1939_09_22 NEAR-BY AND FAR AWAY

[Ani]

Note 4p

 

NEAR-BY AND FAR AWAY

 

“If my words do not dwell in you and if you do not dwell in me, you will not have life in yourselves.” I will change the form of this verse like this: If the Light dwells in us and we dwell in the Light, then the world will manifest itself to us.

 

As a man is required to do something, he says: Before I do this, I have to know and to have studied it. This view is wrong. The human first sees the light, familiarizes with it, and then begins to study it. The human first familiarizes with the bread and water and tastes them, and only after that begin to study them. This is the natural way of attainment. Man knows what to do and how to do what is required from him, but influenced by some evil will, sometimes he does not want to do what he knows. There are cases, when man forgets what he has to do and how to do it, indeed, but he himself is the only reason for this. While he is sober and with an awakened consciousness, man remembers and knows everything, but after he drinks several glasses of wine, he forgets everything. He forgets his mother, his father, his wife, and his children. He remembers one thing only: the glass full of wine.

 

Often people excuse themselves and say that they did not do something as they should have, because they do not see objects clearly. Why? They cannot see them clearly because they have put a solid screen before their eyes. As soon as they remove this screen, everything will be revealed before them and they will see clearly. The reason for which the human can see clearly is the light. What is the light? While he is within the light, man is able to see his way and walks freely without stumbling. As soon as the light disappears, he does not see where to go and he stumbles. Consequently, light, knowledge, and freedom are being studied in two ways: through presence and absence. For instance, as you are within the light, you know its characteristics, but as you remain in darkness, you also study the characteristics of the light. While you are in darkness, you also study the characteristics of the light. While you have knowledge, you can study its characteristics; as soon as you lose your knowledge and become an ignoramus, you also study the characteristics of the knowledge. While you are free, you study the characteristics of freedom; as soon as you confine yourself, you also study the characteristics of freedom.

 

So, two ways exist for studying things: positive and negative. You can study the law both through application of the juridical laws and through the application of the wrong principles. As soon as you encounter something wrong in your life, you begin to suffer. This suffering concerns both the righteous people and the people who serve the wrong. Christ was a righteous man, but because He assumed the sins of the wrong people, He had to experience great suffering. Each one, who becomes a guarantee of the sinful people, who eat, drink, and do not pay, will bear their suffering and sins. Some person eats, drinks, and makes debts, but the one who has become his guarantor pays for him. The law is in force for the rich one – not the one who has eaten and who has drunk everything he has. So, the one, who does not want to pay, should not become a guarantor.

 

As they do not understand the laws of life, people cause themselves misfortune. In this respect people often resemble flies that alight wherever they can. The fly is highly conceited. It alights on prominent places: on the nose, on the forehead, on the eyebrows, on the face of the human. With this it wants to show him that it has a high origin. As he catches it with his fingers, though, a man shows it that it cannot compare to him. Consequently, as soon as he enters the world, the human should alight at a secret place, that is – at the last place, so that no one can see him. The law also has hands. As soon as the law catches you, it will hold you until it wants. – But I am of noble birth. – As you are of noble birth, get rid of its hands. Prove the strength of your origin. As he sees that he cannot cope with his problems, the human – like the fly – begins to ask and sing to be released. The fly says to a man who holds it in his hands: If you are a musician, be merciful towards me. I am a small, little creature. I thought that I am strong, but I saw that there are people stronger than me. If you press me, you will smash me. So, the human opens his hand and the fly, flies away freely. What will this fly tell her friends? It will tell them: as you go to the world of the laws, do not get too close to them. Always stay far away and occupy the last place.

 

As they love someone, people act as the fly does – they sit near him. They like to get near and feel him. Someone says: As I love someone I want to constantly see him before my eyes. What will you acquire if you constantly keep your sweetheart near you, though? To be physically close to someone is not real intimacy. Intimacy is something internal. You can be intimate with a man as you hold him in your mind and heart. The same holds true from him. This relation is sacred. To hold the man in your mind – in the endless world of the thought, and in your heart – in the wide world of feelings – this is intimacy. The physical intimacy of people causes discontent, collisions, and discrepancies between them. This is the situation of the branches of the tree. Even the faintest wind causes them to rub against one another; as a result they maim each other.

