1914_08_03 The Importance of What Is Small

[Ани]

From Dawning of a New Epoch, Beinsa Duno

 

The Importance of What Is Small

 

 “Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in Heaven their Angels always see the face of My Father who is in Heaven.”

Matthew 18:10

 

In human society men and women all strive for big things, for great achievements; and everyone despises the little things in life. This is a weakness in human nature. If, for example, you are given five leva^[1], you say, “This is nothing! I wish to be given one thousand, ten thousand, or a hundred thousand of leva. Just five leva? I feel offended—I am not a beggar!” You are offered one walnut, but you say, “Sir, you insult me with this. If you give me 5-10 kilograms of walnuts, I will accept them, but just one walnut, are you making fun of me?”

 

When we strive for great purposes and achievements, we try to make contact with people in high positions: kings, presidents, directors, scientists, and philosophers.  At the same time, we say about people in inferior positions, “This or that person is ignorant, a simpleton!” In all areas of life we see contempt for what is small and great interest in what is grand. Yet, Christ addresses his disciples and warns them not to despise the little ones. Why? Do not despise the little ones because thus you offend their Angels who serve them in Heaven. If you despise them, you also despise the Angels to whom the little ones are like children. 

 

When we want to split tree logs into firewood, we first chisel small sharp wedges, and as they penetrate the wood, they make space for the bigger ones.  If the wedges are big and dull, how will they drive in?  So, the little things open the way for the larger things. In the world as well, the entire process of development begins with these little things that you despise, and the overall progress in the Universe is a result of these.

 

Figuratively speaking, we say that a plough feeds the whole world, because after the farmer ploughs and sows the field well, it rewards him with a plentiful harvest. This is true, but we should not forget the role of those billions of earthworms who also help by turning over the soil.  However, we have been taught to look down upon the weak. Even after becoming devout Christians, hidden under our sheep’s skin we still have some wolfish instincts, which we occasionally show. We have not lost our old inherited habits and if someone steals from us even a small amount of money, one lev, for example, we immediately bring that person to court.  However, if the amount is big, five or ten thousands leva for example, we say, “Bravo!” Yet, those who steal a lot did not develop this habit all at once: first they stole one coin equal to 2.5 stotinki^[2], later one gologan^[3], later on one grosh^[4], followed then by five, ten coins, and so   on. This Law is true in all aspects of life. When we do not consider the little details in our actions, we also miss the big effects that they produce.

 

All our misfortunes today, both individual and collective, come as a result of our previous neglect of little things. Therefore, Christ addresses His disciples and advises them “not to despise one of these little ones.” Who are “the little ones?” Someone may say that these are our children, and that is true.  Yet, if we want to apply Christ’s Law in full, we will see that there are many other things that should not be despised.

 

 “Do not despise one of these little ones!” I will reveal the hidden meaning in these words. A Hindu gave a whole walnut to his son and asked him to find out what was inside. The son cracked the shell and ate the kernel.

 

“What is the essence of the walnut, son?” asked the father.

 

“Nothing special, just some tasty nut meat,” replied the son.

 

“Are you sure you have not found anything else in the walnut?”

 

“No, nothing.”

 

“Son, there is a great power hidden in the walnut. If you had planted it, instead of eating it, a big tree would have grown and you would have seen the greatness of this seemingly small thing, which has a hidden potential within it.” 

 

In the same manner God sends you one small thought, one apple seed, but you say, “It is nothing,” and discard it. Yet, God says, “Ask yourself what power it has. Plant it, and you will see the tree that will grow from it.”

 

As a result of this constant overlooking of the little things in life we have reached the present situation of complaining that the world is bad. And what is more, we think that we are the clever ones!

 

Christ advises us not to despise these small things, not to strive only for big things, but to learn to recognize the hidden power within the small things, and to use them, as they will help us achieve big results. For example, your house is built up of microscopically small and densely pressed together particles, is it not?

 

In the same way, our daily life is based on those little things, like the grain of wheat, fruit, and many other things, so-called “trifles.” This pertains not only to the human body, but also to the human mind. In reality, it is the little thoughts and desires that bring joy and happiness in life. Sometimes we laugh at children because they are occupied with little thoughts. We forget that the small grains are those that produce growth into big things. Why should we “not despise the little ones”? It is because we should not disobey the second Divine Commandment: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”^[5] You should not despise any living being, as it can give useful service, whether it be a pigeon, a hen, a sheep, a horse, or a donkey.

