THE HIGH AND LOW TIDES IN LIFE (November 2, 1914, Sofia)

[Ani]

THE HIGH AND LOW TIDES IN LIFE

 

For the ffesh fusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the ffesh; and these are contrary the one to the other. ¹

 

In general, people have very vague ideas of those deep Laws upon which life rests. The world we live in is ruled by Laws and regulations which God has put into the Universe when He was creating it. And when He led the first man into it— here the Scriptures are silent—the Lord taught him for a very long time, instructing him in the heavenly arcane. He acquainted him with all the basic Laws of this great building in which He placed him to live; He showed him the properties of all herbs; revealed to him the properties of the elements and their action, and making man a master over everything, He told him, "If you observe My Laws, you will always be happy, joyful and in a state of bliss and you will succeed in everything you undertake to do, but the day you violate my order everything will rise against you."

 

The two trees spoken of in the Scriptures, the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, are witnesses to this fact. If I should start explaining what these trees are, I shall digress too much, so I shall leave this for another sermon. These two trees in Paradise were living, intelligent, possessing certain powers and qualities. And the Lord said to the first man, "There is a great danger for you in the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and the day you will lay hand on it, you will lose everything. The elements hidden in that tree are not for you yet, for you are not sufficiently strong yet to master them. You can learn that in the future, but in the present you can make use of all other trees, of everything in life, but not of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil."

 

I shall not stop to discuss the deep reasons which induced Adam to violate the Divine command. Some people preach that we must have faith. In fact, faith is necessary, be it positive or negative, it is the foundation of life and life cannot exist without it. All beings, from the microscopic to the greatest, have faith. But what is their faith? The unbelievers say that they do not believe in God, but their statement affirms in the same time that they believe in something—that there is no God. Therefore, they have some kind of faith. I would like to see how a person can remain without faith, not even in themselves. If people believe in themselves, they have faith—the only difference is that they believe in their mind. We are not right in saying some are unbelievers—this is half-right, for they have given up their faith in God, but they believe in themselves. Therefore, faith can be positive and negative. Adam and Eve expressed the principle of disbelief in God because Lucifer entered the garden of Paradise and they believed in him, leaving God. As a result of this came the fall of man. And the Apostle Paul says to the Romans, "Whom you obey, his servant you become."

 

This morning my sermon will be about two great Laws, which I formulate thus: the Law of opposites and the Law of similarity. These are Laws which we can test every day. They are not an abstract philosophy like reincarnation or the transmigration of souls, but things which we can test daily within ourselves. From the point of view of these Laws, the dark aspects of life may become somewhat clearer to you. For instance, you are at the seashore and the sea is calm and quiet, but suddenly you notice that it begins to get turbulent, rising toward the shore like a flood— what the scientists call high tide. In some places the sea rises as high as sixty feet. At such times, you must run away as soon as you can, or you will be swallowed up by the waves. This high tide lasts twelve hours, after which the sea begins to subside and the waves draw back into their previous place. You can watch this often, sometimes daily—in twenty-four hours the water moving once forward and once backward.

 

Such high and low tides take place in you as well. Where? Naturally, neither on the high mountain peaks, nor on the high places of life, but in the low places. It often happens that you go down to the calm sea singing some sweet melody and suddenly a big wave dashes at you, washing you away with your sweet melody or wetting you all over. Or rowing in a calm sea, a storm comes up and turns the boat over and you find yourself in the stormy waves. This is not an exaggeration, but true to life facts. How many times people disappear without trace in the sea of life with their songs, dreams and ideals! You say, "A misfortune!" and, not knowing the Laws of Nature, seek the cause. When the ancient philosophers said, "Know yourself," they meant that a person should know these two Laws of regular motion—high tide and low tide. These two words are hazy in your mind, so I shall try to explain them.

