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TAKING AND GIVING


Ani
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TAKING AND GIVING


 


In the beginning of our settling in Izgreva together with the Master we made a small fountain behind the garden Dianabad - by the forest, which later became Loven Park. The Master discovered a spring, around which there was a bog, but that was cleaned and a fountain was built, and a pebbled ground was made in front of it. At the front end of the ground were placed two pillars with stone flowerpots. On the fountain was put an inscription, given by the Master, "Society maintain cleanliness. Society conserves the good. God's weal is a weal for everyone."


 


Once, when we were working, an old peasant came by, who complained of pain and infirmity. The Master told him to have a few rain baths in the summer, in order to be healthy. He told him to have the rain soak him for a short time, to go back home and to immediately change his clothes, and to drink a few glasses of hot water, in order to restore the lost warmth.


 


The Master always made the fountains in various styles, and in this respect there was great variety. What difference there was between the style of the small fountain by Tzigov chark in the Rhodopes, near Rakitovo village, where the Master spent time with a large group of brothers and sisters during the summer of 1921, and the one by Dianabad, or by the Second Rila Lake, or by the Fifth, or by the Sixth.


 


Once, after finishing work, appointed for the small fountain by Dianabad, we remained for a little while to have a look at it and to admire it that it sprung up in this deserted place. A conversation began, and in it, the Master said the following thoughts:


 


God requires you to be carriers of His goods and to distribute them to others. He does not want you to give Him, but He wants us to distribute that, which He has given us. When we understand how generous God is, we will get on the right track. We do not have a straight notion of God.


 


If you all learn to give, the law works. But if you reason for economy, etc, those are human inventions. Generosity is a quality of God. People only express His generosity. Somebody is stingy, so he does not express God's generosity. It is a law: each good that you receive, you have to share with the others. An animal might come to you and take something from you. A law of giving and taking has to exist in the world. It is not allowed for one to think about living without giving. Man must not wait for God to send the tax-collectors.


 


It has been said, 'You have taken for free, so give for free". Do not keep what you have taken. This is a law inside of Nature and it is a great misfortune that the present world does not understand the main law. If you are generous, when you go to someone, you will pass on your generosity. Unless you give the field, it will not give you. If you are stingy towards it, it will give you stingily as well. If you stop that, which God has given you, it destroys you. I do not say that I do good, but I say, "I display the generosity which is inside of God".


 


He who gives little gets blessed a little, and he who gives a lot gets blessed a lot. Or, more specifically speaking: the less or the more that you give wholeheartedly is blessed equally.


 


Do not stop the Divine in yourself; let it flow, because if you are halting it, you will cause yourself misfortune. Do not keep the superfluous things. It is a law not to deprive ourselves from what is most necessary, and to distribute the rest to the others; it will be blessed. I had an orange; a person came along and I gave it to him. He said to me, "What about You? You will be left without an orange!" I replied to him, "Do not worry about me". And indeed, while he was still with me, another person came and brought me a basket of three oranges. I said, "If I had not given, the other ones would not have come". There is a law of interconnected vessels. When you desire to give, in other people a desire to give arises as well. You must not clog the faucet. When you do not give, bandits will come with guns, and there will be no other way - you will give. Room is made and new things flow in for the one who gives. When the time for perception comes, and you do not perceive, you will suffer. And when the time comes for you to give, and you do not give, you will suffer again.


 


Your coming to Earth costs more than anything else that you gain materially on it. Only the experience you can gain on Earth is what is left for you. Why is the Sun learned, why is it smart? Because it gives everywhere. Stinginess freezes, and generosity unfreezes. There is nothing better than man learning to give, but he should know when to give. Let the learned one go to those who have no knowledge and give it to them. Giving is not only in the material, but in the good thoughts as well. The wish is also giving. For instance, when you say a good word to somebody, it is giving as well. There is an outer giving - through deeds and by telling useful things to somebody; however, there is also an inner giving, which is pouring a blessing out of your soul towards the others.


 


A generous child is the one who, when given an apple, will share it with his friends. When the cherries come, should you meet a friend, give them in handfuls. You can do the same with the apples as well. When you give a friend some things, give them to him and do not want them back. If you are keeping them in your mind, you will limit yourself. You have given for the Lord, to fulfil your duty as his servant.


 


Let us say that you have many apples, and very fine at that, but somebody gives you a small and wrinkly apple. Accept it, because he has invested something valuable in it, which will bring you a great blessing. If you refuse, you reject your happiness. Do not tell him, "I have a lot, and I have no need". Always when a man has started to distribute, it shows that he has set out up towards the Sun. And if he is not giving, he is going downwards.


 


 


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