 

For each and every form of life there is a special book.  For example, it is written about the donkey, today you loaded the donkey that much, the next day that much. All this is written in the book and when God calculates five leva per day for this service, then after 100 years, assuming that the donkey has served you its entire life, how much do you need to pay it? One day you will find that you, like the debtor from the Scriptures, owe almost ten thousand “talents.”^[6] You may say, “I do not remember,” but God has written your debt in the book. So, in fact, all of us are in debt to the little ones. We owe our present progress, our thoughts and desires to the “little ones,” as Christ said. Therefore, being in debt to them, we should have love for them; and knowing that they have served us, we should now serve them, too.

 

Meanwhile, I would like to give you an explanation about a mystery. I have often been asked why Angels are interested in human beings, and whether there is any connection between them. Once upon a time, when Angels were in our present situation and they were living on Earth as consciously aware beings, we were in the situation of animals and served them. Thus, they are obligated to us and God requires them to pay their debt. Cosmic Beings do not despise their smaller fellows because they have served them. Maybe your servant is ignorant, but you do not really know the truth behind this relationship and why God has placed this man in your home. Your relationship with him did not originate in the present: this particular servant has been in your home many times previously. You do not know this, but God knows. This person has probably saved your life many times; therefore, you need to have love and compassion for him. And this is how we can understand this Divine Law: to have love for the little ones.

 

Love is to be expressed not only for great people, Angels, and saints; it is also for the little things, the little ones, the poor and fallen brothers and sisters.  This is the reason for the strong love of a mother toward her child; she loves by the power of this Divine Law that obliges her to do so. She loves her child thanks to this inner Divine Fire. You want to see God, but when He comes in your child, you say, “Why did God give me this child?” Every day you ask God to come and every day you chase Him away. And you consider yourselves to be learned people! This is not only an attitude, but a pattern of behavior in the entire world. Every day God tests you to see how much you love Him and how truthful are your words.

 

Once upon a time, after the Fall of Man, when the world went wrong, a rumor was spread that God had descended to Earth to see how people were living. Many people had decided that, since there was no God in Heaven to control them from above, they could live as they wish, without any restrictions.

 

In one place God saw someone selling a blind horse, but telling the buyer, “In God’s name, the horse is not blind.” The man replied “Since you swore in God’s name, I believe you,” and the man bought the horse. God passed by a house and saw a husband beating his wife who cried out, “In God’s name, forgive me!” and the man stopped. These both went to Heaven afterward and justified themselves, saying, “God, on Earth we called upon Your name.” Modern people call upon God too, especially when they try to sell a blind horse or want to beat their wives. Some priests advise, “Believe in God,” but what would God reply to them? He would reply, “I do not know you because you use My name, not for My glory, but to deceive people by encouraging them to perform wrongful actions and make excuses for doing so.” These are the little things that create big misfortunes. You have a blind horse and you want to sell it by using the name of God, but you need to be careful and responsible for your actions.

 

Do you know what the “blind horse” is?  It is your body. Yet, people talk against it all the time, punish it, and blame it. No, the body is not the guilty one. Someone gets drunk in the pub and orders, “Do not give food to the horse.” He is doing wrong by getting drunk, but he punishes the horse. Do not despise your body and do not confuse the flesh with your desires and lusts. You need to renounce them—not the flesh. To renounce the flesh would mean to renounce all thoughts and deeds that are realized through it. In addition, you should not torment your body—a temple created by God. In fact, you should be very sympathetic with it because you can work only as long as it is fit and healthy.

 

When Christ says “their Angels,” He refers to those Wise Beings who keep a record of our actions. In fact, what we call “consciousness,” these are the Angels abiding within us and recording each of our actions: either good or bad. They say to us, “Well done!” or “You have not done well.” When you insult someone, then the Angel of this person tells you that your behavior was not good. You start apologizing, “I am sorry, I was a little nervous, indisposed, the conditions were such and such.” Your excuse about the conditions you were in has nothing to do with the rule that you should not despise the little things because they create the foundation for the Divine Laws. The little things can sometimes cause either great benefits or big harm.

