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BEHOLD THE MAN

 

Behold the Man! Then came forth Jesus, wearing the crown
of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them,
Behold the man!

 

John 19.5

 

The word ‘man’ in Bulgaria signifies a being who lives for a whole century. However, in the archetypal language in which this phrase is written the word ‘man’ has a different meaning: Jesus, the man who visits the earth, the brother of those who suffer. What should we understand by these words? Would people in the world, upon seeing us, say: “Behold the man”? To deserve this name a man must possess four things: wealth, strength, knowledge and virtues.

 

But you may ask: “What does wealth signify here ?” Wealth is the soil or the condition under which a man can develop, which in turn imparts heat and light. As to knowledge, it is the method by which our life must be understood and regulated. Virtue is the goal for which we must strive. People often ask: “What must we do?” Sow a grain of wheat, and it will show you what you must do. You will say: “How?” Give it moisture, and the sunbeams will show you. The sun, the source of life, is the only direction for the grain of wheat. We, like the grain of wheat, must grow and strive for God.

 

Someone may ask: “When the wheat has grown, does it reach the sun? No. But I want to find God.” It is not necessary for you to know where God is: you must only strive for Him. The grain of wheat knows what the sun is and has received what it wishes. The same law applies to us; we must produce the same result. We too should be sown. We shall encounter troubles of all kinds in our life, but they are the necessary small obstacles such as those which the grain of wheat meets: a certain pressure is needed, after which the process of the growth of knowledge will start until we bear fruit, that is, the acquisition of virtues. Then the Master will send reapers to gather the wheat, and He will separate the grains from the weeds, and the wheat from the chaff.

 

I shall read you the 19th chapter from the Gospel of St.John in order to show you the four things which Christ bore on the cross: virtue, knowledge, strength and wealth. God says: “When I work, you should be calm.” But since man does not stay calm, God says: “Nail him, that I may be calm in my work.” When we are nailed to this cross, we should not weep, for then God is working for us. Unhappy is the man who is not nailed to the cross! He who wants God to deal with him must pass through his process of development. I am speaking allegorically.

 

Once we have been called upon a.nd have started on the divine path, we should have the simple faith of children and avoid weaknesses, as shown in the following story. A great artist in England wished to paint a picture of extreme poverty. For months on end he walked the London streets looking for a suitable person for his idea. Finally he found a child all in rags who appealed to him, and he thought he had found the person for the picture. He approached the child, handed him his visiting-card and said to him: “Come to my place in four days, I have to speak to you.” When the child saw awell-dressed man, he thought: “How shall I go to him in these rags?” He at once went to some friends to find some clothes to present himself as is fit before kings. Then he went to the painter in these clothes. “Who are you?” asked the painter. “I am the ragged child to whom you gave your visiting-card.” “Go away! If I wanted a well-dressed person there are thousands of them. I needed you as you were on that day.”

 

We are not to take our earthly clothes to Heaven. When God calls us, He takes off all our clothes here. He says: “Bring him just as he is.” When someone dies, everybody turns away from him. Even those who loved him say: “Take him away at once.” Where is their love? But God does not turn away. He says: “Bring him here, I need him as he is.” And when they put us into the grave and leave us alone there, what does God do? He begins to talk with us. He asks us: “Did you understand life, did you understand the meaning of the life which I sent you?” The process starts then: the people who have buried the man start weeping and giving an account of all his good qualities — they see the divine picture expressed by the qualities. Jesus with his earthly sufferings wanted to-give us an example of how we must submit ourselves to this divine process. At one place he says: “Have I not the power to ask my Father to send thousands of angels to save me? But if I do not fulfil the purpose for which I have come how can mankind be raised?” And He Himself wanted to be raised.

 

You are on earth, and some day storms and sufferings will come and possibly the same fate may be yours; but when this hour comes, do not in the least consider it a misfortune, for where there is no suffering, there is no gain, where grief comes, joy comes also, and where death comes so does resurrection. He who does not want to participate in the sufferings of mankind will not gain anything. After all, what are sufferings? The results of mistakes we have made at some time in our ignorance. And these mistakes are corrected by the process of suffering.

 

Now I shall speak to you about God not as an abstract being, as the philosophers do, scattered throughout space so that no one knows where He is, but about the God of whom I preach to you, who thinks about us and observes our actions, who corrects and punishes us, who clothes and unclothes us and causes us to be born and to die.

