lives to do His Will. Does not a father do the same? Even before his child has cried and wept for bread, the father has already brought the bread. Through him, God satisfies the needs of the whole family. Contemporary people live in strenuous, hard times, and say, “What will happen to us?” Nothing bad will happen. There have been no better times than the present ones. Why? Because today God cures people. When a certain illness is being treated, the condition of the ill person is much better than his or her condition before the treatment. Earlier, the illness has existed inside the person as a germ, waiting only for the time to manifest itself, and the person considered himself (or herself) to be healthy. It is better for humans that their eyes be opened for a specific delusion than stay with eyes shut before this delusion. Present sufferings reveal that relations between people begin to gradually improve. Christ says, “In Spirit and Truth.” This means: If people serve God in Spirit and Truth, the relations between them shall improve. If they do not serve in Spirit and Truth, even the improved matters will get mixed up. Therefore, even when the world gets into good order, we still have to serve God in Spirit and Truth. Give up your old views and acts, and apply the new ones, the ones which Love brings along. If some people insult you, do not be cross with them, do not take revenge on them. Revenge is an old method that does not contribute any good. Christ says, “Make friends out of injustice.” In other words: Forgive those who owe you or who have caused you some damage. Once a Bulgarian man stayed in jail three years long. After he went out of jail, he decided to apply what he had learned in there, reading the Gospel. He summoned his debtors and settled his accounts with them in the Christian way. What did he do? He summoned his debtors, one by one, and questioned each separately: “How much do you owe me?” “That and that much.” “Can you pay me the whole of your debt?” “I can’t.” “Half of it?” “No, I cannot.” “A quarter of it?” “Yes, I can.” “So pay as much as you can, and be free.” In the person of his debtors, he won friends instead of adversaries. Three brothers in a family entered into partnership of working together. One of them was a gospeller, and the other two were orthodox. One day a misunderstanding appeared between them, and so they decided to part. Each wanted an equal share but the eldest insisted to have a bigger share because he had worked more. The situation reached the court. The eldest brother won the case, and, in order not to be disturbed by his brothers anymore, transferred the whole property to his wife. However, one day she chased him out of the house and he was left alone on the street. The other two decided to find their eldest brother and reach an agreement with him somehow so that he gives them whatever he finds appropriate. They found him but he was in a deplorable condition. He told them, “It is too late: I have lost everything, too.” So this is how all people act nowadays – all societies and all nations. Why? Because they do not serve God in Spirit and Truth. If they go on living in the old ways, not serving God in Spirit and Truth, they shall lose everything. Today women complain of their husbands; men complain of their wives. A woman does not want to live with her husband anymore because he told her an offensive word. What did he say to her? He called her “budala”[4]. She has to be reasonable, to transmute matters. The man, too, has to act in the same way. What is there, hidden inside the word “budala” (“будала”[5])? The letter “б” means growing, “у” means blooming, „д” means knowing the laws of Love, “а” means reasonableness, “л” means Love towards people and towards God. Is it wrong for one to be a “budala”? What else could people want? It is not bad that a man calls his wife “budala”; the bad thing is if she cannot extract the juice from this word and boil it, cook from it something delicious to eat. When she tastes the sweet juice of this word, she has to tell her husband, “Thank you for the nice gift!” This is what serving God in Spirit and Truth means. It means to have mastered the art of transmuting the bitter juice into sweet. It is to be achieved through strong, reasonable will. Those who have managed to apply their own reasonable will-power in their life shall never hear the word “budala”. Whoever meets them will tell them, “You are a beautiful flower; you are a blooming tree; you are a fruit growing ripe; you are a reasonable human applying one’s will-power in order to transmute the bitter juices into sweet ones. The task of each human is to learn the Law of transmutation of energies. Women have to transmute the offensive words of their husbands into pleasant ones, whereas men have to seek harmony in the offensive words of their wives. Whatever offensive or bad word they tell you, decompose it the way a chemist decomposes the compounds; take the bitter and toxic elements out of it and leave only those elements which are necessary for your development. This is what “serving God in Spirit and Truth” means. Serving is a great science. Be alchemists in life, turning the bad and offensive words into good ones. In the words people use, something valuable is hidden, even if they are offensive externally. Do not be fixed on the external forms of human language but seek in these forms those elements which heal and elevate people. In the old times, Bulgarians used to hide their gold in ragged bags, in smelly pots, so that they do not arouse any suspicion that here or there might be some hidden treasure. Good spirits act the same way. When they give someone a certain treasure, they conceal it into some offensive, bad words, so that evil entities do not find it and do not obsess it. Knowing this, do not get embittered by the offensive word said by your fellow but begin to analyze it so that you can extract the good elements concealed in it. Do not think that those who offend others do not suffer. They feel sorry about the word they have said, they blame themselves and have a hard time. Some people offend others, thinking that, by doing this, they speak the Truth. Such people should know that the Truth is distinguished for one quality: the Truth brings freedom to the human soul. When the Truth becomes the Head of the Word, people are set free and become happy. Today I wish that the Spirit may come and become the Head of the woman, and that the Truth may become the Head of the man. Then Christ will also come onto the Earth and will make His abode with them. When will this time come? When the woman accepts the Spirit as a Head, and when the man accepts the Truth as a Head. Only thus the world will be settled into good order, and a lovely, beautiful life will begin. Each one has to accept the Spirit and the Truth within themselves and not expect to be preached about them from outside, imposing the Spirit and the Truth to them. The salvation of the world is concealed in the verse pronounced by Christ, “True worshippers must serve God in Spirit and Truth.” All who serve God in this way shall bring peace into the world. Therefore, may each and every human put into their minds the thought that they are able to bring around peace. Peace comes from inside, not from outside. Therefore I say also to Bulgarians and to all nations: Do not lose faith in yourselves, reckon on God Who lives within you and Who has arranged everything in the world. Reckon on your Spirit and on the Truth within yourself. Everything happening now in the world is not something random: it is a matter of course. Out of the spilled blood, colourful and beautiful flowers will grow, and lovely trees giving sweet, delicious fruit. In order for these times to come, all must serve God in Spirit and Truth. The salvation of the world depends on each and every human individually. Does not a grain of wheat do the same? It is tiny, but, once put into favourable conditions, in the course of 12 years it may feed the whole world. Therefore, when saying that Christ has saved the world, we have in mind that mighty Soul which has penetrated all people and manifests itself everywhere. In this way, namely, it gives an impulse to the whole humankind to keep walking forward. Many of people nowadays do not succeed in their deeds because they consider everyone from the negative point of view. Whomever they see, each time they would tell something about this one. If all people are bad, where will salvation possibly come from? Every human ought to think that God has invested into their fellows potentials to be wisely reasonable, good and strong, and also favourable conditions to manifest themselves. Each human has the potential to be wise. Wisdom is a book, written inside each and every one. It is enough for people to read this book so that they may work their way to those Truths that will set them free from limitations and make them happy. Let everyone open the book of their own life and read what is written in there. You might say that this is hard to do. Hard deeds are Divine deeds. A young man once went to a German professor, with the desire that this professor gives him some advice to choose such a branch of science that will take him very little time. The professor looked at him and told him, “When God wishes to create a pumpkin, He determines a term of six months to this pumpkin; when He wants to create an oak tree, He determines a term of a hundred years to this tree.” So, if you want to grow ripe in six months, then pumpkin you shall be; if you wish to ripen in the course of a hundred years, then an oak tree you shall be. “In Spirit and Truth.” Keep working upon this thought, extracting the juices it contains. Thus you will come to inner knowing of yourself and of your fellow. If you cannot extract the sweet juices of this thought, you will constantly doubt in yourself and resemble that Bulgarian man named Stoyan who once stopped under a tree to rest and tied up his donkey to the tree. Meanwhile, he felt sleepy, lay down in the shadow of the tree, and fell asleep. Some children came up to the tree, untied the donkey, and walked away silently. Once Stoyan woke up, he looked to see the donkey, and, not seeing him, said, “If I am Stoyan, then I have lost my donkey; if I am not Stoyan, then I have gained a halter.” He had doubts about himself and asked himself, “Am I Stoyan, or am I not?” In order not to lose his donkey, he should not have fallen asleep. Therefore, whenever God comes to you, He must find you awake, just like the young man waiting for his beloved. It is not God Who must seek people – people have to seek and wait for God. Therefore, it is said in the Scripture, “Those that seek Me shall find Me.”[6] To find God means to have made your way to the great Divine philosophy of life. And everyone will apply this philosophy the way he or she is capable of applying, the way he or she understands. Once we come to the views of people, we see the big difference existing between their thoughts and feelings in terms of quality, scope, and value. The differences in the views, the feelings and the thoughts of people create the proper and improper relations between them. For example, most people love each other because of the good, the wealth, the knowledge, the strength, etc. A master loves his servant as long as the latter is able to work for him, as long as the servant has not infringed his interests somehow. Once the servant happens to be disloyal to him in some respect, his master does not love him anymore and dismisses him. A man loves his woman as long as she is healthy and beautiful. Once she gets sick and loses her beauty, he stops loving her. The same is true about women. It is an act of heroism to love a sinful and ugly person. Strong ones are capable of loving all people and give them an impulse towards everything good and beautiful in the world. Rely on the Divine in you as well as in your fellow. However feeble or thin it is, it will take you to the safety shore. Even if all devils perch on the Divine thread, they will not break it nevertheless. The Divine shall lead all people into the Right Way. The Divine shall settle right even the devils. I believe in the power of Good, in the power of the Divine. I believe that all people will become good. “In Spirit and Truth.” Apply in your home the Divine Teaching in Spirit and Truth, so that all weeping and suffering stop. Apply the Divine Teaching among men and women, so that relations of peace and agreement be settled between them. May women say to themselves, “I am the Spirit.” May men say to themselves, “I am the Truth.” Apply these spiritual formulas in your life, and then experience what results they will bring. A talk by the Master, held on 3rd June, 1917, Sofia Translated by Kalina Stoycheva [1] John 4:24 – ed. [2] Psalm 119:160 – ed. [3] John 10:30 – ed. [4] “Budala”: a Turkish word meaning “chump”, “easy game” – ed. [5] Written in Cyrillic letters – ed. [6] Proverbs 8:17 – ed.

Simplicity ‘This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightiest war a good warfare’. 1 Timothy: 1: 18 The word warfare and feat are similar because it takes the right warfare to perform a feat in the world. The word feat implies elevating. Warfare elevates the human spirit, while lowering down is the fall of the human spirit. Above all, it is simplicity that is required from all of us, which is not to say that you should be simple, but that all the knowledge you have, should be simplified. Things should be simple in their foundation, just like the warp is simple before one starts weaving, and then it becomes complex through intertwining. So, concepts should be clear and simple in their foundation. Simplicity should reign in your minds and hearts. I want you to grasp the word simplicity in order to understand it. When you are worried, please, pronounce this word and you will feel peace in your soul. Each good word should generate peace within you. I shall speak to you about the word warfare and I shall draw your attention to one fact, so that you can understand the contradictions existing in life. Since I notice such contradictions among you and you cannot clarify them. Do not think that I want to give you a dressing-down. No dressing-down; I want certain thoughts and desires to become clearer to you. Imagine you are in a rich garden, you are sitting on a chair and there is an apple tree with beautifully shaped leaves and blossoms in front of you. You take delight in watching it. Let’s assume that the leaves of the tree are quiet and tranquil, talking to one another, saying, ‘How nice the Divine world is; we live in peace and agreement!’ But some time afterwards, there comes a wind, the leaves start rustling and some of them fall. In this society, up there in the tree, rows begin, ‘You do not understand Christianity, you are a savage’ etc. You are in a similar situation, when you start going from one house to another and you say, ‘Do you know that woman, she is such and such a woman.’ This shows that there is a wind amongst you. People ask why somebody goes from one house to another to spread gossip about this woman and about that woman. I ask, ‘Why is there a wind?’ The cause is external. You have to understand these external movements that are beyond you. If you are a leaf and if there comes a wind, you will inevitably bump into somebody. This is why you should tell that person, ‘Sorry, I did not mean to!’ This is why you should forgive one another. When the wind abates peace and agreement will reign again, but if the wind comes again, rows will start anew. This is one actual fact of life and you should say, ‘A wind is blowing.’ Each one of you should have a cap, so that when the wind starts blowing, you can put it on your heads and everything will return again to peace and agreement. Such a cap implies that one can restrain one’s thoughts and desires. If one has such a cap, one’s thoughts and one’s desires will be in order; if one has no such cap, one is in trouble. If you enter the Divine Life, there will be no such winds, there will be slight puffs of wind instead, which will only stir the leaves like the leaves of aspen trees and these puffs of wind will show that you live in the world of winds. Whatever you do, you will tell this leaf, ‘Be assured that I will never do this again and that I repent.’ Everyday there will be mistakes and repentances. Such are the people – moralists who say that we have to live a good, fair and honest life. No matter how clean the tree leaves are, when dust falls upon them they get dirty. Similarly there will be dust and cleaning, and rows and so on in everyday life, but this life has to go on. When you, two sisters, get together and start quarrelling, you will say, ‘Sorry, my sister, there is a wind, therefore we are shaking.’ This is the right resolution to the problem. When you are cross with each other, get together and say the following formula, ‘Christ is equal to y [whai],), 0-0, 1-1.’ This is the meaning of the last line of the Proverb1. ‘This one, who listens to me, will live in peace and safety, not fearing any evil.’ This is the same law. Sometimes, there is a struggle between the mind and the heart, there is a split between them – the heart desires one thing, the mind – another; there is a dispute. You decide to do one thing, but actually you do another thing. Life is not cheap words. Let’s assume that two of you have a hundred dca2 of land each left by their father. One of you is a good worker, tills her land, made a garden, planted fruit trees, and the rest of the land is planted with wheat, barley, corn etc. However, the second one says, ‘I do not need these things’ and leaves her land uncultivated. Both go to see their wealth, one of them has wheat, corn; she takes delight in everything, life has a meaning for her; while the land of the other one is grown with weeds and she says, ‘Life is meaningless.’ Who makes life meaningful or meaningless? You say, ‘The Lord should grant us this and that!’ The Lord has granted you land, which is your heart; cultivate it! The heart can be cultivated the way fruit trees are cultivated. Grant your heart all the good wishes, plant the desires in it! You should plant on time, not out of season. For those who plant trees there are two planting periods – summer and winter. Farmers also have two planting periods – summer and winter. There are certain planting periods for those who plant corn, too. So, when good wishes rise within you, do not postpone them for after having done the other work, you should plant them immediately. If you start asking how to plant them, this means you pay attention to what various people have done to you. Put everything aside, plant the good wish! Let’s say that you may be indisposed; leave your indisposition aside, your indisposition and you are two different things! Do you know what you look like when you are angry with one another? Imagine a fly comes and spits over your nose; you immediately start shouting, ‘What right does it have?’ You start chasing it, you are angry with all the other flies. Just clean your nose and this is all there is to it! Somebody has said something about you; clean it and that is all there is to it. But you ask, ‘Do you know what this fly did to my nose?’ Leave it aside. Somebody insulted you; do not tell others what that person has said to you, because you plant it in their minds. But you, however, start telling each other what insults you have suffered and thus you spread the words among the entire society. One woman tells something to a second woman, the second woman tells it to a third one, a tag is added to the original words and in the end there is a big story. Such are the students of the 20th century. This, of course, for the world, for the people who have no work, is useful, but for those who have work, there are more serious things for them to do. So Apostle Paul addressed the Timothians with the following words, ‘To the King of centuries honour and glory be forever. Amen!’3 If God has given you such a heart to glorify Him, you have to plant the good wishes in your hearts for the Lord to cultivate them. All the good wishes are to be planted only in the morning; nothing should be planted in the evening. Seeds grow in the evening; seeds should be planted in the morning. This is the rule in the spiritual world. Do you know what morning means? – Morning is youth. In the morning, the Sun is a young lad, at noon – the Sun is a married man, while in the evening – an old grandfather. When you watch the Sun in the evening, it says to you, ‘Well, everything is gone, it has been a hundred years since; you should have come when I was young, when I worked, so that I could give you something.’ Go to the fields and ask an old man to help you, he will tell you, ‘I am old, I can’t, my bones ache.’ Ask someone young, and the young one will promptly come to your aid. Who reaps the field? – Young lads and girls. In order to work in the world, you will have to be young; in order to be young, you should not sin. Those who sin get older, those who do good get younger. So, use the words, ‘Let my Sun rise in my soul and renovate my heart.’ This will bring rejuvenation. This shows that you want to be good, and a good person is a person with many fruit trees in one’s garden. How to plant – with or without water? Certainly, with water. This law acts in the following way. You try to make an experiment. Sometimes you may have a big misfortune or unhappiness in life, which may be of a different nature. You are in despair from what has happened to you. After such unhappiness, a good thought is always bound to come; water it. Now is the time. One who has not suffered cannot have good thoughts. When you are beset with sufferings, this shows that the Lord pays attention to you, that it is time to plant. This is the right interpretation. Somebody has said something about you, a deadly insult, you will suffer, you will weep, but there will come a sort of calming down, a good thought will come. Get to work immediately, and plant it! This planting will pay off the debt for the insult. I will explain to you the law which states why you should not take revenge. Let’s assume that somebody breaks into your house and steals 1000 leva4 from you. However, on the same day you have a very important job from which you will make 100 000 leva. If you start running after the thief, you will lose 100 000 leva. The Lord says, ‘Forget about the 1000 leva, you will gain 100 000 leva, see to your work.’ Somebody insulted you but at the same time you have an important job to do for God; finish your work, because you will lose double the amount if you decide to avenge yourselves. Is there any philosophy in this? – Yes, there is. Try it for yourselves to find out whether it is true or not. Apply this on the first chance you get. I often meet people along the road trying to get 1000 leva. - Where are you going? - Money was stolen from me, 1000 leva. - You will lose 100 000 leva. I am telling you also, I have seen you running after 1000 leva; be aware, you will lose 100 000 leva. This is what the Gospel preaches: do not seek revenge, because the Lord says, ‘Revenge is for me’. ‘Do not judge, in order not to be judged.’ Everybody has an important work to do in the world, rather than judge others. You will then have a peaceful and calm life; but only if you listen to your Lord – the One you know. Every day you may try who this Lord is. As long as you perform His Will, you will be calm and peaceful, if you do not perform His will – you will not be at ease. Why then is the Lord not there? The Lord comes only in times of suffering. The Lord descends when the world is in greatest sufferings. When one is in dire straits, the Lord visits such a person, and when one feels fine, the Lord says, ‘Ask this person here.’ We say, ‘God rest his soul, he has departed.’ But I say, ‘this person has gone to visit his Father in his fatherland, has gone to his home, and then he will come back again.’ So this is what happens – sometimes the Lord comes to us, sometimes we go to Him. What does this remind us of? When a father gets his son married, the son is separated to live in a new house and sometimes the son visits the father, sometimes the father visits the son. Tell me, when do you visit the Lord? - When you are in great desperation, when you are in suffering. And if someone tramples down on your toes at this time, then the Lord has visited you. This is why you have to pay visits to suffering people. From now on, you will know that you can visit God ten times a day, while the Lord can visit you – once a day. Praying is appealing to God. You are aggrieved, you are sad – pray. The Lord gives comfort in three ways: He will send a person to help you, he will send an angel, and He will descend Himself to comfort you. You ask why we were born. To visit the Lord – this is why you were born. This is the great law, according to which people in grief and people in earthly need get closer. If they have no need, we would not understand what the niceties in Life lie in. You will remember this thought: Life, the way it is, is the best life, and you, the way you live now, have the best of lives. Some may say, ‘I am a bad person.’ In what respect? You are not bad, but you have land that you do not want to cultivate. You are lazy. You have to work. Get down to work – you will not be sinful. How does sin come about? If you do not work, you will sin; you will be thinking where to take something from, what to do and before you know it you will be in debt to the whole world. So, you are not sinful at heart, but some of you do not want to work. For example some say, ‘How can I get up at four o’clock in the morning? Is this time for getting up?’ Yes, it is, because the night is meant for sleep, but the morning – for work. When the Sun rises, everybody should be out of bed, and when the Sun sets everybody should be in bed. This is what birds do as well. If you want to understand Christ, this is what you have to do and this how you have to live. When suffering comes, you should say, ‘It’s time for work’. Get ready to sow! When the first good wish comes to you, sow it and within a year you will see how rich you will be. This is what the Bulgarians mean when they say, ‘One’s eyes have opened.’ When one becomes rich, then one’s eyes open. For example, a poor man makes a windowless hut; when he becomes better off he immediately opens one, two or even more than two windows. Those who know, they have windows. The sufferings sent to you are necessary for your development. Saying ‘Let my Sun rise’ is an indication of the incarnated human being on Earth. You have to use this Sun which rises. Every morning, when you wake up, you are born, and every evening when you fall asleep, you die. Therefore, if you do not get up on time in the morning to give birth to your child, it will die. Please watch people who get up late, they are indisposed for the whole day. We say about them that they have not given birth to their children. You have to comprehend the deep meaning of things, not to stick to the letter of the things. Under ‘morning’ I mean all the good conditions given to you by God, therefore do not postpone them. They are one morning in Life. Is there any reaction in you to getting up early, say for example any disease? I will recommend several rules: I have noticed that some people walk very fast, but you have to walk lightly, because otherwise you sweat, which accounts for the light diseases. The second rule: watch the colours of the Sun, particularly on Midsummer Day. While watching, sow good thoughts in yourself. Let’s assume that there is a profusion of good thoughts in you; you have to share these thoughts with others, so that they can also sow some of them, i.e. you should transmit them to others too. If there is any disharmony among you, let it decrease by fifty percent at least. I will give you a third rule: when you hear that two sisters have had a row, you should say, ‘there has been a wind, so let’s get together and pray to God for them to make up.’ You will send your good thoughts to them. Apart from this, get in groups and all of you take turns to visit them at their homes. You will get the following result: for example, one of your sisters has 100 leva, somebody comes and takes it from her. Therefore, when you go and visit her, each of you should give one leva and she will recover the loss. She has suffered and this is why something good must be given to her. These issues should not be considered from your point of view, but they should be resolved on principle, the way issues are resolved at school. Human beings cannot live on principle until they unite with the Lord, until the Lord starts living within them. Can a divorced woman live a good life? Never. Leave a child without a mother and it will become rough. If the child lives with the mother for fifteen or twenty years, she will impart a little delicacy to the child. While those who have lived without mothers are a little bit more callous; therefore they are given sufferings, to ennoble them. When somebody is suffering, I say, ‘Your mother has departed early; therefore you need sufferings to become ennobled.’ This is the path for those who want to develop, to grow, and to become elevated. The fourth rule: go and see fruit trees growing in somebody else’s garden, so that you can, similarly, plant fruit trees in your garden. The fifth rule: you should put down in your notebooks what good, either in words or at heart, you did for the day, if any. If you send a good thought to somebody, note it down. It is often said that the Lord will rectify the world. How will He do this? Through us. If branches do not blossom and do not set fruit, how can they develop? This is the practical side of it. You are very touchy; you are shy of being exposed, of making a fool of yourself before some people or before other people. How many times a day have you been shy before God? As long as you do not see Him, you are not concerned. In time I will give you a method to transform bad words into good ones. I want you to be inspired with these good ideas. Try to apply everything in your entire spiritual life – in eating, drinking, walking, and singing. This is what a spiritual person should be understood to be – to do everything for the Glory of God. The sixth rule: watch out that no desire to avoid people will arise in you. I want you to have friends from the outside, from the world, not friends from among yourselves only. Why do people marry? To become closer, to befriend each other, don’t they? As early as now you will have to open your purse and start giving to others too. There is nothing to fear, because the one, who gives, always wins more than the one who takes. The seventh rule: you feel aggrieved on a certain day, burdened, you think that there is no meaning in life; go further down, see those people who are more aggrieved, more burdened than you and you will understand that life is meaningful. And when you want to become elevated, watch how people above you live, imitate them in life, because life has such a spill over effect. If I do not impart something from myself to you, you will learn nothing. Life is imparted through contacts, through influence, thus transferring both the good and the evil. I know many good men, who get worse in a company of bad women, and I also know bad men who improve in the company of good women. The law is very true: we influence one another. And you say, ‘What are we like?’ Put away your old notebooks; turn a new leaf and start writing, ‘From now on I will take and give Christ’s rules!’ You will be cheerful and jovial. The eighth rule: be careful not to tell your daughters, ‘you do not know life, you have to be smarter; you are young, when you become old you will understand it.’ Do not bring them up along these lines; do not talk to them about old age. Your daughter is cheerful, let her be cheerful, let her play, let her sing, leave her alone. When she gets angry, you say to the Lord, ‘Thank you, God, for letting me see what nice faces my daughter makes!’ The same is true about Nature: you see how a tree bends, makes faces, but this is also enjoyable. You want your children to do what you yourselves do not do. Strange it is how sinners want their daughters to be saints. Let them fly in rage, let them cry a little, but when you look upon all of it from a philosophical point of view and when you are composed, this will have an impact over your daughter too. In the new up-bringing you will apply Christ’s Teaching. It will have to be an entirely new up bringing; do not add new patches to the old style. You cannot sew new patches of cloth to old clothes. You may say, ‘My daughter will be good, if not now, later on!’ Because whatever one thinks, happens. You and your daughter are one and the same thing. Why don’t I think evil of people? Because this is a reflection. When I think evil of people, it will come back to me. The thought creates things and is reflected upon you. You will apply these rules this month. You will go out to watch the sunrise up to the 24 June and afterwards you will take a rest at home for twenty days. There are other ways to apply the law of walking: if you are not in a position to go out, you will get up early and after praying, you will take an imaginary walk. And when you say, ‘I can’t go out today’, you thus spoil your work. If sometimes you want to visit a sister of yours, but if you are not in a position to do so, sit down in your chair and visit her spiritually. You should not impart negative thoughts that you cannot do one thing or another. Even if you are taken to bed, you should say, ‘I am now repairing my body, but my soul can go!’ So, the law should always be applied by using the word can. This is how human will is manifested. If you are not clear about certain things, several of you should get together and think it over. Because only what you try and learn will be of use to you and will strengthen your faith that you have a positive Science on which you can rely. Master’s lecture, delivered on the 31st of May 1917. ________________________________ 1 Quotation from the Bible, Proverbs 1:33 2 Dca – a measure equal to 1 000 m2 3 1 Timothy 1: 17 4 Leva is the national Bulgarian currency Source

Abide “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.” John 15:10 “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My Love.” The word “if” in the original has another meaning, not the same as in the Bulgarian language – a condition. This verb keep has a relation to the human will – in order to keep the commandments we have to abide in them, and the fulfillment arises through the participation of the will. The one, who does not fulfill the Divine commandments, cannot abide in His Love. Then, it is not enough that a person abides in the Father’s commandments but to abide in His Love, as Christ has kept the commandments of His Father and has been abiding in His Love. The execution of the Divine commandments both in broad and narrow sense produces the same result. When we arrive to the exterior side of things, the outer world, we observe that something is keeping us for it. The same could be said for the relation between the limbs of man, his soul and Spirit; if the Spirit and the soul do not keep the hands, the legs, the brain, the lungs and the stomach, nothing would remain of a person. The spirit keeps all the organs of the body in complete order; and the soul abides in the functions, which the organs execute, and makes use of the energies, which they receive and transmit – the soul does not keep the air but abides in it. Breathing, thinking, feeling signify abiding, and the actions, which provoke them, we call behavior. One of the processes, which channel in the human organism, we call free or depending on our will; the others are restricted, not depending on our will. The movement of the hands and the legs depends on our will, but the beating of the heart, the breathing, and the digestion are not dependent on us. “You will abide in my Love.” One who does not understand the main commandment of Life – the Love; considers that he can restrict it. Love cannot be restricted, it is relating to the free actions. A man can abide in Love, but cannot restrict it. In the abiding, he perceives and gives – at the same time, there is a regular exchange; in the keeping of the commandments there is a fulfillment – exhaustion of energy. For some people, the questions about the keeping and abiding seem (rather) abstract; it is depending on them, whether they are abstract or not. What one thinks – that happens. If one closes his eyes, it is natural, that he will not be able to see, nor understand the matter. It is depending on man, whether he will see or not; when he closes his spiritual sight, he will neither see, nor understand. Consequently, if you want to see and understand, open your eyes. In the understanding, as an inner process, a certain movement is concealed. For example, in order to study a particular place, and get to know it, you have to journey through it; in order to study a particular unclear question, you will have to make a little effort. How do you act when you want to turn an electric light on? You hold the key, switch it on and say: “Let it be light!” – and it becomes light around you. What if you say that you want light in your mind? Go into one library; take out the book, where it is written about the question that interests you and start to read – since you work for a while in this direction, the dim question will clarify. Man was not born learned, but with endeavour, constancy and work, he achieves what he aspires. For the one, who does not work with Love, Life is a struggle and labour, he is constantly complaining that he is suffering that you are resting on bulwarks but what they are exactly, you are not aware. The sufferings and struggles, which man goes through, show that there is a certain disharmony in his life. The Reason of Nature is drawing your attention to rectify your mistake, which has caused you the disharmony. If you cannot rectify it on your own, go to a doctor, or a specialist who knows how to rectify. You will say that you will have to pay the doctor; it should be paid, besides, the better and more experienced the doctor is, the more you will pay him. The more serious your disease is, the more experienced doctor you will seek; the inexperienced doctor takes little money but instead of benefit, he can cause you harm. Nowadays, more people look for an easy way to acquire something great or to gain entry in the Divine Kingdom. There is no easy way for entering the Divine Kingdom. One, who came on Earth to learn and work, should not avoid the difficult and arduous path in Life; these are the circumstances for his growth. To search for an easy path, means to run the danger in you [A1] – the easy path is human and the difficult – Divine. If someone takes you up to the top of the mountain and then you coast down the inclined area, you will easily reach the foot of the mountain, but this does not mean that you alone have solved the difficult question – in the same way, children coast down (a hill) with their sleds in winter. The teaching of Christ is not a teaching about descending but about ascending, besides that, with labour and effort. Observe how the villagers hoe with the mattock; see how they plough up the land with a wooden plough. How does the Bulgarian plough the land? Along with oxen. Sometimes with two oxen, and sometimes with four or six, the number of oxen he ploughs with is not significant, because the principle is the same. In plowing both principles work equally - keeping and abiding. The two oxen suggest the human mind and the human body, so does the goad – the command which goads the mind and the heart occasionally, in order to remind that they have to work and follow their direction – the furrow. Some people think that they are free but in reality they are all harnessed – someplace in twos, someplace in threes or four altogether. Once in a while, you are unharnessed to rest. When do the oxen rest? When the master requests. Once they have rested, again their master harnesses them to work. Such is the reality. You will say that this is the situation of the oxen – do you think that the souls of the oxen lack intelligence? In a certain sense, the ox stands higher than man. It is said about a person that he has the patience of an ox, which means the ox has been taken as a symbol of patience. What would you say about the grains of wheat that are placed in various conditions? Those, who are placed in favourable circumstances for growth, have grown and have fruits of a good quality; the others who were not placed in favourable circumstances could not grow, but this still does not show that the latter grains of wheat do not hide in themselves the same gifts, as the first grains, placed in good circumstances. Consequently, the relation between the former and the latter grains of wheat is the same as it is between the soul of man and the ox. At present, the ox is deprived of circumstances to grow, and manifest the virtues of his soul; there will come a day, when God will place it in circumstances to manifest its gifts – then you will see that the talented and genius people, whom we meet today, will derive from it. Nowadays, the ox ploughs, works the land, fulfilling the main command and helps the man; for the work that he does, the master feeds it and the ox is thankful that he got fed. The same is the case with the man: he also works hard, makes efforts and takes his meals – he sits before the table, eating and says: “The world is well created.” Really, the world is well created, but you have to thank your Lord, who feeds you for the work that you have done – if you stop working, your Lord stops to feed you. As soon as you become hungry, you start to cry and to pray, until your Lord grants you the needed food. In relation to his work, man resembles the horse, which, because it is accustomed to carry weight, even if it is set free, cannot make use of it. One horse worked for his master for thirty whole years and when it grew old, the master released it from work, and let him free in the forest, but every day at the same time the horse arrived close to the well from which it used to draw water for the garden and stand there – it was awaiting for the master to come and harness it to work. Christ says: “If you keep my commandments.” – Which commandments? The commandments that could make human life happy and reasonable. When speaking about these commandments, many listen and say they have read them. Since you have read them, I am asking, has your life become happy and decent. – “We didn’t become happier.” – If you are not happier, this shows that you have read them, but didn’t grasp their meaning. Christ says further on: “You will abide in my Love.” What greater welfare do you expect than the fulfillment and applying of the commandments of God? There is no greater fortune for a home, where the man abides in the commandments of God and His Love, and the woman – in the commandments of her man. Why are families destroyed? For neither the man, nor the woman keep their promises. The man promises that he will keep and abide in the commandments of God but when he gets married, he forgets all – he begins to drink and feast with friends, and squanders everything: the woman says: “I can never live with such a man.” Therefore, a family where the woman does not abide in the commandments of her husband is destined to death. If the man does not abide in the commandments of God and does not fulfill His will, the woman is also free not to fulfill the commandments of her man, however if the man fulfills God’s will and abides in His commandments and the woman does not abide in the Love of her man, the responsibility falls on her. This is what Christ preached to His disciples. “You will abide in my Love.” The one, who abides in the Divine Love, fulfills His commandment; the one who does not abide in Love, cannot fulfill His commandments – he makes mistakes like children. In (the region of Varna) in the village of Nikolaevka, the priest’s wife had plastered up the house well, she had washed and cleaned – this was towards the day of St. Sebastian. She was in a hurry to quickly finish her work, so she could go to the church early the next morning. Her child, a ten year old boy had seen how people thresh in summer and the moment he was left alone at home, decided to thresh, to play; he took a corn in a container and let in all the turkeys. The child threw corn to the turkeys, chased and ran after them – he was well entertained. When the neighbours passed near the preacher’s house, they heard a loud noise coming from within. They met the wife of the priest in the church and said to her: “Something is going on in your house, but we don’t know what – you could hear clamour and noise from far away.” After the service had finished, the preacher’s wife went home straight away and such was her astonishment, when she entered the room and saw all the turkeys – clucking, fluttering, pouncing upon the walls, and the fine boy chasing them, getting them to thresh. When he saw his mother, the delinquent ran straight away – he left her alone to deal with the self-invited guests. Many people proceed like children: their mothers plaster up the rooms, clean up, and they get the turkeys in to amuse themselves. Thus, they want to show, that they are free, but this is a childish freedom, a childish apprehension. Somebody has a favourable disposition of the spirit, he is inspired with something Divine, but suddenly his child comes into the room and brings after it the turkeys and the ducks - to arrange an amusement. The father sees that the room is dirty and in one moment, the good disposition leaves him. In order not to lose their favourable disposition, the mother and the father should lock their room with nine keys, so the children won’t come in and make it dirty. The fault stands in the mother and the father, and not in the child; finding the rooms open, it goes inside, takes the corn and drives the ducks and turkeys in to play with them. “If you keep my commandments.” Since the verb “keep” is related to the will, never say that you are not able to do something or a particular problem is obscure to you and you cannot understand it, that the circumstances are poor or that the time has not arrived yet for you to manifest, and so on. Leave this aside; know that nobody can be an obstacle to you - everyone stumbles alone. Who was the obstacle for the first humans to stumble? God placed them in favourable circumstances for development, but they transgressed and left Heaven - the cause stands in themselves, in their hidden aspirations. A person stumbles, when he does not understanding his desires, he does not know whether they are efficient or not. The wife of an American millionaire had many desires and she could not realize when and how to fulfill all of them. When she went to Paris, she used to go in all the big shops and bought everything her eyes saw. One day, she bought articles for an extraordinary amount and having no possibility to pay in full, she wrote down the bill to the name of her husband, who was famous amongst the greatest merchants in Paris. When he received the draft for the payment of enormous amounts, he paid it off immediately, but decided to divorce his wife. In order to be free from his duties to her, he built a house-palace for the value of fifteen million dollars, gave her thirty million at hand, to be at her disposal, as she thinks best - he had preferred to give her great sums, to secure her well, but to save himself from ruin. God acts upon those who squander the Divine goods, the way the millionaire acted upon his wife: He gives those forty-five million at their disposal and He gets a divorce. You will reply that the one who has forty-five million at disposal is a happy person. Woe betide the one who got divorced from God - he is ready to commit all manner of crimes. When one does not keep the commandments of God, one can commit all the crimes; if you want to be free from the evil and the crimes outside and inside of you, keep the commandments of God, and abide in Love. When you get up from sleep in the morning, if you are a woman, ask yourself the following questions: “Do I keep the commandments of my man, and does my man keep the commandments of God? Do I abide in the Love of my man, and does my man abide in the Love of God?” If you answer these questions positively you will spend the whole day in Peace and Joy, because God has blessed you; if you answer negatively, you will be ungrateful, indisposed, unhappy. Why are people unhappy? Because they do not fulfill the commandments of God nor do they abide in His Love, and yet they want to realize their aspirations. Gluttony makes people unhappy. One hunter, who often used to go hunting in the Old Mountain, spoke about the following experience: as he passed by a river in the mountain, he saw on the coast one bear with five little bears. They played around the coast, and the mother repeatedly thrust in the water and pulled out little crabs which she gave to her cubs, one of them was getting ahead of the others and was eating up the crabs - the turn for the others to have a even a bite never happened. When the bear noticed this, she hit the glutton bear, which tumbled down on the ground. Finally, she headed to her lair and she turned to the bear that was imposed, but realized that it was dead. She took it in her lap; she swayed it a little, but couldn’t bring it to life. Saddened by the loss, she went into the forest. Likewise a man carries in himself one greedy bear, which he must educate and penalize. One has the right to penalize it, but in a way that he doesn’t mortify it - in case he mortifies it prematurely, he will suffer. That’s why Christ says: “One, who wants to be fortunate, should posses a steeled will, a bright mind and pure heart, he should keep My commandments thus, as I keep the commandments of my Father and abide in Me as well as I abide in the Love of God.” Only thus, a person can become great, because God, who is living in him, is great. Hence, open your hearts and souls for God, so that He can enter in you with His commandments and His Love to make you great and powerful. Thereafter a person says that everything he aspires to achieve is possible. If you keep the commandments of God and abide in His Love, you will comprehend the verse line that Christ had said: “With man this is impossible but with God all things are possible.” Where is the God? He is in everyone who fulfills His Will. Some want to know how to discern the one who is keeping the commandments of God? Very simple: if your thoughts are clear and positive, and you have noble and pure feelings, you keep the commandments of God and abide in His Love. I said that you should verify everything - for each matter apply the words: explore and see (experience). If you have a difficult problem to solve, do not hasten to decide immediately, but think over it for a few hours, until Light penetrates your mind; if you cannot decide until the evening, this shows that you have a negative thought, which is an obstacle. Free your mind from the negative thoughts and the heart from negative feelings and begin to think over the matter of interest to you. You will say that there is no spare time to devote to this problem hours and days. You will do your work as usual, but at the same time you will think; if you cannot decide in a day, you will solve it in a week - it is important that it will be solved rightly. If you want to know whether your heart abides in Love, see if you have inner Peace and tranquility. If you have peace of mind, on every occasion, even if you hesitate on the outside, you are going to be calm inside. Whether you believe in this, or not, is not significant - make an attempt and you will be assured of my words. Many sufferings of the present people are owing to exterior influences and suggestions. This should not affect you. Man has will-power to bear all difficulties and sufferings. If your will is strong, you can work wonders - one who has a strong and reasonable will can get over the hardest sufferings. In this respect, the martyrs of Christ set an example: they were burned, torn into pieces, tortured, but with the power of their will, withstood everything without feeling pain - they kept the commandments of God and abided in Love. If the starfish can regrow its cut or lacerated leg, why shouldn’t a man be able to do the same? Man should increase his will, so that he can control his thoughts and desires with it. Love arrives to help the man, in order to feed his thoughts, feelings and desires - only thus is it possible to work. How do you act when you take a worker in your house? In order to work well, first, you give him food; once fed well, he is ready to work. This means that Love is necessary like food for man - without Love, his life is not going well. You will object, to me, that life is heavy, that woman and children should be supported. It’s a wonder, the woman was in man - God brought her out, from the rib of Adam; so whether a person is married, or not, this does not make life harder, or easier. There is no such person in the world, who does not carry the man or the woman in him - the man and the woman always go together. Whether the woman or the man is inside or outside the man, it is not significant - every man carries the woman in him and every woman carries the man in her. They cannot exist without each other: the man is an incentive for the woman and the woman - for the man. If you take away the woman from the world, every culture will disappear; if you take away the man, again there will be no culture. Under the words man and woman in a broad sense I imply the mind and the heart. A mind without a heart cannot exist and heart without a mind cannot be - they always go together and complement one another. And so, when people struggle and suffer, the cause stands not in the man, nor in the woman, but in the fact that man does not keep the commandments of God and does not abide in the Love of God. In the word man I imply also the Divine mind, and in woman - the Divine heart. The mind represents the human will, which is manifesting in his body, and the heart - the movement; the mind reflects the processes of the will, and the heart - the reflexes. If the man wants to live well together with his wife, let her be free, to manifest as a self-dependent person, and not to fulfill somebody else’s will and another’s instructions. Let two men make the following trial: the first should write down commands and rules, by which his wife will be directed, and the other should let her free to live by her deep, inner understanding. When a person is guided not by the written laws, but from his heart of Reason, the results are always good. If the man is discontented with his wife, because she is not following his personal demands, he is on the wrong way - this is not the teaching of Christ. Christ has preached Love and Freedom. The place, where Love is absent, there is only violence and detestation. “If you keep my commandments” - what does man keep things with? With hands. The violinist keeps the violin and the bow with his hands and from the accurate keeping of the violin and his manifestation stands on the movement of the bow – being ordinary, talented or a genius violinist. Somebody says that he feels like singing; very naturally, when Love visits man, he feels like singing, playing, in order to manifest. Where Love is absent, there is no song, no music. When it has been said to people that they should sing, this means to open their hearts for the Love - singing is a door, through which Love enters in man. When it has been said to people to pray, we understand the same - to open their minds and hearts for Love. Eating, singing and praying represent identical process - opening of the mind and heart for Love, which is the one to elevate man and make him happy from all that is given to him. They are tightly related with each other. When singing, a person should gratify himself first and then the surroundings; what people think of him, whether they are content or not, this is a secondary matter - first he has to be glad of himself. This is the meaning of the words; “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love.” Further on, Christ says: “Whatever you ask for in My name, it will be given to you.” Know God by means of His commandments in order to resolve the matter which is difficult for you. Somebody cannot manage the neighbors, he cannot stand them; while he is without the Love of God, he will not be able to stand anyone. What is worthwhile for a person is to fulfill the law of God and to say: “I can achieve anything with God”, which means: “With Love, I can bare everything.” Christ says to each person: Love the God in you, in order to love your relative”, but the devil speaks to him: Love is a great thing, but you are not yet ready for it, you cannot love and forgive - in order to love you need to be learned, to have knowledge of the laws of the entire Being.” Christ opposes the devil and says: “Whether you are learned or uneducated, poor or rich, great or small, you can love and you have to manifest the Love which is implanted in your heart.” Remember: along with Love, a person can achieve everything - the ugly can become beautiful, the poor - rich, the uneducated - learned. Without Love, man loses everything - wealth, beauty, and Knowledge. Do not trust the fictitious teachings, which tell you, that you cannot put Love in practice. If you keep the commandments of God and abide in Love, do not trust the one, who tells you, that you do not follow the right path; do not trust, when someone tells you that the fruit which you cultivated is bitter or sour. In the past, before it has ripened, the fruit had been sour and bitter but today, it is sweet. Do not live with your past - the present, which you spend nowadays, is important. On one occasion Nasredin Hodja, riding on the back of his old ox, headed to the field. He met an acquaintance who asked: “Hodja, why are you riding this old ox?” The Hodja didn’t reply that he acted so because he had no horse but said: “Do not look at the form of my ox today, you should have seen it a few years ago, when it was jumping and playing lively like a young and strong foal.” According to me, it is not important what the ox had been in the past, it is important what it is today - the past had lived its time. The present life is a reflection of the past; therefore we are discontented with it. The new that we acquire and put in practice at present, will determine our life in the future. He who wants to know what his previous life had been, let him look at the present; there he will discover his past. When living in a new way, he is building up his bright future. Thus, the one who hesitates on the path has admitted to himself one leg of the devil. Man has knowledge of Truth, but he alone, admits the doubt to himself. Nobody can lie to anyone, especially himself. If you keep the commandments of God and abide in His Love, you are on the right path and whatever you aspire to, you can attain. Christ is working with the word can, and the devil with the word cannot. If you say that you can live well, Christ is with you; if you say that you cannot live well, Christ is far from you. - “I am a sinful man” - if somebody says this, this suggests that his will is weak. The transgression, the mistakes are concealed in the weak-will of humans; give the right direction to your will and you will ascend. If you have transgressed, you will get cleansed - there is plenty of water in Nature, therefore man can always wash and cleanse himself. Men and women - all have to cleanse themselves, and become conscious of their purpose, and fulfill it. What is the mission of the woman? First, she should raise herself, and then - the man. The good-natured and beautiful woman is an ideal for man - she implants in him an impulse to what is sublime, she persuades him to think and at the same time she implants Peace and tranquility in his soul. The mission of the man is to raise himself first and then - the woman. He has to manifest the power of his mind, in order to persuade her to work. Whatever she aspires, the man has to fulfill it; if today he is giving one promise and tomorrow he does not fulfill it, he is likened to a granny, who stands on every step and cannot go forward. If the man tells a young lady that he loves her, he has to verify the sincerity of his words. It is time already to put in practice the teaching of Christ in all its breadth and depth. If you say that you cannot employ it, you are a granny; if you say that you can employ it, you are a young person, a brave man, who can achieve everything. For the women, I wish them to be abundant in the Love of God, to carry the idea for employing Love and everywhere they go, to carry a scent - to disperse the fragrance of Love. I wish the men to implant trust in all women - to rely on their word and to their promises. “If you keep my commandments” - this is required from the man; “You will abide in my love” - this is required of the woman. And I say: the woman should abide in Love, and the man should keep the commands of the woman. 27 May 1917, Sofia _______________________________________________ [A1]Unclear. [means to run from the danger in you]

