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Farewell to the Mountains. "Let's Get Out!"


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Farewell to the Mountains

During the war, the excursions to the mountains became less frequent. A special permission was required to go out of town. The large groups that accompanied the Master looked suspicious to the authorities. He was unwilling to risk the disciples' safety and put up with the restrictions. In 1943, they made their last excursion to the Seven Lakes. A small group accompanied the Master. They walked the familiar places. That life was a thing of the past. The Master was sad. He gave his last lecture in the Rila on the Prayer Mount. It was the shortest of them all. "When good invites you to work for it, say 'yes'. When evil asks you to do something for it, say 'no'." The painful parting with the mountain continued several days.

The excursions to the Vitosha remained their only solace. At the end of 1943, the Master went up to the Aleko hut with a small group of disciples. He spoke about that trip in his next lecture at Izgrev. "A few days ago, we went with some brothers and sisters to the Aleko hut. We walked all the way up. The brothers offered to take a car but I refused. I never consider using vehicles. I rely on the two wheels that nature has given me. We left at half past six in the morning and reached the hut at half past three in the afternoon. When we were about to leave, it started raining. I told them: 'It won't rain; out excursion has been envisaged.' Indeed, the rain soon stopped and we climbed to an altitude of 1800 m. The hike took about nine hours. When we got there, we were given a room without heating. We found an axe, chopped some wood, lit the stove and were warm. We shared the food but we ran out of bread. Then I blessed the grain of wheat and the bread arrived. A brother came down from Cherni Vrah and brought a big loaf. Soon after him, a sister came with another loaf. We had a very good time the first night at the hut. They all sang beautifully, and their voices sounded like one. The brother who had brought the loaf of bread was very happy. With him, there were ten of us. Remove the zero and what remains is the figure one - God who was with us. We sang and talked till midnight. In the morning, we went out to see the sunrise, and the weather was fine, without any clouds or fog." The sister who arrived from Sofia was Vessela Nestorova. She was profoundly impressed the Master's deep voice singing a song by his father the Rev. Konstantin Dunovski, the first night. She later wrote in her memoirs: "It seems the Master was secretly bidding us adieu, for after we returned to Sofia we never had an opportunity for another meeting on the mountain."

Master-110.jpg

Original colour photos, 1941.

"Let's Get Out!"

On the 17th of December 1941, the Bulgarian government declared war to the United States and Britain. This had disastrous consequences for Sofia. The city was repeatedly bombed. Every morning, the Master went up to the Vitosha. In a clearing by Simeonovo, there was a wooden shed. He would spend the day there in seclusion. In a later lecture, he said: "Many people ask why I go to the mountains. I go there to teach those who come to bomb Sofia. I tell them not to disturb people." "Millions of people are killed today. This poisons the atmosphere. Everyone is looking for a way out, away from this poison." "When I look at Sofia from the mountain, I can feel the inferno in which people live. They shudder, they run as run can... Horror everywhere! I talk with God. He asks: Where have you been so far? Why didn't you listen to Me? Why didn't you do My will? For years I have been talking to you but you turned a deaf ear, you didn't care. Now I'm asking you, what will you answer to your Lord?"

"Yesterday, while we were climbing up into the mountain, two dogs followed us, the one a shepherd dog and the other a fowler. At first, one of the dogs went fine but then he suddenly started to limp and fall behind. Why? Snow had got in his paws, sticking to the hair, and he could no longer walk. A brother stopped, cleared the snow from his paw, and the dog could walk normally. He thanked for the understanding. Where there is purity, movement is free." At the end of 1943, on the 29th of December, the Master spoke about his relationship with the mountains: "I have been going up to the Vitosha for 35 days. I walk between 18 and 20 kilometres every day. You ask me why I do it. I am strengthening my will. It is not easy to walk between 18 and 20 kilometres, get home exhausted and do it again the next day. Thus, I give people an example, and I tell them: If you don't walkl8 kilometres to God and back every day, you cannot become humans. You will be walking to God and back until all your questions are answered." Soon after that lecture, the Master left the capital city. The heaviest bombing on Sofia was the night of the 10th of January 1944. The whole city was on fire. At that time, the Master lived in Boris Nikolov's home, at the foot of the Vitosha. During the day, he spent a long time watching the city. Then he and Boris went to Izgrev, the Master stood in the middle of the glade and gazed at the grim picture that Sofia presented: a dark cloud of smoke, occasional flames and no sign of life. After a long silence, he uttered quietly: "Here there are no longer conditions to maintain our contact with God. Let's get out!"

They went back home. The same day an invitation arrived from the village of Marchaevo: Temelko Stefanov offered to the Master the hospitality of his home.

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