 

As regards Love, contemporary people begin well and end badly. Why? Because they trespass the distance in which Love acts. Two friends, or a young lady and a young man, that love one another, initially are ready to see each other form afar only. For instance, the young man says: I want to catch a glimpse of my sweetheart from afar only. As he manages to catch a glimpse of her, he is contented and happy all day long; he sings, works, and walks and he is constantly thinking about her. On the second day, as he sees her, he says: I want to just catch a glimpse of her. But as he sees her, he tries to widen the angle of his sight – he wants to sweep her completely with his glance. On the third day, he wants to hear just one word from her, to hear her voice. As he hears her voice, he is happy and he does not want anything else from her. On the fourth day, he says to himself: I heard her voice and she has an angelic voice, but I want her to tell me something. As the young lady says a word to him, he is in the seventh heaven of happiness. But after that, even this does not satisfy him – he feels like talking with her, he wants to understand what she thinks. Day after day he approaches her, until finally one day they quarrel. Lovers are very sensitive. Their ear is so refined that each rough word causes a wound in their hearts. Since the words of the lovers cause a wound in their hearts, this shows that Love has left them. Love requires ideal experiences in human relations. For his excuse man says that although he is rude externally, at least he has internal experience. Love requires from the human both external and internal experience though. The human draws his way and his relations with people on his own. He himself is the reason to make people respect or not respect him. The respect of others depends on his experience. The attitude of other people towards you will resemble your attitude towards them. This is a law for the physical, for the spiritual, and for the Divine world. Besides it is noticed that each negative deed in the spiritual world causes its consequences in the physical world as well. For instance, if the human tells a lie, he will certainly meet with disaster – he will fall, get ill, or someone will cause him some trouble. Therefore, it was said in the Scriptures that everything is above board in the world. No matter how small the lie is, it resembles the microbes that multiply and bring misfortunes to people. As it multiplies, the lie leaves its filth within the human mind and heart with which it causes him great harm.

 

As people encounter difficulties and suffering, or before evil - people want to escape far away. Whatever they do, though, they cannot avoid them. Before all, evil is not outside the human – it is within him. If evil is outside the human only, it is harmless. While it is outside the human, evil exists just as a possibility. As it enters within the human - it penetrates his blood and poisons him. As he knows this, the human should not allow even a single thought [M1] within his mind, nor a single bad feeling or desire within his heart. The mental energy that is given to the human is meant only for good thoughts. The energy of the heart is meant only for good feelings and desires. The energy of the human will is given for good deeds only. The human is free to think, feel, and act as he likes, but he bears responsibility for all this and there are consequences as well. Many people talk about free will and say that the human can live, think, feel, and act as he understands and as he wants. Indeed, the human has free will and he can live as he likes, but there will be destiny for him as well. He will not be released from the responsibility for his deeds. If he does not want to be brought to trial, he has to live, as God wants. As he enters school, a student follows the program that the masters have determined – not his own program. The student, who has entered the musical academy, plays what the programme requires. The student from the art academy draws the pictures that are provided by the programme.

 

The human has been sent to the Earth to study what God has determined. As he does not fulfil these programs, he makes mistakes and commits crimes. As he encounters some responsibility, the human excuses himself with the argument that he has followed his planned way. What is the way he follows and who has determined this way? Someone might say that he had to marry and that the marriage was predetermined for him. Does he know who has determined this way for him? To marry or not to marry – this is a way determined by God. Consequently, as he accepts this way, man has to ask the One that has drawn it whether he should follow this way or not. God has determined that someone should marry and another one – not. What do we see in life, though? Usually, people that are determined to marry do not marry and those, that are not determined to marry - they marry. Few people do what has been determined for them to do. There is something in man that strives to do what is forbidden for him to do. If man marries or not or not – being sentenced to suffering. [M2] If you do not want to suffer – do the will of God. In other words – man should first do the will of his father and hear from him, that he has done good. Then he should do the will of his mother and hear from her, that he has done well. Finally, he has to do his own will and hear from the one who lives within him, that he has done well. As he hears these three voices, as he received approval for his deeds from these three places, this shows that the human follows the right way in his life.

 

Man suffers. Why? Because of three reasons: either because he does not think right, or because he does not feel right, or because he does not act right. Consequently, the real right is the right that is thought over, felt, and done right. As I tell you what is right and wrong, I do not accuse anyone. If I accuse you, I will accuse myself as well. If I accuse you, I will spot myself. What do I profit if I get dirty? Not only do I not profit from anything – I lose. Someone complains that he was robbed. How much did they take from him? They took one hundred leva from his safe. I take out one hundred leva from my pocket and give it to him. As we correct the mistake of our brother, we correct our own mistake as well. Should the man steal and commit crimes, then? The human should not steal, but he should know one thing: the mistake, or the crime, is not so much in the theft, as in the deception that the human brings into his mind – the deception that as he steals something from here and there, he will settle his problems. As he steals something, man puts it before his eyes and consciousness and thus he blocks the light and cannot see clearly. Do not occupy yourselves with the mistakes and the crimes of other people. If you occupy yourself with their mistakes, you will do more than they had done. Observe the cleanness of your mind, heart, and will.