The Good Stored up in Man “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him” Christ is speaking about the two different ways for bringing out qualities: “The good man brings of his store good things out, and the evil man brings evil things out”. The first one and the other bring something out of their storehouse, but they get different results. That means, that one and the same action or one and the same reason can produce two different results – two persons sow a field with the same thing, though the result of each one’s seed, differs from the seed of the other. How are the words good and evil store understood? In order to acquire a good storehouse, man should work a thousand years on himself – this is the only way he can obtain wealth and bear the Goodness out of the good stored up in him. A person achieves wealth in two ways and in two different directions: he can grow rich in a short time or gain assets in his life throughout many years; at the same time he could grow rich soon or throughout many years but gain discredit about it, too. Wealth is necessary to people but what kind of wealth? People have turned out and pay attention rather to the material wealth, but it is a temporary acquisition and not everlasting. For a period of time, richness rejoices man and satisfies him, but next, he is searching for something else, beyond the material wealth. When studying the deep meaning of Christianity, man arrives at the understanding that the true development is concealed in the inner, spiritual wealth of the soul. The spiritual science, called by some “religion”, requires spiritual growth of man. In this case, the word religion is not quite apt, but there is no other word in the Bulgarian language to substitute for it. Under religious person, they understand a foolish, narrow-minded, fanatic who does not think rightly. Some consider that a person becomes religious, when he starts to grow old. I do not speak about the religion of the old people, but about the Divine religion, that embraces the Divine science. Some replace the word religion with theosophy, which is founded on reincarnation; others replace religion with spiritualism, which is based on the relationship between spirits, although, both words: theosophy and spiritualism are restricted; they cannot embrace the idea of Divine science. Nowadays, even the word God has lost meaning, therefore people replace it with the word Nature; in the near future, the word Nature will be replaced by another, which will encompass the understanding of man. It is of no significance that you are going to replace one word with another, it is significant that each word expresses accurately and definitely its meaning. “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him” – how to attain the good store? With knowledge, endurance, and constancy. How does a good gardener act, when he has a garden with many fruit trees along with walnut-trees too? When the walnuts begin to ripen, he does not hurry to shake them down straight away and take its green cover off but he leaves it on the tree to crack on its own. Once he sees this happen, he already knows the walnut has ripened; if he takes off the green shell prematurely, then he will spoil the core of the walnut. When the walnut becomes ripe, he cracks it and removes the green cover, and after this - the hard cover and finally he arrives to the core within, which is also wrapped in a thin membrane, with a bitter taste. The way a walnut encloses the good stored up in it in a few covers, in such a way, man hides his genuine wealth wrapped in a few covers. The exterior cover reflects the material wealth, which you need to leave freely to ripen and not to remove it prematurely – this is the safe protection of the real treasure in man. From the exterior cover, the nourishing juices flow to the interior cover and then to the core. The membrane that envelops the core, contains enough iodine; eat walnuts and do not be afraid, they replace the usage of iodine. “The good stored up in man.” Those who do not understand the meaning of the spiritual life say that they do not need richness but to be closer to God. For a man to be close to God means that he needs to be healthy in body, mind and heart, i.e. the energies in him have to be organized; if he is not healthy, or his energies are not organized, he is far from God. The connection with God is not an exterior process but an inner process. The same applies to ordinary people: from the outside, you are close to someone but inwardly you stand up far away for him. What should a man do, in order to organize himself? He should keep his exterior cover until it becomes ripe – with it missing, he will break the wholeness of his content. A man should be patient, not to hurry to attain great results in a short time – every result will arrive in its time. Many hasten forward, they want to realize their desires and spoil themselves. What is the understanding of the words inner content, what is the inner content of man? That is his soul, i.e. the Divine principle in him, which draws from Life the necessary powers, and energies in order to manifest his virtues and abilities. For a man to have Life in himself means to live consciously, one who does not know how to live is not a conscious person. When speaking about the Conscious Life, many say, “It is not important if I live consciously or not, it is important that I keep my body safe.” It is correct that man strives for saving his body, for the exterior, solid, protective cover, but one day the latter will come off alone. Likewise the green cover of the walnut cracks and falls off, so will the body of man fall off, and he will remain with his second coat – when is this going to happen? When man becomes ripe/mature. However, until he ripens, nobody has the right to take away his exterior cover. It is the same with the walnut: in order not to spoil the core, leave its green wrap to crack alone and fall off. Children often shake the walnut-tree before it has ripened and stain their hands with the green covering; they do this because they like the fresh kernels of the walnut. When bored with life, people say: “Why do we need this body, if only we could be free from it” – they do not understand the significance of their physical body. While in his body, man ripens and organizes his strength; by losing his body, he falls off the Tree of Life prematurely and goes to the other world unorganized, unripe. Christ says, “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him”. The heart is located in the physical body of man; once he denies his body, he also denies the life of the heart. That is the reason that the physical body is a cover, i.e. mediator through which, sap passes from the outside to the inside, meaning from the outer, physical world, to the Spiritual world (World of Spirit). By the means of nourishment, for example, man perceives the outward necessary materials to build up not only his body, but also his soul. In Divine terms, man is not yet shaped, has not transformed into a genuine human, i.e. he has not yet fully ripened. From the perspective of the Angels, he is compared to a tree, therefore it is written in the Holy Scriptures: “The Righteous will be like trees planted nearby clear effluents”. The tree is taken as a symbol of knowledge, in that case, there is some knowledge hidden in the tree, the knowledge of Life. In the Garden of Eden, there were many trees, amongst all of them, two were distinguished: The first one was the Tree of Life and the other – the tree for knowing the Good and the evil. When God created the first humans, He said to them, “You can eat the fruit from all trees but not from the tree for knowing the Good and the evil. On the day you eat from it, you will die.” With this, God wanted to give a warning to the first humans, that unless they organize their physical body, senses and systems correctly, they are not able to correctly perceive the saps and the energies, which flow from the outside world, they cannot study the second, harder cover – the bones of their own body. The first cover implies the muscles of man, and the second – the bones; the first cover infers the science for Life, for the outside world, and the second – the science for knowing the Good and the evil. When man acquires this Knowledge, he arrives to the third cover – the thin membrane that wraps the kernel of the walnut. When he tastes the core, he has already arrived to the inner sense of Life. When you examine the human head, you can observe that it is made up of three covers: exterior – the skin, the middle – the bone, and the interior – a thin membrane, that envelopes the brain. If the thin membrane gets damaged or inflamed, man gets upset. In order not to get upset, he should work over himself – to create a healthy body for himself, to cope with the conditions, and make use of them. If not healthy in body and in mind, only in one moment, man can lose his health, and get upset. For example, one has put faith in money, losing the money he can get a stroke in the brain, a heart attack and die – some people have lost the meaning of their Life and got discouraged from the smallest failures. The substance, which compounds the material world, manifests in four different qualities. The first conditions are exterior: hard, liquid, vaporous, luminous or radiant, heating and the others are interior in content: inorganic and organic matter. One of the qualities of matter is that it can pass through one condition to another. It achieves this through changes in its vibrations, its rising and falling. When matter is refining, its vibrations rise up; as soon as it loses its cleanliness, its vibrations decline. When matter is cleansing, man is also being cleansed – this cleansing is happening mainly through the heart. By the word heart we understand the Carnal soul of man or his Astral body, which comes after the physical body. When dying man passes out to the next world with his Astral body, like the walnut is planted in earth with its hard cover, not with the green one. The hard shell of the walnut bursts in the earth, after that the membrane breaks and only the nut remains, and from its core, there emerges a new walnut. The new walnut, concealed in the core of the walnut, represents the real soul of man that should be studied. The philosophy of human life is comprised in the walnut. Study and observe the development and the vegetation of the walnut, in order to grasp the threads, which create the philosophy of human Life. If the threads do not warp with one another, the way a woman warps, no cloth will be weaved. For the same reason, our thoughts and feelings are not weaved at random, but according to the laws of the righteous thought and the righteous feelings. The righteous thought excludes every suspicion, fear and doubt. Liberate yourself from the thought that somebody could deceive you. Be like the moneychanger – who can deceive a moneychanger? When you take to him a yellow coin and present it as gold, he takes the touchstone out of his pocket and examines it. In order not to be deceived, he should apply his touchstone and test the coin which they offer him, is it gold or false. What is necessary for contemporary people, in order not to lie themselves? They need Faith, trial and vision. Then Faith should pass to trial, trial – to vision and vision to the Life of Reason. Apply this to your family relations, to your friends and you will see its good results. When people do not understand the rules of Life, they violate them and in the end, whatever evil or misfortune happens, they give all up to God. If somebody falls ill, it is said that God has determined this; somebody is put on trial – again they consider God in charge. Man alone is in charge of his fortune or misfortune, he alone is a cause for the illnesses, hardships and contradictions, in which he finds himself. There exist two aspects of fate or impositions – for evil and for Good. On earth, they punish only those, who make mischief and harm. When a man commits a crime or mischief, the policeman catches him, gives him up to the police and initiates proceedings against him – the bigger his crime is, the higher is the noise made around him. In order to discharge him, great lawyers take up his cause, the newspapers write about him, the community reads and discuss the issue, gives its judgment, and so on. Both the criminal becomes notorious, and the lawyers and the justice, who take part in the cause, also get well known. However, when a man does Good, nobody takes interest in him. Very naturally, there are no laws on Earth to investigate the good deeds of people and give them the honour. On Earth they bring to trial only the criminals and the evildoers; in Heaven, on the contrary, they take interest in the good deeds of people, and not of the bad and criminal; there nobody takes interest in the mistakes and the crimes of people, nobody is searching for them. If someone does a good deed, the great lawyers stand up on their feet right away and say: “Bring us this man, let us see what Good he has done to give him the honour.” The greater the Good one has done, the more people are interested in him, and the more noise is raised around him.” “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him.” The good treasure of the heart is the Divine soul, where the man stores all that is given to him from God. Since there is some gift, man should draw from his treasure and give it out, to be efficient – either to himself and his relatives. Every good in Life are given by God. The good man has the right to draw from them until he satisfies his natural necessities, then he gives out to his relatives. In order to make use of the Divine goodness rationally, man should be guided not only by his mind or heart but also by his soul: to forward the energies from the air through the lungs, from there through the spinal cord and finally – into the main brain. This means that man should be active with his mind and heart, to resolve rightly his tasks, to be efficient for himself and his relatives. Don’t the gardeners act in this way? They are making use of the energy from the main source, by letting the water flow through little channels to water the most distant corners of the garden. You will say that this is not happening quickly; with haste, you cannot do a good job – man needs patience, constancy, and not haste. One American doctor was called to cure an Anatolian Turk from the Asia Minor. After he had a medical examination, the doctor prescribed a medicine for him to take, three spoonfuls daily in the course of ten days; after having taken all the medicine, his condition would have improved. The Turk had a look at the medicine, he thought twice and then said, “Why do I have to take it ten days one after the other, I’d better drink it in one gulp, so I can get better sooner?”- He raised the bottle and drank it all. After one or two hours his condition got worse and he died. Keep the measure and the prescriptions of God, the Nature and the doctor who treats you; respect the prescription that is given to you – three spoonfuls daily. Likewise, God is writing in His book “three spoonfuls daily”. You will say that the Turk was stupid. What are you going to say for contemporary people, who eat a few dishes at lunch, next, they drink two or three litres of wine; then, they have overeaten and call the doctor to help them – they upset their stomach, lose their appetite, and so on. There are Turks everywhere, not only in Malay Asia. When man does not think rightly, he resembles the Turk who drank all the medicine at once, same as the people who surfeit and upset their stomach each day. In my opinion, seventy five percent of people, surfeit every single day. Someone says that he does not surfeit, he does not surfeit but wishes to love all people and to be loved by all – is this not surfeit? Can you give all people, everything they wish? Do you have the power of the Sun? You have not yet learned to love your mother and father, your brothers, sisters and friends who have done good to you, and (already) you want to love the whole world. The human heart is known in difficult moments. Man should collect Divine energy in himself, to enrich his heart, so he can manifest his feelings in times of difficulty. In times like these, exactly, man should have food, to nourish the life of his fellow. A degraded Russian duke married for love, a young, beautiful girl of noble origin. In the first days after the wedding, he often kissed his beloved, but she got hungry and wished to eat – she wanted bread. - Let’s kiss! – He used to say to her. - I am hungry! – The beloved objected. - Let’s kiss! Let us kiss today, let us kiss tomorrow – she lost her favour towards her beloved, her love had grown cold. Very naturally, she felt deceived by him – he was extremely poor, he had just one title. One does not need just kisses; one needs many things. The uniform kisses destroy man. The kisses of some people exhaust their energy – these kisses are similar to suckers, which do not drag out the bad and impure blood of man, but the pure one. It is enough to get ten kisses like this, ten suckers, in order to see what they are like. I take the word kiss in a broad sense, not only by its frame: Everyone who muddles the mind and the heart of man gives kisses like the sucker of the leech, sucking not only the impure, but also the pure blood. The Christian teaching does not bear these kisses – it requires harmony everywhere and in everything. According to this Teaching, lame people should find their legs; the blind should see the light, and the foolish – come to their senses. Under the words foolish person I understand one, who has no circumstances for growth. Confine a smart person to a dark room and keep him there for ten years – you will see that he will grow stupid and become foolish. Why is this? He has no circumstances to progress. And vice versa – if you place a stupid person in favourable circumstances to progress, after ten years he will become smarter. Christ says, “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him and the evil man – brings evil things out.” Everyone should obtain the good things out of the good stored up, once for himself and then for his relatives; this means: first, learn to love God and then learn to love your relative. If you have not learnt this art yet, and you teach others, you will be exposed - they will ask you straight away, “What did your God do for you?” This is not to blame you, but before you teach others, open your mind and heart for the Divine light, so you can progress rightly. Many close themselves to this light like a nut in its shell, and they expect good results – this is impossible. Open for the Divine light, which will free you of all hardships and contradictions. How do you know, that the Divine light penetrates through your mind and heart? The Divine light brings no doubt in human mind and in human heart – same as clear spring water, which freshens and cheers up man. If you drink water which contains all sorts of dregs, it will destroy your organism, and bring in dusk and darkness, then your thoughts and feelings, will split in two. Every teaching is Divine when it ascends and has an elevating influence on man. Nowadays, there are many preachers who preach the Christian teaching, but only a few can lecture it, properly. Both the Americans and the English sent many missioners all over the world but together with Christianity, they brought in the alcoholic drinks. Some nations appealed to them, not to forward this poison. What is the point of Christianity if you lift up a nation from one hand and poison it on the other? To give poison and destroy man is the easiest thing to do. You will say that you are not like one of these people – there is no man on earth who did not initially poison himself. How many times a day, does man let poison in his blood: today you are well tempered, you have a Divine disposition of the spirit, but you let in a thought that immediately darkens your spirit and you grow weak, losing what you have earned. How many times a day, one falls down and rises up – that is the Turk in everyone, who, not listening to God’s words, raises the bottle with the medicine and drinks it all up at once. What is Death like? It is Purification, i.e.; leaving the old and unclean house, so it can burn. A house, where people have lived thirty years in discord, arguments and misapprehension, must burn; a hospital, where thousands of sick persons with infectious diseases, have passed through; and the walls have absorbed sighs, groans and uncleanliness, should burn to the ground. Today, God is sending fire all over the world – to burn out and cleanse it from all bad thoughts, unclear, infectious thoughts and desires. Thence, He will rescue people from a greater evil. Therefore, God says, “I already begin to throw away everything old and rotten, and build up something new, solid and clean.” Now, I remove the exterior shell of the walnut, so that the inner content can emerge – the core. The core is the place where the human soul is concealed, where good thoughts and desires are cultivated, one’s will is steeled and the forces of the mind and the heart are being organized. In order to create good thoughts and desires, does not imply to mortify every desire in you. In the book, “Light upon the path” it is said: “Mortify every desire in you!” This thought undergoes correction: it should be, “Mortify every bad desire in you and revive every good desire.” When reading this book, you will see that many things must be corrected. Either the one, who wrote the book, had consciously hidden the Truth, or he had no understanding of the deep sense of the matter. When studying the Divine science, man should be guided by his inner understanding of things, not falling into doubts. If you stumble across contradictive thoughts, do not hurry to draw conclusions – reflect upon them and then make your conclusions. Christ says, “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man - brings evil things out”. Even this thought has two points: from the same place – the heart – the good man brings good things out and the evil – brings evil things out. Consequently, when I want to reform a person, I tell the evil man to mortify every evil desire, not to cause mischief to himself and the other people; I tell the good man to revive all his good wishes and realize them, to be good to himself and his relatives. Man should be cautious with his desires, not to lose self-control. If he goes to the extreme with his good desires, he could encounter contradictions, which generate bad desires as well. One American professor loved the subject he taught so much, that he used to forget himself while teaching and used to keep his students half, and even sometimes one hour, after the lecture. They decided to teach him a good lesson in order to break his habit to hold them back after the bell. One day, they smeared glue on the chair the professor was sitting and screwed it well to the floor. The Professor spoke two whole hours this day and when he finished the lecture a half hour had to pass until he was set free from the chair – his clothes got stuck with the glue. The professor realized who had arranged this joke and he never again kept his students after the bell rang. It is time now for all people, glued to their chairs to unglue. Everyone should become aware that if he does not succeed in his deeds the reason is that he is stuck to the chair – first get unstuck, then work. The sticking to the chair shows that people still live with their old views and convictions. If you fail to get unstuck on your own, ask somebody to come and help you, but do not remain stuck. “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him”. Christ puts the question sharply: - “the good stored up in man and the evil stored up in man”. By the words “the good stored up in man”, He implies the human soul, which develops rightly. According to the occultists, it represents the good karma of man: the good man has fulfilled God’s laws, has gathered a good treasure in his heart, and now he has something to draw and give out to his relative. The evil man had broken God’s laws, he had done wrong and by doing so, he had created his bad karma. At present, they put him in jail, where he lies for a few years, until he acquires a certain experience – through suffering the sap of the evil turns out into goodness. In every village you will visit, you will see how the villagers take out the dung from the dung-heap and fertilize their fields and gardens – in this way they cultivate the trees and the flowers and transform them into good quality. Every man should take out the dung from his dung-heap, i.e. to take out the evil from the evil stored up in him and plant it in his field, fertilize it and transform the evil into Good, which is an indispensable element to the health of man. How do we know if a man has stored up the good in him? Imagine that you get up in the morning, joyful and cheerful, and throughout the day you keep this favourable disposition – in this case, you have stored up the good things in your heart. If you remain favourably disposed, despite the tribulations that happen to you during the whole day, you are a rich person, you bring good things out of the good stored up in you. That, what is true for one day, is valid for many days. If you wake up in the morning and you are in a bad frame of mind, and throughout the day, you are not able to improve your condition, you are bringing evil things out of the evil stored up in you. You are going to apologize that you are not well-disposed, that you are sick, and so on. Nothing can excuse you – the stored up in you is not good. You have nothing left to do, but take the evil things out of the evil stored up in you and throw it as dung over your field. Afterwards, sufferings will come to you but say, “I am ready to suffer, in order to ascend, to acquire patience and Love.” Man should be patient. Somebody passes for a patient person, because the conditions impose him to bear – this is woe, not patience. Woe imposes on man, whereas patience is a result of the reasonable human will. Never impose on someone your beliefs, views and convictions, let him be free to plant a garden on his own the way he understands it – you can give him the seeds, but he has to plant and cultivate them alone. He can make some mistake - this is of no significance; the evil is not located in the mistakes that a person makes but in the failure to correct the mistakes. It is important that a person has freedom to develop rightly; at the same time, he should give a free hand to others to develop rightly too. How do mothers act with their children? When the child is little, the mother puts on it swaddling clothes, ties it with a wrapper, and thus the baby lies for hours. First, she gives it a bath, unwraps the swaddling clothes and leaves the child free to kick with its legs for a while. After, she baths it, she wraps it quickly into swaddling clothes, ties it with the wrapper and lays it in the cradle to sleep–the child should lie down and keep quiet, such is the statute. Some religious people act the same way: they catch someone, put on him swaddling clothes, tie him with a swaddling band and say, “We turned this man to God.” You did not turn him, but you restricted him. If you meet a man, wrapped in swaddling clothes follow the example of the mother: after the period of four or five months, she uncovers the swaddle and sets the child free–by doing so she gives it conditions to develop freely and naturally. If the child remains for a long time in the swaddle, tied with a wrapper, its growth will cease and it will shrink. No mother wants to see her child shrunk–she wants it to become healthy, strong, to develop well. On entering a religious society, initially a person is found in the position of a child, wrapped in swaddling clothes, and tied with a band; after some time he gets rid of the swaddling and starts to develop rightly and naturally, to grow and become reasonable, manifesting the good stored up in him. Therefore, when a man gets up from sleep, he should ask himself if he is free from the swaddling and the wrapper. Once he is certain that he is free, he starts to move his hands and legs freely, to stretch, which means that he is ready to work. The hands and legs of man represent the human will. Because when the eyes, the tongue, the hands and the legs of man are free, this shows that he has a mind, heart and willpower to work with, in order to fulfill God’s Will. The sleep represents the swaddling and the diapers, in which man is wrapped; once you wake up, untie the swaddling, take the diapers off and say: “Thank You, Lord for giving me the Freedom to move and work, to manifest my will, mind and heart, and serve you.” Prepare for Heaven, while you are still on Earth, because in Heaven there is no sleeping, no wrappers, no swaddling. Work on yourself, in order to ascend your spirit, to develop your Spiritual body, in which you will resurrect. There are people, who will resurrect while they are still on Earth–it is about them that apostle Paul says, that their exterior cover will resurrect and undergo change. Aspire to the Resurrection as an inner process – that means man should liberate all doubts and restrictions. Believe in your mind and heart, in your Spirit and soul, which God has put in you, and you will resurrect. Hence, if you bring the good things out of the good stored up in you, acknowledge this; if you bear evil things stored up in you, fertilize your field with the evil, in order to transform it into Good–this is the thought that Christ put in the verse for the good and the evil stored up in man. The time has already arrived for man to move through the transient and the restricted, to the eternal, from the swaddling clothes and the wrapper - to the Freedom, from the milk- to the raw food. The little child is fed with milk, it is in the nature of things, but if the young girl, or the young man want to suck, this is not a natural process. Once the child begins to walk, it can eat raw food - this freedom is indispensable for its growth and development. “The good and the evil stored up in man.” Everyone should ask himself whether he belongs to the good or to the evil people, to the believers or the unbelievers. Who is an unbeliever? It is one who has no Light in one’s mind. Open the windows of his house, so the Light can enter from outside. If a person does not posses money to open the window, let him open it on his own account. Everyone, who is placed in a dark room with no windows, will become an unbeliever. Belief is revealed with Light and unbelief with Darkness. The good is done at Light, and the evil - in darkness. Man has to transform his life, i.e. to leave the darkness and enter into the Light. Every morning, after getting up from sleep, say to yourself: “I am a good and a reasonable man, because God created me.” You will reply, that this is untrue. As I take it, all that is created from God is Good and reasonable. In order to be convinced of this, throw away the old and ragged clothes to see the Divine clothing in which God has dressed you. Who do you blame that you have dressed in the old rags and you cannot recognize yourself. Do not trust those, who support the thought that man is sinful in nature. Only the one, who lives in a dark and gloomy cellar and does not know how to come out of it, is sinful. Take this man out of the cellar and place him in the Divine world, in Freedom and open space. Christ appeals to the good and reasonable people to bring out the good stored up in their hearts and help their fallen brothers. Give out as a gift, so it will be given back to you. Give out of your golden and not from your paper money, because in Heaven, paper money will not pass - every good thought, every good feeling and every good act are specie money, which never lose value. The good store implies the specie money, and the evil store - the paper money. David says: My mother conceived me in sin - he acknowledges that sin is not Divine, but an invention of man. John says: “I am conceived by God.” The one who lives in a dark room and brings evil things out of his store, he is conceived by the devil; the one that lives in a room full of light and brings good things out of his store, he is conceived by God. Live and work like Christ does, and become one with God. This is what Christ requires from all people, to revive, to reorganize the societies and the nations, to penetrate the new Life everywhere, to bring the Divine Realm on Earth. It is not enough to know who Christ is and what he has done, but everyone should ask himself what he has done, alone. We all know what Christ did two thousand years ago, we all see what he is doing today, but what have you done, and still do, as a human being? – “You, who speak now, what, are you?” – Come to work with me and you will see what I am. If we work together and I take twenty per cent of the profit, and I give to you ten percent, you will understand how righteous I am, but if I give to you more, and take less for myself, or if we share equally, again you will understand what I am. This is the meaning of the verse, “You will get to know them by their deeds.” Now, I want all people to loosen their purse-strings, brains and hearts, to throw aside the swaddling clothes and the wrappers and to begin freely to move their hands and legs. This is required by both religious and worldly people, this is required by the life of Reason. You will say that it is easy to talk but hard to work. The one who speaks with Love, he works easily with Love. He had gone through tribulation and sufferings, he has understood Life and knows how to work - his words are rich in content and meaning. Christ is coming to Earth to revive mankind, the nations, societies, as well as each person individually. Thence everyone should say to himself: “I can achieve anything along with God, with the Angels and the good people.” If everyone would say this to himself, the world will reform and everything will work out for the better. There are three ways, by which man can enter in the Narrow path, i.e.; in the Divine path: the first way is to push the train which leads in this direction, the second way - is to compete with it, and the third - is to get on this train and let it take you along to the determined place. If you come across this train, do not push it to go forward - it will move by itself; do not compete with it - you will fail to follow it, but get inside and believe that it will take you to the Divine Kingdom. I wish all of you to be like the good man, for whom Christ says, that he takes out good things out of the good stored up in him. 20 May 1917, Sofia

GOD HAS JOINED TOGETHER “What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder” Matthew 19: 6 “What God has joined together… ” Obviously, in this verse Christ speaks about marriage. Actually, is this marriage, what people do at present? Two families become close friends, live well together and after a time they marry their children – is it the right joining? There are three kinds of joining: the first is what God does – it is the true and sound joining; the second one is what a person does by oneself and the third is what people do. All difficulties, contradictions and sufferings of the joined people come from the last two. In order to be able to do a certain joining rightly, a person, a master or a state should be deeply filled with God’s Wisdom, should comprehend the main law on which Life is built. To comprehend the main law of Life means to comprehend Life as it is manifesting in Nature. That is why, when reading the verse in which Christ speaks about joining, you should realize it in its full, in its deep sense, not sticking to the perfunctory meaning of the word. “What God has joined together, let not man put asunder” – many read and read over this verse but do not comprehend it. Many preachers have spoken on this verse, have interpreted it but they have not touched the main Truth hidden in it. Why is the Truth contained in this verse not revealed? For two reasons: from one side, because of the ignorance of those speaking on it; from the other side, because of the intentional shrouding of the Truth for fear that it may expose them. Lack of knowledge, ignorance is excusable – not knowing something people speak about what they know and how they think. However, it is neither excusable nor justifiable to know the Truth and to hide it consciously. The Truth is a great principle. Only a clear person can speak the Truth; if someone unclear tries to speak the Truth, It would kill that one. In addition, only a clear person can comprehend the Truth. Someone wants to have the Truth told - in order to hear the Truth, he or she should be ready to die; in other words, you cannot hear and comprehend the Truth if you are not ready to lay down your life for it. The words of Christ: “Who is not ready to deny himself” understand the readiness of man to deny his life in order to comprehend the great Divine Truth. Christ has spoken a lot on the joining together as well as on the major principles in Life, but only fragments have reached us on which people today put free interpretations, create various theories that do not correspond with the Absolute Truth. A right thought is only the one practiced in the real life. “What God has joined together, let not man put asunder.” Joining exists not only between the souls but between the tones as well – we call this harmony. If we look at a violin we will see that it consists of several parts but arranged in such a way that all curves and angles are directed to one straight line passing through the middle of the violin. The violin master has combined its lines and angles in such a way that when touching its strings all tones come out from the main opening in a harmonic combination. Man, too, is an instrument similar to a violin – with four well-strained strings. The strings of a violin differ not only in thickness but in the intensity of the sound as well. In order to play the violin, one needs also a fiddlestick with well-strained strings so that the desired tones are reached when touching the strings. To know to play the violin means that man has acquired one of the greatest arts in Life. When a child starts learning to play the violin, in the beginning the child creaks, and makes false tones; the more that child grows up and exercises, the more the tones become clearer. Life is music – for man to live right means to have the art of playing. The human body is an instrument, a special violin with which man plays. The strings are the four main temperaments through which people manifest themselves. The four main temperaments are sanguine or gaseous, mental or nervous, choleric and phlegmatic. It is not enough to have four strings in the violin; they should be of high quality, should be made of good material, and should have a certain thickness. The same holds true in respect of the temperaments: it is not enough to say that someone has sanguine or mental-nervous temperament, but that temperament should be of high quality. To play well, a violinist should be talented, should play with all his heart and should have good violin, good fiddlestick and strings of the best quality. Then, when playing, his violin will produce clear, pleasant tones. Someone may ask what remains of the violinists when they put their soul in the violin. The soul manifests itself in three different ways – in the field of the feelings, of the thoughts and of the acts. When the soul manifests itself in the feelings, they take part in the playing – soft, warm, harmonic tones flow from the violin, as if it speaks by itself. One eminent violinist took his violin to a good Italian master to be repaired. The master invited him to sit down to wait until the violin was repaired in order to take it back. Watching how the master took the violin to pieces with his knife the violinist lost consciousness. Why did he faint? Because the knife touching the violin gave him pain – a part of his soul was in the violin. Christ says: “What God has joined together, let not man put asunder.” – What joining has God made, which things has He joined? God has joined the mind and the heart, the soul and the Spirit, the body and the lower soul. Must an ignorant person spoil what God has joined? Who is an ignorant person? It is one, who does not speak the Truth, does not comprehend Wisdom and does not act according to Justice and Love. Since you know this, do not act like the ignorant one – to part what God has joined together. People who observe God’s laws enjoy success in their life. The peasants in a village complained to the bishop against their priest for getting tired with his divine service that often lasted four-five hours. Sometimes he finished the service within half an hour but most times he kept people in the church for hours. The bishop called the priest, told him that there was complaint against him from his parishioners and asked him what he had to say for himself. The priest said, “Divine bishop, it is true what they say against me. The reason is that when the angels and the saints help me with my service, I finish my work quickly, within half an hour. But when I am left alone, by my own power, without the support of the Bright beings, I finish my work within four-five hours.” Hence, when things take a turn for the better, the Bright beings help people; when things take a turn for the worse, the Bright beings have left them to themselves. This explains why some trees become ripe earlier while others become ripe later; for example, the cornel-tree is an early flowerer but it becomes ripe last. When creating the world, God created both plants and fruit-trees and allowed every spirit to choose a fruit-tree of his own. When the turn of the devil came, he chose the cornel-tree as it flowers first. He told himself, “Since the cornel-tree flowers first, it will become ripe first, too,” but he was wrong – the cornel-tree became ripe last. Man, too, may become ripe early, like the cherry-tree or last like the cornel-tree. There are reasons, too, why some fruit-trees become ripe early and others – late. Ripening of the cherry-tree and the cornel-tree are processes taking part in the human life as well. “What God has joined together, let not man put asunder.” By this verse, Christ calls the attention of people to spoil not what God has made. As for spoiling, present people are masters in it; no matter among what people you fall, you will see that all people are masters in spoiling matters. You can see what some peasants do passing by a nice stone fountain; once they look at it, they feel like taking out their knife or axe to grind on the base. In this situation, is it possible for the base not to be ruined? Is it possible that anyone, either priest, teacher, preacher or judge is not spoiled if you grind your axes on them? After that they say, “Our priest, preacher or judge is not good at this job.” How can they be good, how will they not be spoiled, if you grind axes and knives on them? In order not to spoil what God has created, first we should not spoil it. Who is the cause of the spoiling? Before learning the art of grinding their axes on the base of fountains, people should have learned the law of harmony. A young man marries a good, tender, considerate girl but after several years he takes out his axe and begins grinding it on her base; he grinds the axe and fixes her, “You must not be attentive, tender, considerate to people.” He grinds his axe one day, another day, until finally his sweetheart spoils and becomes rough – how will she not become bad when axes are being grinded on her back all the time. The same happens with the young man. You should not grind your axes on the backs of the good girls and boys, you should not spoil them; you should grind them on the backs of the rough, sharp and cruel people - they need blunting. One priest had a habit of incensing in front of the stalls of the laity that were permanently unoccupied. One of those present asked the priest: - Father, why do you incense in front of the unoccupied stalls and not in front of us who are present at the service? - You have no need to be incensed. Once you are here, you are out of any danger while those who are absent need to be incensed as they are disposed to great dangers and evils. Be as that priest and go where there is a need to go, do not go where there is not a need. The rich always invite the rich to a feast – they always incense in front of their stalls as they have what to take from them. I do not blame them, I just announce a fact – everyone says, “Today I am invited, tomorrow I will invite.” It is good to do what is harmonic, natural and wise, so that Divine harmony is restored. Let us feed the poor, the hungry, the orphan children, as this is God’s will – to spoil not what He has made. “What God has joined together, let not man put asunder.” – This is one of the principles on which Christ draws the attention of humankind. You would say Christ preached well – why did He preach well? As His sermons give Life, give a fillip to the minds and the hearts of people. A true sermon is the one that feeds the human soul and gives it power to advance. The sermons of Christ are true as they are based on the Live Rational Nature – He interprets the occurrences in Nature as they are. People, who cannot interpret them right, are under a delusion and at the same time they delude others. Examine Nature; study it so that you may use its forces. Those who seek Nature and wish to get in touch with it, let them get up early every morning, especially in May, and go out to have a walk in the air before the Sunrise. What a greater sight than the Sunrise[A1] ! At the same time, you will use the early sunbeams, which have a wholesome effect on the organism. Get up early in the morning before the Sun rise so that you accept its blessing and then begin your work. Restore the unity between your organism and the Sun like between your soul and God that have been established from the beginning. Avoid the temporary joining with people in order to run not into disharmonic states and contradictions. Therefore, do study Nature; do study the Divine manifestations without criticizing. Someone opens a book, takes only a passage from it and starts criticizing it saying that such and such a thought is not in accordance with the new theories about life. Are the new theories in accordance with the Divine teaching and with the Divine laws? All of us should be bearers of the Divine teaching, because all people as souls form parts of the Divine organism and God requires that His body is healthy and all its parts are in harmony. Only in this way, one may be glad and merry. If not healthy, he or she cannot be glad and merry; the reason for that is not in God. If a husband and a wife cannot live well, the reason is not in God; if a brother and a sister do not get along, the reason is not in God. If there is no confidence and consent between the ruling circles and the ruled classes, the reason is not in God. The reason for the disharmony, the mistrust, and the contradictions between people is in the ruining of the joining that God has made. In future, all eminent people like teachers, writers, professors, preachers, should come down from the height of their standing and should enter the world among the common, the poor and the suffering people to teach them how to live – that is what Christ wants from all people. By His descending to the Earth, Christ showed people how they should apply the great, disinterested Love between one another. All contemporary writers realize that God works in the world. He makes great transformations in human minds and hearts; that is why it is said in the Scripture that a new world is being created, new minds and hearts are in the making. The new people will create the New humankind which will prove that new powers and energies work in the world as well as in the whole of Nature. “What God has joined together, let not man put asunder” – between what has this joining been made? Between the stomach and the food, between the lungs and the air, between the heart and the emotions, between the mind and the thoughts. If any of these combinations are broken, man is upset. It is enough that the right combination between the stomach and the food is broken in order to fall ill and to ask for doctor help. However, if the doctor helps but this combination is broken for the second time, the stomach would start opposing it and not long after that, it would give up its service. Once the stomach of someone is upset, the relations with other people will also be upset. Each one must make a combination between the stomach and the food one takes by oneself: if the combination is good, one feels healthy, fresh, merry, and ready for any work; if after that one does not feel healthy, optimistic and fresh, the combination is not harmonious. Not knowing their organism and being not able to make good combinations, people consult eminent scientists and doctors and execute their advice. The opinion of the scientists is right but is not the same for all people, not the same for the different ages (physical and intellectual). One should constantly change one’s food – the state of health depends on the change in food. As the incorrect combination between the stomach and the food upsets the human organism, in the same way the incorrect combination between the heart and the feelings upsets both the physical and the psychical state of people. You may say that people should love each other. How many lads should love one lass and how many lasses – one lad? If ten lads love one lass, they would upset her. Better one lad love her, not ten – the ten lads would upset her mind, would disturb her heart and soon she would fall ill. In fact, only one is who loves , not two. Somewhere in America, there was a famous preacher, who used to fascinate the audience with his eloquence. The day came when he had to leave. All his listeners and laity came out to see him off, as he was a general favourite. Along with them, all the dogs, the ducks and the geese came out to say good-bye to him and to wish him a pleasant journey. At last, he mounted a horse and left to the railway station. At the end of the town the horse reared, unseated him and said, “Good-bye, friend, we don’t need such celebrities, they are not necessary for our development.” Who is famous? One, who fulfills God’s will, and like the Sun, brings blessing to all living beings. No matter whether you sleep or are awake, the Sun sends its blessings and leaves. Some think that, in order to be saved, they should be orthodox – that is not right. If you are sleeping when the Sun is rising, nothing can save you no matter who you are. The salvation of the humankind lies in that Great religion that unites all religions as parts of one whole. The new religion is Love – it unites all people, reconciles and settles their contradictions and spreads Joy and Mirth in them. For people, to be united means to have a common ideal, and common aspirations. The unification, the unity gives people force and makes them powerful – they may achieve what they wish. When the Israelites left Egypt and set off with Moses to the Promised Land, they divided in twelve tribes and each tribe carried a part of the Tabernacle. Wherever they stopped, they gathered all its parts, built it and offered a fervent prayer to God. United as one and offering their prayer to God they received His blessing. What do present orthodox people do? They, too, carry the parts of the Tabernacle, but until now, they cannot gather at one place to build it and to offer together a thanksgiving prayer to God. If someone asks them what they carry, they reply, “We are orthodox and we carry the parts of the Tabernacle.” Christ is saying to them, “Gather together at one place and let each one bring the part they carry so that we can build the Great Tabernacle. And let all of us pray together to God in Spirit and Truth.” All people to gather the parts of the Tabernacle in whole – that is what is understood by the verse: “What God has joined together, let not man put asunder.” In other words, do not misinterpret the great Love that God has put in your souls. It is already time for people to take up the education of their minds and hearts being the first joining God has made. What a great good for man to have a mind that thinks right and a heart that feels right and to join them together. When the mind thinks right and the heart feels right, people comprehend things. They have achieved this understanding by the way of the sufferings; nevertheless, they grumble about their sufferings. Blessed are the suffering, the blind, and the lame and so on. Why are people blind, lame, and crippled? As they have passed through a certain philosophy that has crippled them. They should seek God’s Truth that brings Life and shows the way to God. Many seek God where He is not. In May, do go out early in the morning at 4 o’clock and you will find God. Take part in the singing of the birds, in the puff of the gentle breeze, in the gurgling of the springs and you will find God. The Sun invites all living beings to go out, to meet it in order to send them God’s blessing. Why not thank the Sun as a servant of God bringing a message from our Father and say to it, “Bring our greeting to our Father and tell Him that we have now decided to restore the harmony we have disturbed!” What do most people do? Waking up, they look out and seeing there is wind and the sky is cloudy, they say, “The weather is bad, it’s not time to get up.” No, do give thanks for the weather, whatever it is, and say, “Nice is the day. I will get up to enjoy the goods it hides.” Thank the wind as it airs your thoughts and feelings; thank the clouds as they bring moisture refreshing the flowers, the trees and the fruits – this is the right Teaching to which people strive for. All living beings want to be loved, to live free and to enjoy the goods that Nature gives. When I meet a dog, it looks at me, wags its tail and asks me, “Do you think of beating me or of letting me go my way freely?” – “Go your way freely, I am bringing peace, not violence.” The dog believes me, wags its tail and goes on. “What God has joined together, let not man put asunder.” То keep this connection one should be ready to apply the teaching of Christ. That means to observe the law of harmony, known under the name law of sympathy. Two laws act in the world – a law of sympathy and a law of antipathy, i.e. a law of harmony and a law of disharmony. When they love each other, people apply the law of sympathy, of harmony, they live like brothers with each other; when they do not love each other they live according to the law of antipathy, of disharmony. There is repulsion in this law while in the first one there is attraction. Where harmony exists, God is there; that is why everyone should ask himself or herself whether they are joined with God or not. Do not seek God outside yourself as some form but seek Him within yourselves as content. A rose and a pink have some outward form but important is their fragrance that people perceive inwardly – they differ in fragrance. Therefore, God is outside and inside – it is an error to think He is outside only. We should not deliberately shut our eyes to the Truth – all things in which there is combination, are internal. For example, there is a piano, notes, a pianist, but the music is not manifested yet; to have music, the pianist should combine all elements in a whole and should manifest himself – you listen and perceive the music inwardly. However, only those who listen closely to themselves, to their inner voice, can comprehend the inner content of things – this is what it means to comprehend the sense of things. Many ask themselves what the church is. The church is the piano, the holy books – the notes and the priest – the pianist. He should sit down at the piano and play in compliance with all rules of music. You will tune your ear and will listen to perceive the music inwardly and to thank God for having the opportunity to make use of it. Be glad that you can go out at Sunrise and can perceive its rays. Blessed is the one who can comprehend the joining that God has put in the whole of Nature – between the minerals, the plants and the animals. You would say the minerals and the plants are mute – Nature is live and rational, there is nothing mute in it. One, who has ears, can hear and listen to the speech of Nature and can comprehend it. All mystics comprehend Nature as music, speech and song – this is how it preaches and teaches people. There is not a priest in the world that could be compared with Nature. “What God has joined together, let not man put asunder.” God has made several basic combinations: from one side between the body, the soul, and the Spirit and from the other side between the mind, the heart, and the will. The human Spirit passes through these conditions so that it perfects itself. In the physical world, one studies the law of movement, in the Spiritual world – the qualities of the emotions and their intensity and in the Mental world – the sense of Life. When talking about a resurrection, about Eternal life, we understand the joining existing between the human Spirit and the human soul. They contain the qualities of the Divine Spirit and the Divine soul; that is why man has the potentialities God has. People should realize that and should work on themselves so that the Divine put in them manifests. If someone says that he or she cannot do something, this shows that he/she denies the Divine in himself/herself; if they say that they are sinners, they deny what God has joined. God has given to you a lot of land, which you should cultivate. Many leave their hearts and minds uncultivated – this is the reason why various unwanted seeds fall from outside from which weeds and thorns grow. Those who do not cultivate what God has given to them cannot be saved – they do not see an exit from anywhere. Those, who do not work in consent with the Divine, cannot expect any goods. Each one should say, “God has put in me certain talents and potentialities and I should work in order to develop them.” You would say that man is a sinner and cannot achieve anything by himself. A sinner is only the one who has broken the joining God has made. Turn to the Divine within yourself with the will to restore the joining existing between your mind and heart, your soul and Spirit and you will be good, will enjoy the goods you are given. Do not say that people are bad, that they obstruct you to reveal yourself, but try to find the reason for that within yourself. Apply Faith, patience and Love and you will see that soon you will achieve good results. In order to know your fellow men, do remove the outer casing from them and you will see that inside they are sweet – the green shell of the walnut is bitter but the kernel is sweet, tasty. Only thus, you can know the qualities of the human soul. Do not say that man is a wolf to man; if you think in this way, you see the wolf skin that people have put on for the time being – inside they are not wolves. Others have put on a lion skin, but inside they are not lions. You should get to the inner nature of people in order to comprehend that man is a brother to man, not a wolf. One, who has worked and continues working on oneself, has kept one’s Purity as a natural garment given by God. Meeting such people you see God in their face and are glad for having seen them. Your task is to learn, to keep everything you have been given in the remote past. Where will you study? At the Great Teacher – God, whose Teaching has neither beginning, nor ending. It leads to Resurrection, to Eternal life. To resurrect means to start learning and working from the beginning. The resurrected are ready to renounce their personal life and to work and live only for the One who has created them. Today, Christ calls the attention of all people so that they realize that the image of God is within them and that they should take up to clean Him in order to restore the initial joining within themselves with which they were born. God has given health to people and they should carefully preserve it. To preserve your health, do get up early in the morning, especially in May – at 4 o’clock you should be out of bed. It is good not only for you but for all people: teachers, priests, mothers, fathers – all should begin their work early. When the Sun rises, do say, “Blessed be, God, our Lord, who sent the Sun so that we make use of its light and heat!” Only the one, who appreciates the goods that Nature is giving with an open hand, comprehends the meaning of the verse, said by Christ two thousand years ago, “What God has joined together, let not man put asunder.” Discussing this verse, I just sow seeds in your fields. The rest of the job is yours – you will grow them as a writer takes a theme and develops it. That is what means to hear the voice of your Great Father – of Love and to comprehend the sense of your Life and your purpose on the Earth. That is what means to be regenerated, which is to be born anew. Christ says, “If you are not born again, you will not enter the Kingdom of God.” For this reason, one that was born by a mother and a father, will be born and regenerated many times on the Earth. Stupid people will be born and regenerated until they become wise. Ordinary people should become talented, geniuses, saints, Angels, etc. If there are not conditions for every living being to develop, Life will lose its sense. Do work, do develop without striving to be first – who wants to be first, remains last. It is told in an old legend that while creating the world, God charged the Sun with the great mission to give warmth, to shine and to heat. However, it wanted to rise first and to go first to God. Hearing about its desire, God ordered all planets to move around it, and it – around God. Thus, the Sun, the elder brother of the Heaven turned out to be more far away from God than all its younger brothers. The Sun realized its mistake and continued to rise and set on and on in order to expiate it. The rest of the planets turn around it to learn the law of moving. Many Christians have the same desire as the Sun has – to be near Christ, but the new Teaching, the Teaching of Love, excludes self-seeking. “Blessed are the humble and the meek,” – Christ says; in other words, blessed are those who take the place that God has set for them. It is preferable to take the last place but to do God’s will than to be first but to not do God’s will. Christ says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they will see God.” I wish you to restore the joining between your mind and your heart, as well as between your Spirit and your soul so that all energies which turncocks you had closed for ages start running. 13 May 1917, Sofia ___________________________ [A1][What a greater sight is there than the Sunrise !]

