1927_08_21_2 LOVE OF KNOWLEDGE

[Ani]

From  The Way of the Disciple, AlphaDar

 

 

LOVE OF KNOWLEDGE

 

"Only the light way of Wisdom leads to the Truth."

 

Meditation

 

If you are given the theme "which is the most important question for the young people", or "what are the young people most of all interested in", what would you write down? I will facilitate your answer. I shall ask you: What is the new born child most interested in? In the food, in the milk of its mother. The first theme which the child begins to study is its mother's milk. Then which is the most important question which the disciple must start with? Which is the question upon which his future depends?

 

I shall draw a parallel now. Just as the healthy condition of the child, the good condition of its mind, heart, thoughts and feelings depends on the mother's milk, the right development of the disciple depends on his love of knowledge. Consequently, if the mother gives the best milk to her child, then its health, its thoghts and feelings will be normal. We know that such a child is born and brought up according to all the rules of rational nature, that's why it is healthy in every way. We are not speaking about the digressions, which exist in life. In the same way, the disciple must start with the love for knowledge. Knowledge is the object toward which he must aspire, while Love is the food which he must receive. If the disciple has no Love of knowledge, he can not attain anything. If he has love of knowledge, as the child has love of the mother's milk, it will facilitate the way of his soul and help the normal development of its mind. Since all of you pass now into a higher class, love of knowledge is required of you. In the future, if you have no love of knowledge, you will be disciples only in form, but not disciples in the ideal and real sense of the word. Everyone - young or old, can be a disciple, if he loves knowledge.

 

I shall ask you one more question: Which are the signs which indicate the love of knowledge? They are most elementary things in the new philosophy, of the new understanding and conception of things. I make a distinction between the old and the new philosophy of life, which is in accordance with the Great laws of nature. As you observe and study this living, rational nature, it will reveal to you what has been inadmissible to your minds.

 

Suppose you are interested in geology and you study the earth layers. You may only study their composition, but you may also study their physical structure: whether they are formed by folding or by breaking or horizontally. You say: "It is not of interest to us whether or not certain layers are formed by folding or by breaking. The layers themselves may not be of interest and of no importance to you, but you can not be negligent of the quality of the water which springs from them. If these layers are sandy and broken up, they will form subterranean valleys through which the passing water will be purified and thus they will produce the best water. I ask you: If you studied hydrology and knew where the different kinds of water may be found, will you not serve the people in need and show them where to find the best water? You will not only serve them, but they will respect you and you will have the reputation of an educated person.

 

 

There are similar layers in many people. You say: "This is not good." No, you do not understand the laws. You will often find the best water in folded layers. I ask you: Which is better, your layers to be folded as the layers CD (Fig.l)and to contain water, or to be horizontal and not to contain water? Or which is better: to have a straight character like the horizontal layers and not contain any water, or to have a "folded" character like the layers CD, but to contain water? By the folding and breaking of the earth layers, one can figure out the depth the water has reached in the earth.

 

According to the same law, as you study the human brain, you will see it furrowed, formed by a number of folded and curved layers which have undergone a number of metamorphoses until they have attained their present condition. The cosmic energy of the rational life flows over the folds of the brain, and is utilized by the human soul. Scientists say that the human thought depends on the folds of the brain. This means that the energy of the thought flows over these folds and goes out of them in the same way. These folds conduct the energies of the Space. If these layers are folded, some educated person may drill his boring instrument into them and draw out water, but if they are horizontal, straight, as soon as he drills his instrument into them all the water that is there, will sink below, so that he will not be able to draw any water. So, if anyone wants to make the folded layers straight, what will happen? The water in them will be lost.

 

 

 

Thus, we can derive the following law: when we dig too much into some subject, or some philosophic question, at last it loses its meaning. This often happens with the idea of morality. If you dig too much into this idea, at last the moral sinks somewhere deep in the earth and you do not know anymore what is and what is not moral and right. In such a case, your conception about morality becomes thoroughly confused. What must be the relations of the layers toward each other? How can you give them a scientific expression? Let us say that you have a layer which has the position A²BC in relation to the layer M (Fig. 2). What will it be like?

