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1931_07_12 THE HUMAN IDEAL


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From Methods for Self-improvement

 

 

THE HUMAN IDEAL

 

The earthly life has three important subjects to consider. As we live on Earth, the first and foremost is to understand the human beings, if we want to understand their lifestyle.

 

The second important subject, which we need to understand, are the angels. Translated in a common language they represent the human mind and thoughts. When we say “angel,” we usually have in mind a luminous being. However, we will translate “angel” as a “luminous thought.”

 

God is the third subject that is most important, but typically misunderstood by humankind. This word translated in understandable language represents the Love that brings life and eternity to the human soul. For this reason it is written in the Scriptures, “God is Love.”1
Therefore, the ideal of the human being is to understand oneself and the angels, in other words, the luminous, pure thoughts; and lastly, to understand God - or Love. If one has understanding of these three subjects, that one will be able to create a positive philosophy of life.

 

People of today suffer from misunderstanding and ignorance how to put things together. If one cannot arrange things as they were created by Nature and God, that one will come into a big inner conflict. It is like you set a fire inside your house, but somewhere on the floor and not in its proper place - the fireplace. What will happen then? The entire house will catch fire and will burn - you will burn with it too. In this respect, human feelings are like fire. If people know how and where to direct what they feel, it will bring them the greatest blessings in life. And vice versa, if they do not know this, it will cause them the greatest sufferings and sorrows. Right thinking is needed to guide human feelings in the right direction. That is why, thoughts and feelings are of the greatest and paramount importance for the human being. As for the angels, there is nothing more sublime than purity - pure feelings and pure thoughts. In the Divine World there is nothing greater than Love. Therefore, thoughts and feelings are most important in the human world, Purity - in the Angelic World, and Love - in the Divine World.

 

I say, no matter how important these things are, modern people have not understood them yet, moreover they are still requiring proofs about the existence of God. If this issue is to be proven, it loses its sense. Each attempt to prove God’s existence represents a mechanical process. Does it make sense proving to me that I am alive? I know already that. Does it make sense proving to me that I can think? I know already that as well. Proving to me that I have life and thought is quite useless. I live, I think, I feel, so any external proof is needless. The thought should be studied as a substantial condition. If a chemist wants to perform a chemical reaction resulting in a certain compound, he should know the properties of the elements and the laws that govern them. If he takes into consideration all this, the reaction and the combination of the elements will go correctly. Otherwise, the chemist may cause a big explosion and create a calamity.

 

In this respect Life represents a chemical compound consisting of many elements. If a person knows how to combine the elements of his life, how to combine the thoughts and feelings, that person will be able to produce properly a chemical compound, in other words, to create a meaningful harmonious life. And vice versa, if a person combines inwardly a desire with a thought that are both unnatural, in other words, from the combination of a human with an animal desire, an explosive compound is formed, which might cause an explosion. In this respect, one has not come yet to the rank of a true human being. The true human being is to be revealed from now on. People of today cannot fully control themselves and still have many animal-based manifestations. All crimes today, from the smallest to the biggest ones, are committed under the effect of these bestial elements in the lower human nature.

 

Now, by “man” or “human being” I refer to the total of all virtues. Whoever lacks some of these virtues has a bigger or smaller predominance of the lower nature within oneself. When I speak about the lower or animal nature in the human being, I have in mind features from any of the animals: tigers, bears, wolves, foxes, the various herbivores, insects, and so on. What is their life like? Life of mutual destruction - they eat and swallow each other. However, there is one exception among birds - the pigeons. Most of the pigeon species are pure vegetarians and feed only on grains. Meanwhile, the nightingale that is an excellent singer is carnivorous and eats tens to hundreds of insects daily. The nightingale is content of its situation especially when it can catch more insects. Yet, the little flies it feeds on do not think so.

 

People of today boast of their religion, science, and art. I ask: what is this religion that cannot teach them to love one another? What is this science, which cannot offer them a way of living a meaningful life? What good is this type of science which cannot formulate the laws of human thought nor explain the reasons for the existence of good and evil? What are these social sciences and social order which cannot guide people in their life program fulfillment? The life of people has become meaningless, because neither religion nor science were able to give the rules needed for the human development. In reality, the Earth is covered by monuments mostly of dead people. Great Beings like Christ have visited the Earth. For two thousand years Christ has been present among people and He is still with them.