 

A wolf once boasted that he was a hero and the king of the animals. The fox interjected, “Do not talk big because if a mosquito enters your nose and stings you, you cannot do anything to it.” “I will blow my nose and the mosquito will fly away,” replied the wolf. One day a mosquito entered his nose and stung him, thus bringing infection to the wolf and causing his death. Often the small circumstances in our life can, in one way or another, bring either progress in our development or an impediment. The causes that bring us good or bad results are not bad in themselves, but their application is wrong. Take, for example, air: if you breathe it through your lungs, it will purify your blood producing a positive effect for you, but if it goes into your stomach, it will produce stomachache. In both cases, one and the same cause creates two totally different results.  If you take some charcoal mixed in water, it will have a good effect on your stomach, but introduced into the lungs, it would be poisonous. Therefore, through those little things Christ advises us not to despise, He is referring to the whole of human life with all these little things we are closely involved with. For instance, if I ask you about the way your body, heart, and mind have been formed, could you tell me how this has happened? Initially, when human beings came into existence on Earth, they were not huge, but microscopically small; but under certain conditions they developed and became a million times larger than before. Their power was initially hidden in a nucleus. In a similar way in modern times, an idea is a great Divine foundation; and if it falls on good soil, it can revive our life. That which we call “revival” exists as a Spiritual Law; it is the inner Divine process that uplifts and renews the human heart, mind, soul, and spirit. This is the process of ascending from lower to higher states of development and being, lower to higher levels of existence. And our uplifting, deliverance, and salvation come as a result of this Divine striving. Therefore, all beings, from the biggest to the smallest, strive to rejuvenate and to evolve because in rejuvenation is hidden the blossoming of the human soul.

 

The reason why we should be tolerant toward the little ones is to avoid bringing sorrow to God because when we hurt someone, in fact we hurt not only that person, but also God Who resides in him or her. And when we do good, we help God as well. In fact, when we assist people, their Angels in Heaven will serve us too. Therefore, if we want to have friends in Heaven, we need to serve the little ones, and their fathers, the Angels in Heaven, will welcome us in their Home and offer us a feast. The world is like this: service for service and love for love.

 

Do you understand now why Christ addressed His disciples with these words? You need to remove contempt from your soul. For instance, when you meet people you do not know and feel contempt for them, thinking that they might possibly be inferior to you, if instead you could just help them with their ignorance, you would change the situation; but if you look down upon them, you are introducing a poison into the relationship. In modern aristocratism and caste systems, some are noble, others not, some are rich, others poor—all that has its origin in contempt. If we understand how relations among people should be, we will not be ashamed of poverty, as it is a service given us to carry out. We need to be small and we need to be poor, in order to become rich and great. These are the two polarities, between which development happens. Movement is always from the large to the small, indicating that God always pays attention to the small. He is interested not only in big things.

 

God created all that exists. Yet, ruling over all His creation gives Him less pleasure than being involved with children. His work is to teach people when they err. Thus, He gives us an example not to despise little ones, but to tolerate them and teach them because this is our time to rest and enjoy. When a teacher works with his students, he enjoys it, and when the students study well, he praises them. Saints and priests are involved with wrongdoers in order to turn them to God. The assignment of all of us is to pay attention to weak people and small things. When someone says, “I do not have time for rest,” I know that this person is occupied with big things and big thoughts. How could such a person rest, if he takes an overloaded backpack with 10, 20, or 50 kilograms of gold in it? If he leaves only one Napoleon^[7] in his backpack, he would realize that he had plenty of time to rest. Now God comes to tell us “Leave your backpacks!” This will liberate the world of its burdens. Down with the weapons that destroy your minds and hearts! All of you need to become like children, not to despise the small things that God has created.

 

God wants to bring people back to this pure, primeval state that people call “being wild,” but in reality it is not wild, but virgin. I would like to see people becoming wild in this way. In Sanskrit “wild” means “pure.” Let us become pure and come closer to God, instead of becoming evil and cruel. I would like the entire world to become “primeval” as soon as possible, to become pure, noble, and stop despising the little things and the little ones that God loves. I would like the world to place Love, Justice, Wisdom, Truth, and Power in the high esteem where they need to be. This is the way to salvation. 

 

         Lecture held on August 3 (16), 1914, Sofia.  

 

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[1] Lev—BGN (Bulgarian lev, plural leva, levove) is the currency of Bulgaria.

[2] Stotinka (plural stotinki): One hundredth of a lev, the basic unit of money in Bulgaria.

[3] Gologan is a folk name for an old coin made mostly of copper, with a value of 10 stotinki.

[4] Grosh (denarius in Latin) is a coin used in the past in many European countries with a value of 20 stotinki.

[5] Mark 12:31

[6] See also Matthew 18:24.