 

This layer will be waterless because it can not keep any water in itself. To what layers in life can we compare the dry layers? All the layers, in which we encounter the contradictions in our life, are waterless. Do you know how many ages, how many thousands of years have been necessary for nature to make the horizontal layers folded? They have gradually assumed that form. If you examine the earth layers in the light of science and draw a parallel between them and the folds of the brain, you may say that this is a strange coincidence, but you may also draw a conclusion, that a rational force has worked in nature. The way you will reason about this question will depend on the degree of your mental development.

 

Thus, we see that an analogy can be made between the manifestations of external nature and our own manifestations; that's why we can benefit by nature. Since we learn from it, we can not expect our life to run smoothly. There is a desire in young people that their life should run smoothly, without any difficulties. You know, however, that every difficulty corresponds to the mental development of the young person concerned. A Bulgarian proverb says: "His mind is like his home." This means that the responsibility which nature imposes on man, is in relation to the degree of his mental development. In nature there is a great law, which allocates to every man the difficulties corresponding to his mental development. The greater difficulties one has, the higher the degree of his mental development, and vice versa, the smaller the difficulties, the lower the degree of his mental development. In this respect, history shows us that the greatest men who have done the most for the elevation of humanity, have met the greatest difficulties and have overcome them. Therefore, everyone can overcome his difficulties in a rational manner.

 

Suppose you are given a heavy rope and you have to break it in two. For this purpose, they give you only a sewing needle. How will you break this rope? Can you do it at once? You can not. You will take the needle and start to unravel it. How much time will this work take you? Much time. That's why, first of all, you will experience a desire to break it at once. The only means you are given to do the unravelling, are the needle and some time. As you unravel the rope thread by thread, you will learn many things. What, for instance, can you learn? The simplest thing you will learn is out of how many cords the rope is made. What else? (Patience, Constancy, Dexterity.) Yes, you will achieve dexterity to be able to break the rope thread by thread, and not by two or three threads together. Nature does not allow one to break two or three threads together at a time, but only one at a time. If you break two threads at a time, you break the laws of nature.

 

If you examine this question according to your understanding, you will say that you can break two, three, four threads at a time, but nature, which gives at your disposal a needle and some time, does not allow you to break even two threads at a time, but only one. It says: "I give you as much time as you want, but you must break the rope thread by thread!" How many hours a day will you break these threads? You will say: "In order to break the rope quickly, I will work all day long. No!

 

Nature does not allow you to break the rope for more than one hour a day! Have you ever tried to see how many threads you can break in an hour? If this rope has 10 000 threads, have you tried to see how many threads you can break in a minute, according to all rules, of course, without being in a hurry? The threads of this rope are so entwined that when you take hold of one, you also pull the other one, but nature says: "You will unravel the threads one by one without breaking them, or tying knots on them." What do you think, how much time will it take to break such a tough, heavy rope? (Five hours).

 

Well then, I will give you a heavy rope and we shall see if you can unravel it in five hours, thread after thread. Great dexterity is necessary! Suppose this rope represents the folded layers P and R (Fig. 3). The water is in the lowest layer R where a boring instrument is inserted. There are a number of horizontal layers below this layer. What will happen after you have torn the last thread of the rope? In every thread there is a certain kind of energy and after you break the thread this energy will flow into you. You must know how to use it. I ask you: Are you ready to use all the energy you will have after you have broken the last thread? You often say: "I will break my relations with this one or that one." After you break your tie with some person, are you ready to stop thinking about this? Are you ready to fill in the vacancy, which is called faith with the tom tie? Are you in a position to deal correctly with the elements formed by this broken tie? Have you ever had the experience of breaking up all ties with some friend? You can not break all the threads, which link you to that friend, but only a number of them. What do you feel then? Pain. There is no person who has not passed through this experience of breaking ties with some friend. What do you do after you have broken the threads? You lie down, get up, walk around, go out, come in - you can not find a place for yourself, you can not find a way to get free of this state without a rest. So, how do you tie the threads afterwards? Do you make knots? Once you tear the thread, nature does not allow you to tie knots. I ask you: Since you have tom the thread, how will you correct your mistake? The thread is broken, the mistake is made, yet knots are not allowed to be made - how will you correct your mistake?

