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The Crown of Life “Blessed is the one who endures temptation; because when the trial is over, such a person shall receive the crown of life, promised by the Lord to those who love Him.” James 1:12 You may find it a little strange that the Lord can put people to the test. Strange it may be to those who have not suffered difficulties in life and do not know the law of suffering. It does not take external concepts of life. Like for example a woman is beautiful, gorgeous, young, with a subtle complexion, and rosy cheeks, but she will lose all these external features. Some ask where this external beauty, gorgeousness, knowledge etc., is gone. The initial beauty will fade away. Well, one is in good health, but then one’s health is gone, where can one find it? One can keep it for ten, fifteen, twenty, fifty, sixty, for a hundred years but one’s health will fade after all. In the beginning, one grows up and studies, and then one starts losing, forgetting, until everything is gone. So, health, knowledge, wealth, everything will pass away. Your wealth will pass over to some of your friends and then again to some other friends of yours and it will pass away. If you have a house, it will be robbed, and other goods whatever you may have, these will be robbed as well. You want to be rich, but how; to be knowledgeable, but how? The way I preach to you: health, spiritual purity, beauty of the soul! Be knowledgeable, but in God! Have all the virtues in your souls and this should make you rich, knowledgeable, beautiful and teach a good Teaching to people, preach Peace, and you, yourselves should bear Peace, Love, Justice, Wisdom and Truth! Well, James endured a temptation and said, "Blessed is the one who endures a temptation, because enduring this, one will receive the crown of life." This means that your ship, when it starts sailing, will fight in the waves of life, but if it is not reliable it will be filled with water and it will sink. If, however, it is reliable, it will fight in the waves, no matter how strong they may be, and it will endure these storms. Now, your ship, on which you sail, is not reliable, because as soon as you encounter certain storms, temptations and troubles, your face drops. "The ship is gone," you say, "it sank." "Why," I ask you, "did it sink?" Because the words of that foe were grave. You have to make a stable ship! When a student is persistent in one’s studies, such a student will become knowledgeable. Students should study everything; students should do well at school. When you study you want to receive external crowns. Your life goes on monotonously and you are bored. What does your life consist of and why do you feel bored? You get up in the morning, right to the table for breakfast; breakfast is over, and you move on to lunch; lunch over, you move on to dinner; and then to bed, house-heating, putting off lights, and in the morning you start doing the same again. This is a wheel, running everyday, as if a horse is tied to a wheel to keep it going, to take water out for someone’s garden, to water it. So the horse keeps turning and turning the wheel and takes water out for two, three, five, ten years and in the end the horse will be skinned and buried somewhere. This is what the horse earned throughout these years of his life, turning the wheel everyday and in the end the gardener disposed of the horse. You shall have to please God first! I do not mean that God, who, scientists say, is in the space. I mean the living God, who is everywhere and within you, who wishes only a wealth of good for you. The world is confined. If you think the world will make you happy, you fool yourselves; it will tie you on its wheel to take water out and having done what the world wanted from you and having damaged your health, the world will skin you to the bone. With such a bad master you are bound to have a bad son, a bad father, a bad teacher. Whatever circumstances you may be in now, you have to solve the difficult problems. I shall dwell upon the issue of children. What are children meant for? Do you know why you gave birth to these children? To bring them up the way they should be. How do you bring them up? Mothers start teaching their daughters, "You must be proud, because you are not just anybody’s daughter. Do you know that you possess inheritance, you are educated, you can play the piano, and you are good-looking at that; you are much higher placed than her. So, stick to where you belong!" Fathers teach morals to their sons, "My son, do you know that I am not like what’s-his-name. You will inherit a good fortune, and what’s-his-name is simply a fool. You have to hold your head high, not to demean yourself; you have to know your price." Fathers instil pride and arrogance in their sons, teach them to be cruel to the weak creatures, while mothers instil pride and coquetry in their daughters, and all this depravity comes from the parents themselves. They give the germs of evil seeds - pride, doubt and any other evil. David said in his psalm, "They became alien from the time in their mother’s womb and forgot Your law, Lord." Maids are now proud of their external beauty, which they maintain by means of external augmentations. They look like a maid, who got engaged to a lad, but the fiancé, taking a friend with him, went to test her. Having greeted them with a warm ‘welcome’ she took the tray to treat them to a drink, but the fiancé decided to make her stumble so that he could see if she would get angry. So he sprawled his leg and she stumbled; she fell down and the tray dropped on the floor. But the maid got up to her feet, not uttering a single word, not flying into a rage and went downstairs into the cellar. So the lad thought to himself, "Well, what a kind maid, she did not fly into fury, and how clever she was not to get angry, not even nervous, she coped with the case!" So he liked her a lot and he married her. But after they got married the wife started scolding and shouting at the smallest issues. And he remembered that case, how kind she was as a maid and how well she stood that mishap. And she said, "Well, you think I have endured! You should have come downstairs into the cellar to see what happened to the table when I nailed my teeth into it and how I broke it in my anger!" Now you too are very kind externally, but if someone gets into your cellar, you may break this person’s bones. Modern Christians are like this maid – they are very good externally, they can forgive, but you should see them what they are doing inside their cellar! And all of you waste your time every day in idle, ill talk as to why this happened, why that happened, and you say, "There is no meaning in this life, no meaning in this world." I say, you have not tried the Teaching I preach to you. People put the Lord to the test and constantly tease Him, but He behaves very well to them. You may say that He can behave, He is strong. Yes, He can, because He understands how He can cure you, just like that lazy daughter who did not do anything, but only ordered, "Mother, pass me this, pass me that," and at last she fell ill because of her laziness, was taken to bed and made her mother call a doctor. Her mother sent for a doctor, the doctor came, understood what was wrong with her and gave instructions that the daughter should take walks and do exercises in the room. She was so idle that she would not do this, so while she was in bed, she played with her two thumbs to keep herself busy. The doctor came to visit her and finding her in the same position, he asked her whether she did any exercises, and she told him she had taken exercise. To his question how she did the exercises, she answered showing him what she did with her thumbs. The doctor understood that the maid was sick with laziness and told her that if she did not do as instructed by him, she would not recover her health… Similarly, Christians do the exercise with the two thumbs. The Lord does not welcome such a performance, the Lord wants live exercise of the hands and legs, the Lord wants you to get moving. He wants you to build up virtues, good deeds, to really get into action, so that you can become healthy again. Why are you ill? Because you are lazy. Your legs, your hearts, your minds, your eyes, your mouths are stiff, the only thing you know is to ask the Lord: "Grant me this, Lord, grant me that!" You want the Lord to be your servant. OK, but your legs and hands will become stiff. Why do your legs hurt? You have no Virtue. Why do your hands hurt? You lack Justice; these are given to you to employ them for good deeds. You do not do good deeds, so you will suffer. Why do your ears ache? You lack Wisdom. Why do your eyes hurt? You have no Dawning Light1. If your mouth hurts, you have no Love; if your teeth hurt – the same story; if your head hurts, you have violated the Truth, there is no Truth within you. With all of these organs you are supposed to do good for the Lord, but you do exactly the opposite. When the Lord grants health to these organs, they feel too lazy to serve you; as soon as they are not employed for the sake of good, they fall ill and you send for the doctor. And there you are, the doctor prescribes exercises for them. To a mother, who feels too lazy to do good for the Lord, the Lord will send a lazy daughter, so that she will do the work for her and obey her commands. To a maid who is idle for the Lord, the Lord sends such a man so that she should cater to all his needs and please all his wishes. When the Lord sees that the father is idle and does no good, the Lord sends to him a dissipating son, to squander his father’s wealth by gambling and womanising. This is the Lord’s understanding for sick and idle people and this is how He cures them with exercises. A man cannot get along with his wife, they cannot stand each other. People should not torment each other in such a way; people should live together and help each other. If you work jointly together, you will help a lot of people; you will take them out of many troubles. The same goes on in the Spiritual world. You should help one another. If you help the people close to you, you will be better off along the Path. Personality should be disposed of, and people should live in faith together. How did people manage to live collectively in old times? When someone had a field to reap, they all went together to the field to reap it. The same goes for grape picking, similarly with corn – they sit together and shell the corn. Whatever the work, they will get together and do it. You should do the same! If someone is in trouble – get two or three sisters together, help each other out and the Lord will help you. If two or three of you are not enough, four or five of you should get together and thus you will relieve one another no matter what standing each one of you has. You all have to stick together! And now James says, "Blessed is the one who endures a temptation to the very end; such a person will be saved and will receive the crown of life." And you should desire not the crown of vanity, but the crown of immortality, where there is no suffering, no temptations, no illness, where there is life full of good deeds. This Life is a plant and when it starts growing, it changes, it changes the soil too. Each plant has a different soil. You are one and same instrument, one and the same string. You will tune yourselves so that you can work in unity and produce a wonderful harmony. And when you start playing, whoever listens to you should be pleased. And when you start playing, you will learn this law; your hearts, your minds, your wills will tune themselves and you will be excellent players. When Heaven speaks within you, you cannot receive it. Why so? At the same time, having a mouth you can receive good food, and good food is given to you, while the rotten food shall be thrown away as it is no good for people. What actually goes on within you? The Lord says, "You have placed bad thoughts in your mind, bad desires in your hearts and bad words come out of your mouths; and your mouth should refrain from bad words." If you take swill and sprinkle your brother with it, what will happen? Is this good, will your mother praise you for this? This is not Christianity - to sprinkle your brother with swill is not a good thing. Well, you may say that a human being can judge. I say, "Go, make it up with your brother; go to him and tell him, "Forgive me, my brother!" If he does not forgive you, take somebody with you and go again and tell him, "Forgive me, my sister!" If he still does not want to, go with the church and if he is still not willing, let him be like a pagan and a tax-collector. Go and tell him the Truth and if he had gone wrong, correct him. If his wound has gangrened, go, show it to him and cure him; if he is sick, tell him how to cure himself. I can see that the world is sick. Sick women shout and scold their husbands and want to get divorced. Sick men are after certain pleasures incompatible with God’s law; they want impossible things and leave their wives. I can see sick minds, sick hearts, and sick souls. It’s easy to know what life will be with such people… I was once travelling by train and I saw a gentleman with a cloak on. Another gentleman was humming walking freely, arms dangling at his sides, not willing to harm anybody. Suddenly the man in the cloak shouted, "Are you blind, why did you bump into me? Can’t you see that my arm hurts!" Indeed his right arm was bandaged. Obviously his arm hurt but the other gentleman did not know that his arm hurt. In spite of this, the other one continued shouting; he shouts because his arm is sick… You should keep fifteen centimetres distance from any person, because there are sick people, but you do not observe this rule. The wife wants to be close to her husband and would not let him part with her, while he is bored with all this and starts frequenting the pub and takes to drinking, because his soul hurts. And because you do not keep fifteen centimetres distance from your husband and you want to constantly be in touch with his sick soul, he starts running away from you. The Scripture says that God made the woman from a rib; do you know what a rib is? The letter ‘r’ stands for work, which initially was supposed to bring good to the world, but then she disturbed the world and the Lord punished her. So, God made the woman from the man’s rib, from the Wisdom’s rib, in order for her to be prudent, to bind the world, to implant a sort of sweetness into it, so that everybody could find comfort in her. And now the woman gives birth to unwise children. Mothers bring children up and they start speaking ill of their fathers, while fathers say that their sons are bad, that their sons are drunkards or steal and that the sons have not taken after the fathers. Foolish parents have foolish children, imprudent mothers have vagabonds for sons; this is a law. If your son dies, he dies because you are not pure; because you have stained yourselves, you have offended God’s law and you pay for this. Today I speak the Truth and it will be good if you listen to me, but if you do not listen to me, you will see for yourselves that you will learn your lesson. At last your master will make you bring water to him with the wheel, and when you learn your lesson he will skin you. I would not like this to happen. Therefore God appeals to His daughters. Whoever is in suffering, that person is in the cauldron. You are now good, because anyone boiling in the cauldron is good. A soul having undergone huge sufferings is purified. You have all suffered and Purity is needed for the happiness in life. When one is pure, things are going for the better. You get up in the morning and everything starts turning upside down. Why so? Because there is no Purity. Take your lesson from this maid. God grants health to a person, but this person feels too lazy to work. Then God sends suffering to such a person. When one does not want to suffer, then torment is given to such a person. When one accepts torment, when one learns what suffering is and one puts up with these, then God says, "This one learnt to suffer. Relieve this person from suffering; give work to such a person!" You who are now at work, what do you do for the Lord? Or you will reply to me that the Lord is good. The Lord is good, but He will give you marks. You have a poor mark, a satisfactory mark, a good mark, a top mark, you have positive marks in everything: excellent in hypocrisy, very good for lying, a seven for anger, five point five for lack of self-restraint2. You cannot go without trials. In this life, the way it is heading, you will have poor marks. I want you to study this task, to develop yourselves. You have to pray and to ask yourselves what you have to pray for. You should be patient. And persisting in your prayers, everything will progress. When a child puts something into one’s mind, the child goes to the mother and wants apples from her. So the child has set a task to itself – apples, nuts etc., goes and starts asking the mother. The mother gives apples to the child; then the child wants nuts too. She gives the child nuts; then the child wants something sweet. But the mother tells the child, "Not everything at once, my child, tomorrow you will get something else." And the child remembers the promise that he or she will get something else on the following day. You should also have a similar task and set your mind on something, you should go and ask, and the Lord will give you everything you need. You should be good. However, being good is different from being like sheep. The Lord does not want sheep; the Lord wants good and reasoning people. Good are those people who do not sulk. If you go sulking, you are not good. You have to have a good soil, to cleanse these substances that make a person sulk. Your soil is rotten, this is why the Lord says that the seed happened to fall among thorns, was choked and did not grow. Another seed fell onto a stone, the sun scorched it and it withered. As it cannot root into the stone, it did not grow. Do not fool yourselves! If you do not create your soil now, you will never create it. There is no postponing of things! Do not postpone the Good! One good thought will attract all the good thoughts which will help to accomplish a good deed. You sometimes feel that you become cold to someone and you do not feel like going somewhere. Do you know why this happens? Because there the place stinks, there is an abominable smell, this is why you do not feel like going to this place; their soil is rotten, a sheep was slain and it went rotten. It will certainly start rotting after it was slain. Get rid of the sheep, cleanse your soil or house and the stinking smell will go away! This is the law of Truth. When dirt gathers in water, the water tank is isolated, water is purified by sieving and churning it, and then it is allowed to run again. Otherwise, if these impurities that have gathered are not cleaned, you will drink it and you will fall ill… Similarly, when people sin, they enclose it, hide it and it starts stinking. No, you have to open the room and say, "I slew a sheep or a cow, I sinned, there look at me I threw them out!" Pay the one you took them from, and thus the sin will be thrown out and shall not stink. There are heaps of rubbish in our lives as well. It’s all right that evil comes our way, let it come, but you should not accept it, should not become one with it, should not enter the sin like the prodigal son. I am not saying that there will be no crows or eagles circling around you trying to soil your nest. They may soil it from the outside, but it has to be clean from the inside, it has to be sacred. You clean your house physically everyday – is it not sufficient to do it once a year? Similarly you will clean yourself spiritually everyday, the way you do the physical cleaning. You have to clean yourself everyday! Friends will come to visit you; do not let them annoy you! The Lord does not want such people. Some say, "But I cannot sway myself do it." You will sway yourself, believe me! If you are a girder or a stone you won’t sway, but if you are human being you will sway. What does swaying mean? To be equally caring for yourself and for the people close to you. If you have anger burning within yourself, do not go anywhere, stay at home! You are loaded with a burden; do not go anywhere to unload your burden, as this does not comply with God’s law. Such a life is not good. Some may say that even religious people leave their burden, men, women, poets, writers and teachers, they all relieve one another. Prophets went to the woods to relieve themselves of their burden. If a field is not reaped, it will never reap itself; this year it will yield a poor crop, next year the crop will be even poorer and thus it will stop bearing wheat. It’s better to have a small, reaped field rather than a big field that is not reaped. Because the small good, when taken care of, multiplies. The same is true for the soul. The Lord brings fruit into your soul; you take the fruit out through a hole to feed the mice. Holes should be filled! A needle will not do. Some sew patches to their hearts, to their minds; this is no good. You should understand accordingly when the Lord gives you something. You have to listen to Him and you have to understand Him well when He talks to you, and what He wants from you. You have to also listen to Him when you want from Him the most substantial things for your lives. Look, if you are split-minded, this is not God’s thought; neither is it God’s desire. Will the Lord listen to you if you pray without it being needed or required by you? He won’t listen to you, because you did not go to Him having prepared the lesson for today! But the Lord will forgive us. He will forgive you, but students have to study. Teachers have a set schedule: the first class in history, the second class in reading, the third class in maths, the fifth in music and the sixth in physical education. But we are taught differently back at home. Then stay at home, do not come to school. Children want to suck from their mothers all the time, but as soon as the mothers see that the children have teeth, they wean them off. Some children want their food mashed; food can be mashed for the child one, two, three, four, five years, but to have one’s food mashed until the age of twenty – this is not allowed. Hens too, when chickens grow up, start pecking them in order for the chickens to start looking for food on their own. Similarly with the Lord, He also wants us to learn how to feed ourselves, and to select good food for ourselves. This is what the Lord wants us to do: anger is no good, it is madness! God’s Justice should always be manifested towards people! Hands are not given for evil, hands are meant to do good. If you do not do Justice, your hands will ache. If your deeds lack Virtue, your legs will hurt, you will not be healthy. If you have no Love, your mouth and teeth will ache; if you have no Truth, your head will ache; if you do not entertain good thoughts, you will become feeble-minded; if you are not wise, your ears will ache. As you are not in harmony with the God’s law, you will always be sick and indisposed. And now you will go to the Lord and you will say, "Lord, I want patience! Grant me Your Strength, to go through all trials ahead of me; to endure it willingly! I want humility!" Say for example you have a bad habit; when you feel this bad habit of yours is coming to the fore, you should start counting: one, two, three, four to thirty, forty, fifty; until you count to the end, this bad mood will fade away. While counting keep saying to yourself, "See, today I could endure a little, I did not fly into fury that much; tomorrow I shall refrain from lying twice; the following day I managed three times not to slander." And this is how the manifestations of each vice will be reduced little by little, until you get rid of the vice itself. If I cannot speak well of people, I shall make it my task for today to try and speak well of people. Tomorrow you will do someone good, on the following day you will save somebody from an evil and thus the good will be continually growing within you. A woman, who has a thousand good words, will be a good woman for the country, will be a good mother, will have good sons, clever daughters, and such a country will prosper. And I want you to have good thoughts, to do good deeds, to have an eye for the good in life! Do not worry; the child is not afraid of falling down while learning how to walk. You will fall down; will stand up on your feet, but fear not – you will learn! You all experience a strong desire to do good! The Apostle says that righteous people fall down seven times. You will encounter great obstacles in your lives, but you will also gain new experience and a new lifestyle. Amen! Master’s lecture, delivered on the 15 February 1917. 1 In the original Bulgarian text, instead of “Dawning Light”, stands the untranslatable Bulgarian word “Videlina”. Externally, this word means “the thin light which spreads out at the first break of dawn”, but not the dawn itself. From esoteric point of view, according to Master Peter Deunov, “Videlina” is one of the Divine, reasonable elements; it creates the human thought and the desires; it comes from within, not from outside; external light is just reflection of this “Videlina”. 2 In Bulgarian educational system of marking, 5.5 is almost excellent mark

The children “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven” Mathew, 18:3 To explain who is able to enter the kingdom of heaven, Jesus takes a form that has been comprehensible to everyone since the creation of the world – children. Children are what brings joy to the households and to the world. A home without children is like a desert without a spring, without any grass. Why should man become a little child to get to heaven? Jesus’ word “child” bears a sense deeper than we can possibly grasp. Jesus does not say, “You will be admitted to the Lord’s Kingdom if you are a jewel encrusted in a king’s crown or a millionaire.” He says, “If you do not become a child” – what He actually means is belittlement . The child stands for a passive state, or to put it differently, a potential energy, a kind of dormant energy. This energy is not inactive though, because it bears all the necessary conditions for its development; it is both potential and kinetic. Potential energy can transform into kinetic and vice versa. Kinetic energy is more active, but it is smaller in dimensions, while potential energy is capable of infinite growth. The difference between an adult and a child is just the same. An adult is less active and less capable of development than a child is. There is something more in the notion of a child. If a tree does not transform into a small seed to be planted in the soil, it cannot start the new cycle of development. Trees grow in two ways. Some grow through seeds, others grow through grafts. There is a great difference between a grafted tree and a tree that has grown from a seed. A tree developed from a seed is far sturdier than a grafted tree. Jesus warns us that if we do not turn into a seed, we will not enter the kingdom of heaven. It is where trees are not grafted; only seeds are planted. God does not need old people. There are no old people in the kingdom of heaven. The word “old” is synonymous to “feeble” or “impotent”, while “children” and “young” are synonyms to “rich” at heart and in mind. My interpretation is that if you do not have the purity and innocence of a child, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven, because the conditions in which you have to grow require that your heart and mind bear the Divine life. A widely held misconception of modern spiritual thought is that we are great. Each of us, even 5-year-old children, thinks highly of themselves. I have often encountered 5 or 6 – year-old children who believe that they are big enough and capable of doing anything. I have met religious children as well who think they are very important and powerful. “Do not fool with me,” they say, “I can do God knows what if I beckon with my finger!” These children cannot lift even a sack if asked to do so. Why can’t they? Only because they think they are big and strong enough, while, in fact, they are not. If they thought they were small, then they would be able to. This can be checked. Focus on your inner self, pretending to be a child, and pick out a particular idea – if you stay calm, your thought will be ten times as active as when you get anxious. What do you have to do with a switch? You only have to flick it. The force you apply is really insignificant. God arranges the world in such a way that your only mission here is to flick the switch. What do most people do? They stand in front of the switch, philosophising. It is impossible to turn on the lights this way. There is no point in philosophising. The only thing you have to do is to put out your hand, and the light you need for reading will come. The same law applies to waking up in the mornings – you turn your switch, saying, “I can see.” Similarly, the soul, on entering the body, turns the switch and says, “I can see the sun.” If you forget to turn your switch, you will live in darkness; i.e. your mind will stay dim and incapable of doing any job. One morning you get up, forgetting to turn the switch to your heart and your mind. As a result, your whole day is spoiled – everything goes wrong and you find everything pointless. I say that you are in the position of a child who thinks big, but forgets about the trifles – to turn the switch on and light the world. I keep coming across people who have failed to turn their switches – they think big, dreaming of having many houses, having great plans and ideas, while they remain blind. You do not need houses – turn the switch first, and then think about building houses. Become a humble, obedient child. Only then will God speak to you, and will you be able to understand your relationship with Him. Modern people have lost their connection with God – they think they are free and can do anything. They think they can criticise God. I would like to ask such a person, “Did you turn the switch on getting up this morning?” – No, I didn’t.” – “Then you should go back home to turn the switch, otherwise you will spend the whole day in darkness. Or, you will feel indisposed and life will be meaningless to you.” The same law applies to human relationships – you have turned on the switch and everybody loves you; you have forgotten to turn on the switch and everything goes wrong. You are a great man but nobody loves you. Nobody likes people who want too much. The heavenly law has children’s innocence as its symbol. To bear a heavy burden on your back and to have little in your stomach are two different notions. If you carry a sack full of 100kg of grain on your back and if you have half a kilo of grain in your stomach, where will the strength be? Modern economists, who burden the state with heavy debts, do this because they do not understand the Divine law. I’d rather you had half a kilo of grain in your stomach than 100kg on your back. 100g of knowledge in the head is far better than 100kg on the back. One may have 100 volumes of books, but 50g of knowledge in the head as a potential and kinetic energy is worth a great deal more than what is outside it. So, with the word “child” Christ understands a specific inner condition - to be adapted and related to the spiritual world with all its forces and creatures. If you start thinking of yourselves as a great creature, you lose these connections. When a great angel from heaven, who has lived for millions of years, gaining more experience than the whole humanity, and whose history is greater than that of the whole human kind, decides to come down to earth and incarnate, he will reincarnate into a child and will show humility; from this point he will start his growth in order to understand the greatness of God. Therefore, Jesus was asked: “Can an old man enter the Kingdom of God?” Neither an angel, nor God can. Anybody that desires to enter the spiritual world should show humility – to become a child. All of you, listening to me here, are willing to enter the Kingdom of God the way you are. I don’t say; this never was and would never be. Only if you acquire the attributes of a child, i.e. the flexibility of the mind and the heart, you will understand the profound meaning of life. Still, you are very close to the Kingdom of God. The interstice that separates this world from the other one is a hundred millionth part of the millimeter – only that big is the distance between the two worlds. When a man gets on the path to growth, he is moving very slowly. As I see, anybody that takes the spiritual path, starts as a grown-up, not as a child. If a man starts walking in strides, he won’t achieve his goal. If you see a man running out of his house, he won’t get anywhere. But if he starts slowly and gradually accelerates his walk, he is in the situation of a child. Jesus says: “Do not start your duties in a hurry; move like young children do – walk and gradually accelerate your pace by 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, and then you will find meaning in your life.” While you are in the situation of young children, no sickness will come; however, when you in the situation of the old, you will be affected by all kinds of diseases. One who is uncertain is old; one who feels the burden in his heart is old. Get young. You say, “I feel burdened.” – You are old. – “What should I do?” – Become young. – “How?” – Forget about great world issues. Put only ½ kg of bread in your stomach, 100 g of knowledge in your brain and 5 g in your heart – that is enough. Maidens when loved by 10 or 15 lads start reproaching themselves and become upset. Several years ago, in Sofia, a maid was killed by her fiancée, as she was unfaithful. – How can a girl be in love with two men? One is perfectly adequate. Every thought has its place. If you don’t love somebody, don’t lie to him, but tell him the truth, and he will find another lover. Suffering out of love exists in religion as well. It is said: “Let’s love,” but do you know how to express love? A man that covets commits a sin, and who sins – suffers. The one that sins is a bad person, but the one that sins and doesn’t repent is worse. The one who sins and neither repents, nor prays is even worse, and the one that does not repent but prays is a hypocrite, and the hypocrite is the worst kind in this world. There are two lies, two kinds of sins - when you say that you love somebody and lie to him, you act the way crocodiles do: when they love somebody they shed tears over him so that he becomes sleek enough to swallow. It is not the love that we need, but the love of young children. You may give a bit, but give it with full heart. If men and women applied this philosophy to life, all households and communities would change for the better. Fathers, mothers, children, teachers, priests, judges – they all think of great ideas, they are great people; they are the greatest people in this world. And you are asking me why the world suffers? It suffers because of “great” people and ideas. “What an excellent preacher he is”, they say, “What great ideas he preaches”. Yes, but we all suffer from “great” ideas. The Jews had great ideas as well. They wanted to become wealthy and grew proud of being the chosen people. They received 33,000 promises from God, but Christ showed them that human greatness lies in the challenge of becoming young like a child: only then will God be on our side. I have never seen a single mother bearing an old granddad in her womb even if she would get paid millions for that. While any woman bears a young child even without being paid anything for that. Why? - Because the child bears intrinsic welfare. Any Divine idea, no matter how small it is, bears peace, joy, and omnipresence when it gets inside; therefore everybody can bear young children. Some of you may think that great ideas evoke happiness in the world. To make this clearer I will tell you a legend. A poverty-stricken German prince wanted to marry a beauty; still she told him: “I am a woman hard to please, so you will build a wonderful palace for me and whatever else I may want, you will have to give it to me. If you agree to this, I will accept your proposal; are you ready?” – “I am ready to do anything, because I will be happy with you,” answered the prince. He married her and started searching for wealth through occultism and through conjuring spirits. He found the prince of gnomes and said: “I married a very demanding woman and I need some money. Can you lend me some?” – “I can, but only if you give me 10 hairs from your head for every bag of money.” – “I have plenty, so I can even give you more.” – “No, I need only 10 of them. Any time you come, you can take a bag of gold.” – “Ah, we are provided for now,” – he said, - “my home will be filled with happiness at last”. And he started visiting the prince of gnomes week after week, month after month, taking money and giving hairs in return. A year, two, three passed, and he lost all his hair. He went again to borrow some money, but no more hair was on his head. “May I give you something else?” he asked. “No, hairs, I need hairs.” Only then did he realise that the human character is hidden in these hairs - the seemingly insignificant things he had sacrificed for what he believed to be more important. Every hair is a noble thought sacrificed for nothing . If you have had such a desire for ten years, you sacrifice everything noble in you and become as barren as a desert. Then you turn into an old big dry tree – a symbol of the perished human character. The truth shouldn’t offend us. I know many that get offended when you tell them the truth. But anybody offended by the truth is looked upon as an old man by God. That is God’s law - God has never felt offended. There is hardly a creature that has been abused more than God himself, still He has never even knitted His brows. He