 

Contemporary people ask themselves if it isn't possible to live without suffering. The one, who has not understood the meaning of suffering, wants to break free from it. The one, who understands their  sense knows, that suffering is [M3] necessary for the development of the human. Without suffering there is no development. Each wellborn suffering is always being rewarded. For each offensive word, the human receives ten kind words. If one of the kind words erases the bad one, the remaining nine kind words will remain as a reserve capital. As someone asks why he should be offended, tell him, that each wellborn insult leads to great wealth. Whenever they say a bad word about you, ten kind words follow it. Thus the one, who insults you, is unconsciously doing you a favour. As you know this, do not seek your rights. Let God give you your right. While you seek your right for yourself, you will not get any blessing. As soon as you let God, He will intercede for you and you will get His benevolence. [M4] As they abuse, pursue, and offend you, pronounce blessings to God within yourself, so that you can get His blessing.

 

Often people render an account of their deeds, thoughts, and feelings and ask themselves why they do not succeed. They say that once they loved each other stronger[M5]  than today. The reason for this is that they have put some people very close to themselves; as a result they have hidden the horizon before their sight. Consequently, do not let the man closer to yourself than God himself has put him. What will be your situation as some singer starts to sing directly in your ear? No matter how well he sings, you will wish you could move away from him. If the same singer moves away from you, though, you will listen to him with pleasure. The greater the distance between you – the better. What will you gain if you want to familiarize with one another by drawing near? What will happen with you if the Sun comes two times nearer than now? You say that you will have more light. Indeed, if the Sun comes nearer to Earth, we will have more light, but it will be too bright and hardly bearable. The planet Venus that is nearer to the Sun is enveloped in vapours. As it passes through the vapours, the Sun energy lessens its intensity considerably, due to which there is life on Venus.

 

Many people want to be loved by everyone and to make use of the great amounts of Love. Do not strive to be loved more than God has foreseen. Do not want your mothers, fathers, and friends to love you more than what God has foreseen. If they love you more that they should, you will be exposed to suffering.

 

If we dwell in light and if the light dwells in you, the world will manifest itself to us. According to the law of Love, man can know things only as they are put in the proper place. And in order to be loved by someone, you should put yourself at such a distance from him as God has put you. In order to be able to see the stars clearly, the astronomer should put his telescope at a strictly determined place from each star. As he puts it at a place at which the stars he wants to observe are in focus, they are seen clearly. Usually a man puts the subjects and the people he loves nearer to his eyes; the less he loves them – the further they are from his sight. If he does not love them – he does not see them at all. The rational man puts things at a proper distance. As he puts them at the required distance, he loves them as much as he has to. As long as you love the people as much as you have to and as long as they love you as much as they have to – then both you and them are at the places determined by God.

 

Christ says: “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” Whatever might happen in the outside world – do not judge. You can learn from the mistakes of the outside world, but do not judge them. Judge not and praise not. – But don’t I have the right to express my opinion? – You have the right to express the opinion of God, but not your own opinion. No one needs the opinion of the human. The world needs the competent opinion of God, but not the opinion of the human, who today thinks in one way and tomorrow - in another way. The opinion of the one who is a channel of God is valuable.

Some religious people are constantly citing what Christ said two thousand years ago. Christ had spoken well then, but he continues to talk even to this day. To insist only on the words that Christ has spoken in the past is to enjoy the words of a five-year old child. This child has already grown, though, and it has become a 21-year-old young man. Listen to what Christ says today. In the past, Christ spoke to the Jews both with Word and with a whip, in compliance with their development in those times. To contemporary people, Christ talks in another way and language. So, listen to what He tells you today. Do you want that Christ should talk to you with a whip, or do you want Him to talk to you with some other law? It is preferable that Christ speaks to the people today through the law of Love, Wisdom, and Truth, rather than through the law of the whip. Apply the law of Love first towards yourselves. As soon as you apply the law of Love towards yourselves and forgive yourselves, you will be able to apply the same law towards your fellow men as well. God is all forgiving. As he makes some mistake, the human hears within himself the voice of God, who tells him: correct your mistake and do not make more mistakes. Judge not, that ye be not judged. As you judge the others, your faith will return to you.[M6] 

 