 

This phenomenon is called the Law of rhythmic motion in present-day science. In all things there is a movement from the center to the periphery and from the periphery to the center; in all things there is high and low tide, rising and falling, conception and deterioration. In chemistry there is action and reaction—action is high tide after which is formed a reaction or low tide. If you notice your watch ticks quite noisily and then the ticking gradually fades away and then its sound again begins to increase—the same thing is true of your heart. If you put your hand on your heart, you will notice that at times it starts beating faster and you get frightened. The doctor says, "This person has palpitation." It is high tide in your organism reflected in the heart. This Law functions everywhere. And when the doctors say about some that they have a valvular disease, I say that these people have high tide in their mind, in their heart and in their soul and after 12 hours this tide will subside and the palpitation will pass. These 12 hours may be 12 seconds, 12 minutes, 12 hours, 12 days, 12 weeks, 12 months, 12 years, 12 centuries, 12 thousand years, 12 million years, and so on—it is all the same since the relation of things remains all the same. This is how this Law works.

 

In the above quoted chapter, the Apostle Paul speaks of the Law of the flesh, which is the Law of the low tide, and of the Law of the spirit, which is the Law of the high tide. The Law of the opposites includes the Law of the low tide, whereas the Law of similarity—the Law of the high tide. In some places of stagnant water, the evaporations spread microbes and near such places appear different diseases. This Law works in our brain, in our heart and in our soul. In the organism there are often sediments, which cause the diseases and what we call rheumatism in the legs, in the joints, or in the head when we feel pains and begin to complain. If we are sensible and understand the Law, we can put a strong barrier, a big wall where there is a high tide. If we are foolish, we shall gape in the shore by the stormy sea. People consistently repeat, "The world is bad." In what way is it bad? Now this World War! It is a high tide of the forces and in this tide there is collision and all are running and crying that the sea is raging. And they call war this rush of people and ask, "What will become of the world?" I say, in twelve hours, twelve weeks, or twelve years everything will be calm, the places where blood was shed will be dry and people will ask, "What was all this about? What was the cause, why did the sea rage against us?" The sea is not raging but breathing, and when it makes an effort to breathe, its breast rises 60 feet—however, when the sea is taking its breath, you must be 60 miles away from its shore on some high peak. When it is breathing out, you may go on the shore and enjoy it; but as soon as you see it inhaling, run away from there to the high place.

 

If we can understand these two Laws, of the opposites and the similarity, we shall know two great things in the world. The Law of similarity is the Law of heaven, the other Law—of the opposites—is the Law of the Earth, of the organic world, of the flesh. You get up some morning in a bad disposition, the whole world is wrong, you have no desire to work; your mind is confused. You say: "God has not made the world as it should be." All the devils are in your mind and you are ready to quarrel with everybody, you have let loose your girdle waiting for someone to step on it and for you to burst out—this is the Law of the opposites. On such a day when the wife notices the loose girdle of her husband, if she understands the Law, she must run 2 kilometers away from him and say to herself: "Today my husband has low tide of the spirit and high tide of the flesh." You should not laugh because on the next day the wife will loosen her girdle. This is a Law. All do not loosen their girdles at the same time. Ten years ago I lived with a family of seven members—father, mother, a son and four daughters. I was making small observations, testing how this Law worked—it worked like a clock! Each member took their turn during the week. On Monday the father was indisposed, his girdle loose. The others whispered, "Father is indisposed, scowling, yelling." They all keep quiet, looking for the cause. On Tuesday the father is happy, but the mother is scowling, her girdle is loose. The father giggles and says, "Your mother is on duty today." It is interesting that on Wednesday the big son lets loose his girdle. They all laugh, yet each one takes their turn during the week. I knew who was on duty each day and the program was fulfilled with no mistake. It is easy, and pleasant to a certain extent, when one at a time lets loose the girdle, but when two do it at the same time, or, scientifically said, when two are at low tide, then the situation is bad.

