1919_03_09, My Yoke

[Proletina]

My Yoke

 

„Take my yoke upon you and learn from me.“ (Matthew 11:29, 30)

 

„Take My Yoke." This is a positive command. "Why should we take Christ's yoke?" - Because it's good and light. What will be gained from this? - We will learn to be meek and humble. You will say that these are prosaic words. The yoke is a symbol of slavery - a negative side of life. All living creatures, from the smallest to the biggest, carry one yoke. 

There is no being in the world, which is absolutely free from yoke. Therefore, when Christ offers people His yoke, He compares it to the yoke they alone impose on themselves. He says: „Take my yoke because it is good and light’. Indeed, every human yoke is heavy and bitter.

What does the word ‚yoke’ mean? In Turkish, ‚Yok’ means ‚there is none’, in English ‚yok’ means yoke; in Hindu, ‚Yog’ means a Teacher. Therefore, Christ speaks about His Yoke in the sense of a teacher. He says: ‚Take my yoke’, i.e. accept Him as a teacher in yourselves and learn from Him. In the broad sense of the word, ‚under Yoke’ the Turk understands absence of freedom; the Englishman advises the man to put a yoke and go forward; the Hindu sees in the yoke a teacher that teaches a man to good; The Bulgarian considers the yoke as slavery. He knows this by himself. When he gets up in the morning, he puts his oxbow on his buffalo, goes after them with his groin and says, Dee! The buffalo turns back and asks their master: Why are they beating us? "Because there is no freedom in this world. Is the yoke necessary in life? In the nowadays circumstances of life, the yoke is necessary. It leads the man to suffering, labour and work. As the contemporary man has sunk deep into the matter and has connected with it, he suffers until he breaks these bonds. After that he starts to work, and his life becomes meaningful. If he realises his life, a man works. So does the chicken struggle while in the eggshell. As soon as the time for hatching approaches, it starts knocking on the shell until it breaks through and goes out into freedom.

There is yoke in the free life too, however the chicken is already working to secure its livelihood. All people are enclosed in a shell, which they need to come out from. While he doesn’t feel it, a man stays in his shell quietly and calmly. As soon as he gets fed up, he suffers, makes attempts to break through and come out of it. It is important he acts in accordance with the moment of its (the shell) being broken through. If he breaks it through prematurely he will either die or he will come out but weakly and incapable of living independently. Be careful to break your shell in time. This moment in life we call the acquisition of freedom, entering into the new life. The alchemists call it the acquisition of the philosophical stone, and the Gospel speaks of it as the entry of man into the Kingdom of God. Whoever has acquired the Kingdom of God, he does not speak of it. If you hear someone constantly speaking of the Kingdom of God, you will know that he is far from it. The more a man speaks of righteousness, truth, love, morality, and wealth, the further he stands from them. 

As a whole, people talk about things they don’t have. The hungry man talks about the bread until he has eaten. As soon as he has eaten, he doesn’t think about the bread anymore. When he gets hungry, he starts again thinking about the bread, his imagination is working, he imagines an oven full of warm and redden breads.

„For I am meek and humble of heart “. With this verse, Christ opens a new epoch for the humankind. What is the impressive in this epoch? — "The axe disappears, the servants become one with the masters, the woman and the man go together in life. Whoever has entered this age, says: I am now throwing the axe away, I release my oxen into freedom, I associate my servant with friendship, and finally I go into the kitchen and start cooking together with my wife, I go shoulder to shoulder with her in my life.

Christ says: „Take my yoke upon you. “You will immediately ask yourselves: Can this yoke be taken? Is it already time? What will the results be? For two thousand years, people have been asking each other the same questions but no one asks them anymore whether they are ready or not. When they meet a man with a heavy bag, they do not ask him whether he is ready to be relieved but they take his bag and say: We have the right to take your bag. Another is the question if you can carry it; If you cannot, we come to help. If they meet a man who has harnessed oxen in his car and walks after them with a goad, they will stop the car and will tell him: My friend, unload your car and release your oxen. I will harness myself and will work instead of them. It is time that the strong, big ones start to work and replace the small and weak ones.  Modern people need to get free of the double yoke - physical and spiritual, which they have encountered. 