To Take and to Give “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” John 10:10 The word thief is a common word that everyone knows. Is there a child that has not stolen a cube or two of sugar from the sugar bowl, or is there a child that has not dipped from the honey jar without permission, or is there a child that has not touched his father’s money bag without permission, or is there a child that has not climbed up other people’s fruit trees to pick apples and pears without permission? In this verse, however, Christ does not talk about such kinds of thieves, but about thieves that act in three different ways: these thieves come to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. It is interesting to learn how the desire to steal was born in man. People have noticed that children are born with clenched fists; however, people die with their hands open, unclenched. What does the fist symbolize? It is one thing if a grown up man points his fist at you, and an entirely different thing if a newborn points his fist at you. The word thief (kradetz in Bulgarian) is a common word, known to everyone, but it is also a meaningful word. Its root, sog, comes from Sanskrit and means causes and consequences, darkness and disharmony. In Turkish the root of the word thief is karas and is similar to the Indian word karma, which means fate. The notions of cause and consequences have a deeper meaning than the word fate. Light and darkness are two manifestations of Nature that possess different qualities: light brings warmth, whereas darkness, i.e. the thief, taken in its broadest sense, takes away warmth. Hence, at night, after the Sun goes down, one feels cool. Therefore, darkness absorbs the Warmth that carries in itself the element of Life. When the air temperature cools down the plants lose part of their warmth, too; then, in order to maintain their warmth plants absorb part of the Earth’s warmth, which causes the Earth to cool down. The overall cooling results in the formation of different atmospheric currents. Night is different from day in that there is less Warmth and Light. When they look at the different manifestations of their lives, people say: This is our culture. Yes, this is your culture, but it is a culture of darkness, i.e. a mechanistic culture. Every mechanistic culture is transitional and inessential, for it takes away more than it gives. In the broader sense of the word we call such culture a culture of thieves. Take the pig as an example, for it has tried this culture, too. While the pig is in the process of fattening up it receives a few visitations a day from its master who gives it plenty of food; however, once the pig is big and fat its master pulls out his knife, puts it to the pig’s neck, and, a few squeals later, it is all over. Thus the pig tries out its master’s culture first hand. While it is in the process of fattening up the pig is like a factory for its master, for it accumulates a lot of material on its back. The master, on the other hand, is the thief who comes with his knife to steal the materials that his worker, the pig, has accumulated. From a Divine standpoint a thief is someone who is distancing himself from God. In the process of distancing himself from God man gives way to his selfishness, because he has lost his inner Light and Warmth. Jesus defines the thief as someone who comes to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. If you meet such a man he will destroy you first, and he will kill you, and then he will rob you. There are three types of thieves: there are the thieves in the physical world who rob other people’s safes and moneybags. Then, there are the thieves in the Spiritual world who rob people’s hearts and feelings. Finally, there are the thieves in the Mental world who rob people’s thoughts. When people discuss a certain topic (like we are discussing the topic of the thief right now) they look for logic and try to find if it is present in a statement or not. It is important what kind of logic people are looking for. There are three types of logic: the logic of forms, the logic of content and the logic of meaning. The logic of forms is a mechanical process: for example, we say, “A man is a biped being and a chicken is a biped being, therefore a chicken is a man.” The religious people, on the other hand, say, “The blood of Christ saves and a man who has bathed himself with this blood is a saved man.” I’m asking this: is the blood with which a man has bathed himself really Jesus’ blood? This is a logical thought: it is true in content but not in meaning. Man needs to know the art of transforming blood into energy, into Power. A religious man should study the spiritual language; for example, blood is red, but what does the colour red stand for? Spiritually, the red colour is the carrier of Life: where there is Life there is also Warmth. Therefore, it is Jesus’ life that saves people and not His blood: this is the logic of the meaning. Blood is a symbol; it is the form of something, and Life, presented in the symbol of the colour red, brings salvation for man. Man can save himself through living by the laws of Love, i.e. by adhering to Christ’s teaching: this is the deep meaning behind the concept of the blood of Christ. “The thief does not come except to steal.” Theft is a part of the idle, lazy man’s culture. If someone does not like to work, he lives off other people’s labour, and if such a person does not voluntarily receive what he needs he resorts to theft as a form of violence. You might say that this is strongly put. No, it is not strongly put, but it is the logic of forms, of content, and of meaning. I am using all three kinds of logic because I am speaking the Truth. In this case, the logic of meaning has an advantage over the other two kinds of logic. Besides these three kinds of logic there are another four kinds, but I am not going to speak of those today. All in all, a thought is true when it takes into account the three kinds of logic. Therefore, the concept of thief that Jesus talks about is true because the thief acts in all three worlds by robbing man of his form, his content, and his meaning; the thief also takes away a man’s Life, feelings and thoughts. If all you rely on is the physical logic of form you will inevitably fall into delusion. For example, if you see that someone is crying you might think that he is suffering, but tears do not always imply suffering. Once there was a villager who loved eating ember-roasted eggs, but his wife would not let him eat eggs, for she wanted to sell them for additional income. It so happened that this villager’s wife fell seriously ill and died. The villager breathed a sigh of relief and thought to himself, “Now I can eat as many roasted eggs as I want.” After coming back from his wife’s funeral he went right to the fireplace and put a few eggs into the glowing embers imagining the pleasure of eating them undisturbed by his wife. At this moment a few women, neighbours of his, dropped in on him to express their condolences regarding the great misfortune that had befallen him in losing his wife. Being so fearful of his wife the man forgot that she was not alive anymore, and so he quickly snatched the eggs out of the fire and hid them down the front of his shirt. The hot eggs burned him so badly that his eyes started streaming with tears. The women neighbours saw the tears falling from his eyes and commiserated, saying, “These must be such painful times for you, brother.” “Yes,” the villager replied, “It is really painful especially down the front of my shirt.” This sentence is true in form, but not in meaning, because the villager was not crying about losing his wife, but because of the pain caused by the hot eggs hidden down the front of his shirt. Here is another story: in an evangelical school there was a young man who would cry every time he would read the Bible. Seeing this, those around him would think to themselves: “This young man will make a good preacher.” Why was the young man crying? He would look out at the windows of the women’s school that his beloved attended. He was in love with one of the schoolgirls, but she did not respond to his feelings and this is what made him sad and cry. However, the people around him thought that he was crying because he was so touched by the Word. This young man merits respect because he expresses his feelings through his tears, but people did not understand the content of his suffering and drew the wrong conclusion. I will give you another example to help you see the religious convictions of some people and the logic that they are based on. One young mister went to an evangelical preacher and started crying and wailing: “My sorrow is so great, I feel like I will burst. Please, pray for me so that God can help me fulfill my desire.” The preacher thought that the young man had repented about something and that he had realized his mistakes and was wishing to get back on the right path of life. He turned to the suffering man, saying, “Come with me and let us pray together.” Then the preacher started praying like this, “Oh, Lord, help this repentant sinner, cleanse him of his sins, enlighten his mind and soul, and let him come into our enclosure.” After finishing his prayer, the preacher asked the young man, “What is the cause of your suffering?” “Oh, my suffering is great”, the young man replied. “I love a young woman and I want to marry her. If I cannot do that, I will kill myself, for I cannot live without her. If God helps me fulfill my desire I will believe in Him. If He does not help me, I will not believe in Him.” After saying that the young man went home hoping that his prayer would be answered. Not before long the young man paid another visit to the preacher and told him, “Praise the Lord for not fulfilling my desire. I went to a gathering where I saw my beloved dance with a young officer all night long without paying the slightest attention to me. I do not want a woman like that.” The Turks have a saying about young men and women like the one from the story; they say, “A rolling stone gathers no moss.” To be religious does not mean that one has to belong to a certain sect or that he should enter into some enclosure. If a master has ten thousand sheep he can put them into ten enclosures, and not only into one. By studying the internal meaning of Life man comes to the conclusion that because he is a thinking being he belongs to God first, then he belongs to humankind, then to his people, to his family and finally, to himself. Therefore, if someone asks me if I am a Bulgarian, I will respond like this, “I am a thinking being that belongs first to God, then to humankind, then to my people, then to my home and finally, to myself.” This is the logical and correct way of thinking for anyone who wants to have a correct grasp of the deep meaning of Life. The Self, i.e. the individual, selfish element in man is related to life on earth. Hence, to live for oneself first means to think only of one’s stomach and lungs. However, man’s meaning and purpose does not come down only to his head, or lungs, or stomach. Therefore, the Self is a form that needs to be in concord with all other forms that have content and meaning. In other words, just like there needs to be concord and unity among all people, so should there be full concord between the head, the lungs and the stomach; then we can call such a man a man of strong will in whom the wise and conscious willpower unites the mind, the heart and the body. Under the word willpower, in the broader sense of the word, we understand the inner content of the human, the inner strength that must participate in the creation of forms. Every form is created so that it can be filled with certain content. In this case, the relation between the form and the content corresponds to the relation between the content and the meaning of things. “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” Jesus speaks of two opposite characters: that of the thief and that of the shepherd. The thief has three distinctive features: he steals, kills, and destroys; the shepherd has one - he gives Life, and gives it abundantly. The word life means movement; it is willpower that gives one an impulse to move and to live. When God created the original man He breathed Life into his nostrils and he became a living soul and started to move and live. The phrase abundant life means conscious and sublime Life in which one’s judicious willpower finds the correct way of expression. When he speaks of the thief who takes and the shepherd who gives Jesus takes into consideration not only the external logic of things, and not only the theory of knowledge, but also its application in practice. By living and by applying things man learns to distinguish different forms and acquires true Knowledge, for he learns to distinguish the thief from the shepherd. If you want to acquire positive Knowledge about Life you need to focus not only on the theory of Christ’s Teaching, but also on its application in life. Theory is condensed knowledge and practice is diluted knowledge; theory is condensed Wisdom and practice is a diluted one, i.e. Wisdom that has been put into practice in Life. Consequently, every theory about Life, no matter how correct, true and good it might be, remains misunderstood to a certain extent unless it is applied in practice. The logic behind things is tested in Life and through Life. For example, a young woman wants to get married and she thinks, “I will marry this young man, then I will have a few children, and I will bring them up well. I will treat my husband well, etc.” The young woman has good ideas, and her theory is correct, but her logic is wrong, for the young man whom she intends to marry is a bad apple and she cannot fix that. There are so many fathers and mothers who advise their sons and daughters about going down the right path in life, but their children just won’t listen and they end up being off track. I am not telling you this to discourage you, but to let you know that a man who is off track cannot be set right. A man that is off track is someone who has consciously distanced himself from God. These are those people who live only for themselves: they regard Life from the viewpoint of physical logic, and because of that they have distanced themselves from God and they cannot be set right. They are right for themselves because they live according to their own selfish and limited logic; however, those around them should not delude themselves to think that they can set such people right. There has not yet been a young woman to set right a man who is off track, nor has there been a young man who has set right a woman who is off track. The only being that can set right the men and women who are off track is the mother. The art and science of setting one right who is off track is the sole domain of the mother. When can a mother do that? She cannot do this after she has given birth to her child, nor while she is pregnant, but she has to do it at least a hundred years before becoming a mother. You might say, “How can she find these children and how can she raise them if she cannot see them yet?” I will clarify my thought by using the following example: when a chemist describes the properties of some colourless and invisible gaseous substance people are not very likely to believe his words because they cannot see anything. This, however, does not mean in the least that the substance does not exist. Once he knows all of its properties, the chemist takes this substance and condenses it until it turns first into a liquid and then into a solid substance; then, once it is in this new state the substance becomes visible to all people and they can believe the chemist’s words. The same holds true about the children who have not yet been born, but who can still be influenced by their mother, nevertheless. Even though invisible they still exist in the form of the thoughts and desires that have been cherished by the mother in the distant past. All the mother needs to do is condense her thoughts and desires, and turn them into liquid and solid bodies until they become real and visible to all. “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.” What can the thief steal? He can steal the most valuable thing in man, namely, man’s thoughts, feelings and desires. It is scary when a thief comes to you and steals your heart. What does a thief do when he wants to steal a man’s heart? He starts circling around this man and telling him that he is good, smart and beautiful, that there is no other like him, etc. If this man gives in to these flatteries he will lose his heart; later he will cry and he will be sorry that he has believed the words of this flatterer. There is a popular story about a rooster who found a piece of cheese and perched up on a tree to eat it in peace. A fox saw him from a distance, quickly trotted to the tree, sat down underneath it and started talking up to the rooster, saying, “You are such a beauty, my little rooster, I have never seen another one like you! And your voice is so melodious; I cannot get enough of your beautiful warble! Sing me a song, please, to fill me with happiness and joy.” Flattered by the fox’s words the rooster opened up his beak and started singing. The cheese fell down onto the ground, and the fox snatched it in its mouth and ran away; it did not even wait to listen to the rooster’s ringing song. Is this fox a friend of the rooster or is it a thief? There are many such thieves walking among people, too, but today they capture only the ones that rob the full moneybags, and not the ones who rob people’s hearts. The latter thieves are more dangerous because no one can see when and what they are stealing, and, as such, they are invisible thieves. Everywhere you go today- be it among scholars, or in the schools, in court houses, in churches- everywhere you will meet thieves who rob people but go by unnoticed. Do not look for the thief in your neighbour, but look at yourself and you will see that he is in you, too, and if you find it in yourself you should work on him to correct his ways. One should be honest with oneself and with one’s neighbours. You should correct yourselves first and then your neighbours. To do this you will need to live a pure and holy life; you will need to be a lit candle that brings everyone together. If your barn is full of wheat, then people will come to you one after another. The heart of the good man should be filled with good feelings and desires, his heart should be filled with bright and sublime thoughts, and his willpower should be applied to noble acts: this is what it means to be perfect. Nature has put a mark on specific places on the human body to show when one’s mind, heart and willpower are distorted: all these can be seen on one’s nose, mouth and chin. You may say that no one can see this. All of Heaven can see this and knows you: they know what thoughts, feelings and acts are important to you. The beings in Heaven, in the Wise world, observe you through people around you: this is what makes people look at each other from tip to toe. As soon as you meet someone you take a good look at him and think to yourself, “I want to see what God has written on this man’s chin, mouth and nose.” A man’s head is a book which recounts his whole Life. Just as you know a man by his house, so can you tell what thoughts he is preoccupied with by looking at his head, for man’s body is his house. Jesus says, “I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly.” Who may have Life? Those who want to understand it and look into its inner meaning. Man should understand Life the way it is manifested today and not the way it was manifested two thousand years ago. The present-day Jesus is what matters to us, and not that Jesus who lived two thousand years ago. Someone might call this blasphemy. I am asking you this: what apple are you more interested in - the one that you have in your hand today or the one that grew in your garden some ten, fifteen years ago? Back then it used to bear fruit that was good for that time, but what is important now is the fruit that it bears today. Jesus of the present day is more important to us because He lives among many people, whereas two thousand years ago He lived only among the Jews. Back then He let himself be crucified, but today no one can crucify Him. Jesus was strong back then, too, but He sacrificed himself willingly. He said, “I am ready to sacrifice the form and content of things for their meaning.” Because people today are already looking for the meaning of Life and understand it, Jesus says, “Now I require of people to understand the content of Life, as well as the forms through which this content is expressed.” Back then Jesus wanted to turn people’s attention to the logic that lies behind the meaning of things; today he wants to turn their attention to the logic that lies behind the content of things. In the future He will create the logic of forms. Therefore, man becomes perfect when he combines in himself the three kinds of logic: the logic of the meaning of things, the logic of the content of things and the logic of their forms. A perfect man is like a lit candle that burns with white Light, i.e. it burns without soot and smoke. Whenever I meet someone who presents himself as being spiritual, I ask him, “Is your candle burning? Is it saving your neighbours? Is it setting their minds, hearts and willpowers right? Do you have a secret room, a temple, or a sanctuary inside you?” Whenever I hear someone call his father and mother feeble-minded or foolish I already know that such a person does not have a sanctuary in his soul. A father was once complaining to me about his sons, saying that after he had them well educated they would call him a simpleton and an ignorant person. He told me, “I am a simpleton and an ignorant person, indeed, but I realized that one needs education and made sure my sons received it.” On a different occasion a mother was complaining about her daughters and about how after they finished their education and became teachers they would turn around to call her a simpleton. She said, “If I were to become a mother again in the future, I would put my daughters at the loom and I would teach them to weave so that they can appreciate what they don’t have.” It will be good for your rude sons and daughters if you could give them each a hoe and send them out digging so that they can learn the logic of content. Someone may object that I am not speaking in the spirit of the Gospel. Which Gospel are you talking about: the written one or the unwritten one? Jesus said a lot and of all that He said very little was written down. Where does the rest of the Knowledge lie hidden? Bring me those books in which Christ’s Words are recorded, and we will see which one of us is right. Jesus said a lot and presented matters in their broader sense: where is all of this? He who abides by Christ’s teaching should be the first one to be a role model by demonstrating how one can use one’s mind, heart and willpower. The one, who can work with those, is someone who has achieved something great and wherever he enters he brings the Divine blessing with him. Not having achieved anything, people argue on and on; every time they meet they ask each other, “Are you of the right faith? Do you believe in God and in His trinity?” What does the word trinity mean? This word is abstract and hard to understand. Those who argue on this topic know neither God, nor His trinity. This is why Jesus said, “No one knows Father, but the Son of Man.” Religious people stand behind religion, and scientists stand behind science and every one is trying hard to bring out something new. The new is not in the form and content of things, but is in the three kinds of logic that pertains to the forms, to the content, and to the meaning of things. It is important that man should recreate his life according to the three kinds of logic so that he can enter the true and positive Life. Once he reorganizes his life man will have overcome the external conditions of his life and then there will be no external enemies for him, as well as no external thieves and bandits. Then man will cease warring with his neighbours and with those around him, for he will know that there are no enemies and thieves more dangerous than the ones that exist within him: those are the ones that crucified Jesus. What was Jesus accused of? He was accused of wanting to become a king, and of wanting to bring about reforms. Jesus was considered a political criminal for his time, as He opposed the rules and ways of the Roman Empire. Jesus was crucified, but what was left of the Roman Empire? Did it survive? People today need to think correctly by employing all three kinds of logic so that they do not repeat the mistakes of the previous generations. Jesus says, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” Those, who recognize Jesus and have Him in them, talk constantly about all the Good that He did for humankind; they say that He atoned for humankind, and that He gave up His Life for people. Merely stating what Jesus did is not enough; you must apply His Love to your Life, you must try it out. Mere talking without any application does not do any good for man. If that was the case then the drunkard who leaves his wife, children and home, and goes from one tavern to another searching for the best wine in town, deserves more respect. How many Christians have given up their comfort, all their goods and privileges with the only goal of trying out Jesus’ Love? How many Christians have tried Jesus’ good wine? You may object that I am not speaking in a holy manner. I will repeat this to you: do try the good wine, i.e. the Teaching of Christ, and you will be able to differentiate for yourself between the two kinds of wine: the physical wine inebriates and dazes man, whereas Jesus’ wine clarifies and refreshes you. The man, who partakes of Jesus’ wine will find himself connected to Love and will love people and all living beings; he will love and be loved. Jesus says, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” This Life is already at work everywhere in the world, and among all living beings, both superior and lowly. Those, who are not in contact with Love, are still expecting the New Life to come from somewhere outside and above; they may wait forever, for this is not how the New Life will come. Where is Jesus’ Life? It is everywhere. Even if you look for it in the wheat grain or in the corn, you will be able to find It there; you will find It even in the animals if you were to look for It there. However, according to the law of similarities that states that similarities attract, every person will be able to use the kind of Life that is similar to this person, i.e. the Life that attracts him. Can two young people marry each other if they do not love each other; can a writer write a book if there isn’t some idea to inspire him? Man can attract to himself only the object that he loves. You cannot grow flowers unless you love them, for flowers have their own language that is known only to those people who love them. Do an experiment to test the validity of my words: take a pot and plant a carnation or some other flower, then start watering it, weeding it and growing it with Love. You will notice that this flower will have a wonderful aroma when it blooms. If you stop taking care of the flower it will stop giving off such a pleasant aroma. This is the flower’s way to tell you that it will return to you as much love as you give it. Old-time Bulgarians knew this law and applied it to their lives: they would cultivate their fields with Love, and they would seed and grow their wheat with Love, and that is why they would enjoy such bounty. Someone who does not know the reason for all this bounty would think that this farmer is a sorcerer; he is no sorcerer, but someone who applies Jesus’ Teaching and is ready to give up his life for his field. Consequently, the field reciprocates with the same: it produces a bountiful yield. You should do the same: invest your good thoughts and feelings into your neighbours so that they may evolve and become nobler. What do we see in the world today? The relationships among people are typically based on some interest. It is rare to meet someone who can love truly: most people love someone either for his knowledge, or for his riches, or for his status in society. If someone tells you that he loves you, ask him why he loves you; in any case, you will be able to know that he loves you either for your knowledge, for your riches or for your looks, for if you lose these qualities, his love will disappear, too. Therefore, you should love man for the essential man in him, who is but a ray radiating out of God. If you find the real man, you will be able to love him regardless of his external qualities: he will be your brother and your sister. The world will become a better place when people start loving each other like that. And then the verse that says, “I have come that they may have life” takes on a new meaning: Jesus came to give Life to the poor, to the suffering and to the wronged, because they have the right conditions to manifest the essential man. God says, “I will remove from them their heart of stone and I will give them a new heart, in which I will write My law, and they will know Me.” Today the new heart is being made: God is collecting the blood from the battlefields and is using it to write down His law into the New heart. What does this war today represent? It is judgment day for mankind; in other words, today all people are being judged, but not in Heaven like they expected, but on Earth. Some religious people think that man lives on Earth for a certain time, after which he dies and goes up to Heaven, where he stands before God’s court to be judged. Man’s judgment is on Earth and so there is no need for him to come out of his grave where he has been locked up and to go to God for judgment. Man is locked up in his body, i.e. even while on Earth he is already in prison and will be judged here. What should a man do to improve his Life? He should open up the windows of his house, i.e. his consciousness needs to be awakened. If his windows are narrow, he should widen them, for man needs more Light. In other words, broaden your thinking, and open up your mind to let more Light in. People today have many ideas, beliefs and convictions, but they need to broaden those by putting on big, wide windows. Big windows can let in both a lot of light and very little light, whereas narrow windows only let in little light; big ideas encompass small ideas, but small ideas exclude big ideas, for there is no room for those. It is time now to widely open up the windows of all churches, schools, homes, and courthouses. It is time now to set correct and truthful relations between the human soul and God, between priests and their congregations, between teachers and their students, between men and women. It is time now to let more Light into everybody’s minds and hearts, just like Light is emanating from their souls, illuminating them. I wish you that you may open up the Bible and the Gospel of your mind and your heart and that you may start reading in them everything that God wrote thousands of ages ago. Jesus says, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.” What does this thief want to steal? He wants to steal your candle. Once he has stolen it you will be left in darkness, but one cannot read in darkness. There are many who live in darkness, saying, “This is how it was meant to be; there is nothing we can do about it, so we will have to resign ourselves to the way it is.” This is the way Turks understand things; they say, “Put seven layers on top of it, and seven layers on the bottom and do not even think about it, for this is how God has made it.” This is incorrect logic; one should not think that way. God did not create the wolves, the bears, the foxes and the bad people: He created the good and reasoning people. Do not think that everything which exists was made by God: God allowed for the existence of evil, but He did not create it. When you meet someone who wants to be close with you, first ask yourself what kind of people he belongs to: the ones whom God made of soil, or the ones whom He made after Himself. Present-day people were made of soil: their culture is the culture of soil, and of mud. God took some soil and made man out of it, breathed into him and he turned into a living soul. God put Life into man, so that he can live and learn, and understand that Life has a deeper meaning than what he can imagine. By talking about the thief Jesus wants to protect humankind from him, for everyone can look at oneself and realize that evil is in himself, and in his distorted views. Therefore, if you want people to be cultured, and if you want to be cultured yourself, you need to apply Christ’s Teaching, the Teaching of Love. If you have a child that is stubborn and willful, you should try an experiment on him: apply the method of Love with this child. Start loving this child and don’t ever think of his negative features; instead, try to think that this child is good and reasonable and you will see that after a while your child will improve. A story has it that one day Archangel Gabriel noticed that every morning God smiled down to someone and talked to this one softly and lovingly. Gabriel was intrigued by God’s behaviour: he wanted to see the soul towards which God would pour so much gentleness and Love. He set out on a journey around the world to look for this soul. During his journey Gabriel visited many scientists, preachers, and priests, but could not find this soul anywhere. Then he went back up to Heaven to look for this soul from up there. As he still could not find it, he finally went back down to Earth one more time, determined to go to all the remote places around the world. One day he found himself at a primitive shrine where he saw an idol worshipper- a simple and wild man- who was bowing before his idol, and was talking to it. It was here that Gabriel found God who was smiling at the idol worshipper and was talking softly to him. At this moment Archangel Gabriel realized that the form of his logic was wrong. He thought that God could only be smiling to some scientist, or to some spiritual or holy person, and he didn’t even think that God could be smiling to someone who was so simple that he did not have a true idea about God. There is a Bulgarian proverb, which states, “God looks not at your face, but at your heart.” Religious people today, who belong to various churches[A1] (Eastern Orthodox, Evangelical, Catholic, Buddhist), consider themselves to be of the true faith. It does not even occur to them that there are people outside of their churches[A2] , to whom God speaks softly and lovingly. Why? Because those people’s thoughts and feelings are right, and their soul aspires towards God. Man’s situation is defined by his soul’s aspirations, for it is the aspirations that determine the way God will look at this man. If God looks benevolently on people, they will be saved. God will talk softly and lovingly to that person, who has the right aspirations. Now I wish that all Bulgarians may have the aspirations of that idol worshipper at the primitive shrine, so that God may speak to them softly and with Love. You might say that the idol worshipper had wrong concepts; his concepts might be wrong, but his aspirations are right. Rejoice if your concepts are wrong and you have delusions, because God has decided to be soft with and benevolent to all who are weak, lame, mute, suffering, wronged, lost and so on. God is God of the orphans, of the poor, of the widows, of the suffering, and not God of the rich, the full-bellied, and the dignitaries. Once God used to be God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, but now he is God of the poor, of the suffering, and of the widows. God says, “My servants did not do their work on Earth properly. Now I am going down to Earth Myself to finish My work: to make this world a better place.” This world will become a better place, because God is already working in it. He is coming down to Earth to give Life to everyone, so that they will accept and apply His teaching, and so that they may do that not for their own sake, but for the sake of all humankind. Some may say that they are poor, lame, blind: do not be afraid, for God is coming for your sake. Is God not coming for the sake of the rich, as well? He is not coming for their sake, because they do not need Him. He will turn to all lame, crippled, and blind, saying, “Work as hard as you can, all of you, so that you may learn My teaching, and so that you may become healthy, strong and rich. My Teaching is like a laden table, full of tasty dishes.” Partake of all of God’s blessings, be merry and rejoice! I wish you all to open your ears, to listen, and to apply God’s Word. Those, who have not done their work well, need to finish it. When they turn to God, then God will teach them how to live and how to understand His words. The judgment of the world is upon us: God is coming down to Earth to judge people and to give everyone their worth. If someone has lost an eye, God will order a new eye to be put in; if someone has lost a leg, God will order a new leg to be put on; if someone has lost an arm, God will order a new, healthy arm to be put on. A judge’s verdict can be fair and well-deserved, but God’s verdict is even more just and reasonable. God will satisfy all and will provide them with conditions to evolve correctly in their mind, in their heart and in their soul. You should aspire for this God. Many ask where God is, and not being able to find Him, they ask for proof that He exists. No matter what proof you receive, you will find yourself in a ridiculous situation, for it will be like lighting a candle in broad daylight when the Sun is shining, and then pointing the candle towards the Sun, saying, “There, you can see the Sun.” It is ridiculous to have to prove to someone that God exists. If someone wants me to convince him I will take him by the hand and I will tell him, “Come with me, open your eyes and look, open your ears and listen!” Your aspirations and your rightful concepts, your Life, and your movement are all due to God. He is the One speaking in you, and moving you, and so then, look for Him inside you, not outside of you. He says, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” Therefore, look for the One who gives Life, and not for the one who comes to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I wish you all to go deeply into yourself and to turn to God, Who is in you; I wish you to be able to understand Him, and to know Him. It is only then that you will understand to differentiate between the logic of form, of content and of meaning. Jesus pointed out to you the logic of meaning; now you are to study the logic of content, and in the future, you will study the logic of forms. Today you will interpret things according to their content, and in the future according to their forms. May 6, 1917 Sofia __________________________________ [A1]Churches are only of the Christian faith, as you have Buddhist here you should write [various religions] [A2]Same as above [religion or faith]

What God Has Joined Together “What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.” Mark: 10:9 Let’s go back to what God has joined together. I take these words in a very broad sense, i.e. the way Christ understood them to mean. They cover the entire human life in all of its manifestations. “What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.” This putting asunder is the source of all suffering in life. There is no need to argue about this statement; anybody can verify it from experience. When you are put asunder from your husband, from your soul, from your brothers or sisters, friends, from your house, from your fatherland, you feel sad. Why so? The word fatherland has a meaning a bit different from the meaning people usually understand. Fatherland is usually taken to mean home, family, but what family is on the earth, in Heaven it is fatherland, a Divine home. Contemporary people understand putting asunder to mean parting only between a man and a woman, i.e. what they call separating. Putting asunder is supposed to mean separating of any thought and desire from your mind and heart. When you separate a good thought from your mind or a good desire from your heart, you commit a crime. “Do not throw away what God has joined together!” The exercises1 that I gave you last month are connected with this great law. In the first sentence you say, „Let my Sun rise in my soul like this.“ Why? Just like the Sun in the physical world is the cause for the growth in Nature, just like it, rising above the horizon, refreshes Nature, similarly there is a Sun within human beings, which rises and refreshes them. When the rays of the natural Sun shine in the desert, they warm only the sand and if you travel bare-foot in the sand, it will scorch you. If its rays fall upon soil rich in seeds, they bring good, they develop these seeds, and create life, and if you travel through such a place, you feel fine. If your Sun rises under the same law, you will experience it and you will see that everything said here is very true. If you have put asunder what God has joined, your Sun will rise the way it rises in the desert and there will be hot and cold currents. Have you seen how people take their clothes off in summer, they are out of breath, they feel hot; this hotness is due to the fact that that there is insufficient vegetation. Why should your Sun rise? To make everything good within you grow. Now, you will add the following to the first sentence of the exercise, “Let my Sun rise in my soul like this and renovate my heart.” You will also add some new words to the sentences in the persons, (in the second person singular), “You can! – Let God’s Sun rise in me like this and renovate my soul. (in the third person singular), “He/she can! – Let the Sun of my spirit rise like this and renovate my mind. (in the first person plural), “We can! – Let the Sun of our Angels rise like this and renovate our hearts. (in the second person plural), “You can! – Let the Sun of the Great Lord of Peace rise like this and renovate our souls. (in the third person plural), “They can! – Let the Sun of all Suns rise in our spirits like this and renovate our minds. The work on the renovation of the heart, soul and mind will take a whole month. This is the meaning of the line, “What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.” This is the law, to which you now return, to put your heart, soul and mind in agreement. Anybody who has put asunder what God has joined has lost this harmony. There are many women, whose husbands died, but some of them are alive, though people consider them dead and vice versa, there are dead women, who are alive. So, according to my understanding a certain woman may be alive, but she might have been dead for a long time staying at home, just like some abandoned skeleton in the zoos or like a stuffed bird in a museum. The Turks have a saying for similar cases “For the show”.2 This is my understanding of Apostle Paul’s epistle saying, “Do not accept a widow below sixty years of age.” Number six is the number of Love. Paul shows that such a person is not ready to work yet. Therefore, young widows have to get married, and bring up children. This is a great law. The word marriage means Life. Contemporary people do not understand Life, since they do not understand the spiritual meaning of things. You have a child who does not eat; the mother believes that the child is sick and she worries. But what will you say about a child who has stopped singing? What about a child who has stopped praying? A person, who has stopped eating, singing and praying, is a sick person. Eating refers to the body, singing – to the heart, praying – to the mind. Some philosophers say that a person should not pray. I tell them, “Some germs have entered your mind, and therefore you are sick.” Certainly, you have to try experimenting. You are now in a School. I do not tell you to throw everything out when you go back home. I do not teach you to throw everything out, but to put it to use. When contemporary people have cloths, they collect them and make rugs3 out of them. You have a fertiliser – fertilise your field then. So, make it your task to go back to the words of, “What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.” What does this joining together imply? The joining of the Sun with human beings is conditioned by five senses. We may be joined together with the Sun through our eyes. If we damage our eyes, we shall be deprived of this good. If we damage our sense of smell, we shall not get in touch with the aroma of fruit, which is created by the Sun. If our taste is damaged, we shall not understand this internal good, which is contained within the fruit. We have to keep our eyes clean. How are the eyes damaged? When a woman loses her husband, she starts crying for him and keeps crying for him, and her eyes fail. Why should she cry? Previously she did not want this very same man, and now she cries for him. According to me, in this respect crying is not natural. Crying should imply certain softening of the heart. Any crying, which does not bring about softening, is no good. I will give you the following example to clarify my point: a thief was sentenced, for stealing twenty-five leva4, to a three-year stay in prison. The barrister who defended the thief said, "He did not steal intentionally; if he were a thief, there would have been ten thousand leva at the same place, which he would have taken as well." On hearing this, the thief started crying. "Why are you crying?", the judges asked. "Because I could not take the ten thousand leva." Many people now cry not because they have stolen twenty-five leva, but because they have not noticed the ten thousand leva, they failed to take it. It is often the case when some people cry and say, „I’m sorry for not having this or that.“ I say you are sorry for not taking the ten thousand leva. Knowledge is necessary inasmuch as it could be useful to you. The numerous hypotheses and philosophical theories are necessary inasmuch as they represent exercise for the mind, but Life needs the essential stuff, because it always imparts health, Peace, and a special internal Joy. So you have to think along analogous lines: just like the Sun generates springs, forests, mountains and all the goods on earth, just like this your Sun, when it rises in your heart, will create all the goods according to the same law. You shall only have to work sensibly. You are the masters of your lives and there is no force that can counteract you, because God, who had joined these things together, takes care to maintain this equilibrium. Any thought, regardless whether it is good or bad, which is generated within you, triggers a big struggle. Two sensible forces struggle simultaneously within you; both of them tell you how you should act. Sensible Life is necessary for you, not to society. Society is a condition for individuals. Christ says that it is not the individual who is made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath is made for the individual. One should not become a slave to society. Society is the medium for the development of individual souls. The collective societies are units put together. You ask why God created the world. He created it for your soul. But you say, “Society and the world need to improve!” If all people are healthy, if they sing and eat, while you are not well, what benefit will this world be to you? What is the use of there being many angels and saints? The world will improve when you improve. When I speak of society, I mean the internal human being. You should never say, “What can I do?” How did the world start deteriorating in the first place? Everything has come from the people, from individuals. Some Parisian woman fancied wearing a wig and in time you see all the others following her example. A certain woman had a whim to make a tight-fitting dress – all the others start wearing tight dresses; or some woman decided to wear a loose gown – all the rest imitate her. A man felt like having trousers with broad turn-ups – this becomes fashionable and everybody starts following his example. One is an example to many. Do not think that whatever you do in this world has no implications. Implications there are – for you and for the others. Therefore Christ says, “Fear not, your Father has the good will to give you His Kingdom.” In order to be strong, you have to restore this togetherness within you. You have to renovate this disharmony, which exists in you, because there are many thoughts in you which trouble you, there are many contradictions. Say for example, you ask me what your future will be like. Sometimes I tell you, “I can tell you nothing.” Why? Because I see that the future is very bad for that person. A monk was very pious and made five hundred bows each time. Another monk, on seeing him, recognised that he was very pious. The first one wondered how the other could know, but did not think that, because due to all the bowing he did, his fingers got corns. Similarly, everybody has one’s own corns and these corns make it obvious what you do. Christ says, “You, women, have to go back to your initial situation!” To which situation? To the situation when you fed on the fruit of the Tree of Life. There comes a bitter thought, a bitter desire – this is from the Tree of knowledge of the Good and Evil. Whatever thought comes to your mind, reject it immediately and replace it with a good one! You hate somebody. Do not attempt to remove this person or to avoid him or her, but find somebody else whom to love. Secular people understand this law better. For example, when a man does not love his wife, he finds another woman, whom to love. The same law is at work with secular women: she does not love her husband – she loves somebody else. This reaction cannot be avoided in the world. Do not think that you act in a different way. You may say that this is not the case with you. Such is the law. In order to evade it, you will always apply the opposite. You may say this teaching is wrong. If it is wrong, there is no point talking about it. Put the right up in front, and the wrong will remain as its shadow. Out of all of this, you may learn how to rectify your husband’s mood and how to rectify your own mood. However, what is it that you do? You appeal to God and pray, “God, take this man, or take me, so that I can be free from him!” But you do not know that you will not be free then either, because if he departs, it will be even worse for you. There are many examples from spiritualism confirming this. As an example a man who did not get on well with his wife, freed himself from her and then married another one. But his first wife, although dead, managed to drive the second one away. When someone says, that they cannot live with their husbands or wives, this means that there are some dead men or women who are in the way. The dead men and women have a great influence and that is why Christ says, “What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.” When a human being enters this Divine harmony, all the discontentment with life will fade, because now people are not in their proper places. And now I meet men and women who are suspicious. For example somebody is said not to be sincere. If that person is not sincere, how can this be counteracted? I have collected many pictures, all from characters without any joining together, without any music. In the second person singular of the verb can, you pronounce “You can! – Let God’s Sun rise within me like this and renovate my soul.” The soul in this particular context shall be understood to mean the boundary of your world, what is shaped internally within you, all the potential hidden in you; because the Sun is inside you and only this Divine Sun is in a position to renovate this big and large soul. You sometimes think that you are very small, or you wonder what you are like. You have never seen how large your soul is. Each one of you has three faces. Let’s take a woman called Mary for example: there is one Mary at the physical level, there is another one among the angels and one more in the Divine world. The three of these Mary's are connected, but when you talk to me about any of them I ask you which one of the three you are talking about. True Love consists in loving the three Mary's. There comes a man and loves only one of the Mary's; you say, „You can’t do this. You have to love all three of them!“ The wife, on her turn, loves only one of her husband’s faces – the one at the physical level. Such women or men are said to be heartless. Mary’s heart is among the angels. This implies knowing the soul of the person! And then you will start looking upon people in a bit different way. By knowing the person on the physical level, by getting to know the person among the angels and by getting to know the person who is in the Divine world, you will then understand what a great creature the human being is! When you say, „I can, you can, he can, she can“, these are your three persons: you, i.e. I, you and he or she – I, the one who is here; you, the one among angels; and he or she, who is with God. Human beings and the angles make a couple, while God shows the direction where the angels should aim. This is how a triangle is formed – this is the first geometrical figure. When we get to the plural of the verb can, we say, „we can, you can, they can“. When we say „we can“ this means that we, all of the people, all the human beings on the Earth, can. „You can“, means you, the Angels above. „They can“, means all Gods who are up there. If this is the way you understand this profound thought, these supreme feelings will start awaking within you immediately, they will start growing naturally and then everybody around you will be predisposed and will love you. No one can love you, if you, too, do not love. In order for the flower to blossom, the Sun must rise. When your Sun rises, your soul will inevitably blossom. It is when the Sun of your spirit rises, then your mind will also blossom. This is the contemporary philosophy: to peel away all of these shells! You may say, „This is a very difficult philosophy, we have so many shells!“ Take a nut, take the shell off and only then you can see how big it is. Some people are very big, but take away their wrappings and you will see how big they are. You have to stick to a teaching that has contents within. You are tense and you say, „What new ideas could he tell us?“ Do not think of what new ideas will be told to you, but rather think how you can apply this Teaching to yourselves. A cart driver, on passing by a tree, thinks to himself, „What a nice axis for my wheels this tree will make!“ A wood-chopper, on passing by this tree, thinks to himself, „What a nice beam I can make out of this tree!“ A miller on passing by a spring thinks to himself, „What nice water for my mill!“ Similarly you also, on passing by a tree or by a spring, think of what you can use it for! Those of you who experimented last month, have you noticed any results? Do you have an appetite? The harmony between eating, singing and praying is the first thing to be restored in you. Avoid self-judgements. If you believe there is a mistake within you, correct it, do not judge, but correct yourselves! If you believe you made a mistake and if you do not correct it, this is not the right approach. Watch the colour of the Sun in the morning. When the colour is intensive red and this makes an impression upon you, this means that you are very blasé about life. If, at sunrise, you notice a cloud, this shows that there is a cloud across your Sun and therefore you should try to remove it. Let’s say you are not predisposed, you do not love somebody – you have such a dark cloud upon your Sun. The Lord can see it and He says, „There is a dark cloud across Mary’s Sun“. Try to derive pleasant feelings from things around, a sort of childish disposition; do not think that you have lived long enough, that you have suffered long enough. An ox, who has carried many loads and was whipped 50 times everyday, what does such an ox know? He only knows the law of whips. If an ox has worked well for twenty years and his master has stroked the ox on the back, what does he know? He only knows to be stroked and nothing more than this. How many times will you see dark clouds across the Sun, nevertheless each day it will bring you a blessing, new thoughts, and new desires. This Sun is certainly just an object of the Suns rising within you - the Sun of your heart, of your soul, and of your mind. Some may ask you what these Suns are. This you will keep to yourselves. You will make an experiment and when you see the results, only then will you tell others as well. If you do not see for yourselves, at the slightest failure, you will think that none of this is true. Make a small progress, but in your small success, you should be confident! I shall now give you some additional sentences to the prayer I had given you: I believe in You Lord, Who spoke to me in the past.5 You have imparted in me all the good seeds for my life. I believe in You, Lord, Who speaks to me now. You grow the good within me. I believe in You, Lord, Who will speak to me in the future. I will rejoice in Your Life. The word Your (Твой6) is meaningful. It implies a union of these three principles. In the letter T the vertical line stands for the man, while the horizontal one stands for the woman. These aim at a union or there is an aspiration between the active and the passive conditions, between the two great Forces at work in the world. And the letter в embodies the unification principle, the working method. We should be glad the way work is done in this world. Keep saying, „I will rejoice in what You prepare!“ You may say that you are like that person who believes only when given money. When I give somebody money, there is no need for such a person to believe, as it is already a fait accompli. Many times you ask, „What will my future life be like?“ The way you get up in the morning and say „I will do this, I will do that“, the same way your future life will be too. You say, „I will smash this person!“ You will also be smashed in the future. When you say that you will do a favour to someone, this means that you will be given favours in the future. You have to be good and cheerful, because the greatest secrets are revealed to you through suffering. Secular people are cheerful and enjoy life, while spiritual people impart a sort of seriousness and thus it appears that they impose serious rules in their lives. A spiritual person should be understood to mean anybody who is conscious of one’s life. I shall give you an example of a really spiritual person: a master-mason was giving instructions to his apprentices on how to lift a big stone on top of the house, but while he was showing them, the stone fell upon his hand and tore one of his fingers away. He turned to God and said, „Thank you, God, for not tearing the whole hand!“ Anyone who has similar views on life is spiritual. Contemporary women should create a great atmosphere; they should all help one another. All of you should try to be predisposed internally and to be pleased with the little you have. I have heard a woman saying about another one, „She did not welcome me properly.“ How could she welcome you properly when her husband had beaten her and she had some problems with her son? This is why spiritual people should have good thoughts about other people. By saying that somebody is good, we will really make that person better. You will study the law of rejuvenation. This is the resurrection. You should not say, „We have grown old“, on the contrary, you should say, „We are young, there is a lot of work to do from now on!“ You should not say, „I will die“, on the contrary, you should say, „I decided to make a new house!“ Say, you have lost your money, you will say, „I gave it to the bank“. Interpret things the right way. One day, Christ’s disciples, when passing along a dead dog, said, „What a bad smell!“, while Christ said, „What nice white teeth it has!“ Beware of this, do not say that something smells bad, but wash your hands. Washing your hands implies being righteous. This is the only way the world will become righteous. But it takes long years before you get to know the manifestations of people. Master’s lecture, delivered on 3 may 1917 1 The exercises are given in the Righteousness and Salvation lecture dated 5 April 1917 (editor’s notes) 2 „For the show“ is taken to mean „to expose“. It usually has a negative reproachful connotation. 3 In the original shorthand notes there is the word books standing for rugs. 4 Leva – this is the Bulgarian national currency 5 In the shorthand notes there is no „me“. 6 The Bulgarian for Your is Твой Sofia, April 22, 1917 Source