 

In this chapter Apostle Paul says that the flesh is opposite to the spirit and the spirit is contrary to the flesh. It is unthinkable to reconcile these two Laws, because they have a diametrically opposite direction—the one moves forward and the other— backward. The Law of the opposites destroys, it demolishes harmony and happiness. As soon as it comes to you, it carries away all your furniture. When you fall under the power of the Law of the opposites, it can influence your mind for a long time: 12 minutes, 12 hours, 12 years. There are certain periods in life which influence the character of a person from the very beginning. If children are conceived during the period of the opposites, they will become criminals by all means, unable to avoid the consequences of the elements which incite their life in a deviant direction. If the father and mother are under the influence of the Law of similarities, a noble son or daughter with a good and well-developed mind will be born of them. This is how these great Laws work. The first people, before the fall of man, had known them; but after the fall they have forgotten them.

 

People want their priest to preach to them after the service, but he is under the Law of the opposites and his vibrations, disposition and speech on that day cannot bring a blessing to them. He may serve reluctantly, out of duty or necessity. Yet if he were free, he would have put his hat on and gone somewhere else. However, people want him to preach to them. What can he preach? He will condemn them, call them bad people, sinners and send them to hell. That day he has said a lie: he has spoken of himself and people have been only a mirror in which he could see himself when he is under the influence of the Law of the opposites. People speak of an eminent American preacher in New York who moralized for a long time under the Law of the opposites and told his parishioners such terrible things that he frightened them all. The influence of the Law of the opposites often leaves in the stomach sediments obstructing digestion and doing harm to the whole organism. Because of that one day the parishioners took their preacher to hospital to cleanse his stomach of these sediments. A tube was placed in his mouth, then 4-5 kilograms of warm water was poured in, his stomach was washed two or three times and when the sediments were rinsed out he appeared in church and started preaching about the Kingdom of God, the coming of Christ, about Love, etc. People said, "Look, our preacher is transformed!" So I say when an orator wants to speak to people in church, in the chamber or anywhere else, he must cleanse his stomach, his heart and his mind of all sediments and then speak to people.

 

Let us suppose you get up some morning somewhat indisposed and you cannot explain the cause. A few minutes pass and your mind begins to clear up and you say, "Thank God, I am relieved now." But after some time bad thoughts overcome you again. You ask, "Where did this devil come from?" People cannot understand that there is a Law that periodically and systematically works in the world. No devil with a trap has come to catch them, but it is the Divine Law. The Lord says, "I gave you a mind to reason about the order in the world. I told you about this Law long ago, but you forgot it and now the Law itself will teach you." When contemporary societies become able to understand the deep sense of the two Laws, the world will be fundamentally set right. Some people ask, "How can the world be set right?" When we begin to act according to this Law, the world will be restored to its original state as God ordered it. Like causes produce like effects; contrary causes produce contrary effects. The Hindus, who know these two Laws, explain them by the word karma—the Law of cause and effect. The karma may be good and bad or karma of the high tide and karma of the low tide. The commercial language expresses it as give and take. If you give, this is low tide, if you take, this is high tide. The one to whom you owe will come on the exact date of payment and invite you to pay your debt. Date of payment means a Law which regulates things. This Law is conditioned by the debtor as well as by the lender.

 

Therefore, when God sent us into the world, He laid down certain terms. We have signed that we are obliged to do this or that, but now we say to Him, "We do not owe You anything." "Is that so? Then I shall apply the Law on you, the Law of the opposites. You beat someone, but he will beat you in turn, what you do will be done to you in return." These two Laws dominate and work on the Earth. The like always repulses the like. A cock perches on the dunghill, but a stronger cock comes and chases it away. Why do not both of them crow on the dunghill? The Law says—only one cock can crow on a dunghill. Therefore, in the world there can be either good or evil. Two evils cannot reside in one place and the same refers to the good. A saint cannot tolerate another saint and a learned person—another learned person. These two Laws work on the Earth—the Law of the opposites and the Law of similarity. The good strives after the evil and the evil after the good. That is why those who want to live on the Earth must have bad people as friends by all means, while the bad people must be friends with good ones. However, in heaven there is a different Law. Here the good person who wants to have only good people as friends will always be unhappy. Why is that so? Because there must be an exchange between the good and the bad people. If a merchant has textile goods for millions and his neighbor has the same, whom will they sell them to? Their interests do not coincide. One of them will say to the other, "Go away from here. Find another place on the other end of the Earth to sell your goods; I shall sell mine here." The Law of opposites is at work in this case.

