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1936_03_22 The Father Loves Me


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THE FATHER LOVES ME

 

John 10:17

 

"For this reason my Father loves me." To have the love of God, this is the real greatness in the world. Man cannot have any achievement unless he knows the Great in the world and until the Great knows him.

 

In his life man may meet with two dangers: to go to a fountain that flows feebly, drop by drop, with a large vessel; to go with a small vessel to a great spring which drives mills and fulleries. In the first case he will wait a whole day until his vessel is full. In the second instance his vessel will soon be filled and he will have to go many times to the spring, losing his time to obtain water for his needs. Those are two incompatibilities, two unnatural conditions which people meet often in their lives and with which they do not know how to cope. What is the cause for these disparities? -The lack of understanding of life. This in turn is due to the delusions of people. They are at a crossroad and do not know which way to go. Man is easily mislead. If a person is given a precious stone and a grain of wheat he will prefer the jewel. Why? - Because if he sells the jewel, with the money he receives he may buy thousands of bushels of wheat. But in the real, in the spiritual, in the perfect world wheat is not bought and sold in bushels. There it is not kept in barns. It may be found hanging from trees as you see here on earth apples, pears, lemons, oranges hanging on their trees. There the wheat grains have different sizes.

 

These are comparisons with which I want to make clear my idea without expecting you to believe as I do. I do not want you to believe as I do, because my faith is leased on great experiences, on countless experiments. Whether you believe in this or not, is your own affair. When I bring out the truth before people, I speak only of that which I know and of that which I have experienced. As for you, each person will make conclusions based on his own knowledge. Knowledge depends upon the experiences which man makes. Knowledge without experience does not exist. Unless he has experienced bitterness, man does not know what it really is. Unless he has experienced sweetness, man does not know what it is. Man does not know what God is, what love is, and what freedom is until he has experienced them.

 

What is freedom? In the physical sense of the word freedom means the condition of the human organism when all of its organs are free of any limitations or obstructions. If you look at the feet of the free man you will see that they move lightly, swiftly without any inner obstacle. Freedom in respect to the heart, as we understand it, means that every feeling which comes from the human heart flows quietly, calmly, without storms and shocks. As soon as something appears which constricts either man's feelings or thoughts, then he is no more free. In freedom everything is in its place. When things or manifestations change, they are out of the world of freedom. You see a woman who laughs and cries alternately. Why? - She is an actress who plays on the stage. When she comes down from the stage she says that she has cried much. She has cried while she has been on stage. When she goes down from the stage the crying stops. Children cry most of all. Why? - They want to attain something. If they see that they cannot easily realize some wish, they immediately begin to cry. With their tears they oil the rope to slide easier. When someone greases a silk rope with fine oil, he has something in the back of his mind.

 

During the Turkish yoke, when someone was hung on the scaffold, soap was rubbed on the rope so that it would fit better the neck of the man who was to be hung. The thicker and less greased rope could not fit well the neck of the victim. You will say that this is knowledge. If your knowledge extends only to the degree that you know how to hang a man easily and surely - then this is no knowledge. In such cases it is better if the rope is not greased, that is, it is better if you do not have such a knowledge and do not hang people. If weeping puts man in the condition of an actor, it is not in its right place. But if weeping ennobles man's feelings - then it is in its proper place. Somebody weeps because he has eaten nothing, or because he has lost his money; another weeps because his wife has left him; a mother weeps because her daughter has run away with someone; some other man weeps because he has broken his leg. I ask: Which of these weepings is in its right place? Or in which of these cases is the misfortune the greatest? The greatest misfortune has happened to the man who has broken his leg. He feels the greatest pain. His pain is real and everybody feels it. In regard to the one who has lost his money or the man whose wife has left him, their pain is not so real, and is not so tangible to those around them.

 

And so, real sufferings are those which man feels every moment. If someone's money has been taken by someone else, this is not a real suffering because it is not connected with the man himself. Maybe a merchant imagines that he is robbed. You will say that if the man is crying, that he cannot do so if he only imagines that he has been robbed. Is it so bad if a man cries? As he cries so he can laugh. How? - I meet the merchant and tell him: Do you know that tonight the man who robbed you will visit you and bring you two bags of money instead of one? He is a rich man and wanted to try you only, that is why he took your bag of money. The next day I meet the merchant who is smiling, contented and he tells me that he has received two bags of money. - As you see everything that happened was for the good. If you were not robbed, you would not have two bags of money today. - It was better that I was robbed says the merchant.

 

When is it better for a man to be robbed: when he is sinking into the sea or when he is on the land? If someone carries a bag of gold on his back and is sinking into the sea, it is preferable that he is robbed while he is still in the water. He will lose the gold but save his life. When a man is sinking into the sea, it is well if there is somebody to free him from the bag of gold. When he comes out of the water onto the land then it is better if the bag of gold hangs on his back. Such is the philosophy of life.

