1916_10_22 Should I not drink it?

[Ани]

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.

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 [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]