 

Christ, who knew this Law, spoke about self-denial. When people deny themselves, they become servants and then the Lord says to them, "I love you." If some say that they want to be masters, God will answer them that two persons cannot be masters at the same time, one must be a master and the other a servant. Evil is born when two people want to be masters. If they insist on being masters, God says, "Two masters cannot be with me. If they insist on that, I shall send them to the other end of the world." Which is the other end of the world? The Earth is. That is why God has sent people to the Earth. The Law of contrasts works in all of you, who want to understand the Law of similarity—that is why you are unhappy. You must come out of the Law of the opposites and enter the Law of similarity, which is self-denial. Self-denial does not mean losing your life, but only changing one occupation for another. Suppose two men are candidates for Headmasters of a High School. If one acts according to the Law of similarity, he will say to the other, "You become a Headmaster and I shall become a teacher." But if both of them should insist on taking that post, there will be intrigues with the minister and each of them will say to him, "I am more capable than the other man." Under which rule are they? Under the Law of contrasts.

 

But the Teaching of Christ is under the Law of similarity. He says, "I came not be a master over you, but to teach you how to be happy; if you love me and fulfill my Law, you will live in bliss." If you are indisposed, if you hate or blackmail; you are unhappy for you are in the Law of the opposites. You must leave it, or in scientific terms—come out of the Law of contrasts and enter the Law of similarity. In other words, you must change the conditions and the environment. Begin to love. Actually, you cannot love until you go to the place of Love. It would be the same if you were shut in a dark room and were asked to see something, but you cannot see anything in the dark. The dark room is not the place of similarity. You must go out of it. If you have a candle, you may strike a match and light it. Therefore, when Christ says that we must deny ourselves, he means that we must leave the dark room of our egoism and enter the Law of similarity, of Love. See how sensible this is! Go out and find those places where you can draw elements necessary for your happiness, for your heart.

 

You cannot do this under the Law of the opposites. In such a case, many will fight for one post, or for one professor's cathedra. Once there was a competition in France for a post in a Department and 15 thousand people applied for it. Only one candidate could take the post. In contemporary societies such desires are often born. Why? Because everyone wants this position. You hate someone and try to get him out of your way. Why do you hate this person? Because either they or you want this post. The Law of the opposites in life is implacable. This Law works also in our thoughts, in our feelings and in our will. The billions of cells constituting our bones, our nervous system, the stomach, the lungs, the heart and the brain during certain periods of time are under the influence of the two Laws—that of the opposites and that of the similarity—as a result of which high and low tides take place in them. We are angry, indisposed—there is a low tide in us. After that, a high tide must necessarily take place in us. How? We should concentrate, turn our mind to God, climb the high mountain where God can be found and have a conversation with Him and when the low tide is over, we will return to earth.

 

By the word high tide I do not understand only that of the sea, but also that of the plants which takes place whenever there is moisture in the air. As soon as the fruit is ripe, it begins to wither. This is the Law of contrasts, which prepares soil for the next year. The Law of contrasts takes off the old clothes, but the Law of similarity supplies new clothes. You undress—this is the Law of contrasts; you put on clothes—this is the Law of similarity. Your body gets soiled—you are in the Law of contrasts; you bathe—you are in the Law of similarity. You wash your face every morning after getting up. Why? By way of habit. Today you must go to God, because there is low tide in you. You wash your face and say, "I shall take the burden off my heart, I shall wash the sediments off my brain and then I shall stand before God." This is what the washing of the face means. But since you cannot interpret this act, you wash it and the whole day after that you meddle with the mud. And your work does not go well. How can it go well, when the mud is in you! In order not to dirty yourself, you must be at a high place.