 

Man must study the philosophy of the new life. For this purpose he must accept the new ideas and apply them. Modern people live with the old ideas of the past. They must study them but must not stop upon them or repeat them. People stop on events which have happened thousands of years ago and repeat them. For example, eight thousand years ago a man was put in paradise, but did not stand the conditions there, did not keep the promise which he had given to God, as a result of which he was driven out of paradise. When he came down into the world, he ate and drank and made large debts. From that time on all people repeat the same story: they break their promises, lose the good conditions in life, and as a consequence pay debts to this day. Somebody comes to you and says: Pay your debts! - Which debt? - The one that Adam and Eve left. You ask: what must we do to free ourselves of this debt? - Renounce the way which Adam and Eve have trod and start on the new way. Otherwise as long as you walk in their way you will have to pay for a long time to come.

 

I shall give you an example now about a Bulgarian squire but I do not want you to feel offended. This squire lived in a village between Varna and Shumen. He had given a Turk eight bushels of wheat. But the Turk, after paying the squire for eight years still owed him eighty more bushels. What are you going to say to that? What interest must have asked this squire from the Turk, so that eight bushels of wheat in eight years could grow to eighty bushels? To pay eight whole years and after that still to owe eighty bushels! No one ought to act in such a manner, neither a Bulgarian, nor a Frenchman, nor an Englishman, German, Chinese or Japanese. No man must act like this. This is not humanity. You will say that this is the negative side of a man. Yes, it is man's negative side but it is not one of his qualities. It is atavism, a remnant of the past of man. The grandfather or great-grandfather of some man has been a great drunkard and now his nephew receives as a heritage that negative trait and becomes a drunkard also. When parents see that, they excuse themselves and say: "Our son has inherited this vice from his grandfather. There is nothing to be done." - Yes, there is something to be done. Man may get rid of his bad inheritance. When he works consciously upon himself he will easily free himself from that bad heritage.

 

Contemporary people must work upon themselves to become free from all bad traits inherited ages ago. Someone will say that he studies anatomy, biology and a number of other sciences. Whatever he studies, man still is engaged with the past. The anatomy of the human organism is nothing more than the structure and functions of his organs in the past. Biology is also a science which studies the functions of the human organism from its past life. If you look at the skull of a man today you will learn about his past life: how he has lived, what has been his occupation, etc. As you study the craniums of the different nations and of the different races, you may compare them and note the difference between one and others. The cranium of the negroe, the Chinese and the european differ from each other. On the white man's cranium is seen that he has better resources than those of the black man.

 

Someone may say that both are men. Yes, the black and the white persons are men but there is a great difference between man and man. At first the word "man" meant a thinking being who has noble feelings. This same man has been the cause of all the misfortunes in the world. If you trace back the history of human development you will see that man has been the cause of all evils and misery. This is a fact which everyone may prove by personal experience.

 

Now you ought not to take things literally, but ought to reason. Mathematicians deal with numbers. They make sections, surfaces, figure them out and put them to work. All that they solve with numbers. Chemists study the elements and form different combinations as they put them in certain reactions; on the other hand they discover new elements and study their properties. As a base of all their work they use the elements. Therefore, as mathematicians deal with numbers and chemists with elements, so you must put into action your right thought in order to solve the problems of your life. Whatever people tell you and however it is told, apply your right thought as a measure for things. In everything search for the scientific side in order to profit by it.

 

When God created the earth an exhibition of all that had been done was arranged in heaven. To this exhibition came representatives from all the worlds and from all kingdoms which existed at that time. Among the angels who were present at the exhibition was the fallen angel - Lucifer. He sat important in all his grandeur and looked over all that God had created. He then saw a small tiny being like a mustard seed. And it came out that this creature was the man. God saw that Lucifer did not pay any attention to the small being and did not stop to see him well, so he asked the fallen angel: "Did you see the man?" - "I saw a small tiny creature but did not stop to look at him." "Do you believe that something may come out of him?" "I do not believe it. Nothing can come out of a mustard seed. That is what man looks like to me." "Something great is going to come out of that being." - I do not believe it - answered Lucifer. But for his unbelief Lucifer had to leave heaven and go down to wander upon the face of the earth. When asked why he left heaven Lucifer answered: Once there was an exhibition in heaven. Among all created by God was also man - a small tiny being, like a grain of mustard. God asked me: "Do you believe that something may come out of that being?" I said that nothing is going to come out of it. God tried to persuade me but I did not believe his words. For my unbelief I was driven out of heaven. That small creature did me a great harm. When I got down to the earth I wandered lonely from place to place and one day I saw a great being who worked and created. I wondered who was the being whom I did not know. And then I understood that it was man - the small mustard seed which thousands of years ago did not inspire any trust in me. Really, out of the tiny grain of mustard came out an eminent and celebrated man whom God put in paradise to live and develop.

 

From that moment Lucifer took for his purpose to drive man out of paradise and deprive him of his happiness. He said to himself: - Once man happened to be the cause for which I was driven out of heaven and now I shall be the cause for which he will be driven out of paradise. But there is a difference between the harm which man did to Lucifer and that which Lucifer did to man. Man, perfectly unconscious and without any designs became the cause for which Lucifer was driven out of heaven. Lucifer's unbelief was the real cause for his misfortune. But Lucifer quite consciously set to work to rob man's happiness. When he entered paradise, Lucifer wanted to introduce his unbelief among the first men. He succeeded. When he saw Eve in paradise he began to tell her about his experience: "Once, for my unbelief, I lost my happiness. I did not believe that something may come out of a tiny seed. From this experience I learned the law not to say that nothing great can come out of small things. That is why I say to you now: Eat from the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil and believe that out of it everything may come out. When you taste of this fruit you will become gods, and acquire great knowledge and experience."