Pure-hearted "Blessed are the pure-hearted, for they shall see God." (Matthew, Chapter 5, Verse 8) Before I start my talk, I will make some small remarks. Many people ask me, "Why should there be a prayer and singing in a talk?" There are three very important elements in the basic teaching of life. These elements have been made by humanity itself, not from now, but from thousands of years ago. For thousands of years, people have been praying and singing, so that in order for any work to be done successfully, there should be singing, whatever it is expressed in. Singing in itself never does evil of whatever nature. For the good man, all songs are good, they all have content. Therefore, I place eating, singing and praying as the three main elements in human life. In order for any physical work to be done, eating is needed followed by resting and consequently, working after that again. When it comes to science and religion, here singing is also needed, it is the nourishment of the soul. We will sing, rest, and start new work again. When we pray, it is singing but modern people have a vague concept about the prayer. When the humankind learns this art of praying, then we will see the kingdom of God on Earth. These remarks I am making are not an innovation, but this is one Divine law we are going through. I would recommend everyone when eating to pray, if your work in the world is not going well, sing and it will go better. Today's talk will be on the topic, "Blessed are the pure-hearted, because they will see God." What did Christ mean by the word "pure-hearted"? Christ showed the nine elements or the nine methods by which human life can be elevated. I will speak about purity, what role it plays in life, and I will treat this matter freely, not as it has been considered before, but will make some deviations. You may disagree with me or you may agree, but you need to have a reason for both opinions, because you need to have a deep understanding of every important issue in your life. Only then will you have a positive science through which you can build your future life, because the present life is an expression of our past life. All happiness and misfortune are due to our past actions, and if we want to change our future life, we must understand these fundamental laws that govern the human will, strength, thought, feelings and consciousness. Our understanding does not have to be such, to think that we know everyone has such knowledge, but we need some positive knowledge to change our lives. If you could understand this deep, central law of the pure-hearted, the future culture will depend on it, the health state of the future families will depend on it, the health state of mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters as well as of the whole society will depend on it. What doctors call “a hygiene of the soul” will depend on this law. What is a hygiene? The law of knowledge of purity. For example, all infectious diseases originate from impurity. Therefore, there are microbes in the spiritual life too as there are microbes of the typhus plague, cholera and other microbes in the physical life. There are around 17,000 species of microbes and some scientists go further by alleging that the corrosion of iron is due to special bacilli, microbes. So, iron is also eaten by bacilli. Because these bacilli are alive, they also want to exist as you and I do. This is what the modern people call a race or a struggle for life, with some even expressing themselves in the following formula: “In the struggle for life, man for man is a wolf.” These statements are 50 % true. Life is not only a struggle but work too for there is a struggle only on the square where wrestlers fight. Life is work too because the humankind gets elevated with it. When we do not understand life, work turns into labour and as we go downwards labour turns into torment. Christ says: "Blessed are the pure-hearted, for they shall see God." Purity is a state of matter, a natural and rectilinear state. When the matter has this state, this force as there is a barrier, a medium between the spiritual and physical planes and in order for this purity, this force to pass from one state to another from one world to another, it has to adjust according to the laws of this world, the energy has to be transformed. This transformation depends on the purity through which this force, this thermal energy will pass. Take, for example, how the sun’s rays are transformed. The strength and beneficence of these rays depend on the purity of the atmosphere. Sometimes you think that the atmosphere is pure but if you look at it through a microscope you will see millions and billions of impurities in it, which need to be washed away by the rain in order for the beneficial effects of the sun rays to work on us. Do you know that when people live a vicious life, particular compounds come out of them that form a layer in the atmosphere with which they stop the development of life that comes from above, and epidemic diseases arise. For example, various illnesses come to life during and after war. People throw the bad thoughts they have into space and thus they create unfavourable environment that affects adversely not only the organism but also the soul of man, creating various mental illnesses. Christ says: „Bless are the pure-hearted because they shall see God!“ What is meant by the words “heart” and “God”? Christ understands by the word “heart” that inner medium in man in the form of a physical ether that is the conduit of the higher forces in the spiritual world. So that when the central part of the human heart is pure, these people will see God. What is understood by the word “God”? Christ means by the word “God” all sensible possibilities, which are hidden in these forces and which as they pass through this medium, man, seeing God, becomes blissful, happy and healthy. When Christ says that a man can see God, He does not envisage seeing God in a given form, but understands a given good that has to come into us and ascend us mentally and spiritually. Each of us has to work out this inner process of purification for himself. The word” purity” implies impurity. We are not responsible for the impurity that can accumulate in us for when a man takes food, a part of it turns into juices and blood while the other part that could not be assimilated comes out. Nature has taken care for this unprocessed food by taking it out in various ways. There are two ways of getting rid of our impurities: a way of dilution and a way of thickening. I will explain to you how this thought is positioned in my mind. For example, you have muddy water but in order to purify it, you have to take it through sandy layers in order to seep and get it filtered. As it goes through these layers, the impurities, the murkiness remain in the sandy layers, while the water is clarified, purified and after passing through these layers, it emerges as a pure spring. Therefore, the sand is a condition for purification. For man, society is a condition for filtration. When you get filtered, you must not stay in these layers but have to go outside. Another way for purification is evaporation. For example, in order for muddy water to get purified, it can be left on the sun’s rays, due to the action of the sun’s rays the water evaporates and elevates in the form of vapours upwards where it gets condensed again and in the form of water droplets it comes again to the earth while the impurities remain on the earth. You have to also pass through these two ways of purification. Sometimes, you will find yourself in the most unfavourable conditions when misfortunes come to you for example. And the misfortunes are a process of filtration. You lose your house, wealth, health, wife, children, friends, it is all a process of filtration, sinking downwards. You cannot understand what the meaning of filtration is, but you have to know that you need to come out pure and transparent in the world. When a tired passenger arrives to a purified spring and satisfies his thirst, then he will understand why one has to get filtered. Every man is a spring in his life be he a man, a woman, a priest, a teacher and others. And we have to drink from these springs. For example, someone says: “People do not love me, this and the other one does not love me. “ I interpret these words in the following way: You would like to drink from my spring, whose water is murky , I have not gone through filtration therefore you will wait a day, two, three and more until I get filtered and when I pass through a mountain, I will then give you all my love.” Everyone will leave the world, evaporate and go to these layers through which they could purify themselves. When a man is dying, this is also a filtration. He elevates to a certain position and following the same law of condensation, he comes again like a newly born child and the mother will drink from his spring. This child may once have been her beloved but when he is purified, he comes as her child. As you listen to me, you will say to yourselves: Could this be? Yes, this is what always happens but only the ignorant people who do not understand this law could not believe it. In this sense, many animals understand life much better than we do. For example, birds wash themselves, smoothen their feathers, clean themselves. You will say “they are playing”. They are studying the first art, they are cleaning their feathers. Watch the cat when it passes through a dirty place, it cleans its legs in order to enter the house of its master. You will say: “well she is a cat”. Yes, but she is smarter than people. When you enter the Divine temple, do you go inside with clean feet? You have to enter like a cat. How many priests, holly men, teachers, judges enter with their unclean feet into their house, into God’s temple and afterwards say: The plague has come to us”. There is no plague but there is filth in this house. Therefore, a hygiene is necessary not only for the healthy condition of our body but also for the soul. All my respect for doctors who pay attention to the hygiene of the body, but they have to go a step further and pay attention to the hygiene of the heart. For example, all women and men go to a public bath, sometimes once a month other twice and others three times and more but how many of them go to a spiritual bath? You will say: is there a spiritual bath? Yes, there is, there is a spiritual bath as well as showers in the spiritual world. Some of you when they go to a bath, act like this: they go into the water, get hot and from there they go to the cold showers. There is no bigger recklessness, no greater error than this. When the iron heats up and then suddenly cools down it hardens. If you want to catch a rheumatism, if you wish your mind, heart and soul to get hardened take such showers. After such disorders, no doctor could help you and various illnesses will start coming to you. Nature says: Never make asperities, gradually go from one state to another. This state of going straight from warm to cold and vice versa is a state of the gods alone, not of men. Only God, who stands on high, can descend from high to low; only the eagle that has learned the art of flying can do that. However, he who has no wings, who has no knowledge, should not engage in such things, because he will break his head. Sometimes, you wish to go on an airplane, but you are not capable of controlling it and will fall. This is like a man who suddenly wants to love the whole world and takes a cold shower but afterwards tries the opposite result of hardening his soul. What would the opposite result be expressed in? Dissatisfaction and meaninglessness in life. You will resemble that rich American whose father left him BGN 100 000. He ate, drunk, tried all the pleasures and at the end he contracted the illness hypochondria. He wanted to commit a suicide but did not have the valour of this Englishman whom he met with in Venice when he was travelling through Italy. This Englishman noticed one night an Italian count who took a revolver, put it in his mouth, took it out and put it again. The Englishman asks him: What do you want to do?”- I was rich but now I am impoverished so I want to commit a suicide. The Englishman took out money and paid his debts and committed a suicide instead of the count. However, this hypochondriac American was not so valiant. When I talk about suicide, I envisage the killing of the bad habits in yourself while many people do not have the courage to get rid of them. You like to steal, drop the bullet on this habit of yours, kill the man of theft in yourself. You love to corrupt, drop this bullet on the man of depravity who lives in you, kill this vice, let it die and you live free from it. What benefit is there from this depraved man in you? A pervert, thief, this is a fleshless corpse, dead ox, dead dog, dead lion, which can spread the infection without bringing any benefit. This ill American began to visit all the doctors to ask for their advice. He spent and spent money but could not find the cure because the modern medicine is not familiar with ways of treating such illnesses. Finally, he goes to New York to a famous doctor and asks for his help. “I will help you, but I will make a condition with you that no matter what methods I use for your treatment, you will not protest." "I am ready to abide by this contract," replied the patient. “First, you will pay BGN 25,000 for the first examination. He gives the money. The doctor took him for treatment and said to his assistants: "Perform surgery on this patient by cutting off his right leg below the knee." They cut off his leg and when he wakes up, he sees himself without a leg. With this, his hypochondria disappears and he starts thinking: How happy I was before, I could go to balls, ride a horse, etc” He could hardly wait for the doctor to arrive and meets him by pouring out all the epithets, which the modern culture provides. The doctor tells him: “You are now very nervous, calm down while after two weeks I will come to see you”. In the meantime, the ill man starts crying and asks to either be cured or killed as this is not life. The doctor tells him: “I will make you a very nice leg that you will live with very well in the future and which you will pay BGN 25,000 more for”. After that, this American calmed down, all hypochondria disappeared, and he lived happily ever after. He learnt with this to know what purity is. And now in the battlefields, God cuts legs, hands, takes the eyes out, cuts noses in order to create a culture in the future, a culture of love but not this love which is understood now but love, which will expand our soul, that will make people close to one another and will provide an opportunity to every soul to develop as necessary. God will apply His Divine plan. What is this Divine Plan? We are destined to have such a purity as that of the angels. What is an angel? A being who knows how to fulfil God’s will, a being who you could not be bribed with any goods. This higher spirit, this angel will come to some poor people, s/he will fulfil her/his mission and will return to God again, while are the present people ready to serve God? No, they are not. Why? Because they are not pure in their soul. This is why Christ says: Blessed are the pure-hearted, because they shall see God.” If people are pure, the Divine spirit will pass by them and they will see Him. If we do not see God, how will we recognise Him? Many times, we are very interesting when we want to see God. Everyone can see God if not more then at least three times in their lives, but purity is required for this. Have you lived in purity for at least 10 years in your life? However, you will say: Fine if we live in a society of noble people but when we are with such sinners, what purity could there exist?” If this is true, this means you are sinners too because you are people living amongst sinners and so you are. What is sin? Sin shows that we are poor. You will say: Why did God allow sin?” Because He is strong. If He was a coward like us, he would not have allowed sin. When we are helpless of putting the world in order, God will descend from above and will put it in order in 100 years’ time at the most. This is one Divine day. You will say: “Well, 100 years is so long!” The more or less and the length and shortness, are mental and relative things. The minute could seem very long while the year very short, depending on many circumstances. Imagine that you are convicted of being beheaded in a year time. This year will appear a very short time to you. When you expect a darling one to come, even 5 minutes seem like long hours. Therefore, the concept of time is relative in our consciousness and depends on the intensity of our perceptions. When we talk about the Divine laws, we have only one subjective perception and in order to understand the order of things, we have to enter into living in all people at once. In order to understand what people are, we have to enter both the highest and lowest strata, and only then will we have a knowledge about humankind. Chris says : In order to be able to enter mankind, to have the correct perceptions you have to necessarily be pure because only the pure person when he comes down, will have immunity, he will not be infected by any diseases.“ This is what the occult people say too. When a man is pure in mind and heart, no force can affect him and therefore, the strength of your will, heart and mind will be determined by this inner physical, spiritual and Divine purity that you have. What I am saying to you could be checked, I am not just talking in theory. You will ask: How can it be checked?”–Very easy. For example, the one who will relocate a plant, asks how to do that and learns. He takes a small bud, a twig from a nice tree and places it under the skin of a plain one. However, it must be known replanting does not happen at all times but only when there are juices. These juices are called” sap”. After you put this bud under the skin of this plant, this new branch will acquire new life. This is how, by following the same law, every good thought will live in you. With this re-planting, with this splitting, there will be pain, but you cannot do without it. There are always two types of suffering in the process of purification: Ennoblement takes place in some types of suffering, while in others - resentment and fierceness. The second type is when we go down in life, where we become fierce and rough, when we want to destroy the world and all criminals were born in this way of re-planting, because they do not understand the law, they have stopped themselves in one direction, while they should have gone to the bottom. This is the case with that passenger who travelled at night-time through an abyss and fell down there. He managed to catch a branch and so he stayed attached to the branch for 7 hours, during which time he spent stayed like this on the branch for 7 whole hours during which time he has gone through the most horrifying state. He started to shout, cry and said: My life is over, there is a huge chasm beneath me.” What was his astonishment, however, when in the morning he saw that beneath him the chasm he had imagined was only 15 cm. Therefore, if you have fallen down, if you are a sinner, go down to the bottom. I call the fallen, sinned people those ones who go down- heroes. I call heroes also those ones who go upwards. The former are heroes of falling down, while the others- heroes of ascending. The former are heroes of falling down because when they fall, they have the brevity to ascend, while those ones who ascend are heroes of the ascension because they have the courage to descend. Do you understand this deep philosophy of life? Some say: I don’t want to either ascend or descend.” This is a materialistic perception. When you eat, it is not a question of what you eat but how you eat. You should eat with enjoyableness and pleasure. A man who cannot eat pleasantly cannot be healthy. Some parents, mothers cook meat, eggs and ‘banitza” to their children, and they are still dissatisfied and unhappy. The taste is to blame, there should be purity in the taste. Such a child should be subject to starving. Let his mother leave him starve for 24, 36, 40 ,50 hours and she will see how the child will start loving any food. In such a case, there would be at least 50%improvement in the children. This is a general law in nature and when man starts to lose the meaning of life, illnesses come about. They are necessary for our purification. First of all, we lose our taste and say to ourselves: “How well we used to eat”.5-6 days go by when we begin to rejoice in what we have lost. When it comes to upbringing, I said hold yourselves onto nature, look at what the plants, animals, springs, forest and clouds do in it and leave all English, American and other methods. Observe how the sun rises, which one time you see behind the clouds, black, while another time - clear and nice. This is how I see you often too. You say: „I am not in the mood today”. I said:” There are a few clouds around your sun, there will be a storm, and wind, and your sun will become clear again. Why is this wind? I met a gentleman a prominent Bulgarian merchant and asked him how he thought about this question? He said: „ I will confirm from experience that this is exactly the case. “He started elaborating: In my life, I did not know what a misfortune was, everything was going well for me like honey and butter. I got up one morning and saw that half of my body was paralysed. The doctors told me not to work anything for 3-4 years. After that, I started my work, but the first time I lost BGN 8,000 leva, while the second– BGN 2,000 and after that I finally completely recovered. This lost BGN 10,000 produced a big change in him. He had to give this money to the poor people, doctors or had to be robbed by someone. This money was one impurity in him. It is a boil that has to be healed for which aim the doctor makes an incision and cleans it up. When Christ says: “Blessed are the pure-hearted”, He understands people without boils. Now everyone, look for all your boils. You will say: “We don’t have such”. Until now, I have not met a person without boils, it might be only one boil but one always has some. If someone does not have boils let him come to me, I will give him BGN1,000, BGN2,000, BGN5,000, I will cash it to him immediately. You will say: Where would you find it from”? I will honour my word provided such a person is found. It is a great thing to confess your sin. What is religion? With this process of religion, we have to raise our minds and hearts upwards. What is re-planting? It is such a process by which one sacrifices oneself for another, endures all adversity, deprivation, persecution and one day, all those people whom he has done something for will say: We had a great man, he did a lot for us and our people. He was a spring which our people quenched their thirst from.” „ Now to the question of Christ’s words: Blessed are the pure in heart. “What does Christ mean by the word” “blessed”? He understands first: the aspiration of man to go upwards. Second: This aspiration should be just in time so that there is a corresponding aspiration from top to bottom. The same law also applies in nature. When you sow an apple seed or wheat grain not only does it need to have the strength to grow, not only does it need better soil, but it needs other three essential elements for its growth, namely: light, heat and moisture. The same is valid for man. He must strive but he also needs these three Divine elements: warmth, light and moisture. Moisture this is life, heat is Love, the light- the Truth. I am not going to interpret these for you as if I start interpreting what Love is, I would go very far. I would like you to come with me, to repeat this word a certain number of times and for a certain time of the day and if you do this for only a few months, then you will understand what love is. When you are listening to me, you will say: Mr Dunov says whatever comes to him: the Turkish say about the man who talks what he wants the following: Chock Biljam Chock…”.i.e. “ whoever knows lots, talks lots and suffers lots.” I would like you to check and try my thought now. However, you will say: “What should we strive for?” Sow an apple seed and observe how it will sprout, how it will take shape in a few years’ time, while you study all this. „Therefore, I told you: “Sow in yourself the words ”blessed are the pure in heart”. Do not consider this as an abstract thought, it is related to your body, heart and mind. Blessed is a man who has conditions to climb from bottom to top, but also has conditions to descent from top to bottom and can use these conditions. While the pure-hearted are those ones who understand the process of descending and ascending. A heart means the centre, to know where your life originates from. I travelled once from Sofia to Varna. The Bulgarians have a custom of asking about where you are traveling for and where you are coming from, etc., It is a good habit but when they often ask- it becomes a bore. I am sitting in a compartment and a few Bulgarian lawyers are talking about some important political questions. I am contemplating and observing nature. One of the gentlemen asks me: “Where are you from”? I answered: from the Sun. He said: Then tell me what is there? “– “There are people there but with a higher culture, people there are not afraid, and I have come here on the Earth. “The gentleman answered: Then I am from the Sun too. “Yes, you are but you do not know you have come from the Sun while I know I am from the Sun. Some ask: “Where is Mr Dunov from?”- From the Sun. “ There are 7 elements in life, I am talking about only one element, i.e. more correctly about its state. The old occultists call it the element of the Sun, Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, Venus and Mars. Do you know what these elements are? Saturn, Moon, Sun are processes of condensation. Saturn means knowing how to condense yourself, to move from one state to another. When you come to the Earth you will start afterwards the reverse process of Jupiter, Venus, Mars and will go back where you came from with which you will make such a circle as comets do. Some ask: “Why do these comets appear? “They have a purpose. Why did the Halley’s Comet appear? All thought that the world will end. It meant this great war, this catastrophe that came. It was saying with its tail: I am coming to cleanse the world. “Whether you accept it or not, it doesn't matter, it was said in passing. Christ says: Blessed are the pure in heart. “The first thing in man is purity. In order to elaborate on my thought, I would provide an example. One famous Italian Artist wanted to paint Christ and looked for the subject who looked a little like Christ for long time. At last, he found a young man in his 20s and 21s and asked him to pose for him and he drew the image of Christ. In 3-4 years, the same Artist desired to draw Judas. He searched for a face to remind him of Judas for long time. At last, he found a young man who looked a little like Judas. The Artist asked him to serve as his model if he wanted. The young man agreed but replied: How come I could now serve you as a model of Judas when 4 years ago you used me to draw Christ? Where is the mistake now that one and the same face is used for drawing Christ and Judas? The mistake lied in the young man. In the course of 4 years, the young man lived such an impure life that his face changed. Therefore, when a man attacks someone like this artist, he is right. This is why, we should endure too. We should have the patience of this artist who when he drew a painting and could not draw the shoes of the figure, asked a shoemaker to make them. When the shoemaker made the shoes, he dared to ask to rectify other things in the painting but the artist told him that the rest was not the shoemaker’s speciality. We need to have humility and know what work is for us and what is not. If a mother comes to me and tells me ways of raising children, I will listen to her very carefully. If a judge comes to me and shows me a good path, why not listen to him? Therefore, Christ says: “Blessed are the pure in heart”. If we are so pure-hearted, we will notice that the law of expediency for our upliftment works throughout our life. Do not rush to resolve all issues. People are interesting when they hurry and worry about solving the problems sooner because there have been too many such ones for solving. And what? There is no need to hurry. If a farmer says: “I have whole barns of wheat, how am I going to eat it? “Let him be happy that he has so many barns of wheat- it will serve him for more years, he will eat as much as he needs. So do you, be happy that you have so many questions to solve, you will have work for more years. Some say: When we go to the heavens, we will drink and eat.” Yes, but there is also work there, even more work than here where there is work and labour. Therefore, Christ says: Come to me all who are burdened and tired” and not “those who are all the time working”. The first secret is to learn to strain yourselves. I am ready to serve this one who is strained and who has learnt this art. Tarasu Bulu has done well when he was sending his two sons off and asked them to box each other and remained very satisfied when one of his sons beat him. Similarly, God is pleased when He sees that we are overcoming the suffering. Some say that I have not used Bulgarian examples. I came across a few Bulgarian songs, which I will present a few characters from. The first song is “Yanka and Petur” Yanka is a woman who is dissatisfied with her wealth and searches for the happiness of her heart. Peter overhears her and offers that they both escape. Then she steals from her husband, loads her fortune on 3 horses and runs through the forest. She falls asleep on Peter’s lap and when she fell asleep, Peter ran away for he was very pure, after which she started crying, shouting: I Song O God, Higher Lord, Forest, part with me, Water, deliver yourself to me, Peter, call me! Neither did the forest divide, Nor did water deliver itself, Neither did Peter call. II Song Balio and Vella Vella felt sleepy, So Vella lied down on Balio’s lap and sweetly fell asleep. As Balio is “ Dekrya[1]” He took sharp scissors out To cut his lap off He stole gold and silver And ran away from Vella III Song Kirushka and Stoyan Do you see that hill A big village lies behind it There, I have a beloved and something else- With a young boy Kirushka was telling him Stoyane, damned Stoyane, How cunningly you deceived me Don’t you have a younger brother So that you can give me to him There should be no such Bulgarians as are described in folk poetry. These people have had the brevity to describe the characters as they are. If these things exist in abundance, we cannot be pure. This is not a judgement- such a thought is far from me, but I am stating only the fact, and everyone needs to know whether they are pure or not. Whatever you may be, an activist of a political party, a judge, priest, teacher ask yourselves the question: “Am I pure or not?” Have I done my job properly or not?”. If you are a man, then are you pure in relation to your wife and vice versa; a daughter and a son are you pure in relation to your parents? While now we say: „This is what Tolstoy has said, Victor Jugo has said so, Zola, etc. ”These people have really said very well, my admirations to them. All is good but you need to apply these things in life, while purity will come only with some great convictions. When will purity come? When a man starts to think that he does not die. Three young men came to me a few days ago: one musician, the other studies to be a doctor , while the 3rd one- with different beliefs. The first one says: “I am fed up with life , I want to commit a suicide.” I ask him: “ Were you the one who created this life, if you were then take it away. You will be a greater hero if you endure everything. The musician says: I'm not doing well, no matter what I do, I can't do it. I told him: You are very dry, you need some moisture” and what does “moisture” mean? You have to love people. The third one says: I always have the opposite of what I want, the opposite comes out.” I told him,“ You suffer from a lot of swamps, you have to channel yourself, to get drier.” The three of you should become a trinity and you will help each other. A lecture held on 29th April 1917 Translated by Proletina Dragoeva-Jones, Petworth, UK, 01.12.2020 [1] Dekryia or “декрия” is a Bulgarian folklore word that cannot be translated

The Will of God “He who does the will of My Father in heaven.” Matthew 7:21 The phrases, the Will of God or the Will of the Father are classic ones. However, the phrase the Will of God brings out a smirk on the faces of contemporary people: why so? This is so, because people are not sure if God exists or not. The world has a twofold manifestation: it has a conscious and an unconscious manifestation. We are in the unconscious world when we deal with the chaotic state of the world, of the matter, of the forces, and of the laws which are at work in the world. This unconscious world is one with no laws, or even if there are any laws, then they are mechanistic, irrational ones. When Christ says that not everyone who calls out, “Lord, Lord” will enter the Kingdom of God, we should know that He has in mind the well-formed, conscious world, which is one of law and order. Therefore, only the one, who does the Divine Will, can enter the conscious world. The Divine Will is linked to the sensible side in man, for only the sensible one is able to do the Will of God. In the physical world this Will is expressed through the law of necessity, i.e. through the mechanistic laws. The motion of the wheel in factory machines is a mechanistic one: man cannot counteract it. Once this wheel is set in motion no one can stop it, unless someone pushes the button that operates it; you can pray to it as much as you want, but praying has no effect on it. If you get caught in the wheel, you will be spun around it and crushed, for the wheel is subject to the law of necessity, which is a mechanistic law, and there is no Intelligence in this law. This is why all those people who only serve their own will view the world as a sum total of coincidences. The word coincidence means to them a world of chaos, i.e. a world that has no relation to man’s personal life. Just like the factory wheel has no relation to man, so the mechanistic laws in the world have no relation to man. When speaking of doing the Will of God what I have in mind is the Intelligent life that does have relation to man. There are intelligent and conscious laws that are at work in this Life. When we speak of culture, and of Virtues, and of law and order in the world, we have the Intelligent will in mind, i.e. the Will of God, which penetrates the consciousness of individuals, societies and nations alike as long as they are in unison with this Will. I am not talking about the individual will, because God’s Will is above all. Jesus says, “He, who does not fulfill God’s Will, cannot enter the Kingdom of God.” Only the one whose higher consciousness is awakened is someone who can fulfill God’s Will; only the one who has the feelings and abilities necessary to perceive the essence of things is someone who can fulfill God’s Will. When a student studies mathematics he needs to have an understanding of the mathematical relations between the numbers and the mathematical procedures that are done with the use of these numbers. Every formula that is applied in mathematics is, in fact, a living construct, not an inanimate one as it might appear to be. A seed that has not been planted appears to be dead, lifeless; however, as soon as it is placed in the ground it manifests its life. It is the favorable conditions that make it possible for the Intelligent life to manifest itself in every being. In this sense, every person can be regarded as a seed awaiting the favorable conditions to sprout. It is not important what kind of a seed the human being is (the human being may be a seed from an apple, or a pear, a vine, a rose, etc.); what matters is that as a living being man is also a sentient being. Overall, all people who have sweetness in them are intelligent and conscious; those who have bitterness in them are unintelligent and unconscious. The bitterness in people must be transformed into sweetness the same way the bitter, sour and tart juices in the fruits gradually turn sweeter. Man must transform his bitterness into sweetness through internal means. Therefore, when someone says that his life is hard and unbearable, he should know that the bitter juices prevail in him. Such a man should expose himself to the Divine light more often so that his fruit can ripen and the bitter juices can turn sweeter. It is only then that man will enter the Conscious life and will become a citizen of the Kingdom of God; then there will be nothing impossible for him. In studying man philosophers dwell on man’s three basic elements: mind, heart and willpower. The will is an expression of the internal harmony between the mind and the heart, and so the will expresses a certain principle that connects two opposite forces- those of the mind and of the heart- by having them work in one reasonable direction. It is through the willpower, assisted by the mind and the heart, that man can bring out his ability to transform the inferior in him into superior, and the crude into something noble. The human culture stems precisely from both the individual and the collective human will. Whether it is the collective or the individual consciousness that is at work, it is still one and the same law that governs it. In Bulgarian the word will (воля, pronounced “volja”) is made of four letters. The first letter, В is made of a vertical line and two semicircles. The circle represents the Divine life, which is connected to the vertical line, the latter being the direction in which we should be moving, i.e. upwards, towards the head. Many question the existence of God by saying: Where is He? God is where man’s head is. He who has a head on his shoulders cannot deny God’s existence; if he has no head, he can deny everything. If there were no other force counteracting the earth’s gravity, man would have been turned upside down. It is due to this other force that man’s head points upward, towards the center of the Sun; it is due to this other force that man can walk erect. Knowing this, make sure you keep your head clean: nourish it with clean air and Light, as well as with pure thoughts and desires. Do not import into your mind any thoughts that bring disturbance and doubt. Everyone is afraid of the war and everyone wishes that it would end as soon as possible. What causes this war? It is due to the failure to do the Will of God. What caused the fall of Nineveh? Nineveh was once a highly evolved cultural center, but its citizens lived a bad life, and would not do God’s Will, thus dooming themselves to perish. Likewise, Assyria and Babylon were centers of culture, but they also perished. There is a certain similarity between the culture of the people of Assyria and Babylon and the culture of people today. Those people used to know a lot of things, they knew the elements and their properties but they abused their knowledge by using it in a bad way. They would start wars and kill each other- people today do the same thing. It was for this reason that the old peoples perished, and it was for this reason that their Power and Knowledge was taken away from them. If the nations today follow the same way they, too, will disappear; if the European nations do not come to their senses they are facing the same fate that befell Nineveh. Those who disobey the Will of God deprive themselves of His blessing. Just like men rid their organism of impure substances through sweating so will God rid His organism of all men and peoples of this modern culture who do not do His Will. This is a Divine law; it is an intelligent one that regulates Life. What will happen to us? Nothing bad will happen to you: those who live in the Divine world should not be afraid. Think right and do not fear anything. Sometimes you say, “Nothing depends on me.” I say that much depends on you. If you were to place even one single grain of wheat on one of the trays of a scale that has been balanced with equal weights, then that single grain would affect the scales. Who knows, you might be that last person whose presence could turn the motion of the Divine wheel into a different direction. And still all people keep thinking that it is God Who has to come down to Earth to set this world right. It is true that God will set the world right, but He will do this through people. When it comes to setting the world right, man is directly concerned whereas God is concerned indirectly. The world was created for man to learn in it, to discipline himself and to entertain himself. God is interested in us as much as we are mindful in studying and observing God’s laws. The day when we break our relationship with God, the Original Reason of all things, will be the day when God will stop taking interest in us. Man is free to choose whether to do or not to do God’s Will, but he will also bear the consequences of his free and foolish will. The prophet Jonah is an case in point of someone who does not do God’s Will: God sent him to Nineveh to preach repentance to its inhabitants, but he declined under the pretext that God would extend His Compassion to them and He would pardon their sins, thus making Jonah look like a foolish liar. Jonah said, “I don’t want to subject myself to the ridicule and mockery of these cultured people, Oh Lord. I will preach Your words to them, then You will forgive them and in the end it will look like I’ve been lying to them. I know You, Lord: You are merciful and kind.” Jonah bought a ticket to Joppa planning to reach the city of Tarshish, where he boarded a ship and set out to sea. What happened on the way? A storm arose in the sea and the sailors decided to propitiate it by throwing Jonah over board. The city of Nineveh lay on the bank of the Tigris river; it was a beautiful city and its culture was like the present-day culture. Back then the population of Nineveh was about one million people, of which there were no less than about a hundred and twenty thousand children- all of them so innocent and so young that they weren’t even old enough to distinguish between their left hand and their right one. When the citizens of Nineveh repented and pleaded to God for mercy, it was because of the little children that He withheld His punishment. What do the ship and the sea represent? The ship represents organized society, and the sea represents the world and its deeds. Jonah fled from God and hid away from Him in the ship, i.e. in one organized society, among cultured people, who, lost in drinking and eating, tend to forget all about God and say, “We are our own masters and no one can tell us what to do.” But the sea, i.e. the world, becomes stormy and the ship starts swaying from one side to another. Man becomes agitated along with the storminess of the sea, and loses his influence among the members of his society. In breaking his connection with God man also loses his mental and moral powers and starts to grow old; people then start treating him with disregard and turn away to younger, more capable people. This is the situation that Jonah put himself in when he went aboard that ship and set off to sea, i.e. to the world; it was because he did not know the law of Light that his journey took such a fatal turn. In order to pacify the storm, the sailors decided to throw Jonah into the sea where he was swallowed by a whale. Jonah could not swim and so he fell into the whale’s mouth: the whale represents death, and death swallows all those who do not do God’s will. Jonah spent three whole days in the belly of the whale, all the way praying from the bottom of his heart. He prayed thus, “Please, God, save me from the mouth of the whale, i.e. from the mouth of death, so that I shall do Your will.” God listened to his plea and asked the whale to spit Jonah out onto the shore. Thus saved, Jonah went back to Nineveh to do God’s will, and there he preached repentance to the people. What happened to Jonah also happens to every person: man goes on board the ship and because he refuses to do God’s will, he ends up in the sea. The only thing that can save you is to pray to God from the bottom of your heart like Jonah did. You may object by saying that one should live a little. However, it is after you find yourselves in the belly of the whale that you will learn about life; in other words, once you are in the grave, then you will learn about life, for man retains his consciousness even there and he goes through great suffering and great tribulations until he frees himself from his body. Man’s link to this world may consist of one, or of many or even of thousand strong fibers, and it is not easy to sever those. The righteous man is linked with only one fiber and he can break it very easily; the sinner is linked with multiple fibers and cannot set himself loose easily. The soul and the Spirit are in a difficult situation while the fibers of the body are being broken. What helps break these fibers? What helps is man’s doing God’s will. Every fiber is like an atom that acts on the matter, molding and transforming it; therefore, these fibers have their place. If you cannot set these fibers in motion so that they can turn the wheel of Life you will be like a factory that has ceased working a long time ago: such a factory is doomed to bankruptcy. If the fibers that are at work in the stomach stop working man grows alarmed: he sends for the doctor right away so that the doctor can restore the activity of the million fibers working in the man’s stomach. If you were seers you would be able to see that the whole world is constructed of interwoven fibers like a spider web. Only this is no spider web, but different ways through which God works, as well as different ways through which one can do God’s will. Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” This verse pertained to people back then, but it also pertains to people who live today, two thousand years after Jesus lived. Back then they were in an embryonic stage, they were like a seed, but Jesus spoke to the seeds, too. He wanted to warn them that one day- even if that day is two thousand years away- one day when they find themselves in a difficult situation, going through trials and suffering they will need to know how to do the Will of their Father if they are to rise out of this chaos and keep on evolving. Who is our Father? You read about Esau who addressed the people of Israel, saying, “Israel, know thy Master!” Israel, however, turned away from its Master, its Father, its God. Philosophers often ponder the question of what came first: the chicken or the egg. There are two opinions on this matter: some say that the chicken came first, and others maintain that it was the egg that came first. I think that the first opinion is more plausible. To pose this question is to ask what came first: the cause or the effect. The cause came first and then came the effect; therefore, the chicken is the cause, and the egg is the effect. The word chicken implies an old person, i.e. the lowly human mind. The dove is the symbol of the evolved human mind. Through his evolved, superior mind man can do God’s will, because this mind is the greatest gift, the greatest good that has been given to man. Now that you know this you should always strive to keep your mind pure to save it from corruption. The smallest rust that penetrates into the mind can corrupt it. He, who has corrupted his mind, is lost for Life; he might still be alive physically, but he cannot benefit from Life, for the great Light cannot enter his mind. Jesus says, “If you do not want to lose the meaning of Life and lose Life itself, you should do the Will of God.” What sums up the Will of our Great Father? One of His laws states, “Do not do unto others what you do not want done unto yourself.” The word law means that which has been manifested into the world in a certain form; in other words, laws are nothing but different forms through which God’s Will can be fulfilled. According to the occultists only the one who is able to fulfill God’s will, the one who has been able to manifest his intelligent will, can be his own master, as well as a master over Nature and those around him. He who connects with God becomes one with Him and is free to claim that the development and the evolution of the whole mankind is his own development, too, and that the wellbeing of all people is his own wellbeing, too. The opposite is also true: such a man’s success is success for the whole mankind, and his wellbeing is wellbeing for the whole. This necessitates a correct relationship between the human soul and God. Then God will want to convey to us all Knowledge, and all blessing that He has in Him; He says, “My grace is your grace and your grace is Mine.” This is the true relationship between the Great Father and His children. How can one tell when there is a correct relationship between the human soul and God? There is something that everyone can use as a test. Imagine that someone falls seriously ill: such a person should try to connect with God. All he needs to do is turn to Him with a heartfelt prayer, and he will have a response. Every time you have a response to your prayers shows that you are connected with God and He listens to you. Say this, “Lord, help me through my hard times; help me rid myself of this illness so that I can serve You in Joy. I want to dedicate my Life to serving Love and doing Your Will.” If you pray with these words, you will receive an immediate response: your temperature will go down, your condition will improve and, in a few days, you will be completely healthy. People today expect to have great results without doing the Will of the Great Father, but this is impossible. Such a life is a mechanistic one and it cannot bring man satisfaction, and for this reason man is dissatisfied with Life. Under these circumstances, instead of ridding himself of illnesses, one becomes even more ill. There was once a German doctor who was interested in nervous system disorders, and studied about four hundred different manifestations of nervous system disorders. He gave them all different names, but when he came across the four hundred and first manifestation he could not think of a name for it, and so for everything that was above the number four hundred he termed with the common word americanichi. What causes nervous system disorders? Men’s sinful life causes them. Someone who is a neurasthenic is in a situation where his nervous energy is constantly drained out of him, and he becomes deficient. You come across people who live well and treat their bodies well, but are neurasthenics: this is because they carry out the consequences of their ancestors’ bad lives. A pauper wants to know what he can do in order to get rich and to set in order his muddle of debts: the only way for him to improve his situation is through mindful work. A sick man wants to know how he can restore his health: health is related to Mindful living: by living mindfully and doing God’s the sick one will soon be able to restore his health. Religion comes to help the one who wants to learn how to live mindfully. Being religious is not only about going to church, and listening to sermons and beautiful music, but is mostly about following through with what you’ve learned. The Good needs to become a part of man’s whole being and must penetrate into the Life of all people: from the king to the shepherd, and from the richest home to the poorest one. All people should have equal rights and obligations. What do we see in societies today? We see that all men, all societies and all peoples strive to become rich, strong and powerful. This is a good goal, but it is not well applied in practice. When one becomes rich he starts thinking only about oneself; when one becomes strong he starts abusing the weak and the poor; when one acquires power, one starts ruling over those around him. Don’t you know that God helps the weak, the poor and the suffering? Therefore you should strive to be like Him: if you are rich, you should help the poor; if you are strong, you should protect the weak; if you have power, you should rule over yourself first. He who can rule over himself can also rule over others. Knowing this, do not turn away from any opportunity to help the weak, the poor, the suffering, the short-witted, etc. Today someone may pass as an idiot, but some day God will lift him up from that state and will make him a philosopher: this is why it is said that what is impossible for man is possible for God. God is all-powerful: He can transform the caterpillar into a butterfly, and the butterfly into a caterpillar. Once you used to be butterflies, but today you are caterpillars. You should not take offense when I say this. When I say caterpillar I mean it as a symbol for the materialistic understanding of Life. Once up on the leaf, the caterpillar thinks, “I should eat as much as I wish, for if I eat a lot I will grow up fast; if I eat a little, I will remain little.” This reasoning holds true for the stage at which this caterpillar is; but there will come a day when it will lose its desire to eat leaves and those around it will say that the caterpillar’s stomach is upset and it cannot use food any more. It is not that the stomach is upset, but the caterpillar is passing into a different stage- that of a butterfly- and in that new stage it does not need leaves or medicines to treat its stomach. Before it reaches the butterfly stage, the caterpillar weaves little threads back and forth until it makes up its cocoon, and then it spends some time into this cocoon with no food or movement. After a while the caterpillar breaks the cocoon open and emerges back into the world, but this time as a butterfly, equipped with its own proboscis, and it sets out from one flower to another, sucking sweet nectar from the blossoms. Some sick people do not ingest any food during the whole time of their illness: why do they do that? They are like butterflies, passing from one state into another, and they do not need any food during that period. Those, who do not understand this situation, start to worry and look for a doctor to help. If someone is not eating, this does not mean that he is sick, for there are people who can tolerate hunger, difficulties and temptations and are still stronger than those who eat, and who avoid all difficulties and temptations. It is the difficulties, the temptations and the sufferings that temper one’s character. Sometimes a man would pass as an honest person, but he has never been tested. One can judge one’s honestly only after he’s been tested: if one is bribed with a thousand leva to do some dishonest deed, he may turn down the money under the pretext that he is an honest man; if he is then given ten thousand leva, he may still decline the bribe, but once he is given one hundred thousand leva, he may close his eyes and sell himself. So, someone is honest up to a thousand leva, another is honest up to ten thousand leva and someone else is honest up to a hundred thousand leva: not one of these people is truly honest. True Virtues are not relative, but are absolute in their expression. Once a Frenchman was bribed with one million dollars to commit a crime; when he was put before the judge, he said, “Your Honor, you have no right to sentence me, because what I did was simply carry out a sale: I sold myself for one million leva.” Jesus came down to Earth specifically for those sold-out people: He came down to pay for them. They have sold themselves to the dark powers and they cannot buy themselves back. When Jesus comes across someone who has sold himself, Jesus asks him, “Whom did you sell yourself to and for how much?” “For one million.” “Well then, I will pay it back for you.” Almost all people today have sold themselves to someone. If you doubt this you should ask yourselves where your mother, father and children are. You may say that they have died. What is death? Death is but a sale. In this sense, dying means selling. Is a hen that lives in its master’s coop a free hen? There will come a night when its master will thrust his hand into the coop, grab the hen and put the knife to its neck: the hen will cluck once or twice and that will be the end of that. You go through the same process: there comes a night when your master comes to you, grabs you by the neck, puts the knife to your neck and it’s all over with you. The priest will come next to pray for the peace of your soul. How will your soul obtain peace from God? By doing His Will. You say that death is frightening, but it is only frightening when man does not do God’s Will, for then man rots and starts to smell. If man does God’s Will then when he is ready to pass to the other world, he will simply take off his old garment and will sever his connection with it: therefore, the cure against rotting is in doing God’s Will. You should do an experiment to test the truthfulness of my words. Why does man, after coming to this Earth, not do the Will of the One, who has sent him down to study and work among people? You might object that if you do experiments you test God. Are you not testing God when you sin? When people hear about studying and working they say that they are unable to fight the evil and the devil in the world. The kingdom of evil and the devil is over. Today Jesus is coming into the world, accompanied by evolved Beings of light, and by Good Spirits. Once they come the world will become right again, and all people will be healthy and full of energy. The churches will be filled with true worshippers and servants of God. Then Jesus will ask them, “What are you doing”, and all believers and religious people will reply that they are trying to turn everybody in the world to God. The thief, too, once he gets a hold of your purse will turn it inside out: no, the world does not need to be turned like that. You need to be filled with power and joy if you are to set a good example for the world: even in your suffering you should still be filled with joy. This is what it means to do God’s will: it means to live with no fear of death. Death does not exist for the one who is connected with the living God, for he can hear God’s voice and does His Will. If such a man makes a mistake he immediately hears inside of him God’s soft voice, telling him, “You are not doing a good thing. Correct your mistake!” The one who rejects this voice and refuses to listen to it will bear the consequences of his actions. Listen to God when He speaks to you with Love like a father; should you not listen, He would distance Himself from you and you will be at the mercy of the law. Man should have the courage of that American woman who dedicated herself to her beloved one who came back maimed from the battlefield. He went to the battlefield to fight for his country, but he was wounded in a big fight and lost one of his legs. He wrote to the woman he loved, “I lost one of my legs. I don’t want you to suffer with me, so feel free to find yourself someone strong and healthy to love.” She responded, “I accept you the way you are.” In fact he was wounded much worse than he told her at first, but he did could not confess to her all at once about how bad his situation was. After a while he wrote another letter, “I lost my other leg, too.” “I accept you with much greater Love”, she replied. Finally, he wrote to her, “I am like a corpse, for I lost both my arms.” “Now my Love for you is even greater”, the woman wrote back. How many men and women could remain loyal in such a situation; how many people could pass such a test? It is very rare to come across people who are ready to serve each other with Love and patience if one of them falls ill and is bedridden for a few years. There was a Bulgarian woman who took care of her ill husband for twenty years and she would always say, “Not for a single moment have I grown tired of helping him.” “How come?” “Because I love him.” This Bulgarian woman, like the American woman from the previous story carried the Divine inside: they carried Love. One cannot enter the Kingdom of God if one’s heart is not filled with Love. As long as man thinks only about eating, drinking, wearing nice clothes, having fun and being rich he will never get to know Love; such a man’s heart will remain empty and his mind- encumbered. Why wouldn’t man open his mind, heart and soul to the great in the world so as to be filled with God’s Love? Why wouldn’t he enter this great world of suns and planets? Today Jesus appeals to people’s souls, saying, “Fulfill God’s will and you will become masters of your mind, of your heart and of your soul.” How can we achieve that? By turning the letter K on its back with the two sticks pointing up: in this position it represents the boat of human life. Set your boat out in the sea, put up the sails and sail freely; grasp the rudder with your hands and head out into whatever direction you wish. If you are nervously agitated, you can turn your K with the sticks pointing down and start swimming. All people-men and women- suffering from nervous agitation should go to the front to feel renewed. God likes those who are brave and selfless. One cannot love someone who is fearful or someone who is cold as ice. Only the one who carries Love inside him and spreads it generously around can be loved. If you do not give you cannot receive either. All people, all families, all societies, and all peoples need to be revitalized. Bulgarians, as a people, also need to be revitalized. It is up to them if they will listen to me or not, but it is my duty to tell them the Truth. When I say it I will go away. Where will I go? I will start from the tree roots and will gradually make my way up along the trunk and towards the blossoms, the fruit, the seed, then to the Angel world, and finally to the Divine world, which is my final destination. You might say that I’m going too far. The divine world is not far from people, but it is rich and full of energy: those who go there will acquire a lot of energy and wealth. I, too, go there to acquire more energy so that I am able to come back to people again to work among them and to help them. It is a pleasure for man to work among people and for the people. It does not matter if they will understand him or not, or if they are rich or poor. Does the child understand its mother who feeds it, bathes it, raises it, and disciplines it? The child does not understand its mother while it is little, but one day it will grow up and then it will be able to understand her. The intelligent one understands things and is grateful for everything that he has been given as well as for everything that people do for him. As the child grows older God gives it His blessing and gives it light to become an intelligent person who can have a correct understanding of Life. I wish you that you may be good, mindful and just, so when I meet you I can be happy to see people that I can talk to and with whom I can share my thoughts and wishes. There is no greater good for man than that to meet good and intelligent people with whom he can get along well? When I say things like this some of you wonder what I am planning to do. I am planning to do one of the two: either Good or bad; I am planning either to speak the Truth to you or to hide the Truth from you. If I choose to hide the Truth this shows that I live in a world of chaos; if I speak the Truth that shows that I live in accordance with God’s will. What will one gain from choosing to lie and to do evil? Not only will such a man win nothing, but he will lose everything and will bring ruin onto himself. What is a lie like? A lie is the shadow of Truth, it is the shadow of all Being: a lie is like fake precious stones. Once there was a merchant coming from Malaysia with a bag full of precious stones that he was selling for cheap. A Jew, who was also a merchant, wanted to buy all the stones, but he did not think he could afford it. However, the merchant with the precious stones told the Jew, “My friend, I will sell you this whole bag for ten thousand leva. I have smuggled all of them and that is why I am selling them to you for so cheap: I want to get rid of them so I don’t get myself in trouble.” The Jew thought that this was his lucky moment and, not wanting to miss this opportunity, he decided to buy all of the precious stones. When he went home and looked through the bag he realized that he had been cheated: only a few stones were real precious stones, the rest of them were all fake ones. Today there are many people who carry around bags full of fake precious stones that they present as real precious stones. In the end both they and all those around them realize that they have been fooling themselves. Their knowledge is false, too: they think that their bags are full of real Knowledge, but some day they come to realize that they have been fooling themselves. What good is man’s knowledge if he cannot use it to stop the falling of bombs? A scientist goes to the battlefield, but he, too, runs to hide away from the bombs; what good is his knowledge then if he cannot use it to stop the bombs from falling? You might say that only God has the power to stop the bombs. He who lives in accordance with God and fulfills His Will, is able to stop the bombs, for if they can listen to God, they will listen to you, too. Some people wait for the Pope to say his word to bring peace. Do not wait for anyone, but turn to God and say, “Lord, You are our Father, You can stop the war.” When you recognize God as your Father He will listen to your voice and come to your help. You do not believe in your own power and you think that man cannot do anything about these huge events that are taking place around him. He who does God’s Will can do anything. If all people- Bulgarian, Russian, French, English, German- were to turn their voice to God the war would end and peace would come. Why do people wage wars? People wage wars over nothing: they fight over some trade deals. There is one thing that all people and nations should know: the world is not some anarchy; on the contrary, it is an intelligent world, and God has sent all people into it so that they might live and work mindfully and help each other like brothers. God sent Jesus, His Only Son, down to the world to show people how to live. It is time now to put Christ’s teaching to practice and to put an end to all arguments and misunderstandings. May all mothers, fathers, children, rulers, priests, teachers, and workers be filled with the desire to fulfill God’s will and to enter God’s Kingdom as its citizens and then the peace will come. The New Culture that is coming will lay the foundation for the fulfillment of God’s Will. When this New Culture is applied then people will understand what the present-day culture is like: they will wonder themselves how they could live this way and how they could allow for wars and destroying each other to take place. However, considering the current stage of development of mankind, war is an inevitable process, for it represents man’s passing from one stage into another, just like the caterpillar is inevitably transformed into a butterfly. There is no force in the world that could stop this process, therefore there is no force in the world that could stop the war: the war will continue for as long as it takes for man to pass from the caterpillar stage into the butterfly stage. How will the people of the New Culture be different from people today? They will have a strong willpower, and they will be good and mindful. Nothing will be impossible for such people: they will be able to achieve anything they want. This is why Jesus says, “Not anyone who cries, Lord, Lord will enter the Heavenly Kingdom, but only the one who does God’s Will shall enter”. Do the following experiment: tell yourselves in the course of one month that you are willing to do God’s Will and you will see that the One Who has created you will manifest Himself. He will enlighten your mind and your heart so that you could understand Life and fulfill His Will. Everyone should do this experiment on his own and by his own will, with no pressure from outside, for only in this way can one expect results. The Scriptures say, “The time is coming and it is upon us now when the true worshippers will worship the Lord in spirit and in truth.” I say, the time is coming and it is upon us now when the future people will fulfill God’s Will and will be healthy in their mind, heart and body, and whatever they say, they will act upon. They will not need loans and guarantors to vouch for those loans like people do today, for their word will be like a law, because it will be coming out of God’s mouth, and God will be their real guarantor. The world will become a better place when all people, societies and nations, as well as the whole of mankind have God as their guarantor. Doing God’s Will with Love should be every man’s motto; this should be the religion that every man should use as guidance in his Life: Bulgarians should live this way too. And then one day when I see you I will be able to say, “You are fortunate to be doing God’s Will and to have God as your guarantor.” Now go to your homes with the idea of doing God’s Will, and with the idea of living without any man-made bills and guarantors. May God be your guarantor and may His Force be within you. Sofia, April 22, 1917 Source