[7] The Napoléon is the colloquial term for a former French gold coin, originally minted for Napoléon Bonaparte. The coin continued in use through the 19th century and later French gold coins in the same denomination were generally referred to as “Napoleons.”

 

[Ани]

From  Peace be with you

 

 

The importance of the small things

 

"See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I tell you that in heaven their Angels always see the face of My Father Who is in heaven." (Matthew 18:10)

 

In general, people from both genders have an aspiration for grand things, for great matters; everyone, by virtue of an internal weakness, despises the little things. You are given a nickel [1], you say: "It is worth nothing; if they were a thousand, 10, 100 thousand levs, I [would] understand, but a nickel - I am not a beggar!" They give you a walnut - "You are offending me; if you were to give me 5-10 kg, I [would] understand, but with one walnut, Mister, are you making fun of me?" When we aspire for great matters, we also try to become acquainted with high-ranking people - with kings, prime-ministers, chiefs, scholars, philosophers; about the socially lower-ranking people we say: "He is an ignoramus, a simpleton!" From one end of our life to the other we can see disdain for the little things and a seeking only for grand things. But Christ turns to His disciples and warns them not to despise the little ones. Why? "Do not despise them, because you offend their Angels, who serve them in the Heavens. If you despise these little ones, you despise the Angels, whose children the little ones are". When we want to split a log, we first carve small sharp wedges and they, upon entering, open space for the large wedges. If the wedges are large and blunt, how will they be driven in? So, the little things open the way for the big ones. And in the world the whole process of development unfolds from the very beginning with these little things, which you despise; all the progress of the Universe is due to them. We say that the plough feeds the whole world, that, when the ploughman ploughs the field well and sows it, it brings forth a rich harvest. This is so, but we should not forget the role that those billions of little worms play, which also till the field. Because we are brought up so, to disdain the weak, we, even when we enter Christianity, carry, below the sheepskin, the instincts of the wolf, and see, how at a certain moment from under this innocent garment we expose our claws; we do not forget our old habits: when someone takes away a grosh [2] from us - soon there is a petition to the court. If someone steals 5-10 thousand levs - "Ah, well done!" we tell him. However, one who steals a lot has not acquired this habit all at once; to begin with, he took a nickel from his father, then a dime [3], then - a grosh, five grosh, ten grosh and so on. In every respect this law is true. When we despise the little causes, we miss the great consequences in the matter. I can say that all our current misfortunes, common and personal, are due to this disdain of the little things in the past. And this is why Christ turns to His disciples and tells them not to despise "these little ones". Now, who are "these little ones"? Someone may say: these are our children. It is true that they are our children. But when we come to apply the law of Christ completely, we will see that there are also many other things which should not be despised. "Do not despise these little ones!" - I will explain to you the meaning which is hidden in these words. An (Indian) Hindu gives his son a walnut and bids him to investigate it; the son breaks the walnut and eats it. "What does the walnut contain?" - asked the father afterwards. - "Nothing special - a few kernels, pleasant in taste". The Hindu asks his son again: "Did you not find anything else in the walnut?" - "Nothing". - "Son, a great power is hidden in this walnut and, if you had not eaten it, but had planted it in the ground, a big tree would have grown out of it, and you would see the grandeur of this little thing, which is a germ of a large thing". The Lord sends you a small thought, an apple seed, you say: "It is nothing" and throw it away; but the Lord says: "Ask what power it contains, plant it, and you will see what [kind of] a tree will grow out of it". Precisely because of this constant disdain of the little thoughts, we have come to this state, and say that the world is bad. We are the cleverest!

 

Christ says: "Do not despise these little things, do not aspire to the big ones, learn to recognize what power hides in the little things and make use of them: they will help you to acquire the big ones". Is not your house built wholly out of little microscopic grains, condensed. Upon these little things, like the grain of wheat, the fruits and other trifles, rests our everyday life. This is in relation to the body; but in relation to the mind exactly the little thoughts and desires cause joy and gladness in life. Sometimes we laugh at the children, that they are engaged with trifling {drebni} thoughts; not the thoughts, but the grains, which assist the development of the big things, are tiny {drebni}.