 

Now I tell you: "Believe that out of that tree nothing is going to come out. Upon that tree was written in an ancient language the following: Do not eat of the fruits of a tree of which you do not know the flowers, nor the odor of its blossoms, nor the light under which its fruits have ripened, nor their taste either. Eve knew this inscription, had read it many times but did not believe that it really was true. Indeed she had not been there at the time when the tree bloomed in order to see what kinds of blossoms it had and what their odor was. She had not been there at the time when the fruit ripened to see under what light it ripens. But she ought to have believed the inscription. When the serpent offered Eve the fruit of the forbidden tree, she tasted it but was not satisfied very much. Why? - The fruit was still green. Eve knew that one of the rules of paradise said: never eat green fruits. Inspite of that, she tasted the fruit, offered it to Adam, and in this way clothed herself in a green dress. All of you must know that the fruit of evil is green. At first it is bitter, then becomes sour and after a long, long time becomes sweet. Therefore, if you would like to try the evil, wait until it is ripe and its fruit is sweet. And if you taste it then, at least you will not die.

 

Now these are old things. Whatever you think and talk about and how you feel: all these are old things upon which you must not stop. The only new thing in the world is God's love which comes now. It represents a fruit, which everyone may try and be satisfied. The man who tastes this fruit, experiences in himself new forces, a new impulse of life. The love of God is that force which gives the conditions for growth to the human heart, to the human mind, to the human soul and to the human spirit. This is the real in life. Therefore, if you want to know what reality is, I say: The present, the youth is the reality in life. It rejuvenates man. The past makes man old, while the present rejuvenates him.

 

Now I do not talk about things in which you have to believe unconditionally, or absolutely. Try them and then believe. Believe in your personal experience. You all have the experience that while you believe and live with the past, you grow old and die. Take, for example, the faith of the contemporary religious people. They believe that Christ came to the earth, preached to people, suffered, was crucified, died and after three days resurrected. In spite of their faith in Christ these people suffer, agonize and die, just as those who do not believe in God and Christ. What kind of a teaching is this, which cannot raise people to a higher level than that upon which the common people are? Either the teaching of Christ is not right or the people do not understand it and cannot apply it. Christ did not come to the earth to show people that they must suffer. He came to the earth to make people believe in love and in life and to restore their tie with God. Suffering is only a method for redemption, while Christ's teaching is a teaching of love. Love is the method for restoring the correct original relations among the souls.

 

Today, there is everything in the world, but one thing is missing and this is love. Somebody says: "I have everything." - You have everything but you lack just one thing. "What do I lack?" - You do not have love. "But I suffer." - If you are suffering this indicates that you have no love. Love cannot be obtained through suffering. The easiest thing to attain in life is love. When you attain love, things will happen magically to you. There is not a harder, more fearful thing for man than to do something without love. This applies not only to people, but also to the gods. If God is almighty that is due to the fact that He does everything with love. It is said: "God is love."

 

Contemporary people do not believe in love. Why? Because their thoughts, feelings, actions as well as their lives are interwoven. They have interwoven the Divine with the human and in consequence they do not distinguish one from the other. This way they take the negative human manifestation for Divine. For example: a man injures his neighbor and the latter asks: "Why did God cause that evil to me? Why did He let this man do me such a harm?" I ask then: "Why did you let this man harm you? This man is a mosquito by nature, he cannot do anything else except to bite. A mosquito comes to you, alights on your nose and bites you. Who is to blame for that? As soon as you see the mosquito tip it with a finger and it will fly away. You should not dispute with the mosquito or try to educate it not to bite."

 

The mistake of the mosquito lies in the fact that it has not asked for your permission to bite you or not. It ought to come near you and say: "Sir, I am hungry. Will you allow me to suck a little blood from your hand?" If you give it permission, only then has it the right to alight on your hand, stick in its trunk and suck some blood. Then it may suck and you shall keep quiet. But it is a crime without permission as a robber, to alight on your hand and suck your blood.

 

You also have to know this law: Never do anything without the permission of other people. Even if you do something good, always ask for permission. For example you have thought to do something good to somebody. Go to that man and tell him: "I have decided to do something beneficial to you. Do you agree?" If that man consents then do that good to him; if he does not give his consent, renounce that good. Even though it rarely may happen, it is possible to offend a person with the good that you do to him. But you always offend man with the evil which you do to him. Therefore whenever you intend to do something either good or bad, ask the person to whom it is directed. For example, somebody has thought of robbing his brother. He must go to the man and say: "I have decided to rob your safe. What are you going to say? " "I do not permit you. Go away quickly!" But if your brother allows you to rob him he will give you the key to his safe and say: "Here, brother, take the key. Unlock it yourself, take as much money as you want, and return the key to me." One thing is important for him who robs: he must know the art of how to open and shut the safe and how much money to take. When you listen to these things, you may say that there is no logic in them. Which things are logical? Logical things are those which happen by mutual agreement; logical things are those which do not create any contradiction between the one who takes, and the one who gives. When in the relations between two persons one of them is dissatisfied with the other, this shows that there is no logic in their thought and in their relations there is no justice. If the number of persons who are interrelated increases and all are satisfied with one another, this shows that their thought is logical and the tie between their souls is correct and harmonious.