 

What will be the water like after it passes through layers of clay? Dirty. What layers must water pass through, in order to be pure and fine? Sandy layers. Then, by analogy, I will ask you: What layers must your life pass through, in order to be pure and fine? Rough layers, for they correspond to the sandy layers in nature. Where are these rough layers found within us? In the mind. The clay layers are found in the heart. That's why, I talked to you about the pure, right thought. This thought is necessary for you to attain the higher life, which will improve your inner state. Pure life benefits from all good acquisitions, but not from the pleasures in life.

 

What does the word "pleasure" mean? I will give you several examples that you may see how people today understand pleasure. You meet a young student, cigarette in mouth, walking self-contentedly and smoking. Smoking is a pleasure, which does not help the development of the student. Then I see another student drinking a glass of whisky or wine. He says: "I drink whisky, because it stimulates my stomach, and my brain will start to work better." There are many scientists and doctors who recommend the drinking of wine in small quantities. Nature, however, has provided only one drink - water. It says: "If you want your mind to be clear and bright, so that you can work well, you must drink only water. Find the best, the purest water and drink that water only!" If you want to smoke, it says: "You must think!" The Scriptures also speak about smoking - about incense burning. According to the New Testament the prayers of the righteous ascend like smoke as if from incense-burner. So, burning is necessary. In this case, thought ennobles the disciple. The thought of every disciple must burn! The disciple can do all sorts of physical exercises, he can draw, play, study, practice all kinds of arts, if all these activities develop his mind. He must keep himself aside of all unprofitable pleasures, which interfere with the regular development of his mind.

 

Suppose you are a talented, capable disciple and have a great love of knowledge, but at the same time you have neither parents and friends who can help you, nor any means for support and you can not study. I ask you: How will you get everything you need, so that you can begin to study? Suppose you can play an instrument, draw, sew or make shoes, which one of all these arts or crafts will be the most appropriate in your case? Which one will help you to have the means of support you need? If it is making of shoes and clothes, would you prefer shoe-making and sewing to arts? I ask you: Do you think the disciple is allowed to borrow money from his friends? Helping each other is something different, but I am talking about making loans with the promise that you will return the money in a few days, while you are not able to pay it back even after several months. Besides, how much money will you borrow? (As much as we can pay back and just enough for our bread). Yes, that’s true, as much as you need to buy bread with. Now, how much bread can a disciple eat in a day? Is half a loaf enough for him?

 

Now, we are coming to one of the essential questions -the question of satisfaction. A man must begin to study the law of satisfaction early in his youth. The disciple must always have the best bread, but whatever quantity he may have, he has to be always satisfied. He has no right to be dissatisfied with the quantity of his food, because every day brings its own blessing. Today, he may have simple food and just a piece of bread, but tomorrow his table may be richer. But no matter what the disciple has today, he must be fully satisfied and not ask for more. He may have just a piece of bread, but let him look at it smilingly and say: "Thanks for the bread." Now we will study together. Then the bread will smile back at him and say: "We both will learn easily our lesson." (We have not yet talked to the bread). A day will come when you will speak to the bread. Christ says: "I am the living bread", which means: a day will come when you will speak with this living bread. How would you change, if you had the living bread?