 

God is performing an operation, seeing that you are going to lose much and shorten the process of your life. He says: “In order not to accumulate more debts, take this capital which I have given you, and come to me now”. And in this process we think the world has forgotten us. But if the world has forgotten us, God thinks about us. The Scriptures say: “God is not only in Heaven: He lives in the heart of the humble.” Therefore the first quality you must obtain, in order that He may come to live in you, is humility. But this humility must not be that of a sheep, so that when they beat you or break your leg you say: “There is nothing I can do. It is humility if, when they take all that you possess, you say: “We are humble.” Humility consists in this: when you have wealth, strength, knowledge and virtue, you realise all this and say: “God, all I have is at your disposal, You dispose of it.”

 

Jesus wanted to show us the right way to live. Many Christians think that, when they become Christians, they must leave the world. But you may give up your houses, riches, wives and children and still be thinking of them. You may go to some distant monastery, and still be thinking of what may have happened to your wife, children and houses, which means that you have not given them up and you are not free. To give up things does not mean to desert them, but to leave people free, to let your wife act as she wishes, to let your son act as he wishes. To leave the world means not to stand in its way Let it follow its course, for can we stop the flow of a river? No, but we can make use of it. In the same way we cannot stop life, but must only make use of things.

 

People say: “Why does God who is almighty not set the world right?” How should He set it right? “He who lies, let his tongue go dry, and he who steals, let his hand wither.” But then we would have a world only of dumb and crippled people. What do you think? Would such a world of maimed people be pleasant to us? God, however, gives a diametrically opposite kind of government by saying that he who wants to become a master must become a servant. The strong people usually want all rivers to flow into their river, but in the good the process is contrary God flows into small rivers, and instead of conducting them, He lets them rule themselves.

 

Some complain: “Why does not God see our sufferings?” But He says: “I have no time; I am so engaged in your affairs and much more important matters that when there is a little time left for Me to deal with your outside petty disagreements, I shall do that.” This is no allegory, but reality. There is a verse in the Sacred Scriptures where God says: “I was for Israel as a loaded wagon into which people constantly throw everything.” However, the sufferings we experience here are sufferings of God — it is He who is suffering and weeping within us.

 

We say: “I weep, and my soul is full of grief;” but when we say: “God, forgive me that I caused you so much suffering by my impure thought and acts,” then we shall come to that real path which will lead us out of the present evil. And finally we must let our God become strong within us. We have bound Him up with ropes and nailed him. We must lay Him in the grave calmly and leave Him quiet. He will then rise and set us free. And know this — those who put obstacles in God’s way are we, humans; the devils do not obstruct God’s path. Since He has laid down the law of freedom, He cannot and does not want to change this law and He will save us only when we come to the consciousness of voluntary submission to Him. We must become deeply conscious of becoming like Him before we can use our wealth, power and virtues for the upraising of our brothers and neighbours.

 

Let me go back now. First we must live in this world as a preparation, for we cannot live in heaven, since the heat and light there are very strong. Tust as a gardener, planting pine trees brought down from the mountain heights, must first get them acclimatised, so in the same way our Heavenly Father cannot take us from here and plant us in the garden of paradise directly. We want to be virtuous, strong and rich, and we can have virtue, strength and riches, but the conditions necessary for their development are the divine germ which lies in our wealth.

 

But you will ask me: “ How shall we find God?” It is a very easy thing. A man once wanted to tease his friend. So, when the latter told him: “Now we are in an orchard full of fine apples,” he closed his eyes and said: “But I do not see anything”. His friend slapped him in the face, and he looked up and saw the orchard. In the same way God at times slaps us in the face, and we open our eyes and see. Those of you whose eyes are closed must want to have them opened. Contemporary people argue and say: “Where is God?” However, when misfortunes come, they all look up and, seeing that He is there, cry: “God!” — that is why misfortunes come. They are God’s slap in our face when He says: “I created you with eyes to see; they should not remain closed.” So in order for us to rise, we must come to the state of children, to see and be receptive.