 

Remember the following: never say that what you think is absolutely right. No man can be a measure for others. Everyone may be an absolute measure for himself, but not for other people. The mind of man and his thought may be a measure for himself alone but not for others. If anyone wishes to impose his thought upon others, then what will happen to their own thought? What will happen to their own minds? If you wish to impose your thought upon a certain person, you must ask him: "Do you allow my mind and thought to be a measure for your mind and thought?" The man will answer: "If you let my mind be a measure for your mind, then I shall accept your proposition." The same question may be asked in regard to your heart, but you will receive the same answer. Somebody may say: "Believe my words!" No man may believe your words if you do not believe his. The only One who absolutely believes in man is God. If all people say about someone that of him nothing will come out, only God will believe that out of that man something will come. He not only believes, but positively knows that out of that man something will come. If God believes that nothing is going to come out of that man, this means that He accepts the evil in Himself. When God believes that people will become good, it shows that the evil is outside Him. In God evil does not exist.

 

Therefore, when man accepts that some things cannot be corrected or cannot happen, this shows that he has let the evil into himself. When man knows this, then he must look at things positively. Whatever thought or feeling passes through him or whatever act he does, he must know that they are good. However bad they may seem, at the ultimate end they will become good, i.e. they will work for good. This is an important psychological law which has its application in human life. If you do not think so, you cannot study, cannot develop correctly. What do we see in life? -Just the opposite. In whatever church you enter today, everywhere you will hear that man is sinful, that he will enter hell for eternal tortures and sufferings, etc. I can understand if you say that a man has made mistakes, but to claim that he is incorrigible, this is a wrong conclusion. That man has sinned and continues to sin, to do crimes, for this we have series of facts, data and evidences. But what data do you have that man is incorrigible? To correct and acknowledge his mistakes is a privilege given only to man. This privilege distinguishes him from all other animals. On the way of his coming down to earth man has deviated from the right direction of his movement and as a result he has made many mistakes and crimes. If this is not so how would you explain the origin of all carnivorous animals? How were the fish as well as some birds which are also carnivorous created? All animals generally represent phases through which man has passed in the process of his development. When man begins to ascend upwards he will acknowledge his mistakes and begin to correct them.

 

Now I shall not stop upon the question of evil and explain physiologically its origin. However I may explain it, you will not understand it correctly and will draw out wrong conclusions. For you the important thing to know is what man, in reality, represents. How evil has originated ought not to interest you. Man is composed of three essences: spirit - superior wisdom — the highest principle in man; soul - the second principle, and mind - the third principle. In regard to the human heart and the human will, these are derivatives, that is of secondary magnitude. Man then is composed of three principles: spirit - first principle; soul - second principle and mind. Scientifically explained: the spirit represents a convex mirror which disperses light. The soul represents a concave mirror which receives light. The mind cultivates light. First the spirit comes into the world and sends light everywhere. Then the soul comes to receive that light, while the mind as a collective indivisible principle in man begins to cultivate the accepted light. In all people the mind is one and the same, indivisible but in different stages of development.

 

When I say that the mind of man is indivisible you will meet with a certain contradiction and say: "How is it possible for my mind to be common with the minds of all people?" There lies the delusion — when man thinks that his mind or his spirit is something perfectly different and separate from the common spirit and from the common mind of the cosmos. Christ says: "All that the Father gives me will come to me; and him who comes to me I will not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me." (St. John 6:37-38)

 

Many think that they have their own understanding, their own will which they must do. - No, as you have come to earth first you will do the will of your mother and your father. This is translated in human language and it cannot be otherwise. Whose will is the wolf's offspring going to do? It will do the will of its father and mother. Nothing else may come out of the young wolf, except a common or at the most, a talented wolf.

 

In order to change its nature, this wolf must undergo a number of modifications and would have to change radically. The same may be said about man, too. In order to free himself from the will of his parents and to be ready to do God's will man must renounce his old ideas. The human concepts are old, rotten ropes with which man cannot climb high. The last strain is able to break them. One who depends upon his old ropes will inevitably fall to the ground together with them. In order not to fall, replace the old ropes with new and strong ones to be able to rely on them. The rope represents the faith and hope which man grasps and which supports him in the contradictions of the mental or physical worlds. There is no other rope more sound in the world of thought than the rope of faith. And there is no stronger rope in the physical world than the rope of hope. While man is mentally healthy, he has faith. While he is physically healthy, he has hope. And the opposite: while he has faith, man is mentally healthy. While he has hope, he is physically healthy. As soon as he loses his faith and hope man weakens both mentally and physically. The faith and hope of man are not lost but they weaken. We call this weakening in ordinary life the loss of faith and hope.

 

As you study the chemical elements from the standpoint of their inner, spiritual influence upon human development you will come to the conclusion that only two elements exist in chemistry: gold and silver. The silver cures all human faults while the gold brings life into the human organism. In that respect gold and silver represent the two poles of life. All other elements such as iron, mercury, copper, lead, have taught man something good, but at the same time have taught him bad things also.