In the early days of Christianity, one holly man met a big rich man, who searched for a slave to serve him. The holly man offered to the rich one to become his slave. The rich man agreed but first asked him: How much do you want me to pay you? — I am selling myself for 1000 ducats. — I agree, from today, you will be my slave and servant. The holly man performed well his work and remained two years in the rich man’s home. During this time, he managed to turn his master’s two daughters to God. In this way, he freed them from the chains of the human misconceptions. When he finished his work he told his master that he needed to leave his home. The master agreed and offered him 1000 ducats, which he owed him. However, the saint, refused to take any sum and added: Master, everything has been paid to me. I have been paid 500 ducats for each of your daughters who I turned to God. This is an allegory, which people need to learn from. The saint has not received any sum for the daughters of the rich man, but he knows that the happiness in the Heavens is great when one soul turns to God.

Many talk about the Christ’s blood, the sacrifice Christ made for the humankind, about the love, the justice but when they enter their homes, their relationships with their close ones are different. The wife of one such a Christian has said: I don’t want to enter this paradise you are talking to me about. So have been saying the Chinese about the Catholics whom they have been listening talking in one way but acting in another.  They often asked: Are there Catholics in the other world? — There are. — Then we don’t want to enter this paradise, which they are talking about. Therefore, there shouldn’t be a contradiction between the deeds and words of a man. Besides, when we promise something, we need to use the present tense of the verbs and not the future one. God talks always in present tense and not in future. The present belongs to God, while the future to the man. Say: I am taking the Christ’s yoke upon myself. If you say: ‚I will take the Christ’s yoke’, you lie at yourself and your neighbour. Whoever takes the Christ’s yoke, he acquires the requisite freedom. Free is this one who has learnt the laws of the meekness and humility. The salt is meek and humble. If you put it in water, it dissolves without making a noise, murmur or protest.  Therefore, if you get angry with your wife that she hasn’t cooked well you are not meek and humble. — I am a good man but I am a little bit nervous.-  Which man is not nervous? Whose nerves are not active? — I am neurasthenic.— There is nothing bad in the neurasthenia. The neurasthenic is this one who has winded round in the labyrinth of his thoughts and feelings, has lost his Path and cannot go out in freedom. This is the situation of a man who has to pay two - three bills in one day but doesn’t have enough money and wonders how to come out of this situation.— What is the cure of this neurasthenia? — To go to your creditor and ask him to continue the term of your bill. — My ambitiousness does not allow me to ask this and that one.— How does your ambitiousness allow you to sign so many bills? If you have signed a few bills without being in a position to pay them you have already violated your ambitiousness. Now you have nothing left apart from praying for and recovering your ambition and dignity.

One Turkish cadia considered the case of a rich Turk. Before he pronounced and issued the sentence, the Turk visited the cadia and made the following request: Mr. Cadia, I will give you a hundred pounds and a pot of pure, good oil if you judge the case properly. The cadia issued the verdict in favour of the Turk. To express his gratitude, the Turk brought him the promised hundred pounds and a pot of oil. The cadia thanked, and after his farewell to the Turk, he decided to try the oil, whether it was good. As he reached forward with his hand in the pot, he was utterly surprised. Only the upper layer was butter, and in the middle of the pot there were bovine impurities. Being very angry, he sent the servant to call the Turk. The latter stood calmly before the cadia and asked him:  What do you want from me? — How didn’t you have any shame to fill the pot with impurities? When I put my hands inside, I made them dirty. You made them dirty long time ago. While you were announcing your judgment, you put your hands in the pot and made your fingers dirty.

So, remember that the devil's pot, which you often reach forward to is full of impurities. "Are there devils among people?" -"There are, they are spirits embodied in a human form. They are well dressed, they occupy different services in society. "

— How can you recognise the devil? — Very easy. It's enough to get into his pot to find out who you're dealing with.  On top, there's something sweet in the pot, but it's full of dirt. 