observes us calmly in silence. Eventually, He says: “These children will understand the law: they sin and that is why they will bear this burden.” – “It is hard, too hard to live in poverty. What shall we do?” – “You will have to work.” – “Is this the only way?” – “I’m afraid, it is. You will have to work.” – “We are grown up people.” – “You will pray and you will become children.” When you get back home, try to become a child and you will feel younger. You have grown old – why? – Because you bear the world on your back. If you are in a boat that is rolling and you get scared, what is the point of being afraid? Stay calm and have faith, as a child would do. The one that has made the boat will take care of you. The boat will roll for a while and stop. Don’t be afraid of thunder and lightning. The birds in the sky are rolling as well, but they understand these laws better than you do. I apologise for all this. If you are old, you will take offence; if you are young, I will congratulate you. When I tell the truth, nobody is hurt. If someone happens to go barefoot through a stretch of rocks, I will say to him: Put on shoes, because you will hurt your feet and will have to turn back half way across; the shoes will save you. If it is a lady, she will prefer getting hurt to putting on some practical yet ugly shoes, which her beloved might not fancy. Children should always have shoes. Look at the butterflies, these small children of God, look what excellent arrays they have; if an earthly queen had it, she couldn’t have been happier. Even though these butterflies live short lives, God dresses them nicely. Why is that? – Because they are children. And why is God bringing misfortune to people? – Because they are old. Why is God blessing some? – Because they are young children. A mother is ready to forgive her children many faults, but if her husband makes a mistake, she will say: “This senile man is such a nuisance! I’ll get rid of him.” By the same token, Heaven forgives children all their sins; but it is harsh on the elderly and says: “You are banned from here!” Then what does all this engender in us? Discontent, despair and hatred towards life as we face resistance and conditions unfavorable for our development. To be loved by God and people, we need to embrace the Divine idea - the only thing we have to get accustomed to, is to feel small in front of God, to bear a sympathetic mind and heart. Love has degrees in strength: when you keep two meters away from a heater, you feel some pleasant warmth, but if you put your hand on it, you will get burnt. Old people are hot heaters – sometimes they burn. They are usually self-interested and greedy. Do not think that I mean you. My word is about those old people described in the Scripture. An old person is someone who thinks that he is great, such people we should try to avoid. This is what Jesus meant when preaching that we should become small children. By exploring Nature, you will see that the most valuable things are not big. Take the diamond - the substance that made it up used to be gaseous, taking up too much space. God compressed it by turning it into a solid, thus reducing its volume. It became smaller in size, but bigger in value. Do you know how much energy is compressed into an atom? By the same token, we need to get smaller, like children, for God is great and if we want to be like Him, we have to learn about transitory things and the stages in temporary being. We need to learn this art because small things grow into bigger ones. A small seed has the necessary conditions to develop into a big tree, as soon as it falls on the ground, while a leaf or a fruit, no matter how big it is, will dry out as soon as it falls. This is what Jesus’ words mean. He speaks to the people of an enlightened century – to those who can understand His teaching and apply it. He does not speak to those who cannot understand Him. When a great musician is playing, he plays to those who have an ear for music. When a great sculptor creates his sculpture, he does it for those who have eyes to appreciate it. When a writer writes a book, he does it for those who can understand it. God created the world and set down the law for those who can understand Him. Those who cannot understand Him, will stay encumbered with the heavy burden on their backs, thinking they are great. Once, when God created the world, the spirits descending on earth wanted to be great. That’s why they had huge bodies and, accordingly, all the animals were enormous, too. If those enormous animals had lived on, they would have destroyed the earth completely, eating everything up. God had to teach those spirits that they did not need these huge bodies, as the greatness of a living being is not in the size. An idea is great not when it is enormous but when it fosters progress. If you plant a walnut tree, it will grow big in 10 to 12 years. However, when it dies, it will return to its initial state. I suggest that you become small children and try this. You need to embrace this idea of Jesus and do your best to stay small in the face of God. You may think that you are of importance or substance but think of those kings and nobility who have vanished beyond recall. We are often misled to think that the people around us are great and important, but when misfortune strikes, you can tell how insignificant they are. In a small village near Varna, a rich man’s son used to live. He was the talk of the village and everyone knew him. He used to invite people to lavish feasts every week and the spree carried on till dawn. It happened so that he went bankrupt. Everybody abandoned him when he was broke. This man believed he was important. How could he be such? He was like a dead ox – when it dies, the dogs gather to feed on it. People kept talking about him but only till they ate him up. He was completely forgotten when he was finished. People talk about you only when they have something you have offered them to eat. When you die and nothing remains of you, they stop talking about you. These are the misfortunes of our outer life. We may be very beautiful in appearance, but what counts is the inner beauty of the heart and mind. That’s why you have to clear your mind and heart of lies. You should become small children in order to enter the kingdom of heaven and inherit the new Life. People on the earth are dead – dogs, eagles and ravens scavenge on them because they are “great”. When you read the Revelation, you will see that God summons all eagles and tells them, “Come here to take your share! Come to feast on the flesh of brave warriors and chieftains! These were all great people!” What does it mean? When some sturdy oak dies and turns to soil, God sends small seeds and blades of grass there, bidding them, “Take your share of this oak for it used to hinder your growth!” That’s why Jesus tells you to become small children, otherwise you wouldn’t enter His Kingdom. God would not take your side. You need to build up new moral and religious principles that are stronger than the current ones. The principles you have applied up to now are too weak to sustain you. If you take a piece of rope that can hold a weight of 10 kg while you need it for a weight of 100kg, what should you do? You need to make it 10 times stronger. This rope stands for morals – you need to be 10 times as morally strong in order to withstand present conditions. That is why, in compliance with natural logic, we have to change our outlook. Even the worst person who becomes a small child can change, so you will get to love him/her. There cannot be any conflict between an oak and a blade of grass. However, two oaks can always fight. If you plant them one next to the other, they will start competing for height and sunshine. Whichever manages to take the lead, will be the successful one, while the smaller one will say, “I remain here, beneath you.” You have remains small , but with great ideas! It is not that you are small. You only have to wait for your turn to come. Then you will say, “I will become your son, the acorn!” The oak will respond, “I will be your father.” - “Well, father, thank you, for you care.” There will come a day when the acorn will grow big enough to change places with his father. What Jesus wants from us is that each of us should become a tree and give fruit upon which to lay the Kingdom. You will say that this is too far-fetched. No, you should give this some consideration and say, “I want to become a small divine child. Lord, help me to make this thought come true.” Focus on this idea for 12 months and you will see how your life will change. Do not make fuss about this, though. I can see that you are small. When a big oak comes to tell me, “I am small.” I know that it does not tell me the truth. When a rich man says that he has no money it is because he is afraid of being robbed. When a poor man says that he has money, he is lying. Let everybody tell the truth. Have faith in God’s law about the small children and God will always stand by you. If God gives you credit, He will make you great. But if you yourselves pretend to be great, then you will be very much like the fraudulent merchant who keeps bragging about having money while he actually has none. This is what the profound meaning of the verse “become little children” is. I do not want you to think, “Are we of no importance, really?” Leave that thought aside. It does not matter what you have been up to now. What counts is what you will become from now on. It is well known what you were – let sleeping dogs lie. Let us become little divine children – that is the ultimate aim. I would like you to become God’s children and take advantage of the great goods the Kingdom of Heaven offers you. I would like you all to be happy, wise and good. I can tell you what you see and show you the way to achieve this. You will ask, “How should we perceive this small drop?” Do not worry – it will enlarge. The rain does not start at once. It starts drizzling in small drops, and then it starts raining harder. All these small drops make their contribution to the world. Small children do not know fear, yet their grannies frighten them with evil spirits if they refuse to go to bed. Mothers, too, before leaving for a party, try to make their children stay peaceful and well-behaved or go to bed by frightening them with evil spirits. Down with these evil sprits! Do not lie to your children that they will appear. Do not lie to yourselves either! Be honest to yourselves and to others – this is the only way to become younger and more attractive. As soon as you conceive a divine idea, everything will change – lips, brows, etc. Europeans use make-up to make the lips red because the red colour suggests pure blood and wealth. Let this impression come naturally. Let us become small children and stop lying to God. No one believes in God – there can be a serious reason for this lack of faith. Some will say, “There is no God.” I will say, “You have not turned the key.” “Life is pointless.” “You have not turned the key,” I say. “Well people are evil.” “You have not turned the key,” I say. The key of the small child is inside. This is the greatest possible idea. Some want to know who Jesus is. Jesus is what He has said. If you are capable of using His words, you will be happy. The strength in Life is not in the letter but in the spirit. I take great care to comply with the Divine idea. What I say is always true. We should be careful to avoid what Socrates’ disciple did. This young person appeared in front of Socrates in shabby pants in order to show humility. His master, however, told him, “I can see your pride transpire through your pants.” We have to be careful. As you see, I have always been careful not to tell you something that is not true. Everything I say is true – you can check it. If you do not see any results, I will join you. You just have to say. “I want to become a small child this year.” This is the key idea I want to hammer home – to become little children. I want all Bulgarians to become little, divine children. When all European nations become such little children, the true Divine peace will come to reign in this world. A lecture held on 11 February, 1917.

The Book - The Spirit and The Flesh. Beinsa Douno Translation from Bulgarian - Vessela Nestorova THE CHILDREN Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.35 In order to explain who can enter the Kingdom of Heaven, Christ takes as an example an ordinary form known to all—the children—a form existing since the creation of the world. The children bring happiness to the home and to the world. A home without children is a desert without a spring or grass. Why must one become as little child, if they would get to heaven? In Christ's talk the word child has a deeper meaning than we usually attach to it. Christ does not say that you will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, if you are a precious stone placed in the crown of some king or if you are a millionaire, but says, "If you do not become as a child, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven." Here He implies the idea of growing small. The child is a symbol of a potential state, or it may be said that children represent potential energy, i.e. energy in a dormant state. This energy is not inactive because it contains all the conditions for its development. It is simultaneously in a potential and a kinetic state. The potential energy turns into kinetic and the kinetic into potential. The kinetic energy has stronger activity, but it has a smaller scope, whereas the scope of potential energy implies limitless development. The difference between the child and the adult is the same: adults are less active in that they have a smaller scope of development than children. The idea of the child contains yet another sense. If a tree does not turn into a small seed to be planted again in the soil, it cannot begin its development. The growth of trees is effected in two ways: some grow by seeds, others by sprouts or grafting. There is a big difference between a plant growing from a sprout and one growing from a seed. The plant growing from a seed contains greater force than that growing from a sprout. Christ says, "If you do not turn into a seed in life, you will not enter the Kingdom of God!" Why? Because only seeds, not plants are planted there. God does not need old people. There are no old ones in the Kingdom of God. The word old is synonymous to a weak person, while the young, the children are the equivalent to the word rich in mind and heart. This is my interpretation. If you have not the mind and the heart, that is—the innocence and purity of a child—you cannot enter the Kingdom of God. Why? Because the conditions under which you must grow, require your mind and your heart to contain the Divine life within them. One of the greatest delusions in contemporary spiritual movements lies in considering oneself big or great. Every person, even children five or six years old, cherish the idea of greatness. I have often met children who have the idea that they are very big and have the power to do many things. I have met religious people who also think they are very big. They say, "Do not annoy me, because I can do all things just by raising my finger." If you make these children to raise a sack, they will not be able to. Why can't they raise it? Because they think they are big, but in reality they are not. If they thought they were small, they would be able to lift it. You can test this every day. Put yourself in the position of a child, deposit a thought in your mind and do not worry. If you do not worry, it will be ten times more active than if you torment yourself all the time. When you stand before the switch of an electric lamp, what is required of you? Only to turn this switch on. What do many people do? They stop before the switch and begin to philosophize. No, in this way you will not receive any Light. No philosophy is needed in this case, but a simple motion of the hand and light—the condition for reading—will shine forth. The same Law applies to one's personal life. On waking up in the morning you turn on the switch and say, "I see!" When the soul enters the human body, she also has a switch and when she turns it on, she says, "I see the Sun!" If you forget to turn on your switch36, you will be in darkness, i.e. your mind will be muddled up, incapable of work. Some morning you get up and forget to turn on the switch of your heart and mind; then the whole day your life is in disorder, you do not find any sense in it and so on. I say, you are in the state of a child with big ideas who, thinking of the big things, forgets to do the least—to turn on the small switch from where the Light comes. I constantly meet people whose switch is not turned on, but who have big ideas, who dream of many-storied large houses, yet are blind! No, you need no such houses. First, turn on the switch and afterwards you can make your house. Become a child of obedience! Only then God will speak to you and you will understand the relations existing between Him and yourself. People today have lost their relations to God. They think they are free and have the right to do anything they want to, even to criticize God. I ask such a person, "When you got up this morning did you switch on the Light?" "I did not." "Then return home and switch it on, otherwise the whole day you will be in darkness and low spirits. Up to that moment life will have no sense for you." The same Law applies to human relations: you have turned on the switch and all people love you; you have forgotten to turn it on and everything is in disharmony. You are a big person, a great one, but nobody loves you. Nobody loves people who want much. The Law of heaven is symbolized by the children, by their selflessness. To carry much on you back, but to have little in your stomach are two different things. If you carry 100 kg wheat on your back and ½ kg wheat in your stomach, where will your strength be? Contemporary economists who burden the state with big debts do this because they do not understand the Divine Law. I would rather they gave each person ½ kg of wheat in the stomach than 100 kg on the back. It is preferable to have 100 g of knowledge in the brain than a load of 100 kg on the back. Someone may have 100 volumes of books, but the 50 g of knowledge in the brain as a potential and kinetic energy are of more value than what is outside of it. Thus by the word child Christ means a special inner state—to be in accord, in contact with the spiritual world, with all the powers and all beings. If you start thinking you are a great being, you lose all these contacts. When a great angel in heaven who has lived millions and billions of years and who has an experience greater than that of humanity and whose history is much more superior to that of humankind, decides to come to earth and be incarnated, he will take the form of a little child and humble himself—he will start his development from this point, in order to come to understand the majesty of God. That is why Christ was asked, "Can an old man enter the Kingdom of God?" Be he an angel or a God, he cannot. Those who would enter the Kingdom of God must humble themselves and become like children. Now all of you who are listening to me want to enter the Kingdom of God such as you are. No! This has never been and never will be! If you do not acquire the qualities of a child—plasticity of mind and heart—you will not understand the inner sense of life. But you are already near the Kingdom of God. The inter-space dividing this world from the other world is a hundred-millionth part of the millimeter. How small is the distance between these two worlds! When a person starts on the way of development, they move very slowly. I notice all who start on the spiritual path resemble big people; they are not like children. If someone begins their journey with large strides, they will not attain their purpose. If you leave home running, you will not achieve anything. But if you start slowly and gradually accelerate your step, you are in the state of a child. Christ says, "Do not start your work hurriedly. Move like the small children—walk constantly and quicken your step by one, two, three, four, five, six steps, then you will find sense in your life." While you are in the state of small children, no illness will attack you, but if you are in the state of the old, an illness will come to you. Those who worry are old; also those who have a heavy heart are old, too. Become young! You say, "I have a weight in my soul." You are old. "What shall I do?" Become young! "How?" Do not think of great things in the world. Put only half a kilo of bread in your stomach, 100 g of knowledge in your brain and five grams of feelings in your heart—that is enough for you. When ten or fifteen young men love a girl, they begin to quarrel; she feels puffed up and becomes unhappy. Some years ago a young woman was killed in Sofia by her fiance. Why do you love two people? One is enough. Every thought has its definite place. If you do not love a man, do not deceive him! Tell him the truth and he will find another girl. In regard to religion, people suffer from the same love. You say, "Let us love!" Do you know how love is expressed? Those who desire much commit a sin and when the sin is done, they suffer. The one who sins is a bad person, but the one who sins and does not repent is worse, yet the one who sins and does not repent or pray is still worse. Everyone who prays, yet is unrepentant, is a hypocrite. A hypocrite represents the worst person in the world. There are two kinds of lies, two kinds of sins in the world. When you tell someone you love them, yet you do not, you act like the crocodiles—when they love someone, they wet her with tears to make her smoother and easier to swallow. No, people do not need such love, but the Love of the small children. Give a little, yet let it be from your heart. If men and women would apply this philosophy to their life, all homes and societies will change for the better. Fathers, mothers, children, teachers, priests, judges—all are thinking of great ideas. They all consider themselves great and fool themselves that there are no greater people than them. You ask, "Why is the world suffering?" It is suffering from "great" people and ideas. People call someone an excellent preacher, because he is preaching grand ideas. Yes, we are all suffering from "great" ideas. The Jews also had great ideas— they wanted to become rich and, considering themselves chosen, they became proud. They had 33,000 promises by God; however, Christ showed them that the greatness of a person lies in becoming as small as a child. Only in this case, God will be on one's side. So far I have not seen a mother bearing an old man in her womb, even if she would be given millions. But everyone bears the small child without getting any payment. Why? Because the child holds great benefits inside. As it enters, every Divine idea, no matter how small it may be, brings peace, joy and greatness to the person who accepts it—that is why everyone can bear the small children. Many think that big ideas bring happiness to people. Actually, this is not true. To clarify this thought, I shall tell you a legend. An impoverished German prince wanted to marry a beautiful woman. She told him, however, that she was a woman of great pretensions and she wanted him to build her a beautiful palace and supply anything she wanted of him. Only under such conditions would she marry him. He agreed to everything, thinking he would be happy with her. He married her and started looking for riches. By the powers of occultism he started calling spirits who would help him. Finally, he found a prince of the gnomes and said to him, "I have married a pretentious woman and need much money. Can you help me?" "I can, but under one condition: for every purse of money, you must give me ten hairs of your head." "I have enough hairs and can give you as many as you wish." "I shall need only ten for each bag of gold I give you." The man thought his troubles were settled and his life at home would now be happy. He started visiting the prince of the gnomes week after week, month after month, taking bags of gold and giving his hairs in return. A year, two years, three years passed and he became completely bald. He went again for gold, but had no hairs. "Shall I give you something else?" he asked. "No, I need hairs." Now the man understood that human character lies hidden in these hairs. He had sacrificed the apparently small things for presumably great things. Every hair is a noble thought sacrificed for a trifle. If you have such aspirations for ten years, you will sacrifice all that is noble in you and remain a barren desert. Then you will be turned into a big, old, dry tree which is a symbol of the degenerate human character. Be not offended by the Truth. I know that when the Truth is spoken, many people are offended. God considers an old person everyone who is offended by the Truth. Such is the Law before God for He has never been offended until now. There is no other being to have suffered more desecration than God, but so far He has not even knitted his eyebrows. He calmly and quietly looks at us and says, "These children will understand the Law; now they are piling up sins, that is why they will bear this burden." "Our condition is very heavy: poverty, illness, what shall we do?" You should work. "Is there no other way?" No, there is no other way—you must work. "We are big." You should grow small, become like children. When you return home, try to become like children and see how you will be rejuvenated. You say you are old, but what is the reason? You are carrying the world on your back. When you board a ship which rocks and you begin to fear, what will be the use of fearing? Stay quietly, have the confidence of a child. He who has made the ship will take care of you. The ship will rock and then stop rocking. Even if there is a storm and thunder, you should not be afraid. The birds in the airy space also rock, but they understand this Law better than you. You will excuse me for all this. I say, if you are old, you will get offended; if you are young, I shall congratulate you. When I speak the Truth, let no one be insulted. I shall ask those of you who are walking barefooted over a stony place, to put on sandals, because your feet will be hurt and you will be forced to turn back midway. The sandals will protect you. If a lady is passing through such a place, she would prefer to have her feet hurt than to put on her sandals to please her loved one. Yet, it is dangerous to walk bare-footed. The children are always shod. Look at the butterflies, these small children of God, what excellent clothing they have! If an earthly queen has such clothes, she would feel happy. Although these butterflies have a short life, how well God clothes them! Why does God clothe them so well? Because they are children. But why does God send unhappiness to people? Because they are old. Why does God send blessing to some people? Because they are small children. A mother forgives her children many mistakes, but if her husband makes the mistakes, she says, "I do not want this dotard any longer!" In the same way heaven forgives all the sins of the small children, but it is strict with the old and says, "Out with you!" Then what takes place in you? Dissatisfaction, despair and hatred of life, since you face resistance and unfavorable conditions for your development. The only way to be loved by God and by people is to adopt the Divine idea—be small before God and have a responsive heart and mind. Love has different degrees of power: you stand in front of a stove at a distance of two meters and feel a pleasant heat, but if you should put your hand on it, it will burn you. The old people are hot stoves, that is why they burn you sometimes. Usually they are mercenary. Do not think I am speaking of you; I am referring to those old men mentioned in the Scripture. Those who think they are big and great, they are old men. Beware of such people! Christ preached this when He said, "Become like little children!" When you study Nature, you will find that the most precious things are not big. For instance, the diamond has been an airy substance in the past, occupying great space; long time had to pass before it thickened and grew hard. God has turned it into a hard substance, but at the same time, He has made its volume smaller. It has become of small volume, but of high price. Do you know how much energy, how much matter is pressed into an atom? We should grow small by the same Law, become like children, for only God is great and to be like Him, we have to learn the art of transitory things in creation, the stages of transitory life, and find out why small things pass into big ones. A ripe grain or seed, no matter how small it may be, if it finds favorable soil, it grows into a big tree. However, no matter how big a leaf or a fruit may be, if it falls in the soil, it will rot. This is the sense of the words of Christ. Christ spoke at the time for the people of an enlightened age, for those who are able to understand Him and apply His teaching. When a great musician plays, he plays for those who have an ear to hear him; when a sculptor makes a statue, he offers it to those who understand and value it; when a writer writes a book, it has sense for those who understand it. God has made the world and inscribed His Law for those who understand Him. Those who do not understand Him will bear the burden on their back and be "great men." When God created the world, the spirits who came down to earth wanted to be big, great, that is why they had big bodies. The huge animals were created at that time as well. If the huge animals had remained on earth, they would have devastated it completely eating up everything. God was teaching those incarnated spirits that they must not have huge bodies, because the greatness of a being does not lie in the huge body. An idea is great not when it is big in volume, but when it bears something great which helps the development of all beings. If you sow a walnut, in ten or twelve years it will become a big tree, but after it dies, it assumes its original state again. Now I am telling you to become like the little children and to make an experiment in this respect. I say, let this idea of Christ enter your mind and try to be small before God. Imagine that you are just beginning your life in the Kingdom of God. You may consider yourselves eminent people, but how many great kings, how many eminent people lived in the past, of whom there is no trace today. You deceive yourselves thinking that the people around you are eminent, famous, but you can see how eminent they are when misfortune comes to them. In a Varna village about fifty years ago, there was a very eminent son of a chorbadji37. The whole village was speaking about him. When anyone said, "Petran Chorbadji," everybody knew him. Every week he would slaughter and roast a lamb, gather people for a long and merry feast. But misfortune befell him so that he lost everything and became the last pauper. Everybody deserted him and started mocking him. That "Petran Chorbadji" thought himself an eminent man! What is an eminent person? A dead ox. When he dies, the dogs eat him up. Then they again speak of him, but only until he is all eaten up. After that nothing more is said of him. People speak of a person so long as there is something they can take or receive from them, but as soon as the person dies and nothing remains of them, they stop talking about him. These are the misfortunes of your external life. You are very beautiful on the outside, but the beauty of the heart and the mind is important. That is why you must purify your heart and mind and do not fly at high game. Become small children that you may enter the Kingdom of God and inherit the new life. People on the Earth are dead. They are eaten up by dogs, crows and eagles, because they are "great." When you read "Revelation," you will see that God summons all eagles and says to them, "Come, you little ones, to take your share, of the flesh of kings and heroes—all "great men." What does this mean? When a big oak tree rots and turns into soil, God sends the little seeds and grasses and says to them, "Take your share of this oak, because in the past it obstructed your development." That is why Christ says, "If you do not become small children, you will not enter the Kingdom of God. God will not take your side." Therefore, the new conditions under which you live require a new moral, new religious principles which must be more powerful and effective than the present ones. The principles you have used till now are weak and cannot endure. You have a rope which can raise ten kilograms, but you want it to raise a load of one hundred kilograms, what must you do? You will make it ten times stronger. The rope is the moral you must make ten times stronger than the previous one, in order that it may endure the new conditions. That is exactly why, according to Christ's Law, you must change your outlook. If the worst person were to become a child, you would love them because they would change. There cannot exist a struggle between an oak and grass, but there will always be a struggle between two oaks. Plant them next to each other, you will see the struggle between them—which should grow taller and see the Sunbeams. The one that grows higher will succeed, but the one that remains below will say, "I remained small." Small but with big ideas. It is not that you have remained small, but that you should wait for your turn, then you will say to the big oak, "I shall become your son, an acorn". It will answer, "I, on my part, am your father." "Thank you, father, for your care which you will take of me." One day this acorn will grow big and exchange its role with its father. Christ requires every one of us to become a tree which will bear fruit, a seed upon which the Kingdom of God may be laid. You will say, "These are abstract things." No, they are not. Deposit in your mind the thought, "I want to become a small Divine child. God, help me realize this thought." Think upon this though for twelve months and you will see how your life will change. However, do not blaze forth this idea; I can see that you are small. When a big beech tree comes and says, "I am small" it is not speaking the Truth. When a rich man says he has no money, he is afraid of being robbed. When a poor man says he has money, he does not speak the Truth. Let everyone speak what is right. Have faith in this great Divine Law of this child and God will be with you. If God credits you, He will make you great. But if you make yourself great, you are in the state of a lying merchant who says he has money when he has not. This is the deep sense of the verse, "Become like small children." I do not want you to think, "Are we really nothing?" Leave this thought aside. What you have been until now is not important; the thing that counts is what you will be from now on. It is well known what people have been like until now—let sleeping dogs lie. The future ideal is—be Divine small children. I wish you to be children of God and use all the great blessings the Kingdom of God is giving you. I wish you all to be wise, happy and good. As you see, I am telling you the way you can be such. You will say, "How will we regard the small drop of water?" Be not troubled, it will grow. The rain does not pour down at once, but drop by drop and gradually it rains harder. However, the small drops benefit the world. The small children do not know what fear is, but the grandmas frighten them, "The big, bad goblin will eat you up!" The same way the maid-servants frighten the children with the goblin to make them fall asleep, so that they can go out and have a date with some young man. In order to be free to go to a ball, some mothers also fool and frighten their children with something awful and mysterious. Down with your goblins! Deceive neither the children, nor yourselves! Be sincere with yourselves and others—this is the only way you can be rejuvenated and become beautiful. As soon as the divine idea takes possession of your mind, everything will change—your lips, eyebrows, nose and forehead. In Europe women paint their lips red, because the red color shows wealth and pure blood. Let this be done naturally. To become small children means to stop lying to God. Someone does not believe in God—they may have serious reasons for their disbelief. Another person says, "There is no God." I say, you have not turned on the switch. "Life has no sense." You have not turned on the switch. "People are bad." You have not turned on the switch. The small child's switch is inside of them. There is no more beautiful or greater idea than this. Some want to know who Christ is. The power of life is not in the letter, but in the spirit of things. I am careful in always conforming to the Divine Truth, speaking only what is true. You must not play the role of one of the disciples of Socrates who, desiring to show himself humble, went one day to his master in torn pants. However, his master told him his pride could be seen through his torn pants. You must be careful and you see I am careful with your hearts and have never said what is true. Everything I say to you is a Truth which you can verify. If you have no results, I am ready to start working with you. Only say to yourself, "This year I want to be a small Divine child!" This is the idea I want you to go away with—to be small Divine children. All the European nations to be such children too. Then the real Divine peace will come into the world. Sermon held on February 11, 1917 in Sofia. ______________ 35. Matt. 18:3. 36. The formulae in the previous lecture are one effective method of turning on this switch of our hearts and minds, of revitalizing the connection with our Creator and harmonizing ourselves with the Cosmic rhythms (ed. note). 37. (Turkish) A well-to-do person. The word was also used to refer to Bulgarian wealthy people during the Turkish domination (1396-1878) (ed. note).