From this day to the year of 1939, a great award is determined to the one who does not say a bad word, who does not allow a bad thought in his mind, who does not accept a bad feeling in his heart, and who does not do a bad deed during the remaining three months of the year. If he can restrain himself from everything negative except the appointed award, he will preserve his energy: he will not get angry, he will not lose his temper, and he will not quarrel. As he sees that two people are quarrelling, he should retreat to such a distance, as to be able to hear and see just the good. Rational man requires that all people live like brothers and with love. The rational world is bored by the disorder that the people have brought into the world, by the wrong human thoughts, feelings, deeds, and by the human delusions. The human delusions reflect in the great world and cause great cataclysms. The rational world has decided to punish humans – not by a flood as in the past, but by fire. People have dug underwater[M7]  hiding-places to protect themselves from their own bombs, but where will they hide from the fire that descends from above? This fire will melt the Earth at a distance of more than 25 meters. Then, where and how will people hide from this fire? What will remain of humanity then? The one who survives will tell. If this is true or not – all of you will try[M8] . Everyone on Earth will experience this fire. You should be ready to withstand this fire as the three young men withstood the furnace.

 

The fire which I am talking about today has already begun to exercise its influence. It has warmed many people. We can see the function of this fire in the world by the disorders of the human nervous system, by the physical and mental diseases of humans. For those that follow the Divine Way, this fire is a blessing. For those that do not follow the Divine Way - this fire is a torment.

 

I wish you to follow the way of Love. You do follow the way of Love but in a wrong way. What is wrong? The wrong is in this, that as you love someone, you bring him nearer to you than you should. If you do not love him, you remove him from yourself more than you should. I would advise you to think, feel, and act as God thinks, feels, and acts through you. As soon as you reach the manifestations of Love, put people neither very near, nor very far from yourselves. As soon as you have to make a judgment of things, neither reproach, nor praise each other. The distance at which people should stay from one another should be determined by their needs. Two people meet: one of them is thirsty and carries a glass of water and the other one carries an earthen jug of water. One of them hands the glass and the other one is filling it. The distance between the lovers should correspond to the distance between the stretched hand of the thirsty one and the person that is filling his glass with water. As long as they keep this distance, their relations will always be good. The hand is a measure for the distance between humans. As two people hold out their hands, they themselves determine the distance at which God has put them.

 

Consequently, if he wants to follow the way of Love, man should put his mind, his heart, and his will in their proper places. This is what God wants from each man. This means to do the will of God. If he does not observe properly the law of God, no matter how man excuses himself, something inside him tells him: You do not do good – correct your mistake. In order to do the will of God man should think, feel, and act according to a proper tone. The correct tone makes the thought light, the feelings – warm and good, and the deeds – noble. The mind, the heart, and the will of the human also have a proper tone. As the mind, the heart, and the will are being manifested according to their tone, the human feels joy and delight in himself. He is glad, that he thinks, feels, and acts correctly. As you properly apply the tone of his life, you will hear the voice of your Father: Courage, my good and faithful servant! Strive boldly, my good and faithful son!

 

So, put each thing in its proper place as you put the numbers in place. As you arrange the numbers from one to ten, you see that each preceding number is less than the following one. If you owe one lev, you are glad that your debt is small. But if you put number one at the place of number nine – your delight disappears. The debt which was in the first place, in the place of number one, now increases nine more times. Consequently, do not change the order of things, so that you do not cause excessive sufferings to yourself.

 

As disciples, you should strike the right note, that is – you should think properly. If he does not think properly, the human cannot sing well; if he does not feel properly, he cannot express himself by singing; he cannot put strength and a note in his singing. The human cannot sing well without the participation of his mind, heart, and will. As he sings in this way, the human can self-habituate himself. As you sing, Love, Wisdom, and Truth should take part in your singing and you should express everything that God has imprinted in you. This is real singing.

 

Now I wish you to sing in such a way that your mind, heart, will, soul, and spirit may sing with you. Open your soul to Love, Knowledge, and Light, to Freedom and Peace. Give effect to the Good within yourself in order to connect with all the rational beings that are coming to help you.

 

I wish you to get in touch with the reasonable beings that come to congratulate you for your courage, and for the fact that you have thought, felt, and acted, as God requires.

I wish the warmth of Love, the Light of Wisdom, and the strength of Truth to be your companions!

 

Lecture, given by the Master on September 22, 1939, Sofia at the residential district of Izgrev at 5 a.m.

 

 [M1]{single bad thought}

 [M2]Unclear. {If man marries or not – he is being sentenced to suffering.}

 [M3]{the sense of suffering knows that it is…}

 [M4]{As soon as you let God intercede for you, you will get His benevolence.}

 [M5]{more}

 [M6]Unclear. This sentence seems to contradict what is said in this paragraph. I find it confusing as it says not to judge and in this sentence if we judge others our faith will return! It does not make sense.

 [M7]

{underground}

 [M8]Unclear. What will everyone try? Maybe  this should read - {all of you will experience it}