 

As pupils, you ought to study the properties of all elements, but not as the present chemists study them. Contemporary chemists study only the material side of the elements and their combinations. They do not occupy themselves with their organic and psychical qualities. When we talk about gold from the occult standpoint we understand its organic and psychical properties in addition to the physical qualities. Therefore, in order to benefit from the forces of gold, man must know the methods through which to transform the physical gold into organic and the organic gold into mental. Only in this condition will man understand gold as a carrier of life. In the astrological respect gold is connected with the sun, while silver is connected with the moon. Every element is connected with a certain planet. Let us leave this question aside because no matter how much explained, it still remains unfinished. How can you prove that gold brings life? In order to prove this statement a series of experiments have to be made. Make the following experiment: go to someone who is sick and has a high temperature - about 41 C and put on his head a gold coin. Not long after this his temperature will go down with one or two tenths of a degree. After a little put on his head another gold coin. His temperature will go down with a few tenths of a degree again. As you increase the number of gold coins the temperature will go down so much the quicker. When you put on the head of the sick man seven or eight gold coins, his temperature will become normal. This is a fact tried and verified, it is not only theory. Other experiments may be made with gold too. For example in the blood of a very sick man may be inserted a thousandth part of a milligram organic gold and you will see that the condition of the sick man will improve. What greater proof than this do you want? Great is the influence of the organic and mental gold upon man.

 

This is a grand science but it is not given for free. This science, that art, may be given only to the man who has enough strength to uphold the following three things: to be faithful to his spirits to be faithful to his soul and to be faithful to his mind. If a man cannot promise that he will fulfill these three things nothing can be entrusted to him. I may entrust this art only to him who is ready to fulfill these three conditions because in such case he and I are one: his spirit is my spirit; his soul is my soul; his mind is my mind. And the opposite is true: my spirit is his spirit; my soul is his soul, and my mind is his mind. And then whatever he does for himself, he does the same for me; and whatever I do for myself I do for him, too. If he loses his faith he will influence me. While when I believe I shall influence him, too.

 

"Therefore the Father loveth me." Contemporary people seek love and freedom but in a mechanical way. They think that if they acquire riches and knowledge simultaneously, with that they will become free. If it is so, then the rich and the learned have to be free and independent. Is it so in reality? If it were true for holiness, then all priests and all preachers have to be saints. It is true that the free man has to be rich, learned and sainty, but those are inner and not external qualities. Who is really learned, really rich and holy? When I speak about learned and rich people and about saints I include myself among them. So when people's strength, faith, knowledge and holiness have to be tried simultaneously with their qualities, my qualities are also going to be tried in order that it may be seen who of us is of pure gold and who - counterfeit.

 

How do you recognize a wise man? When in the home of a wise man enters a robber holding a knife, the wise man must say to him: "What do you want, brother, from me?" - I want money. Since you are a rich man you ought to give a part of your wealth to other people. "Yes, I had forgotten that I was a rich man. Here, take the key, open the safe and do with my money as you please." The robber becomes thoughtful, he opens the safe and takes a small part of the money. After that he gives the key back to the wise man and parts friendly with him. This is a truly wise man. For such a man the knife in the hand of the robber is not made of steel but of paper.

 

You will say: Where shall we be if all act like that? I ask then: At present, when people do not act like that, what have they achieved? That which people do is good also, but it is not the good toward which all people aspire. The important thing is for every man to act freely. His every act must be dictated from an inner freedom, that is, from the freedom of his soul. If with his ideas and understanding about the world man enters the spiritual world - he will pass for abnormal. What do we understand by the word "abnormal"? Abnormal things are these which depart from the standard measure. In mathematics there are abnormal quantities which are called irrational, i.e. quantities which cannot be measured with the standard measures. For example you take a number or a fraction and begin to divide it. You divide it in one way and another and yet it remains indivisible. This does not mean that it is absolutely indivisible, but only that it cannot be divided by a certain system of calculation. It can be divided by a different system. So when a fraction or a number is indivisible it constitutes an element from another world, from another system. All numbers which are indivisible in the physical world are related to another world. Their indivisibility in the physical world represents a closed up opening toward that other world. Wise people walk in a path, which leads to a normal life; ordinary people walk in a path, which leads to an abnormal life.

 

These are questions upon which we have to think. Whether you believe in them, whether they are pleasant to you, is quite another matter. You are in a theater and look how the chief actor plays his role. He has employed all his efforts to carry out his role well. He is not interested how the role reacts on you. The idea which he is bringing out is important for the actor. When the musician plays, the important thing for him is how he will convey the idea which is put in the musical play. When an orator speaks he takes care to bring out his ideas the best he can. The same may be said about the listener. He is interested more in the idea which the musician, the artist and the speaker brings out and not so much as to how this idea is being carried out.

 

Therefore the reality of each thing is the idea which is implanted in it. When you find reality you may stop to be preoccupied with secondary things. What is the reality for every man? - The Love of God. There is nothing greater for man than to know that there is One who loves him. Christ says: "For this reason my Father loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again." The strength of man lies in the thought that there is someone who loves him. Who is that someone? Either God must love man, or his neighbor must love him, or he must love himself. If he does not have at least one of these three things, man despairs and life loses its meaning for him. The reason for man's discouragement, for his despair is due to the loss of these three things. There is no cause for man's discouragement. Since he has come to earth, his coming is bound by the love of someone: either God loves him, or his neighbor loves him or he alone loves himself. The one who loves you comes down to the same level, to the same condition where you are. Man cannot but be loved.