Hygiene of the Human Soul ‘If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man and able also to bridle the whole body.’ James 3: 2 I shall talk to you today in a special language – the way a teacher talks to his pupils when they start learning the alphabet, the way women start washing, carding and spinning the wool into fibres in order to make cloth. Today I shall call my lecture Hygiene of the Human Soul. You have listened to many preachers. James says, ‘If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man and able also to bridle the whole body.’ The body is your capital; it is the substantial [thing]. Therefore I shall start with what you see. You pay very little attention to your soul; however, the body is a large garden where the Divine Spirit works. Movement provides the blood watering the Divine garden. You can tell a housekeeper by the way the house is kept. You haven’t come to build houses, but to put them in order. This teaching you will apply to yourselves too. You seek happiness and cannot find it, but if I deprive you of food, water and air, you will then understand what it is. Your happiness is built upon food, water and air. Food has to do with eating and with the body; water has to do with drinking and the heart; air – with breathing and the mind. You need suffering in order to work. To those who dishonour work God grants [them] labour; if they turn down labour too, there comes suffering; if they reject suffering, there comes torture. To be able to work, talent [and] skills are required – only the great artists can work. Work is for the educated [scientists]. Washing and gossiping is labour. You have abandoned the work God granted to you and now are labouring. There is no happiness in labour, suffering and torture. Suffering is a hard nut to crack; it takes skilfulness to learn how to break it and use it. I shall now talk to you about the word can. You are not aware of your situation, and you have to wake up for the sake of your happiness. It is around you, but you have to start working properly. You have to relax the strings of your violin. Your heart is very dry, it needs a little moisture. You know you cannot clean without water, [as] it becomes dusty. First of all you are to have faith. You have to examine [test, try] everything that was given to you in order for you to benefit. Why do you pray, why do you eat, why do you drink? Praying is a breathing process. If you are hesitating [thinking] whether God will hear your prayer, then you are praying having doubts in God. In spite of not seeing where He is, you can sense [feel] Him. Each desire and thought has three aspects – breadth, depth and height. Those having depth make no noise. You have to grow out of your habit to command the others, but to command yourselves. You, with faith, have to start getting rid of these thoughts that are now disturbing you. Faith is a principle. Faith has to be positive – a place where the Divine life can enter. You have to start working upon yourselves with a plan, the way gardeners work. As soon as you fulfil your duty at home, start working upon yourselves. The first point is to be healthy in body and spirit. A person having lost any faith whatsoever is a sick person. Just like children often cut with scissors and destroy [things], similarly there are such writers and preachers who destroy with their scissors. They are notorious destroyers; therefore you have to abandon these teachers who destroy. If a bad thought comes up within you, which wants to cut with its blade and to destroy, throw it away [get rid of it]. Or somebody wants to beat the big drum [cry from the housetop]– tell him that he may not. Your thoughts are alive, they play within and around you, like children do. A thought enters your mind and bothers you, for instance something was said about you. [such] thoughts can upset you and can rule you. No, you have to teach [coach, drill] them. The false teacher is the devil – it leads you and teaches [coaches, drills] you until you are left in tattered clothes. Then it leaves you and you go to God in your tattered clothes; however He won’t admit you but will turn you out. Nonetheless, if there is a wheat grain [of faith] left, there is hope for you to improve after twelve years. One noble thought, if you cultivate it, will make you the noblest woman in twelve years. You keep demagnetising yourself all the time, you lose your temper, you worry. Thus your nervous system is muddled [upset] from the bottom [resulting in] cracks and leaks. As long as you are indifferent, your magnetic power [strength] is reduced. When you are healthy, you can feel the condition [situation] in which the others are. The heart can lose its magnetic power [strength]. Do not carry your husband, your children and the others the way the wolf carries the fox. You often carry healthy people on your back. When you do a favour to healthy people, you teach them to be idle. God sent all the women to work, while you are crashing stones. If the woman had to be a servant, God would have made her from the man’s leg, if she had to be the master – from the man’s head. While he made her from the man’s rib – which is to say she was intended as a companion in his work. However, what do women do now? They stand in front of the mirror and keep thinking of marriage. Under marriage I mean that a man passes from the animal condition into the human condition and from the human condition – into the Divine. This marriage is once [and for all] – for you to become citizens of Heaven. Therefore you have to have a healthy body, a healthy mind and a healthy heart. How do you feed your soul, mind and heart? Your body you feed all right to a certain extent; but how you feed your heart and mind? Your thoughts and desires need food, clothes; you do not give them [food and clothes] and they perish [die]. You have enormous [huge] desires. Strive for [aspire after] having substantial thoughts that are not in clash with [those of] the people around you. The one who works loses a lot of energy, hence you have to save your energy. You are to have an unshakable [firm] faith in God that He has thought about everything. God takes care even of the smallest worms. Not a hair of your head can be touched without His will. Each thought and desire, everything you may want, will be given to you, but you are to have an unshakable [firm] faith. Do not regret that something has not happened [to you] in your life; it was not [meant] for you. A fiancé leaves his fiancée – this happens because he was not [meant] for her. Sometimes you want big trousers or a big dress, the way a little child wants clothes like his elder brother’s, but the time for the little child has not come yet. You all have useless thoughts and desires, and this shows that your faith is feeble. God is a great spring [of water] – go to Him for fresh water in the morning, at noon and in the evening. He won’t come to you, but you will go to Him. However, you will carry a vessel with you. The good thoughts are a vessel where God will pour His blessing. As long as you have good thoughts and desires God will bless you. If you feel that He does not bless you, borrow a vessel – read a good book, take the nobleness of the people out in the open. There should not be any gossiping around – those who want to succeed should not go gossiping [slandering] around. Now, for the remaining five minutes, without making any movement, send your thought to God. You will feel some pinching [tweaking], but as soon as you make a move, you will spoil the exercise. For example, some day you say that you won’t gossip, but there comes somebody, he says something bad about you, you start gossiping and you spoil the exercise. You light candles, you consecrate oil and still you have no blessing – this is because you gossip [slander]. Now, start [doing] the exercise for one, two, three, four or five minutes – try not to make a single move, to be able to control yourself. Then do a five minute exercise thinking only about one thing: a five minute exercise for your body, a five minute exercise for your mind, a five minute exercise for your heart. Whatever you gain from these exercises, do not share it with anybody. It takes twelve months for a desire, for a thought to come true [materialise]. One year is necessary for a thought to be born; other thoughts take ten years and so on. The good thoughts and desires form the clothes of the Angels. The thoughts and desires are the clothes that Divine spirits are dressed in [put on]. If you can join this dance, do it; if you can’t, think it over well and do not join. The result of these exercises is slow to come, perhaps after one year, but tell nobody what you are doing. Do not cut the cloth by the meter to sell it before you have woven it. Start with the smallest [step] – the word can. A great grief afflicts you – tell yourself I can, you suffer - I can, you labour - I can. Tell yourself, ‘I can [do] everything through Christ!’ If you do not understand the word can, you won’t be able to understand Christ either. The word can is always present in Christ’s teaching. And when Peter told Christ, ‘Be it far from thee, Lord…’, Christ responded with the word can. Conjugate the verb can. If you cannot resolve any issue, say I can. The Lord goes and says, ‘Fill his/ her pot’; while the pot of the one not saying I can is not being filled. The bad which is within you is a fuel. The bad thoughts that come to you are an impulse for your development, provided you win over [overcome] them. If a bad thought comes to you, ask God to place it. Do not say anything, do not slander, keep silence – in the beginning you will feel [some] unpleasantness, but it will burn afterwards and you will receive energy. If a disease comes to you, do not fear – this is a little bit of massage, this is a blessing. To be intelligent means to be perfect in the Word. People weep, people are unhappy, but I say that this is a blessing, because people work and I rejoice and thank God. One hundred and one Angels work on the Earth and help. A cleaning [process] is in progress now and in such times you have to cheer up and rejoice – there have not been more glorious times. People are now watering their gardens. Today’s religion should not be like the old one. Once a poor pious man was passing along an open window of a rich man’s house, he saw a purse of money left on the window sill and took it believing that it was a gift from God. During the following days, however, when he was praying, the purse kept appearing before him and he could not pray. At last he returned it. You, likewise, have pinched a rich man’s purse, therefore you feel sick at heart. Similarly when you are gossiping, this is a theft of a purse. Return the purse for your prayer to be heard. Do not think ill of anybody; as soon as such a thought comes to you, throw it out. Keep silence externally, but work internally. Each desire has a period for it to materialise; you are to wait. One, two, ten years may pass – do not hasten. When you want your desire to materialize quickly the Lord will send you to the roots of the tree – He will give you a bad husband or wife. Also, all of your present unhappiness is from your previous life – you had bad thoughts and desires [in your previous life]. You are to have a healthy body. As soon as you gain some weight, you rejoice, but this is no health. You are to have strong muscles, [you are] to be meek, to be humble. I can’t understand [how] you can be limp and active [at the same time]. For example a sister of yours is burdened – pass faith on to her, encourage her, but do not cry with her, because both of you will lose your faith. Or, somebody dies; no, he hasn’t died, only his house is destroyed and it will be built up again in years. The essence of man lies in the good traits of one’s soul. Death is sieving the water, passing of Life from one layer into another and coming up to the surface as a good spout. You have to pass through this world, through matter, in order to be sieved through. Now, you are listening to all this here, but the world will make you hesitate. However, you say, ‘I can!’ You will take psalm 119 and you will learn part of it by heart everyday with the word can. You have to learn it in twenty-two days. Every day before starting learning it, you will wash your hands and feet and you will say, ‘We shall be good, patient and obedient like the feet.’ If the human heart was as good as the feet, people would be saints. And while washing our hands we shall say, ‘We shall be obedient, good and fair like the hands.’ Your mind should be ready to work like your hands. How good [kind] the Lord is to have given us hands and feet, which teach us how to work! Become one with the Lord and with all the people and everything will be doable [realizable] for you. You are to be patient and obliging like the feet and fair like the hands. You have to be in command of your body and harmony has to reign over you. It will be fine if you can adjust within one year. You have to be free like birds, patient like the mammals, valiant like lions and intelligent like man. Start applying the word can. If it is for the better, it will be like a key, but if you apply it for the worse, it won’t be of any use to you. Apply it to elevate the humankind; to enlighten the mind and the heart, but not for the worse. Within one year you have to learn to understand the word can. The ‘not’ particle, the last part of the I cannot expression you have to place at the end of the queue. When you worry, you should say, ‘I can!’, in order for your mood to change. And let the particle aside, leave it alone. When you learn the psalm, some of you will have scored one or two as a result, others will have scored a result of three to ten – it varies. Even if you have scored ‘one’, it is a blessing all the same. 8 February 1917, Sofia Source

The blessed “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:10 I will analyse the word blessed. Jesus does not say: blessed are those who have plenty of money, who have many houses, who are well educated, who are currently powerful. He says, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake.” The word persecute has both a negative and a positive meaning. If one is not persecuted, he will not make any progress. Movement is of great importance to the world. When man wants to reap the harvest, he has to drive his horses. Why is this persecution necessary? - So that one can reap the wheat. All things in Life are meaningful. Those aware of the inner sense in Life should not be hindered by the contradictions existing in this world. All these contradictions come as a result of a great truth that is two-faced: suffering and joy; suffering is the dark side of this life, while joy is the bright one. All this is in compliance with the laws of Nature. The earth changes its face within 24 hours: one side is dark and the opposite is bright. Thus, your life can be both dark and bright within 24 hours; you can be alternately sad or joyful. This is an immutable law, which has nothing to do with sin. Sometimes sin is interwoven with suffering, yet these two notions should not be mixed. Suffering is a great law. There is not a single person in this world that has not suffered. Even God joins us in our sufferings. Nobody suffers more than He does. When someone claims that he suffers, I say, “You have just started learning.” There is nothing wrong about suffering. The senses you need to experience the most pleasant emotions are the same with which you perceive the most unpleasant ones. If your eyes are not adjusted in harmony with the light, you will sense the harshest sensations, but if your vision is properly set in harmony with light, you will have the most pleasant perceptions. Therefore, when you feel some disharmony, it indicates maladjustment. You can adjust yourselves only through suffering. Those who play the guitar often set their instrument to a particular song. Suffering is a kind of adjustment and tuning – the scale should change from major to minor. People who aspire to be noble have this aspiration related with suffering. Suffering and joy are two opposite poles in Life. Anyone who wants to develop has to suffer: Suffering is a doorway, a prerequisite for joy. If you want to avoid suffering, you will not experience joy. Joy and Sorrow are two daughters of God. “Which God?” you will ask. - The one revealed to humanity. You will ask, “Does God have any daughters?” – Yes, He has sons and daughters here, on earth, and up, in Heaven. The words brother and sister are Divine Concepts. They are notions far greater than the ones we are able to perceive and comprehend. Our sorority and brotherhood have risen by just a few inches. When one takes a foot of his brother’s land, the two brothers fall out. Take doctors, merchants, teachers, priests, preachers, no matter whom – their brotherhood does not go further than a foot. This is the current social growth we have come to understand as brotherhood. Jesus turns and says, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake.” You might ask, “Why am I persecuted?” My question is, “Why shouldn’t you be?” It is often said that murky water is far more favourable for the soil than clear water. By going through the soil it leaves some silt which is beneficial to plants. This is how the Nile deposits thousands of tons of silt, from which ancient Egypt produced an abundance of wheat. Suffering is like this Divine silt, which descends to your fields to fertilise them. Then God says, “Sow now”. This silt of yours – sins and fallacies – will make the best batch of bread and you will say, "Thank God!” No suffering, no bread. Jesus says, “I am the live bread.” Indeed, He is the live bread, as people eat Him every day. "Блажени сте, когато ви изгонят и когато върху вас рекат всяка зла реч на лъжа заради Мене"%5BA1%5D If someone speaks ill of you when you deserve it, it is not praise. If you are guilty, you deserve criticism. You need to suffer in the name of justice. Now many of you suffer astray of God’s justice. If Jesus came today, what teaching would He give us? All people want to be happy and blissful, married to good wives or husbands, or having good children. Well, where will these good wives, husbands and children come from? If you sow the best seeds in sand, they will grow feeble. If you add some fertiliser, the wheat will grow stronger. I see the inner application of this law. What is going on in the outside world? Everything is normal – what must be done is done. Apostle Paul says that everybody lives and moves within God. If you live and move within God, what is there to be afraid of? You are in a boat far off the shore, a storm occurs, and you get frightened. My question is, “Where is your faith?” – “We are going to sink.” If you are sinners, you will sink. If you are like gold, silver or iron, you are going to sink. But if you are as light as a feather, you will stay afloat, while the others will flounder, as they are carrying too heavy a load – poor them! Therefore, do not burden your minds with thoughts that encumber you. It is not important what people think of you. What counts is what God thinks of you. God has experience. God is ubiquitous. He is where there are reasonable creatures. He is not in the dead, nor in the sinful. By “God” I understand the pleasant feelings and thoughts you have – your awareness of God. He lives in us and has the power to resurrect us. If God is not linked with me, and if He does not have the power to enliven me, then what’s the point of there being some God? That’s why Jesus says somewhere in the Scripture that if His words live in us forever, we will live in Him forever and what we beg for will be given to us living. Jesus says that he is the live word, and that the words he speaks to us are within Him alive. That’s why Jesus’ teaching, which is within us, is powerful enough. You should rejoice and be merry for you will be well rewarded in Heaven. This means that there will be afterlife for you. What is meant by afterlife? Some believe that when they die they will move to another world. No, this will not happen. You will just move from one state to another, just like the cocoon does. The caterpillar, while nibbling at the leaf, believes that this is its world. Yet when it turns into a butterfly with wings to flitter from flower to flower, it changes its views of the world. Likewise, we, while nibbling at the leaves of the material world, are nothing but worms. However, when we undergo the stage of the cocoon and arrive at the soul stage, dressed up in our best clothes, we will be able to perceive life in its ultimate dimension. Without meaning any offence, I should say that most of us are at the caterpillar stage now. The saying goes: “Put a penny aside for a rainy day.” Those who say it are caterpillars, just like others who say that they need a house for a rainy day. The caterpillar needs a leaf. My question is: “Why should the butterfly need the leaf?” When you start advancing to a higher level, you will tell your brethren, “I am leaving the leaf for you –take it.” That is why Jesus teaches us to give others what we do not need. Those who are in the same boat might need it. Jesus’ teaching applies to all, but not all people are equally ready to grasp it and implement it. It can be applied only in accordance with the individual’s stage of growth. This suggests that we should be aware of what we are. Those who have been left behind or those who are ahead, should not be judged nor envied. We will all walk the way as an act of free will or out of necessity. If you do not thresh willingly, God will come with a whip in hand, harness you as a horse on a threshing machine and will make you thresh the floor for days and years. When asked, “How come you have turned into horses?” you will answer, “To thresh the wheat.” I can see now that more and more people are threshing God’s floor. When I see a threshing horse, I say. “It is doing a good job.” Then I ask myself. “Am I doing my job really well?” If you want modern people to comprehend Jesus’ teaching well, you ought to establish harmony among them. Is it possible for you to try out to what extent you are blessed? Yes, it is. Many people are constantly complaining, “I’m so misfortunate!” I answer them, “You are the happiest person.” Jesus says that those who are unhappy are blessed. – You are ill with some disease. What is a disease? It is a sign that God is working on you with the intention of resurrecting you. You encounter difficulties in your growth. Or, you cannot cope with a problem – The Divine thought will elevate and enlighten you. Your heart is aching – The Divine Life is working on your heart to soften it. God works inside us. Modern people are like children who raise dust while playing in the classroom. On entering the room, the teacher starts sneezing because of the clouds of dust everywhere. I can see everybody sneezing – teachers, preachers, mothers and fathers – everybody is sneezing. Why? - Because of the dust. Open the windows, air the rooms, clean the floor, and the sneezing will stop. Sneezing means that there is dust, i.e. doubt and suspicion. There should be enough light in the room so that you can get the point in Life. I ask, “How long have you been around? Where were you two hundred years ago? Where were you, your father, you grandfather, your great grandfather, your grandmother, your great grandmother a thousand years ago?” You will answer, “We don’t care. Why should we know?” You might say that you do not care, but if your grandfather bequeaths some money, you start inquiring in banks about your inherited money. Why? Because you have inherited something. However, if your grandfather has left some debts, you start pretending that you have nothing in common with him. Otherwise, you will be liable for his debts. That is not chivalry. You are not a gentleman – you cannot ride a horse, you cannot control your mind, you are not capable of channeling your thought, generally, you are not a clever man. Jesus says that blessed are those who get the point in Life. The wealth is hidden in our minds and hearts. A rich young man falls in love with a poor girl. She may be poor but there is some wealth hidden in her personality. It is expressed in her face. There are thousands of examples of rich and noble men falling in love with poor girls, who rose in society, but it is because they all had some inner wealth, endowed by God. When a person is virtuous and fair, when he or she bears the Divine Love, Wisdom and Truth, these virtues and attributes cannot remain hidden and find their vigorous expression. I have encountered Virtue and spoken to her – what a wealth of goods she is! Are you aware that she is God’s most beautiful daughter? I have also met Divine Justice – she is very beautiful, too, but strict and unforgiving. Yet you will tell her, “I am weak.” No matter weak or strong, you are not supposed to violate the precepts of your Father. By contrast, Love is very beautiful and tender. She ignores people’s mistakes. Whatever you do, even the worst, she will kiss you, caress you, clean you and change your clothes before taking you home. Men and women should love each other. Some say, “My wife does not love me.” Well, you have not found the one who loves you. Your wife on the earth is Love’s shadow. The wife says, “I’m going to marry him because he is rich. He makes 10, 000 levs and has a house.” Such a wife takes a lot but gives nothing. She cannot make her husband happy. The husband says, “I married her because she is rich. I do not mind that she is so ugly.” Such a husband cannot make his wife happy, either. Any teaching that takes, but does not give cannot make people happy. Self-sacrifice underlies Christianity. There are two kinds of sacrifice: either you will sacrifice yourself, or you will be sacrificed. Why do they slaughter a lamb on Saint George’s Day? They decorate the lamb with a wreath, sanctify it and finally, they slaughter it. Why do people offer this sacrifice? - For food. There are spirits here on the earth, who would put a wreath on your head, too, then they will bring you to the sacrificial altar, and cut your throat. Then they will say, “Somebody died.” But Listen to me: He is not dead; he is alive. Some day you will be on death’s table and will be eaten. They will say, “Oh, what a juicy body - so fatted! Look at the muscles, the heart, the lungs!” People die because they eat meat. God teaches people and spirits not to eat meat. Death in the world will disappear when people stop being carnivores. The flesh of sinners is quite tender. The same applies to all nice clothes. An item of clothing made of a delicate fabric does not wear and tear easily. The flesh of righteous people is tough; that’s why, nobody eats it and such people are immortal. This Divine teaching will give you a sound mind and heart. Anyone who will try to swallow and make away with a good thought or a Divine wish, will destroy him/herself. Such a person will find him/herself in the position of the crocodile gorging small frogs. There are such small frogs in the Nile, which crocodiles often eat up. The crocodile opens its mouth, the frog jumps in, and small as it is it is swallowed by the crocodile. Having entered the crocodile’s stomach, the frog is eager to get out and starts eating its way out. Then the crocodile’s stomach starts filling with water; it turns with the stomach up, and dies. Some people say, “I have been eaten up!” If God is with you, those who try to do this to you will be severely punished. If you have Faith, you should not fear anything for God is with you. God’s Spirit is already descending, just like Light is coming. Here He comes, bringing Great Light, fire and life that will purify the world. Modern people will try these things and will witness the establishment of God’s Kingdom here on the earth. God will unite people through His descent and malice will vanish. All misunderstandings stem from suspicion and mistrust. I will illustrate this with a story about the wind, the cold, and the sun that wanted to compete as who would succeed in making a shepherd take his fur coat off. The cold presented itself at its severest form – it became freezing cold. The cold said, “Watch me! I’ll take his coat off right now!” However, on seeing how cold it was, the shepherd wrapped himself tightly in his coat and hurried back home. So, the cold failed in its attempt. Then came the wind. It swept everything in its way, uprooting trees, but failed to pull off the shepherd’s coat. Finally, the sun said, “You failed in your attempts. Now it’s my turn.” It smiled gently, sending all its Love. The shepherd started feeling warm until he finally took off his fur coat. There are two kinds of teaching - of the wind and of the cold. What remains for now is the teaching of Love – it is the one that will make you take off your coats. Some will ask, “What do you think?” Look into my eyes and you will understand what I think. On meeting you, I do not ask you what you are thinking about. I know that you are thinking about a two-storied house with furnished rooms, of getting married, of having children, etc. If I meet a scientist, I know that he is thinking of experiments. If I meet someone who is planning to steal something, I can recognise him because his face gives him away. God has already opened the book and everything can be clearly seen. If Jesus decides to judge the world, He will come with a set verdict, “Such is your offence. Such is the punishment you deserve according to the law.” However, Jesus has a different mission now: He wants humanity to live a life of sobriety. I mean that we should not think of ourselves as quite righteous. A saint has to be a perfect person, ready to serve, having a healthy body, strong legs and arms, tough muscles, empty hands, i.e. not to be rich, yet not destitute – one should be like Tolstoy – charitable and compassionate to those in need. Such is the true saint. God divides saints in heaven into small and great. Saints are those who have undergone the greatest sufferings with dignity and who are much talked about. Why do people worship Jesus? Because He paid off all people’s debts and bore all their sins. If Jesus had not suffered, if He had not given anything to people, He would have been an ordinary man. Everyone should serve God with the awareness that he/she has his/her proper place here on the earth. You will say, “Apostle Paul was a great man.” If you fulfil your mission here, you will be great, too. A woman, who has lived with her husband for twenty years in the yoke of marriage, cooking him meals, while he abused her in every possible way, will be a saint if she has endured his bad treatment patiently. The same applies to men. A husband will become a saint if he manages to endure the wear and tear of married life. Such husbands will be saints in heaven. I can see here women wearing jewellery and living in luxury. They will be poor in the other world – dressed in shabby clothes. One day you might find yourselves in the position of that rich, miserly lady, who had a servant. She paid him 60 levs, which he gave to the poor. She often told him, “Don’t be so stupid. Put some money aside for a rainy day.” One night she had a dream: she saw a palace built of beautiful marble stone. “Whose palace is this?” she asked. “It belongs to your servant.” – “How can such a poor man have built such a luxurious palace?” - “He keeps sending everything he gets in order to build a palace in the other world.” Farther on she saw a small hut. “Whose hut is this?” – “It’s yours.” You may be people of great importance here but God will judge you by your deeds and will give you what you deserve. We should not be misled. We need to know the truth and distinguish between what is Divine and what is human. You claim that you understand the word “Love”. No, you do not! You do not understand such words as “Justice”, “Truth” and “Wisdom”, either. When I enter some house and see an angry woman, can this be called