 

I will explain this to you by an example. Imagine that you are a master who needs servants and that you go every day to the market place to hire some new servants. You find there a worker, who is waiting for someone to hire him and you take him to your house. Every day that worker comes to your home to work, until one day he receives a great inheritance from his uncle in America - half a million dollars. I ask you: Will you find on the next day the worker in the market place, waiting to be hired for work? You will not find him. From your point of view, is it right after that man has received half a million dollars, to go to the market place and to wait to be hired for work by somebody? What makes the worker to leave his work? The money. It makes his life easy. I ask you: After he has received the money, what work must he begin? (Begin to study). If that worker, after receiving that great wealth, refuses to study, or leaves school, finding that knowledge is of no use to him, since he has means for support, he does not solve his problem rightly. In such a case, poverty is preferable, because it forces him to work, to study, while wealth spoils him. He does not want to work and study anymore. The living bread represents the favourable conditions of life, which every man must profit by. By this I want to lead you to the thought that the favourable conditions in life divert the imprudent person from his right direction, while they sustain and assist the prudent man in the right direction. This is the sole reason why, at the present state of your development, the difficult conditions surpass the favourable conditions. The invisible world, or rational nature, wants to force you to study, as the loving mother wants to make her children study. And when they do not study, she places them under great difficulties, so that they may want to study. They have great need of knowledge.

 

Thus, according to you, which is the most important question which must engage the mind of the disciple? Knowledge. This knowledge must contain in itself the quality of inward humility. As the consciousness of the disciple expands from day to day, his hope of knowledge, of the study of life, must grow. The gathering of knowledge is similar to the gathering of water in the earth layers. Water has been gathering in these layers during thousands of years, without coming to the surface, in the same way as human knowledge has been stored up for ages in the human consciousness, without becoming manifested. The wise disciple can dig through these layers and the water gathered in them will spring up to the surface. Where will this life, this knowledge appear? In the consciousness of people. And now, since you are preparing yourselves for the world, this energy must flow out of you, so that you may bear the new teaching. In a scientific language this means: the educated person must express those springs within him by which he can cultivate his external flora. The flora is a symbol of the inner life of people. The best desires, the finest feelings, which you have, can be realized only by an excellent mind. Therefore, everyone must strive for an excellently developed and organized mind with which he can work effectively.

 

From your point of view, which subject in life, or which branch of science is most important at the present time? In contemporary society, which sciences are considered of top priority? (The natural sciences and mathematics). Do you all agree on this? Which is the most important thing in the first grade? What does the teacher begin with? He begins by revealing the first letters to the children, doesn't he? But what must you begin with? First of all, you must begin to study your face. I recommend to you the study of your forehead - measure it, observe it, see are there any lines on it, or not. Then study your nose - its width and form. After that, study your eyes, your ears, your eye brows, your head, etc. You can not remember all the details of your face, but there are certain lines on your forehead which determine the direction of your mind. Study also the qualities of your mind.

 

The three drawings on Fig. 4 show different lines on the foreheads of people. These are folds, layers similar to the earth layers. Men upon whose foreheads there are straight, horizontal lines, as in Fig. 4,1 are sober, they are people of thought. They do not suffer from emotional floods. They are wise, but not practical and quick.

 

I shall tell you an anecdote, which illustrates well this type of people. They solve problems very slowly. Once upon a time people in a village started to build a public bath. After a certain time all had been finished except the paving of the floors with marble slabs, but since the marble had cost too much, they had finally decided to use boards instead. However, there was a dispute on this - as to whether the boards should be polished or not. Two opinions had been expressed: part of the people wanted polished boards, the other part - unpolished. The dispute had lasted a total of eight years and the bath had remained unfinished. Finally, an inspector had arrived at the place and after a thorough examination he had said: "You will put one polished board, for those who want such boards and one unpolished board, for those who insist on unpolished boards, so that both parties will be satisfied." I ask you: What conclusion will you draw, if you enter a bath with two kinds of boards on the floor? You will realize that two forces had been in action, two opinions had existed.