This is the diagnosis, by which you recognise the presence of the devil. One of the greatest sciences in life is about the proper nutrition. Both in the past and today, the man has eaten and eats impure food. — Is this possible? — It is possible.  Every cell has a stomach and intestines like the whole animal. If so, it emits impurities.  As the man eats plants and animals, therefore he receives the impurities of the very cells too. The thoughts, feelings and deeds of people are also pure and impure.  In order to get convinced in that it is enough to reach forward with only two fingers in their pots. As soon as we take our fingers outside, we will find out what they bring for the whole humankind.— Can a man get rid of the impurities of the physical and spiritual world? —  He can but he needs to transform himself, to become meek and humble.

 Christ says: „Take my yoke upon you to learn how to become meek and humble“. Christ is meek and humble; he does not ferment, complain or get angry. The meekness is a necessary condition for the life of the great man. Noone can force the meek neither can they do any wrong to him. According to some the meek is recognised by that he is peaceful, stays still and does not move much. This is not meekness. Meekness is the inner state of the soul whereby the thoughts and feelings of a man are directed to one centre with the sole purpose of building. And the water is meek. It penetrates everywhere, waters the plants and animals, it satisfies the thirst of the passengers, it does useful job. Sometimes, it becomes turbulent, causes lots of damages but this is because of the people who change its nature.

They want to harness its meekness, to use it for their personal benefits. The water has the characteristic of purifying various substances. If unclean salt dissolves in it, sludge falls to the bottom. After evaporation of the water, the salt is again separated, but already clean and in the form of crystals. So, for the purification of the salt, the sludge remains, i. e. the meekness separates from its sludge. He who presents himself as meek without being such carries only the sludge of meekness. — Which person is meek? — He who carries the Christ’s yoke upon himself. — Who is not meek? — Whoever does not carry Christ’s yoke. The Christ’s yoke is related to the law of meekness. Whoever carries this yoke, he studies this law.

Now, when it is talked about meekness, people will be separated into categories: The first category will accept the idea of meekness from fear; the second category will accept it from a material interest in order to gain something; the third one — from love towards the science to learn something, to try the power of meekness; The forth one – from love towards God, to apply His Word and be useful to their neighbour. It is not bad that so many categories of people exist; It is important at the end all to accept the yoke of Christ, to become meek and humble.  This is not achieved all of a sudden but gradually. We cannot teach the caterpillars to fly neither the butterflies to crawl. What do some people do? They meet caterpillars and start preaching them how to fly. It is dangerous for the caterpillar to fly.  It has to creep and feed with leaves. Its time to fly and feed with the sweet nectar of the flowers has not come yet. The only thing that can be done for the caterpillar is when you see it on the ground, to place it on a leaf to gnaw calmly, undisturbed by anyone. It is dangerous to teach the butterfly to crawl. It has to move in a garden with lots of flowers, to suck their sweet nectar and rejoice in the Divine world.

Everyone talks about the self-knowledge but when he comes across a certain test, he sees that he doesn’t know himself. Therefore, often does the man ask himself whether he is a butterfly or a caterpillar. In order to know yourself observe yourself to see whether you fly or crawl; whether your pot is full with pure oil or there are impurities in it. If you are angry, reach forward with your hand in the pot and see whether your finger is clean or not. If it is clean, continue your work; if it is unclean get rid of the poison of anger and then work. If an idea comes to your mind before you realise it, check whether you are flying or crawling. When flying, you will realise it in one way; when crawling you will realise it in another way. Someone deals with a lot of things but when he cannot do them by himself he reaches out to outsider’s help. This person is crawling. Whoever does not search for others’ help, he is flying.— Why? — Because he trusts in God and when he flies, he finds the requisite nectars everywhere. Whoever does not trust in God and is not connected with Him and suffers regardless of whether he is a butterfly or a caterpillar, whether he is flying or crawling. Some people are in a caterpillar state, while others - in a butterfly one, despite that both types suffer.— Why? — Because often does the caterpillar fall between flowers without leaves. From here and there it goes around, there are no food and conditions for its development.  While the butterfly falls between the leaves of trees and plants without flowers. It also deprives itself of food and conditions for development. Therefore, if the caterpillar is complaining that it suffers, I say it is placed between flowers without leaves. If the butterfly also complains that it is suffering it is located between leaves.