Wisdom? When you utter the word “Wisdom”, a certain change in the state of mind should occur. You have to understand the meaning of every word. If you enter a theatre hall packed with thousands of people and cry out, “Fire! Fire!” everyone will rush outside. There will be confusion and chaos and everyone will feel the horror of impending death. That is because everyone understands the meaning of the word “fire”. But if someone enters and utters the word “Love”, people will look at each other in amazement, will laugh at him and dismiss him as insane. They will ask, “What does he mean?” This shows that people do not understand the meaning of the word “Love”. Otherwise, it should have the same effect as the word “Fire”, only in the opposite sense. If I see a sad man and utter the word “love”, then all his sorrow and grief should disappear. He should beam with happiness like an angel and turn from a worm into a butterfly. We often say, “Good Lord!” but we do not understand these words, either. I rarely pronounce God’s name - only when I feel too burdened. Then the whole burden disappears. To me this word includes everything. I can replace it with the word “can”. Never say, “I am too weak.” Always say, “I can.” The Scripture says “I can do everything through Jesus.” Put everything aside and take Jesus instead. You will be able to understand Jesus and God only through the word “can”. It is only natural that the day should turn into night – this does not embarrass me. When one’s mind is dark, I say, “His sun has set and darkness reigns in his mind, so he’d better have a rest for a while. He needn’t worry – his sun will rise in 24 hours and his God will appear. Then Love will come, too, and he will start understanding the profound meaning in life. This is what Jesus used to teach before and this is what He teaches us now. All anticipate Jesus’ descent from Heaven. He has come once and He is not going to come for a second time in disgrace. God came once when He created the world. Now He is working on it. He will stay here until He has made all possible arrangements and will come back to Heaven accompanied by all His children. The God we have has been working with us. He will gather us all and will form the tree of Life, whose branches, leaves and fruit we all are. Each leaf will have a healing power, and each fruit will be nourishing. Then we will make one whole with God, just as each cell, each root and twig make up the whole tree. “Blessed are those who are persecuted.” You are blessed because you are moving ahead. The work you have been doing is for the benefit of human kind and you will be well rewarded in Heaven. If someone who meets you tells you that you are a bad person, he is right – you have to become a good person. If you are told that you are ugly, you should do your best to become beautiful. If told that you are wicked, you should try and change into a kind person. I have lost count of the times people talked evil of me. If I had paid attention to everything they said, I would have lost all my hair. I say, “They are right – I am a dangerous person.” Why? I am a mirror, so when someone meets me, they see the reflection and say, “You are a rascal.” – Yes, you are right. Another says, “You are a dodger.” - Yes, you are right. You should look at yourselves and try to change. People are very much like that American preacher, who went mad and when looking at the mirror, unable to recognise himself, he said, “You must repent, otherwise God will send you to hell.” I find it pleasant to search my reflection in others, so when I meet a nice person, I want to find my reflection in him and understand what I am like. There has to be two kinds of mirrors – one in which we look at and another kind at which others look at themselves. Woe to that nation, society, or church that have no mirrors! Modern doctors use mirrors in their practice. For example, when they examine a throat, they use a mirror. Jesus’ teaching has a mirror to help people see the point in suffering – that it is necessary for our happiness and bliss in the other world. Suffering is the greatest good that God sends people. That is why Jesus invites those who are tired of suffering to join Him, promising that He will take people’s suffering by giving something in return. He promises that the exchange will be carried out on fair terms. So Jesus descends to earth in full glory to take off people’s burden. You will swap your suffering for the joy God will give you. By coming down to earth, he wanted to make you happy. However, to be happy you need to be wise and clever. You should pronounce the word “Wisdom” only when you are unable to tackle a tough problem. Utter the word “wisdom” and wait for about ten minutes until you get a revelation. You will be like a blind man, who opens his eyes to the beauty of the world and says, “I can see all this beauty and understand how great God is.” We should be grateful to God for creating this world with a home, brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, wives, and children, even with all the sorrow and grief accompanying these. We should be grateful for everything. Those who have taken Jesus’ path should thank God for everything. By thanking God, we will come to terms with each other. By uttering the word “Love”, we will no longer feel sad – joy and warmth will overwhelm us, the stiffness will vanish from our limbs, and we will see angels coming from above. This will mean to become a clairvoyant. Some wait until they die to see everything. Don’t wait to die – You should resurrect in God while you are still alive. Don’t say, “When I die.” Instead, you should say, “When I change my attire, when I turn from a caterpillar into a chrysalis, and next from a chrysalis into a beautiful butterfly.” You say, “I will die and be buried. What will become of me when the worms overwhelm me?” Worms are your little brothers. They will come and say, “Let’s taste you. Jesus was your nourishing bread. Now we will feed on you.” But people do not lie in graves – I do not see them there, so you should not be afraid. I say this again – there are two kinds of people: some are dead alive – we come across them every day in Sofia, and others are living dead. Jesus says that blessed are those who are dead alive, those who died in the name of God. No one has said that blessed are those who are living dead. The latter are caterpillars. The dead alive are butterflies and they are harmless – they do not eat the leaves of the trees, because the leaves are necessary. When a destructive thought enters your life, it is a caterpillar, so you should drive it away. When an elevating, lofty thought enters you, you should keep it because it is a lovely butterfly. Therefore, you should regularly chase away the bad thoughts eating the leaves of your Life up. Such is Jesus’ teaching. Jesus says, “Blessed are those who are persecuted, for great is their reward in heaven.” I will explain to you the in-depth meaning of these words: when you plant a seed, it starts decaying and is pestered by a host of adversaries (germs), however, as soon as it comes out and the sun light shines on it, its enemies run away. Therefore, you need to be persecuted in order to move up. Jesus’ words “blessed are those” suggest that blessed are those who grow up, shoot roots, leaves and blossom, for great is their reward when God comes and finds the ripe fruit. Is there any sense in this teaching? – Yes, there is. It means being persecuted for God’s sake. If I am persecuted without yielding any fruit, I deserve to be chased. If I am persecuted in order to give God some fruit and I manage to do it, then my persecution is worthwhile. It will be tantamount to growth. It will give me some impetus and incentive. If we are brought round to this way of thinking, we will get the point of Life on the earth. That’s why we have to pray for all people living. The Scripture tells us to bless others and never to condemn them, to tell the truth directly as to a friend or a brother and never to speak behind anybody’s back. Talking behind the back is a kind of vomiting. The mouth was not created to vomit but to utter the sweet words of Love. This is the teaching the saints from above bear; this is the teaching the righteous have been preaching for thousands of years; this is the teaching of the small angels descending to earth. When Jesus comes, He will bring the same teaching; the white horse on which He will arrive is the symbol of His enlightened teaching. Blessed are those who know God, who have grown up and developed - those who have roots, branches, leaves and fruit, for God will visit them and reward them. I would like you all to be in this state – to be blessed so that God will be able to find fruit in your garden; to invite Him to stay at your home – your heart. Then He will give you the essence of His teaching. You are blessed when visited by God; great is your reward in heaven. A lecture given on 4th February 1917.

The Book - The Spirit and The Flesh. Beinsa Douno Translation from Bulgarian - Vessela Nestorova THE BLESSED Blessed are they that have been persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.38 I shall take the word blessed in this verse. Christ does not call blessed those who have much money, many houses, those who are very learned or powerful, but says, "Blessed are they that have been persecuted for righteousness' sake." The word persecute, or chase, in Bulgarian has a good and a bad meaning. If a person is not persecuted, they will not progress: there must be movement in the world. When a Bulgarian wants to thrash his wheat, he chases his horses on the thrashing-floor. Why is he chasing them? In order that his sheaves of wheat may be thrashed. All things in life have meaning. Those who understand the inner sense of life need not be hindered by the contradictions which exist in the world. All contradictions are an expression of a great Truth which has two aspects, two faces: sufferings and joys. Sufferings are the dark side of this life; joys are the highest things, the light side of life. All this is in accordance with the Laws of Nature. In the course of 24 hours, the Earth changes its face—the one side is light, the other dark. Therefore, in the course of 24 hours in you life, you also will be dark and light, you will suffer and you will be joyful. This is an unchangeable Law, which, however, has nothing in common with sin. Sometimes sin becomes entangled in suffering, but these two things should not be linked. Suffering is a great Law. There is no person who has not suffered or is not suffering now. Even God suffers together with us. No one suffers more than He. When someone says they are suffering, I say to them, "You have barely started this science." It is not a bad thing to suffer. The feelings by which you experience the most pleasant things in life are the same by which you experience the most unpleasant things as well. When your eye is irritated and is not in harmony with Light, you will feel Light in a most painful and unpleasant way; but when your eye is in order, i.e. in harmony with Light, you will have the most pleasant feelings. Therefore, when a certain disharmony appears in you, it shows that you are out of balance. Only by suffering can balance be restored in you. Those who play the guitar often tune up their guitar to a specific pitch for certain songs; suffering is also a kind of tuning up—the scale must be changed from major to minor or chromatic. In people who are aspiring to what is noble, this aspiration is linked with suffering. Suffering and joy are two opposite poles in life. Those who want to grow and develop will inevitably suffer; suffering is a doorway, a prerequisite for joy. If you avoid suffering, you will never attain joy in life. Joy and sorrow are two daughters of God. Of which God? Of the One manifested in humanity. You ask, "Does God have daughters?" Yes, He does. He has daughters and sons both on earth and in heaven. The words brother and sister are Divine ideas; they are much greater notions than the ones you perceive and understand. Our brotherhood and sisterhood reaches only a span above the Earth. When a brother takes a span of land from someone's field, they quarrel and the brotherhood is spoiled. Take for instance the relations among doctors, merchants, priests, preachers and others; their brotherhood has reached only a span above the Earth. This is the contemporary social development people have attained in their conception of brotherhood. Christ says, "Blessed are you when you are persecuted for righteousness' sake." You will say, "Why should they persecute me?" I ask, "Why should they not persecute you?" It is often said that muddy water is more favorable to the soil than pure water for when the former passes through the soil, it leaves certain sediments which the plants use. In this way, every year the river Nile deposits millions of tons of humus alluvium in which ancient Egypt produced enormous quantities of wheat. Suffering is that divine sediment that comes from the heights and when it is deposited in your fields, it fertilizes them and God says, "Now you must sow!" Out of these sediments—sins, misunderstandings—will come the best bread and you will say, "Thank God, how good all these things have been!" If there is no suffering, there will not be bread. Christ says, "I am the living bread." He is actually living bread because people are nourished by Him daily. "Blessed are you when men shall reproach you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake." If people speak evil of you when you deserve it, it is not praise-worthy; you deserve it, if you are to blame. You must suffer for righteousness, for the rights of God. Now many people suffer for wrongdoing. I ask, if Christ should come today, what teaching would He give to the world? All people want to be happy and blessed, to have good husbands, wives, children, but where will you take these good husbands, wives and children from? If you sow the best wheat in sand, it will grow weak. But if you fertilize this sand, after a time the wheat will grow better. I understand this Law inwardly. What is happening in the world? Everything is going normally there— what is happening there must happen. The apostle Paul says in a letter, "We all live and move in God." If you live and move in God, what are you afraid of? You sit in a boat in the sea, a storm comes up and you are frightened. I ask, where is your faith? "We shall sink!" If you are sinful, you will sink. If you are like gold, silver, iron, you will sink. However, if you are a light feather, you will remain on the surface, but the others who are bearing a heavy load will sink— woe unto them! Therefore, never burden your minds with thoughts that make you heavy! It is not important what people think of you, the important thing is what God is thinking. God is everywhere where rational beings are found. He is neither in the dead nor in the sinful. By the word God I understand the pleasant feelings and thoughts you are experiencing in your consciousness and by means of which you understand Him. God lives in us and He has the power to resurrect us. If God is not in contact with me, if He cannot cause me to live, what need have I of such God? What is the use then of the existence of a God? That is why Christ says, "If my words abide in you and you abide in Me, whatever you ask for will be given you, will come to life." Christ says that He is living Word, "The words I speak to you are in you, they are living." That is why Christ's teaching which is within us has power by itself. "Rejoice and be exceeding glad: for great is you reward in heaven." This means that these people are to have a future life. What does a future life imply? Some think that when they die, they shall go to another world. No, they will not go to another world, but simply pass from one state to another as it is with a cocoon. When a worm is on a leaf nibbling, it thinks this is its world, but after it turns into a butterfly and obtains wings, it begins to visit the flowers and changes its views of the world. So long as we nibble the leaves of material life, we are also caterpillars; but when we pass through the cocoon stage and become souls dressed in beautiful clothes, we shall comprehend life in its higher manifestations. Do not get offended, but many people today are in the state of caterpillars. They say, "We need to save money for rainy days," but this is the life of a caterpillar. "We need houses for rainy days"—this is the way a caterpillar thinks, because it needs the leaf. I ask, if the caterpillar becomes a butterfly of what use these leaves will be to it? When you begin to rise, you will say to your brothers, "I leave these leaves to you as a gift." That is why Christ says, "What you do not need, give it to those who are in your state, let them use it." Truly, the teaching of Christ is for everybody, but all people are not equally prepared to comprehend it and to apply it. Each one can apply it according to their stage of development. This means that you must become conscious of your state. Those who are behind or ahead are not to be judged or envied for somehow you will all pass this way voluntarily or by necessity. If you do not thrash voluntarily, God will come with a whip, rein you as a horse to a thrashing machine and thrash the wheat. When they ask you why you have become horses, you will answer, "To thrash the wheat." A great number of people today thrash on the Divine thrashing-floor. When I see a horse thrashing wheat, I say, he is doing his work well. Then I ask myself if I am doing my work well. If people today want to understand Christ's teaching well, a Divine harmony must be restored among them. Can you sense how blessed you are? You can. People complain all the time and say, "I am unhappy." You are blessed, because Christ says, "Blessed are the unhappy." Someone is ill. What is illness? A sign that the Divine Light is working on you wishing to resurrect you. You have troubles in your development and cannot resolve some problem. The Divine thought wants to raise you and illumine you. "My heart is heavy"—the Divine life is working, wishing to soften your heart. God is working in us. People today are like children who like to raise dust in the classrooms. When the teacher enters and sees dust everywhere, she begins to sneeze. I see sneezing everywhere: teachers, preachers, mothers, fathers—all are sneezing. Why? There is dust. Open the windows, air the rooms, wash the floor and the sneezing will stop. If you do not want to sneeze, see that your room is cleaned. Sneezing means that there is dust, suspicion, doubts. Light is necessary, if you would understand the sense of life. I ask, "How long have you been on earth? Where were you 200 years ago? Where were your ancestors—father, grandfather, grandmother one thousand years ago?" You will say that you need not know this. You need not know it, but when your grandfather leaves you an inheritance, you go around the banks to look for it and to find out everything about it. Why? Because you have something to inherit. But if your grandfather has a debt, you pretend not to know him, because otherwise you will have to pay for him. This is not chivalry. You are not cavalier—that is, you cannot ride a horse, you cannot rule your mind, you are not able to manage your thought, you are not a sensible person. Christ says, "Blessed are those who understand the sense of life this way." Then wealth is hidden in our brain, in our thought, in our heart. A rich young man falls in love with a poor girl. She may be poor, but there is hidden wealth in her. It is expressed in her face. There are thousands of cases when kings or other eminent men have fallen in love with poor girls and have risen by that, but these girls have an inner wealth which Christ has deposited in them. When a person is virtuous and just, possessing the Divine Love, Wisdom and Truth—all these things are vividly inscribed on that person. I have met Virtue and have spoken with it—what blessings spring from it! Do you know what beautiful daughter of God is Virtue? I have also met the Divine Righteousness—she, too, is beautiful, but strict, she does not forgive the mistakes. You may say to her, "I am weak." "Weak or strong you must not violate the command of your Father." Love is very beautiful and delicate, she does not see people's mistakes. No matter what you do before her, she will kiss you, pat you, clean and dress you in nice clothes and take you home. Men and women must love one another! Someone says, "My wife does not love me". You have not found the woman who loves you. Your wife on earth is a shadow of Love. A woman says, "I shall marry him because he is rich, he has a house and an income of 10,000 leva." This woman takes, she does not give, and therefore she cannot make her husband happy. The man says, "I married her because she is rich, although she is quite ugly." This man also cannot make his wife happy, because every teaching which takes but does not give, cannot make people happy. Self-sacrifice is in the basis of the Christian teaching. There are two kinds of sacrifices; either you will sacrifice yourself, or others will sacrifice you. For instance, why do people kill lambs on St George's Day in Bulgaria? First, they put a wreath round their necks and after a dedication ceremony, they kill them. Why do they make this sacrifice? For eating. There are spirits in this world who someday will put a wreath on you too, place you on the sacrificial altar and kill you, so you will die. People will say that a certain person has died. I say, he is not dead; he is alive. One day you will also be on the table of death where you will be eaten up. They will say, "What a nice, well-fed body this is! What muscles, what a heart, what lungs, wonderful!" People die, because they eat meat. When they stop eating meat, there will be no death in the world. The flesh of the sinners is very tender; the same is true for all low quality stuffs. Clothes made of good fibers are tough and lasting; they do not wear out easily. The flesh of the righteous is tough and hard, that is why they do not eat it. There is no death for the righteous39. Therefore, the Divine teaching will create in us sound thoughts, a sound mind and a strong heart. Those who would attempt to destroy a good thought, a Divine desire, will destroy themselves. Such a person will come to the state of the crocodile that swallows small frogs. In the river Niles there are small frogs which the crocodiles often swallow. The crocodile opens his mouth, the small frog jumps into it and he swallows it whole. However, when the frog enters the stomach of the crocodile, it wants to get out and in order to do that, it slowly makes a hole in the stomach and gets out through it, then the crocodile's stomach gets filled with water, he turns on his back and dies. Some people complain and say, "They ate me up!" If God is with you, those who will attempt to eat you up will pay dearly for that. If you have faith, you should fear nothing. The living God is with you. The spirit of God is already coming down as the Light which comes to the Earth. He is coming, bringing great Light, fire and life which will purify the world. Contemporary people will experience these things and be witnesses of the Restoration of the Kingdom of God on earth. By His coming on earth God will unite all people and malice will gradually vanish. All misunderstandings spring from the mistrust and suspicion people have of each other. I shall quote the example of the frost, the wind and the Sun. These wanted to try and see which of them could make a shepherd take off his leader coat. The frost started first. It became bitter cold. The frost said, "Now I shall make him take off his furs," but the shepherd wrapped himself more tightly and walked faster for his home. The frost did not succeed. Then the wind began to howl and rage, tearing down trees and scattering away all things on its way. But the shepherd wrapped himself still more tightly and hurried home. Last spoke the Sun, "You made your attempt; now it is my turn." The Sun smiled kindly and joyfully, sending all its love down. The shepherd began to feel warmer and warmer until he could not bear the heat and took off his coat. Two teachings are preached in the world: of the frost and of the wind. Now, the teaching of Love remains, which will take down the fur-coats. Some ask, "What do you think?" Look me in the eyes and you will see what I think. When I see you, I do not ask what you are thinking for I know your thoughts. You think of a two-story house, more furniture, you think of marrying, of having children and so on. I meet a scientist and what thoughts do I see in him? He is making scientific investigations. I meet another person who intends to steal. Everything a person thinks is written on their face. God has opened the book already and everything written on it can be seen clearly. If Christ should decide to judge the world, He would pass the verdict immediately and say, "According to such and such an item of God's Law this is what you deserve for what you have done." But the mission of Christ is quite different now. He is summoning humanity to a sane life. You should not consider yourselves very saintly—you must know this. A saint must be an excellent person, knowing how to serve, to have a sound body, a sound mind, strong legs and arms, strong muscles, to be with empty hands, i.e. not to be rich, but not to be poor either. However, such a one must be in Tolstoy's state—to distribute his goods to the poor and to help them. Such is a real saint. In heaven God classifies the saints into great and small. Those who have been much spoken of, who have suffered much and have endured everything with dignity, are saints. Why do people revere Christ today? Because He paid all their debts and bore all their sins. If Christ had not suffered, if He had not given anything of Himself to people, He would have been an ordinary person. Everyone must serve God and know they have their place on the Earth. You will say that the apostle Paul was a great man. I say that if you fulfill your role on earth well, you will also be a great person. A woman who has lived for 20 years with her husband carrying his heavy yoke, who has cooked for him and borne everything with patience, while he has maltreated her—such a woman will be a saint. The same thing will be said of a man. If he has endured patiently all unpleasant things caused by his wife, who has maltreated him, he will be a saint. Only such men and women will be saints in heaven. Everyday on earth I see women decked with diamonds, necklaces who live luxuriously, leading a carefree life—such women will be poor in the other world with ragged clothes. Someday you will find yourselves in the state of that rich miser of a woman who had a poor but virtuous servant. Although the servant received only 60 leva a month, he gave all his money to the poor. His mistress often told him that he was foolish giving his money away, because he would need it for "rainy days." One night the lady had a vivid live dream: she saw a beautiful marble palace and asked, "Whose is this palace?" "It is your servant's palace." "How could such a poor man have so much money to build himself such a wonderful palace?" "All that he gained on earth, he sent it to the other world to have a palace built there." A little farther she say a small hut. "And whose is this hut?" "It is yours," was the answer. I say, you may be great personalities in this world, but in the other world God will judge you according to your deeds and give everyone what they deserve. You should not delude yourselves, but you must know the Truth and place a definite boundary between the Divine and the human. You say that you understand the word Love. No, you do not understand it. Not only don't you understand the word Love, but the words Righteousness, Truth and Wisdom are incomprehensible to you as well. When I enter a house and see an angered woman, is this Wisdom? When the word Wisdom is pronounced, a change must take place in one's state! The sense of every word must be understood! If you enter a theater where thousands of people are sitting and cry out, "Fire!"—everybody will rush to the exits for they will be terrified at the thought of impending death. Why is that so? Because all people understand the sense of this word. But if someone should come among them and pronounce the word Love, they will all look at one another jokingly and take that person is out of their mind. They will say, "What does that one mean by this word?" This shows that people do not understand the deep sense of the word Love, for if they did, it would have produced the same effect as the word fire only in an opposite sense. If I meet a sad person and pronounce the word Love, all his suffering and discontentment should disappear; he should become joyful, become bright as an angel and turn from a worm into a butterfly. You often say, "Oh, my God!"