Rejoice (Радвайте се) Lecture, held by the Teacher, on 15th April – Easter, 1917, Sofia „ And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying,’Rejoice’’ (Радвайте се). And they came and held him by the feet, and worshiped him (Matthew 28:9). I will take the word „Rejoice" (‚Радвайте се’) from this verse. This is an ordinary word, but a meaningful one. The word ‚joy’ (радост) and the idea that is hidden in it has a Divine origin. Joy (радост) is not a property or a quality of the animals, nor of the people of the present century, or of the scientists. The word ‚joy’ (радост) implies the higher consciousness in man, an intimate connection with those natural relations of the real life, where life is continual. Life in its three manifestations belongs to three worlds: the life of the people on the physical plane, the life that exists among the angels and the life of the Divine world. Joy (радост) belongs to the first, Divine world, to the so called nominal and not a phenomenal world. When I take the word ‚joy’ in Bulgarian language, i.e. ‚радост’, the first letter is ‚p’. There is one unit in this letter, which shows the source of this small circle, shows Divinity or an idea that is burdened with one Divine thought. When people hold something in their hand, it is right this, but they do not know what needs to be held. You need to hold this, which you need to be a master of with your spirit. This is the letter ‚p’. However, when people do not understand the laws this letter is turned upside-down into the letter ‚b’, i.e.a man instead of being pregnant with a Divine idea is pregnant with his stomach. When people become pregnant on the physical plane, they become fat and overweight. From such weight, people often go to search for doctors in order to abort their children. What is obesity? It is a child of the physical plane, which they want to abort. Joy (радост) does not fall in this category. The second letter in the word ‚радост’ (radost) is ‚a’. It also means pregnancy, i.e not only your spirit should be pregnant with a higher idea but so should your mind be. „А“ is formed from a triangle that indicates the human nose, the human intelligence. It is said by the old mystics who have known that many years before Christ that God breathed through the nose of the angles and they became reasonable people. The human being is breathed through the nose and not the mouth, that is why you breathe through your nose. The Letter „Д“ is also formed from a triangle – a transient life. The triangle presents the three forces that are not manifested. The letter „о“ means the conditions under which one idea develops. The letter „с“ is the laws of the changes through which these ideas can be perfected. The letter „т“ is the cross, the principle of the men and women, according to which they live. Christ says: ‚Rejoice’ („Радвайте се“), for the spiritual world is revealed now, there is a path, which they can pass through from one world to another. This joy (радост) is necessary for the man. A man without joy (радост) in the world according to my perception is not a man. This is because the joy (радост) in its manifestations is compatible with all relations of the human life. There is no force regardless of how powerful it is that can darken the joy (радост). Why? For the love and joy go together. They are like a brother and a sister and a man and a woman. Not like these men and women who are here on the Earth, not like these women who are cooking in their kitchens for days and not like these men who sit closed in their shops for days. The man thinks the whole day how to earn more in order to satisfy his woman, while the woman thinks in the kitchen what to cook in order to feed her husband. Christ says: ‚Rejoice’ (Радвайте се) but such men and women cannot feel this joy (радост). Rejoice (Радвайте се) you who are free, who have a free spirit and are not slaves to anyone, this joy (радост) belongs to you. You will ask me: „Can we have this joy (радост)?“ You can, but as soon as you leave your kitchens and shops. You will ask: „How can we leave our houses?“ No, is it that the kitchens and shops are a requisite quality for the happiness of a man? Where are the kitchens of the birds, where are their shops? We, the modern people of the higher culture and European civilisation have the motto: „It is impossible without kitchens, it is impossible without shops“, while I am writing above: „And joy (радост) is impossible“. For one of the main qualities of the home of the men and women, of the families is the connection of understanding and love. However, not this love, which you understand, half day loving, half day hating. This is not life, this is a slavery. I talk to you who have been Christians for 2000 years; your fathers and mothers have read the Christian teaching and have encountered the words ‚rejoice’(pадвайте се) but the people cannot rejoice yet (радват). This is not because joy (радост) is incompatible with today’s life but a soil is needed for this joy (радост). Therefore, it belongs to the real spiritual life. When we understand the laws in the world, we will need to build another more modern kitchen. I can give you a sketch of what the modern kitchens and shops should be. The world needs to be rebuilt. Tell me what the kitchens and shops of the angels are? However, you will say‚ this is not important for us’. If we want to be cultural people, if we want a higher culture than the today’s one, we need to send delegates to the angels. Now, when the Bulgarians look at the Germans, they think: „What cultural people they are“, and want to imitate them. The culture of the angels is much more enviable but the misfortune comes from where we will find these angels. While the modern people are distinguished with one quality of doubt and critical mind, an opinion exists that a man must have doubt in and check everything in order to be a philosopher. I don’t mind the doubt but there are such philosophers who even when they touch the man are still in doubt. For example, it is mentioned in the Gospel that one of the Christ’s disciples after seeing that Christ ascended, he still did not believe it and had to touch between his ribs in order to convince himself in the truth. This is the Jewish culture. A man can always be lied to. When we do not understand the Divine laws in the world, there is a lie. The lie is an indication that the truth exists similarly to the shadow, which is an indication that the subject exists. The doubt is a sign that the reality exists. There can be no doubt if there is no reason for it. Once you say that there is no God, this shows that He exists. You cannot deny this, which does not exist, therefore you deny only that, which exists. What is a denial? During the day you see the trees and springs in nature but you do not see them at night time, therefore you can be in doubt. When a man says that there is no God, I say: „Your sun has set and after 12 hours your perceptions will change.“ – „There is no soul, no life after death, no God “, people say. I say, your sun has set and after 12 hours your perceptions will be changed. Your perceptions will change as the perceptions of a Bulgarian teacher with a higher education changed who participated in the last war with the Greeks. In a retreat, he hid himself in a cave where he spent three days without being able to show his head out from fear of the great fire. He became so hungry that he turned to God to provide him with some signs of His existence. Even half an hour had not passed and one bone frog approached the hole of the cave and left in front of it a bag full of one fourth kg of bread, which it carried in its mouth and went back. When this teacher returned to his pupils he told them: „Children from now on you will know that there is God.“ Why, where does he know this from? – This frog has convinced him. Therefore, when you are in this cave and stay there hungry for three days, you will get convinced that there is God. Once there is God, there is a soul, there is a life after death. You can check these things. I am talking to you about things, which I have checked thousands of times. I would say that I would rather doubt the existence of so many people than the existence of this world, which I live in. I live simultaneously in this and the other world, I simultaneously talk to both people and spirits. You will say: ‚The spirits are a horrible thing“. There are no beings that are more intelligent than the spirits. How thin and beautiful they are, what shiny eyes they have, what culture they have, what a school they represent! Therefore, you die and your close ones die so that you can go to the spirits and learn from their culture. You will ask: „Where is this spiritual world? This is a question of a microscopic animal, which can say the following: „ Where is the human being’s place, what world does he live in? He lives in the same world but there is a big difference between the perceptions of the human being and these of this microscopic animal. The world is not only this which we see but it is something grander, bigger than what we see. Sometimes you think that life doesn’t have any meaning. Many girls and boys get discouraged and want to die but when a girl meets a beautiful young man, she sees him in the eyes and says: „Now life has a meaning.“ This young girl starts singing and doesn’t want to die. The same happens with the young boy. Where did this world, this meaning of life come from? A new consciousness is revealed in their hearts and minds, their hearts start to thump. Life is not in the thumping. The thumping is only the means to transmit the thoughts and states in the spiritual world. Therefore, Christ says: „Rejoice (Радвайте се), a new culture comes for you.“ I associate the people from the Earth with this new culture. Go and preach the new teaching to the world that they should build their homes without kitchens and shops. Suppose that we would make the whole land a beautiful garden with the finest fruit trees, it would allow all the trees to give the best fruits, then would we need the present kitchens? What kind of need would a man have to spend 8 hours closed in his shop? Why is he staying 8 hours now in his shop? To buy his wife meat, sugar, rice, butter, eggs, and so on. Then we will not need electricity either. I, as I think, will create myself a lamp that will give me light. I will worry neither about gas nor about electricity. It wouldn’t be talked that the city council had been taking lots for electricity. You will use your energy. You will have fast messages with your thought. Christ says: Rejoice (Радвайте се) for the new teaching that will come will release people from this slavery, which they are now in. I have been in America and there people admire at this spectacular culture of dozens- storey buildings and huge arches. In my view, these are prisons. In these so modern houses, due to the lack of an access of the sun, the Americans are very nervous people. Their idea to create something grandiose is good but let the abilities of the mind and heart take this big size. However, when this Divine idea cannot be understood by the people well and manifests in the way we see it this shows that this culture has outlived its century. The future mothers and fathers who conceive their children should have this thought in mind : „You do not need a kitchen.“ What do we understand under ‚kitchen’? – The stomach because we think only about it. When it starts to ache even a little we still think about it. Morning, at lunch and in the evening- we are constantly taking care of our stomachs. It is true that if the stomach is unwell, the head also starts aching. The stomach has another function. I argue against the assertion of present people that we have to live this way for God has so ordained. Today's world is a caricature of the Divine one. Everything was well when God created the world – people and plants and animals, but it is not so now. The drunken when he gets used to drinking, sells inheritance, children, wife and says: „God created people to drink wine.“ God has created the man with desires for liquids but not for wine - for water instead. We need to come with our ideas to the Divine world in order to understand what a human being is. When I talk to you to leave your kitchens it doesn’t mean that you should destroy them before you build your new houses. Make an attempt and see whether you could live without these kitchens and only then will you destroy the old ones but otherwise in no way do you destroy the old kitchens for you will remain without anything. Rejoice (Радвайте се) because joy (радостта) gives an impulse, stimulus to the man, it is a mother of the things. The joy (радостта) stems from an inner Divine impulse of the soul, it gives inspiration. Both men and women need to strive to cultivate this joy in themselves while we, the modern people cannot put up with such ones who rejoice (се радват). We want everyone to be sad and crossed but there should be no such darkness in the human heart. A human being’s face can be dusty, blackened but there should be joy (радост) in his soul, mind and heart. There are no reasons for there being no joy (радост) in a human being. Christ meets you on the way and says to you: „Rejoice (Радвайте се).“ – „Well, you say, how can we rejoice (радваме), when there, on the battlefields so many men and sons of ours died, what is the meaning of life now for us? We became poor, and are in debt to the ears, everything is very expensive, how can we be joyful (радваме)?“ Then we say to Christ: „Can you make bread out of the stones?“ Christ responded: „A man can live not only with bread made of stones but with every noble word that comes out of the mouth of a good man .“ It was thought out in America to create pills in a chemical way, which when taken can satisfy a human being but this thing cannot be created in a chemical way. This is not the way, which science should go in. That bread that is acquired is done so with the Divine Word. The Divine Word is a substance much higher, it is a spiritual matter, which the requisite extracts for our life can be derived from and not from the lower matter, which depraves our life. Christ has said: „A man should feed with every word that comes out of God.“ This Christ has proved it. He takes five breads and five fish and 5000 people were fed in this way. Which way? When Tolstoy does not recognise miracles he interprets this as follows: „As Christ has preached equality and brotherhood so everyone has carried bread and have sat down to eat it.“ While in fact, can the bread be increased?– It can be. You plant one grain of wheat and 250 grains appear from it. You plant one seed of apple and you will have 3000-4000 apples in ten years’ time. I am asking where does the apple draws this energy from? You will say: „ From the earth.“ – No, from the sun, from above. The Earth is a reservoir that stops the development. If people would know this law of how to make bread they would have easily become rich. One Mr met me and said: „Since the war started , there are already 500 millionaires in Bulgaria.“ I told him: yes but they are paper millionaires. What can these books deliver to people? You will say: Well while I am alive on the Earth I will live with them and will use their goods. “ Well, fine, tomorrow when the death catches you for the neck will tell you: „I do not recognise your paper money and wealth.“ Christ will meet you on the way and will ask you: „Why are you so ragged?“ You will say: „I worked in Bulgaria when it fought and I wanted to secure myself.“ – „You have taken a wrong path “, Christ says. This is not joy (радост), you have wrongly understood the Christ teaching. Joy (радост) is founded on the Virtue and Justice. I do not have the right to infringe these noble deeds of the people, I don’t have a right to also talk this which is not according to Christ’s teaching, I have to talk only this, which is a truth , which is Divine because I will be giving an answer for every teaching in front of God. You will go back to your father and he will ask you: „How did you do your work in Bulgaria, on the Earth?“ – „I earned lots of money.“ No, women , you pushed your men for these paper millions, they became paper millionaires for you. Children, out, out of this wealth, it is unjust and wrongly acquired! People and peoples who earn their wealth in this way do not have the Divine blessing. Nothing will remain either of them, their children or of their fourth generation. While those ones who in these times carry their cross because of me most patiently, they are saved. The cross for me represents a higher science, which comprises all elements for the transformation of the bad things into good. „Rejoice (Радвайте се) “, Christ says. Can we be happy? – We can. We have to have the patience of this Greek philosopher who has lived during the time of Apostle Paul. He has had a much bigger endurance and persistence than all present Christians and preachers. He was a slave to one Roman patrician. The master often tortured his slaves, which he had been doing to the slave too but he never complained, sighed and always smiled. This annoyed the master a lot and he often hit him in order to invoke his resentment. One day, his master pressed strongly his foot in order to see how this will affect the slave but he said: „Master, do not press my foot so strongly for you will lose , I will not be able to serve you well in the future. “ The master pressed strongly and broke the foot. The slave responded: „Well, didn’t I tell you that you will break my foot! “To his satisfaction, the Roman patrician made him free after which time he wrote excellent compositions, which stay much higher than the compositions of a lot of modern philosophers and theosophists. Let someone dare pressing your little foot !We do not have this contentment. Christ says: Rejoice (радвайте се) for from now on, your feet will not be broken; rejoice (радвайте се) because from now on you will not need unjust wealth. Why? Because the Heavens works for a righteous and good man. Someone says: „I developed and ploughed my field.“ You haven’t developed it alone, if it was not for the so many worms, the sowing of the man will be of no use. Therefore, if we apply the Christ Teaching, the difference will be the following: we will work less but will have more results. According to the Christ teaching, 3 hours physical work is enough, 3 hours are needed for the mind and 3 hours for the heart – in total 9 hours during the day. Then life will be much more pleasant and people will not have been dying but will have only been transforming and everyone would have gone to the other world when they wished. However, in order to understand the Christ teaching, we need to create this requisite character of the thought in ourselves, i.e. to get rid of our conscious soul and inner fear. Is this possible? There are rules. Do not think that things move very fast in the spiritual science. No, very slow. The Divine moves from the smallest to the biggest, while the human starts with the grandiose and ends up with the smallest. You can make a calculation. If you have been sowing a wheat grain for 19 consecutive years and if you have the patience to look after it, it will become as big as the whole land. Christ says: „If you have faith as a grain of that mustard seed, you will be able to remove this mountain. “ Why a mustard seed is used and not a wheat one? The mustard seed has the quality of producing blisters and if you put it on your hand, it will extract all bad and damaging juices. There is no such effect from the wheat grain. Your faith needs to be positive and active in your mind. Then you will find yourselves in the situation of these two Greek artists who held a competition for their art. One of them painted one cluster of grapes so naturally that the birds from the sky descended to peck on it. The other one drew Venus and painted a thin veil from above. The painting was so good that the first artist got misled and tried to lift the veil. One of them lied to the bird while the other to the man. We, the modern people, love to lie not only to the birds. We often lie to our stomach. Tell this stomach: ‚Don’t be afraid, you will have enough food, have faith, I will prepare food for you’. When you worry your stomach cells start to worry too. They are around 10000000 workers, they start to get upset and the stomach gets ill. They shouldn’t know that there is no bread, there is no this and the other. In this same way, the illnesses are born in the mind and heart. There are negative thoughts being directed everywhere What will happen with Bulgaria? Do not be afraid , everything will get transformed, it will be 10 times better in 100 years’ time but now God has put the Bulgarians in a caldron and after that he will send good workers to them. What will happen with the Russian people? It will also be 10 times better in 100 years’ time . All peoples- and the Germans and the English, and the French will all be 10 times better. However, you will say: „Where would we find you in 100 years’ time? “ How interesting, where you will find me! Well now where did you find me? You often say: „We will be dying but let there be health.“ – There is no death but undressing. When a caterpillar gets undressed and turns into a butterfly , you ask yourselves: „Where did the caterpillar go?“ It is the very butterfly. After some time, you will be one working angel, you will have the ability to disappear and appear at your wish. You will say: „Such people are dragons - bad people. “ No, these people who have acquired this ability are the best people. Such was Christ, he appeared and disappeared. You will say: „It is not sure whether it is so.“ It is true that it is not known but this is in accordance with your assertions , while the truth in nature always remains as it is, I do not either exaggerate or lessen things. Joy (радост) in these times is particularly necessary. Never has the world been in such a need of joy as it is now. It is very easy to acquire this joy. You can acquire it as easily as you can easily blow in the pot. A Bulgarian young man went to study pottery from a master craftsman. Having worked for a few years, he told his master: „Elevate me to a calf so that I can start working on my own and in order to get married and be in order..“ – „All right, “ the master said. He made him a calf. The young man started to work by himself, he made clay but noticed that his pots cracked when they were placed in the oven. He goes to his master and asks him: „Why does my pottery crack? “ – „you haven’t learned the art well, you need to be an apprentice for three more years and then you will learn to work well,“ the master responded to him. He remained with the master for three more years and watched what he did. He noticed that before his master places the pottery in the oven, he takes the pots in his hands near the mouth and blows inside by saying: ‚Hu’. After which the pottery do not crack. „Well, said the young man, I had to stay an apprentice for three more years because of one blow, one ‚hu’. You have to know how to say this ‚hu’. You need to be able to adjust everything on its time, when there are conditions for that and when the Divine law is working, which is a great force in the world for the betterment and elevation of the human character. Therefore, when you gather say: ,Hu.“ You will say: „Well this is a stupid thing’. I will make one experiment with you. Whoever from you is under the weather, let him say three times a day ‚hu’ and see what results you will have in the course of a month. I have seen peasants who when making fire, which does not kindle bend, blow and say ‚hu’. You extinguish the candles and say ‚hu’ and the current Masters make their servants extinguish their candles. The old Bulgarians have known this art for long. Someone burns their finger, they blow on the area that is burnt and say ‚hu’ and it starts pulling through the burnt. Your heart starts hurting, say ‚hu’. You will say: This is stupid, let me see in the medical books what is written about this and that illness. “If you are rich, give your gift to the doctor but if you are poor try my advice. I offer you a medicine without money especially in the current situation of lack of doctors and dearness of life. I do not say anything against the doctors, to the contrary, they are very good people for when a man loses their faith in God and everything and says he is a realist a day comes when he gets seriously ill; he searches for help somewhere and where does he find it?– in the doctor. As soon as the doctor arrives, he asks him : ‚what is my situation, is there any hope? ’And he believes and does everything the doctor has said. This doctor deserves to be paid 10 leva and even more for that he has introduced faith in this house. We have to apply and increase our will. We have to resemble that American woman, who the doctor has told she will die. She called her husband and told him: „It is obvious I will die but I would like one promise from you: Not to get married after my death.“ Her husband replied: ‚I cannot give you such a promise. „ – „Well, then I will not die.“ And she really did not die. Do not lie the world but say: „I can“ and conjugate the verb ‚I can’. Noone dies, only a man who sins dies. That one who follows the Christ’s law does not die. There are no dead people, I haven’t met such ones but there are ill people. Tell me who has died from you? That one who hasn’t died has no right to lie that people die. What is this philosophy of Christianity: „We will die!“ we will not die but it has to be said: „ We will fall asleep, we will change“, this is already another thing. Christ says: rejoice (радвайте се) you who are free in the world because there is no death. Here, I prove this: I was crucified and I still talk to you. Therefore, with my Easter lecture, I want that you are not positive people with negative minds but positive people with positive minds. That which I assert can be proved by anyone when they do a small experiment and get convinced in the truth of my words. You say: ‚When we go in that world we will then see what is there’. Do not lie to yourselves, try now. You say: I cannot stand one or another person suffering and listen to how he sighs.“ Let him suffer, he is blessed. When he says ‚hu’ several times he will heal. This is the new teaching, new methods for understanding life. Do you know when a home is devoid of joy (радост), what a sad picture it represents, what spiritual impurities there are in it? In the spiritual world this spiritual matter can also get corrupted. And therefore, you should clean your minds and hearts in the way you clean your houses. Do not allow bad thoughts in your minds. For example, a woman lets in herself the thought that her husband goes after other women. Do not allow such thought, talk to your husband but throw the thought away from yourself, it doesn’t bring joy (радост). That Divine spirit that lives in us wants to bring us together, to love eachother wisely without doing evil. Someone will say: „How would we guess what this love is? “ When you enter a house and find the people sorrowful if they become joyful (радостни) after 5 minutes of your staying there, your love is then Divine. Therefore, Christ says: „Rejoice (радвайте се) and bring in this Love, which will elevate our souls and hearts.’ Then there will be no illnesses neither asthma or neurasthenia, neither gout and others. In the course of one year say the word „joy’(радост) ten times every morning and come to me in 6 months’ time to tell me what the effect of this word is. Every word, which you say has an effect, a force in itself. When you hear the word ‚fire’ what power it has! The word ‚hooray’, what power it has! Every word is a powerful force but it has to be applied. Christ says: Rejoice (радвайте се) because the power of joy is love. Once upon a time the preachers said that a man needs to be godly. How would you recognise the Christians? According to their deeds. – One day Nastradin Hodja goes to rob a shop and starts filing the key on the door. He is asked: ‚ What are you doing there? “ – „I am playing a kemancheh.“ – „Where is its voice that it cannot be heard? “ – „You will hear its voice tomorrow.’ Nastradin Hodja replied. You will hear the voice of what you are working on later, it has its power in one sense or another. If we bring that word ‚joy’ (радост) in ourselves, everyone will ask us: ‚ How did you acquire this power? ‘While now people say: „ The world is not good, people are sad.“ One day, my world gets muddy, I roll my sleeves up and say: „Now , I will enter my field, among my children and will work there.“ I have children too. Some will say: Mr Dunov does not have children, he does not know how they are brought up.“ Well, you bring them up a lot. You need to feed a body, heart, mind and soul, all this is necessary for you. Repeat the word ‚joy’ (радост) and you will see that there are other forces in the world. Then you will see that this, which I have been talking about is right. And so, Christ says: Rejoice (радвайте се), there is no death. Your future is great, your souls are predestined for one other Divine world. Rejoice (радвайте се), Christ says for I will send you light spirits. I understand under ‚light spirits’ those ones who will work over you and will create another culture. „In 2000 years’ time, you will see these angels come down and ascend to work on you. “ – this is written in the Scripture. This time has already come. The facts are always facts and what people think is another question. In the modern science, you can change a man’s mood in five minutes. For example, the magnetizers can when they put their hand through your left side , make you good while when they do this through your right side, they can make you bad. You will say: ‚this is through a suggestion.“ In order to suggest something to someone your words need to have power. The words ‚ suggestion’, hypnosis’ are often used. What is the hypnosis? It is a force, which you can use in good and bad sense. You can produce two opposite results in a small and big dose. If you say to your son: „ You will be good my son’ he will really become good. When a mother conceives, she should say: „I believe that I will give birth to a good child, I am happy that the child will be good, etc. What do modern women do? They try to abort, they take advice from doctors about the method of abortion but when you abort on the physical plane, the consequences are bad. Therefore, Christ says: Believe in the spirits, which I will send, they will rectify the world and your life will be sorted. Do not take your burden on yourselves, everything will change’. Now, I am leaving you with this word ‚rejoice’ („радвайте се“). Let your mind conceive it. Then you will connect with these Divine spirits. You will say: „Well, where do we see them from? “ A young woman creates an image of a beloved one before she falls in love and when she meets the young man, she finds that he is the one who corresponds to the image she has created and she starts loving him. If you repeat the word ‚ joy’ („радост“), only in this way will you attract Christ, you will know the great truths in life , you will understand that the words have a deep meaning in themselves. This is simple knowledge, which I am giving to you for free because you need it and I will not have any responsibility if you say that you have suffered. Apply this knowledge. Say the word ‚joy’ („радост“) 10 times a day without any doubt, go to work after that and see what its effect will be. Put the bread in your stomach and do not think about that, it till do its job. Say the word ‚joy’ („радост“) and your spirit will take its juices and you will be one powerful and strong spirit and when you come back from work say to God: „Thank You for this word.“ I would like all Bulgarians and the Bulgarian king, and priests and merchants and teachers, mothers and fathers to say this word "joy" (радост), and this call to be borne by all nations. Then the peace will come, and Christ will come to pass. Lecture, held on 15th April , 1917, Easter [1] This is the Bulgarian equivalent of ‚rejoice’. [2] Радост’ is the Bulgarian word for ‚joy’ [3] Ibid 2 [4] Ibid 2 [5] it is pronounced ‚radost’ [6] The Bulgarian letter ‚p’ means ‚r’ in English language [7] The Bulgarian letter ‚b’ means ‚’b’ in English too. [8] The Bulgarian letter ‚Д’ is ‚D’ in English [9] The Bulgarian letter ‚с’ is ‚s’ in English [10] The Bulgarian letter ‚T’ is also ‚t’ in English

Jacob and Esau “He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.” Genesis 28:12 Jacob and Esau: this is an interesting topic for discussion. Anyone who has read the Bible knows of these two characters. Jacob and Esau were two brothers: Jacob was the younger one and Esau was the older one. The age difference between them was small, for they were born only a few hours apart. There are seven characters that can be outlined in the story of Jacob and Esau. According to the prophecy, Jacob and Esau would become two different nations, of which the elder would serve the younger. Jacob and Esau jostled each other within their mother’s womb, thus causing her great discomfort. The story has it that Esau was the first one to come out, followed by Jacob whose hand was grasping onto his brother’s heel. They were very different in appearance: Esau was hairy while Jacob’s skin was smooth. In other words, Esau was manly while Jacob was feminine. From a physiological standpoint, Esau is a man of nature: he is straightforward, candid, and impulsive; he lives from day to day and does not value Life. He represents a lower culture. There are many people who are like Esau. After a good meal these people say, “Thank you, Lord, for giving us food. Tomorrow you will take care of us again.” They express thankfulness only in regard to their food. Jacob is feminine, but also bold, at the same time. He has some negative traits: he is cunning and deceptive. Jacob is like those moneychangers who gain from everything. Whatever he undertakes Jacob wants to come out a winner. According to Jewish law, Esau, being the firstborn, was entitled to his father’s blessing. However, Jacob harbored the desire to obtain his brother’s birthright. He was looking for an opportunity to make his wish come true, and soon he was presented with a chance to do that. One day Esau came in from the field, feeling famished and tired, and he saw that his brother, Jacob, was eating lentil stew. Esau asked his brother to let him have a pot of lentils. Jacob told him, “I will give you some, but if you sell me your birthright.” Esau begged him, “I will sell it to you, I swear, just give me food to eat. What good is the birthright to me if I am famished?” At this point of the story, there are two more characters that come into play: the mother, Rebecca, and the father, Isaac. The mother loved Jacob more, for he had taken after her in his thinking and in the aspirations of his heart. The father loved Esau more, for he was a natural man with common sense. The mother represents the mind in man, and the father represents the reason, which has reached its highest point of evolution with the human being. Jacob’s mother, just like Jacob, himself, wanted for him to obtain his brother’s birthright. But the father who loved Esau more thought that, by law, it was Esau’s right, being the firstborn, to receive his father’s blessing. As Esau’s father was growing old and his eyesight was weak, he called Esau and told him, “I am now an old man and don't know the day of my death. Now then, get your weapons—your quiver and bow—and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me. Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die.” Then Esau left to hunt some game and bring it to his father. However, Rebecca overheard what Isaac told his son Esau. She, then, went to Jacob and told him, “I overheard the conversation between your father and Esau, and I want you to listen to my advice. Go out to the flock and bring me two choice goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it. Then you will take it to your father to feast, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies.” Jacob said to his mother, “But Esau is a hairy man, and I’m a man with smooth skin. My father might touch me and then I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing.” His mother said, “Let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say.” So, Jacob went and got the goats and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it. Then Rebecca took Esau’s clothes and put them on Jacob. She covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins. This is how Jacob tricked his father into blessing him, instead of blessing Esau; and for this he later paid the consequences. All thoughts, feelings, and deeds, be they good or bad, bring forth their fruit. This is a law that any person can try out for himself. People of the 20th century do not recognize this law and live according to their own rules: they eat and drink and never even think about the consequences of their Life. Men and women live in discord, but expect to have good children, regardless. If their children do not turn out good they wonder whom they have taken after. It does not even occur to them that they, themselves, might be the reason. The Divine law states the following: in order to have good children the father and the mother must be in complete harmony with each other. This does not mean that they should be absolutely the same, but that they should have things in common, and that they should love each other and get along with each other. There are some subtle differences between men and women, but those differences are difficult to perceive. A number of famous philosophers, scholars, and writers have attempted to describe the difference between a man and a woman, but their attempts fail in the end. They can describe that difference to a certain extent, but never fully. Commonly, women have oval lines, whereas men have straight or angular lines. The oval lines render softness to one’s character, and the straight lines render firmness and sharpness. With men the chromatic scale is more prevalent than with women. In the story about Jacob and Esau we can see what advice the mother gave to her son. Rebecca made Jacob deceive his father, so that he could obtain his blessing. The fact that she gave Jacob such advice shows that she had deceived previously, in her past, as well. Someone says, “Today I lied.” This means that you have lied before, too. Lying was not born today. It has its roots in the distant past, from times immemorial. Who is the original source of lying: the human being or the animal? When did lying first appear in human life: during his ascent or during his descent? When he lied to his brother, Jacob was thirty-two years old; this is the period when a human’s character is formed. Therefore, Jacob was at an age when he consciously stole the blessing that belonged to Esau by right. Following his mother’s advice, Jacob fled to his uncle Laban to hide away from Esau and to avoid his fury. Jacob left his father’s home and set out on a journey. On the very first day of his journey, right after sunset, Jacob had a dream: “He saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to Heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.” God saw what Jacob did and gave him what he deserved. This shows that He can see all of man’s thoughts and desires; He notes everything and for each deed he gives out either a reward or a punishment. Jacob went to his uncle Laban’s home; Laban was a smart and practical man and he became Jacob’s teacher. In Laban’s home emerge three new characters: Laban, himself, and his two daughters- Leah, the older one, and Rachel, the younger one. On his way to his uncle’s home Jacob met Rachel by the well; he helped her get water, then kissed her and told her that they were related. From this moment on he fell in love with her. Being a practical man, Laban asked Jacob to name what payment he would like to receive for his work during his stay with Laban. Jacob answered that he loved Rachel and he would like to ask for her hand in marriage in return for his work. The name “Rachel” is very meaningful; this name stands for the sublime ideal in the human being. Laban promised that he would give Rachel to Jacob, but on the condition that Jacob would work for him for seven years. Jacob agreed to this condition. When the seven years were complete, however, Laban gave Jacob his older daughter, Leah, for a wife, instead of giving him Rachel. It was not before the morning after the wedding ceremony that Jacob found out that he had been deceived. He asked his uncle, “Why did you deceive me and not give me Rachel as you had promised?” Laban replied, “According to our laws the older sister should be the first one to marry, and only then can the younger one marry. I will give you Rachel in marriage, as well, if you work for me for seven more years.” This is the law of retribution: Jacob deceived his father and his brother, and for that he, in turn, was deceived by Laban. He had to serve for fourteen years for his two lies: seven years for lying to his father, and seven years for lying to his brother. Many people think that Jacob’s mistakes do not pertain to them: they think that they never lie. For as long as man is on Earth, he is bound to play some role: either the role of Isaac or Rebecca, or the role of Jacob or Esau, or the role of Leah, Rachel or Laban. These seven different characters play their specific roles. People often sell their thoughts and wishes, and, in doing so, they are like Laban who sold his two daughters so that he could profit. The world is like a stairway on which people descend and ascend, lie to each other, persecute each other, chase each other, love each other, and hate each other. Those who love each other cannot marry each other. Instead of marrying for Love, people marry for money. Leah represents a woman who was married for money, and not for Love. Jacob had to marry Leah first before he could marry Rachel. The same thing happens in the Life of people today. A young man loves a young woman, but he cannot marry her, for they are both poor. Not being able to fulfill his desire, he meets another young woman, who is rich and supports him through his studies abroad. He promises her that he will marry her. This second woman is Leah; he marries her after a while and leaves the first one, telling her, “You are beautiful, good and noble, but in this world one cannot live on beauty and nobleness alone.” Laban was a smart man, but Jacob knew the art of becoming rich. After having served his uncle for fourteen years for his two daughters, he decided to stay and work for him for another seven years so that he could save something for himself, too. This way he acquired a great fortune: sheep, goats, and camels. When the strong sheep and goats conceived, Jacob would plant white-striped trees in front of their watering holes and when the animals looked at them they gave birth to striped and speckled foals. Afterwards he would separate his sheep and goats from Laban’s ones. Thus Jacob became wealthy and acquired many herds, servants and maidservants, camels and donkeys. Finally, after having spent twenty-one years with Laban, Jacob returned to his brother. Many people wish that they could be rich, but becoming rich is an art. If someone wants to be rich, he should be bold like Jacob. Jacob had some bad traits, but God put him through great trials and suffering to make him nobler. Many times would Jacob lament his fate! Even though he was an adult already, he had to tend his uncle’s flocks and he had to answer to him for every lost kid or lamb. Through his suffering and trials Jacob learned the art of contemplation. He made a connection with God; he prayed to Him and talked to Him until one day he decided to round up his wives, sons and daughters, as well as all his possessions, and leave Laban’s house to go back to his father’s home, and to his brother Esau. He fled from Laban and started his journey back home. When he approached his father’s home Jacob sent messengers to his brother while he, himself, spent the night in prayer. During that time a man came to him and he wrestled with this man all night, until dawn. Seeing that he could not overpower him, the man touched the socket of Jacob’s hip, and pushed him aside, saying, “Let me go, for it is daybreak already.” Jacob answered, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” “Who are you? What is your name?”, the man asked. “Jacob”, he answered. “From now on you will not be named Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God, and with men, and you have overcome”. It turned out that the man that Jacob wrestled all night was an Angel. What does the name “Jacob” mean? It means Opposer. He stood his ground, i.e. he resisted both God and men. His name had to change because his character had changed. If a man’s name does not change, his character will not change either. In order for man to transform his face, he needs to transform his character first and then his name will change, too. Man’s form and name are one and the same thing in the other world. The number of letters in one’s name, as well as the order in which the vowels and consonants are arranged, are things that have influence on man’s character and Power, as well as his soul’s qualities. For example, the name Rebecca – the mother of Jacob and Esau- has two opposite meanings that are related to the two peoples that came from her. The peoples then were on the path of involution, whereas the peoples today are on the path of evolution. However, to this day there still exist two cultures: the culture of intuition, and the culture of pure reason. These two cultures can only be reconciled if the currents causing them are reconciled first. This is all too natural! When you want to classify a plant first you need to study it closely: you need to study its root, its stem, its leaves, etc. When you study man you can clearly see the two currents in him, i.e. the two different expressions: that of Jacob and that of Esau. Esau represents the course of human nature; Esau did not value his birthright and sold his blessing for naught. He said, “What good is this blessing to me? Life is on Earth only; everything that exists is on Earth only. Only today is important, and so there is no need for me to prepare the conditions for tomorrow.” Esau did not even think that the past life and the present one are connected. The present life is a result of the past one, and the future life is regarded as a consequence of the present one. Remember this: man is not on Earth for the first time. If this was your first time on Earth, how, then, would you explain the contradictions in your character? If you come out of God for the first time then you should be pure, you should be able to know Him. Is this so in reality? Most people do not know God because they have strayed from the right path. Therefore, man did not just come out of God, but has been created thousands of years ago. Someone was in prison, but now is given back his Freedom, and everyone says about him, “This man has been released from prison and is entering Life.” Is this his first time in Life? He was in Life already before he was thrown into prison. Man will come in and out of prison many times before he learns something and cultivates a character. When you read “Les Miserables” you see that Jean Valjean spent some time in prison, but there he acquired something valuable: he cultivated his character there. Every person enters Life after having spent some years in prison, i.e. in the lower spheres of the Astral world. The fact that he was in prison means that he needed to undergo some schooling so that he could cultivate character and become a better person. Once out of prison, man still needs to work on himself for a long, long time in order to build character. Observe the characteristic traits of those children who were born fresh out of this prison: at first they are selfish and they think only about themselves. Give an apple to a third-year old and watch his reaction. He will hide the apple at first to keep it for himself. It takes a long time of teaching to cultivate nobility and tenderness into a child’s character. Yet, some children are impervious to all mentoring efforts and remain rough and selfish. You might object that children inherit their qualities from their parents. Well, where did their parents acquire their qualities? Thinking in this way is neither a science, nor a philosophy. Man’s bad desires and deeds are due to misunderstanding things. Esau and Jacob wanted the same things but differed in their methods of acquiring those things. Jacob used violence, but he had to undergo great suffering to learn that his method was wrong. Similarly, some people attain their desires through suffering that make them better people. Other people, on the other hand, do not need suffering. They have a different way of attaining their desires and becoming better people. A sculptor needs to hammer at a statue for a long time before it is finished. Nature, however, does not use a hammer, but employs different means to work on its statues. Hammering away also constitutes a culture of some sort, but this culture is lowly and coarse. Nature has its own culture that is far better. For example, the ripening of fruits is a kind of culture, but Nature does not use a hammer. You should apply the same method, for this is the only way in which you can attain your desires. There are other ways, too, but they involve big expenditures and great difficulties. Give way to the good urges in you and do not worry about how they will be realized. Leave them to nature and it will take care of everything. If a sculptor is working on you give him a hammer to chip away as he knows best; if nature is working on you let it manifest freely. When you study yourself you will notice that some days God works on you and other days you work on yourself and this way there is a constant rotation. You will work for eight hours and then let God do the work for the rest of the time. It is through changing of work, precisely, that man is inspired by beautiful impulses and is enabled to express himself as someone great and talented. When man sleeps God works hard on him. This is why when man gets ready to go to bed he should put aside all his “backpacks” and relax so that the Spirit can work on him freely. When man wakes up he can pick up his “backpacks” again and he can go on with his work. Dreams have an instructional effect on people. Through having a bad dream one can correct a wrongdoing of his. One’s consciousness is awakened and he sees that he has strayed in a certain respect. The better one sleeps the healthier he becomes. Do the following experiment: in the course of one month try to sleep calmly without any disturbance in your thoughts or feelings and you will see that by the end your overall condition will have improved. If you suffer from neurasthenia, you will be cured. If you want to be healthy, stay away from bad thoughts and desires. People create their own sufferings and difficulties. When they see that an acquaintance of theirs has advanced and has taken a higher position they look for ways to slander him and take him down from his position. The meaning of Life is not in looking for the wrong in other people or in taking them down from their high position; the meaning of Life is in the work that you can do. If you are a sculptor you must perform well the work that you were meant to do. If you are asleep let nature do its work freely: such a sleep is Divine. If one sleeps like that he becomes relaxed and receives God’s blessing. Jacob’s dream was also Divine, and Jacob fell asleep to wake up thinking of Rachel. It was the thought of Rachel that gradually transformed the practical and sly Jacob into a nobler person. Before he started thinking of Rachel Jacob would work for money; as soon as he started thinking of her he was ready to work for free. And so, if people ask when this world will become a better place I will say this: The world will become a better place when all people- teachers, priests, preachers, mothers and fathers- start working for free. Everyone should work freely, out of Love. If one does not serve God, he cannot become a better person. In this same way Jacob understood what it meant to serve God, i.e. to serve Love. “Where can we find God”, you ask. You can find Him in Rachel, for she represents Love. Human character is tested through Rachel, i.e. through Love. A Frenchman spent many years in Africa and made a great fortune. Finally, he decided to go back to France to spend the rest of his Life there. He had two cousins living there and he intended to live with them, for he did not want to marry. In order to choose with whom he should stay he decided to test them first to see which one would prove to be a better and selfless person. He brought his two cousins together and told them, “I was rich and I earned a lot of money in Africa, but then I lost everything and here I am now, coming back to Paris to die in my hometown. Which one of you, two, would be willing to have me live with you?” One of them answered first and said, “Come and live with me for a while.” However, after the very first week this cousin told him, “You need to look for another place to live, for you cannot stay with me any longer.” The man went to his other cousin who told him, “You can stay with me for as long as you wish, brother. My home is your home: you can have and use everything as if it was yours.” After a few months had passed the man decided to reveal his true situation to his cousin and told him, “I wanted to test the two of you and find out which one is a true man so that I can stay and live with him. You were the one who showed selflessness and Love for me. I am rich; I did not lose any of my fortune and what I have I will leave to you.” When he learned about the man’s true situation the first cousin went to his relative, whom he had earlier told to leave his home, apologized and invited him to go back and stay with him for as long as he wished. “It’s too late now”, responded the rich relative. The day will come when God will appear before each one of you in the form of a poor widow, or a poor young man or some suffering soul and he will put you to the test to see if you are ready to accept Him with Love and selflessness. He will test you to see how true you are to your ideal. This is the only way in which you will understand the deep meaning of Life, just like Jacob understood the meaning of the tall ladder on which God’s Angels descended and ascended. Today this ladder is bigger and is more branched out. I wish you all to see this ladder and when you come to the first ladder I wish you to understand the meaning of the earthly life and the meaning of the sufferings that you were given. Sufferings are but the shell that contains the blessings of Life. Just like a seed is enveloped inside its shell to protect the nutritious germ so do sufferings envelop all the blessings, and so man can receive them only when he is able to use them wisely. This is why he, who is looking to find happiness and bliss in the world, must go through suffering first. Christ says, “Those who have ears to listen should listen.” And here is what I say: He who does not believe in my words shall try them first. Once he has undergone trials and sufferings he will understand that they contain the blessings of Life. Jacob had to pay for one lie with twenty-one years of service to Laban, and Moses paid for one murder with no less than forty years of service to the Jewish people. Every wrong and every crime will be atoned for through suffering. Knowing this, a woman should not wonder why her husband is treating her badly, for at some time in the past it was her who had treated him badly. Likewise, the maid should not wonder why her mistress is treating her with such cruelty, for at some point in the past it was her who had treated her mistress badly. This is the law of karma. If you trace the history of mankind, of peoples, of societies, or of families, you will see that this law works everywhere systematically and relentlessly. If you want to have good sons and daughters in the future you need to apply the law of Love. Karma is resolved only through Love. Jacob had twelve sons but only Joseph was born by the law of Love. Jacob worked for seven years for Laban, and after seven years he married Rachel whose only son was Joseph. If one is able to serve with Love for seven years he will give birth to Joseph. If one marries in the common manner, with no Love, he will have Leah whom he will not love and who will bear him many sons. The law of reincarnation is a law through which man can atone for and free himself of the wrongs of his past. The human mind and the human heart are born and reborn following the same law. One American writer once described the day when his mind became clear. This clarity brought him great jubilation. Reaching such a state is but a moment of new birth. This man’s joy was as great as the joy a mother feels after giving birth to a son or a daughter. Just like a child cries when it is born, so does every man cry when his heart and mind are awakened. Great is the moment when the human heart takes the wheel in its own hands and starts directing the fate of its own life. What Jacob saw in his dream several thousand years ago also pertains to people today, i.e. to people of the 20th century. Today God’s Angels are already descending and ascending; a new culture is being born and people and nations are being brought together in a new way. The sufferings that modern people undergo show that they are in the state of a woman who is about to give birth. As soon as she gives birth, the Angels start reincarnating into human minds and hearts one after another. God, who sends his Angels, follows the consequences closely. Every person will be given the chance to hear God speak. If you go out early in the morning in spring, at the time when nature is waking up and flowers are blooming, and if you go deep inside yourself you will be able to hear the soft voice of God. If your hearing is well developed, you will be able to hear gentle, barely audible music, which will bring peace, tranquility and joy into your soul. If you go into the forest you will be able to hear the soft rustle of the leaves that is transformed into a gentle and pleasant melody. The better developed one’s hearing is, the greater the chance that he may be able to hear the soft voice of God. He does not say much: He may say one word only, but it will be remembered throughout the ages. If a young man and a young woman cannot forget the words that they have told or written to each other how much more memorable are the words of God! Is there a young man or a young woman who has forgotten the words “I love you” that they have said to each other once? A young man told me the story about an experience he once had. For some reason he once reached a state of great despair in his Life and he decided to commit suicide. At this moment he overheard the soft voice of his friend that was coming in from the next room. The young man listened closely to the song that was reaching his ears, and he clearly made out the words, “I am only thinking of you and I shall never forget you”. These words caused such a change in him that he gave up on his decision to commit suicide, for he told himself, “There is One Who is thinking of me. This has the power to make me want to live and enjoy everything that I have been given.” Since you know that there is someone who is thinking of you, you should not lose heart. If even one thought alone can make you love Life, then you must love it all the more knowing about all the care, effort and work that is being done for you by not only one, but by many beings. Listen carefully to the words that each person speaks to you so that you can see into their meaning and understand the appeal of the human soul that calls out for liberation. If you hear someone complain about Life and say that he wished he could die you must know that this person wants to die like a tree blossom dies, but first he must set fruit and his fruit must ripen after some time. If you look at it this way, death can be seen as a symbol; it is a passing from one Life into another. When one dies, he is born again; when one is being born, he dies again. Therefore if someone wants to live and be free, he must renounce the everyday cares of Life. This does not mean that you should not think. Think without worrying. Everyone must decide on the program for his Life and then should strive to realize it: and all this without worrying. If you have a father like Jacob, and a mother like Rebecca, you should tell them, “Please, do not teach me to lie, for I don’t need such a lesson.” If you have an uncle like Laban, tell him not to abuse his neighbours’ Love. Many young women and men are unhappy because their parents are against their choice. Let everyone choose for oneself the young woman or the young man that correspond to one’s own heart. If they make a mistake they will suffer for it and will correct it for themselves, in which case they will be suffering for love, at least. No one in this world has been free of suffering. Suffering for one’s ideas is meaningful and elevates man. It is preferable that one should suffer for some idea than to not have any sufferings have been justified. However, if her children die then her sufferings are wrong. In this same way man’s thoughts and desires are born, then live for a while, and then die. A life in which thoughts and desires die right after being born is a meaningless life. Give your good thoughts and desires the chance to live for a long time and bear fruit that you and your neighbours can enjoy. Man has a soul that wants to love; man has a mind and a heart that want to evolve correctly. What will become of you if you kill the life of your mind, heart and soul? What Life is the one in which the mind, heart and soul are not a part of it? Express yourselves freely without lying, stealing or murdering, because everyone receives his due. Every twisted or wrong thought that man gives birth to will follow him throughout his whole Life: on Earth and in Heaven. You need to work correctly and wisely for yourselves, as well as for your neighbours and your people. What might happen to one nation or another should not bother you. Soul is more important than nation. Someone who brings peace and wellbeing to people is worth more than a whole nation that brings sorrow, sufferings and destruction to humankind. Where is the great Roman Empire today? It fell apart, but the Roman people did not disappear. Back then there lived one true Man in the world and they crucified Him side by side with the vagabonds, but His ideas are still alive and govern the world to this day. This man was worth more than the whole Roman Empire. This great man was Jesus Christ. Today all Bulgarians want to know what will happen to Bulgaria. If Bulgaria follows God’s ways then nothing bad will happen to it. Everyone should take care of one’s individual development and should give way to his good thoughts and desires, and should gradually get rid of fear in the process. The better person you become the lesser fear you will have. If you have Jacob’s character you will inevitably suffer. Rebecca, Laban and all other characters reap the fruit of their doings. Today most people are holding the keys to the material world in their hands and wherever you go they will tell you: You must pay for your expenses. Likewise, when someone preaches he also wants to be paid. There needs to exist at least one calling for which people would work for free. There is no calling more sacred than that to serve God with Love. He who serves God always speaks the Truth: the world needs such people. Such people come out of Rachel. This is what is required of women today. Can you play Rachel’s role and tend the sheep like she did? Can you live among shepherds and be respectable? How many men should a woman have and how many women should a man have? They should have one man and one woman. In other words: Man should have one mind and one heart. Two minds and two hearts bring ambiguity into man, and all ambiguity causes harm. One mind, one heart and one will lead to Good. When a woman falls out of love with her husband, her wings fall off. When a man falls out of love with his woman and desires another one, he is committing adultery. Love must be pure and selfless. Laban, too, loved Jacob, but he also used him. Women should strive to be like Rachel and give birth to Joseph. If men and women give birth to sons like Joseph they will be chosen men and women, and they will give rise to a chosen people. “God’s Angels descend and ascend on it.” They ask the Bulgarian young women, “Are you ready to give birth to sons like Joseph?” And then they ask the Bulgarian young men, “Are you ready to give birth to sons like Joseph? Are you ready to live well? If you are ready, we will come to Bulgaria.” Joseph came to Egypt and saved its people from perishing, he saved them from starvation. “When will the Angels come into to the world”, you ask. This depends on you. They may come in an hour, but they may come after many years. God’s Angel will come down to you when you allow your soul and your Spirit to express themselves. This Angel will know you and you will know Him. “But we are sinful.” Do not think about your sins. We do not deal with past things. We do not deal with the present, either. The past and the present are important only as much as they create the conditions for the future. A great future is awaiting you, and you should work towards it. If someone brings a dirty shirt to me I will not ask why the shirt is dirty or whose it is, but I will put it in the wash basin, pour some hot water on it and wash it until it is clean again. If your shirt is clean you should keep it this way, and should make sure that it does not lose its cleanliness. Aspire to that Love that cleans and elevates the human heart. Who cleaned and elevated Jacob? His beloved Rachel did that. God told him, “I am giving you Rachel to love, and you should not think about other women.” Jacob, whose name today is Israel, now lives in a different way than before. For this reason he ranks among the chosen ones, among the learned people of higher culture who bring Light to the world. These people have sacrificed themselves for mankind. All people today are gathered at the bottom of the ladder and are looking up to its top from where God is asking, “How do you intend to live now that you are descending and ascending on this ladder? Are you going to keep on lying to your brothers and sisters, and to your mothers and fathers? Are you going to be seeking after other men and women or are you going to love only those who have been given to you by God and who provide the conditions for your evolution?” Then He turns to the mothers and the fathers and asks them, “Are you going to keep on selling your sons and daughters?” “We have suffered a lot, oh Lord.” God has no pity for people who suffer. He is happy, for he knows that they are about to give birth. God says, “I am as happy when I look at the blooming flowers in the gardens as I am when I look at your children, playing, frolicking and enjoying God’s world.” It is a great thing when man lives for Love and enjoys the world. Then the Life of all people- men, women and children- will turn into songs and prayers. The world will become a garden of paradise. This shall happen, but there is one thing that is required of man: he should keep descending and ascending on the ladder, whose top rests in Heaven. He, who stays by this ladder, will benefit from Life’s blessings. He is like those trees that grow along rivers. They use the water from the rivers to grow well. The ones that are far from rivers are doomed to perish. The Divine blessings: Love, Wisdom, Truth, and Justice descend on the Divine ladder. Be alert so that you may benefit from them. You need to carve out the path for at least one rivulet in your gardens so that you can receive at least one stream of this great abundance. This is the only way in which you can transform your Life and enter the new that is already arriving into this world. The new is like the month of May. Everything has come to life and has broken out of winter hibernation and is out of its cocoon. People, too, are already coming out of their tombs; they are rising from the dead. It is said in the Scriptures, “Come out, all of you who are dead, so that we may enter, who are alive.” What is the meaning of this verse? It means: Come out all you dead, who are alive so that we may enter: we, the alive ones, who are dead, so that we may rejoice. Do not worry if you are of the alive-dead or of the dead-alive, for it is good for both sides. Anyone who comes out of the tomb is already pure, and anyone who enters will be cleansed and will return again, but this time pure and renewed. Enjoy Life and sing praises for being alive. In the story about Jacob and Esau I outlined seven characters, of which only Rachel merits emulation. I now wish all women to be like her; I wish you to bring beautiful and great ideals to the men, women, and children around you. I also wish all men to be like Rachel. Aspire for the new Teaching that Jesus Christ brings through the woman. This Teaching will dry the tears from the eyes of the suffering ones. What kind of woman am I talking about? I am talking about the kind of woman who has Rachel’s character. Such a woman will bloom and set fruit and her fruit will ripen. However, the one who has Leah’s character will have to be transplanted time and over again. Women must save the world and they will. Only mothers can save the world. If anyone thinks that the world can be saved and improved outside of the mother is fooling himself and is wrong. All priests, preachers, teachers, and governors should unite around the mother. The most sublime word, the strongest word in the world is the word “mother”. The words “God” and “Lord” mean “Divine Mother”. All people talk about Love without knowing it. We are talking about Rachel’s love that requires that man should be ready for sacrifice. Without this Love Nature will remain a secret for man. Like man opens up to the one, whom he loves, so does nature open up its secret hiding places for the ones, who love it and whom it loves. He who carries inside the key of Love can penetrate into the great secrets of Being. In conclusion I will say this: In today’s world there are six forces at work: Rebecca, Isaac, Jacob, Esau, Laban and Leah. They create the difficulties and the sufferings for mankind and make it weak. A new force is now coming into the world: Rachel. She brings Light to the human mind. One appeal can be heard everywhere: let women move forward to the frontline! When men move back to the rear and women move forward to the front the world will become a better place. God, the Angels and the saints have great faith in women. I, too, have great faith in them. Therefore, the world will become a better place when men become women’s beloved sons and brothers. This lecture was delivered by the Master on April 8, 1917 in Sofia. Source

