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1932_04_21 THE GOOD SEED


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Note 2p

 

THE GOOD SEED

 

The Good Prayer

 

I shall read Chapter 13, line twenty-four, from Mathew, ‘Another parable put He forth before them, saying, ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is likened unto a man who sowed good seed in his field.’

 

Learn Psalm 93 for next week.

 

Something new must enter your life. I consider all your viewpoints out-dated, old clothes. You need new clothes for Easter, these are worn out here and there, there are holes, the colours faded, at places the holes are big, patches are needed.

 

One has to study from the cradle to the grave. One has to dedicate one’s entire life to studying. One should not think that in a year, two or three years, one will learn everything and one will go visiting places ever after, sleeping in soft beds and eating delicious meals. These things are possible but one has to pay through the nose. If you take the entire human history, you will see that those who lived quite an opulent life - the kings – paid dearly. Even Solomon, who was one of the wisest kings of Israel, had to pay through the nose. The Scripture does not say anything about this, but there is one internal aspect, which he himself called ‘vanity of vanities’ and ‘all is vanity’. A great wise man who lived to see great disappointments, wanted to say that what one lived with is nonsense. You would sacrifice anything for this nonsense. If you were invited to become a queen you would accept on the spot. When one becomes king, one does not go to church. If one tries to go to church an entire envoy will escort him. Earlier on one used to go on foot, now – by car. Do you know what I believe the behaviour of such people, riding in cars, resembles? Children who cannot walk also ride in baby-carriages[1] and are attended by servants. In the spiritual aspect, all those who ride in automobiles and carriages are children; horses and coachmen drive them, while they think they are big shots. These are children. They have to step down and walk. Children, when they grow up, get out of the baby-carriage and walk on foot. And you sometimes regret that you do not have a carriage. It’s nice to have a carriage while one is a child, but when one grows up it’s nice to walk on foot. Because if an adult person does not practice walking his legs will atrophy. As soon as one’s leg atrophies, one cannot be virtuous. Legs correspond to virtues; arms – to Justice; eyes – to the Truth, ears – to Wisdom; the mouth – to Love. Carriages are for children, adults should walk on foot.  And you will pray that your arms, your legs – every part of your body are healthy.

 

You will know a person by one’s house. You will know that the host is tidy by his house. In a spiritual respect there is a bond between the physical and the spiritual life. There are no separate spiritual and secular lives; these are only separated in our understanding. We call spiritual the life of higher aspirations, while secular we call the life of lower aspirations.

 

Christ says, ‘the Good seed’. In parallel with the seed something opposite might grow, which should not worry you. For instance, a bad thought may get its way into you alongside some good thought. This happens when your consciousness is not awake.  Some bad thought enters and when you delve into your consciousness, you will see that an image has come from somewhere. One should always keep one’s consciousness awake. For example you are in town, you wash your garment and hang it on the washing line, but it gets dirty from the soot in the air. But an intelligent person will hang it where it won’t get dirty. Good things should be kept tucked away at such places where there is no soot.

 

People often say that God will do this and that for us. God attends to His business very well, but our business is lagging behind. We have to get down to work and each one should have a task. Each should ask oneself what one has to do. Often we stop in the world and say, ‘The world is not what we would like it be.’ This statement should not be an obstacle to us. That the world is bad is just a subjective understanding, and another person can have exactly the opposite opinion. The world is good when we are good; the world is bad, when we are bad. It is often the case when you are feverish that your taste is a bit off – whatever you are given, as soon as you taste it you say that it is bitter and tasteless. Actually the dish is not tasteless and when you overcome your fever, it becomes tasty. Sometimes even water seems to taste bitter.

 

You have to move to a new condition. You have to understand Life as science, as art. Life is an art by itself. Each one of you has to study one, two, three, four, five kinds of art. A person has about forty abilities and each one of them can develop art. Hence, a person has room for forty kinds of art. A person has as many feelings within, which can facilitate the development of certain virtues. And now religious people are in the habit of saying a prayer or two; twice a day they address God and regard themselves as very religious. Someone is said to pray three times a day. Wonderful, but he eats three times a day, sleeps eight hours a day. What has one attained from sleeping when asleep; what has one attained from the food by eating three times a day or when praying three times a day; what has one attained? One is supposed to attain something from each prayer.