—but you do not understand this word either. I seldom pronounce the name of God in my soul; I pronounce it only when I have a heavy burden and then I am relieved of the whole burden. This word contains everything for me. In Bulgarian I substitute this word by the words I can. Never say, "I am weak." Say, "I can do everything through Christ." Put aside everything else! Put Christ in the first place. You will understand Christ, you will understand God only by the words I can. I am not disturbed by darkness; when the Earth revolves in a day and night, this is the order of things. When it is dark in someone's mind, I say that his sun has set so there is darkness in his mind. This person should lie down and rest, not worry, because in twelve hours the Sun will rise again inside them—their Lord will come. Then Love will enter them and they will begin to understand the deep sense of life. This is what Christ taught before; this is what He teaches now. All are waiting for Christ to come from heaven. No, He has come down once already. He will not come down to earth a second time. God came down to earth when He made it, when he created the world. He has been working on the world ever since and will stay here until He puts complete order. After that He will return to heaven with all His children. This God is always with us and He is working together with us. He will gather us and form a tree of life out of us in which we are roots, branches, leaves and fruit: every leaf will be for healing and every fruit— living food. Then we shall be one with God just as every cell, every root, every branch and every leaf are parts of the tree. "Blessed are you when they persecute you." You are blessed, because then you are moving forward, because the work you are doing is for the good of humanity. Since such is the case, your reward in heaven will be great. When someone needs you and tells you, you are a bad person, he has told you what is right—become good! You are ugly; he has said the right thing— become beautiful! You are malicious; he has said the right thing—become kind! People are speaking so much about me that if I pay attention to all that the hairs of my head will have all fallen off. I say, these people are right, I am a dangerous man. Why? Because I am a mirror. When someone meets me, he sees himself in my mirror and says, "You are a vagabond." You are saying the right thing. "You are a dodger!" You are right. See yourself in your mirror and correct yourself! People are like an American preacher who was out of his mind and one day when he looked himself in a mirror, he did not recognize himself and said, "You must repent or God will send you to hell!" I enjoy looking myself in people and when I meet a good person, I want to see myself in them; that is why I look in a mirror. There must be two kinds of mirrors: those in which we can look ourselves and those, our own, in which other people will look themselves. Only in this way can people correct their mistakes. Woe unto those nations, societies and churches that have no mirrors! Doctors today also use mirrors in their daily practice. When they examine your throat, for instance, they use a mirror. Christ's teaching also bears a mirror. In order to understand the deep sense of sufferings, you must keep in mind that they are necessary for the happiness and blessedness of our future life. Sufferings are the greatest good God is sending to people. This is what Christ says, "When someone is suffering and feels very burdened, let him come to me. I shall buy off his sufferings by giving him something else, we shall make an exchange on a purely brotherly basis." And now Christ is coming to earth in glory to take the burden of humanity; that is why He says, "Lay your burden upon the Lord!" You will make an exchange: God will take your sufferings and in exchange He will give you joys. By having come to earth, He wishes to make you happy. In order to be happy, you must be sensible and wise. Pronounce the word Wisdom only when you cannot explain some difficult question. Pronounce the word Wisdom and wait for 10 minutes after which a certain clarification will come to you. You will be like a blind person who begins to see and notices the beauty of the world. This person says, "I see everything in the world and understand how great the Lord is!" And we must thank God for having created this world, for having created the home, brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, women, children, and even the misfortunes along with all those other things, we should thank Him for everything. Those who have started on the way of Christ, must thank God for everything. When we thank God, we shall come to an understanding of one another. And when we pronounce the word Love, if we are sad, we shall feel immediately joy, warmth which will fill our body and our frozen limbs will start to move. Then we shall clearly see angels descending from above. This is what to become clairvoyant means. Some people expect to become clairvoyant and see everything after they die. Do not wait for your death, but while you are still alive you should resurrect in the Lord. Do not say, "When I die, I shall understand life." On the contrary, say, "When I change my clothes, when I turn from a worm into a cocoon and from a cocoon into a butterfly then I shall see God and understand life." You say, "I shall die and be buried in the black grave, but what will become of me when the worms attack me?" The worms are your smaller brothers. They will come to you and say, "Let us have a taste of you! Christ is living bread for you, but you will be living food for us." Be not afraid, people are not in the graves, I do not see them in the graveyards. I repeat that there are two kinds of people—the first kind are the living dead whom we meet every day in Sofia, the others are the dead living. Christ says, "Blessed are the dead living who died for the Lord." It is not said anywhere, "Blessed are the living dead." The latter are caterpillars. The dead living are butterflies and they are not dangerous, because they do not eat the leaves of the trees. When a thought which is distractive enters your mind, it is a caterpillar, throw it out! But when a thought which raises you enters your mind, it is a beautiful butterfly, retain it. Therefore, everyday you should throw out the thoughts which eat up the leaves of your life. This is the teaching of Christ. Christ says, "Blessed are you when they persecute you, because great is your reward in heaven." I shall explain the deep sense of these words. When you sow a grain of wheat, it begins to decay and many enemies attack it, microbes, but as soon as it looks up to the Light, the Sun shines on it and its enemies run away. Therefore, you must also be persecuted in order to grow upward. When Christ says, "Blessed are the persecuted," He means that blessed are those who grow up, those who produce roots, leaves, blossoms and fruit. Great is this reward when the Lord comes and finds their fruit ripe. Has this teaching any sense? It has. This is what it means to be persecuted for the sake of Christ. If they persecute me and I have no fruit, I deserve to be persecuted. If, however, I am persecuted to give fruit to God and I have fruit, this persecution makes sense, for it means growth. It will give the necessary impulse, an impetus for work. When we reason this way, we shall begin to think rightly and to understand why we live. That is why we must pray for all people! The Scripture says, "Bless and curse not, say the Truth right in the face as to a brother, or a friend and never speak evil of anyone!" Speaking evil is like vomiting the food you have eaten, but the mouth was not created for vomiting, but for the sweet words of Love. This is the Teaching the saints bring down from above; this is the Teaching that the righteous have been preaching to the world for thousands of years; this is the teaching of the small angels who descend to earth. When Christ comes, He will bring the same Teaching. The white horse on which He is coming is the symbol of His Teaching of Light, "Blessed are those who know the Lord" means those who have grown up and have developed, having roots, branches, leaves and fruit, because God will visit them and reward them. I wish all of you to be in such a state—to be blessed so when God comes He will find fruit in your garden and you would invite Him to visit your home, your heart. Then He will give you the spirit of the new Teaching. "Blessed are you when God visits you, for great is your reward in heaven." Sermon held on February 4, 1917, in Sofia. __________________ 38. Matt. 5:10. 39. Probably reference to the non-decaying bodies of saints. In Bulgaria St John of Rila (≈876–946) is such an example. After the death of his parents, he gave away his modest inheritance to the poor and needy. Until his death, he led a humble and devout life as a hermit in the Rila Mountain, where he subsisted on wild berries and plants. His non-decaying body now rests in the Rila Monastery (ed. note).

All things which are written “For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.” Luke 21: 22 The word vengeance in this verse sounds strange, which shows that it is not used appropriately. Neither in Bulgarian, nor in the other languages can a more appropriate word be found, a word that can convey the meaning of Jesus’ words. To some extent, it can be replaced with the words account, countdown, annihilation, or balance. Jesus, Who has always been considered to be a role model in terms of feelings, thoughts, deeds and aspirations, uttered some bitter words. Unpleasant though these words are, they have the same beneficial effect on the human soul as bitter pills on a sick body. Would anybody be capable of correcting his distorted thought, unless he encountered the counteraction of the right thought? Many Christians keep thinking that they can do as they wish and make mistakes without being aware of them or of bearing the consequences. They believe that as soon as they repent and turn to God, their sins will be erased. Errors, though, can be deleted only after they have been corrected. A truly ideal Life excludes the possibility of making mistakes and committing crimes. Sins and fallacies are accidental interceptions in Life. They can be done voluntarily or involuntarily, or to put it in the terms of modern jurisdiction – with malice afterthought or unintentionally. Therefore, it is not people’s assignment to perpetrate crimes. They have come to earth as a necessary part of their development. They have a grand mission – to conquer the earth and become masters of all animals. What does mastering mean? What can man master and rule over? To be the master of the earth means to cultivate it properly and establish order all over. Being the master of animals means taking care of them in a way that makes them happy and content. Only a sensible, good-natured and free person can be the master of the earth and of the weaker creatures living there. “For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.” This verse can be discussed in its broader sense – in relation to humanity as a whole. It can also be analysed in narrower outlines – in view of man’s personal life and body. The human body is one’s earth, with all kinds of species on it – fish, birds, and mammals. All this has to be conquered, but as it belongs to another Master, man is responsible for the subordinate creatures to which he is temporarily a master. Jesus said, “ Lord, the sheep you gave me are Yours, so I sacrifice my life to them.” That’s why, everyone should bear in mind that any power given to them makes them responsible. Everybody wants to be strong, but acquiring certain strength makes sense only if it is exploited for something Good or great. Otherwise, strength becomes pointless. Strength, just like gifts and abilities, is acquired step by step, in the course of one’s growth, and not at once. Have you ever considered how many thousands of years it took the caterpillar to develop the skill of weaving and forming a cocoon until it finally breaks the chrysalis and turns into a butterfly? Those who are not acquainted with biology would say that God created everything. God gave all creatures the conditions to develop, but it is entirely up to them to strive to improve their lives, i.e. to get on a higher rung. Anyone willing to trace the stages of development can take a cocoon for close observation, pore over a microscope, then take a magnifying glass to trace the stages of growth and the differentiation of cells, until, finally, one can see the tiny worm, the chrysalis and the butterfly. You will say that this is an unconscious process. The maggot lives unconsciously here on earth, but in a higher world, the maggot is a conscious creature. That is why the Scripture reads that you are where your heart lives. Or, in other words, you live where your consciousness lives. If the consciousness of the maggot does not exist here, we look upon it as an unconscious creature. The cocoon lives unconsciously here, but what about man, who undergoes the experience of the prodigal son? He separated from God, severed the bonds with his supreme consciousness and set off wandering round the world. Is one given the right to part from God? If the bonds between the Divine and the human consciousness are severed, one has the right to part from God. One is free to wander, to dissipate his father’s wealth with light-minded friends; one can become a swineherd, living in misery, and finally, when his consciousness is awakened, to come back to his father and say, “Please, accept me as one of your servants. I do not deserve to be called your son. Forgive me, for I offended both against you and God.” Then the father can rightfully give his son a joyous welcoming and kill the fatted calf. The elder brother can be angry with his father for killing the fatted calf for his younger son, who wasted all the money and now comes back down and out. Such is the lot of any man, family or society that have gone astray from God. This is what happens nowadays throughout the world. According to the Scripture Jesus will make a Second Advent. What will herald it? – The wakening of human consciousness. When one becomes destitute, with all his wealth lost and now down and out, he will realise that he has gone astray and will start awaiting Jesus’ Advent. This is what awakening the consciousness means. This is a process that is already becoming a necessity. Everybody must come back to their father and repent. Only then will one be able to see the consequences of his Life both in the past and in the present. You will be just like the Prodigal son, who became aware of his past experience, realised what he lost and gained and then decided to come back to his father. He realised that nothing can be achieved by being a swineherd. Eventually, it was hunger that made him come back and become his father’s servant. You will say that it is awful for one to wander down and out. If you have ended up living in misery, if you have repented and came back to your father, you should only rejoice, for your shabby, tattered clothes, i.e. your inherent shortcomings have been revealed, you are already aware of them and ready to remedy them. You should be only too glad that you have become wiser. When you get wiser, you feel content, inwardly satisfied with having the necessary food, clothes and shoes, though outwardly you can still remain hungry, shabby and bare-footed. You should be grateful that you have found enough common sense to come back to your father and say, “Father, forgive me, for I committed a sin, but I learnt the great law that everybody gets what they deserve.” “That all things which are written may be fulfilled.” These words refer to all modern societies, countries and nations. The European nations will get impoverished, they will lose their strength, and famine will come to the Earth: hens, turkeys, lambs and swine will lower in number and become almost extinct. What’s more, bread will become scarce – a ratio of 200 to 300g will be given per person. You may happen to starve for two or three days on end. Everyone will ask, “ Why did all this happen? Who caused all these disasters?” – Not just one person is to blame. Everybody is responsible for the unfortunate consequences. Are the friends you drank and ate with guilty for your failure? It was you who invited them to eat and drink with you, because you wanted to have more fun. Whose fault is it now? Once you had fun, without thinking of the long-term implications; you should be brave enough now to bear the consequences. You should be even grateful that you are now given the chance to correct your mistakes. Religious people are getting ready to leave this world and move to another one, better organised and perfect. If the fruit falls unripe from the tree, where will it go? Will there be fruit good enough for the market? Will it be served at the table of a rich man? Can you see it in a child’s pocket? The fruit that has fallen unripe will be found rotten by the trunk of the tree. The other world is closed to it. The unripe fruit will remain on the tree – this world here - until it gets ripe. Therefore, both worlds – this one and the other one - are the same for people who are unprepared. One needs a long time to spend here, on earth, to study and to grow until the process of development is over. Here is the place for them to go to a primary, secondary and high school, and finally to university. Then they will enroll for the great school of life and enter the organised world called Heaven. Only fully mature, learned people are accepted to heaven. Anyone who goes there will be given a gob that has to be accomplished. Lazy people are not admitted there. Anyone who goes there unprepared will be left to wait for a day or two before being assigned some task. Anyone who proves to be inefficient will be sent back to earth. An old woman dreamt of going to the other world. The first thing she saw there was a big table laid with a white tablecloth, and round the table a few white bearded old men were sitting, reading a book. She saw that they were busy reading something. Not knowing what to say and how to address these people, she felt embarrassed. One of them asked her, “Why have you come, old lady? Do you know to read or write?” – “I don’t know, son. I never learnt these.” – “If you can’t read or write, your job will be to fetch water.” – “Well, son, this is what I had been doing all my life. I am sick and tired of fetching water. Don’t make me do the same here.” – “If you don’t want to fetch water, then you will come back to earth to learn to read and write.” While we are on earth, we pass through three areas in Life. The first one is the stomach. While we are still living in the stomach, we have to observe its laws and regulations. The stomach gives feasts and invites guests. Everybody sits at the table waiting for the hostess to serve the food she has prepared. The table is laden with plenty of food – soup, roast chicken, turkey or steaks, and a glass or two of vintage wine to cheer up the guests. All are eating, praising God for the goods He has bestowed on them. This is how Life is seen from the perspective of the stomach. If you ask someone why they indulge in eating pork, poultry or lamb, they will answer that they are destined by God to be the master of animals. Such people let all animals in the stomach and feel satisfied. When they are inside they start asking, “Master, what are we doing here?” Each animal starts revealing its true nature: the swine is rooting about, the bull is butting, the hen is scratching and the turkey is strutting. Shortly after, the stomach is heavy with indigestion. The master is moaning with aches and calls for the doctor to see what is wrong with him. It is simple: the animals that have entered the stomach cannot get along well. They cause indigestion. The doctor prescribes some purgative, the master vomits everything and the stomach is relieved. What does vomit mean? In my opinion, the words vomit and gossip are synonymous in Bulgarian. Just as overeating causes indigestion, so bad and impure thoughts upset the heart. Knowing this, you should never let them enter your heart or let them out as negative emotions. Why should people talk behind each other’s back? If a negative emotion enters your heart, you should try to suppress it. If someone happens to have eaten rotten food, they usually start talking about it, until finally, they throw it up. If they do not talk about what has happened to them, they will talk about others who have taken bad food. Do not eat impure food so that you should not talk about what you have eaten. You should talk neither about yourselves, nor about others. The function of the mouth is to accept pure, healthy food and not to throw up the impure, unhealthy food. The human body has two doors: an inlet and an outlet. If one accepts and throws food from one and the same door, the harmony in the body will be shattered. This law applies both to physical and spiritual food. If you let something go out from your mouth, it should be the best. The human tongue is not allowed to use negative or bitter words. That is why the Scripture says that you should be held responsible for any empty word. The same refers to one’s thoughts, feelings and deeds. Man is related to the sensible world, with creatures from a high culture – saints, Angels, Archangels, who hold man responsible for every deed, thought or feeling, coming out from the heart or the mind. One day he will be held responsible for everything he has admitted into himself. Man comes to live on the earth; he comes into existence, eats, gets dressed, studies, etc., for which a lot of energy is needed – Light and warmth, various elements – oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, phosphorus, iron, silver, gold, etc. All this costs millions. We can see one grow and develop, but we cannot know how much this costs Nature. Nor do we know how much energy the sensible creatures working on him have wasted. You should try to estimate the expenses of someone who has lived here for a hundred years to find out whether one is entitled to abuse what he has been given. One who abuses the rights he is given is deprived of the favourable conditions of Life – to be born and reincarnated. Being unable to reincarnate means being locked forever. Evil cannot exist freely any longer. Jesus came to earth mainly to free man from evil – both people and animals. In other words, all human ideals will disappear, replaced by other eternal ones. Any thought or desire not based on a grand ideal will vanish beyond recall. There can be just one desire or thought for you to cherish, but it should be immortal. What’s the point of giving birth to ten children unless you do not follow God’s will? What child is it that does not love his father? Neither Love, nor hope can find its expression. Love is the strongest and foremost human incentive. God’s Love for humanity and every living creature makes Him come among people. Usually God comes to this world at times of hardship and turmoil when humanity goes through big crises. We are having hard times now, so God is closest to people. When speaking of reincarnation, many are reluctant to acknowledge it, though it does not matter. What difference does it make if an important fact is not acknowledged? The fact exists after all. People existed in prehistoric times; they exist now. They were born and reborn, owing to which they acquired something new and improved. One is reborn but with a different name. The same happens to nations. Modern nations, known as Germans, Russians, English, French and Bulgarians used to exist under different names. It is not known when exactly man came to existence – there are various opinions on this issue. According to the Bible man has been existing for 8,000 years. Occultists believe that man has been around for 18 million years. God comes here not to judge people but to purify the world. How will He achieve this? – Through fire. That is why the Scripture reads that each barren tree will be rooted out and thrown in the fire. The tree cannot live on barren land; it needs soil. Therefore, each person who does not give any fruit will be rooted out and thrown in the fire. When does man give fruit? – When one lives in compliance with the laws of Love. There is no Life beyond Love. There cannot be any achievement without Love. Throughout his life, man has to create the soil he is to plough and sow, just like a farmer does. The impure thoughts and desires that have fallen upon it spoil this soil. It has to be purified. How? – By ploughing it a few times, after which you have to let it dry in the Sun until becoming fertile again. Providence brings upon man plenty of suffering so that it can help him get rid of sin. In this respect suffering is the plough necessary to toil with on the patch of land. It has to be ploughed a few times so that it can be purified in the Sun. Then it can become fit for sowing pure thoughts and desires. God’s Love has to work on the human soul for thousands of years so that it can give fruit. It is normal for man to be sulky and displeased while the fruit is ripening. Initially, the fruit is bitter and sour. The longer it basks in the Sun, the sweeter it becomes, until finally, it is fully ripe, sweet and fragrant. The process of ripening is over. So, when one is sulky and displeased, you should know that he is at the beginning of his life – at the embryonic stage. After a few Divine years he will get mature and sweet – the discontent will turn into contentment. Anger and discontent are in their proper place when they lie on the grounds of sound principles. Everything makes sense when it is in its proper place, i.e. when it is reasonable. During the Ottoman Oppression the Bulgarians feared tax collectors very much. A Bulgarian felt quite comfortable and relaxed before the tax collector came. He would go outside the front door with a jack-knife and a stick in his hand and while whittling at the stick, he was setting the world to rights. However, as soon as the arrival of the tax collector was announced, the Bulgarian got startled, whittling more nervously and worrying about paying his taxes. Minutes ago he would think freely, claiming that God does not exist. The moment the tax collector came, he would start believing in God – the stick, i.e. Justice is imposed. So he would point the stick at himself. If you have money, you are the master. Without any money, you lose your title. A young handsome lad enjoyed the freedom he had. He had many friends and was footloose and fancy-free. Girls liked him for the great freedom he had and referred to him as the King of all kings. One day he decided to get engaged. The girls started regarding him only as a king. Then he got married. Now he was regarded only as an ordinary man. When eventually he got divorced, everybody would look upon him as a laughing stock, as one inferior to all the others. God sends people to the earth to feel free and independent as kings. What do they do? They find a husband or a wife to commit to. They lose their freedom and descend from the position of a king. When they get married they become ordinary people. Then they get divorced, thus reducing themselves to a laughing stock. If they have made a mistake, they have to correct it. The husband whittles at the stick, so does the wife, thinking how to pay the tax collector. Do not get involved with people who are expected to pay taxes. For all the things which are written.” In other words: The Day of Judgement is coming! – When will it come? – When the Divine light enters people’s minds and they start seeing clearly what exactly they have done in their present and previous lives. They already have a new task assigned – to correct their Lives and all the mistakes they have made. Be grateful for the Light given to you! Be ready, just like the Prodigal son, to turn to God with due Repentance and humility and say, “ O Lord, I beg for Your mercy! I didn’t fulfil your will, but I am ready to serve You devotedly.” Pray to God to inscribe your names in the Book of Life. Give up the lie you have been serving for years and embrace the Truth. If you are not ready to serve God gratefully, you will find yourselves in the position of the Greek tzar who was ungrateful to his doctor.. The Greek tzar in this story was suffering from leprosy. An eminent doctor came to his kingdom. The doctor, known as Duban, started taking care of the tzar and soon managed to cure him. As a token of his gratitude the tzar appointed him in his Privy Council. Many became envious and started scheming against him. The malicious gossip reached the tzar, who believed it and ordered the doctor’s execution. Before the order was carried out, the doctor appeared before his master, told him the true story and begged for mercy. The tzar reversed his appeal and confirmed his verdict. Then the doctor said, “I’ll give you a book in which you will find the answers to all the problems troubling you. While thumbing the pages, you will hear my voice speaking through your head.” The tzar took the book, pleased that he would be able to make interesting observations. After the execution the book appeared on his desk. The tzar started turning the pages, but the more he read, the worse he felt. The pages were treated with poison. On turning the last page, he heard a voice saying, “This is what everyone who is ungrateful deserves.” This is how the ungrateful tzar ended his life. Who is the doctor curing human leprosy? – Jesus. Instead of being grateful, you are ready to cut His head in order to get rid of Him. Then the devil, whose advice you take, will approach you and give you the book, form which you are going to read his wise advice every day. This book is poisonous. By reading his book, you will gradually get poisoned. When you turn the last page, you will hear the devil saying to you, “This is what any sinner who repays good by evil deserves. Such a person does not deserve to live.” Many keep complaining about injustice in Life, blaming God for it. If they think so, then they bear injustice. If just one Life were given to you, then you would be right to complain. But what would you say if you knew that you would live many lives here on the earth? Don’t you think that it is you that have caused injustice? You live by God’s grace. God is so lenient to you and yet you grumble. A new age is coming, a new culture, and new conditions. The hew age is celebrated with God’s advent to this world in order to establish law and order, to separate the mortal from the immortal, sinners from righteous people. It is up to any of us to choose the category he or she falls into. A sinner with impure thoughts and desires will create a body with the appropriate brain, lungs and stomach. The thoughts and desires take the form that matches them. No wonder then that so many forms exist: bears, wolves, tigers, lions, snakes, etc. The forms are created according to the thoughts and desires. It is only natural then that there should be bad and good people; some are healthy, cheerful and agile, while others are ill, weak and unfit for work. Do not wonder why germs destroying the human body exist. Doctors organise conferences to discuss how to tackle the problems with germs. There are germs capable of destroying the human body within 24 hours. Germs are a real scourge to humanity. “For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.” You would ask whether God takes revenge on people. Should he take revenge on them through germs? I am not answering your question. I would only ask you: What would you think of your neighbour who would let his pigs plough in your well-kept garden? Your garden is not supposed to be intruded by your neighbour’s pigs. You have worked in it to make it your pride and joy. It is meant to give pleasure to your nearest and dearest. Those who love you are welcome to take a walk in it, enjoying the beautiful flowers and ripe fruit. Imagine that the father of a family has lived and worked abroad. On coming back home, he buys nice presents for his four daughters and his wife. As soon as he comes back, his two daughters turn to the presents and jewellery, examining and enjoying them, totally ignoring their father’s presence. They do not care at all that he is tired and needs attention. However, the other two daughters focus all their attention on him – one fetches him some water to wash and clothes to change, the other cooks him dinner. They do not think about the presents. The father is kind and considerate with all his daughters, but, naturally, his attitude to the first two is different from his attitude to the other two. He would never show that his attitude is different, yet it is. From this we could infer the following law: Love breeds Love. Hatred cannot breed Love. Fear can make you pretend to love someone, but as soon as the fear disappears, hatred grows. Love excludes fear, while no love or hatred breed fear. Those who fear are the evil, dark spirits, whereas good and light spirits do not fear. Therefore, when a dark spirit obsesses you, you feel afraid. You ought to drive the evil spirit away. Let it become your servant and not your master. As soon as you drive it away, you will become strong and courageous. You will raise your awareness, entering a new sphere where love and agreement, Light and peace reign. What will happen to the world? – Do not think about that; think of yourselves. The master of the world used to be someone who is bound now. He is trembling with fear now, regretting having lost his power. He will be sent to the lower world where he will be taught to work. He used to eat and drink, but now he has to work – there is no other possible salvation for him. As long as the chief master is bound, it will be easy for you to cope with the less important masters. Each of you is able to bind the small master within the self and set him to work. Do not fear this master, for his reign is over. Put Jesus to the throne of your kingdom and follow His path. Only in this way will you be able to walk in Light and the Angels will befriend you. This is what God wants from us all. Listen to His voice and be ready to submit Him. It is time for you to sever the bonds with your former master and reestablish connection with the One Who has crated you and Who cares about you. Religious people prepare themselves to pass through all the planets and finally settle on the Sun. This will be, but not now. You are not ready for the other planets yet. It is worth going round all the planets and stars, but only if you achieve something or mend your ways. Otherwise, just passing by and seeing new things without getting to the point would be a futile effort. There will come a day when you will be able to travel freely from one planet to another, but not in your present bodies. You need to form a new body, capable of dissembling and assembling so that it would be easy for you to move from one place to another. One day people will be