 

What does man represent? A man is one who understands the position of his spirit, his soul and his mind. Man is one who believes in his spirit, in his soul and in his mind. The spirit is his God, the soul — his neighbor, and the mind — man himself. Under "neighbor" in a wide sense of the word we understand nature which represents that great vastness in which we live and move. Who was neighbor to the man whom robbers had caught and beaten? - The Samaritan. To whomsoever you do good, he is your neighbor. To the one whom you have done good, he will thank you and appreciate your goodness. One who does good for the sake of the good itself, he is in unity with all souls. One who helps, who does good, is always in harmony with the Divine laws. In such a case both the one who helps and the one who is helped are contented. With that, the circle of good for the given moment is complete.

 

Therefore, when you know that, do not refuse to help, to do good. Do not refuse to work for the Great in this world; do not refuse to work for your neighbor; do not refuse to work for yourself. In other words - work for the development of your mind, for acquiring knowledge; work for your soul, which is the place of love; work for your spirit, which is the place of wisdom. When you understand things in this way, you will understand the meaning of the present life, you will understand the properties of the air which you inhale and exhale. When you acquire the knowledge of your spirit — of wisdom, the knowledge of your soul — of love and the light of your mind, you will obtain everything which is needed for your development. The Christian nations may acquire this today. If all nations and communities, statesmen and rulers, bishops and priests, mothers and fathers, teachers and students, masters and servants would believe in this, the world would soon be set right without any difficulties and conflicts. But because people do not believe in that, the world moves in a peculiar way. People have come to the point that they split a hair into two pieces.

 

What do we see in the contemporary world? - Everywhere you meet with discontent. A rich man builds for himself a grand, beautiful house but is not satisfied, he wants to build a larger one. A poor man builds a small hut, but he is not satisfied either — he dreams for a bigger one too. Men's desires are good and natural but their ideas are wrong. What will a great house add to a certain man if with it he awakens negative feelings in those around him? With their enmities, with their negative feelings they will kill him prematurely. If someone builds a marble palace, those that pass by will say: "From where did this man acquire so much money to be able to build such a palace?" Undoubtedly he has stolen it from somewhere. It is impossible in an honest way to erect such a home. The question is not whether people will believe in the honesty of the person, but that generally marble palaces are not hygienic. In future the houses will be made out of glass. The ultraviolet rays of the sun will pass through them and so the houses will be hygienic. With the help of curtains people will regulate the light and will let in more or less light according to their wish. This will not happen today or tomorrow but some day when humanity reaches a higher stage of development. You say: "When will the time come for people to live in glass homes?" According to me the time has come already. It is enough for man to climb the mountain in order to find himself at once in such a home. As soon as he sees that someone is coming, he will hide his house. This house may be hid in the shell of a hazel-nut. When the man passes he will again take out his house, will stretch it, enter it and from time to time show his head outside. I will not explain what kind of hazel-nut this is. If I stop to explain I shall lose much time. You may say that these are abstract things. They are as abstract today, as were long ago the ideas of the trains which circle the earth, the airplanes with which people fly in the air, the metals which are cultivated and find their application in life. Mind is needed for man that he may be able to discover and find the metals, the precious stones, the glass and apply them in life. That which I say to you now is abstract and impossible. But some day it will be possible and will come to realization. The day will certainly come when people will live in homes made of glass.

 

I shall tell you now briefly a story from "A Thousand and one Nights". This story is about a king who had three sons: Husein, Hasan and Mehmed, The three brothers were madly in love with their beautiful cousin. In order to decide correctly which one of his sons was to ask for his beautiful niece, the father said one day to them: "Go into the world, the three of you and find an object the likeness of which does not exist. The One of you who finds such an object will marry your beautiful cousin." First started Husein — the oldest son. He reached a far away kingdom and at once began to search in the markets for some peculiar, rare in quality object the likeness of which is not found in the whole wide world. As he went around the markets at last he saw a man who was selling a small rug very simple and ordinary in appearance. "How much do you want for that rug?" - "Only 15,000 dollars." "It is too costly. It looks so ordinary. It costs not more than a few dollars." - "If you continue to bargain I shall ask 20,000 dollars for it." - "What in particular does it possess?" -"Listen, with that rug you may obtain a great deal. It is enough for you to sit on it and wherever you wish to go you will find yourself there immediately." -"If it is so then let us make an experiment." Both of them sat on the rug and started travelling. When he saw that the rug really possessed peculiar qualities Husein immediately bought it.

 

After Husein, Hassan started on his journey. He too went far from his father's kingdom to search for a peculiar object unseen and unheard of till that time in the whole world. When he went about the markets he met a man who held a tube in his hand. He immediately asked: "Do you sell that tube?" -"I do", was the answer. "How much does it cost?" "15,000 dollars." - "You want too much. It costs not more than a few hundred. Why do you want such a great sum for it?" -"It is not an ordinary tube." -"In what does its peculiarity consist?" - "If you look through that tube you will see what is being done all over the world. You are able to see with it both near and far." -"Here, take 15,000 dollars." Hassan looked through the tube with the intention to see what his father was doing and saw all that interested him. He bought the tube, and, content with the fact that he had bought a peculiar object, started on his journey toward his father1s kingdom.