 

 

So, I say: One must study the parts of his body, in order to understand all the forces it contains. This develops self-confidence, that one may cultivate all the talents and abilities he possesses. For instance, some people can not speak the Truth. Why? Because they are cowards. Others can not lie. Why? Because they are very conscious. In this respect people are not alike. From a phrenological point of view, the upper part of men's heads is not the same. In some people that part of the head is broad - A, in others, it is somewhat rounded and narrow - B (Fig. 5). If we draw a horizontal line CD, parallel to the mouth, it is easy to determine the width and the form of the upper part of the head, where the center of conscience is. The more bulky the center and the longer the line, the better developed the conscience of this person; and vice versa: the less bulky this center and the shorter the line, the less developed the conscience of a man. Therefore, there is a maxim, which determines the relation of all organs at the following measures of a head: 55 cm around and 15 cm and 18 cm in diameter. In a normally developed head these centers are clearly defined. Everyone who studies the head can read by its lines and can understand which center is well developed and which is not; he knows the place of conscience and of all the other centers. The extent to which our centers and abilities are well or not so well developed, is strictly determined. There is a certain correlation among all the centers. As the conscience, the other centers have also their own corresponding lines on the face and the hand, as well as on the head.

 

Apostle Paul says: "He whose faith is weak should eat cabbage." A man of feeble faith is a coward. The predominating influence of fear in a person is due to a feeble faith. If you start preaching to a coward that there is Divine Providence and that he must believe in God, he will answer you: "Why are you speaking to me about faith? I need good and strong legs, so that I may run fast." Can you preach to a hare that there is Divine Providence and that he must believe in God? No. The hare says: "I believe in my hind legs and know that it is easier for me to run upwards." From his point of view, he is right. If you go to a huge mountain rock, what do you think - is it cowardly? If it had consciousness, it would tell you: "The greatest storm in the world can not make me move from my place!" Why? Because it is a mountain - not hare. From these examples, I will draw a law, which regulates all things in nature, namely: the feeble things are blown by the forces of nature in all directions. A leaf torn from the tree, is blown in all directions, while if it is on the tree, the wind only makes it fold over this way or that way around its center. The fallen leaf moves both in its periphery and its center, while the leaf on the tree moves only in the periphery, while its center remains calm. In this respect, men who possess a moral backbone, endure all storms in life remaining undisturbed. This is why you must have a right understanding of life.

 

Now I shall ask you: Which is the most important characteristic of a young man? Or, what characterizes youth? Up to a certain age, you feel young, but after some time you feel that you have grown older. Up to the moment you feel young, you are really young, but from the moment you start thinking that you are old, a change takes place in your consciousness. What really distinguishes your former state from the latter? What have you actually lost and what new element has entered into you?

 

An example will make your reasoning easier. Imagine that you, as a student, possess a purse full of golden coins. You touch it from time to time in your pocket and it stimulates you. The full purse represents youth. It is hard and heavy, because it is full. When you feel its weight and hardness, you feel proud, more stable and walk erect. Whoever sees you in this erect posture, turns to look at you again. It is a pleasure to see a self-confident, brave man in the world! Imagine that after a certain time, you put your hand in that pocket and feel the purse, but what do you find? It has become soft and much lighter. You fall into a peculiar psychological state and say: "How is it possible for this to happen?" You wonder how your purse has become empty and so light! Some clever, dextrous person has taken out unnoticeably your full purse, and has put in its place an empty one. What do you feel? Sorrow and weakness overtake you. You lose your courage and walk with bent head and in low spirits. The empty purse represents old age. The old person feels that some wealth has been stolen from him. He says: "Gone is my youth!" How? I do not know. He feels his purse, but it is already soft and light and he says: "Once upon a time my feet could carry me, but I do not know what has happened that they do not serve me anymore." You must know one thing: all people who live with their heart, get older faster than those who live with their mind; or in other words: people of the emotions get older faster than people of the sober thought. Each person who thinks soberly and well will always be young. One of the characteristics of the young person is right thinking. Thus, right thought is necessary for all of you.

 

Now you are preparing yourselves for entering the new life. What is necessary for this life? You must work upon the new positions of life, for in man there are double organs, which he must develop. At present, man works with the left half of the brain and with the right hand, while the right half of the brain and the left hand are passive, they do not take part in the work. The left half of the brain represents the woman who works all day at home, while the man goes here and there, cigarette in hand, talks, philosophizes and says: "My wife will take care of everything." There is a certain analogy between the life of the gypsy man and the life which I am describing now. After a gypsy man marries, he does not work anymore. He puts several cigarettes in his pocket, smokes, takes walks, meets this or that friend, talks with other men and does not care about anything -his wife feeds him. The gypsy woman takes a stick in hand and a bag on her back, knocks on every door and begs. There are exceptions, of course. Some gypsy men make good ironmongers and work well.