 

According to the Apostle Paul, the Law of similarity has application in the verse, "The fruit of the Spirit is Love, Joy, Peace, Longsuffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Faith, Meekness, Temperance." Love is the father; Joy is the mother; Peace is their child. That is, they form a triangle which belongs to the Divine World. Those who want to be blissful must possess these qualities. Then they are in heaven. Then comes the second category of virtues which belong to the angelic world: Longsuffering—the father; Gentleness—the mother; Goodness—their child. Acquire them, and you will be among the angels. The third category is: faith—the father; meekness—the mother; Temperance—their child. Therefore, I say that according to the Law of similarity first you must have a father. Who is your father? Faith is. "But I have no faith." "Friend, I have a bad opinion about you. If you have no father, you are an unlawful child—your mother has not born you in the Divine way." This is what I understand when people say they have no faith. When people say they have faith, I say, "I congratulate you for having a father of noble birth, of a royal family." "But I do not believe in this father." "You are the last scoundrel."

 

Let us consider the word gentleness. We said that gentleness is the mother—it is of royal birth. If you believe in gentleness, you have a mother. "But I do not want to be gentle." "Then you are without a mother." Therefore, every Christian must have a father and mother—faith and gentleness—but the person him/herself is temperance. When we say temperance, we must understand ourselves—the children of our father, faith, and our mother, gentleness. Someone says, "I want to go to the angels." You can go but you must be born of a father, longsuffering, and a mother, gentleness; she should carry you in her womb. And when you are born what will you be? Goodness—an angel, a saint. If you are good, you are an angel having a father longsuffering, and a mother, gentleness, who are among the angels. This is the Law regulating human life. It is the foundation of a philosophy which is tested daily. Do not deceive yourselves, nor try to deceive others. Only those who live under the Law of contrasts can deceive themselves. I exclude from myself the Law of contrasts. If I am at a low tide, I go to God; if I am at a high tide, I come to earth to work. If I am with God, who can deceive me? That is why I said in a previous sermon: where God is, the devil has no access; where God is not, there the devil is. When people say that the devil is crushing them, I understand what they mean. If God is in your heart, the devil cannot crush you. According to the Law of similarity, evil cannot be turned into good, nor can good into evil.

 

A saint who has spent twenty years in a desert was visited once by a white-bearded old man who said to him, "I am a big sinner, so I ask you to pray to God to forgive my sins." When the old man went away, the saint began to pray to God for him. An angel appeared and said, "Your prayer is not accepted by God, because this old man is the devil. In order to find out whether he tells you the Truth, tell him so, 'I shall pray for you, but you must confess your sins. Climb a high rock and say: God be merciful to me for I am a great sinner. Repeat these words for a whole year.'" After sometime the old man visited the hermit again and the latter told him what the angel had said. "What!" cried the devil, "I cannot do this! I, who rule the world and command, do not want to pray, you pray." Then the hermit said to him, "The old malice cannot be a new virtue."

 

Those who preach the Scriptures must know that they can never turn the Law of the opposites into a Law of similarity, i.e. they cannot turn to God someone who always lives under the Law of the contrasts. They cannot make them happy, as they cannot turn the woman into a man. The wife wants her husband to make her happy. How can he make her happy when she does not love him? He buys her a suit—she is not pleased; he brings meat—it is bad meat; the house is not built as it should; this is wrong, that is bad... How can he satisfy her when she is in the realm of opposites in her mind and when anything the husband does will not change her nature. Neither can the wife satisfy her husband, if such is his nature. She may cook and keep house, but he will always be dissatisfied, because he lives under the Law of opposites. Someone says, "I do not know what to do: my husband has become wrong- headed." I reason calmly and say, "He is unfortunately under the Law of contrasts, at a low tide; put him in your carriage, harness the horse and take him to a high place where he can take his breath— that is what your husband wants." When a woman wants to take her husband to church, she takes a phaeton and says, "We shall go to God; such and such a man will preach today and we shall learn something new."