 

At last came Mehmed1s turn to start travelling abroad in foreign lands to search for some peculiar object. When he had gone around all markets he met a man who carried an apple in his hand. "Where do you carry this apple?" asked Mehmed. "I am selling it." "How much do you ask for it." "Original price — 15,000 dollars." "Why is it so dear? Is it possible that only one apple can be worth 15,000 dollars?" "It is a peculiar apple. With it all diseases may be cured." "If it is so, here take 15,000 dollars. I want to possess this apple."

 

First Husein started on his way home. Hassan started second and third was Mehmed. When the three brothers met, each began to speak about the peculiar object that he had been able to acquire in his wandering. When they had shown each other their treasures the three decided to go to their cousin in order to show her what gains they brought from abroad. The cousin lived far away. In order to reach her they had to travel a whole month. But just before they started the second brother said: "Wait, let me look through the tube and see what our cousin is doing." When he looked he saw that the cousin was very sick, at death's door. They decided to arrive as soon as possible in order to help her. Husein said: "Do not worry, we all shall sit on the rug and immediately shall be with her." Mehmed added: "And I shall cure her with my apple." The three brothers sat on the rug and at once found themselves at the bed of their cousin. Mehmed offered her the apple and she was well again.

 

Then the three brothers began to dispute who of them had the greatest right to marry the beautiful cousin. Hassan who carried the tube said: "The cousin is mine because if I did not have that tube we would not have seen that she was sick and would not have hurried to help her." Husein said: "The cousin is mine because if we did not have the rug we would have to travel a whole month during that time she might have died." Mehmed added: "What would have happened if I had not carried the apple which cured her? I have the greatest right over her." No matter how long they disputed who had the greatest right to marry the beautiful cousin the question remained unsolved. Therefore, this question is left for you to solve.

 

I ask: "To whom does the beautiful cousin belong?" - The beautiful maiden as well as everything beautiful in the world belongs simultaneously to the spirit, to the soul, and to the mind. They are so interwoven that there cannot be one without the other. That which is good for the spirit is good for the soul and the mind, also. The spirit, the soul and the mind represent a trinity among themselves. When you know this do not make a difference between the spirit, the soul and the mind.

 

Many people want to know what love is. According to me we cannot talk about love. It may only be tried. What will you say about fire? If you go near a burning stove you may experience a pleasant or unpleasant sensation — depending on the distance at which you stay. But if you put your finger into the fire it will infallibly burn. The least that may happen is, to scald it. And so, do not complain, do not say that love burns. You know already when love burns. Love burns people but the sun burns them too. Often young maidens complain that they were burned and tanned by the sun. If they knew the truth they ought to be glad for that. Why? Because the sun draws out that black substance which is in man, takes it out and brings him health. In this way the sun makes people black on the outside but white inside. Therefore every maiden who is tanned by the sun may be easily cured by it. If she does not get tanned it shows that the sun is not able to cure her, there is something sickly in her which does not yield to a treatment. From here we may draw the conclusion: if life can stain a man this shows that there is something good in him; if life is not able to blacken somebody, then there is something peculiar in him. Which soil gives the best wheat? - The black humus soil. The white soil — lime, white clay, are good for plastering, for bleaching.

 

And so, it is not important for man to understand what love is but he must live in love, and express God's love outwardly in its fullness. The strength of man lies in the love which he may try and apply in his mind, in his soul and in his spirit. In his mind he will apply love as knowledge; in his soul — as feeling, and in his spirit — as power. With this threefold manifested love man will be able to free himself from all his difficulties in life. All people have to make experiments in this respect. It is not enough to ask each other only: "Do you believe in God or not?" Everything in which man believes must be tried. Only in this way may faith become strong. The disciples of Christ turned to him with the words: "Master, give us faith." Christ answered: "Faith is strengthened by trials." When things are tried then they become true. Faith must be tried. With every failure man's faith weakens but at the same time it spurs him on to new experiments. When man makes a successful experiment his faith is strengthened. In order not to weaken his faith man must think and reason what kind of experiments he ought to undertake. Do not make experiments in which your faith may be weakened absolutely. Do not make experiments in which your faith may become bankrupt.

 

I shall give you an example to clarify my last thought. A Russian, whose name was Arsimenko, liked to read the Holy Gospels and contemplate upon them. From time to time he preached before a certain audience. It happened that one day he preached to some people about faith and gave the example from the Gospel about the wonderful cure of the blind man. It is said there that Christ spat on the ground, made some mud and putting it over the eyes of the blind man the latter at once recovered his sight. Arsimenko was so much inspired by that example that he was filled with faith in himself and said: "When I finish ray sermon I shall go out and say to the blind man who usually sits before this building: "In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I command you to see!" As soon as he finished his sermon he took the Gospel in one hand and set out to the blind man. When he was near him he lost courage and said: "But if he is not cured?" He withdrew his decision as a result of which the question stays open till today. Arsimenko did not want to make the experiment because he felt that his faith would undergo failure.