travelling without ships, trains or planes. They will have a new type of body, shaped and structured differently. They will have a new kind of Light and knowledge. They will be acquainted with the laws of the Universe and able to apply them. Then they will not toil the land the way they do now, but sustain themselves in a way unknown to today’s scientists. Jesus tells us, “Go now and do not err any longer.” Not to err means not to violate God’s law. Those who serve God follow His laws. Once you enter the Angels’ society, you will be elevated. It is a great blessing to have the grace of the Angels, the saints and the good people. Everyone will be eager to give you something. However, it is awful to find yourselves among enemies. Then everybody will be eager to take something from you, to rob you and ruin you. God’s Kingdom does not ruin people. People live there in harmony, union and service to Love. They live there one for all, while nowadays everyone lives for the self. By “the self” we mean what is inferior in people, mammals, birds and fish. That’s why Jesus says that anyone unable to deny the self cannot be His true disciple. By giving up the inferior part of the self, one is able to evolve more quickly. The law of evolution applies both to people and animals. The more sinful one is, the slower the process of evolution is. One is subjected to greater suffering so that the consciousness can be awakened. The same law applies to animals. This is the reason why some animals suffer more than others do. The harder the suffering is, the more the creature has to pay back. When studying Natural History, you will see that forms gradually change to improve. Naturally, it is a long-term process, taking thousands of years. What counts is not time, but the results. Therefore, when it comes to animals, you should not look down on them. You should bear in mind that there will come the time when they will change and advance to a higher level. Animals are inferior to people in terms of consciousness and living conditions, but some day they will move a step up. It is possible for a human being to communicate with a horse, an ox, or a dog. If one knows how to do it, it is possible to talk even with more inferior species. The shepherd, inhabiting a hut, lives at physical and spiritual conditions different from those typical of a king, living in a palace. Yet you can communicate with them both. There are people who don not rank higher than animals in terms of consciousness. There are animals that are similar to people in terms of consciousness. That’s why you should not judge things by their appearance, but consider their contents and depth. Truth reveals the provenance of man. Some day when you enter the Spiritual World, your thoughts and emotions will become objective. By seeing their true essence, you will feel ashamed, aware that you are ill equipped for this world. So you will start looking forward to coming back to the earth in order to work towards a better future. This is what makes people reincarnate. One needs to work. Whatever situation you are in, you should know that such is your lot. You have to work on yourselves in order to improve your fate. There is just one way to achieve this: by serving God with all your heart, strength and devotion. Or to put it differently, to serve God with all our thoughts, emotions and deeds. We should serve out brethren with the same commitment as we serve ourselves. Who is your fellow creature? – One who helps you and works for you. It means that the ox, the horse and the cow are your fellow creatures. God speaks the languages of all animals and communicates with them, while you feel ashamed to speak to your ox, working in your field from dawn till sunset. Sometimes God prefers to speak to an ox rather than to a haughty sinner, who has caused his own sufferings but blames God for them. An ox keeps pulling the yoke yet never blames its master for the suffering it bears. God has given man plenty of goods and keeps giving. Who is to blame for man’s suffering? – He himself. Suffering comes as a natural consequence of man’s constant abuse of God’s gifts and blessings. What should one do to get rid of suffering? – To reconsider the way one lives and mend his ways. The only power capable of correcting one’s Life is Love. Apply Love and your Life will correct itself. – Which Love? – The one you are ready for. Love has 350 million forms. What man is required to do is to study these forms and recognise them. The ultimate objective is to be able to identify the kind of Love one has for you when he or she tells you “I love you”. Is it like the love of the worm, the spider, the mosquito, the hen, the dog, the bear, the wolf, the ox, the horse, or is it like the love of the mother, the saint, the Angel, etc.? Man is not allowed to show the love of the spider, sucking blood of its beloved, nor is man allowed to have the love of the predator, tearing its prey. God comes to the earth not to judge people but to teach and guide them. He opens the Book of Life to every human being and forces them to read from there in order to see their own mistakes. Where do people make most mistakes? – In Love. When you spot and identify your mistakes, you will say just like the Prodigal Son: “Forgive me Father! I’m coming to you down and out. I’ve lost everything you gave me. I committed a sin, but now I am ready to serve you.” That is the common fate nowadays. God will welcome the Prodigal Son with Love. He will give orders for him to be washed and dressed in new clothes. He will embrace and kiss him and will kill the fatted calf. However, the devil, i.e. the elder brother will be displeased. He will tell God, “I worked for you so many years yet you gave me nothing.” The devil does not tell the truth. All the wealth is his. The devil is said not to have come to help the Angels but the seed of Abraham. So, when Jesus joins the human world, people will advance to a higher level. On hearing His voice, they will perceive His thought. No matter which part of the world Jesus will speak from, they will be able to catch His voice. Righteous people will be able both to see and hear Him. He will be everywhere. It means that people, having developed the sixth sense, will be clairvoyants. If Jesus comes to the earth in flesh for the second time, he will be crucified again. This time He will descend in such a form that it will need no food, nor will it be crucifiable. He will need the fruit of your tree. When He looks at you, He will see whether your soul bears any fruit, and on seeing the fruit, He will say, “Let this soul be blessed!” I mean that blessed is the soul that bears at least one ripe fruit. When Jesus comes to you, you will offer Him your fruit to nourish Him. This is how He will know that you have worked hard in your garden, that you have taken loving care of the orchard. Many men, women and children water their gardens with tears coming from the bottom of their hearts. Some day these tears will give birth to sweet, juicy fruit. Do not fear your tears. Do not say that you cry; say that you water your gardens. Do not say that your hearts are rent with grief, say that you plough your fields. Plough and water God’s fields so that it should yield plenty of fruit. That is the point in Life. That is why Jesus will come to the human world. What is the present state of humanity? It is like a moving ship. Before it sets sail, it rocks and shakes and then when the movement goes to all its parts, it starts floating smoothly along the water surface. Jesus comes to the earth to stir the stranded ship. He will give it a mighty push, will jolt it vehemently and give it the right course. Therefore, Jesus’ advent will blaze the right trail for humanity. All people will start feeling, thinking and acting correctly, just like the ship will be bound for the right destination. It is hard to imagine how all that will happen, yet when the vapour gives impetus to the steamer, when your thoughts become clear and definite, when you become aware of your ultimate objectives, you will see Jesus as clearly as the stoker, who puts coal in the fire-box seeing that he has to do this to make the steamer move ahead. Many have seen Jesus cheerful and beaming with a smile and a halo around His head on His way to Jerusalem as a holy place. Jesus exists in all other worlds, not just on the Earth. Those who are more sensitive are aware of this. They perceive it through both their hearts and minds. There is not a single human being unable to sense even the slightest stir in the self. Those who are more sensitive are more apprehensive of danger. There is nothing to be afraid of. Your ship is moving ahead, having taken the right course towards the Divine port. I do not mean the grave. Just the opposite, as long as your ship is afloat, you will come out of the grave and resurrect. This is exactly what Paul meant when saying that we will not die, but we will change. What is in store for you? – You will go to bed as a cocoon, and you will wake up as a chrysalis. On the next nigh you will go to bed as a chrysalis, and you will wake up as a butterfly, able to fly from one flower to another, gathering their sweet nectar. What has happened to you? – You have changed. God took your old callous hearts and gave you new soft and delicate ones, on which I will inscribe today the new law. He took your distorted minds and gave you new bright ones, able to perceive His thoughts and apply them. Your souls will become a temple of God, you hearts – His altar, where you will offer your sacrifices. The Spirit will become God’s servant. This means serving God with all your heart, strength and devotion. This means the fate of the world. To judge means to find the right path as a member of society and as a nation that is part of humanity. It means knowing your responsibilities and bearing them. Will you know yourselves then? – Certainly, more than you do now. Will you love each other? – More than you do now. Then you will be glad and light-spirited, radiating happiness. Today people’s faces are dark and sulky. Who is to blame? A child saw the Sun rising hidden in fog and clouds. Its red disc could hardly be seen through. – Why are you giving me such a sulky, angry look?” the child asked. The Sun answered, “It’s not my fault. Clouds and fog veil my rays but as soon as they disappear, I’ll show you my bright, smiling face.” What I would like to tell you now is not to ask why Jesus is a gloomy and displeased. Clouds veil his face, too. When they disperse, you will see His bright and smiling face, radiating Love and Light, Joy and Mirth. Jesus’ Love can be compared to the bright and fair image of the Sun. When you feel His Love, you Life here on the earth will become worthwhile. Then you will understand why you were born and why you will die, why you are male or female, why you give birth to children and raise them. Not only will you understand these things, but also they will be given meaning. “For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.” This verse sounds fearful. Those who do not understand its profound meaning will go to hell. Those who interpret it properly say: Jesus comes to this world as a bearer of Reason and Love. He tells everybody on the face of the earth, “Peace!” Everybody will get what they deserve through Jesus’ Love and Reason. Everybody will be given what they are ready to do. Is there anything to worry about? Get ready, each when the time comes to welcome Jesus. Put on your best clothes. For some Jesus will come today, for others He will come tomorrow. They will be some who will greet Him in years. You will meet Him the moment you are ready for this. You should be waiting for Him day in day after, and there will come the time when you will be able to see Him. It is entirely up to you. You should be in your right lace, just like the astronomer holds his due position behind the telescope to observe the sky. The astronomer may be observing a planet so far from the Earth that ordinary people do not even suspect it exists, but he can see it. When the planet approaches the Sun, then all people will be able to see it. Try to be such astronomers, able to see Jesus from afar, while ordinary people have not seen Him yet. Therefore, there are people who can see Jesus now, some who will see Him later when He approaches them, and still others who will not see Him even then but will keep sleeping peacefully in bliss. May you stay awake so that you can see Jesus from afar. If you fail to see Him from afar, I believe you will see Him from close by. You are bound to see Him. He will speak to you and you will be able to hear Him as clearly as you can hear me now. A lecture given by the Master on 28th January, 1917, Sofia

The Book - The Salt. Beinsa Douno The Two Masters "No servant can serve two masters. You cannot serve God and the mammon."1 Two rational principles are functioning in the world. By saying that you cannot serve these two principles at the same time, Christ means that you cannot be twice more active than you can endure, i.e. greater pressure cannot be produced in a caldron than it can stand. These two principles cannot be placed on a single caldron. In the occult science these principles are called first and second, but in science they are termed as positive and negative. The positive principle is always stronger, and the negative - weaker. The creative force always manifests itself in the weaker principle. What builds in the world is not the strong, but the weak. That is why destructive people are always stronger than the good, the mild people. You have these two principles in yourself at the same time. For instance, when you get angry and cry out, "Put order here at once!" all the servants, women and children get frightened and obey. But this principle is not creative, it does not create anything. Only when you turn your attention inside yourself and get calm, everything acquires its natural state. The first principle, in which evil, hatred and lying originate, is not evil in itself. You have peculiar notions of hatred and falsehood. In order to be able to lie, one must be clever for a foolish person cannot lie. This is a great philosophy, but in contemporary society it is called "superior diplomacy." Women possess this kind of diplomacy as well. When the man is stronger in the first principle, his wife caresses him, calls him "darling" and by her softness, she tames him so as to assimilate this high principle. When these two principles are balanced, they begin to work together: the first principle gives of its surplus to the second one. Christ says, "You cannot serve the first and the second principle at the same time; you cannot serve hatred and love at the same time." These two things are mutually incompatible; they are diametrically opposed, as they do not move in the same direction. Take two merchants, for example - they can work together, for they are moving in the same direction having the same interests, but a merchant and a doctor cannot work together. The word Lord means the highest principle, the noblest principle which creates. This principle is soft and plastic, but this does not limit it. It is immortal - death does not exist in this second principle. There is death in the first principle only because the strong destroy themselves by the power they possess. Only strong people can commit suicide. Take for instance the scorpion - when it is surrounded by fire and has no escape it commits suicide by the sting of its poisonous tail. It prefers suicide to being burned alive. The first principle has created the cosmos; the material world together with your bodies, energies and forces necessary for their upbuilding. When you want to give up the first principle, you must give back everything it has given you. But when you return everything to it, what will remain of you? You will return to the second - become one with God. There will be no John or Dragan, angels or devils and a general state of peace and calm will reign in the world. No questions will be raised as to which side will win in the war or what will happen after the war ends. All questions will be solved. All these things will merge in the first principle, which will withdraw into itself. When a person wants to become energetic, they must be salted; evil in the world is salting and a person should become bad in order to be salted. When a person looses their saltiness, God sends the first principle to produce salt. But people should not serve this principle. Christ takes it as it is manifested on the earth, not as it is manifested above among the angels. One cannot be rich and pious at the same time. I do not believe in such piety. When a person's purse is full of gold and silver and they pretend to be a saint, I doubt in their sanctity. All riches in the world belong to the Lord; and the moment you think the power and influence you have are your own, you are serving the first principle. This principle is individual and disunites all beings, because it is not a master of uniting, but just the opposite. It can create thousands of people; but it cannot create conditions under which they can live. This principle is possessed of anger which leads to the trashing and killing of people. I shall tell you an anecdote as an example of this idea. A peasant had no children and often prayed to God to bless him with progeny. One day he filled a big sack with grains of wheat and prayed that God turn these grains of wheat into children. God answered his prayer and turned all the grains into children. When the peasant got up in the morning, all the children began crying and asking for food. That angered him very much and he said, "These children will eat my head off" and started killing them. One of the children, who had hidden behind a door, started crying and begging him not to kill it. This is the first principle in you - evil, which is active and when it comes, it says, "I shall destroy." But when the second principle - which people call love, the mother, the power of all things - comes into the world, it immediately softens the first principle and the two, joined together, give birth to the greatest and the highest in the world. When you serve the Lord, it is only through Him that you can influence the first principle. Only God has the power to save you from death. If you do not serve God, you will be swallowed up by the first principle for such is the law. Water returns to its original source; so does money and power. Everything returns, for all things have sprung up from the first principle. However, in Love, there is a manifestation in the world of the absolute God whom no one knows - the unknown God of whom people have no idea. "The God you will not know but worship is the one I am preaching to you about," says Paul. He is the only One who holds in Himself these two great principles through which He is manifested. Since one principle destroys, while the other builds; you cannot destroy and build at the same time. When you hate you destroy; but when you love you build and create. Some people think that the first principle has apparently the desire to build in some people; nevertheless it devours at the same time. "I shall love you. I love you but I shall eat you up." This is the way a cat plays with a mouse until finally it presses it down and swallows it up. This is what people call love! Some think that the Hindu idea of "Nirvana" is merely blending with God, not building. This is partly true - there is both blending and building. One must be in accord with the second principle and live with it. There is an eternal aspiration in the second principle to unite all beings into a whole. It is the aspiration of Christ that God should be manifested individually by every Soul. God wishes to create in the world small abodes in which He can live. He who can understand this profound principle is a great Soul. Many contemporary philosophers are tangled up in these two principles. The first principle has taken upper hand in all pessimists, anarchists and that kind of people both in the religious and social aspects of life. I am observing society and have many statistics of this fact. A woman marries a man and, in the course of two or three years, she exhausts him, tires and destroys him and marries a second time. She exhausts her second husband also. She marries a third time and does the same thing to her third husband. Then people say, "This woman brings bad luck to men." The same thing applies to some men. A man who cannot live with a woman is one in whom the first principle has taken the upper hand and when he marries a woman, he destroys her. For such a woman and such a man the second principle must be so strong that it will create balance with the first. In religious societies such disputes often arise in which the first principle comes to the fore. For instance the question as to who should take the first place nearest the altar arises. On the physical plane it is not possible to put many chairs by the altar and if all should want to sit up there, the priest will not be visible. The same questions arise among teachers as to who should be the principal. How many principals can there be? Only one. The question of superiority can be found among preachers, military men and so on. This is a natural struggle, it is a great divine process which all angels have undergone. Many angels have passed the test, they have passed through the first principle and have entered the second one and now they are serving God, while others have not passed the test, they have fallen and now they serve the first principle - mammon - that is why they are called demons. Among people there are also some who serve the first and some who serve the second principle. After some time when humanity ends its evolution, takes its wreath, everyone will go to their place. This is why Christ says, "Without Me - meaning the second principle - you can do nothing." There is deep meaning in these words: if you remain alone to struggle in the world, you will become servants of the first principle and then all negative qualities as tiredness, jealousy, repulsion, discontentment, which destroy you, will become manifested in you. In this principle you cannot find any benefit for the world or any sense in life. That is why Christ says, "You cannot serve both God and mammon." If you serve mammon, you will be on the bottom of hell in constant discontentment and you will never understand even why you are a man or a woman. You may pass through all forms of creation, but you will always be discontented, because people by themselves are never content. The word "discontentment" means that you cannot be content with your outside appearance since human spirit is much greater, requiring a much larger activity than the one we actually perform. You have a small body, but the spirit wants a greater one. An eternal struggle begins. And in this struggle you say, "Might is right", which is the first principle, but when you say, "The weak has the right," that is the second principle. Someone commits a crime and by giving the judge two or three thousand leva2, the latter acquits them. Just as during the Middle Ages by buying indulgences, one's sins were forgiven. However, in the building of your life, Christ does not tolerate division. If you are divided in yourself, you must rise above that state and work within God. Only then will you understand the deep meaning of those forces working in the universe. Those who have started on the Way, the initiated, have a greater experience. Why? They are suffering more than the worldly people because in Christianity, along with the first principle, the second one is growing stronger. Where Love is manifested, the first principle also manifests itself; though it remains as a mere shadow - a shadow of creation. By "a shadow" I mean a principle which causes death. The first principle in itself is dark and brings darkness, but the second principle always brings light to the mind. When the first principle acts, you feel great sorrow and have no sense in life, but as soon as the second principle comes, you become high-spirited and rise. In the first principle you grope for an exit and if you do not find one, the thought of the scorpion obsesses you - to commit suicide in order to get rid of the unfavorable conditions of life, which you have created yourself. Thus the first principle is extremely avaricious and insatiable; in it there is no end to desires. What life can there be in the insatiable? What meaning can there be in a life moving forever in a straightforward line? Supposing you travel through the universe with the speed of light - what meaning can that motion have for you? It makes no sense to enter one, two or three houses which are empty. There is meaning in getting acquainted with those who live there; to have communion with their minds and hearts. Acquaintance and friendship in the world is to be in accord with this divine principle which, here on earth, is expressed in Christ. The first principle has created many illusions in the human mind. Since it bears all the shadows, it is strong; it has created many combinations by which it gives Divine Love a chance to manifest itself. Thus, Love finds expression in it and the first principle is like its soil. Nevertheless, it is striving to conquer the second principle - Love - but Love cannot be conquered. It is a Law which regulates all things in the world. The first principle is afraid of the second for when it faces the latter, it comes into the Light and, seeing its image, is obsessed by fear. Just as when you go to someone who loves you, your heart begins to throb. It says, "You have come to your Master, I have swallowed quite a number like you." Men, women, children - the hearts of all quiver. A man and a woman who have a hidden thought - the first principle - want to dominate; but when they realize that this principle does not yield, they say, "Here is my Master, here is the second principle, the Divine One, which gives expression to life and immortality." The Scripture says, "Love casts out fear," and in order to be happy, we must by all means be joined to Christ, otherwise our path is lost. If we do not serve God, we shall serve the mammon. If we serve God, we have torn down the mammon; but if we do not serve God, mammon will come and say, "You will serve me!" Every one of you must know this. Someone says, "I want to be free." You will be free if you serve Love, otherwise you will serve mammon and be a slave. You cannot serve God and mammon at the same time. It is impossible! People often say, "Let me beat them and they will have fear of me." You can beat them up or frighten them, but they will not love you. I would like to see someone among you who have gained a person's love through beating them. I have not yet met such a person. I am not the only person who says this: all great people and all saints have stated it. When the first principle gains the mastery over the human heart, the individual becomes dry, hard and begins to stiffen. Everything in them stiffens: their heart, their muscles, their hands, their legs, their arteries and so on. Then the doctors say that such a person is sick of arteriosclerosis. I say that this is due to the first principle, which has hardened the person and obsessed their heart. When God sees a person possessed of the first principle, He begins to bring in disunity, i.e. the second principle begins to act. When Love enters the first principle, it begins to organize it within itself. This is a struggle which acts mechanically in the world. It takes place in all social strata; in the minds of philosophers; in religious societies; everywhere. It acts until the second principle takes predominance and organizes our hearts, our bodies and we become immortal. Christ and the second principle wish to have predominance in our cells and in the monads in order to render them indestructible, immortal. Only then shall we pass from the transitory to the unchangeable and enter the region of Eternal Unity - the Eternal Divine Harmony. That is why the world was created, so that the human hearts and minds should pass from the first principle into the second. The process is from left to right. For instance, how do you work? You move to the left so the right hand may exert greater pressure. There are exceptions as some people are left handed, but generally when one works, one moves from left to right. This principle is the reason why the heart has moved a little to the left. Physiologists today say it is because of the way a child has lain in the womb of their mother but this is not the reason. In time, the heart must move to the middle between the two lungs; only then will there be harmony between Wisdom and Love. Now, speaking about your heart, I imply the idea of harmony between your thoughts and desires. Your desires always dominate your mind. You think well and say, "I shall do this, I shall do that," but you get angry and destroy everything. A man and a woman are in love, but one day the woman meets another man, handsomer than her own husband; one who has a fine moustache, black hair and eyes and she says, "I found him at last!" And the home, built for twenty years, is destroyed. This woman is unfortunate for she has found the first principle. The same thing applies to men and children. A child thinks their father is foolish and bad and says, "That other father is better than mine." Children often compare their mother with other mothers and say, "Those other children's mother is more beautiful and better than ours," and at once disharmony arises in their home. The first principle has sneaked in again. I am not speaking of the depth of this philosophy, but only to point out how weak you are. As I see you, you are still weak, you are like nails which must be pounded in by the hammer. When the hammer comes, it will ask you, "Do you know me?" "I know you." You will be pounded in so well that you will even come out on the other side. You will realize that you are nails and that the strength is not in you, but in the hammer. The hammer says, "Do you see where you go when I pound you?" The force, however, is not in the hammer, but in its handle. It is not there, either; but in the hand. The hand says, "The force is in the brain, not in the hand." If the brain does not give an order to the hand to be raised, what will become of it? It is the same with people. Two friends, two nails get together and start talking. One says, "I was pounded in twenty centimeters, do you know what weight they hang on me? No one can pull me out, I do the greatest work." This is the reasoning of nails. A Christian enters a church and says, "I did this for the Lord, I turned a person to Him!" You are like a thief who robs someone's purse and opens it: you have stolen the heart of this person and carried it away, leaving the person to complain all his life. Some mothers think they have given life to a child and then leave the child at a children’s ward. Why do you deceive the child that you have given it life! The second principle does not tolerate falsehood. Lying, violence, hatred, jealousy - all these things are compatible in a society of evil people. Those traits seem natural to them and when two bad men fight, they feel a satisfaction for a time. It is the same with a wolf and a lion after they tear up a sheep and eat it up. They feel; however, in a few hours' time, they feel the need of tearing up another victim. In the contemporary civilization we can find many similar examples. A similar thing took place in America in the city of New York where a court case was brought up. A doctor felt great satisfaction in killing people and in a short period of time, he actually killed twenty-five persons. He hired a woman secretary and killed her first by cutting her piece by piece, watching the effect of his action. He did the same to 24 other persons and burned them all up in a stove. That man was obsessed with animalistic hatred when he was slaughtering his victims. He was examined phrenologically