„Take my yoke upon you for I am meek and humble.“ To be meek and humble means entering into good conditions for your development, not fermenting and being quiet and calm and waiting for the time for studying the secrets of life. Someone wants to know what does the other world present, what the astral and mental worlds are. These are worlds, which can be defined with one word. For example, the astral world is the world of the desires, the mental one – of the thought while the causal one - of the causes and consequences of things. What knowledge is this one that can be defined with only one word? If you compare the matter of the three worlds – physical, astral and mental you will see that the matter of the physical world is the densest, while that of the astral world is thinner and the one of the mental world - the thinnest. It is up to a man to change the properties of the physical matter, i.e. to make it more versatile, more elastic and finer. Do you have to allow negative thoughts in your mind, which thicken the atmosphere around it? You have heard how someone is blatant to an acquaintance of theirs because the latter one has told them an offensive word. He will answer with ten offensive words and does not think that with that he has already reached into the unclean pot and has made himself dirty. In this way, he exposes himself much more than the insulting word is exposing him. Keep in your mind high and pure thoughts, which connect you with the mental world where saints and reasonable beings have lived in. If an impure thought comes to your mind, immediately put it in the fire of the Divine love to burn and turn into an ash.

Now, I don’t talk to you but to the cadia and his accused - the Turk. Should the cadia be crossed with the Turk, that he has told him the truth? Be grateful to everyone who tells you the truth; Who from you all has fulfilled the Divine will as they should? Let everyone answer themselves what they have done for God.— Am I the biggest sinner? – it is not a question whether you are a sinner or not; It is important everyone to fulfil the will of That One who has sent him here on the Earth. The good of the human soul as well as the good of the whole humankind is hidden in the fulfilment of this great will. You will say that it is easy to talk but the world is not corrected with words only. I do not think that I can rectify the world but re - do my affairs. This is how every artist does. When he draws a painting he leaves it aside for some time, he doesn’t deal with it. After a while, he looks at it again to find a shortcoming. As soon as he sees such one he immediately rectifies it. When he watches it for a long time he doesn’t see anything bad – he puts it aside again. This is how he rectifies his mistakes until one day he doesn’t see anything bad in it and considers the painting as finished. When I meet one person I consider him as one of my unfinished paintings and immediately take my brush to rectify one of his imperfections. Do you know what paints I use? Usually, I use all colours of the spectrum. However, I never use a black paint. The black colour means a rest, absence of life. It is a negative colour.

„Because I am meek and humble of heart.“ The meekness and humility are as necessary in life as the salt. These are internal qualities that give an opportunity to a man to develop correctly. In this way, he comes not only to the external but also to the inner knowledge. The meek one manifests himself only then when he enters into communication with people. He brings peace among the people with his presence. The meekness harmonises people because of which they unite and form big societies.  This is how God acts too with His presence. — Is it possible different people with different characters to unite in one whole? Look what the musicians do in one orchestra. Every musician plays their part and at the end the tones of the different instruments merge in chords and form something harmonious and pleasant for listening.  Here acts the law of merging. Therefore, every musical piece, which is founded on this law is meek and harmonious.  If you want to create beautiful and supernal music put the meekness into an action; if you want to create a new religion, which rests upon love, lay meekness as a foundation; if you want to transform your life on Earth, to clean your relationships, put meekness as a foundation of your actions. Meekness increases the vibrations of a man and leads him to pure and Divine life. Every thought, feeling and action that are deprived of the meekness are a manifestation of lack of love. Purity and Genuineness are required from a man. How the pure man is recognised? — When you reach out with your two fingers in his pot and your fingers remain clean, he is pure. In this way, your purity will be recognised. A woman, digs into the ground with her two fingers in order to plant something. The human religion, consciousness, will and righteousness are hidden in these fingers. This is why when you say that a man needs to know himself this means he needs to reach out with his two fingers in his pot and see whether his fingers are clean or dirty.