Righteousness and Salvation “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” Romans: 10:10 I shall dwell upon the words righteousness and salvation. I would like you to apply these words and to try experimenting with them. Every woman strives to attain independence. While still single, she craves to get away from her father’s house, to break free from her mother and father, to become a mistress in a house of her own. This striving is natural and Divine. When she gets married and enters her new life, she brings her dowry into her house – shirts, pillows, bed clothes; she gives away some of these; she organises her house and feels thrilled with this new house so appropriately tidied by her. Indeed, unhappy are the homeless women. A person who has no home is a person who has no character. The body is the house of the human soul in spiritual life. According to the same principle, just like with women, the soul should enter the body and organise it. Some people want to get rid of their bodies and they say, ‘When will I break loose from my body?’ There are bodies out of which one can break loose. These are the unhealthy damp cellars without windows, where people get rheumatism. Getting out of them does not mean that we have to get out of the healthy houses. Paul says in the Scripture that there is a home made not by human hand. The concept righteousness derives from the expression to make things right. Which human being is righteous? The one that does not sin. But in order not to sin, one should have knowledge, should understand the meaning of things around oneself, and should make the right choice. You strive for freedom. Each woman should have this freedom, but provided that she is able to use it to build the happiness and health of her husband, of her children. No husband, to a woman who is not free, is happy. Do you think that ill women are free? Women, whose hearts and minds are constantly disturbed, are not free. I do not mean that your mind should not be excited. Disturbance and excitement are two different concepts. Minds and hearts may only be excited on the surface, but should not be disturbed at the bottom in order not to be troubled. The latter is an indication of their shallowness, of only 10 centimetres depth. I ask you what can you do at a depth of 10 centimetres? If we take a cloth of 10 centimetres length, what can we make out of it? First and foremost for women is to have a deep heart – of at least 10 kilometres depth. Anybody trying to disturb you at such a depth will surely get drowned. What do little children do when they come across a shallow puddle of about 10 centimetres depth? They get into the water, disturb it, and enjoy it. Men, when they come across such shallow women, disturb them and feel satisfied. Then women in their turn say, ‘We are very unhappy’. There is a good deal of turmoil in shallow waters – frogs croak there all summer long – a lot of commotion and noise, which abates only in winter. This is to say that your hearts should not be shallow; there should not be any commotion in there. I ask you what is the cure for such a puddle of stagnant water? You will pour a stream of fresh water into this puddle; you will dig a gutter so that the fresh water can wash the entire residue from the past away. Christ’s teaching is a fresh stream, which should enter your hearts and wash them; after cleaning them, it will leave the residue to fertilise your fields. You may ask how to dig such a spring. The spring of fresh water will find you on its own accord. Christ told the Samaritan, ‘The water I shall give you, will be the spring of life, running constantly within you.’ Hence this spring should be understood to mean salvation. When a person finds oneself in a desert, where there is no water, one’s mouth becomes dry, one feels irresistibly thirsty and water is the only salvation, otherwise one is doomed to drop dead. Just like the traveller in the desert, many women die of thirst with their camels – with their baggage. You have heard the word spring. When you go out for a walk outside Sofia, I would like you to try the water of such springs. But the high life ladies, and indeed most of the people, go for a walk not farther away than Boris’s Gardens1, at that they walk along the same alleys every time, where there is nothing else but dust. They inhale as much dust as possible and when they come back home they say, ‘What a nice walk we had!’ I say you just filled yourselves with dust. People, when they adopt Christ’s teaching, often use the same trite phrases and afterwards they say, ‘I got a headache from listening’. This is because you inhaled dust. This is not a place for righteousness and salvation. The words righteousness and salvation have seven meanings. I now talk about one of the meanings and if you understand it, I shall then move on to the other meanings. There comes a friend and says, ‘Let’s go for a walk, but not very far away, because I have a headache, I have palpitations, I am not used to it’. This shows that you are a person with short legs, while the Truth needs long legs to walk. Thus you will come, involuntarily, to a situation where you will commit a crime. As soon as one’s legs shorten, a person starts thinking of devilish things. Some say, ‘I can’t go to Vitosha2.’ Now, if you can’t go to Vitosha, how will you go to Christ? Christ’s Path is narrow and steep; it is a Path of the sensible human will. Tell yourselves in your mind, ‘I will go with my friends to Vitosha!’ If you can’t go in real life, at least follow them mentally; travel the whole way with them in your thoughts! This is Life’s philosophy. When you meet your beloved, before the marriage, they call you angles, they love you, they can die for you, they can’t live without you, they kneel before you, and what a weeping, sobbing and pretence there is. However, this is not because they can’t do without you; this is a way to impress you and they want to say, ‘Let them see what the Lord is like!’ When they get married, women start kneeling. This is your philosophy. Rather than the men kneeling, it is you who kneel. Why so? Because your minds and hearts are shallow. Do not get me wrong! If I take a measure and try to fathom the depth of your minds and hearts, I will merely ascertain one fact, as it is. The words I say to you, I interpret them, I use them figuratively, do not take them in their everyday meaning. Your hearts can be shallow and deep at the same time. If residue continuously enters your hearts, the bottom will be filled and they will become shallow. There are lakes, which have become shallow, but there are lakes, which have become deeper… Why should women feel a desire to see men kneeling before them? To kneel, this is the law of selflessness, of self-sacrifice. The angles, formed when kneeling, show that one is ready to go low down and sacrifice oneself. When you stop and sacrifice yourself for somebody else, it means that you kneel before that person. But when a lad kneels before a girl, he lies to her. Tell me how many Bulgarian girls there are who have an ideal relationship with their husbands and have never exchanged bad words? I shall leave you to think it over and to find the Truth on your own. The Truth must surface – nothing more and nothing less! I do not want to present this Truth to you so glamorously, as I do not want it to dazzle you. I put it through many clouds, to make it acceptable to your eyes, thus wanting to spare you the illusions, which cause everyday unhappiness, because these illusions take you away from God. When God sent one woman or one man to the Earth, He gave them a budget. It is unfair if somebody eats up your budget. No one has the right to take it from you, unless you give it voluntarily. You tell somebody, ‘You make no sacrifices for me.’ There is no need for anyone to make sacrifices for you, because if a person makes a sacrifice for you, in order to elevate you, such a person will go down. This is the Divine law – one is going up, while another one is going down. If the man is going down, the woman is going up; if the woman is going up, the man is going down. Well now, when you walk you cast an anchor, catch the man and keep him down, so that neither he nor you go up. You stop at one place and keep looking at each other. Such are contemporary women – they stop their men and do not let them go up. This accounts for why you sleep – since you cannot go to the other world, you cannot go up or go down. When you are asked why you sleep, you answer, ‘To go to the Lord’. When you say, ‘I slept fine’, this is so because you were up, but your impression from there is flattened, and there is only a shadow of something pleasant which stays with you. Sometimes you say, ‘I did not sleep well, I had bad dreams’. This indicates that you must have stopped your man from something. This unnatural situation is sometimes the result of utter self-interest, which is found with women. Self-interest generates self-interest, unhappiness generates unhappiness, and grief generates grief. When I talk about suffering and unhappiness, I mean grief as a wrapping of the Divine Truth. And contemporary people wrap grief in joy and, thus they sweeten it from the outside. There are such pills – coated in sugar, but bitter inside. The Lord, now, supports neither homeopathy nor alopathy. The former cures with small doses of bitter powders, so that these can be effective; while the latter – with big doses of bitter powders; and there is no more pain. When one is healthy, one needs no pills. I know many people, who, every now and then, take automatically a pill of aspirin or quinine, not to fall ill. Thus, they impress on themselves the thought that they may fall ill. Keep telling yourselves, one word every day, each of the words said should be positive. This will improve your situation. All of you who listen to me, please make the following small experiment, and I allow you one year for this, and afterwards you will be free: the first six months will be positive – you will plough, will sow, will reap, and the other six months will be passive – you will be gathering new energy. Don’t you doubt that everybody can do what I say! It’s ridiculous of you to say that you cannot do it. Some day I will gather small children and I will make an experiment with them and I will prove small children can do what you can’t; small children will do it, because they have greater faith. You may say, ‘We may deceive ourselves’. You may deceive yourselves the first year, but you won’t deceive yourselves in the second year. You should dispose of the thought that you may deceive yourselves. There are no deceits where the Lord works and you should know this line, ‘All that will happen to those who love the Lord, is for their good.’ You will adopt this motto: ‘Whatever happens to us, the Lord will convert it for the better.’ And then let all the bad thoughts, bad desires come, let all bad people take a stand against you; you should fear not! There should be no fear, keep fear away from you! I shall now dwell on the verb can. What experiment have you done so far? You used it only in the first person singular, ‘I can’. From now on you shall have to use it in all the forms: ‘I can, you can, he can, she can, we can, you can, they can’. When you come across any obstacle, you will say to yourself, inside your soul, ‘I can, we can, it can be done! It is me who can. It is you, Lord, inside me, within my soul, who can. Your Great Spirit, that guides me, can!’ You will then use the three forms in the plural too. Your faith and your Purity will help everybody who is up there to join efforts to implement the Divine idea in your life. In this Path it will take Divine patience and persistence until Light takes the upper hand within you. This experiment you shall have to do any time when you feel weak. You will do it between 4 and 7 o’clock in the morning. Let those of you who can, get up in the morning 4 o’clock sharp and willingly do this experiment. When the Sun rises in the morning you will say: (in the first person singular), ‘I can! – Let my Sun rise in my soul like this. (in the second person singular), ‘You can! – Let God’s Sun rise in my soul like this. (in the third person singular), ‘He/she can! – Let the Sun of my spirit rise like this. (in the first person plural), ‘We can! – Let the Sun of our Angels rise like this. (in the second person plural), ‘You can! – Let the Sun of the Great Lord of Peace rise in our souls like this. (in the third person plural), ‘They can! – Let the Sun of all Suns rise in our spirits like this. Six Suns should rise within you like this. You should dwell for four minutes on each Sun; altogether twenty-four minutes shall be spent on the rising of the six Suns. The rule that you will have to observe is as follows: you will get up quietly, calmly and after washing your face in the bathroom, you will be quiet not experiencing a single disturbance – you should fear nothing. You may not feel quite well while getting up; you may feel as if the world is wrong. But you should stand up and say the above words quietly – everybody to themselves. You will take a notebook, and each morning for six months running, you will write down at what time you got up and how many times you were late. Having uttered these words you will feel something pleasant in the pit of your stomach and your spirit will be elevated. You need six years to get to know how these Suns rise. Keep doing this experiment for six months and please share and recommend this experiment to some of your female friends. You will start on 6th of April. Some may ask whether it is possible to get up so early and so on. You should not entertain such thoughts! You will put down in your notebooks what the weather was like and there should be separate columns for: clear, cloudy, rainy or windy weather. All weather conditions are favourable. If it is rainy or cloudy, do not ever complain during these six months. If it is rainy, you will say, ‘The weather today is rainy – God purifies it and the fields will yield better crops.’ You will try to apply all of this. Moreover, you will require that your friends make a promise to do it. During the first month, when you say all the six points, you will emphasise the first one most; during the second month you will again say all the six points, but you will lay the emphasis on the second one and so on. I want you to be quiet, tranquil and the blessing that will come will be as much as you need. The rain, when falling, will give each plant as much moisture as it needs. I want you to generate a favourable wave and you will try to learn the lesson from everything that happens to you during these six months. You will try to see the good side of the unpleasant things and to find out the benefit. You will say, ‘It will be for the better for those who love the Lord!’ Then you will use the following sentences: I believe in You, Lord, who spoke in the past. I believe in You, Lord, who is speaking to me now. I believe in You, Lord, who will speak to me in the future. Let Your Light descend upon all of us. Let Your Name be glorified. Let Your Kingdom come. Let Your Will be done on the Earth, the way it is done up there in Heaven. In the daytime, if you are inspired to read a psalm or anything else, read, but only if you really feel an urge deep down in yourself. Having read the above mentioned sentences, think about things that can elevate you, think of everything that is most beautiful in the world and you will see that the nicest pictures will be given to you. This is the only way to rectify your past and to lay the pre-conditions for good circumstances in your future. This is the way along which you will be able to strengthen your will and to ennoble your mind and heart. The world, of course, will follow the same course but everything will turn out for the better. There will be moments during these six months when you will feel deficient in salt; you will then use the following sentence: ‘Lord, warm my heart with Your Love!’ If your mind goes dim at times, you will say, ‘Lord, enlighten my mind with Your Spirit!’ or ‘Lord, through Your Spirit, grant Light to my mind!’ Then keep staying quiet; perhaps one hour, two hours, three or four hours may pass, but anyway you will get the effect. After the six Suns rise one after another, results will come. During these six months you will try to be on good terms with your husbands, children and people surrounding you, and will speak only of useful things. If you make a mistake and say something bad about somebody, you will put it down in your notebooks – you have to be honest with yourselves. Another rule: if one of you cannot manage on her own, she will ask another sister to help her, if the two together cannot manage, they should ask a third one and they will say their prayer together. You should always try to get together in the mornings, up to 12 o’clock at the latest, because the influences are good then. This is how one can be righteous and saved. This is the first meaning of these words. Pass on this duty, this piece of advice to all of your beloved female friends. If you are deeply motivated, share these ideas with other people also; then you will be blessed and so will be they. This is the way your light will shine before the people close to you. Peace to everyone! Master’s lecture, delivered on 5 April 1917 ___________________________________________________________ 1 Boris’s Gardens is the central park in Sofia 2 Vitosha is a mountain near the town of Sofia Source

JUSTIFICATION AND SALVATION From: Lectures to the Sisters, April 5, 1917 Thursday, Sofia) “For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” Romans 10:10 I will dwell on the two words of justification and salvation. I want you to apply these words and make an experiment with them. Every woman is striving for independence. While she is a maid, she seeks to get out of her father's house, to free herself from her mother and father, to become a mistress in her own house. This aspiration is natural and Divine. When she gets married and enters the new life, she brings to her house her dowry – shirts, pillows, mats; he donates this and that, orders her house and enjoys this new, nicely ordered house. And indeed, homeless women are unhappy. A person without a home is a person without character. The body is the house of the human soul in spiritual life. According to the same law, just like with women, the soul should enter the body and organize it. Some people want to get rid of their bodies and they say, ‘When am I going to free myself from my body?’ There are bodies out of which one can break free. These are the unhealthy damp cellars without windows, where people catch rheumatism. Getting out of them does not mean that we leave healthy houses. Paul in one place in Scripture says “house not made with hands” (Corinthians 5:1) The concept of justification derives from the expression to make things right. Which human being is just? The one that does not sin. But in order not to sin, one should have knowledge, should understand the meaning of things around oneself, and should make the right choice. You strive for freedom. Every woman should have this freedom, but if she can use it to build the happiness and health of her husband, of her children. No husband, to a woman who is not free, is happy. Do you think that sick woman is free? Woman, whose heart, and mind are constantly disturbed, are not free. I do not mean that your mind should not be excited. Disturbance and excitement are two different concepts. The mind and heart should only be agitated on the surface, not deeply disturbed, in order not to be troubled. The latter indicates that they are shallow, their depth is only ten centimeters. I ask, ten centimeters deep, what can be done? If we take ten centimeters of fabric, what can be made of it? The first and most important thing for a woman is to have depth in her heart of at least ten kilometers. At such depth, whoever tries to disturb you will drown. What do young children do when they come across a shallow puddle of about 10 centimeters depth? They get into the water, disturb it, and enjoy it. Men, when they come across such shallow women, confuse them and feel satisfied. Then women in their turn say, ‘We are very unhappy’. There is a good deal of turmoil in shallow waters – frogs croak there all summer long – a lot of commotion and noise, which abates only in winter. This is to say that your hearts should not be shallow; there should not be any commotion in there. I ask you what is the solution for such a puddle of stagnant water? You will pour a stream of fresh water into this puddle; you will dig a gutter so that the fresh water can wash away all the remains of the past. Christ’s teaching is a fresh stream, which should enter your hearts and wash them; after cleaning them, it will leave the sludge to fertilize your fields. You may ask how to dig such a spring. The spring of fresh water will find you on its own accord. Christ says to the Samaritan, "The water which I will give you shall become within you a fountain of water springing up to eternal life." Hence this spring should be understood to mean salvation. When someone finds themselves in a desert, where there is no water, their mouth becomes dry, it feels irresistibly thirsty and water is the only salvation, otherwise they are doomed to drop dead. Just like the traveler in the desert, many women die of thirst along with their camels – with their own baggage. You have heard the word spring. When you go out for a walk outside Sofia, I would like you to try the water of such springs.But the high society ladies, and indeed most of the people, go for a walk not farther away than Boris’ Gardens1, they walk along the same alleys every time, where there is nothing else but dust. They inhale much dust and when they come back home, they say, ‘What a nice walk we had!’ I say: you just filled yourselves with dust. People, when they adopt Christ’s teaching, often use the same trite phrases and afterwards they say, ‘I got a headache from listening’. This is because you inhaled dust. This is not a place for justification and salvation. The words justification and salvation have seven meanings. I'm talking to you now about one of the meanings and if you understand it, I will then move on to the other meanings. A friend comes and says, ‘Let’s go for a walk, but not far away, because I have a headache, I have palpitations, I am not used to it’. This shows that you are people with short legs, while the Truth needs long legs to walk. So you will unwittingly come to the position of committing crimes. Once people's legs become short, they start thinking of cunning things. Someone says, "I can't go to Vitosha Mountain." Now, if you can’t go to Vitosha, how will you go to Christ? Christ’s Path is narrow and steep; it is a Path of the sensible human will. In your mind, say, "I'll go with my friends to Vitosha Mountain!" If you can’t go in real life, at least follow them mentally; travel the whole way with them in your mind! That's the philosophy of Life. When you meet your beloved, before you get married, they call you Angles, they love you, they die for you, they can’t live without you, they kneel before you, and much weeping, crying, and pretense are pouring out. However, this is not because they can’t do without you; this is a way to produce an effect and they want to say, ‘Let them see what the Lord is like!’ When they get married, women start kneeling. This is your philosophy - instead of men, you now kneel. Why? Because your minds and hearts are shallow. Do not get me wrong! If I measure and try to fathom the depth of your minds and hearts, I will merely ascertain one fact, as it is. The words I say to you, I interpret them, I use them figuratively, do not take them in their simple meaning. Your hearts can be shallow and deep at the same time. If sludge continuously enters your hearts, the bottom will be filled, and they will become shallow. There are lakes, which have become shallow, but there are lakes, which have become deeper… Why should women feel a desire to see men kneeling before them? Kneeling, this is the law of selflessness, of self-sacrifice. When you form angles during kneeling, you show that you are ready to go down and sacrifice oneself. When you stop and sacrifice yourself for somebody else, it means that you kneel before that person. But when a lad kneels before a girl, he lies to her. Tell me how many Bulgarian girls there are who have an ideal relationship with their husbands and have never exchanged bad words? I will let you ponder and establish the Truth on your own. The Truth must surface – nothing more and nothing less! I don't want to present this truth as glamorous as to blind you. I put it through many clouds, to make it bearable to your eyes, thus wanting to spare you the illusions, which cause unhappiness every day, because these illusions take you away from God. When God sent a woman or a man to the Earth, He gave them a budget. It is unfair if somebody eats up your budget. No one has the right to take it from you unless you give it voluntarily. You tell somebody, ‘You make no sacrifices for me.’ There is no need for anyone to make sacrifices for you, because if a person makes a sacrifice for you, in order to elevate you, such a person will go down. This is the Divine law – one is going down, while another one is going up. If the man is going down, the woman is going up; if the woman is going up, the man is going down. Well now, when you walk you cast an anchor, capture the man, and keep him down, so that neither he nor you go up. You stop at one place and keep looking at each other. Such are contemporary women – they stop their men and do not let them go up. This accounts for why you sleep – since you cannot go to the other world, you cannot go up or go down. When you are asked why you sleep, you answer, ‘To go to the Lord’. When you say, ‘I slept fine’, this is so because you were up, but your impression from there is flattened, and there is only a shadow of something pleasant which stays with you. Sometimes you say, ‘I did not sleep well, I had bad dreams’. This indicates that you must have stopped your husband from something. This unnatural situation sometimes stems of utter selfishness, that exists in women. Selfishness gives birth to selfishness, unhappiness gives birth to unhappiness, sorrow gives birth to sorrow. When I talk about suffering and unhappiness, I mean sorrow as a wrapping of the Divine Truth. And contemporary people wrap grief in joy and, thus they sweeten it from the outside. There are such pills – coated in sugar, but bitter inside. The Lord, now, supports neither homeopathy nor allopathy. The former cures with small doses of bitter powders, so that these can be effective; while the latter – with big doses of bitter powders; and the pains cease. When healthy, a person does not need any pills. I know a lot of people who out of habit swallow an aspirin or quinine pill, so they don't get sick. With that, they're self-suggesting they might get sick. Say one word every day that's positive. With this, your situation will improve. All of you who listen to me, please make the following small experiment, and I allow you one year for this, and afterwards you will be free: the first six months will be positive – you will plough, sow, reap, and the other six months will be passive – you will be gathering new energy. There should be no shadow of doubt because what I say can be done by anyone. It's ridiculous to say you can't. Someday I will gather little children and I will make an experiment with them and I will prove little children can do what you can’t; small children will do it, because their faith in them is greater. You may say, ‘We may deceive ourselves’. You may deceive yourselves the first year, but you won’t deceive yourselves in the second year. You should dispose of the thought that you may deceive yourselves. There are no deceits where the Lord works and you should know this line, ‘All that will happen to those who love the Lord, is for their good.’ You will adopt this motto: ‘Whatever happens to us, the Lord will turn it around for the better.’ And then let all the bad thoughts, bad desires come, let all bad people take a stand against you; you should fear not! There should be no fear, keep fear away from you! I will now talk about the verb “can”. What kind of an experiment were you conducting until now? You were using it only in the first person: I can. From now on you will use it in all persons: I can, you can, he/she/it can, we can, you can, they can. When you encounter an obstacle, you will tell yourself, in your soul: "I can, we can, he/she/it can! I can. You can, Lord, who is within me, in my soul. Your great Spirit which guides me, can!” Then you will use all three persons in the plural. Your Faith and your Purity will help all who are above to contribute to the Divine idea to be realized in your Life. Divine patience and perseverance are required in this Way, until the Light overcomes in you. You will do this experiment whenever you feel weak. You will do it in the morning between 4 and 7 o'clock. Exactly at 4 o'clock in the morning you can get up and start your meditation experience voluntarily. When the sun rises in the morning, you should say: (in 1 person): I can! Let my Sun rise in my soul. (in 2nd person): You can! – Let the Divine Sun rise in my soul. (in 3rd person): He/she/it can - Let the Sun of my spirit rise. (in the 1st person plural): We can! "Let the Sun of our Angels rise." (in the 2nd person plural): You can! – Let the Sun of the Great Lord of Peace rise in our souls. (in the 3rd person plural): They can! - Let the Sun of all suns rise in our spirits. So, you need six suns to rise. You will stop at each sun for four minutes; a total of twenty-four minutes should be spent on the rising of the six suns. The rule you should follow is: you will get up quietly, calmly and after washing, you will stand silently, without any disturbance - nothing to scare you. You may be in a bad mood when you get up, you may feel as if the world is to blame. But you stand up and say the above words calmly, each for himself. You will take a notebook and every morning for six months you will note at what time you got up and how many times you were late. As you say these words, you will feel a pleasure under the solar plexus and your spirit will be uplifted. It may take you six years to understand how these suns rise. Continue this experience for six months, and also pass it on, recommend it to some of your friends. You should start on April 6. Some will ask if it will be possible to do it so early, etc. There should be no such thoughts! You will note in your notebooks what the weather was like by dividing it into separate columns: clear, cloudy, rainy, windy. All these conditions of time are good. If it's rainy or cloudy, never complain during those six months. If it is rainy, you will say, "Today the weather is rainy - God purifies, and the fields will bear more." You will look to implement all this. And you will ask your friends to promise to fulfill it. In the first month, when you say all six points, you will emphasize the first one the most; in the second month you will say it all again, but you will emphasize the second point, and so on. I want you to be quiet, calm, and the blessing that will come will be as much as you need. The rain, as it falls, will give each plant as much moisture as it needs. I want you to produce a favorable wave of everything that happens to you during these six months, you will try to learn a lesson, take the good side out of the nuisance, and find the benefit of it. You will say: "For good will all this be - for him who loves the Lord!" Then you should use the following sentences: I believe in You, Lord, who spoke in the past. I believe in You, Lord, who is speaking to me now. I believe in You, Lord, who will speak to me in the future. Let Your Light come upon all of us. Let Your Name be glorified. Let Your Kingdom come. Let Your Will be done on Earth, as it is in Heaven. During the day, if you are persuaded to read a psalm or something else, read it, but only if you feel a deep inner desire to do so. As you read the sentences above, think about things that can lift you up, think about all that is most beautiful in the world, and you will see how you will be presented with the best pictures. Only in this way will you be able to face the past and prepare good conditions for the future. This is the way in which you will be able to strengthen your will and ennoble your mind and heart. Of course, the world will go the same way, but everything will turn out for the better. During these six months you will sometimes feel more discouraged; then you will use the following sentence: "Lord, make my heart warm with Your Love!" If your mind is sometimes clouded, you will say, "Lord, enlighten my mind with Your Spirit!" or "Give Light to my mind through Your Spirit!" Then stay calm; it may take one, two, three, four hours, but you will have a result anyway. Once the six suns rise one after the other, there will be a result. During these six months you will try to be on good terms with your husbands, with your children, with those around you and you will only talk about useful things. If you sometimes lie and say something bad about someone, you will write it down in your notebooks - you have to be honest with yourself. Another rule: if one of you can't help yourself, she'll call another sister to help; if both cannot help, they should call a third and perform their prayer together. The gathering should always take place before noon, no later than 12 o'clock, because that’s where there are good influences. This is how one can be “justified” and “saved”. This is the primary meaning of these words. Pass on this guidance, this piece of advice to all of your beloved female friends. If you have a deep awakening, share these ideas with other people also; then you both will be blessed. This will illuminate your Light in front of the people close to you. Peace to everyone! From the lecture: “Righteousness and Salvation”, April 5, 1917 Part of the series: The Great Mother - a series of talks in front of a spiritual group of sisters (Thursday talks) 1917-1932. ====================== Note: From another source I found that during the first month of the exercise, the words are: (in 1 person): I can! Let my Sun rise in my soul. (in 2nd person): You can! – Let the Divine Sun rise in my soul. (in 3rd person): He/she/it can - Let the Sun of my spirit rise. (in the 1st person plural): We can! Let the Sun of our Angels rise. (in the 2nd person plural): You can! – Let the Sun of the Great Lord of Peace rise in our souls. (in the 3rd person plural): They can! - Let the Sun of all suns rise in our spirits. However, during the second through sixth month the words change and become stronger: 1. I can - Let my Sun rise in my soul and renew my heart. 2. You can - Let the Divine Sun of my spirit rise and renew my soul. 3. He/she/It can - Let the Sun of my spirit rise and renew my mind. 4. We can - Let the Sun of our Angels rise and renew our hearts. 5. You can - Let the Sun of the Great Lord of Peace rise in our souls and renew our souls. 6. They can - Let the Sun rise of all Suns in our spirits, and renew our minds.

The Book - The Salt. Beinsa Douno The Light "You are the light of the world."1 My last sermon was about the salt - the first divine element in life, but today I shall speak about the second element - the Light. I shall try to put Christ’s words in contemporary language as it is spoken in the 20th century. What does Christ mean by the word "light"? Every word has its own sense. Only when it produces a certain effect on the mind or heart of a person can it be understood. For instance, if you hold a match, you can understand its effect only when you light it; otherwise it would make no sense. Therefore, the words in a spoken language are matches; however, each one must have a box on which it can be lit it at just the right time, in order for the word to produce its effect. We should not be like the little children who only take matches out of the box, light them and throw them away. This is no philosophy. There are many writers today who are constantly taking matches out, lighting them and throwing them away. I ask you what effect may their matches thus lit produce? You yourselves must decide what the effect of such lighting would be. In the future, the words should be salted in order to contain Light in themselves. You still have a vague idea about Light. The words "illumination" and "light" have the same root, but illumination is a reflection of light. Light is a compound of that divine element related to the human mind which allows for sound reasoning using logic, content and sense in our thought. In modern physics the scientists are disputing whether the illumination comes from the sun, or it is something different. There are scientists who object to the idea that illumination comes from the sun. They maintain that it is a special kind of energy that, in reaching the earth’s surface, clashes with it and gives the reflection of illumination. Light is an inner process. It is an element, which can always be tested. Light is the most real thing in the world. It is thousands of times more real than the world: it creates human thought and desires; it is a conductor of the spiritual world and exists in the form of ether; it is the wrapping of the human spirit and the human mind; without it no one can think or feel. Anyone who has studied at primary school and has graduated high school has had difficulties with the solution of certain problems. S/he knows that these problems cannot be solved immediately; however, after working on them for awhile, some illumination is thrown on them and they are solved. It is the Light that clarifies them. I shall give you some rules so that you can test everything, for I am not speaking only in theory but am giving you a positive science that can be tested. Light is the healthy state of the human mind, an atmosphere in which a person must live all the time. When writers lose this Light, they become fruitless; when teachers lose it, they lose their methods and cannot teach; when mothers lose it they lack the patience and love necessary to raise their children. If you do not have this Light, you cannot manifest Love and Truth. Christ says, "You are the Light." Who are "you"? The first element is the salt, the Law of Balance which maintains balance in all things. The second element is Light which raises things and makes them grow. All thoughts and desires grow and develop better in the Light. A person who lives in Light is like a fruit tree growing in fertile soil, producing ripe fruit. When your mind is teeming with philosophic thoughts, do not rejoice yet. This may be only a blossoming. To find out if you have Light, test whether your thoughts may set and acquire roots. When a person is not ready to die for a thought of theirs, it means that the thought is not yet born in them. Before I make a more detailed explanation on this question, I shall give you an example out of Bulgarian life. I have a purpose of putting life and sense to these examples. Many have heard this one but I shall give it in a new light. The story goes that a Turk during the Turkish yoke visited a Bulgarian chorbadji2. On entering the room, he saw three icons on the wall and an icon-lamp burning before them. The icons represented the Holy Virgin, St George on horseback and St Nicolas. "What are these three pictures for?" he asked the chorbadji. "They protect me from all evil and so far no evil have I suffered," answered the chorbadji. "How strange, I have so many well-paid servants, but they do not protect me so well," said the Turk. "How much do they cost?" he asked. Then he bought the three icons, took them home and lit an icon-lamp. He sent all the servants away from his house, saying to them, "I need no more servants for I have found loyal men to keep my house." However, one evening robbers broke into his house and robbed him. He went to the icon of the Holy Virgin and said to her, "I can not complain about you for, being a young woman, you have a child to care for." He turned to St George and said, "I cannot complain about you either for you are a young man riding your horse and getting pleasure out of this." Finally he turned to St Nicolas and said to him, "You are an old man having neither a child nor a horse to ride, that is why I shall punish you," and he turned the icon head down. After that St Nicolas somehow found the stolen riches and the punishment was lifted. The Turk said, "Now this is how you should act." What does the Holy Virgin represent? She represents the woman with her heart and the child is the heart she is breeding. A person has come into the world to breed, to regenerate his/her heart and bring it up as a child. You ask, "Why do women bear children?" By the law of childbirth, God is teaching you how to raise your child, i.e. your heart. If a mother gives her child pure milk, it will be healthy; but if the milk is polluted, the child will die. What does the icon of St George represent? St George represents the human mind and the horse - the physical body. A person must ride their horse, for if they do not ride it they will lose it. You must feed your horse well, but you must not overfeed it. What does the icon of St Nicolas represent? St Nicolas represents a man of good heart and good mind who has attained the highest position in life - that of the rational divine life. He must deal with the raising of all humanity; all people must be like children to him. He must sacrifice himself for others as a mother sacrifices herself for her children. As St George looks after his horse well, feeding him properly, so the sound-minded elderly people should look after the young people; stimulating their minds and hearts to live a sound life. That is why Christ says, "A city on a hill cannot be hidden." If you have Light you will be able to discover it. If a palmist looks at your hand, s/he will tell you if you have Light or not; similar to when you enter a European city, you know what kind of people inhabit it by the order of the city and its houses. When you enter a house you can guess what the housewife likes. If the red color predominates, she is a woman of desires, a changeable person. Those who wear red hats, a red girdle, have the idea that the world is a battlefield where they must fight. I do not deny fighting, but it must be based on a divine law; it must build, not destroy life. If it destroys life, it is anarchy. The purpose of fighting is the acquisition of freedom, while Light has this very purpose in view - to make us free. The word "freedom" implies the idea of divine harmony in our thoughts and desires, and of order in the world. Everyone should be in his/her place and make use of the abilities hidden in her/his brain and heart. Present day scientists are constantly weighing the brains of dead people for the purpose of different investigations. Human thought has its marks namely in the brain, which is a garden. What the soil of the human brain is, such will be person’s thoughts. The human brain contains the same zones as those of the earth. Thoughts grow in it the same way as flowers grow on the earth. Every thought has a form which may have the character of a sheep, a wolf, a bear, a fox, a snake, a spider, an ant; for all these forms are qualities forming the human character. This Light enters us the same way as the illumination comes from above and elevates everything in a person. It engenders growth to both the good and the evil animals, regardless of whether they are sheep or wolves. And when these animals complain that they are suffering, this Light says to them, "Fear not, next year I shall create you again, only work a little now." When we complain of sufferings in our life, Light says, "You be careful and I shall create in you all that is necessary." It does not, however, tolerate doubt, feebleness, lack of faith, which are negative qualities. Light is a life of divine harmony and only a person possessing this harmony can know the greatness of Light. It is a rational element. Physicists of today say that if two illuminations of two opposite poles, each with a different wave- length and vibration meet, they are neutralized and darkness is the result. The same is true of Light. Man is one pole of Light and woman the other pole. They get together to create divine harmony, but they can achieve that only if the length of their vibrations is the same; in which case a feeling of love wells up in them and they feel an expansion of mind and heart. However, both must create Light. As Christ says, "You are the Light," meaning all people. When He says, "I am the Light," He means "I and My Father." One person cannot set the world right by saying, "I shall set the world right." S/he does not understand the Law. There must always be two, four, six, eight and so on: couples are necessary. The number two, of which the students are afraid, is a law of contradiction. Two is in conflict with one. Add one unit to two and it becomes three, then four and so on. Suppose you are an intelligent person and you meet a friend of whom you become suspicious without knowing why. You should have facts in order to be suspicious of a person. Do not allow a doubt if you have no scientific grounds. When someone becomes suspicious, s/he says, "I do not know why, but I feel something - that is why I am suspicious." This feeling is not yet proof. For instance a drunkard says, "I have a weak stomach so I must drink a little wine." Then s/he reasons further, "Why should I not drink a little more? After drinking a little, I feel better." Yet this feeling is only temporary for on the next day he will feel badly. When you apply the rule that it is good to drink a little wine, you abuse it later and spoil the good effect of the wine. The human organism is so constructed that it does not tolerate anything superfluous. Chemistry teaches us that every element combines with another in an exact weight ratio; or an element combines with another with an exact number of atoms, but only as many as are necessary to produce a sound, constant compound. This is a Law. In the same way, human thoughts combine according to the Law of Light. This Light has special hues in the spiritual world. They can be passive or active. A hue which is a reflection is passive; however, when it comes directly from the Source itself, it is active. Every thought which causes division in your mind is not divine, as it is only a reflection of Light. For instance, you want to build a house, to become an engineer, a writer or to study medicine; however, the division in your mind shows that the subject you want to take up is not for you. Before the liberation of Bulgaria, when there were only a few professions, fathers advised their sons to become doctors or engineers because these professions were profitable; and not to take up professions which were not profitable. What kind of a doctor, or engineer or a priest would a person who has no inner attraction to their work be? They will be like that doctor in the Middle Ages who had a very easy method of curing: he cured his patients by phlebotomy after which he gave them hot water to drink which resulted in their death. He wondered if all the other doctors cured their patients successfully. It is the same with doctors today who give a medicine to a patient who then dies. Then they say the patient had a weak heart, or try to justify themselves by some other causes. But that is not the case. A doctor should understand the human organism and the temperament of each patient and then prescribe medicine in conformity with that. A sanguine and a choleric person cannot be cured the same way. Why? Because these two organisms contain different elements which have their own specific reactions. In my opinion, all existing illnesses are due to the disharmony that takes place in the divine Light. How many of you believe in the afterlife? You will say, "This is what some great men have written, or that the apostle Paul has said it." But what is your experience of this reality? You will say, "When we die and go to the other world then we shall understand if there is life after death." In order to comprehend this Light, you must have Spiritual Sight. All people who have developed this sense have certain marks in their eyes; they have certain spots around the iris which show the degree of the development of this sight. In western Europeans this sense has begun to appear as intuition, preconception and so on. Some day a great world will be revealed to you in which Light exists. This Light comes from within, not from without. Occultists today say that those who have this Light have magnetism. Such a person is soft and easy-going, they have love and readily forgive. What destroys and spoils people today are the following seven elements: pride, anger, voluptuousness, sloth; miserliness, jealousy and greed. Pride is not of God. God has created people to have self-respect, but they have estranged themselves from Him by their pride. Such a person bears the marks of their pride on their face, hands and nose. I shall not start explaining these now. You yourselves should study these things as many writers have written about them. When you feel pride in yourself, that you are something great in the world, look at yourself in the mirror and remember the features in your face, the expression in your eyes, as well as your whole disposition. When you are in a state of love and kindness, look at yourself again in the mirror. Christ says, "There is nothing hidden in man." Everything is hidden for the blind people. Some people say that I have been reading certain mysteries to you. For those who have eyes there are no mysteries. I have an apple seed in my purse - here it is - this is the mystery; sow it and in ten years’ time you will see its blossoms and fruit; then you will understand this mystery. You may say, "There may be something dangerous in all this." The fearful will not enter the Kingdom of God. How does a good person differ from a bad one? The person who lies speaks fast, but the person who tells the truth speaks quietly and calmly, asking people to test his/her words. I, too, want you to test all things. By this Light I can be in contact with the advanced Americans, Chinese, Japanese, and with your friends in the Other World - the world of divine harmony. If you love someone who has gone to the Other World, you can speak with him/her intelligently, reasonably. There are certain mediums who, not understanding the language of the spirits, begin to twist the truth and use lies. Do not lie, speak the truth, because a lie has short legs3. The truth moves with great speed and its legs are long, so it can help the unhappy spirits. When someone says, "My legs are long," I say, "You are lucky, but I wish the legs of your soul and heart to be long; too, so that you may bear this Light." If this Light develops in us, we shall be able to avoid 90% of the evils taking place today. Light is one of the fundamental elements in bringing up good sons and daughters. I recommend this rule to all women: not to allow their mind to think negative thoughts. And another: let those who have lost the sense of life greet the sunrise every morning. Watch the sunrise in the course of a month and see what you feel. In the spring, when the flowers bloom and the trees are blossoming, watch them and see the result - you will feel the sense of life. What do people do today? They sleep until 10 o’clock in the morning and in the afternoon about sunset they go out to enjoy its dying beams of light. They go out for walks in the autumn when the leaves are falling. Nature should be studied at its particular time. But what are people like today? Someone reads the New Testament and wonders what Christ meant by certain words. Christ could read very well the Book of Divine Nature. When I read a book, I ask myself whether its author has Light or not and what are the colors he lacks. After reading a book, I can describe its author - the kind of head s/he has, his/her face, hands, thoughts and so on. Some want to know who and what kind of a man I am. What I am speaking to you is what I am. If I rob you, I am such; if I heal you - I am such. You may ask, "Why should he heal us?" It makes no difference who will help you, I or someone else. According to me, I should give someone the surplus of my knowledge and of my life, because it is not mine. The Light coming from within me is to be spread out, "All of you are Light." For 2000 years the Christians have been reading this verse and cannot understand it. That is why you have to turn the icon of your St Nicolas head down, he ought to keep your house and your possessions for he is your reason. Say to him, "You must reason well, or I shall turn you upside down." You ask, "What is Light?" When it enters your soul, your face will be beautiful, your eyes will be shining; a pleasant warmth will be emitted from your hands and you will emit a pleasant odor. But how do people smell today? Very badly. The violets and some other flowers help you hide your natural smell. The violet you use says, "God is manifested in life in humility, not in pride. If you are a valley of good soil, God will sow the best seeds in you; but if you are a bare, proud peak, there will be nothing but eternal snow on you." This is the language of the violets and when people use their perfume, they should learn their language. However, I am not blaming anyone by saying this. I wish you all to have the fragrance and color of the violet. When you pronounce a word or write something, there must be a fine fragrance in it. According to the conception of this Light all people are colored flowers. What is a teacher, a preacher, a farmer, a father, a mother, a brother or a sister? They are great divine flowers. Have you seen the color of a mother? When you enter the life of the Light, you will understand what color a mother is. There are no more beautiful colors in the world than those of mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters or close friends. Do you have these colors written within yourselves? Is there a person who has not sent Light out of him/herself at least ten times? Who has not spoiled the colors of his/her mother and father, of his/her friends inside him/herself? From now on we must build and create. If you want to raise the Bulgarian people, you must build. Bulgaria has need of Salt and Light which makes for growth. That is why all people of learning must consider and think about this. There can be no Bulgaria without Salt and Light. The Bulgarian nation has a root down in the earth and a branch in the divine world - this nation must bear fruit on its branch above. This is the only way a nation or a soul can be characterized. The souls are individual, but at the same time - collective. Collectivity is the Law of Harmony. We can feel Light by our soul, by our heart and by our will. One thing that destroys Light is anger. An angry person is without will. It says in the Scriptures, "Be angry, but sin not." Anger is a certain energy used in the wrong direction. Everyone has experienced a weakness after anger, which shows there is a state of demagnetization. Another element that obstructs light is voluptuousness. It is the grave of love. How many young men and women have gone to the grave prematurely because of it. Love is harmony whereas voluptuousness is poison. Yet another element that destroys light is sloth. If you go to America, you will see that besides school education children study certain handicrafts. Everyone works there making their own living and considers it humiliating to depend on others. There people respect those who work. I wish everyone in Bulgaria to aspire for work - this refers to the townsfolk, not the peasants - for they are endangered by indolence. The element of envy is also destructive to Light. Envy and pride are a brother and a sister. Whoever is envious, is proud as well. The person possessed of envy delights in the suffering of others. You remember Shakespeare’s tragedy "The Merchant of Venice," where the miserly Jew insisted on the pound of flesh to be cut off his debtor’s body even when the latter was in a state to pay back his debt. There are many other examples where envy manifests malicious joy. A man went to court with another man and after hearing them the court decided to impose a greater penalty on one of them and asked them what penalty they would prefer. The one who would have a lighter penalty proposed that both eyes be taken out of the other man. "But we should take one of your eyes too, then," said the judge. "I agree," said the man, "if both eyes are taken from the other one." A person of such cruelty cannot have Light. Envy obsesses politicians as well and there are quite a few of them in Bulgaria. Give way to the noble people! If a person possesses these vices mentioned above; obstruct his way, he is not in his place. When Christ says, "You are the Light," He means the people of the future. When God created the world with the stars, moon and sun, He said, "This is for the people of the future." Someone says to me, "Tell me about my past life" It is inscribed on you. You may have a disordered organism now, but that does not mean that you are ill. As soon as the conditions obstructing Light are taken away, this disorder will disappear. Another vice that impedes Light is greed - the desire for many possessions. I shall give you an example of greed. In Spain there lived a millionaire who enslaved whole regions. All people complained of him, so the Spanish king issued an order for his imprisonment. In the prison, whenever he wanted water or bread, they made him pay 1000 leva for a piece of bread or a glass of water. "This is the greatest cruelty imposed on me," said the prisoner. The king answered him, "This is your punishment, go away now and do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you." That is why God sends you all these evils. You say about someone that he/she was born feebleminded. It is not true that his/her mother and father have born him/her so, as everyone is his/her own father and mother. There are two theories about this: some say that the mothers pass their own qualities to their children, while others say that the child exists in the invisible world as a sensible being, choosing a suitable mother, a suitable environment, influencing the mother by suggesting good thoughts to her mind. A pregnant woman can determine the character of her son/daughter according to the kind of thoughts engaging her during pregnancy. We can oppose the divine world, but when its law becomes active, its power will do away with our unreasonable opposition. You, men and women who are here, are the Light. Evil does not exist for me. I understand that evil does not exist in divine harmony, but outside of this harmony there is evil. If you decide to live a noble and good life, you will have this Light, it will be with you. This Light is rational and all ancient mystics who had this Light saw a boundless world tinged with the most beautiful colors that filled their soul. When you are in high spirits, you have this Light, but you cannot keep it long. Sometimes you think that I am speaking well, but you say, "Who knows what purpose he has in view." My purpose is to fulfill the will of God. I am not one of those who deceive people; up till now I have neither said a lie, nor have been lied to. You can win my favor only by Goodness, Truth, Love and Wisdom. If you decide to serve God, only then will God come down from His greatness and make you good people and great spirits. I am preaching to you about the Living Lord", the Lord of the Twentieth Century Who tears down prisons; sets the prisoners free; and brings harmony, order, joy and gladness. He brings such blessings as people have not even thought of. He will turn this earth into a garden of paradise and you, Bulgarians, will live in it. You will all be living when I shall meet you again and I shall see whether what I am speaking to you is true or not. These are not illusions as some may think. Illusions can be known by the following quality: you may nourish someone with illusions telling him/her you have given them real food, but in forty or fifty days they will grow weak and die. A person faints and grows foolish with illusion. I wish all Bulgarian men and women to be great - great in virtue, great in love, great in righteousness, great in wisdom, great in that divine truth of Light of which I am speaking to you. Think about Light; it is with you. Test it, be self-reliant and enter as the bees into every blossom to gather honey. Do not remain to spend the night there - that is voluptuousness - but take your honey and go to the beehive. This is what Christ wanted to say by the words, "You are the Light," and "A city placed on a hill cannot be hidden." When you enter this city, you will understand the sense of your earthly life. You try to imagine what your future life will be like. Know it is within you and depends upon your present life. It is the same with every silkworm, which possesses all the necessary elements for its turning into a butterfly. It will not be long before you become like this butterfly. Now, you are walking on the earth in a straight line, asking yourselves if there is another life; and with your little wings - your mind and heart of Light - you will alight on the most beautiful divine tree, the Tree of Life; you will understand its sense and be joyful and happy. Sermon held on April 1, 1917 in Sofia 1 Matt. 5:14 2 A wealthy owner of estates and money during the Turkish domination /1393-1878/ (ed. note) 3 Bulgarian saying (ed. note)