 

You ask, “What is the purpose of suffering?” There is a great purpose in suffering. Sufferers are heroes and become true human beings, while non-sufferers remain ordinary people and nothing great is expected from them. Great people go through big trials. Christ endured great sufferings, thus He left the world a sublime sacred idea that will never perish. His idea did not pass away, neither did Christ. He was subjected to a great trial: to be crucified and placed in a tomb, but on the third day He resurrected. The existence of Christianity so far is due to the fact that Christ is still living among people and will live forever. If however, some disharmony comes up among Christians, the reason is that many of those who consider themselves Christians do not really believe that Christ has risen from the dead. They are assumed to be believers, but in reality they are not. So, they are in the situation of those who are regarded as humans without being true human beings, so far. Indeed, you often meet people calling each other with the names of some animals. For instance, one person says to another, “You are a wolf, fox, bear, tiger, and so on.” When people want to express that someone is foolish, they say, “He is just a sheep”. Many think that the sheep is a foolish animal, but this is not so. When I studied the structure and shape of its head, I found it out to be one of the intelligent mammals based on the measurements and scientific data. Those who study the physiognomy of animals will find out that in regard of intelligence the elephant comes right after the human being, followed by the sheep. One may ask however, where the true human being is in reality.

 

Today all people want to be healthy, happy, fulfilling all their desires, and so on. All this can be achieved. How? By acquiring a healthy body, kind heart, bright mind, and all virtues. Without these attributes people are exposed to suffering. In this respect, sufferings are exceptions in life. Why? It is because they should be understood and applied well. That is why suffering increases the faith of wise people, while for the foolish ones, they are the greatest misfortune that can befall on them in life. In the modern belief system one is born to die. What is the meaning of death? It is meaningful only if one transitions after death to a better life than the earthly one. The death of a righteous person has its meaning. However, the death of a wrongdoer is quite senseless. In the same way, there is sense for a flower or fruit tree to blossom, but what is the meaning of a bomb to burst open and explode? It is useful to start a fire in the fireplace and cook a meal with it, but to start it in the middle of the house and set all on fire - such a fire is senseless. Building temples for worshippers and schools for children makes sense, but is there any sense in making bombs and grenades with which people kill each other? And after all this you say that God should set the world right! As soon as God created humans and inscribed the Laws in their hearts to live by them, He had already set the world right. Even if people live thousands of years more, they will still divide themselves into learned and uneducated, rich and poor, religious and non-believers. In reality, if they examine themselves carefully, they will see that all of them are alike. Both the religious people and non-believers serve for money. It is not bad that their service is for money. But striving for money, people focus on being well-dressed and living luxuriously, and forget their true purpose on Earth. When people want to have nice clothes, they should strive to be dressed beautifully from within as well. Everyone can put on a beautiful luminous inner garment. Luminous thoughts and noble feelings are one’s inner garments and no matter where this one goes, people say, “Behold a true human being!” Such a person brings the Divine blessing to any home he visits: he heals the ill, comforts the sorrowful, and nourishes the hungry.

 

Now, what is the most important at sunrise? The Sun itself, in other words, its light. What is the most important in respect to the Sun? The sunlight and warmth that inspire luminous thoughts and noble feelings in the human being. However, this same warmth and light awake inferior feelings, instincts, and wishes in the wolf. Behind the solar light and warmth there stands a Great Mighty Hand that is invisible to people. You ask, “Where is this Hand?” It can be seen as much as you can see the true human being. What you see externally and call “human being” is only an expression of certain thoughts, feelings, and actions. The human being is not that which dies. The negative thoughts, feelings, and deeds are what passes away in the human being. Sometimes they die, sometimes they are uprooted like a tree.

 

I say: as you are now in the process of creating your life, it is important for you to live with luminous thoughts and feelings, with noble and rightful actions. If you do not follow all this, you will cause your misfortune yourselves. Creating the human life can be compared to the construction of a ship. How is a ship built? For its good performance all technical rules and laws of modern science must be put into action. Only in this way can the ship withstand all storms and gales that can occur in the sea. If all these technological rules and laws are not observed, the ship with all passengers will be exposed to great dangers.