Meekness and humility are qualities, which go together. The humble one never talks about himself. He performs his obligations quietly and in good faith and thus he manifests himself. Christ came on the Earth exactly because of this to show people how to live. There is no peace without meekness and humility. The sea is turbulent , i.e. the human heart  but one is the way for its quietening — the path to the meekness and humility. Why should your heart be worried? The writer is worried about his work, whether the critics will pronounce very harshly about it. The scientist is worried about his invention. If your composition rests upon the truth there is no reason to be worried. There are strict critics but if they are genuine they are not dangerous.

It is important for a man to be genuine towards himself and his neighbours and not to fall into hypocrisy. Someone’s face has been distorted from suffering while he represents himself for being calm. The face of the calm one is a reflection of his soul. Even if he suffers he endures everything with consciousness and love, he knows that he is himself guilty of his suffering and does not cast his responsibility on other people.— The burden is not easy to carry. — It depends on the man. And the pregnant woman carries a yoke but she is happy that a man would be born to the world. The pregnant woman should carry her child with meekness and humility in order to pass these qualities to it too. Only in this way can the future generation improve.  Therefore, no matter where you carry your yoke – on your neck, back, in your womb, mind, heart – carry it with joy, meekness and humility.

 „Take my yoke upon you, for I am meek and humble of heart.“ Here is a verse that deserves to be applied in life; everyone has to write it in his mind and heart. The pregnant woman should repeat this verse throughout her whole pregnancy. Does she do so? Sometimes she remembers this verse but after she births the child and then it is already late. Christ’s yoke is necessary for the mental and spiritual life of a man. Without it, he exaggerates his thoughts, desires and deeds. What does a man to live with exaggerated thoughts and desires mean? — This presupposes a tree with bad, rotten fruits. The thoughts are the fruits of the mind, while the feelings- of the heart. Two elements are needed in order to create one thought: а) — the higher manas and в) — the lower manas. Both elements form c) together the very thought. And in the spiritual world, the feelings are formed from two elements: a request and desire.

And so the letter a) is the mind, b) - the heart, c)- the will. Therefore, а+в=с. The will is a child of the mind and heart. Therefore, when you say about someone that his will is not being disciplined, this means that his mind and heart are not disciplined. If they are uneducated, so will the child born from them be. Someone wants to educate their mind and heart with the will. This is also possible but your son will play the role of your will. He will get married and together with his wife will educate you. The son will be a), while his wife - b), and you - c), i. e. his children. What will a-b be equal to? I leave this question open for you to resolve it.

Meekness and humility — two great qualities of the astral world, which create the true desires and aims of the heart. Whoever wants to come into a communication with the higher inhabitants of the astral world has to be meek and humble. Without these qualities you will again go to the astral world and will come back without having acquired anything. The meekness and humility prepare the man for his conscious entering into the astral world.  They soothe the soul, which strengthens the body and makes it healthy and cheerful. The healing of a man is impossible without meekness and humility. No idea can be applied without meekness and humility. The meek one behaves well with both the people and animals. He knows the strength of the rough relationships, bad words and associates them with poisonous and bad drinks. Therefore, I say: Do not give each other bad words and rough relationships. Every word is precious when it is used in its place. Today, all people are given conditions to be meek and humble of heart.

„Take my yoke.“ The yoke, these are the man’s both eyes. Whoever does not apply the law of meekness and humility carries yoke on their back. The human spirit is harnessed to work. Its seat is the eyes, which it sees everything through and goes forward.