God’s Will Knowledge is powerful in the world only when applied. Many of you do not apply it and at that all of you want to wear nice clothes and to eat delicious dishes, without knowing how to acquire or prepare them. Everyone should know how to warp, weave, etc. Some days you are cheerful – this is a sort of fertiliser; grief – this is another sort of fertiliser. Someone is in a good mood; in half an hour it will change. Do you know why this happens? Everyone entering Spiritual Life will awake within oneself all the bad features of one’s previous life, which have been dormant and now that Divine blessing has come, these have sprung up. You have to get rid of the weeds in your garden! Some say that they were better persons before they entered Spiritual life. Ninety-four percent of your love is a waste; only the remaining six percent1 is Love. Get rid of the waste – fertilisers should be in the field! You should keep only the good – the six percent[1]. You may say that I am pruning you again for something – but this is no pruning. You have not seen pruning yet. An artist should carve and cut for a long time before the statue comes out fine and graceful. I want all of you to be prepared to implement God’s Will. Imagine that you are living in the early Christian times. How many of you are ready to endure the prosecutions and trials? You have small trials at home – with your husbands, with your children, but these are nothing. What is important is to implement the Will of God! But what is it that you do? If the Divine Will is in agreement with your will, you are prepared to follow it, but if this is the opposite case – you are not. The new teaching needs to produce neither monks nor nuns. It needs absolutely healthy people who can bear the hardships of life. And those of you who understand this law, this Teaching, will be ready to help one another. Each one of you has a thorn in one’s flesh. Paul also had a thorn, about which he prayed to God. But he did not tell God where his thorn was. God told him, "Too much is My blessing for you." Similarly, you too should tell God where your thorn is, so that He can take it out. You do not have to have identical aspirations. If everybody weaves nothing but cloths, there will appear strong competition. You all want to be good. What is virtue? To do properly whatever it is we do – no matter whether we cook, weave, sew, etc. This is what being good means. You want to be like an exhibited statue and you would expect everybody passing by to say how nice it is and to admire it. I do not want you to be like that Englishman, who started running away from his automated machine, into which he wanted to implant soul. Christ’s Teaching is not an automated teaching. This is a Teaching for the soul. Many doubts will be roused in your minds when you come in touch with this Teaching. You may say that you experience no doubts. How many doubts does a newly wed wife have about her husband! This is so because she has no faith in him. You start on your Spiritual Path according to the same law and you ask yourselves, "Shall I get to the end?" Doubts show that the doubting subject is not an independent person in one’s work. If one is bad, one has the form of a bad person; if one is suspicious, one has the respective form. All forms take after the person. Everybody aspires towards Heaven; everybody is willing to please God. What have you sacrificed for God, what have you done? You always say God has not given you this or that. However, what have you given? Can you make bread from the flour you gave to God? You have to do some good thinking. You keep talking about Love all the time. But it is Love, which gives Power to human spirit and mind to endure hardship; that is Divine Love. In order to have it, you should replace your love with the Divine one. If you listen to me, I shall tell you where you can get this Love. When someone insults you, you start grieving. This shows that your love has boundaries and fails – so this is no Love. Paul says, "Love never fails." Nuts, before falling down, shed something – what they shed is not the nut itself, but the shell. Someone says about someone else that one’s love has failed, but this is only the packaging of Divine Love. You should shed all shells and keep the Divine core, which is Love and which contains such a Power that when you summon it, everything melts in this Love. I can read your faces – you are people who worry. I would give you a failing mark, a poor mark or a satisfactory mark, but no more. You say, "I pray a lot." This means that you eat a lot. Praying and serving are two separate things. Everyday you say; "Let it be God’s Will." Husbands say, "Let it be God’s Will," but wives say, "No, let it be my will." This is what husbands and children do and it is no good. You have started trading with a big company and you say, "We trade wholesale." But one day you go bankrupt and you see that this is no work for you. You should think three times before speaking! You are all teachers, and you say, "This is what Mr. Deunov should do!" Tell me what to do and I will do it exactly as you say. But I will also tell you what to do, and you have to perform it. If you do not walk properly, you will become more anxious, you will lose sleep; you will become suspicious and in the end you will want to hide this from the people around you and you will put on a mask. However, my Teaching will impart a pleasant nuance to your soul, you will be calm and cheerful, and you will need no masks. Some of you are thirty years of age, others – forty, but you have to study at the most one hundred and twenty years, which is to say that there is still a lot for you to learn. God asks how many of you are ready to implement God’s Will? Three times you take[2] from me, however, what will you do for me? Christ says, "It is not only bread that will keep human beings alive, but every Word coming out of the Divine mouth will keep them alive." You will tell me what you want me to do for you. You may say, "But we neither take nor give." But then you do not belong to this School. God will show one Path only for those who have the good will to always win against their thoughts and desires within. You will put a chain link to your bear and you will give it a little flour from time to time. Husbands are angry and beat their wives; you keep criticising the others. I would like to ask you whether you are at peace with yourselves? Try not to have any disturbances for a month, to be quiet and calm, and you will see how good you are. From now on, whatever misunderstandings or rows you may have, God instructed, "Get rid of any impurities!" God is not the God of wrath, but of Faith, Hope, Love, Justice and Purity. Those of you who do not follow this law, should go to Egypt to make bricks, but those of you who want to follow it, this is now the Path through the desert leading to the Canaan land. There are a lot of important issues for you to resolve in this life. Do not postpone them. Tune your thoughts positively, "I will implement God’s Will!" Say this to yourselves; do not say it to others. Impart purity and sincerity to your thoughts, your desires, and your souls and Love will manifest itself, and God will bless you, and Heaven will strive to cultivate everything sown in you by God. Make room for it to grow, now is the most favourable time, when you can accomplish a lot within a short period. What previously took a thousand years to grow, can be ripe within ten years now, what previously took a hundred years to grow, can be ripe within one year now. Women should make a union, should help one another! But now when you sit at home, you keep gossiping about other women being such and such – only questions and criticism. You can’t go on with such devil’s masks. Take them down! You should now learn from the Lord. You will be measured by the measure you apply to others. I can now make you like bees, by putting you in the cauldron, but I want you to become good on your own accord. Because when the time comes, you will be good out of necessity, while now it is time for freedom, for choices – you yourselves should choose to be good. The good within a person – this is the human being; this is its share. What you will do is a blessing for your homes, for your children. If you keep My commandments, I will pray to My Father to send you the Spirit of Comfort, this is what Christ said to His disciples. We shall boil tomatoes and out of one hundred kilograms we shall make nine or ten kilograms. I shall give you tomatoes and chopped wood and you will boil them. I shall boil tomatoes for those of you who do not want to boil tomatoes, but I will demand such persons to bring tomatoes and chopped wood to me. You should always think of things that grow. The thought of ‘I can’t’ is a contradiction. In the law of Love ‘I can’t’ shows that there are impediments and obstacles. I have started photographing your thoughts and one day I will show them to you. The psalm singer says, "And the Lord deleted my sins." Your brain cells should be filled with more elevated stuff! So that your hearts and your minds can be ennobled, so that you can be healthy – absolutely healthy! This is what Lord’s Teaching is about. I do not want to listen about a teaching that cannot be applied. All of you should be healthy, happy and blissful! Health is of the body; happiness is a feature of the soul among angels, while bliss is a feature of the spirit with God. This is why there can be no happiness and bliss on Earth. The lessons scheduled for 1917 should be learnt in 1917, the field should not be left uncultivated. I will divide you into categories. These who can weave will walk all right, but it is no good for those who cannot. Many complain that life is not going fine. This is because the cloth is not properly fixed – you should try and put it on again. Only those who can apply the teaching should come next Thursday. We need no people who are just listeners. Try to settle your relationships; try to be sincere with your soul, with God and with people. Wherever good grows, evil also grows. Whoever works more, eats more, wears out more clothes etc. Each of you should become a hearth of the Divine Spirit. The Lord sends His Spirit to us every day, but we have to be ready to receive the good that God sends to us. I want you to assist me in smoothing the misunderstandings among you. You often make much ado in your minds and hearts; this is useless. Try to calm down your thoughts, reach a helping hand out and work. I see you divide yourselves into parties, into young and old. The first thing is to acquire the Divine Spirit! To build up the Good! Otherwise with your bad thoughts you create karma and illnesses. The Lord wrote that everything will come out all right, and I would like you to grow in your hearts and minds, in Wisdom, knowledge and Love, and not to hinder one another. The first law is the one of suffering. The second law is the one of temptation – spirits tempt you through people. The third law is the one of the Divine blessing. What great laws these are! I wish you could understand them. You will learn them together – in theory and in practice. If someone comes to criticise, you should tell that person, "Do you have a loom? Come, let’s weave together!" Someone does not have a good life – his loom is not properly set; you should cut the cloth and should warp it anew. "Out of order" are the looms of men and of women and now you all weep… Master’s lecture delivered on the 29 March 1917. ___________________________________________ [1] In the original text the word ‘kilogrammes’ is used, however translation contains ‘percent’ as it makes better sense. The source of this mistake is not clear. [2] There is an explanation note in the decoded short-hand text, specifying that what is meant is ‘taking [food]’. Editors, sticking to the allegorical style of the Word, omitted this note. Source

The Book - The Salt. Beinsa Douno The Salt "You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its savor, where with shall it be salted?"[1] Christ begins His sermon on the mount with nine blessings. The blessings He is speaking about have a relation to another world, they are not about the earthly life. Christ says about the earthly people, "You are the salt." I shall speak about the salt because life cannot exist on earth without salt. The physical world is a world of salt, not of light - which is the world of the angels. "You," which "you"? Do not take this word in a narrow sense. For those who believe, "you" implies all people in whom the Divine consciousness is awakened. All people in whom this consciousness is awakened are the salt of the earth. By the word "salt", all occultists, cabalists and mystics understand the power of balance - that element of power which keeps things in a balanced state. In order to walk in the street, you must have balance. When a ship is being built, they put a load of salt on its bottom to keep it balanced so that the waves will not turn it over. The word "salt" implies that power that thickens matter, keeps it from disintegration and creates conditions for the higher powers of the world to work. Salt is a necessary element on the earth for the healthy condition of the human body. When an organism loses its salt, it loses its base, and as a result of that all kinds of illnesses attack it. The people call someone a neurasthenic; but I say that they have lost their salt - their energy flows out. If we could see with the eye of a clairvoyant the nerves and the arteries of a neurasthenic person, we would notice in many places there are cracks from which the energy flows out. Such a person is weak. Why? Because they have lost the Divine Salt, which is a basic power for maintaining human life on earth. What are the causes for losing this salt? In the first place, the unrestrained human passions. After every expression of passion, regardless of what character, one feels a weakness. You have all experienced this. Passions are not necessary to people who have salt, but only to those who have none. Christ says to His disciples, "You are the salt and if the salt should lose its power, i. e. if it loses its saltiness, it is good for nothing but to be thrown out and trodden by men." But why should it be trodden upon? Treading is a reaction so that it may acquire its saltiness again. When you suffer, that is treading; the angels throw you out among the people and you become weak because you have lost your saltiness. If you had been rich, you become poor; if you had been wise, you become foolish. You lose your saltiness, but as soon as this happens, you lose the sense of life too and then all contradictory teachings spring up: whether people should get married or not, whether they should have children, whether they should love their wives, and so on. The Epicurean philosophy takes hold according to which a man should have many wives and experience everything. You may try everything, but then you will be thrown out and trodden upon by all sensible[2] people until you obtain your saltiness. Then the second process will come; the light will come, your mind will be illuminated and you will understand why you are suffering. You will understand that these things do not agree with life. Every thought, every desire which does not serve the building of the human soul and which is destructive, is not a necessary desire - it is losing your saltiness. When a husband treads upon his wife, let her say to herself, "Tread upon me that I may become salty." A husband trodden upon by his wife shows that he has no salt. Bulgarians call a bear-trainer to come into a village to make his bear tread on their sick people - or to salt them - and they get well. This power is hidden in all people. Scientists today have given it different names, while the occultists call it "magnetism," among the other names that they give it. When a person has this salt, they are magnetized. If you have this salt, you feel a certain pleasant warmth below your solar plexus and you get up in the morning well-disposed. However, if you do not have enough salt, you get up badly disposed, ready to be harsh and rude with people. Getting angry at the first person you meet means that person is asking you to tread upon them a little so that they may become salty. The person who comes to tread upon the angry one has this salt which will immediately restore the person’s balance. I want you to put my sermons to a test and to see their results. Only the person of deep convictions and experience is strong, for if you believe everybody, you have no salt. I believe that God speaks to people according to the salt they possess. If you have salt, He will say to you: "When you get up, go to dig your vineyard and to sow your field." If you are a judge you will study your cases, do other work, and you will understand Him. If you do not have salt, people will tread on you, rob you, steal your money, take away your wife, children, house. God says, "Treading is necessary on those people who cannot do their work on earth." People often ask, "Why is the world not going well?" There is no salt in the world. Give people salt! Much salt is not necessary - you need only a quarter of a kilogram of the salt I am speaking to you about. That will be enough for the salting of the whole Bulgarian nation, so that it can become an excellent nation for at least one hundred years. Do you know how long your factories must work for the production of this salt? A scientist calculated that the original substance of which the world was created was thousands of times lighter than hydrogen and that to obtain only a gram of this original substance, all the factories in the world would have to work for three thousand years. You are the salt and in order to acquire this salt you must devote your whole life to this. If you had only one gram of this salt, you would be the richest person in the world. Wherever you went, you would heal people. When you enter a house where the husband and wife are at odds, give some of this salt so that peace and agreement will be immediately restored. Children are quarrelling - give them some of this salt; nations are warring, give them of this salt and peace and concord will be immediately restored. You say, "What kind of an alchemical element is this salt, what great power it has!" Upon entering the church, a priest who has this salt will silence everyone and all will turn to him. People want salt and if you do not have it, you can not have success. I am not speaking in the sense of judging you; I am only stating a defect that is common to all people, not only to Bulgarians. Everyone on earth has defects. If we were perfect, we would be among the angels with God. But since we must become well-bred, God has sent us to the earth - the place of wisdom where these great lessons can be learned. Today I am preaching to you about the salt. Why? Because you all want to be happy. In fact, everybody can be happy but you must acquire the ability to retain this happiness, not just attain it. You get up in the morning well-disposed and say, "How happy I am." Five or ten minutes pass and you lose this happiness, this good disposition. Why? You have no salt in yourself. Salt implies the world with all its forms. Since you cannot retain only the essence without forms, that is why I say that the world is actually-real and actually-unreal. Actually-real is that world which has all the forms with their content, but actually-unreal is the world which has the forms without their content. There are people who are actually-unreal because they have a body, but have no salt. If you have no salt, you cannot understand what Divine Delight, Divine Goodness and Love are. Only by means of salt, by a balance between your mind and heart in a calm state, can you comprehend this Divine World. Christ says, "The salt which has lost its savor must be thrown out and trodden on." That is why I have said many times that sufferings are necessary for they are the way of acquiring saltiness. Saltiness is the way to Light; the Light is the way to Love and Love - the way to God. As soon as we begin seeking God, the world changes the aspect it has had until now. All of you who are listening to me this morning think that at times the world has some meaning and at other times it does not. That is very burdensome. You have friends who do not understand you; children who do not love you; you sit among believers, but they do not understand you either. The thing for you to do now is to understand whose fault it is. Is it they who have no salt or you? Where the salt is, there the right is; where there is no salt, there is no right. If you have no salt, you must say, "They must tread on me." All people are parts of God, of His great organism and since such is the case, it makes no difference who treads on you - do not forget that this is of God, in all cases divine hands or feet tread on you. This is a thousand times more pleasant than if a bear should tread on you, as the Bulgarian practice goes. An Englishman tells of an experience of this kind. He went to India in order to study the life of the Hindu people. As an amateur sportsman, one day he took his gun and went to hunt in a thick forest. As he was carrying his gun in his right hand, he felt a strong blow on his left arm and fell to the ground. A tigress had hit him and carried him to her den where her little ones were. The tigress said to her children, "Get hold of this Englishman, tread on him hard and give him a good lesson. If he tries to raise his head, you tread on it." The Englishman wanted to raise his head and see what was taking place around him, but the tigress said, "Do not look up; there is nothing there, I am teaching my children." The Englishman said afterwards, "I was not angry that my left arm was broken; but that they trod on my head, so I could not see anything." Everyone who has no salt will fall into the claws of a tiger. When two young people are getting married for love, they go to the church, the priest prays for them and everyone kisses them. In a month’s time they part. The tiger has taken the bride or the groom. These people have lost their savor and will be thrown out. If there is a divorce between them, they have lost their salt and such people should not live together. Whether you are a man or a woman - treading is necessary. Bulgarians heal themselves by treading on one another. It is a pleasant massage, a nice rubbing. This salt is necessary for your physical organism, for your feelings and thoughts as well. The Law is general: it refers to the Angelic and Divine Worlds as well as to the physical world. Modern philosophers give different names to the qualities of the spiritual world. For instance, they call a person who has salt a moral person and a person without salt - immoral. People say about someone: "This person is highly intelligent, sensible," which means that there is a law of balance in him, or salt. Intelligence[3] is salt, so by the word "intelligence" is meant that condition when all human abilities are active. Salt is the soil. There can be nothing in the world without salt for the earth itself would be a desert without salt and everything would decay. Salt is a fertilizer stored up for years. Next to it there are other forces which build our organism. In order not to lose your salt, you should refrain from unlawful desires. I shall tell you a parable now. In the distant past a girl was born in a palace; she was the most beautiful girl in the world. When she grew up, her father found a good young man whom he wanted his daughter to marry. This young couple was so well-loved in heaven that God sent down an angelic representative to attend their wedding on the earth. When the angel came to the earth, he fell in love with the young bride and did not wish to return to heaven. He began to think of ways of possessing this young woman. God waited for him to return for a day, two, three days, a month; but the angel did not return. When God understood how things stood, wishing to teach the angel the consequences of his bad desires, He turned him into a songbird who would hop from branch to branch among all the other birds. The angel began noticing that other birds avoided him as he hopped around in the trees and he could not figure out what was causing all his sufferings. One day he hopped on a tree and started to lament over his life. Just then four robbers came under that tree to divide their booty. They divided it into equal parts. Two of them decided to go to town and buy food and drink for a feast. On the way back these two robbers decided to put poison in the food so that when the other two ate it they would die. These two men would then take all of the riches. The two robbers who remained under the tree while waiting for their comrades to return decided to shoot them when they returned and take their riches. The angel knew of the evil decisions of both parties. When the two robbers approached the place, both were shot from a distance; the other two ate the food and were poisoned. Only then did the angel realize what the consequences of unlawful desires are and why he suffered. When God sends you to a wedding in which He participates, do not have the eye of this angel. If you are a man, keep yourself from saying, "she will be mine," or if you are a woman, "He will be mine," because you will sing up in the tree for a long time. I ask you: “Are you not such birds thrown out of heaven?” Some ask, "Tell us why we have come down from heaven." We have all come down to learn that unlawful desires have bad consequences and to understand that a man who has no salt is far from God. People want freedom. That is why God sends them to earth and says to them, "Live according to the Law of My Freedom." The wrong thing in people is that they want freedom only for themselves. According to God’s law, we must understand the relationships which exist among us. The Law of the Salt is, "Do not refuse to others what you desire for yourself." You should give others a chance to develop their own abilities too. If someone has a field or a vineyard, do not envy them, but rather be grateful that they have everything. If you see someone riding a horse, do not say, "I wish this horse were mine!" Be thankful that the person has a horse. They are worthy of it. If you see a nice, well-furnished house, do not desire it for yourself. If you have salt, you will have everything you need. Say to God, "I want salt from now on!" In order to convince some people today of this Great Truth, you must argue a long time with them; while with others you need only try to convince them. Few are those who will agree with you at once. People whose Spiritual Sight is not developed need argumentation, which is like groping in the spiritual world. By their feeling of sequence, step by step, they will form a clear idea of the things which they cannot grasp at once. In our reasonings about God, we use the same analogy in order to form an idea of Him. All philosophic schools, with their thick volumes of studying the questions of God, are all groping - some closer, others farther from the Truth. Some have touched the little finger of God and say, "What small fingers God has!" Someone has touched His hand and says, "What a big hand God has!" Someone has touched His shoulder or His head and has knowledge accordingly. But this is only the external side of God – His manifested nature. It will be strange if someone should get on top of the roof of my house and say. "Now I understand Mr. Deunov. He is hard, because I am touching hard tiles." If someone should touch something soft, he would say, "How soft Mr. Deunov is!" I can be hard and soft at the same time. What do you understand by "hard"? Hard as a stone or hard in one’s convictions? Therefore we cannot have true conceptions of things from an external touch, but only vague ideas. If you do not have a sufficient amount of salt, you will not be salty and you will say, "Life is nothing but eating and drinking." I am not against eating and drinking. I do not recommend hunger or unnatural fasting. I have a different idea of fasting - everyone should eat as much as is necessary for the renewal of their body. Every day we should use a certain quantity of bread, water and air for the building of the body. Some think that if they do not eat, they will become better. No, if you do not eat, you will become worse. If you want to make a person better, feed them if they are hungry; give them drink if they are thirsty; and after they are nourished give them some of your salt and they will become better. If you do not feed them, you will commit a crime. If you meet a person in despair who wants to commit suicide, do not give them advice that this is a wrong thing to do or tell them not to despair. Take them to your home; feed them according to your custom; give them drink, and in an hour or two, after their food has been digested, say to them, "Let us have a talk now." Give that person a chance to feel well-disposed and tell you why their life is so dark. Instruct them and show them the way they should go. That is why God has sent them to you on that day. We often pray, "Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done," however, if you do not fulfil His will as He prompts you, that day you will be without salt. You can do this experiment: if you are in low spirits, meet a friend who feels worse than you, call them to your home, feed them and you will notice how God has salted both of you. A woman who is dissatisfied with her husband meets another woman who is even more unhappy; and when the two of them get together and talk for awhile, God will salt both of them. This is a positive Christian philosophy. People often say, "You must not eat too many beans, too much meat as they leave sediments in your body." Ask yourselves why people eat so much - in order to obtain salt. When they have enough salt, they will not eat much. When you become normal then we can speak of a higher philosophy of life. You can do the following experiment, for you are all of the actual-real world: you may say to yourself, "Now it has come into Mr. Deunov’s mind to speak to us about salt; do we not know how necessary it is?" I am speaking to you about the salt so that you may make this simple experiment: stop and think for 5 to 10 minutes about the salt, about its influence on your organism, feelings, Soul, and mind and see if a change takes place in you and what you feel. Why is salt precisely such an active element? People often complain to me that they are in a bad mood – unhappy; but I say to them, "I know this, because I am also on the earth." "Yes, but your condition is quite different from what we are under." The difference lies only in the fact that I have more salt. I shall give to you of my salt, but you must make good use of it and distribute it well. When you have some leaven, keep part of it for future use. When you eat yogurt, put a spoonful aside as leaven and do not say the children have eaten it all up. I recommend to people today not to eat to complete satisfaction, because God will take such people from the earth. In such a case you will be like a Bulgarian man to whom money was lent and he started buying useless things with it. The man who lent him the money took it back to count it and did not return it, saying, "You are not a man who can use money properly, that is why you do not deserve it." When God sees that you do not use life rightly and abuse it, He takes it back. Many of you were healthy, happy and joyful, but now you are faint and weak. Why? Because you are not yet able to make a proper use of life. When you have salt in yourselves, you will be healthy people with a sound body and heart. Concentrate your mind on salt - the element of balance and uplifting - and try to comprehend it. The Hindus call this element "Prana," a power bearing life in itself. It can be found and drawn from the air, the food and the water. Now I shall tell you how to eat. We shall begin with eating in this life. When you begin to eat, the first condition required of you is to cast out all discontentment. You should try to love the small piece of bread you have, so that the energy that it has might penetrate your organism. This would create a pleasant feeling in you. But what do we find today? A wife cooks for four hours a tasty meal and when her husband comes home he is scowling and discontented, throwing cold water on his wife and all the salt is gone. The next day the wife is disgruntled and he eats without receiving any of this salt, because there is discontentment. Both the husband and wife are discontented. The husband says, "Is this a wife?" The children say, "What kind of a mother is this!" Another time the husband buys meat, butter, eggs and again all are discontented at home. In order to be content, prepare yourself in thinking that everything is excellent with you wife. When you chew your food you will see how tasty it is and what a feeling of pleasantness and happiness you will experience. Now you are complaining, "How can one live on ¼ kilogram of bread?" But in a quarter kilogram of bread there is enough salt for your subsistence. It is our discontentment which causes all the unpleasantness. You say to yourself, "When my stomach is empty, I do not understand anything about this eating." It is not your stomach that is empty – it is your mind and your heart that are empty. I have made different experiments with food, at times eating only two apples with some bread and I have been satisfied. It is not in the abundance of food; but in eating with a grateful heart that one is blessed. Do not be negligent of the little salt in the world; it is like the small grain of wheat out of which great things are born. The first thing we should do is to reform this feeling of discontentment which exists in us. When you have a small quantity of food, thank God for it and it will be multiplied. Because in living magnetism there is a power by which all particles which have a similar vibration to that of the central magnetism are attracted. If you are pleased with the food you eat, you will be able to attract from outside as many elements as are necessary to satisfy you. Some say, "We should not drink water, it is for the frogs; the wine is for us." You should drink water on an empty stomach from 100 to 150 milliliters in swallows. You should drink from half to one kilogram of water daily out of which you will take the necessary food for your arteries. You should breathe deeply through your nose, not through the mouth, so as not to swallow much dust. When people today learn to receive food, water and air this way, the other blessings will come of themselves. Do not think that things will be created in you and in your soul from now on. No, there are many dormant feelings in you. The human soul is rich, waiting for conditions to develop. The first thing you should develop is gratefulness for everything you have. Keep your eye from being like that of the angel I told you about. If you all apply this great "Law of Thankfulness", at least 50% of your affairs on earth will be set right. Then the angels watching us from above, seeing that we have started on the Path, will come to help us. Do not think that you are working alone in the world. Dig the earth and you will see how many small worms are helping the tiller; how many microbes are helping the farmer in preparing the soil; and how many elements form the grain of wheat. In spite of all this, we are children who are always discontented no matter what their father brings them. Every child must thank their father for everything he brings them. A child who does not kiss their father when he brings them something, has no salt. Some parents say, "My angel." It is an angel indeed, but without the wings. A daughter who does not thank her father and mother and does not kiss them is also an angel without wings. You who are listening to me will speak to others in the same way. Then we shall verify by experience the necessity of this salt for all. Today God is treading on people, salting the world: Englishmen, Germans, Russians, Frenchmen, and so on. From today on, the Good is coming. When you go home, obtain at least a gram of salt in order to be a useful member of your family, of society and the nation. Be thankful for everything, for only then can you obtain a Blessing. Then you will be wise, good, industrious and diligent. Sermon held on March 25, 1917 in Sofia _________________________________________________ [1] Matthew 5:13 [2] Here and later sensible is used in the meaning of having, containing, or indicative of good sense or reason, rational, reasonable, as in the collocations sensible people, made a sensible answer, (ed. note) [3] Intelligence as the ability to apply knowledge to manipulate one’s environment or to think abstractly (ed. note) Source