 

I shall tell you something that you have to remember: if you go to a clean spring of water, you will fill a vessel and will bring it back; if you go to a certain location where there are diamonds and emeralds, which one of you would not indulge in taking a stone. People often go to God, but come back from this fine area without bringing back anything. What is the worth then of such a walk? When a person is going around like this for ten-twenty years, one finally starts getting older, starts doubting. It goes without saying, when a person is getting poorer one starts asking oneself whether one has ever been rich. Also when a person grows older, one thinks that there was a time one was young, but that now he is old and even he himself does not believe that he has been young – he has changed without taking any notice of it, as if he has always been old. This is why such a person has to rejuvenate his outlook all the time.

 

 One meal or three meals a day won’t do it; three times a day is rather insufficient. Nowadays it is compulsory not to eat a lot, as it takes a lot of resources. Some people eat once every twenty-four hours, others – twice, three times, four times. But from a spiritual point of view one must nourish one’s mind. There are ordinary situations in this respect which only amuse people. Of course this depends on one’s feelings. There are cases when an idea, a feeling imposes itself upon a man without one really having any intention of doing so. An idle thought [feeling] may keep his mind busy for many years and not allow space for anything inspiring and noble within him. For example, somebody would like to become rich and he keeps thinking about this from morning till night. He keeps making money, for days and for weeks on end, believing that he would have enough wealth to live on, but suddenly the Invisible world takes it away. Not that one’s desire to be rich is bad; one has to be rich, but one has to be looking for one’s wealth in the right direction. One has to have the wealth that nobody else can take away from him. If a man is rich and used one’s wealth to develop one’s virtues, to serve the people close to him – this is good; but if the wealth is an obstacle to his good, it transforms into a trap. For example, if you talk in a room, your speech cannot be heard outside; if you pray in a golden house, your prayer will reach the golden ceiling and will not go to God. If your thought is not warm, and if your heart is not warm, this prayer has no effect. Consciousness should be very awake in every prayer and what you are praying for should be a necessity for you. The Scripture reads, ‘Let it be all that you want![2]’ What you want in your prayers should be the most substantial, most significant, and everything else will come on its own accord. The most important should come first. If Life comes, it brings all of its blessing with itself; if the Holy Spirit comes, then Freedom comes on its own accord; if Light comes, knowledge will be acquired. Where there is Love, there is Light too.

 

The ‘good seed’ is understood to mean what a human being is endowed with. For example, a man is old and is expecting to die, to go to the other world. Why should the other world need old people? The other world does not need old people, nor does it need ignorant, sinful, feeble or poor people. There are no hospitals there. The Scripture says that nothing impure will enter the other world. As long as you enter the other world pure, you will not be subjected to the changes that are going on here on the earth – there will be no evil, there will be no poverty, there will be no diseases.

 

You want a certain life, but you expect it to be automatically given to you, you do not want to work for it. For instance, what part of your day and night do you dedicate to visiting God? You use your time exclusively for yourselves. Few were those that I met who used their time for God. Everyone prays to God for one’s children, for one’s husband, for a hat, for clothes. At other time one prays to become good, but to work for God few have I seen! First you have to acquire that condition when no needs of yours will be a concern for you. If a person serves God with understanding, all of his needs will be gratified. But if one wants to satisfy one’s own needs first and then to give away from the abundance one has, this is also possible. A discontent is born in the former case, however: no matter how pure and holy one tries to be, one sees that one still needs something and is constantly discontented. One waits to become pure and holy first and only then to do something, but sometimes one leaves this world while waiting. One thinks and thinks and says, ‘This is not going to happen now.’ And one departs with this thought. But this may happen because one should not rely on the good one does, but has to allow the good within to work. The good is common for all the people; it is nobody’s private property. The Good is the Divine that works within everybody. Some are better as they allow more room for the Divine to work in them; others are not so good, as they allow less room for the Divine to work within them. If I put it figuratively, some of you have houses with more windows, others with fewer windows. This issue depends to a certain extent on your viewpoints. You want to live among perfect people above all. This would be ideal, but what can be done now that there are no such perfect people?! Now that you live among people who are not perfect, what should you do?