 

Now we say, "We want the world to be set right." How can it be set right? After grunting for million years under the tree, the swine, when she has eaten up all the pears, starts digging the roots to look for pears there. Now I ask you, how can the tree bear new pears when the swine spoils the whole tree? In the same way, when you do not find pears in the tree, you start digging the roots and say, "The money we seek is buried in the Earth." Thus, you become gold-seekers. But I say, you are under the Law of contrasts. There are no pears in the roots, no treasure either. You should not dig at the same place, but take your bag and staff and go to another place. Why? Because when the master comes and finds you digging, he will give you a good beating. Now this is what God is doing on the Earth. You are digging, looking for pears, but God says, "Give every person 25 cudgels on the back."

 

Therefore, apply this Law to your life. The wife should not dig around the root of her husband if there are no pears, but wait. The husband, too, should not dig around the roots of his wife; the priests—around the roots of their parishioners; the students— around the roots of their teachers. All must apply the Law and you will understand life as God created it. This is a philosophy which you can apply in this world. It is so simple that everyone can understand it. If you say you cannot do this, I shall consider you as being in the mud, in the bog of the opposites. If you say, I can, you are under the Law of similarity. Take a step forward and you will be on the way to salvation. Some say, "We cannot love." "I am sorry, but I cannot help you, since you are in the region of contrasts, where you are amassing sediments and mud." "I can love." You are under the Law of similarity and God is with you. You get up some morning ill-disposed, say to yourself, "Today I am at a low tide, I shall harness my horse in the carriage and go on a journey." Do not go to a tree to pick pears when it is not time for that. You will find the pears at another place. Get up and pray, if you know how to pray.

 

You will grow strong by prayer. Praying is the highest and noblest work one can do in this world. Only in this way can the human heart be raised and ennobled. I am not speaking about the external side of prayer in which only the tongue takes part, but of the prayer expressing the conscious aspiration of the soul towards God—the Supreme Love. But all people do not have such a view. Some say, "I cannot pray." Another one laughs and says it is self- deception to pray: how can a scientist, a university graduate, pray to God! The learned people are inconsistent. When they want a post, they write a petition saying, "Since I am a university graduate, I ask you most politely to employ me, promising to fulfill sufficiently my duty." Is it not a prayer? Yes, it is quite a characteristic prayer, but it is a shameful thing to pray to God! As long as there are people who pray only to their fellow beings and not to God—the Supreme Good—the world will go on just as it is. These people live under the Law of contrasts.

 

I ask how we can be good when falsehood follows at our heels? We deceive ourselves, our fellow beings and God. We have unconsciously given citizenship to falsehood. We act under fear. Let us become free of fear and make the slogan of our life— speaking the Truth at least before God. Let us say, "Today I shall not speak falsehood before the face of God." If you make a mistake, say, "God, forgive me, I made a mistake." Do not say that so-and-so was the cause of your mistake and you are higher than them. Do not be like a Pharisee, with a high opinion of yourself. If you act this way, you are in the region under the Law of contrasts, in darkness. Speak rightly, "I made this mistake." By confessing your mistakes you will correct yourself. Read the confession of Tolstoy, which is a good example of this. Tolstoy became great after his confessions. There are only a few such examples in history. Can you also make such a confession? If you want to become a noble person, an angel or a saint, this is the easiest thing to do. You can become an angel or a devil ten times a day. Many do not believe in reincarnation, yet they can be reincarnated ten times a day. If you want to kill a person, you are a reincarnated devil—you are in the region of the opposites and are in a state to do any kind of evil. If you are under the Law of similarity, you are an angel. If you are ready to sacrifice yourself, or to do a noble deed, you are a saint. The only sad thing is that you cannot remain in this state for a longer period of time.

 

It is said that people were made in the image and likeness of God. Here is what I understand by the words the image and likeness of God. When they say that a man is employed as general or minister, I ask, "Has not this man existed before?" He has existed before as an ordinary citizen. And when God said, "Let us make man in the image and likeness of God," he wanted to promote him to a higher post, to make him a general, to clothe him in a general's uniform and epaulets of a general. However, man did not fulfill the will and the command of God and He deprived him of that post and had his coat and epaulets taken off. This is the fall of man. "Take his coat off," said God, "because he does not fulfill his general's duty as he should." As soon as you turn to God, He says, "Today you are in the image and likeness of a general. Enter paradise!" If after five or ten minutes you do not fulfill the Law, He says, "Take off the coat of this general!" If you are angry or in bad disposition, you are out of paradise. A year or two pass, you begin to repent and God says, "Bring him to me, I shall promote him general again." Many times in the past, God has promoted you general and brought you down or discharged you. Today you are well, you are an angel in heaven; on the next day you are badly off, you come down to earth. If you do not pray and observe God's Law, you will serve evil.