 

I take the life of the gypsies as an example, only to point out more clearly the relations between the heart and the mind, or between the feelings and the thoughts of people. Often this atavism of the gypsies can be noticed in other people too, for they leave the feelings to solve the most important problems. But the feelings, or the woman in a man, can not solve the most important question. The gypsy man teaches his wife to beg, but beggary does not solve the problem. What if all men of whom she begs were poor and could not give her anything? Beggary is not an art. She must learn to do some other work. I say: The heart in us can not solve the problems, the mind must be set to work. As soon as the mind starts working, the heart must unite with it and become its partner. If you become downhearted and discouraged, know that these are feelings, dispositions, which do not solve the problems of life. The mind regards things positively and says: I was born in the world, God has created conditions for my development and I must work." People who are guided by their mind are wise and solve their problems correctly. Such people reason, put things in their place and say: "If I act this way, for instance, I will correct my life." From this point of view, all people live a double life, but you must acquire a new experience and have a new conception of things. You will become discouraged in the old life, while in the new life, you will be encouraged. Thought predominates in it. You will always draw a parallel between these two lives and thus, you will advance. You can not live only in one of the lives, but you continually will pass from one life into the other.

 

In my talks, I made a parallel among the four lives, which flow within you. The old life represents a sum of inherited characteristics from your ancestors. You will study this life, but you must also learn to distinguish your own self. I can present to you these four lives in scientific terms and forms as well. They represent the four kinds of consciousness in man. Where are the sub conscious and the super-conscious life found in man? They are the two poles of the Divine life. The subconscious life is the life of the angels, while the super-conscious is the life of the Divine world. The conscious and the self-conscious life represent the two poles of the human life. The conscious life is the life of the saints, of the advanced spirits who have passed on before us; the self-conscious life is our own individual life. In the conscious and the subconscious life you must study a region of living nature, which is related to your present life. In the subconsciousness, for instance, are stored up all the possibilities for the realization of things.

 

I ask you: How can you achieve all this? Only if you know the laws. For instance, you want to achieve something good. Put this thought in your subconsciousness with all the faith that it will be realized. Let this thought enter into you without any doubt or fear, and the superior creatures that live in your subconsciousness will help you. You only write your specific petition to them, and leave the rest to them. They do not like much talking. If you want to get up tomorrow exactly at half past three, what must you do? I have told you before: put in your subconsciousness the thought that you want to get up at half past three in the morning. Declare your thought and do not repeat it, for repetition impedes the operation of the law. After you have made your thought known, forget about it and you will see that you will be awakened exactly at half past three in the morning.

 

Some of you have material difficulties. Make the same experiment. Say to yourself: "Next year, on this same day, I will have, say, 1 000 leva at my disposal." Put this thought in your subconsciousness and you will see that the next year, on the same day, you will have 1 000 leva. If you have some doubts, the law will not work. This law works only on the condition that you have complete faith. Suppose that someone among you has a feeble memory. If he wants to strengthen his memory, he can apply this law and benefit by it. Every night, upon going to bed, let him put in his subconsciousness the thought: tomorrow my memory will be stronger. As he puts this positive thought in his subconsciousness, his memory will gradually become stronger. Every man who wants to remove his defects and correct his life, must possess the positive, right thought. Whatever he needs in his life, he must deposit it in his subconsciousness and the superior creatures will come to help.

 

Thus, the right understanding and application of the laws will save you from many unnecessary sufferings in life. Suppose you are a person who likes to live in seclusion and are pessimistic by nature, but you want to acquire a right attitude toward people. Deposit with faith this desire in your subconsciousness, fixing even the date when you want to see the change in yourself, and you will see that up to that day you will have acquired what you have wanted. This energy will start to flow in you just as the water flows through sandy layers and comes out when a hole is bored through them. Everything will come in the right time. However, the law of suggestion requires a specific time and a specific condition of a person. What does this mean?