 

People are resourceful. Sometimes the good people have to be as resourceful as the drunkards. A drunkard drank but his hand started trembling. When he took the glass his hand trembled and he couldn’t drink wine. He was aggrieved that he could no longer drink and was constantly trying to figure out a way to sip wine from the glass. One day he made a gadget: he took a piece of wood and a rope, he ran it through his neck and started pulling, he drank wine and everything ended. Thus God finally tied both his hands and he stopped drinking… A strong man should place a glass of wine in front of himself and should say, ‘I am the master of the glass; I am the one giving orders! I now order you to stay outside and to stay put!’ He places the glass on the table and goes out to take a walk; then he comes back and says the same.

 

Let’s assume that you are displeased with a sister and when you see her, your heart trembles, you are annoyed; what should you do? Commission a picture of hers to be drawn, buy it and keep it in your room. You will tell the picture, ‘You shall not annoy me, I am your master!’ You will see that your heart will start beating differently. The first days when you see the portrait, you will be uneasy, you won’t even be able to pray, but persevere in this, keep her picture until you succeed. In time you will notice that the portrait of this sister has started changing. If you keep looking at this sister for two or three months you will see that alongside the change in the portrait the sister herself will change. When she meets you she will look at you in a more benign way.

 

You live in a world, in a school and all of these issues that you face are assignments that you have to resolve properly. Some day the teacher in this subject will call you and will ask you how you will resolve this problem. This is the way to look upon your life. You ask why God has assigned this to you. You know why? Even the pupils at school know why they are taught geometry, geography, mathematics etc. These are subjects to study. For example, some of you have fears; this is not a subject. Fears are bad, but it’s even worse without fears. If a person had no sense of fear, on coming into Sofia, the carriages will run him over while otherwise he takes care of himself, walks on the pavement and thus safeguards his life. The sense of prudence must be added to this fear.

 

When God sees that we can use the gifts He granted to us, and that we develop them, He is pleased. The teacher is pleased when the pupil studies. When the pupil plays an instrument properly, draws or paints properly, when the pupil recites something nice, the teacher is pleased. When you enter Heaven, the Invisible world, when you go to the King’s Gates, you will be asked to recite a poem. Which poem will you recite? You do not know even a single poem as yet, but you are wondering which one to choose. There you will be asked first to sing a song. Which song will you sing? If you sing the song properly the door will open on its own accord; if you do not sing it properly, the door will remain closed. If you recite the poem properly the door will open on its own accord; if you do not recite it properly, the door will remain closed. Someone will ask whether this is to be understood literally or allegorically. Understand it as you like, but this will happen. The Scripture reads, ‘The cowards shall not inherit the Kingdom of God’. Because when the cowards leave for the Invisible world, they will be tested with the worst fictitious trials. They will get frightened and they shall not enter; even if they want to make them enter, they won’t be able to.

 

A Bulgarian teacher was riding in a carriage, but she was afraid of buffalos. She saw buffalos about half a kilometer ahead, she jumped out of the carriage and took to her heels. Which is safer – to stay in the carriage or to be running? If a buffalo is chasing you, running will not be of help, and it would be much safer in the carriage. And lastly this buffalo does not think of her; the buffalo can only raise its head to see who is passing by. We all have a buffalo. There is nobody among you having no such buffalo, that when the buffalo comes your heart starts beating. One fears one thing, somebody else fears another; but each one of us fears something. There comes a disease, your legs swell and you say, ‘What if it affects my heart!?’ One is brave while one is healthy, but one’s strength can be seen when one is sick. One has to fall sick to find out how strong one is. This is a test. Diseases, indispositions and hardships that afflict us are conditions only on the physical level. Every one of you has had such indispositions without being aware of the underlying reason. You sometimes feel sad, it seems that the whole world has become bad; some other time you are discontented, you do not want to meet anybody, you want to escape in the forest. As soon as all this passes over, your condition changes. This indisposition is not the person himself or herself; it is a strange tenant. You are often harnessed like a horse and you pull the carriage all day long. The one who harnessed you lets you free in the evening but the whole day you have been working for the master.

 

There is another aspect to it: it is often the case that out of ignorance we inflict misfortunes upon us. A little calf enters the yard of a farmer, finds a pot of barley and eats it up, his head being stuck in the pot at the end. The calf raises its head but cannot see, and the people have no explanation as to how the pot happened to be on its head. This calf did not know the consequences, but sometime a man can stick one’s head into such a pot. The farmer comes and wonders how to free the calf. They start pulling the pot, but they fail to pull it off. They suggest slaying the calf. Some say that the calf is not theirs and others say that the pot is nice. Finally they decide to break the pot… Indeed, sometimes a man has to place one’s head into a pot to get things straightened. Good pots can make flower pots, but they should not be on one’s head. Or put in other words, one should never allow a thought to wrap one’s mind in such a way that it becomes like a pot. Never get attached to any object to an extent that it blinds you. This calf thought that it will solve all the problems by putting its head into the pot.  