 

Now another question. What must be our method of work? From now on we should be always connected with people on earth through our minds and hearts, because salvation comes from our common prayers; in unity is power. And, when the minds and hearts of all men become united, then the kingdom of God will come on earth. We must learn not to look for weaknesses in the friend we love; he may have faults just like us. The weaknesses and faults are the external garment with which man is clothed. The human soul is pure, and it can never be spoilt or destroyed. It may get spotted externally, but since God abides in it, nothing can spot the soul inwardly. It is impossible to destroy something which God protects. We can submit to the world just as Christ did when Pilate said to Him: “I submit to the one who has given you this power, but my soul is free.” We must submit to our temporary sufferings, although we cannot understand them now; when we die and rise again, we shall be able to understand them.

 

Everybody until now has been tormented by constant fear in life. But this is not life. Man lives life when he is filled with noble feelings. Happy is the man who can rejoice that he has done a good deed selflessly. We usually take off our hats to a man in a superior position, whereby we want to say: “Can you give me a higher post?” There is a devilish fish in the sea which greets everything it meets. Man also takes hold of another’s hand, but why? These devilish fingers on the human hand speak much; for instance, the small finger says: “Could you give me some money. I must set up in trade.” The fourth finger says: “I want the fame and knowledge of an artist.” The middle finger says: “I want rights and privileges.” The forefinger says: “I need honour and respect.” The thumb says: “I want power and skill.” If the one who was greeted is able and wishes to give these things, he will do it. ButJesus is standing today before you and I am saying to you: “Behold the Man you are looking for, the Man who alone can fill your hearts with calmness, who can give you a clear mind, health, social position, who can raise you, show you the way and bring light into your mind.” But you in your doubt say: “Show Him to us that we may see Him!”

 

I shall use an analogy. A man appears far off one night carrying a small candle, and I say to you: “Behold the man who brings you light! “ However, you see the candle, not the man. When will you see him? When the sun rises.

 

Let me use another analogy. Suppose I take you to a richly furnished but dark guest-room, and say: “This is a room with beautiful ornaments, great riches; in that corner there is this and that, in the other etc.” “That is possible but who knows, I do not see anything,” you answer. I bring in a small candle, the nearby objects become more visible. If I bring in a second candle, the objects become yet more visible. The more candles I light, the brighter the room becomes, and when an electric light is lit, the room becomes quite bright; but particularly when the daylight enters the room, then everything can be seen. The world is like this room; each one of us must be a light-bearer and carry a candle, so that when we all enter with lighted candles and put them together, the light will increase and we shall see much. Your brains are candles, I do not like people who carry blown-out candles, but such as carry lighted candles, as people do on the night of Good Friday. Each one of us must himself be a lighted candle. A devoted, loving and good man is a lighted candle.

 

In the year 1899 there was a great drought in the Novo-payai region. The Turks of thirty-nine villages gathered together from the neighbouring regions to pray for rain. And the rain came. The Bulgarians thought that if God sent rain to the Turks, He would send them rain as well; but no rain fell in their villages, and all their cattle became lean for lack of food.

 

When people pray, you too must pray and make your petition. God will not make a special provision for you, if you do not pray. Prayer is a great power, and men today ought to be men of prayer; for by prayer we shall prepare our minds and hearts. And we should not pray for ourselves: that is egotism. I do not want to have dealings with people’s minds, but rather with their hearts, for all evil is concealed in their hearts. God himself says: “My son , give Me your heart.”

 

Something else is important. Jesus has come to work, and when the light comes, it comes gradually and without any noise. He will not come like thunder, as some expect Him. This may happen, butJesus will not be there. When the prophet Elijah went to the wilderness to fast and pray, and a storm and fire came, Elijah covered his eyes. But God was not in the storm and fire, but in the still small voice which was speaking to him. God is not in your sufferings, in your power or in your knowledge. He is in love. If you love, He is in you. If you do not love, He is not there. And now you must love — this is the law. We do not love and expect others to love us. It is like sitting by a stove, expecting someone to bring us wood and light the fire so we can get warm. We, we ourselves should have this fuel which others may use as well.

 

We who are following Jesus, who has given us enough strength, should at last allow Him to enter us. Now I am leaving it all up to you. Will you accept this Man, or crucify Him? Will you let Him in, or say: “We do not want Him”? This is the question you must solve. If you say: ‘Let Him in, He is our Lord,” you will solve the problem, and the blessing will come. And then the word of the Scripture will be fulfilled: “I and my Father will come and make our abode in you.” Then will the light be in us, and we shall all be reconciled.

 

(Talk given by the Master on March 16th, 1914, Sofia)

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