The Cross And the disciples came and said to Him: “Why do You speak to them in parables?” He answered and said to them: “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but to them it has not been given (Matthew 13:10-11, New King James Version (NKJV). Let me clarify the words "Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven.“ Knowing the secret of the Kingdom of God is the principle object of the human contemplation, as this is what the human spirit seeks to achieve. When light is cast upon your minds regarding the inner content of this profound notion (hereby, upon this notion I mean the original Divine image of an unchanging Essence which everlastingly grows in its dimensions not as a dead object, but as a living and sensible entity), you will understand that the secret of the Kingdom of God contains all the conditions for human development on Earth. Christ says: "It has been given to you." - To whom has it been given? Now, you may draw a negative inference from this verse because it is said: "It has been given to you, but to them it has not been given." You may think that perhaps the apostles were granted the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but that those secrets remain unattainable for yourselves. On the contrary, no matter who you are, it is still everything, which is being offered to all people by the Lord. Never personally interpret such words in a negative sense because such conclusions defame God. Whether the mystery of the Kingdom of Heaven has been revealed to you or not, depends on yourself and yourself only. God sheds light on the matter, only when you have the correct disposition to understand Him; sometimes He does not allow you to grasp His secret because you are not in the right state of consciousness. Therefore, it is down to the individual comprehension of your hearing, your mind, your heart and your will whether you understand God or not. There is a significant similarity between our 20th century contemporaries and those who lived during the times when Christ descended upon Earth. In the above gospel verses, Christ states nothing else, but the fact that to you – to the people of the future, it is given to understand the Kingdom of God, but to the people of the past such a possibility remains inaccessible. In other words, to those of you, living with the thought of the realization of God’s plan in future, comprehension shall be granted, but to those of you, who are still living in the past, no understanding would be bestowed upon. You may of course choose to verify this statement in real life yourselves. To illustrate what it means to live in the past, let’s take for example a merchant, who has gone bankrupt and picks up their account books to single out their borrowers for debt collection purposes. As a result of the desire to recover what is owed to him, the merchant can no longer progress any further. Such a person would only worry that, for example, Ivan or Dragan, have borrowed a certain amount of money from them. The next day this merchant begins to revisit his account books again, the thought of the debtors becomes alive in his mind, and the merchant starts telling everyone: "Do you know Ivan and Dragan? – They owe me money!" To such merchants and lenders no access to the secrets of the Kingdom of God can be granted, as they are in a self-delusional state - Ivan and Dragan do not owe their lender anything - they are his brothers. Your Father has given in equal amounts to all of you, but you yourselves have brought your brothers into debт by creating the “I owe you” bills, pressuring your debtors and saying that they’ve robbed you. All those, who say that they need to take back from their brothers on Earth something which is owed to them, and treat their brothers as debtors, cannot understand the secrets of the Kingdom of God. Those who seek nothing from their brethren, but on the contrary, do freely share with them and help them with their mental, spiritual and moral elevation, would indeed understand these much coveted secrets. What secrets? – The secrets of the Universe and of God's creation. To me these verses represent a grand and a spectacular picture, which is great in its conception and so beautifully crafted and decorated by the hand of God Himself! One day when your eyes open (of course, for the time being, in the first stage of your development, they are already partially open), and when you finally throw away your old account books and never look back at them again, you would see the magnificence of this picture for yourselves as well. For your own well-being, do utilize the true meaning and significance of the cross because it is the cross which saves the human soul. Crosses are placed on top of graves to signify the fact that noting more would be taken back from the person who passed away. When the lender hears that one of their debtors has died, he or she says: "God bless them", which means "I forgive them." That is the true meaning of the cross - that is its deep significance and intent. Nowadays, the cross is to be found everywhere within the churches, the priests wear it on top of their attire, the church goers cross themselves inside the houses of worship, those soldiers, who distinguished themselves on the battlefield do receive it as a medal of honor, everyone everywhere talks about it, but do you know what the elements of the True Cross are? - I will now speak about the True Cross, which saves and opens the door to the Kingdom of God. Jesus Christ was nailed to a cross. The vertical line of the cross, which descends from top to bottom, represents the plant kingdom delving its way down into the physical matter, or in other words, this line depicts all those beings who have descended from God, and upon their fall, have remained with their feet and not their face against Him – this stature represents the ultimate contradiction with God. Consequently, the horizontal line of the cross represents the animal kingdom, where the animals are turned not with their feet, but with their back against the Lord, and when He speaks to them, they do not listen to Him. Therefore, both the plant and animal kingdoms cannot understand the Kingdom of God. To illustrate, there are people who have committed their minds to digging into material endeavors only, and they have buried themselves face down inside the earth, just like the plants, and have for this reason turned their feet against God. As a result, such people do not think about God. They wish to find their riches inside the Earth’s layers - coal, gold, silver, precious stones - and believe that the more they have, the happier they would be. On the other side, there are the other human beings who are following the movement of the horizontal cross line just like the animals do and have turned their backs against the Lord by means of saying: "The Lord does not listen to us." How would He listen to them when such people have their backs turned against Him? When a child turns its back on its mother, showing clearly its anger in this way, would the mother take such a child back into her embrace? No, she would not, because such a child behaves for the time being as nothing else, but a four-legged animal. Such an animal cannot understand the secrets of the Kingdom of God. Do you now comprehend the philosophy of the True Cross? Has this philosophy positively influenced our thoughts and our relationship with the Lord? To be able to be in touch with the Lord, you need to utilize this philosophy correctly. The third element of the cross is Jesus Christ - nailed onto the cross, but facing God with his head up. The Christ represents the real Man. Therefore, there are three types of crosses - a plant cross, an animal cross and a cross that saves. The true salvation is offered by the Cross of the Christ. His arms and legs were nailed, that is to say, they were pinned onto three different points. The feet were pinned onto the down-facing heads of the plants, by means of which Christ wished to turn the plants back towards Himself. In other words, He had descended and was stretching down to get hold of those who have sunk into the mud of matter, so that they can face God again. The nailing of the Christ’s feet at this precise place also symbolizes the hard soil, which indicates that the cross is placed on solid foundations. This means that Christ at first saves those who sink down into matter similarly to the plants, grabs them and says: “Enough with this earthly descent of yours, your salvation is not there." And to the animals that roam constantly and freely with their back against God, He says: "Your salvation is not in this direction either." Christ wants to grab them by the hand, to turn them face to face with God and to tell them: "Here is your salvation." These are the two categories certain people fall into: some of you have been like the plants with your feet up, while others have been like the animals with their backs up against God, while Christ is now turning your heads up, so that you could face God. And when Christ says: "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" - do you know what these words mean? He wants to say: "Why have you let your children roam about? Please listen to my request - turn them around, so that they can face you, and draw them back to Yourself.” Many interpret the Christ words in the sense that God has forsaken Him, but they actually mean: "Why have you forgotten my brethren?" Christ brings his hands down, turns them with their palms facing up and says: "Here is your salvation." And each one of you needs to bring your hands down, that is figuratively speaking, to direct one’s desires and one’s heart towards God and towards the secrets of the Kingdom of God because within the direction opposite to God there are only darkness and suffering. I am therefore posing the following question: “Would you still keep the Christ hanging on your cross?” Today, I am asking you to give a serious answer to this question because Christ is coming. How would He find you? - Some would be continuing delving further down deeper into matter, while others would be still moving in horizontal direction with their backs against God. Many people ask me why they cannot evolve any further. It is simply because their minds and hearts do not assume the right direction in terms of understanding the secrets of the Kingdom of God. For example, if the eagle or the dove would place backpacks on their bodies with a few pounds of supplies, could they possibly fly? Birds serve as a good illustration because before setting off to fly, one should be free from all the unnecessary luggage. The wing feathers, the tail feathers and head feathers are the only luggage required by the birds before they fly out, and the same applies to humans. In any case, rest assured that God will provide all the necessary food for all the birds and people, no matter what flight direction they take. A few days ago, I went to a house and heard a conversation between two ladies. One of them had chosen the spiritual path, strives to live according to the Word of God and that is why she said to her own self: "It is high time for me to start serving the Lord from now on." Consequently, it happened that she sold the house for a certain amount of money. Expensively or cheaply, she had sold the house anyway, but the other lady, who is deemed to be more spiritual than the lady who sold her house, what do you think she said? - "You did not do well, you sold it way too cheap, you could have kept the house for a while, and you would have acquired more money for it." Here is, I said to myself, a woman who has not yet understood the way the world functions. The lady who sold the house answered though: "It is so much of a hassle, I'm glad I got rid of it." Our hearts and minds should be free from all unnecessary burdens and once and for all we need to acquire the belief that God's Providence works for our own benefit. If the 4-5-year-olds would start providing for their own food at such an early age, they would not grow up and would quickly age instead. Therefore, their fathers have to take care of them until they become 21 years old, so that the grown up children are strong enough to provide for their own sustenance. The digit 21 represents 2+1, which is the total sum of 3 – the Trinity itself or Completeness in other words. Before the face of God, we are not yet 21 years old, but 10-12 years of age only, and He and all His angels are still performing some work within us, so that we can become accomplished. The punishments we are given are because God invites us to go to school and instructs us to learn, but we nevertheless resist and run away from the classroom. He is now wielding his stick, thus punishing the world collectively, and is saying to us: "You shall go to school, so that you learn and gain experience." Every retreat and digression from His commandments has its own criminal consequences. Such omissions cannot be compensated for in any other way, but with suffering. As a result of the incurred suffering, the human feelings become more sensible and stronger. Now, let's go back to the original question about the cross. The cross that saves and which you have to wear should consist of two necessary elements. It should be neither made out of wood, nor should it be turned upside down the way the plain cross is. Further, it should not contain any imprudent elements and it should not be whimsical. As soon as you experience some suffering, you say: "Why is this suffering given to me, when there are other people who are more sinful than I am? The Lord should have given this suffering to them and He could have been more lenient with me!" Such a way of thinking is already a display of discontent and disobedience. In this particular case, people assume either the position of an animal turning its back to God or the position of a plant, which is turned upside down. The human race has been carrying the two animal and plant crosses for the last two thousand years and has not been saved yet. I have not seen a household without such crosses and when I walk on the streets, I prefer to avoid these two crosses, as I am tired of seeing their nonsense. The Christ was not nailed to such a mindless cross. You suffer and you do not understand why this is happening to you. The woman says: "I will have my revenge on this man", while the man likewise says: "I will have my revenge on this woman." The judge revenges against the defendant, the teacher against the student, the merchant against the buyer and everybody in general is always threatening to have their own revenge. Let me tell you that wearing such crosses does not save one’s soul. A cross that truly saves is made out of Wisdom and Love. Next, I shall stop by the cross, which is upside down, I would lay the Divine Love on it, then turn its head up, so that it follows the same direction as the head of the Christ, and eventually say: "Lord, whatever may happen on Earth, and even if the world turns upside down and is eventually destroyed, I will still fulfill Your will! There is no creature in the world to prevent me from doing so, and I will do it!" This is what the Law of Love demands and so does the Divine Wisdom, which similarly says: "Lord, through all the suffering you give me, I shall learn the deep meaning of my life on Earth and shall work for Your glory." When the Lord is punishing me, I would say: "The beating on my back is a blessing, thank you!" - This is how the salvation cross of Love and Wisdom thinks and acts. So, it turns out that you, who are now suffering, have these two outdated cross elements within yourselves. Therefore you need to add the third cross element of the Christ. Do not try to reject the former two cross elements because even Christ did not attempt to reject them. He had to be nailed on the cross, and through this courageous accomplishment, He did the greatest work in this world. Such is the magnitude of Christ’s sacrifice that mankind cannot even recollect from its existence so far any similar event of the same scale. Even after He was placed in the grave, He was still “crucified” because He descended into hell, opened its gates, brought out the sinners and said to them: "I have come down here because of you." You all want to go to Paradise. Should you not go down as Christ did in order to find and bring out your brothers and sisters from hell? To be able to return to His Father, Christ had to spend three days down in hell with his brothers and sisters and then release them from their enslaved state of consciousness. This is the exact interpretation of how Christ understood the words: "Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but to them it has not been given." And in your life, when people do not understand you, you should speak to them in parables like Christ did. Everyone needs to be nailed to the True Cross - this is a responsibility, which needs to be fulfilled. Christ saved you and you would have to save your brethren too. When I go to a sick person, cure them or prescribe them the correct treatment, this very same person, in turn, should willingly and freely help heal a different human being in need. The person I helped has no right to come back to me again and say: "Please come and help this other person, find a cure." This sort of personal transformation should enter into our lives, our thoughts and our deeds. Now, some people may think or, perhaps, affirm that for a person to save his or her soul, it is necessary to break away from this world. No, on the contrary, you have to enter the world and help organizing it, but before that you need to organize your own inner world. In this era, Christ is descending upon the Earth every two thousand years. In the past, he had been coming down every thirty-three thousand years. At present, sometimes He stays with us for a longer period of time, and sometimes - for a shorter time span, but from now on Christ shall live on Earth for longer periods, and in future you will have the opportunity to see Him and speak to Him. You may ask as to when this will happen, and the answer is that it will happen only when you have the three above-mentioned elements as parts of your own cross. It is said in the Scriptures that some shall see Christ under the clouds, others over the clouds, while to some others He would appear completely transformed. What use is it to those who are deaf if they enter a hall, where excellent concerts are being held? - None. What is the benefit to the ones whose stomachs are upset, if you serve them the most delicious meals? – None. Therefore, in order for people to understand things correctly, they should be in possession of the right elements. - In this respect, they should be on the very right track. Humans without steadfast belief systems are like a road which is trampled over by everyone – whatever is being said to them, they listen to and then agree to it without any thought whatsoever. If today someone tells them that the Lord exists, they would nod in agreement and if tomorrow they are told that God is fiction, they would acquiesce again. Such people have the fate of the furnace, which was made by the popular parable character Nasreddin Khoja. A friend came to him and said: "Because the wind blows in this specific direction, the door of the furnace should be on the other side." Nasreddin Khoja knocked down the furnace and rebuilt it the way his friend suggested. A second friend came over and recommended to place the furnace door elsewhere. Again, Nasreddin Kjoja knocked down the furnace and erected it according to his friend’s advice, but then a third friend joined in and put forward a new suggestion about the location of the furnace door. Finally, Nasreddin Khoja took the decision to build the furnace on top of a horse cart and was then turning it to whichever side his friends chose in order to satisfy them. In the physical world, this solution may have been clever indeed, but with regards to the spiritual world, we need to move in a single direction only – forward and upward towards God. That's the right direction. You may now ask if those are the only two directions towards God that we may take and the answer is that to reach out to God, it means to reach out in all directions. If you have no established belief-system in this respect, you would be, as I have already said, like a road, which is trampled over by everyone. Place a hedge as a barrier or just dig a large hole across the “road” of your own belief system and say: "From now on, none shall pass." In addition to the people at the lowest level of knowledge and understanding, there is a second category represented by the modern people with all their multiple theories. Throughout the 19th century, around one hundred geology theories regarding the Earth's structure were presented before the French Academy. All scholars of this kind argue, prove and disprove, and maintain a certain idea, but after five or ten years here comes another new notion, according to which the Earth is built otherwise, and this new hypothesis breaks its way through to discredit the previous theories to only lose its superiority to another newer theory, after eventually some time has elapsed. But how can we then trust them when such theories do not rest on solid ground? The scientists and the rich people, who are in a constant search of worldly glory, pleasures and happiness, do live surrounded by thorns it turns out, as indeed there are no conditions for happiness on Earth. Happiness is an inner process in the spiritual world represented by the rational attitude, which is adopted by the human souls in regards to each other. If you love, you will be loved. If you are acting with virtue, others would treat you virtuously as well. If you are righteous, justice shall come your way. If you love the truth, so others will treat you truthfully. The Lord answers the same way we treat Him. He speaks softly and gently to those who are wise, but to those who are stubborn, He sends suffering. Next, there is another cross element that I need to explain. There were two outlaws on either side of the Christ. He was nailed, while they were both only tied to their crosses. Why did the soldiers break the robbers’ tibias, but did not do the same with Christ and pierced His heart instead? Since Christ is now descending upon us, I will clarify this question. The two robbers were the first human beings created by God and those were the humans who sinned first - Adam and Eve. Do not take my words literally; I only mean this figuratively. The two of them ate from the forbidden tree and that is why their shins were broken for it is said: "Cursed is the one that walketh to do evil with his feet." The act of breaking of the robbers’ legs denotes all people who have lost their virtues. But then again, why did the soldiers pierce Christ into his heart and did not break his legs instead? It is because one should be free from the desire to taste the forbidden fruit in the garden of Eden. Christ said: "Since I am willing to take you back to Paradise, my heart has to be impaled and your legs would have to be broken because you have taken from the forbidden fruit.“ Now ponder over the following thought: “Whoever is willing to go back to Eden, will have his heart “pierced”, and whoever has committed a crime shall have their legs broken.” As I said, those crucified on either side of the Christ, were Adam and Eve. Both of them were saved in principle. The one on the left said to Christ: "You have saved so many thousands, save us, save us without any suffering." This robber on the left side of the Christ represents the female principle to which Christ replied: "I will save you." However, to the robber who was on His right side and represents the male principle, He said: "You will be in Paradise with me today." and the Christ fulfilled His word - He took the man on His right side all the way up into Heaven and kept the woman on His left side down onto Earth. Even now, Christ pierces the men's hearts on the battlefields and says to them: "Come with Me." And to the women He says: "I will save you in future, but for the time being I shall leave you on Earth to further do your work." Well then, dear women of today, how would you meet the Christ when the time comes? I pose this question to the Bulgarian, German, Russian, Austrian, French, English etc. women. I have presented to you the philosophical meaning of the cross and I am inviting you to apply it in your lives. I am glad because this meaning of the cross is in itself deep, great and Divine. I have interpreted for you the words of the great Master of Peace. I have heard His voice and now I am translating the meaning of His words. - You women shall be saved by the cross which has the three elements. The legs of those who do evil shall be broken and the hearts of those who desire evil shall be pierced. Only then will the evil be destroyed. I share to you what the Lord spoke centuries ago on the 9th of March when he introduced the Man to Heaven. Back then, this day fell on a Friday, but today it falls on a Thursday. Be aware that 9th of March applies to all the days of the week, so when we place you in Paradise again, would you again eat from the forbidden fruit? I am here teaching you about the meaning of Life, I speak to you about the Christ, Who is now coming and already performing His duties. Ahead in time wonderful and great things will happen in the world. Do not deceive yourselves; they would happen in an ordinary and natural way. Do not assume that the changes shall fall upon us as a sudden burst of flame. They would arrive very gradually. I can see that some of you are afraid. Don’t be afraid, as those who are cowardly will not enter the Kingdom of God. Act as heroes instead! Now, we will go further down the Earth and down below we shall study the small mysteries. In the depths of the Earth we would descend and learn how life functions in there. From that level there is a door leading to the Kingdom of God. Through this door we will find the Christ. When we descend, we shall meet Him and when we exit and go back up, we would see Him again. Christ says: „Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but to them it has not been given." - You should study well the modern sciences to understand the secrets of the physical world and the secrets of the Kingdom of God. You should know about astronomy in order to understand the meaning of the secret world as well as you should learn physiology and anatomy. What do you know about the structure of your body, heart, blood, lungs, stomach, ear and eyes at present? For example, how does the light, which is coming from above, become an impression to your eyes and brain? What do you know about the relationship of the elements that make up your body, thoughts and desires? Imagine the kind of awe you would find yourself in when you begin to see the forms of your feelings and desires, imagine the greatness of the world which would be revealed before your eyes. And next, what do you know, for example, about the modern political movements? What is the reason behind the prevailing aggravation of the humankind nowadays and what is the reason behind the wars among nations? Can the mankind not develop in a different way? These are the type of questions that need to occupy your mind. Therefore, in order to be able to understand these events, you should recognize that the main reason why all this is happening is because your heart is filled with discontent. When you wake up and get up in the morning, you are not in a peaceful state of mind, as you think that all people all over the world are abnormal and bad. When we perceive people as abnormal, then we become abnormal as well, and vice versa - when we see the people around us as normal, then we also tune into normal mode. In general, those who are drunk tend to be happy during their temporary euphoria, while those who are sober are often suffering. When you go to a pub, you may see someone being drunk, laughing and cheering, but when this person comes back home, no one could even possibly talk to him. "I am happy," the drunken person says, but the next day when he sobers up, his head hurts and he begins to wonder whether he should have drunken the day before or not. Afterwards, such people go back to their normal state, where all the merrymaking has gone out of the window, and the suffering has arrived in order to replace it. Modern people say: "We suffer much" and I answer: "You are now sober." In the last 19th century, all people were more or less intoxicated and were saying: "God does not exist! Ha, ha – give us concerts, balls, merrymaking ..." Now, in this 20th century, people have sobered up and are asking: "What are we going to do now?” An officer on the battlefield told me once: "We all pray out there, our thoughts have changed", while a socialist was asking himself: "What is happening to me? So far I have been so dumb, but now I know that the Lord exists; now I know why I have come to Earth." It seems that all those people are recovering from their hangover. And if you face the English and the French troops on the battlefield and experience the intensity of the exploding shells and mortars, how would this turmoil affect your faith? I believe that people having that sort of experience are now holding their graduation exams on what we nowadays call “initiation”. For some, the first initiation exam has already been completed. The women, who are here, will suffer, their initiation will pass, and they will sober up. Being sober is the best - it means that one is able to function in a normal state of existence. There is a joyful state in us which can be reached, so that we can acquire balance. I would show you what it is, but for the time being I will leave this topic out, since I will talk about it this coming Sunday. Afterwards, you will then be able to communicate with all the good people all over the Earth. For example, if you have a friend in America, let’s say, you would direct your mind towards them, forward your thoughts to them, and your friend will reply back to you with their own thoughts. In this way one could travel the entire Earth, and you could go, if you wish, into the invisible world as well and talk to both all the good people on Earth and to those whose physical bodies have already left the material realm. Some people say that the dead should not be disturbed, but there is nothing to worry about in this particular case. Take, for example, someone who is locked up and restricted - you may reach out to them and ask how they feel and give them some useful advice. For instance, such are the departed souls which are still roaming the Earth - you can talk to them too, but deeds of this caliber are reserved for strong people only. Some may say: "The spirits are dangerous and whoever preaches about them is a heretic." Do not be afraid, the existence of spirits signifies the existence of real life. To illustrate the above statement, here is the following verse: “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul (Genesis 2:7, NKJV).” The first zodiac sign corresponds to the Spirit - the Spirit has descended and has chosen, as a result, its first “piece of clothing”. The original first month of March represents the idea of the human spirit. When March arrives, do ponder over the power of the humankind to be the master of еarth, master of water, master of air and master of fire. A person who is not a master of the earth, water, air and the fire elements has not acquired the human spirit within themselves yet. The most important thing is to be masters of your dark side and to say: "My spirit is the master within me." and if you are in a bad mood, do say to yourselves: "My spirit is the master within me" and you will see how your mood would change. Instead, however, you are saying: "I'm overwhelmed and I cannot fight on", but the Lord does not like soldiers who run away from the battlefield - you have witnessed how such soldiers are shot down by machine guns, so that in future they would abstain from fleeing the battlefield. Now, how would you meet the Christ? Would you show Him your back or would you face up to Him? Go and ask the priests, teachers, and judges how Christ would find them. Have they gracefully brought their hands down and turned their faces towards God by means of helping their compatriots and humanity? This is the path of obtaining Christ’s blessing if you wish Him to bless your children and your friends. Try this cross which is called the Power of Salvation. If someone else gives you a different cross, throw it away, this is not the True Cross. I will now ask what your desires are and what they are directed at – are they directed towards the earth, are you willing to indulge in the animal flesh? - For thousands of years humans have been eating animals and plants, but this is not the source of their salvation. What would be your situation if you have eaten a very well cooked lamb and someone turns you upside down, so you’d face the ground? In this case, what would cost you this excellent meal? Remember, this is the state of the devil. As soon as you say: "Let’s just eat, drink and enjoy life." the devil will turn you upside down, and anyone, who has their head facing down towards the ground and their back against the Lord, would not know how to think and feel correctly. Now, as soon as you return to your homes, try your hearts out. I would like, when I go into a house, to see the lady shining like a candle and I would like people to talk to me without speaking a single word. When I enter such a house, I know that its inhabitants love me without the need of saying anything, but visiting a different house, where people speak out to tell me that they love me, I know for certain that they are lying to me. Speak first with your heart, then with the mind and finally with your mouth. Never say a word with your mouth before your heart and mind have spoken first. When the famous Egyptian sage Hermes was once asked a great question he had not previously mulled over, he merely pursed his lips. This meant: "I have not thought about this question yet, so that is why I need to keep quiet", while on the other hand, his disciples were astonished by the fact that he did not answer the question. Many of you say: “Why don’t you tell us?" And how am I supposed to tell you?!? - I have told you a great secret already, but you would say that everyone knows the secret about the wooden cross with the Christ and the two robbers besides Him with their legs broken. I am telling you, this is not the True Cross. When the True Cross enters your being, light will illuminate your mind, while simultaneously your heart and your spirit will begin to work with vigor, and then you would become lords of the whole world. Some people say that a certain person has a mighty Spirit. Only the True Cross has a mighty spirit. The One Who is calmly carrying this True Cross is now looking upon us ... The legend tells us that the Roman legions of up to six thousand men had administered eighty thousand blows to Christ whilst torturing Him, but He nevertheless remained silent. How did Christ manage to withstand all the suffering? He simply said: "Hit me, those blows are a blessing - let the others be blessed through the suffering of my back. I am doing this for my disciples for whom I am ready to endure everything.” This is what I call magnetization. Where were you then? Of course, you were not within the Roman legions, but you stood somewhere among the street crowd and your thoughts were that the Christ was dying without attaining the real purpose in life, despite being a young and a clever man. You thought that His deeds at the time were foolish. Such was your philosophy then and such was the philosophy of all the priests, pharisees and sadducees – just eat, drink, lie, steal more money from your fellow human beings - that is how the meaning of life was interpreted back then. Nonetheless, there is nothing more virtuous than Faith, Hope and Love. When people ask me what I eat, I say: "I feast on Faith, Hope and Love." These are the fruits of the Spirit – this is what I eat. Now, let us abstain from criticizing anyone any further. When someone eats more than I do, I am glad that their stomach is strong and healthy. I'm happy when those around me are happy and I share the sorrow of those who grieve and I say to them: "You were full of joy before and can become full of joy again." A few years ago, sometime between May and June, both I and a former teacher were passing near a tavern in the city of Varna. The tavern was inside a hotel with a garden, the tables were laid out, deliciously smelling steaks were being served and wine was also being handed out among the guests. As we passed by, this former teacher groaned and I asked him why he groaned. He then said that in the past he used to be one of those lucky people who indulged in all those fine meals and that he is now suffering, as it is no longer possible for him to join such occasions. Consequently, I shared with him that for me it would be a great misfortune to enter this tavern and that he should be grateful to God for teaching him how to live modestly, as a little bit of bread and salt is enough for one’s sustenance. I also told him that he has already sampled all this type of feasting, and that even the devouring of one thousand more steaks would not improve his life anyway. The Lord says: "Because now you are not living a better life, I am excluding you from life, so that you can learn the true meaning of the Cross of the Christ, which is really the meaning of Life itself." Yes, these are the great mysteries of the Christ, Who is now coming. Be faithful to this great master. He is now arriving with all the angels and the saints, with all your forefathers and ancestors, but not the way the church and the Sabbaths envision His descent. You will see how much confused the modern day people are with regards to Christ’s arrival and you will subsequently admit how great the Lord is and you would show gratitude that you have gone through all these tribulations and suffering. Nowadays, Christ is handing over His wreath of thorns to all women. We all know that when the wedding ceremony is conducted, a wreath is placed on the bride’s head. In the tradition of mysticism and the occult science, this wreath is shaped as a circle with a cross on the inside. Whoever has come to Earth has to acquire the Divine Wisdom. Whoever is in Heaven and wants to become very wise, obtains a ticket for the Earth because it is a school intended for gathering wisdom. Christ will come down to inspect this school and He would not scold you, but may ask you different algebra questions. He may ask how much is one plus two, and you may say that this is a very simple question. Others would be asked how much is two minus one. Some could be asked about the triple rule, others may have a chemistry test, while the rest would have a physiology test - for example, to elaborate on digestion or on the topic of blood circulation. Some would be questioned on magnetism and electricity and some would be asked to explain how the human thought is formed, while others could state what they know about marriage. Women, for example, would have to develop the subject on how they understand marriage. Because in future there would be fewer men on Earth, women will have more exams on the education of their children. Next, the Lord shall ask the judges how they have judged and applied the Divine Righteousness, then ask the lawyers how they have defended their clients, the teachers - how they have taught their students, the doctors - how they have treated their patients, the priests - how they have preached the Word of God. The Lord will revise everyone’s deeds. He will remove the crowns from the bishops’ heads and tell them: "I did not wear a crown, but a wreath of thorns. A bishop, who has not worn a crown of thorns, is not allowed to wear a golden crown." - Be aware that all of you are blessed to have been born on Earth at this particular point in time. And now, let this essential thought of the cross remain sealed within you. - Turn your head and face towards God and when you ask God why you’ve been forsaken, He shall reply by saying: "Here I am, I have not forsaken you, I will explain to you the deep inner meaning of this cross." To all of you I wish: “May the Lord grant you the blessing to go hand in hand with Him” (people from the audience said “Amen”). Do not be discouraged, do not moan, but do rejoice even when you are weeping. Offer each other a helping hand. From now on, all churches and faiths should be reconciled - our Father is alive and He is the only God for all the existing religions. He will attract you towards Himself, just like the magnet attracts metallic shards. One day, you'll find yourselves magnetized and suddenly changed. Afterwards, just carry the True Cross and Christ will begin His work within you. From now on there is no force whatsoever to stop the Christ from doing his work. He will enlighten you and give you every wisdom, but you need to be true to your Father. We all already live in Heaven anyway, so do say: "Father, from now on, we shall walk Your path, we will cultivate this Paradise, we’ll eat only from the allowed fruits and we shall act in harmony with Your eternal law." Then God would reply: "Come all of you who are blessed. - For you is My Kingdom". Then he shall send you back to Earth again to work and the Earth will become part of the Kingdom of God. Some of you will be governors; others will be judges, lawyers, teachers – everyone shall do something according to their best talents. There are so many different job vacancies that there are hardly enough people to occupy all of them. There are enough jobs for both men and women, but with regards to women, these jobs are for real women only. Socrates said: "There are women and women." - That is to say there are two types of women. When you meet a woman, this woman needs to positively change you, and not pervert your mind. When you visit a real woman with a foul thought in your mind, she should help you transform your state of mind, and then you would say: "I will not do such a bad thing." This is what I call a real woman. If, however, one’s mind is perverted in a bad direction, then this is not done by a real woman, and you should know that her head is turned upside down just as it is with the kingdom of plants. We need real women to turn around the minds of these obstinate Bulgarians. You, women, have the key to do this. Do not be offended, as I am here telling you to help your stubborn children change their minds, and to transform your own hearts and your own entire spirituality. This change, of course, will not happen within one, five or ten years, it is a matter of centuries. Our contemporary times, our day today … is a day for work. The Lord is coming to offer work and service to all women and to also offer them equal rights with men. When the man and the woman are not yet married, they are very fond of each other from a distance, but when they get together under one roof, they start to hurt each other. At present, the Lord has placed the men up in the area of the mind and the women down in the area of the heart. Sometimes, women may lament that their honorable husbands have passed away, but instead these wives should thank their husbands for helping them change their own minds. On the other hand, the man, when he looks at his wife, would say how good she is and how well she talks. Some women say: "The Lord took away my husband." No, the Lord did not take your husband away; He just placed him further away, so that you both can contemplate one another in order to again become fond of each other. In the evening, the woman will let the man into her well cultivated garden of the heart, while the next day the man will invite his wife to his own well cultivated garden of the mind. So, please consider if it is possible for you to live without a well cultivated garden? To you women, I recommend to plant your gardens well, so that men would come down and walk in them. And to you men I suggest to work on your gardens well, so that women could stroll in them with joy. This is the meaning of the words: "Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven …“ Such are indeed some of those secrets. Sunday Talks, 22 March 1917, Thursday, Sofia Translated by: Pavel Iordanov

Salvation “But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” Matthew 19:17 Educated people of the 20th century, both worldly and religious, have a vague understanding of Moses’ law as well as of Christ’s law. For the past two thousand years Christians have been combing through Christ’s Teaching and have, thus, made it so threadbare that if you were to look at it through the eyes of a seer you would to see it as a tree with peeled off bark. All critics, writers, and preachers alike talk about obtaining salvation through doing good deeds, and through implementing God’s commandments, but salvation proceeds out of one basic law in Nature that has been in existence long before Christ’s time, since the beginning of all Existence. Thus, everything that happens today in the human soul, in societies, in peoples, and throughout the whole of humankind, comes from the Beginning of all Existence, i.e. from the original Life source. The word “salvation” has many meanings. For example, someone falls into water and starts drowning, but then someone else pulls him out of the water. Everyone is happy and says, “This man has been saved.” Someone else recovers from a serious illness and people say, “He is saved.” Then, someone else strays from the right path, but after a while is able to straighten his life and start living righteously again. Again, people say of him, “He has been saved.” The common meaning of the word “salvation” implies one’s leaving the bad life and returning to the good Life again, or it implies leaving the toils and suffering of Life and settling into the better conditions of Life. Taken in its broader meaning, the word “salvation” implies one’s entering into eternal Life. Everyone wants to find the conditions of eternal Life. This is all too natural! It is not good enough for man to be saved from drowning, only to die of starvation later; it is not enough for man to rid himself of a serious illness, only to fall sick with another after some time. All of this is but getting rid of one evil only to run into another one. What man needs is real salvation; he needs to restore his connection with the Original Cause of all things. Man cannot be saved unless he restores this connection, for outside of this connection no salvation exists. This is how salvation should be understood today for this is how Christ understood it and this is how all saints, as well as all just and good people on Earth have understood it. Christ says, “If you want to be perfect, go sell what you have, and give to the poor; and come, follow Me.” Anyone who sees salvation in different terms is deluding himself, and he will go through falling and getting up again, through losing faith, etc. The law of salvation is at work at all times. Some think that man can be saved only once and that once he has been saved he does not need to think about salvation any more. Man needs to save himself at any given moment. Salvation, therefore, is a manifold and eternal process. We do not believe in one-time processes. However, just like man eats, drinks water and breathes all the time, he needs to save himself all the time, as well. There is a constant connection between the human soul and God: this connection is called “the connection of salvation.” People often wonder, “Have I been saved?” Today you may be saved but tomorrow someone might grab you by the neck; today you may be full but tomorrow you will be hungry; today you may have one good thought but tomorrow you will be attacked by some bad thought. If you want to break the cycle of being in one condition today and in another tomorrow, you need to keep your connection with God intact. Christ came down to Earth to create a strong and constant connection between men and Angels, on one hand, and between men and God, on the other. When the young man asked Christ what to do in order to inherit eternal Life, Christ said, “You shall not murder!” This comes to show that murder can sever man’s connection with God, with the Angels, and with his more advanced brothers. Christ also added, “You shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness; honour your father and your mother; and you shall love your neighbour as yourself.” These are the laws of the Spirit and these laws are related to the present epoch. The young man said to Christ, “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?” Christ answered him, saying, “If you want to be perfect, go sell what you have, and give to the poor; and come, follow Me!” With the first two commandments Christ explains the reasons that can lead to breaking off the connection between man and the world of sublime intelligent Beings. With the next few commandments He explains the causes that can repair the broken connection. “You shall not murder!” The word “murder” is used in a broad sense and meaning. When you hear this commandment you might think to yourself, “Thank God that I have not murdered anybody in my life.” All I can say to you is this: there is no person in the world who has not murdered. Murder is not only taking one’s Life. Every day, knowingly or unknowingly, man murders a good thought, a good feeling or a good intention that comes to him. Also, man murders his neighbour’s good thoughts, intentions and acts. For example, when you meet someone who believes in God and you manage to talk him out of his belief is that not murder? You murder a sacred feeling inside this man. How do you know that God does not exist? He, who denies the existence of God, wants, in fact, to take His place. Therefore, when you say about someone that he is not rich, good, beautiful, or learned it shows that you want to keep these qualities for yourself. The denial of the Good, the beautiful, and the great puts distance between man and God. By doing these things you break off your connection with Him and expose yourselves to death. You might say that people love you, but this means nothing. People may love you and you may still toil and suffer, depending on what kind of Love their love is. Most people’s love is the love of crows and eagles. I do not mean to offend you by saying this, but I want you to know that love that does not build and elevate is but animal love. The “You shall not murder” commandment pertains precisely to this very kind of love. You say that people sing hymns to Love. To which Love should we sing hymns: to the one that destroys or to the one that creates? So many young men and women of noble thoughts and desires have been disappointed with Love! So many young women and men have made an attempt on their Life after marriage! Why does a young woman feel disappointed? It is because she cannot find in her beloved those elements that are necessary for her evolution. The young man, too, is disappointed with his beloved for the same reason. Does this same thing not happen with man’s religious beliefs? You meet a religious, joyful and inspired person, but you dissuade him of his belief and you prove to him that there is Life only on Earth, and then he becomes disappointed and loses his good disposition. The time will come when man’s consciousness will awaken and he will enter from one Life into another. Then people will understand that there is no death, and that Life is eternal and continuous. People today have different beliefs and concepts of this life and the life beyond, but they have not tried and tested everything. Some maintain the thought that there is Life only on Earth, and that when man dies he disappears and nothing is left of him. These people deny resurrection. Which one of these people has been to the other world to say what is there? Only the one who has tried a certain idea has the right to deny or ascertain it. Only the dead man can talk about death; the living talk only about Life. Speaking of this, there are dead people who are alive and continue to live. There are also living people who are dead; they move among the living but do not acknowledge Life. These people move about mechanically, having no thoughts or feelings. Thousands of years must pass before they can come back to life. They look but they cannot see; they listen but they cannot hear, for they are sleeping. However, there are also people both in this world and in the other one who can see, hear, understand and apply the laws of Life. They are alive and they enjoy Life as it is manifested in all worlds. “You shall not murder!” This means that you should not destroy a single good thought or a single good intention that God has invested into you or into your neighbour. Instead of destroying one’s Life and making it meaningless, one should build. The meaning of human Life is in getting rid of the bad traits and cultivating the good ones that elevate man, and create conditions of man’s salvation and union with God. How can one get rid of one’s bad traits? He can do that by removing from his way all those conditions that cease his connection with the Divine world. For man, to break this connection will mean to stop his evolution on Earth. Man must first live through Moses’ law, which states, “Respect your father and your mother, and love your neighbour as yourself.” Only after he has implemented this law is man ready to implement Christ’s law. Christ says, “I am the true vine, and My father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” This means that each one of Christ’s canes that has not yet given up its desire to kill is a cane that does not bear fruit. The Father will cut it and toss it aside. What are the signs that show which man kills? One sign is sourness, i.e. discontentment. Once man is sour, once he has started to feel irritated and discontent, he is ready to kill. In addition, Christ says, “You shall not steal!” What should we not steal? We should not kill people’s good thoughts and intentions. I am ready to give away all my fortune, but I do not ever want to have something stolen or steal something, myself, from the mind and heart of a man. One should not kill one’s neighbour’s good thoughts and intentions, and one should not steal, as well. Christ says, “You shall not bear false witness!” In his interactions of giving and taking, man should be completely honest and should allow for no lie whatsoever. If he receives one good thought or one good intention, he should respond with the same. If man repays one good thought with a bad one, he is using a lie. If you repay the Good with bad and tell yourself that you have applied the Good, with this you are corrupting yourself first, but also your family and your society. One is not allowed to kill, steal, or lie. A woman or a man who allow themselves to steal the mind or the heart of the other one are on the wrong path. Before long they will see the lie in which they have lived. Lying goes side by side with killing and stealing. Rid yourself of the habits and vices of your past so that you can love your father, your mother, and your neighbour. How should you love your neighbour? As yourself. Who are you, and who is your mother and your father? Your body is you, your soul is your mother, and your Spirit is your father. Man is a child of his soul. So, the body is the child of the soul. The soul cares for the body like a mother, bringing it up and teaching it good manners. Some ask if they will be using their present body for their life in the other world. They mean to ask: is the body related to the soul and the Spirit, i.e. is it related to its mother and father? The son should be decent; he should bring joy to his mother and his father. He should honour and respect them. The mother and the father are inside oneself, not outside. The day when you transgress the law of God and stop honouring your mother and your father, and stop loving your neighbour you will find yourself outside the conditions for Life. Apply Christ’s Teaching every moment of your Life, and you will see that it is a teaching of Life and Strength. If you are not well disposed pay closer attention to your Life to find out which of the three commandments you have transgressed. All you need is to be sincere with yourself and you will know which commandment exactly you have transgressed: you shall not murder, you shall not steal or you shall not bear false witness. Christ says, “If you want to be perfect, go sell what you have, and give to the poor; and come, follow Me!” To whom are you going to give your possessions? To your thoughts and intentions. Whom are you going to follow? The Great Teacher of Life. When people read this verse they start discussing it. They are afraid that if they give away their possessions, and give up their house and their money they will become poor and will lose the conditions for development. God does not want your properties. He does not need your houses, or your money. The word “possessions” implies something else: only he, who is ready to express the Good that has been invested in him, is able to give away his possessions, for the Good in man makes up his possessions. Good is linked to the law of Love. When compassion and Love are active inside man, he is then ready to express the Good and do good deeds. Good cannot exist, i.e. it cannot be expressed outside of compassion and Love. There is not a single man in the world who can do good without having a good thought or a good intention in him. It is said, “Honour your mother and father.” The mother and the father represent the object of your Love and your neighbour represents the impulse that urges you to express your Love. The mother and the father are symbolic of the strong, and your neighbour is symbolic of the weak. Man is capable of loving only what is tender, weak, and endearing, and in need of help. You can honour and respect the strong, but it is the weak that you can love. The Scriptures say, “God is Love.” Who knows God as Love: he, who is weak, sinful, or feeble does. Therefore, be happy if you are weak because this gives you the opportunity to know Love and become strong; be happy if you are sinful because this gives you the opportunity to know Love and become just. It is said in the Gospel that God punishes the ones He loves. Along these lines, one can say, “God forgives the sins of the ones He loves.” This same law exists in nature, too. If you observe Animals you will notice that they, too, are careful and tender towards the weak creatures. This same law acts among people, too. Be happy if you are in the hands of someone who is strong, but also noble and good, for he will help you and elevate you. Woe to the one falls in the hands of someone who is rude and cruel, and who lacks nobility, for such a person is like an octopus: he sticks his tentacles into the weak, sucks out his juices and throws him away. Some religious and worldly people do the same: when they find someone who is weak and good they stick their tentacles into him, empty out his money pouch, and then let him go, saying, “We turned him to God”, or “We introduced him to Life and gave him knowledge.” This is no turning to God, at all; this is no science, at all. Such a person will not think again of your God or of your Knowledge. If you want to help someone you should never empty out his money pouch, and you should never turn his heart and mind to God. What you should do, instead, is let him look for God and turn to Him on his own. If you want to help someone you need to find the key to his door and tell him, “Take this key that you once lost, and open the door to your house. Then clean your house, open your windows so that the Sun can enter it and brighten it up.” It is man’s natural duty to clean his house himself, rather than letting the servants clean it for him. Your house is the temple of God, which was built specifically and only for you. What will happen if all temples were brought together to one place? This will produce disturbance in the whole world. It is about this same temple that Christ says, “Go into your room and pray to your Father Who sees in secret.” This secret room is the temple of the human soul. Entering the temple of one’s soul means getting rid of all anger and discontentment, and all hatred and jealousy. Anger and discontentment lead to killing; killing leads to stealing, and these two together lead to lying, which is the greatest vice in human Life. The first four commandments - you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not commit adultery, and you shall not bear false witness - tell man what he should not do. The second three commandments - honour your father and your mother, and you shall love your neighbour as yourself - tell man what he should do. So, man should honour his father and his mother, and love his neighbour. Man’s neighbours are his good thoughts and intentions through which he can get rid of the bad thoughts and desires, and put them under better conditions, i.e. he can cultivate and discipline them. By loving your neighbours you plant in your garden the best fruit through which you can transform the bad thoughts and desires into good ones. With these commandments Christ wanted to draw the Jews’ attention to the meaning of Life, to loving each other, and to turning away from killing, for according to their laws then they used to murder for naught. For that reason they did not have a long-standing kingdom. There are people and peoples who apply the old Jewish laws to this day, and all these people murder, lie, and steal all the time. If you follow the history of the European peoples you will see that they have led numerous wars and crusades with the goal of freeing Jerusalem. Jerusalem will be free when people stop murdering, stealing, committing adultery and bearing false witness. Now I want each one of you to trace your Life from its beginning to this day and say, “From this day on I’m putting an end to all lying, stealing, murdering and committing adultery.” Then if you turn to Christ and ask him what else you need in order to inherit eternal Life, he will answer by saying, “Go sell what you have, and give it to the poor; and come, follow Me!” Who are those poor? They are your neighbours. Some mornings you wake up joyous, in a good disposition and content with Life. What is the cause of your good disposition? The reason is in your neighbours that live in you. Consequently, if you want to maintain this disposition, you need to love your neighbours. The noble and bright things that you carry in your mind and in your heart represent a great world to you: your happiness. If you are looking for Christ you will find Him in your good thoughts, feelings and desires. They are the true connections, the true ties of your Life; you can use them to weave the connecting rope that will take you up to Heaven. The Scriptures say, “I drew you in with my Love.” So, Love is a combination of the connections of what is Good, Wise and Just, and these can elevate man into the sublime world. Only Love is capable of introducing man into the Kingdom of God. If you want to be happy you should apply Love into your Life. This way you will try the power behind Christ’s Teaching. People today complain of suffering and misfortunes, and they look for a way to get rid of those. They can do that only if they change their thinking. The old thoughts need to be replaced with new ones. By thinking right, in the new way, man understands that the same thing that yesterday caused him grief today can cause him joy. Man will not be afraid, then, if he were to lose his possessions or his social status, for his riches and his dignity depend on him. He carries inside all the conditions for being rich, strong, and healthy. Even if he were to lose his mother and father he will know that they are not really lost, for they are in him. The external mother and father are a reflection of the internal ones who live inside man. You have it all hidden inside you. All you need is to maintain good thoughts and feelings in your mind and heart, and you will have all the riches of the whole world at your disposal. Then you will not be poor, but will be able to give from yourself like a spring gives constantly. Open up your soul -the treasury of your Life and give generously. This treasury is full of riches and good seeds that need to be sown into the Divine field. Do not think that you are poor. God has given you everything, but you do not know how to use Life’s goods. Do not think that happiness is in the material riches. Man is required to have wisdom. The wise man uses correctly the goods that he is given and that is why he is rich. Man’s unhappiness is not due to the lack of goods; it is due to the fact that he prevents the good thoughts and feelings inside him from being expressed externally. In other words, man does not allow God Who is inside him to manifest Himself. God whispers quietly in your ear, “Do good.” “I don’t want to,” you object. “Let me do it then,” says God. “I won’t allow it,” you refuse. Given this situation, do you think that you can be happy, and that you can find God? Where is God? God is inside you. Open your heart and he will manifest Himself. Man cries, suffers and loses heart because he is not aware of all the goods and riches he carries inside. This is the real meaning of the Bulgarian saying, “He’s wading in water, but dying of thirst.” If you Love God you will acquire everything that you desire. Without God man will not be able to keep either his riches, or his Strength. According to a Bulgarian folk tale, once God and St. Peter decided to go down to people and walk around the world to see how people live. After walking from one town and village to another they found themselves in the outskirts of a town, and went into poor people’s house to spend the night. Their hosts were simple and cordial people who welcomed them well: they cooked them dinner, and let them rest. St. Peter was so content with the poor people’s hospitality that he asked God upon leaving, “Lord, why don’t you help these good people get rid of their poverty?” “May it be as you wish,” God said. As soon as he said that the little poor house turned into a big good-looking house, and their hosts turned into rich, well-dressed masters who were now surrounded by many servants. The host, now surrounded by riches and opulence, took to easy living, and excessive eating and drinking. He would now eat, drink and not move a finger to do any work. God and St. Peter went on with their walk around the world. A few years later they found themselves back in the same town where once they had stayed with the poor family and St. Peter asked if they could stay with them again and see how their life was as rich people. God and St. Peter knocked on the door of the now rich house and their good hostess answered the door. She invited them in politely, gave them food and let them spend the night in her house to rest from their travels. However, her face was now gaunt and sad as if something was eating her. After helping them settle in the guest room she warned them that they might hear shouting, banging and raging in the middle of the night. She explained with sadness that this was her husband who drank excessively, and would come home late and be drunk and would not be able to control himself. Before going to bed, God told St. Peter to take the bed that was closer to the door. No sooner had they fallen asleep than they heard banging, shouting, and raging and realized that the husband had returned home from his feast. He went from one room to another, opening doors, slamming and breaking things looking for trouble. Finally, he went into the guest room. When he saw that there was a stranger sleeping in the bed he took a stick and beat him up, shouting, “Here’s for sleeping in a stranger’s house when the master of the house is not there.” After all the racket subsided a little, St. Peter asked God, “Let us change our places so that he does not beat me up again if he comes back.” So, they changed their places. However, the drunk host had not come down yet. He returned to the guest room, thinking to himself, “Let me throw him a few more punches to teach him a lesson to remember.” He raised his stick in the air, but then St. Peter moved and caught the drunk man’s attention. He looked closely in the dark and noticed that there was a person in the second bed, too, whom he had not seen before. “Oh,” he said, “Here comes your turn now. I just beat up your friend and now I’m going to beat you up, too.” This way it was St. Peter again who took the beating. At dawn St. Peter urged God, “Let’s get going lest he should come a third time and beat me up again.” God and St. Peter threw on their clothes in a hurry, washed their faces and were ready to leave the house. God, then, waved his handkerchief in the air, and the house caught on fire and burned up. This is how St. Peter got away without being beaten up for a third time. When does one live only to eat and drink? When he favours his flesh first and foremost, i.e. when he favours his lowly instincts first and foremost. In a situation like this, if St. Peter prays for you he will be beaten up a few times as a consequence. Therefore, be careful not to pray for acquiring material goods before you have established your connection with God. You may feed the wolf all you want, but he will always remain a wolf; you may take care of the snake, the mosquito or the louse, but you will not be able to change their nature; you may look after a sinner, taking all the care in the world, but you cannot right his ways. Hunger and suffering are the only things that can help a sinner right his ways. Once he has reached the end of his suffering he will be able to realize his situation, and will repent; through repenting and prayer he will gradually become righteous again. If you see someone who complains a lot about his difficulties and suffering, you should know that his hardships are just beginning. Such a man is yet to go through suffering before he acquires a milder attitude, repents and starts humbling himself. Man’s task is to work on himself, be healthy, strong and wise. Through having good thoughts and intentions man can acquire health, Strength and a chance to apply his Wisdom. This is what is required of all people: men, women and children. If this happens all societies will be magically transformed. When the parts are in good order, then the whole organism will be in good order. To common people things happen slowly, but to wise men things happen at once, for they know the laws and they do not abuse them. If a common man works with the great laws of Being he can destroy the world in a day. This is why God does not give great knowledge to common people, for they still apply Moses’ laws: they murder, steal, bear false witness, etc. What should man do in order to leave the common life? He should establish a connection with God Who now works in the world. You, too, should work with Him if you want to take part in the Kingdom of God. Working together with God means applying Love; Love is the Divine mother that Christ advises us to honour. Only he, who loves can honour his mother and father. Such a man is good, just and noble. Someone complains that people do not love him. How can you love someone who does not honour his father and mother? Woe to that young woman who marries a man, who does not honour his mother and father! Woe to that young man who marries a woman, who does not honour her mother and father. God loves and blesses those young women and men, who honour their mother and father. He who wants to be loved by his neighbour should learn to honour his mother and father first. This is a law that acts throughout the whole Being. Love cannot be manifested outside of this law. You need to honour your soul and your Spirit, and you need to honour your neighbour’s soul and Spirit and you will be God’s beloved children. If God loves you, people will love you, too. He, who does not honour his father and mother, is a miserable man. He, who does not love his neighbour, is a miserable man, too. Such a man is a sinner, and he is doomed to suffer. This is what Christ meant when he said, “If you want to be perfect, honour your father and your mother, i.e. your Spirit and your soul; love your neighbour as yourself; go sell what you have, and then come, follow Me.” Whom should man follow? Man should follow Him, Who is the source of everything: the Original Source of Life. Following God will bring meaning to your Life and will turn your suffering into music, and your hunger and poverty into a pleasant task. Under these circumstances man is no longer afraid of hunger and privation. He does not worry about the daily bread, for he knows that God has taken care of his needs. He does not worry about how he will get bread. How were the Jews able to spend forty years in the desert? He, Who liberated them from slavery took care of their needs and made sure they had food and water. Man does not get his food from one source alone. Give away your possessions and worry not about where your next possessions will come from. You cannot pour clean water into the bottle unless you pour the dirty water out first. Empty out your money pouches if you are to fill them up again. Empty out your bottles and your money pouches so that God can fill them up with pure water and pure food. Empty out your hearts from the old feelings so that God can put into them new feelings and new warmth that will transform them. This is the meaning of the verse, “I will take away their hearts of stone, and I will give them new hearts.” Modern people are afraid of Life’s conditions, and want to know what will become of them. Bulgarians want to know what will become of Bulgaria. Nothing bad will happen. Bulgaria will continue to exist. God says today, “If people listened to Me I would say only one word and the war would end. But because they don’t listen I will let them fight until they learn.” Many people who do not honour their father and mother, and do not love their neighbour still live according to Moses’ laws. To this day there are still people-parasites. We do not need parasites. The world needs good people; it needs beautiful flowers that spread their fragrance everywhere. The world needs noble souls and hearts; it needs wise mothers, fathers and children. This is what God wants. This is what Christ preached two thousand years ago. Today people are divided into religious and worldly: the former believe in God and the latter deny God. The time is coming when they will be given even more proof that God exists. Then even the blind will be able to see, but if they are not ready to accept the new Light they will become even more miserable than they used to be. This is the reason some blind people’s eyes do not open. The world of intelligent Beings wants to spare them, and leaves them blind so they won’t suffer even more. This is also why not all people can be rich. Do not give money to those who do not know how to use it, for if they become rich before it is their time they will cause great trouble both to themselves and to their neighbours. Therefore, no matter what difficulties and tribulations you go through, remember that it is all Good, it is all for the better. What you need is a living, staunch belief to help you overcome everything. Work on yourselves, and work on the world, as well, to make it a nobler place. There was a time when people would leave the world; they would take to the mountain and the desert, and there they would live in service of God. Today the message to everyone is that you should enter the world and work in it. There was a time when people would leave hell, and fear it. Today they live in hell and work for the elevation of those fallen souls that have taken the stray path. It is now time for you to forgo your old convictions and tear down your old houses. The old is being torn down, the new is being built. The stage needs to be constantly renewed; we cannot keep replaying the same drama over and over again. God does not like monotony. As long as he lives in Moses’ law man serves evil by murdering, lying, stealing, committing adultery, etc. As long as he serves evil, man lives according to the law of being born and reincarnating. Once he turns away from this law he can start serving the Good, and enters the law of embodiment. Living according to this law means living according to these commandments, “Honour your father and mother, love your neighbour, and give away all your riches to the poor.” He, who observes the seven commandments, lives in the realm of immortality; he can now rest because he has gained salvation for his soul. This means that he has connected his soul to God Who is the source of all goods in Life. People today are afraid of what not, and that makes them think only of material security. A merchant buys simple goods, and then sells them as being something special so that he can earn more than he needs; by doing this he wants to secure himself materially. Why won’t he tell the Truth and say that the fabric he sells is not pure wool, but is mixed with cotton? If he always speaks the Truth his business will be better than if he tells lies. Whatever post you occupy you should always be honest and truthful. If you want to be free you should always speak the truth. Do not force anyone to do something that he does not want to do. Do not force your soul, either. Some young man does not want to get married but his relatives fool him into getting married. Afterwards he is sorry for giving in to other people’s advice. Do not force others if you don’t want to be forced. Do not lie to others if you don’t want to be lied to. Be true to your soul, and to your Spirit. Be true to your Teacher. Be true to the One Who has given you everything. He will enter your temple, wash His hands and feet, and will present gifts to you: holy oil, myrrh, and frankincense. Then he will say, “The time of your salvation has come!” Clean out your temple so that the Saviour can enter. If you want to clean out your temple, you need to learn to regard your neighbour with benevolence. Think only Good of him. The bad things that you see are related to his past Life. Today he strives for Goodness and will become good. The bad will become better than the ones that pass as good today. My task is to help all who are lame, blind or limping restore their health and rejoice in Life. All deserts need to turn into oases of Life where the weary traveler can rest and quench his thirst. All empty spaces need to be planted with fruit trees, so that everyone who passes by them should be given something. The stranger will stop before them and partake of their sweet fruit. Rid your thought of all negative traits: doubt, hesitation, and suspicion. You can doubt anyone, but never doubt God! He is kind and unchangeable. He remains the same under all conditions of your Life, and in the face of all your acts and attitudes. He is always ready to help you as long as you are ready to listen to Him. If you do not listen to Him He will let you suffer the consequences of your life and your mistakes, and then you will see for yourself what it means to live without God. The human soul knows no greater suffering than to stray away from God. How can man go back to the right path? Look at what the child does when it makes its mother sad: as soon as it realizes what it has done it goes to her and starts crying. Crying is his prayer. It cries and begs its mother to accept it back into her arms. Here’s what I’m telling you now: Go to God like the child goes to its mother. He is your Father and your Mother. If you want to be honoured by your sons and daughters you need to establish a connection with God. You will see that your life will become better before even a year has passed. As soon as you try this out you will have new thoughts in your mind and you will be able to see. Then you will have not only two eyes, but a hundred: you will have eyes on the front of your head and in the back, and also on both sides, on top and underneath, etc. Someone complains that he has been working a lot, but has not been able to see yet. He cannot see yet because he lacks that living faith which can open the eyes of the blind. I believe in your soul and I believe in your potential and I know that you will be able to see one day. Even if you do something bad, even if you make a mistake or do some mischief, your soul will remain unchanged. I like sinful people who repent, and that is why I lend a helping hand to all weak, ignorant, and sinners. This could be a weakness, but Christ had a weak spot for sinners, too. He passed His test: He let Himself be taunted, ridiculed and crucified, but then He came back to life on the third day. Now I wish you to share the same weakness: love those who repent and help them. “Come and follow Me”, says Christ. “Follow You in what?” “Follow Me in what I’ve been teaching you.” Lecture by the Master, delivered on February 25, 1917, in Sofia.