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1917_02_04 The blessed


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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).

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Note 2p

 

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.

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