 

You can not use suggestion under all circumstances. For instance, if you use suggestion when you are not well disposed or irritated, you can not obtain good results. Everyone who wants to deposit in his subconsciousness a great thought, which he wants to realize, must choose for that the moment when he is in the best disposition of his spirit. The more badly disposed one feels, the more slowly and uncertainly the law of suggestion works, and vice versa: the better the disposition the more effective the operation of the law.

 

Therefore, when we speak about Love, Light, Peace and Joy, we mean these Divine conditions under which the abilities of man develop. Without these abilities the mind can not be developed and thought can not be born. Only in this way can a man work and surmount all difficulties on his way. In the first place, you must develop your abilities, your talents. No matter how small your ability might be, try to develop it, because the manifestation of your life depends to a certain degree on it. Living nature can work upon you through that ability. This law works in the same way for all people. The strong and good memory is a wealth. But you must know that the memory depends on the feelings. The more uncontrolled the feelings, the weaker the memory. The weakening of the memory is a sign that the loosening of the feelings is in process. In such a case, one becomes distracted and forgets easily. Great sorrows and sufferings, fears and mental shocks weaken the memory. That's why, if the disciple is to develop normally and lead a normal life, he should live in a harmonious environment. Each one of you can create for himself a harmonious environment for his development. Even if you should happen to be under the most unfavourable conditions, you could create a harmonious environment of them, but great stability and persistency are required for that.

 

As a good example of such persistency is the gardener who lives down by the river near the railway. Several years ago, he bought that place which looked like a desert. He carried soil, fertilized it and thus, he cultivated the place. Today, we see there a beautiful garden with different vegetables and fruits. At the begining, the soil was so poor, that the people who lived nearby, laughed at him for having begun such a fruitless work, and said to him that all his time, labour and money will go in vain. But this man worked constantly and persistently and today he rejoices at the good results. That's a man of an idea! This garden can serve you as an example that when a person has a strong desire, he can realize any idea he has. You can also work in the same way. Even a man of mediocre talents and abilities, can ennoble his heart and enlighten his mind, if in the course of 20 years he works upon himself. Work is required of you all!

 

I gave you the example of the rope and showed you how it must be unravelled. It represents the difficulties in your life, which you must unravel with a needle. Every difficulty is a hoop in your life, which hinders you. Hoops are necessary for barrels but the living trees have no need of them. If you put hoops on a living tree, it can not grow and will get rotten. The hoops must be taken off it. Hoops are necessary for people who live unconscious lives, but for us, who live consciously, no hoops or ropes are necessary! We are living trees, which must grow and develop in absolute freedom. From this point of view, you must study Love and its application to the mind. I am not speaking about the manifestation of Love in the heart, in the feelings, but about the manifestation of Love in the mind and in the thoughts.

 

You must also study Light, but not that light, which hinders you on your way, but the light which illumines your way and encourages you to go on. For instance, you may get lost sometime, at night, in some place. You wander, not knowing where you are, but as soon as the first ray of the sun appears, it throws light on your way and you know what direction to take. You must study also Peace, which gives inner calmness to man. When is a man in peace? The soldier is peaceful when he carries his gun and powder on his shoulder. The gun represents for him the full purse. He touches it and says: "I have peace in my soul!" Why? His purse is full. When his purse is empty, he has not peace. If you have love, you also have peace. If you have bread, you can not be hungry. If you have water, you will not be thirsty. Love bears life; life bears light; light bears peace. Thus, if we have love, we shall be in peace; if we have light, we shall know where we are going. And at last, you must study joy and know that you will attain what you want to.

 

And now, as disciples, you must have a realistic view on life. It is a problem for all disciples to possess not only a theoretical, but also a practical knowledge of life. You should apply everything you learn in the School. Besides, make experiments for yourselves alone. Let the New Teaching, the New Life be incarnated in you.

 

"Only the light way of Wisdom leads to the Truth!"