 

And why should we not despise these little ones; why should we not trespass the second Divine commandment: "to love our neighbors"? Every living being, which has a relation to someone, which gives benefit, we should not despise. This creature may be a dove, a hen, a sheep, an ox, a horse, a donkey, for each of them there is a book, in which it is being written: today you have loaded your donkey with so much, tomorrow with so much - it is written there, and when the Lord calculates for it [(the creature)] 5 lev a day, in 100 years - if we say that it has served you all your life - what capital will you have to [re]pay it? One day you will find out, like that debtor, that you owe the creature 10 thousand talents. You will say: "I do not remember"; but the Lord has noted in the book that you owe this much. So, we all owe these little ones. Our current development, our current thoughts, our current desires we owe to these little ones, of which Christ speaks, and, therefore, as we owe them, we should have love towards them, to know, that they have worked for us and that we now should work for them. And in passing I will tell you something about a riddle. I have often been asked: why are the Angels interested in people, what do they have in common with them. Once upon a time, when the Angels were in our [current] state, as people on Earth, we were in the position of animals and we served the Angels; they owe us much, and now the Lord compels them to repay us. Likewise, the great Angels do not despise their smaller brothers, because the latter have worked for them. You may have a servant who is ignorant, but you do not know the relations of this servant towards you, [the reason] why the Lord has brought him in your home. Your connection with him is not from now; this servant has been in your home many times; you do not know, but the Lord knows; he, perhaps, has saved your life from destruction many times; therefore, you should have all the love and leniency towards him. And then we come to understand this great Divine Law - to have love towards the smaller ones. Love is not for the great people, for the Angels, for the saints, She is for the little, the tiny, the poor, the fallen brethren. This is why such strong love is developed in the mother toward her child; she loves it according to this Divine Law, that she should love it. She loves it like that according to an internal fire, because the Lord has entered the child incognito. You wish to see the Lord, but when He comes in this child, you say: "Why, Lord, have you given me this child?" Every day you call to the Lord and every day you drive Him away. And you pass for clever people! Such a behavior is held not only by you, but by the whole world. The Lord tries your mind every day to see how much you love Him and how much you speak the truth. Once upon a time, when the world declined, it spread that the Lord [has] set out through the world [4], to see how people live, and the latter said: "Now there is no Lord in Heaven, there is no one to control us, we will live more freely". In one place, the Lord saw that someone is selling a blind horse and that he says to the buyer: "Have faith in God, the horse is not blind". - "If you swear in God, I will believe" and [he] buys the horse. The Lord passes by a house and sees a man [5] lambasting his wife [5]: "For the Lord's sake - forgive!"; he forgives her. Those two then appear in Heaven and say: "On the Earth we, Lord, preached Your Name". So also, contemporary people call upon the Lord, when they want to sell a blind horse or want to beat their wife. The priests say: "Have faith in the Lord"; but what will the Lord say to them? "I do not know you, because you used My Name not for My glory, but to lie to the people, so that they may commit certain crimes and cover them". Precisely these little things create the misfortunes. You have a blind horse, you wish to sell it in God's Name, but watch and keep account of what you do. Do you know who this blind horse is? This is your body. And people always talk against it and always punish it; everyone says that it is faulty. It is not the body that is at fault. Someone got drunk in the pub and said: "Do not feed my horse"; he errs, but [he] punishes the horse. Do not despise the body and do not mix the flesh with your desires, with your lusts. It is them that you have to renounce, not the flesh, because it would mean to renounce all thoughts and deeds, which happen through the flesh. And you should not torture your body - this temple, which the Lord has created. Therefore, you should be very lenient towards your body, because, while it is healthy, you are able to work.

 

Now, Christ, when He says "their Angels", He means those clever beings, which take account of our actions. That which we call "conscience", are the Angels who live within us and who note our every action, good or bad, and who say: "You did well" or "you did badly". You offend someone, his Angel tells you: "Your action is not right". You start apologizing yourself: "Please excuse me, I was a bit nervous, ill-disposed, such are the conditions". That you are in such a state, this has nothing to do with the rule, that you should not despise these little ones, upon which the Divine laws rest.

 

These little things sometimes cause great benefits or great harms. A wolf [once] related that he was a hero and that among the animals he was a king; the fox told him: "Do not boast so much, because if a mosquito goes into your nose, it will sting you and you cannot do anything to it". "When I blow with my nose, it will fly out", the wolf answered. One day a mosquito went in his nose, stung him, introduced a disease, and the wolf died. And in our life the little causes, in one respect or another, can often aid our development, but can also make us stumble. The causes, which make us good and bad, are not in themselves bad; it is their application which is bad. Take for example the air: if you place it in your lungs, it will purify the blood and the man will feel pleased with this purification; but if you place it in the stomach, it will cause stomach-aches - one and the same thing in both cases produces two quite opposite effects. If you decide to introduce in the stomach some coal in a dissolved state, it will cause pleasantness, but, if you place it in the lungs, it will poison you. Therefore, by these little things, of which Christ speaks that we should not despise, He understands the whole-united human life, with which we are closely connected. For example, if I were to ask you: can you say how your body, your heart, your mind were formed, can you say how these things occurred? In the beginning man, when he appeared on Earth, was not gigantic, but microscopic, but under certain conditions he developed and became a man, who is now a million times more grandiose than he was [before]. His strength was initially hidden as a germ.