 

These thoughts that I am telling you show what a man must be aware of. One has to know which the substantial issues in the world are. There are substantial issues that will come on their own accord, and there are issues that are not substantial. They are a burden to the person.

 

There are differences among women. One woman is stronger; another one is more intelligent, another one is apprehensive. All this has its reasons. The strong woman is strong because she practiced; the apprehensive one has become apprehensive because she practiced apprehensiveness; a person becomes what one practices. Through practice a person can equally acquire a negative and a positive feeling. Only that one has to persevere along the Path. Sometimes things do not happen overnight. For example, somebody says, ‘I will pray to God.’ When you pray to God, He will send you to a person who has been along your Path so that he or she can teach you. Sooner or later you will meet the person who can teach you. Don’t be looking for happiness, never want to be happy, because it is impossible to be happy. Look at Heaven and see that everything there is nice: God is there, happiness is there. Happiness is where God is. As soon as you find where God is, there you will find happiness. There is no fine day without the Sun. As soon as the Sun sets, the fine day is over. When you leave for somewhere in a dark night, you will be happy as long as you have a burning candle, but when the candle goes away[A1] , you will be unhappy. And true happiness, derived from the presence of God, never goes away.

 

You should not be looking for ways to be good; you should be looking for the good, because a man cannot be good. Somebody, whom you love, comes; you give him a clean towel; somebody else comes, whom you do not love, you speak slightingly to him. Where is your good? If you are treated like this, you will take offence right away, but according to our existing understanding, we consider ourselves to be very good, like the one who cannot sing, but considers himself a good singer.  

 

I was told that somebody was a very good violinist; I let him play the violin and found out that he was an ordinary performer. I have an explanation why people think he plays well: they like the songs he plays; while I consider the songs he played to me ordinary. Subsequently he is a good violinist according to some and according to others – he is not. A violinist, playing well to the dead, who plays the same pieces to the alive, will be beaten. A violinist, playing well to the alive, who plays the same pieces to the dead, will also be beaten. Why is it that very sad songs are played to the dead? If these souls go to God, why should gloomy songs be sung to them? The songs played to them are fit for escorting somebody to the scaffold. There is no logic in all of this and subsequently such songs are out of place. Such a song isn’t for Heaven, which means that such a person does not go to God, but to the place of suffering. If you leave for the other world, what song should be played to you?... You need an absolutely new vision: when a person is born you will sing a song halfway, and when the person dies you will sing the end of the song. You will sing the same song – half of it at birth, and the other half on leaving for the other world. You shall not sing different songs. If the song consists of four stanzas, you will sing the first two stanzas at birth, and the other two stanzas – on leaving. If a child is born to you, you would like to sing the first half of a nice song that brings in happiness; when leaving for the other world you will sing the other half of the song. I will now tell you half of the truth and when you are leaving for the other world I will tell you the other half of the truth. It is impossible to say everything now. There are things that if disclosed to you now, you will say, ‘Time does not allow this, time does not allow that…’ But when you are dying and when are being born time allows it.

 

So, I was saying, that when the good seed grows the fruit is gathered in the Divine granary. This is going into the other world. Do not understand it in the bad sense, I do not mean the physical world. When a man changes fundamentally, he will pass from one life into another. If you ask the one leaving one’s body, he is ready to sacrifice everything. So far he has been a miser, but when dying he says, ‘I give this much to this person and that much to that person!’ He gives away everything, only that it is too late. One has to give away but not when dying, but while still living. And his heirs will quarrel over what one leaves as legacy after one’s death, they will call him, and he will talk to them not to quarrel. Thus they will create an entire misfortune for him.

 

You want to find the right Path now. No, find it when you are leaving for the other world. Then you have to have a guide-book to Heaven, so that you know where the Path is and how you can start along it. Along this Path you will walk in Life.