in a New York prison and they found that his eyes and jaw were deformed. He had been under the influence of the first principle. Often such criminals have a desire to have long beards. The big beard is a sign of the presence of the first principle. I do not wish that you go to another extreme and understand me wrongly. The big beard provides more energies, but a criminal has a rude and hard hair. When your hair becomes hard, the first principle has dominance in you. In order to know how good you are test your hair and skin every morning. When your skin becomes dry and thickens, the first principle is in you. This principle will swallow you up as a snake swallows up a frog. It catches you by the foot and if you do not turn to God, you will go to the bottom of hell and find out about the other philosophy of life: what it means to serve mammon. No one can escape this eternal judgement of things. That is why Christ says, "Turn to Me." Life in our present state manifests itself in two directions: in contentment and discontentment, in ascending and descending. There are no other directions of thought. It is true that a rich person cannot be a saint; but a poor person cannot be a saint, either if they are discontented. By the word rich I mean a person dissatisfied with him/herself; and by the word poor - a person satisfied with him/herself. When a person gets rich, they become dissatisfied with their state; buys one house, then a second one, a third one, buys some furniture and tries to enlarge this circle. Discontentment shows a rich person; contentment shows a poor person. By saying content I do not mean that you should become indifferent like some fakirs in India who hypnotize themselves and fall asleep. There was one who, in the course of twenty years, concentrated his thoughts and lay so immobile that the birds took him for a tree and started building their nests on his head. I do not approve of such a state of contentment that birds should begin to inhabit your head. God has created trees for that purpose. In order to be content you must begin to work for God and serve Him. To be content means: if you earn three leva today, be happy and thank God. If on the next day you earn three, or four, or five leva, thank God again. Do not say, "How little have I earned!" "Enough for the day is the evil thereof." If you earn a copper penny, thank God for that; if you earn ten coppers, again give thanks to God. This is sufficient for you. The one makes a person happy. If two people love you, they cannot make you happy, you will be unhappy. Love can exist between two people; it does not exist among three persons. In order to give rise to a third element, the two must deposit an equal share and to them their child will be born. The father says, "They love me more." The mother says, "No, they love me more." Sometimes the father scowls at the child's love for the mother and vice versa. Why? Because this principle is not balanced in both parents. Your virtues, your forces will always correspond to your Inner State - neither more nor less. This is the whole truth. When people talk about me, I say, "I deserve it; that is my lot." I do not get angry at the person who speaks badly of me, they are working on me. They will do me good and I must thank them. That is why Christ says, "Love your enemies." You cannot overcome the enemy - the first principle - but by Love. Evil cannot be overcome by evil. To withdraw into yourself and look humble is not the means; you should love them with all your Soul. You will say, "This person has the right to hate me." Do not think that when a wolf catches a sheep, God says to him, "You did not do well." On the contrary, God says to him, "You are doing very well." When the sheep complains to God, He says to it, "It is good you are weeping, you are obliged to weep, but he is obliged to eat you up." The sheep goes out to the meadow and eats the grass. God says to it, "This is your work, you eat the grass, but one day a wolf will eat you up." This is the present evolution of life, but this is not life in the true deep sense of the word. To break stones for thousands of years to pave streets, or to carry water - this is no life. You may be a pack animal, such as a donkey, and carry ten tons of gold from one place to another during your life, but what of that? This is no life. You may have read much, gone to church to hear a sermon, but what of that, what do you know? You have carried 10,000 tons of gold on your back, but what is your knowledge? You may know how different elements combine, but what of that? If I know how may particles comprise the material world, of what use will that knowledge be to me? If I have much riches, but cannot use this wealth, of what use is it to me? If you have a wife who loves you, but your heart is hardened and when your children kiss you, you do not feel anything, of what benefit are your wife and children? The Philosophy in Love is to give and receive at the same time so that the exchange should be right. You say, "He does not love me," that is the first principle. You doubt - that is the first principle. There is no God - that is the first principle. When philosophers say that everything in the world moves, that is true, because the first principle is in eternal motion. Life manifests itself in the second principle, in the right construction of things. The second principle is active in you. Everyone must unite these two principles with Christ. Only in this way will you be useful everywhere - to society, the nation, to women and children and so on. This is what Christ told the Jews 2,000 years ago, but they accepted the first and rejected the second principle. That is why a great misfortune befell them. Today people test the first principle on their backs by this war; and it will go on until people get exhausted. When it finishes its work, Love will be manifested, i.e. God. People say, "He who hates much, loves much." This is half-true. God commits His energy to the second principle, and when it comes, His rational spirit begins to build. You cannot love and hate at the same time. Do not be deceived, this is a false philosophy, a false teaching. When the Divine Principle enters us only then can we love and say, "God is Love." Only then shall we understand the real meaning of the material world since Love is necessary for the development of our life. Just as the houses are necessary to people and as nests are to birds, this principle is vital to the world. Some ask, "Why did God make the world this way?" It is not your business - it could not be made in any other way. Others ask, "Why did not God create that?" Because He could not be untrue to His Nature. "Why did He not manifest Himself?" Because He could not be untrue to His Nature. "Why did He not make the world better and put us in the right way?" He has done that, but you do not understand Him since you think only of your own way, which is as different from His as the earth is from the sky. Two persons quarrel and say, "Why don't You come down, Lord, to reconcile us?" God is not in division. Someday when you grind one another to sand, God will look down from above (with His Eye) and see if anything can be made out of this sand. With a smile, God watches people today - those earthly philosophers and warring nations - and leaves these children to fight, hit one another and weep. Sometimes we want to sting God like a mosquito and bite Him so He would feel it. He, of course, is calm and does not care about all this. He only slightly flips us with his finger and we are carried off to the cemetery. Everyone who bites God goes to the cemetery - God sends them there. Regardless of who they may be - kings, princes, colonels, judges, priests, preachers and philosophers, God knocks them just the same. The same thing applies to you, if you philosophize much, you will fly off. You are like the mosquitoes, too, trying to sting someone. However, when you start on your way to God, you should not take your sting along - the sting of the mosquito - but rather stop, raise your eyes up and sigh. Do not think God is sleeping and does not see anything. God has been looking at you ever since you started from the earth. If you have started toward Him with Love, He will look at you, take pity and say, "You have understood the meaning of life - come to Me." Those who like to sting are pushed away by God until they learn their lesson. I am giving you these thoughts to make you think and start building your life; yet not as you have been building it until now. First of all give up biting. When a man complains that his wife bites, what will God do? He will knock her, she will die and he will be free from her. When a woman complains of her husband, what will God do? He will knock him and the man will die. A son using his sting will have the same fate. This is the way God acts. Some think that God acts like people act and does whatever comes to His mind. This is not true. He makes absolutely no mistakes: in this respect He is All Wise. His deep desire is to see us reconciled, living like brothers, using no violence, never stealing and so on. "What is the use of reconciliation? What have we eaten and drunk up in this world?" you ask. You meet someone who does not greet you and you get offended. Do they owe you anything? Both of you are small beetles moving on the earth. Another person says, "But you must be a gentleman, do not push me!" The force pushing you is a different one. If you take 100,000 small grains of sand and shake them in a bottle, they will ask one another, "Why are we pushing each other, why are we quarreling?" If you enter this first principle which shakes you up, you will ask, "Why are you tormenting us, Lord?" When the bottle breaks, you are spilled around - God liberates you. Thus, God has started to knock people today. He knocks them with the middle finger. The middle finger is the Law of Saturn - of Fate. In the Law of Divine Righteousness everyone must reap what they have sown. I want you to get rid of your old habits and the eyes of your mind must be open when God starts to knock. If your stinger is out, God will knock you. If He knocks you in the evening, you will not meet the day. When He pats you, you will rise from the dead. I wish for God to pat all people, i.e. all people might be touched by the second principle. This is the Christian philosophy which can explain all existing contradictions among people. The misunderstandings arise from the fact that we do not understand each other's language. You want me to give you facts. What facts can I give you? If I give you money, do not think I love you; I may be planning to steal your house. A man visits a poor man to help him. But the poor man's wife is beautiful. Do you know what hidden motives this benefactor has? How do you know he is sincere and would not carry the wife off? What are your arguments about this? There is only one argument: if from birth to death he does not do any harm to anyone, he is a sincere man, there is no deceit in him. There is no greater argument in a person's life than this one. This is how everyone should live. If I only philosophize and do not live as I should, this is deceit in my life. If I live in accord with this Great Law of Life, there is no deceit. You all know this. I notice some who look serious when they are outside, but when they come in, they put on a smile. This is an artificial act. Do you know how the Turkish men speak of a woman who smiles? They say, "She smiles in my face," thinking that she is already with them. Smiling is a bad sign for them, but we consider it a good sign. Yes, but if you get caught by the foot, you will be swallowed up like a frog. I am not alluding to your personal life, but simply state a fact which is taking place in me as well as in all of you. I feel cold and heat, light and darkness, but these things originate outside of us. They are not us, but things separate from us. Light and darkness do not represent our life, but when they are joined in a principle, life is manifested, i.e. the third principle. And this principle can manifest itself only on the equator of life. To sum it up, we cannot serve God and the mammon at the same time. If we serve God, we shall be happy, if we serve mammon, we shall be unhappy; if we serve God we shall be healthy, if we serve mammon, we shall be ill and poor; if we serve God, our stomach will be unimpaired, if we serve mammon it will be sick; if we serve God, we shall be respected in society, if we serve mammon, people will despise us; if a nation serves God, it will be noble, but if it serves mammon, it will become perverse and degenerate; if we serve God, our mind will develop normally, if we serve mammon, our mind will be perplexed and darkened. These are the two principles. When you get up in the morning with a disturbed mind, you should go to God. Turn your mind to Him and if He lays his Hand on you, He will create balance and change your disposition. That is why Christ says, "Come unto Me all you that suffer and are heavy laden, and I shall give you rest." In order to avoid the bad consequences of the first principle, which brings misfortune, walk daily with Christ. The first principle by its nature does not want to bear misfortunes, so it places them on the back of others. Today you learned how to protect yourself from the middle finger of God. When the priests pronounce Benediction, they join the thumb with the fourth finger and raise the other two fingers up; however, they have long ago lost the key. They have forgotten the meaning of the Science of God. In another sermon I shall speak to you about this. It is a whole philosophy which had existed 10,000 years before Christianity. But you will say, "The world was not created such a long time ago, what world was there before Adam?" Before Adam’s fall there was another Adam, another great culture. After Adam fell, people disintegrated and now we say, "We are the first Adam." Your first Adam is a wild vine - divine only at its tail-end and still evolving. Not having anything else, God took some soil and made Adam out of it, leaving him to live in a small paradise as a gardener. We say that our first father was naked. He was naked because a man who allows a woman to lead him by the nose is a silly man. A woman who leaves herself to be led by a snake is silly, too. The Adam you know is not the Son of God. Christ was before Adam and before Abraham. He is the one called the Son of the Living God. When Christ came He said, "I am the One who was before Adam and Abraham." He had lived in that great epoch, great culture when the angels had been singing in the Divine Dawn of Life, in the Golden Age of human life. When sin came into the world, then came the great father - the devil - who now lives within you. That is why you are children of the devil. If you do not realize that you are in sin, you will die, you will always serve mammon and you will never be happy. When I say "the second Adam," I mean Christ. He is second in relation to the Law of Love, but is the Primary of Origin in the manifestation of God. Now I believe that when you return home, you will begin to search for the third principle in yourselves. Those of you who have not studied mathematics much should start with the study of equations; and then as a result of an equation, you will find the third principle. You will place your mind in the first part of the equation, your heart in the second, your body will enter the third part and in these relations you will find what your life will be. Put it in your mind to become united with Christ. Life is in Unity and Harmony. Let every bitter word vanish from you! Let every discontentment and desire to sting your neighbor be done with. This is what serving God means. What serving it would be if I would expose your sins in a sermon and peck at you. This is a false teaching. Pecking is an easy thing, but if I hit you with a hammer, one day you will raise the same hammer over my head. "With whatever measure you mete, it will be meted unto you." Therefore, whatever you hear, do not think I am pecking you because I can keep silent too. I am revealing a Great Truth to you which, after many long years, you will learn yourselves. This is what I have learned during the long years I have spent in matter here on earth. You complain, "My husband is bad," but I shall say that the first principle works in him. The man says his wife is bad - the first principle works in her. The daughter is dissatisfied - the first principle works in her. "The Bulgarian nation is fighting," the first principle is in it. You must think about why people are fighting and why the world is bad. You must think of all this so that someday you will understand. "Let us be Good - that is the second principle. When everything is calmed down, when Peace sets in, then the third principle will come. Therefore, put in your mind the idea of serving God - therein is your salvation. May the blessing of the Love of the Living Lord be with you all. Sermon held on January 21, 1917 _________________________________________________ 1 Luke 16:13 2 The Bulgarian monetary unit. (ed. note)

Martha and Mary But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” 41 And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 “But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:40 –42) A lot has been said about Martha and Mary. They represent two principles of the human soul – the passive and the active one. In Martha and Mary we have two women, two opposite characters, two conditions of the human heart: one is calm, quiet, speechless, a mind focused on an eternal principle and grounded on an eternal basis, and the other, like the sea waves or the twigs – constantly swaying and surging. Jesus, however, points out to Martha what is important by saying, “You are worried about many things” – things that are insignificant, beyond reality. Mary, on the other hand, opts for something more significant. Most of you fall into these two categories – some are like Martha, others are like Mary. The “Maries” are generally noble women. They are nice, well built, beautiful in the face, their eyes are gentle, the forehead is symmetrical, the nose is straight; they are kind-hearted, tender, sympathetic and considerate. “Mary” in Hebrew means salty water. A Mary gives salt to the world; thanks to her it does not go bad, rotten or sour. When you bear Mary’s principle at heart, you do not get spoiled. “Martha” derives from “mara”, which means bitter, sour, wild; so this principle in you is always unruly, angry and displeased. All this is not because it is ill willed, but because it is too active; wherever it goes it demands the way open. If she is a Martha, you will see her early in the morning when she gets up raise hue and cry in the house, all the servants on the alert, and when she raises the broom everybody runs away. She says, “I want the place neat and tidy.” You can find her at school, at court – everywhere. She is necessary. Yet you should not give her more credit than the other. Both principles are equally important. Two other principles are related to these ones. I define them as the principle of the inferior and the principle of the superior. The principle represented by Mary stands for the superior, which shows us how we should serve God, live in harmony with the High Creatures, the angels, and the saints that know more than we do. They know how to obey – we have to sit quietly and calmly at the feet of the Master to learn from him. You will ask, “Who are the masters?” - He is one. I know only one Master. He may have 250,000 hairs on His head, but this does not mean that they are masters. A tree may have many branches and twigs, but they are not trees. Yet it is one common life that runs through the tree and its branches. The unity in your mind should stand in the same way. So when the Master comes you should listen to the spirit within you, no matter whether you are men or women. You should listen to the voice of this soft tenderness and Love. Love is not sour. What do you like in life? Let us imagine that the world is full of Marthas – all of them holding brooms, raising dust and shouting – what kind of music can this be? I believe that the houses would be neat and tidy, we would be wearing pretty clothes, everything would be in perfect order, but there would not be any life. On the other hand, if all were Maries, then everything would be salty, but what would have to become salty if there were no Marthas? Mary refers to something else, to a different principle, a different basis. The superior principle, Mary, shows us the way in which we have to serve God individually. This service will make our lives meaningful. As long as we understand the inner sense of our souls, we will be able to understand those round us. Once we have learned the first, superior principle – to submit to God – we will be able to learn the other principle - to obey all the inferior elements, the inferior principle. So when modern science claims that it wants to subdue Nature, I see is as a desire to subdue Martha, who is so unruly. We need to learn to be good masters. One who has not learned to submit to God and serve Him cannot be a good master. Any of us who wants to be a master has to learn how to be a servant to God and obey Him. One has to learn the law and sit just like Mary at Jesus’ feet. And Jesus said, “Mary has chosen that good part which will not be taken away from her.” Let me give an example to illustrate the idea. It can be a legend. Paganini, the great violin player, while touring round Europe, met a sixty-year-old fiddler. The poor man was playing in the street, his hands trembling, his eyes bleared, and an empty pot for coins at his feet. When Paganini took his fiddle and started playing, dozens of on-lookers gathered to listen to him. He played for more than twenty minutes and everybody started throwing coins in the pot. He played until the pot was filled with silver. This is how Paganini helped the poor man. The poor man was sitting at Paganini’s feet, just as Mary sat at Jesus’ feet. He did not say, “Let me see what will come out of this.” He just listened to the master’s music. “Yes, I can see now my great teacher, the master of life.” The pot is a vessel containing all the good thoughts. When the great master comes to play for you, your vessel will be filled with noble thoughts and desires. Then you will not be feeble and weak, but young, agile, and good. I would like you to do the same thing. You should devote your lives to this because when Christ praises Mary, he means, “I do not want you to give me all your time. I need only the time you know how to use, no matter how little it is. You are free to do whatever you want in the time you are busy doing your duties.“ The great teaching does not at all imply that we should leave aside all our other duties. However, the hour devoted to Mary should be sacrificed. Paganini does not always stop to give a hand. This is actually quite rare. He leaves his violin and goes away. In the same away, Christ will stop by you when you are bored or upset, when you feel useless or have lost the point in life. Then he will stop, take your violin and play for you. It is true happiness to see a great master play or draw. This is what we need to learn – standing in awe in front of God and obeying Him. Through submission we will be able to adopt all great virtues. What gives rise to conflicts among people? People are sulky, not mild and gentle. If all people were mild and gentle, life would be happy both inwardly and outwardly. If people lived in mutual respect, making concessions, there would be great harmony in life. I do not find lucky people who are constantly quarrelling, as they actually grumble against God. All I hear is the grumbles of scholars, priests, doctors, professors, and preachers. Priests and doctors are not pleased with their fees as they find them insufficient. When they say that God gave them less than the others, this is already grumbling. The shepherd will say that his pen is too small. The scholar is also displeased with his inadequate skills and abilities. Who is to blame? Always God! This does not apply only to you who are attending this lecture – everybody else grumbles. The law of the superior is that there should always be gratitude and love pouring toward God. Some ask, “Where is God? How can we find Him?” Even small children are able to find God. Philosophers have been trying to prove where God is for 2,000 years – whether He is in the skies, among the stars, on earth, or in the human heart. They are still searching for Him, but nobody has found Him yet. Preachers claim that He is in the human heart; astronomers believe He is in the universe. Some say that he exists, others that He does not. I shall present to you a figure to illustrate the grounds philosophers find. Imagine that God, just like the Sun, rises in the east and sets in the west each 24 hours. Imagine also that when God rises, you fall asleep and you are asleep until He sets, and that when He sets, you wake up and keep looking for Him throughout the night. As you cannot find Him, you fall asleep again at dawn, and when He sets, you continue looking for him during the night. You have been looking for Him for a day or two, for a month or two, for years, but in vain. My advice is to change things – sleep at night, wake up in the morning at sunrise and you will see God, you will find Him. I can see Him every day. I sleep during the night and at the crack of dawn I get up to meet Him. This is the philosophy of life. God rises like a sun. What is it that modern people do? They go to concerts, parties and to the theatre, and when God rises, they are asleep. They are aristocrats of the noble morning! All people who sleep in the morning and during the day belong to the culture of the owls. That is the reason why they suffer. This night culture should be replaced with day culture. When dawn cracks, you will get up and wait for at least half an hour for God to show His face to you so that you can draw energy, strength and health on Him. Then you will feel fit and agile to fight during the whole day. Some philosophers say that God is an aristocrat, He does not accept everybody and we should dress up for Him. I will give you a counter-argument: when the sun rises all animals, no matter good or bad, beautiful or ugly, appear in the attire they have. God shines above everybody – snakes and lizards, mosquitoes and harmful bugs. He never says, “You should hide in your den.” So you can appear in front of God as you are and bask. This is the point in life. We do not suffer because there are too many snakes on earth – their number is definite, they are in their place, but if their number doubles, this surplus will be by all means eliminated. The same refers to wolves. So, if you do not harness any thought and desire you have, if you have not learned how to serve God, thoughts and desires will rule over you. Then, by the same law, just like you defy God, your thoughts and desires will act against you. If you apply this theory in practice, you will experience its effect. Some say, “Let us cultivate the world and the people,” I do not believe in cultivation, because all people are separate cells of the Divine organism, of the Divine body. Every one of them should cultivate itself. I cannot order you, as this would be a sacrilegious act – to lie to God. I do not want to give orders. Why? Because people belong to God and I do not have the right to dispose with what does not belong to me. I have the right to be only the master of my own thoughts and desires. I can order only them and be the servant to everything that is beyond me. You should do the same. Then we shall descend to the inferior elements – to the unreasonable. What does the Bible say in Chapter 1? God created heaven and then the earth. Heaven is Mary, and the earth is Martha to me. The earth was still unorgnised, thus sour. Scholars say that when Martha appeared, there were storms, hurricanes, fire and steam surrounding her, so God told her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried too much. Progress is not there. Mary has chosen that good part – look up.” Then the earth, Martha, looked up and started rotating round its axis and the sun. This is how life formed round it - many creatures and finally man came into being. When God completed His work, He said, "Everything round Martha is well. And then came the second day, followed by others till the seventh day. Some of you are Marthas. They make noise, fire pouring out of their hearts and minds. There are no lakes, nor rivers and the great Master said, “Martha, Martha, you are worried too much. There is only one thing that is necessary. Look up and you will find it there. This is what will give you some sense.” When you raise your eyes, too, your spirit will start moving in the right direction round its centre, and then you will find the point in life. Having a meaningful life means to have a centre round which you can move. This centre will send for you everything that is necessary every day. So, God created both Martha and Mary in us – they are the two poles of the human soul. I might explain to you some day the inherent significance of the two principles, acting in this world. However, when too much is said, the accumulated knowledge cannot be applied and forms accretions embarrassing to people to the extent that they are at a loss. Once a student at the Evangelist School, attending a lesson in Bulgarian grammar, which he failed to comprehend, approached his teacher and asked him, “There are so many grammar books - Grigirov’s, Iconomov’s, etc. - that I don’t know which one to use. Which one would you recommend?” The boy kept asking his teacher, until finally he told him, “Look here, I do not care what Grigorov’s or Iconomov’s grammar teach. You have to follow my explanations," So, when God comes to you, you tell Him, “ There are many philosophers – Kant, Schopenhauer, Tolstoy – their philosophies clash. Whose philosophy are we to follow?” God will tell you, “You will do as I tell you.” So, when you want to follow the Divine truth, you will have to focus on your own soul; then you will see life differently. You will build up different abilities and you will be able to see that you are surrounded by other creatures, far greater and more creative and then you will say, ‘How blind we were!” Now I am asking those of you who are thinking: if you were in the position of an ant and a philosopher stepped on you, what would you think of his feet? You would say, “A huge rock fell upon me and crashed me.” Yet this huge rock is just a small part of the giant. Sometimes you say, “Destiny is chasing me.” This, however, is nothing but the foot of a great philosopher, who has stepped on you. You should never stand in the way of philosophers, as they will never stop because of you. They are following their way and if you step in their path, their feet will crash you. When you come to complain to me, I will tell you to stay out of this philosophers’ path, because you are just ants. You should seek other paths. This is the philosophy of life. When I see someone unhappy, I look up and see a giant who has crashed the poor fellow. So, God created the world as well as all other worlds. There are 18,000,000 suns in The Milky Way, each of them having its own orbit and staying at 25-milliard km away from the other so that they cannot collide. It is God who determined these orbits. Likewise, He traced a certain path and gave you a definite space, bidding you never to cross the lines of your kingdom. You want to negotiate with other kingdoms; the men and women from two kingdoms started negotiating their merge into one kingdom but soon they fell out. Why did they have a row? Let everyone reign in his or her own kingdom. Someone will say, “Let’s keep our money in one place to have it safe.” Everyone should keep their own money in their own purse. Do not trust your money anyone. Whoever you trust here on earth, he will steal it. That is why Jesus told us to bring our wealth up in heaven. Up, Up! This is the true point in life. So, it is not our fault that we want to change the life God destined for us. I know people who hate someone so much that they are haunted by him. Let him go, and hold onto God. It is God who gives you light, so you should let Him in you sacred soul. People nowadays are very religious: they have their gods of labour, of glory, of strength and they burn incense to worship them. Throw away all those idols or take a hammer and smash them. Then sit at your Master’s feet to find out about the inner, deep meaning of your life. This is what Christ wants to tell us – that the good, which Mary bears, cannot be taken away from her. You are worried about many things, saying, “I have this, I have that.” You are the master of these things, so you should throw them away. I have noticed some masters sit in a chair, just like me now, giving orders. The master needs something that he himself is perfectly able to take, but instead he rings the bell. Nobody turns up. He keeps calling and finally he starts yelling at his servants. Well, why don’t you stand up to take what you need? You can do it yourself. Your shoes are only five feet away from you, yet you ring the bell for your maid to come and give them to you. Do not throw tantrums. Pick up what you need yourself, because your calm and peace are worth more than being served. Do it by yourself and scold your maid for not coming on time. This is what God requires of us, because the maid does not serve you; she serves someone else. Sometimes I tell you that I am a servant, but not your servant – I am a servant to God. In London, a Baptist preacher, Spurgeon, to make himself look more important wrote on his visit card: “A Christian Brother is waiting outside for you.” On the other side he wrote, “Tell him that I am busy now.” If someone comes to see you, you can tell him that you are busy with his Master. The maid you called to bring you your shoes did not turn up because she was busy talking to her Master, and if you disturb her, her master will scold you. This is the greatest philosophy, which people nowadays have to learn. We all have to be God’s servants. When we learn this great law, we will establish normal relationships. I observe people – if you are well disposed, you like people, but if you do not feel disposed, if you have got up in the wrong side, then you are cross with everyone. This state of mind can go on for a week or a month; we call it a new philosophy – pessimism, and the people - pessimists. If you want to justify someone who has a certain fault, you say. “He is a pessimist.” You are all philosophers. The Bulgarians are better philosophers than Schopenhauer - they all share this pessimism. A Bulgarian can be easily discouraged and disappointed and then Schopenhauer’s philosophy comes – Martha comes. What I want to tell you is only this: you are obliged to submit to God. If you have not served him, no wonder all this misfortune has befallen you. There is no other destiny for you and the day you obey God and your fate, everybody else will succumb to you. This is the teaching about Martha and Mary. Mary is heaven and Martha is the earth. Mary is everything noble in the heart, while Martha is everything mean in it. Mary is the noble mind, which theosophists refer to as manas, while Martha is the inferior manas. When you go home (and I can see your magnificent homes), you should say, “Come Mary, come Martha, you are two good sisters.” Christ is the superior Spirit, the high Principle. If Mary had spoken to Martha, she should have told her, “Let me listen first for a while and then I will help you.” Jesus was speaking then, that is why Mary was not working. When you go back now, you will start shouting angrily, ‘Martha, do you know what the Master said? You have to obey!” Mary has to be kind and gentle and speak to her like a sister, “Wait, sister, I will help you later.” This is how Mary should speak. And when her sisters answers her back, she should say, “How smoothly you are talking!” because there is a kind of harmony between the noble and the ignoble; there is a kinship between Love and hatred. I know these two sisters quite well. But whoever stands between them, he will be smothered by their love. They will smother him, and when he dies, they will say, “What have we done?” Then Love will say, “Let’s bring him back to life again!” Hatred will say, “I’ll bury him.’ - “Well”, Love will say. So they bury him, but Love comes later, shines on him and here he pops out resurrected. Hatred and Love are at work all the time. You do not think highly of hatred and envy – they are snakes and lizards. However, they can be nice sometimes. Can you imagine the world without snakes and lizards? Show me such a world. Is yours better? No, the world is great the way it is constructed. It is great in its design and expression. What you are constantly complaining about is the disharmony within you – it is Martha, the earth still not arranged, the tumult raging within you and disrupting the harmony. The Holy Spirit has to descend and have the say. So, the Spirit has already descended and is now giving orders. He is working. Have staunch belief in his great principle, living in Mary; have faith in the principle, living in Martha, too. Have faith in Christ, because it is Christ, sitting on top of them, who unites them. You should bring together these three elements: your spirit, your Mary, and your Martha and start the new year with it. I am not going to finish now. I will leave a great gap for you to solve the puzzle. I can foresee your future. I can see some of you rise, others fall. I can see some walking along the right path, while others go astray. In the end, you will all be well despite hesitation and faltering. When you board an ocean liner some of you get seasick others do not. It is curious to observe aristocrats on board of a ship. On the first day they are all dressed up, cheerful and happy, but when the ship starts rocking in the waves, they become dismal and meditative as if they listened to some serious sermon. On the second day they experience indigestion, start eating lemons, lie in the cabins, feeling sick. But when they get off the ship, if asked, “How was the passage?” – “Oh, great!” they will say. Oh, you will lose count of the times when you will feel sick while crossing the vast ocean between heaven and earth! You will say, “It will be a tough job!” But when you get on firm land, you will have a voracious appetite, because you will be purified. The Martha in the ocean raises hue and cry, but as soon as you land and Mary arrives, you will say, “Thank God, it was a safe voyage.” Do not ever be afraid! Stay with your Master so that you will be able to solve the issue in life. You have very serious tasks in life: bringing up children, relationships between men and women, relationships in society, relationships with humanity, etc. You have numerous duties and obligations. How will you accomplish them? Some think that when they become Christians, they will not have any responsibilities. Just the opposite, a Christian has more obligations and is more strongly obliged to fulfil them, so that when the day is over, one should feel content about having accomplished what he was supposed to do. While, if he has not coped with his tasks, he should assign them for his next day’s schedule. One day you will be Martha, another day you will be Mary, and when you are at the feet of your Master, then let both Martha and Mary sit quietly, let peace reign for at least an hour. This is the teaching and the thought that Christ conveys. Learn how to serve the Superior, so that you can master the inferior. 13. A lecture delivered on 14th January, 1917. Source

The Book - The Spirit and The Flesh. Beinsa Douno Translation from Bulgarian - Vessela Nestorova MARTHA AND MARY But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she help me. 41. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha thou art careful and troubled about many things: 42. But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.30 Much has been spoken about Martha and Mary. They represent two principles in the human soul— the active and the passive. In the person of Martha and Mary are presented two women, two opposite characters, two states of the human heart: the one state is calm and silent with a mind directed to an eternal principle, resting on an eternal foundation; the other state is like that of the waves in the sea, like the small branches in a tree—constant bubbling, constant swaying. Christ, however, points out to Martha what is essential by saying to her, "You are cumbered about many things which are not essential, which are outside of reality, but Mary chose something more essential." Many of you belong to these two characters—some are Martha and some—Mary. The Maries are generally noble women. They are good, of an excellent stature, beautiful face, soft look in the eyes, symmetrical forehead, regular nose; in the heart they are soft, delicate, responsive to others' sufferings and ready to help. In Jewish, Mary means salty water. Mary always salts the world and, thanks to her, it does not get spoiled, does not sour up or decay. When you have the principle of Mary in yourself, your heart is not decomposed. Martha comes from Mara, meaning bitter, sour, and turbulent. Therefore, the bitter principle in you is constantly embittered, angered, discontented. It does not do this out of an evil intention, or bad will, but because it is a very active principle which in its motion wants its path to be clear, open. When Martha gets up in the morning, all the servants are up and about, there is much bustling and noisy chatter. However, as soon as she takes the broom, everybody runs as far away from her as they can. She says, "Everything here must be in order." You will meet Martha in churches, in schools, in courts—everywhere. She is just as necessary as Mary is, but you should not give predominance to the one or the other—to the one or the other principle. I shall connect these two principles with two others which I shall formulate as: Principle of the Superior and Principle of the Inferior. The principle in the person of Mary expresses the superior showing us how to serve God and how to be in harmony with the higher beings—the saints and the angels— who know more than us: they know how to humble themselves and submit. We shall sit quietly and calmly at the feet of the Master to receive enlightenment. You will ask, "How many are the Masters?" There is One Master that I know of—the Master is One. He may have 250,000 hairs on His head, but it does not mean that they are 250,000 Masters. A tree may have many branches, but they are not trees. However, one and the same life flows in the tree and in its branches. This is the way you should conceive of unity. And when the Master comes, that is the Spirit, Who is in you, regardless of whether you are a man or a woman, you must listen deeply in yourself to the soft and tender voices of love. Love is not sour, it is a soft, tender power. What do you like in life? Imagine everything in the world in the likeness of Martha—all taking brooms, raising dust and noise. What music would that be? I believe that houses would be in perfect order, there would be fine furniture, fine clothes, we would have wonderful farms, but there would be no life. And conversely, if everything was in the likeness of Mary, all would be salt. But if there were no Marthas what would be salted? Mary has a relation to something else, to another principle, a different foundation. The Superior Principle, Mary, shows the way we should serve God individually. In this service we shall find the sense of our life. To the extent to which we understand the inner sense of our soul, to that extent shall we understand the other beings who live around us. As soon as we have learned the first—the Superior Principle—to submit to God, we shall learn the second principle—to submit all inferior elements, to conquer the Inferior Principle in people. And when contemporary science speaks of conquering Nature, I understand that it wants to conquer Martha who makes much noise. We must learn to be good Masters. Those who have not learned to submit to God and serve Him, cannot be masters. Those who want to be masters must first learn to be servants— to be servants of God and to be submitted to Him. They must learn the higher Law—to sit like Mary at the feet of Christ. Christ says, "That good part Mary chose shall not be taken away from her." I shall give you as an example of this idea a legend. It speaks about the great violinist Paganini. One day during his concert tour in Europe, Paganini came upon an old, around 60 years of age, violinist with shaking hands, blurred eyesight and a small dish beside him, his violin on the ground, since he could play no more. Paganini stopped before the old violinist, picked up his violin and started playing. In a short time a big crowd gathered around him, each one putting a gold or silver coin in the beggar's dish. He played until the dish was full. This is how Paganini paid his tribute to the poor old man. This old man sat at the feet of Paganini as Mary set at the feet of Christ, but he did not say, "Let us see what will come out of all this." He listened to his master's playing. "Yes," he said, "I see now my great Master—the Master of life." The dish is the vessel into which great and good thoughts are poured. When this great Master starts playing in you, your vessel will be filled with noble thoughts and desires and you will be weak and crippled no more, but become young, vigorous, good and strong. I would wish that in a given case you would do the same. This does not mean that you should devote all your life to serving, for when Christ commended Mary, He only wanted to say, "I do not want you to give me all your time in service, but only your spare time, no matter how little it may be. The rest of the time you are free to do your duties in life." The great teaching does not want in the least our neglecting the duties in life. Only that hour, set aside for Mary, must be given her. Paganini does not always stop, this is a rare moment. He takes the violin, plays for a while and passes on. In the same way, Christ will stop some day before you when you are burdened, tired of life, thinking your life has no sense, that you are of no use to anyone, that the art you are studying is of no value. Then He will stop before you and start playing on your violin. Therein is happiness—to hear how a great Master plays or paints, or to see a great artist. This is the teaching we should study, the teaching of revering God and submitting ourselves to Him; only by this submission we shall learn great Virtues. What does present day friction, or conflict, among people spring from? From the fact that people are sour, not soft and tender. If all people were soft and tender, life would be happy both outwardly and inwardly. If people would have mutual respect for one another and were pliant, there would be great harmony in life. I do not commend people who quarrel daily, they murmur every day against God. We hear murmuring everywhere—scientists, doctors, professors, priests, and preachers—all are murmuring. If someone is a shepherd, he will say that his sheepfold is small, he would want a bigger one—this is murmuring too. The learned person murmurs that few abilities have been given to them. Who is to blame? Always God is blamed. I am not speaking about you, who are here, but about those who are in the world—everybody is murmuring. The Law of the superior life requires of you that gratefulness and love of God should always spring from your heart. Some people ask, "Where is God? How can we find Him?" Even little children can find God. Already 2,000 years have passed since the philosophers have begun to prove by argumentation where God is—in the sky, on the stars, on the Earth or in the human heart. They are still looking for Him, but no one has found Him. The preachers say He is in the human heart; the astronomers say he is in the Universe as the Law of gravitation. Some say He exists, others deny His existence. I shall use a figure to show you on what these philosophers base themselves. Imagine that God, like the Sun, rises and sets every 24 hours from east to west. Moreover, imagine that when God rises, you fall asleep and sleep until He has set and after He has set, you wake up and look for Him all night. When you do not find Him, you fall asleep again when dawn breaks and after He has set again, you look for Him all night. A day, two days, a month, a year, ten or more years pass and you are seeking Him all the time and do not find Him anywhere. I say: only change the relation of things and you will find God—sleep at night and be awake in the morning when the Sun rises. I see Him every day: I sleep at night, but in the morning, when dawn breaks, I get up and meet Him. This is the philosophy of life. God rises as the Sun. What do people do at night at present? They go to concerts, balls, to theaters and when God rises, they are sleeping. They are aristocrats, of noble birth. All people who sleep in the morning and in the daytime are of the culture of the owls. That is why they suffer. But this night culture must be substituted by the culture of the day. As soon as day breaks, you will get up and stand waiting at least haft an hour, then God will appear before your face and you will draw from Him strength, energy and health and the whole day you will be bright and cheerful, working with vigor. Some philosophers say, "God is an aristocrat, He does not accept everybody, so we must appear dressed up before Him." Now, I shall use another figure as an objection. When the Sun rises, all animals—good and bad, beautiful and ugly— come our in their clothing such as it is. God shines upon everyone—the snakes and the lizards, the mosquitoes and the loathsome creatures who do so much harm. He does not say to them, "You must hide in your hole!" In the same way you can appear before God and bask in His Light and heat. This is the sense of life. We do not suffer from the fact that there are many snakes on the Earth; their number is determined, they are in their place, but when they become twice as many as they are, the extra number must be destroyed by all means. When the number of the wolves is within the determined bounds, they are in their place, but when they multiply too much, again the extra number must be destroyed. Thus, if you do not put to work every thought and every desire you have, i.e., if you have not learned to serve God, this thought and this desire will command you. And then by the same Law, as you oppose God, your desires and thoughts will oppose you. If you can apply in your life what I am telling you, you will see how efficient it is and what results you will have. Some say, "Let us educate the world, discipline the people!" In this sense, I do not believe in disciplining, because all people are individual cells of the Divine organism, of the Divine body and each one must discipline itself individually. I cannot command anyone. To command a person is sacrilege, lying to God. I do not want to command. Why? Because all people are God's and I have no right to command and misuse another's possessions, I have the right to be master only of my thoughts and desires—I can command them. However, I must be a servant to everything outside of me. You must do the same. Now we shall come down to the inferior elements—the irrational. What is said in the first chapter of Genesis? "God created heaven, the first day and then—the Earth." Heaven implies Mary, and earth—Martha. The Earth was not organized, or was sour. The people of learning say that when Martha appeared, there was storm, a hurricane, fire, steam rising and then God said, "Martha, Martha, you are making big noise, but progress does not lie in that. Mary chose the good part. Look up!" The Earth, Martha, looked up and started turning round itself and round the Sun. That way life appeared on it, many creatures were created and finally—humans. When God finished His work, He said, "Everything about Martha is good." And that was the first day, then came the second, to the seventh day. Now some of you are Martha—making a noise and flames coming out of their hearts and minds. Martha has no lakes or rivers, but the great Master says, "Martha, Martha, be not worried! Only one thing is necessary—heaven, the rational, the great thing in the world. Look up to heaven, it will give sense to your life." When you look up your spirit will immediately start moving regularly round its center and you will find the sense of your life. To find sense in life means to have a center around which to move and which center will daily supply what is necessary for your needs. Thus, God has created in us simultaneously both Martha and Mary—the two poles of the human soul. I could explain the inner meaning of these two principles active in the world, but when much knowledge is accumulated and is not applied, certain sediments are formed and people become confused, not knowing what to do. A student from an Evangelical school, who wanted to excuse himself for not knowing his lesson in Bulgarian grammar, said to his teacher, "There are many grammar textbooks in Bulgarian by Ikonomov, Grigorov and others, which one should I study from?" He excused himself this way once, twice, but finally the teacher said to him, "Listen, friend, I do not want to know what the grammar books of Ikonomov and Grigorov say, I want you to study my grammar!" When God comes to you, you say, "There are philosophers like Kant, Schopenhauer, Tolstoy who say so and so, but there is contradiction among them, who shall we follow?" God will say, "You will follow what I tell you." When you want to follow the Divine Truth, you must go deep into your soul, only then will you understand life in its deep sense. Different abilities will come to birth within you and you will see other, greater beings than you and then you will say, "How blind we have been!" I ask, if you were in the state of an ant and some philosopher would step on you and smash you, what would you think of his feet? You would say that a big rock fell on you and smashed you. But this rock is only a small part of this giant. Some day you say, "Fate is against me, it persecutes me." Fate is nothing other than the foot of some great philosopher who has stepped upon you. Do not stand in the path of the philosophers, of the learned people, they will not stop because of you, they march on their way and if you interfere, the foot of the philosopher will smash you. When you complain, I shall say, "Your place is not on this philosophical path, you are ants and must choose other paths." This is a philosophy of life. When I see the misfortune of a person, I look up and notice a giant who has stepped on them and smashed them. God has made the world and all other worlds. In the Milky Way, there are 18,000,000 suns and each one of them is moving along its definite orbit. There is a distance of 25 billion kilometers from one sun to another, so that collision should be avoided. God has drawn these orbits. He has drawn an orbit for your life as well, has given you a certain space and has said, "Never pass beyond the boundaries of your kingdom." You want to make a contract with some other kingdoms; the men and the women of two kingdoms made a contract to form one kingdom and quarreled in the end. Why should they quarrel? Let everyone reign in their kingdom. Someone says, "Come, let us put our money together in the same place to preserve it." Let everyone keep their money in their own purse! Do not entrust your money to anyone. On earth, no matter whom you may entrust it, it will be taken away anyhow. That is why Christ says, "Lay your treasures up above—this is the true sense of life." So we are wrong in that we want to distort the life God has ordered. I know of people who hate someone and carry them everywhere in their minds. Leave that person alone and hold only onto God! He lights up everything, allow Him in your holy of holies. People today are polytheists; they have Gods of labor, of glory, of power and burn incense to all of them. Take your hammer, throw all these idols out, or break them up, then sit at the feet of your Master and you will understand the deep sense of your life. This is what Christ means by the words, "The good part Mary has chosen shall not be taken away from her." You worry about many things, taking care of this and that thing, yet you are master of these things; so take them and throw them out. I have noticed how some masters sit in their chairs, like me now, and give orders. They want to be given something which they themselves can take, but they ring the bell once, twice and finally they go out and start scolding the servant. Their calmness and peace are of more value, however, than the fact that the servant has not brought their chosen shoes at once. Do not wait for others to do the things you can do yourself. Go and take your shoes and then moralize the servant to do their duties properly. This is what God wants of you, because this servant is not yours, but someone else's. When I say I am a servant, I do not have in mind you, the people; I am a servant of God. In London a Baptist preacher once went to see another preacher by the name of Spurgeon and to give himself more importance, he wrote on the visiting card, "One of your brothers in Christ is waiting outside, wishing to see you." Spurgeon wrote on the other side of the card, "Now, I have work with our Master." If anyone comes from outside and says a brother of yours in Christ is waiting for you, tell them you are speaking with their Master. Therefore, the servant you are calling from outside to bring you your shoes, has work with their Master and if you break their peace, their Master will take you by the ear. This is the greatest philosophy people today must learn. We must be servants of God. When we learn this great Law, our relations will be normalized. I see how this Law works: when you are in a good mood, all people seem pleasant, but if you are indisposed and have gotten up on the wrong side of bed, the whole day people will seem in the wrong and annoy you. This state may last a week, or a month, we call it a new philosophy— pessimism—and such people—pessimists. In order to justify the weakness of some person, you say they are pessimists. This is according to the words of Schopenhauer. In this sense, you are all philosophers. Bulgarians stand even higher than Schopenhauer, all have this pessimistic trait—the Bulgarian is easily discouraged and falls into despair and then comes Schopenhauer's philosophy, Martha comes. I say—you are obliged to submit to God! Since you do not serve God, all these misfortunes come to you. There is no other fate in the world! The day you submit to God, to your fate, all others submit to you. This is the teaching of Martha and Mary. Mary—this is heaven, Martha—the Earth. Mary this is the higher state of the heart, Martha—the lower state of the heart, Mary—this is the higher state of the mind, the Theosophists call it manas31 superior, Martha is the inferior manas. When you go to your homes, which I see as beautiful and splendid, say to yourself, "Come, Martha, come, Mary, you are two good sisters." Christ is the superior Spirit, the superior principle. If Mary would have answered Martha, she would have said, "Wait for a while, I want to listen and after that I shall help you." Christ was speaking, that is why Mary was not working. When you return home, if you get angry and start talking loudly, say to yourself, "Martha, do you know what the Master says? You must submit!" Mary should be noble, delicate, and speak kindly to her, saying, "Sister, wait a while, I shall be of service to you a little later," and when her sister speaks petulantly, she should say, "How nicely, how pleasantly you are speaking!" There is a certain harmony between the noble and the ignoble, as there is a relation between Love and hate. I know both sisters. Whoever comes between them, they stifle them out of love and when the person dies, they say, "What have we done?" Love says, "Come, let us raise them!" Hate says, "I shall bury them." "All right," says Love. They put some earth on the person, but then comes Love and after heating them up from above, she raises them up. Hate and Love work together in the world, but you have such a bad opinion of hate, of envy. They are really snakes and lizards, but in some cases they are pleasant. What would the world be like without snakes, lizards, flies, and so on? Point out such a world! How is your world better than this? No, the way this world is made is great in its intentions, in its expressions and manifestations. What you are constantly complaining of is the disharmony within you, it is Martha—the unorganized earth. The noise which is constantly taking place in you is namely what disturbs this harmony. God's Spirit must descend and say His word. And so the Spirit has come down, giving orders. He is working. You must have an indomitable faith in the principle, living in Mary. Have faith also in the principle, living in Martha. Have faith in Christ, for Christ, Who is above them, joins them. You also should join these three—your spirit, your Mary and your Martha—and should start the New Year with this act. I will not complete what I have said, but will leave a great interval, a gap, to see how you will solve the puzzle. I am a clairvoyant and when I look at your future, I see how some rise, others fall, some follow the spiritual path, while others twist and turn. In the end, all will be well, only that there will be swaying and loitering. When people get on a big ocean liner, some people throw up because of the constant swaying of the ship, but others do not. How interesting these aristocrats are on the ocean! The first day, they are in high spirits, well-dressed, decked with rings, and necklaces, all happy and content. When the ship starts swaying, everybody begins to look thoughtful like philosophers, listening to an important lecture. The second day, they begin to feel sick to the stomach, start eating lemons, laying on the floors and vomiting. When they land and are asked how they crossed the ocean, they say, "We arrived safe and sound." Yes, but when you cross this ocean from earth to heaven, how many times will you vomit! You will say, "Passing this ocean is serious business!" As soon as you reach the land, you will have good appetites, because you will be well cleaned up. This Martha in the ocean raises much noise around herself, shakes ships, creates weeping and wailing, but as soon as you step on the shore, and Mary comes, you say, "Thank God, we are safe and sound!" Fear not! Be always with your great Master that you may solve the problem of life. You have many complex problems in life: bringing up children, relations between men and women, relations to society and humanity. You have many obligations. How will you finish them? Some think that when they become Christians, they have no obligations. No, just the opposite—a Christian has more obligations and must fulfill them very well. When a day ends, they must feel a great inner calm that they have done what they should have done and if anything had been omitted, to put it in their program for the next day. One day you will be Martha, another day—Mary, but when you are at the feet of your Master, then let both Martha and Mary calm down, for an hour let all and everything calm down. This is the teaching and the thought Christ sets forth. Learn to serve the Superior that you may be masters of the inferior! Sermon held on January 14, 1917, in Sofia _____________________ 30. Luke 10:40-42. 31. Manas—(Sanskrit) the mind, all mental expression of the human psychological faculties (ed. note).

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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