 

Contemporary people make the same experiment. They take the Gospel in one hand and start for the assigned place. When they are near it they say: "What if it does not happen?" -Make the experiment and do not be afraid! If it is successful — good; if it doesn't come out successfully, again good. What does it matter if you have made an unsuccessful experiment? Who's scientist's first experiment was successful? How many unsuccessful experiments the scientists have made! Not only the first, the second but even their hundredth experiment have been unsuccessful, yet they still have continued to persist and work untiringly. The idea of flying in the air has undergone so many changes! At first the flying machine had pinions, then wings until today we see it in the form of the present airplanes and zeppelins. How many changes has undergone and will continue to undergo the human belief about the existence of another world and about the existence of God! It is not easy for man to reach absolute truth about all the important questions of life and death.

 

Many people think that another life outside the physical one does not exist. This statement is relative. Man distinguishes himself from other animals by his self-consciousness which envelops a very limited world. Out of his self-consciousness, out of his world exist many other consciousnesses and worlds. Through his self-consciousness man has reached the greatest intensity of joys and sorrows but he has not found yet the way of his salvation nor the way of his strength. Until man lives in his self-consciousness he will be born and die, will grieve and rejoice. You hear that today someone is born; the next day you hear that somebody else has died and gone to the world beyond. Whether he really has gone there or not must be examined. When a man enters the superconsciousness, his consciousness expands, his sufferings leave him and he begins to live in the realm of love. When people enter in the region of superconsciousness, they are bound amongst themselves with love. For the present even the most sacred relations between people such as exist in some families, in some organizations and communities, are not bound by the ties of love. There, too, exists the sacred egoism. Really, where is the love of the sons toward their fathers, and of the daughters toward their mothers? Where is the love of the parents toward their children? If you enter a religious society even there you will not find people with deep, firm convictions.

 

Love must join people. Those that love each other have the same belief. And those who have the same belief, they love each other. When love is not a natural tie between people they are apt to limit themselves mutually. A real natural limitation is that which man imposes upon himself. It is a limitation by freedom and by love. Each limitation of man which comes from without is violence. When people limit you then you are not free. We do not speak about that love, that faith, and that freedom which you have tried; we speak about the love, the faith, and the freedom which you have not tried.

 

"For this reason my Father loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again." Daring and resolute was Christ. This is what is required of us, too. God is satisfied with us when He sees that we are daring and determined. If a man is daring and if he is determined, if he has a positive knowledge about life, even if he is put in prison he will still find a small opening and will escape through it. If they hang him with a rope, the rope will break and he will again be free. If he is bound in chains, they will melt and he will step out of them. If people plan to shoot him he will become small as an atom and the bullet will miss him. We must have such knowledge, you will say. - Yes, you must have it. This knowledge is the knowledge of the new teaching: the knowledge of the spirit, the knowledge of the soul, the knowledge of the mind. This knowledge is given only to the Sons of God. No one may be called a Son of God until he has conquered death. One who conquers and subjects death to himself can be free and he can be called a Son of God.

 

The first obstacle in the life of man is death; the second obstacle is sin, and the third — delusion. No matter whether a man says that he believes in God — if he dies, his faith is not real. How is it possible for God, Who holds immortality and Who lives in you to make you mortal? - I believe in Christ. - Why do you die then? These are delusions, contradictions which you must solve. When you solve them you will free yourself from them.

 

Today all people talk about love. Somebody tells his friend, "I love you very much. My heart burns for you." - I am glad that your heart is burning. I ask: "What will happen to the fire of your heart if only one drop of water falls on it? - It will extinguish. What kind of love is that which from the first drop of water can extinguish? Nothing is capable of extinguishing hearts which burn with real love. Do not believe in the love which blows out from one drop of water. Believe only in that love which no water can ever extinguish and which never changes. The more water you pour over such a love, the more it burns. Where love reigns there is no death, no poverty, no ignorance. Where love reigns there is life, knowledge and freedom, there exists eternal joy and happiness.

 

Now to all of you I give a greeting from your Father. In order to understand who He is, call your fathers and mothers on earth and ask them to tell you the truth, whether they are your fathers and mothers. If they cannot answer this question they are not your true fathers and mothers.

 

One is your Father, One is your mother, One is your teacher. Hold to this Teacher, who wishes your good and works for you as he works for himself. I do not mean that teacher who knows only how to throw ropes around your necks, to harness you and make you work for whole days on his field. The world is full of such teachers, of such mothers and fathers. Have one Teacher who is able to bring light to your minds. Have one Mother and one Father who will bring love to your hearts and into your minds—wisdom and knowledge. Only this Teacher, only this Mother and this Father will be able to free you from all hardships, from all difficulties and contradictions.

 

I wish you this year to free yourself from troubles, sickness and sufferings, not a hundred percent but at least fifty percent. I wish you to get rich not a hundred percent but fifty percent.

 

I wish you to bring to realization all your longings little by little; not at once and even then not a hundred percent but only fifty percent.

 

I wish you to obtain not one hundred percent of all toward which your soul aspires but only fifty percent.

 

"For this reason my Father loves me."

 

March 22, 1936, Izgrev – Sofia

 

Translator unknown (probably Livca Slavianska ?)

 

 

The Father Loves Me

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