 

The two Laws of the opposites and of similarity regulate the world. The spirits who live under the Law of opposites have no disposition to return to the Law of similarity; that is why God cannot transfer them from one region to another. The first thing we encounter in Christianity is the boundary that exists between these two Laws. When you come to this boundary, you must leave all your luggage of thoughts and desires which are under the Law of contrasts and enter the Law of similarity free and pure. Then God will clothe you in a new coat and promote you generals. Man became naked when he disobeyed God's command not to eat of the forbidden fruit. God took off his general's coat and man was forced to make himself clothes out of leaves. God says, "Make him a coat of skin at once!" That is why today you wear a coat of skin which you call flesh. How and when can you become free from this skin? When you enter the Law of similarity. This skin will fall from you and God will give you a general's coat an epaulets. Such is the Christian philosophy, which you can apply to your life. It is not a philosophy of the past, but of the present. You are daily reincarnated by serving good and evil in turn. It is what reincarnation means.

 

Contemporary people say, "Those who believe in reincarnation must be thrown out of the church." Why will you throw me out? Is it because I believe in the Laws of contrasts and similarity and live accordingly? When I live according to God's Law, whether you throw me out of the church or keep me in it, does not affect my soul. When I live with God, do not hate anyone, and try to love everybody, can anyone throw me out? Only God can do that. This is the Teaching I am preaching. I say, "The day you sin, you are turned out of the Divine church, or paradise." What are the contemporary churches? They are a distant echo of the greatness of the past. Do you know what secrets are concealed in these churches? If I start interpreting the meaning of the church, the stones of which the churches are built, the meaning of the priest's vestment, of the candles; you will understand—there is a deep philosophy in all this. The Laws of God are inscribed on the priests' vestments. The priests put them on daily, but cannot read what is written on them. Do you know the meaning of the vestments, the crown and the scepter of the bishop? What about the censer and the incense? We have closed the sacred book of life, saying, "This book is sacred, do not touch it!" But God says, "See that you do not soil it on the outside, keep it clean; open it carefully and read a little every day taking down the valuable thoughts in it." The church, the vestments, the icons, the candles, the censer and the books are all in their places. You must observe the contents of this sacred book. From it you will learn the Laws of the opposites and of similarity. When you learn them, you will put Christ's cross on your back and be ready to be nailed. Then God will say, "This man will be with Me in paradise," and you will be saved. This is done momentarily. I can be in heaven this very minute, but the moment I waver about God and think evil of Him, I am already at the bottom of hell. The moment I love God in my soul and say, "God, forgive me!" I am with Him. He stretches His hand and takes me to Him.

 

Now I shall conclude my sermon with an illustration. A man died and was taken to hell. He spent ages of suffering there, praying God to forgive him. At last God said, "Open the book of life and see if he has done at least one good thing in his life." When they opened the book, they found that he had given once a carrot to a poor man. Then God said, "This man can be saved" and ordered an angel to hold the carrot, which he can get hold of, and thus be pulled out of hell. However, along with him many other sinners caught each other's feet and the angel carried them to paradise. But the owner of the carrot said to the others, "This carrot is mine!" and as soon as he said these words, the chain broke and all fell down in hell. Let your carrot help save other people as well as to rise to heaven, otherwise if you say, "This carrot is mine!" you will fall down again. Let them get hold of your clothes, of your feet, you keep quiet, do not say anything. When you say, "This carrot is mine!" you are far from God. Selflessness always lives under the Law of similarity. Sacrifice and self-denial—this is Christianity.

 

Sermon held on November 2, 1914, Sofia

 

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¹ Galatians 5:17,22.