 

In the same way, people of today are in the world as in a stormy sea - and if their ship is not well built, they will be exposed to great dangers. If their ship - the body - and their thoughts and feelings are not solid and stable, they could meet with great disasters. That is why the reasons for a shipwreck should be searched not only in the ship performance, but also in its designers and constructors.

 

In the future when people reach a higher level of development, they will act according to all rules and methods of the New teaching in order to create well-organized bodies for themselves that are capable of receiving the Sublime Divine thoughts and feelings.

 

As it is necessary to follow certain rules and laws for the human body creation, the same should be done during the election of ministers and Parliament members of a country. These are to be the most intelligent, selfless, and virtuous people of the nation. Only then we could speak about a great country. However, the present situation of the countries is a token for misinterpretation of life.

 

Many think that they have come to Earth to spend somehow their lives and then to depart. That is a wolf-like way of thinking. The wolf tries to come close to a livestock enclosure in order to steal a sheep and eat it, and that is all the wolf aims. If someone has the same thinking, what is the difference between such a person and a wolf? Moreover, after eating a sheep, the wolf could be chased and shot.

 

At the same time, when someone kills from ten to twenty people in the battlefield, he is immediately rewarded and pronounced a hero. So, afterward this person boasts with his killing without batting an eyelid. Killing and destroying is a crime, not a science. Creating and building - that is a science.

 

I say, modern people should think and live rightly - as God requires of them. Rightly means living as brothers and sisters. Besides, it is not necessary for all people to have the same external features and same beliefs. Consider, for instance, the little child and the mature person. They differ in appearance, but have something in common as human beings. The young will eventually get old and the old could also rejuvenate. The alchemists have done many experiments in this direction. An old person can be placed in a special chemical device - retort and after passing through certain processes he would emerge entirely rejuvenated. One could become young not only by alchemy, but also by his thought. Many European scientists support the theory that a human being can rejuvenate and revive his life by his thought. The sublime thought creates a pleasant atmosphere which attracts what is pleasant and beautiful in the Living nature and makes one capable of receiving it. Without sublime thought, one does not know how to interact with the Sentient nature and encounters many problems and misfortunes as a result. Due to this some people have a bad behavior - it is a sign that they are bad only by their will and actions, but not in their essence.

 

You often meet people who will not do even what is for their own good because of their inner disposition, and the so-called malevolent will.

 

The task of modern culture is to study the manifestations of human thoughts and determine the notion of “a human being.” The human being is a combination of virtues, not of crimes. When some negativity is rising up from within, it is a sign that the person comes across certain negative traits inherited from many generations. Therefore, even today one should make many efforts to remove the inherited negative features and some animal-like manifestations until coming to the state of a true human being.

 

And so, when one comes to reveal the conscious, mindful principle, that one will be strong and free of all negative and inferior manifestations from within. If a righteous person lives in a mountain, for instance, the weather will be as he wishes: if he wants snow - it will snow; if he wants rain or sunshine - the weather will respond accordingly. However, when a wrongdoer lives in the mountain, the weather will not follow his wishes, but will be as Nature dictates - so, the wrongdoer needs to comply with the weather and not vise versa.

 

Many people when hiking in the mountains are afraid of rain because they think that they might catch a cold. You should know that the July rain in the mountains is a great blessing - such a “bath” is equal to a hundred regular baths. Each drop of rain in July is imbued with beneficial electromagnetic forces.

 

Now, remember the following thought: human being is the greatest masterpiece of creation on Earth. Rejoice that you bear the name “human being”! Strive to live up to this name! One needs to be good; one needs to think, feel, and act rightly! And then say to yourself, everyone of you, “My life must not bring harm to others. If I want happiness for myself, I want happiness for others too. My thought should be like God’s thought!”

 

Now, I wish to all of you: be wise, goodhearted, and happy. May your desires come true! And may you become new people from now on!

 

Lecture by the Master Beinsa Douno, held on July 12, 1931.

 

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1. See also 1 John 4:16, “And we have known and believed the Love that God has for us. God is Love, and he who abides in Love abides in God, and God in him.”

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