 

Thus also in our modern-day life, thought contains a great Divine foundation, and, if it falls on good soil, it can revive our life. This, which we call "revival", exists as a law of the Spirit. It is that internal Divine process, which elevates and renews the human heart, the human mind, the human soul, the human spirit. This is a process of ascension from below upwards. And in this Divine aspiration our upliftment, redemption and salvation are elaborated. This is why all beings from the greatest to the smallest aspire to renew themselves, to uplift themselves, and in youth the blossoming of the human soul is hidden.

 

When we say, that we have to be lenient towards the little ones, this originates from the principle to not embitter the Lord, because when we embitter a man, we do not embitter him individually, but the Lord Who is within him. Thus also, when we do [something] good, we aid the Lord. When we help someone, his Angel, too, who is in Heaven, will be at our service. Therefore, if we wish to have friends in Heaven, we have to serve the little ones, and their fathers, the Angels in Heaven, will accept us in their home and will hospitably-host us, we will feel ourselves at home. A favor for a favor, love for love - this is how the world is.

 

Now, do you know why Christ addressed His disciples with this thought? The [state of] disdain - this state you must expel from your soul. For example, you meet a man who you do not know; contempt arises in you that he, perhaps, stands lower than you; if you merely establish ignorance and help him, then it is different, but, if you despise him, you introduce poison. From the disdain the contemporary aristocratism has been born, the castes - some noble, others ignoble, some rich, others poor. If we understand the relations of things, we will see that we should not be ashamed of poverty, because it is a service, given to us to carry: we have to be little, we have to be poor, in order to become rich. These are two opposite poles, between which undoubtedly lies the development. And the movement is always from the greater to the smaller, that is, the Lord always strives towards the tiny ones, He is not occupied with great works. He has made the world, but the ruling of the whole world does not give Him as much pleasure as when He is occupied with children. His task is, when He sees the people, that they err, to teach them, and by this He gives us an example also, not to despise the little ones, but to tolerate them and to instruct them - this is our rest. When the teacher is occupied with his students, this gives him pleasure, and he commends the students when they learn. The saints, the priests are occupied with the sinners, so as to turn them to the Lord. And the task of all of us is to turn our eye towards the weak people and towards the tiny things. When someone says: "I cannot take a rest", I understand that he is occupied with great deeds, with great thoughts. How will he take a rest, if he puts upon his back a heavy for his strength rucksack- of 10, 20, 50 kilograms of gold? When he leaves in his rucksack only one napoleon [6], he will see that he will find rest. And now the Lord is coming to say: "Lay down the rucksacks!" - to liberate the world from them; lay down the weapons which destroy your minds and your hearts, you all have to become like children: to not despise the little things, which I have created. The Lord wishes to return people to that pure primary state, which people call becoming-savage {poDIViavane}, but which in actuality is not becoming savage. I desire people to become savage in this way. "Div" in Sanskrit means "pure". Let us become pure and come nearer to God, instead of growing rough and becoming evil. I would wish the whole world to become savage a-day-sooner, to become pure, noble, to not despise the little things which God loves, and to place love, righteousness, wisdom, truth and strength on that height, upon which they should stand. That is where salvation is.

 

Lecture given on 3rd August 1914, Sofia

 

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Notes:

 

[1] petache - is a coin equaling 2.5/100 of a lev

[2] grosh - a coin equaling 20/100 of a lev, or 20 stotinki. The name comes from the Turkish coins and originates from Latin (denario grosso).

[3] gologan, a coin equaling 10/100 of a lev, or 10 stotinki. The name comes from the denomination used in the Turkey

[4] literally: Earth

[5] In Bulgarian, there is a single word for "husband", "male" and "man", and similarly for "wife", "female" and "woman"

[6] a golden coin of 20 lev, following the model of the gold 20-franc coin created in 1803