 

I am not saying that you are not convinced. One has to know things well so that one can be of help to the others. Because sometimes a person places oneself to a test before clarifying the truth in advance. However, one should not have any uncertainties as to the final truth one believes in. There are two issues that a person should not hesitate about: first of all one should never have any doubts as to the Truth; and secondly, one should never have any doubts as to the power of one’s knowledge. I am not talking about Love, because the slightest doubt in Love always leads to death. Doubting the Divine Wisdom leads to great suffering; and doubting love leads to death. Those who doubt Love die; death is the consequence of uncertainties in Love. And suffering is the result of any hesitation in the Truth or in the Divine Wisdom. Then suffering comes to show you that there is one who knows. After suffering for a long time, you will go to God and he will tell you that you are suffering because you have doubts.

 

I am now asking which one of you does not have doubts. Not that this is a sin, not that you do it intentionally, but I am telling you that there is an internal law. There is one law in the world, similar to the one that sows the wheat and puts it in the sieve. When wheat grains become flour, it remains at the bottom, and the other stuff is on top. Not that a housewife minds, but she places aside what is on top, and elsewhere what is at the bottom. Every person will come to this sieve. You will first find yourself sown in the Divine field; you will follow the path of the wheat grain. You have to find a way to grow, to endure the winter, the wind, the cold, until you understand the Divine ways. Not that God has anything against you, but this is to your advantage, this is the only way for you to develop. Otherwise you will keep staying in the barn. When God wants to grant us freedom, He passes us from one condition into another. The external suffering comes as a process of the consciousness. Suffering shows that we are along the right Path. As long as you suffer you can be sure that you are on the right Path. But as soon as you no longer suffer on the earth, then you may start having doubts. 

 

Now, you have to study this profound science of self-education. You have to educate yourselves. One has to work upon oneself in order for one to become strong. A man has to work for one’s Freedom, but he also has to acquire knowledge. And in order to acquire knowledge, a man has to have a broad mind, has to study. I would like all of you to be very diligent, to study and to make small experiments all the time. You are in an Occult School. I see a striving in you to serve God.

 

I can create as much as work as you like. I can give you the following experiment: to walk ten to twenty kilometres along a road and to give water to any passers-by; you will be walking and giving water till noon. You will say that this does not become you. You want an experiment, don’t you? Who will be put to test? Will you or the passers-by be put to test, if you are assigned such an experiment? You can do it! Do you think it will be an experience? This is a teaching. Now, I am not sending you to sell something, but to be on the road for about four to five hours and offer water from the pot. It is a science to know which one is thirsty. You shall not treat everybody to water; you will stand and try to guess which one is thirsty and you will offer a glass of water to a thirsty passer-by. Then you will sit by the road, you will count and take notice how many thirsty people there are. This will be your profit. You will take a new pot and you will see how many glasses of water it can hold. You shall not measure it in advance; you will count the glasses while giving water. You shall not waste a single drop. You shall take a notebook and if somebody says something you will note it down. After coming back you will count how many glasses of water you gave away and what the people said. This will be your salary. When you finish with this I will ask you what you learnt and how many sentences have you written down. You will have four stanzas of poetry. If I can assign this task to you some day, you will have an experience that rarely happens. But a person has to be inspired by the law of Divine Love in order to do this.

 

Similarly God sometimes puts man in a strange situation. When Christ came to the earth, He was put in a strange situation: he was sent to serve the people who were much lower than Him. Therefore you should not be fed up with life. You will take as example the great souls who lived a humble life on the earth. You have to know that humility is the line along which Divine Blessing runs. A man who is not humble cannot receive the Divine Blessing. If you are proud, you are a high peak and the Divine Blessing cannot run toward it. You have to be humble, meek, kind-hearted, good for the Divine Blessing to come to you. Why do you have to be good? So that the Divine Blessing can reach you. 

 

This is the good seed that is sown. Other people have sown weed, but good is only what God put in man. The rule is: only what God put in us is good, and what all other people have put afterwards in us is weed. Nothing put in us afterwards by anybody shall bear fruit, but the Divine will bear fruit.

 

‘The Lord’s Prayer’

 

Lecture delivered by the Master

 

On 21 April 1932

 

Sofia, Izgreva

 

 


[1] There is one word in Bulgarian, translating as ‘car’, that is used for ‘automobile’ and ‘pram’

[2] To Editor: this is certainly a quotation – sorry, I can’t quote precisely.

 [A1][blows out]

 

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