Simultaneously, the eyes are also the yoke of a man. Whatever he sees through them he wishes it for. If he cannot achieve it, he comes back home unhappy and disappointed. He sees fields, houses, cattle - he wants everything. You hear him say at last: I want wine, a pig, to drink and eat and to understand the meaning of life. And if he cannot satisfy his wishes, he says he is carrying a yoke. The yoke is not in this that he hasn’t achieved his temporary desires but in that he hasn’t used his eyes in place - he has wished for things, which are unnecessary. Whoever is not happy with his life, will carry the yoke on his neck; if he is still unhappy, the yoke will move onto his back. And at last, the yoke will enter his womb and will give birth to a child. In this way, the yoke will shift until the man realises the meaning of life and becomes perfect, i. e. meek and humble. Therefore, the yoke is first on the eyes, then on the neck, back and at the end on the abdomen. To deal with this yoke presupposes studying alchemy.

Therefore, do not talk about your desires and do not suffer for this which you have not achieved; use the knowledge that comes through your eyes and think what you need to do every day. Say to yourselves: Today, I need to be meek and humble because of That One Who has given me life.  If you are not ready to be meek and humble because of God and you disturb Him, your angel will abandon you. If the mother and father worry about anything and nothing, their close ones will leave the Earth one after another. It is frightening for a man to remain on his own on the Earth, without relatives and friends like a dry tree without leaves, branches and blossoms. The more he worries, the lower he descends and loses everything, which has been given to him. In order for this not happen, accept Christ’s yoke, which leads to meekness and humility. Only in this way, will you raise and enrich yourselves.

To take Christ’s yoke, means to accept the knowledge of your Teacher in yourselves. Whoever is not meek and humble cannot acquire love. The most difficult art is to love. Where love is, there is the Spirit. Learn to love not only the people but the small flies and bugs too.  Conditions for their future development are also hidden in them. When they become meek and humble, people will deal well with the animals and plants and will not cut the forests chaotically. I see a wonderful palace on the tree for the creatures that live in it. In the crystal, I also see a palace for the creature that lives in it. Therefore, you have no right to take the life of a tree without a permission. For everything we need to ask the master of the house. What do the modern people do? They have the life of the lower creatures as their property but at the end of the day they also pay. Whether they confess this is not important. You will oppose by saying that God has created everything for the man.  What does the man represent? Part of the whole humankind. Therefore, as a part, he is obliged to ask for a permission for everything he needs from That One Who is a Master of the whole. The Christ Teaching requires this. This is required by the new religion— the religion of the work, life and love.

Today, I meet young girls, boys, children and adults who pick the flowers relentlessly and then throw them as useless. This is not allowed. We have a bad opinion for a man who picks flowers and throws them. The way he picks up the heads of the flowers so he could do with the head of a man. Someone picks the flowers and gives them to his close ones.  This is not allowed too. For such cases the Bulgarians say: „With a stranger’s bread, a memorial cannot be made“. How many flowers I have been given but I have paid for all of them. As soon as I receive a flower I turn to its Master and say: Please forgive this child. It does not understand the law. When it grows up, it will understand its mistake and will rectify it. The new education requires respect for the flowers and trees as well as for the people. I am laying a new law: „Love every tree, flower, animal as you love yourself“. You will say: Who are you, what right do you have to lay a new law? — I translate the old laws into a new language in order to be understood and realised by all.

Every life being – a grass, a tree, an animal is an expression of an idea that is hidden in it. And the man is an expression of a Divine idea. When he comes to the Earth, God will first search for the man to see to what extent he has realised the idea, which has been invested in him.  He will be surprised when He sees how much the man has distorted himself, how much he has distorted the Divine idea, placed in his soul. God will tell the man: You don’t have the right to bet your body and soul. They are not your ownership. Your body is a Divine temple and you don’t have the right to stain it.  How many men and women are thrown out today to the garbage, like the remains of lambs and piglets, and on top of them they put a cross and write: God forgive them! To repent them in His Kingdom! God will pardon the deceased, but he will also pardon the one who has caused the destruction of his house, his body. I will say, Lord, repent in your Kingdom all men and women, elders and children, preachers, teachers and disciples, merchants and craftsmen, and teach them to live properly, not to destroy the houses of their neighbours, not to take away the life of all living things on the face of the Earth. That is to take the Christ’s yoke upon you and become meek and humble. 

 

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7. Lecture from the Master, held on 9 Mach, 1919 Sofia.