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Musical Exercise 5 o’clock in the morning (The weather is foggy. The sky is lightly veiled.)fk ● “Our Father” ● “Give, Give” ● “The Spirit of God” Reflection There are certain things in life that must be repeated. As the saying goes, “Repetition is the mother of learning.” And yet, repetition can also become the mother of ignorance. That’s why not everything is worth repeating. In every community, there is a danger of something creeping in—a kind of depersonalization, a spiritual dulling. At first, people are full of enthusiasm. When we are young, we are idealistic, eager to engage with life. But as the years pass, many begin to turn their thoughts toward the next world. And even when doing so, they often carry a sense of dissatisfaction. Older people are sometimes disappointed with the younger generation—not because of the faults of the young, but because they themselves can no longer fully participate in the vitality of youth. Yet the life of the young is natural, and it should not be condemned. Each human being walks three fundamental paths—three great schools of learning: The first path is physical—it relates to the body, to the cells, to worldly desires. These are natural. Sometimes we speak disparagingly of worldly life, but we should learn to rise above condemnation. Consider the mother who first warns her child: “Don’t play with that one or the other.” Yet later, when the child goes to school, she insists: “You must get along with everyone.” The second path is of the heart—it is the road of feeling and emotion. To walk this path is to begin developing one’s inner life. The third path is that of the mind—it, too, has its own roads, its own disciplines. Through this path, one cultivates clarity, understanding, and wisdom. Each of these paths offers a different kind of exercise, a different kind of work. And Christ said: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” How would you interpret these words? What place would you give to the Way? In this context, the Way originates from Wisdom. Christ says: “The new path is the path of Divine Wisdom.” He says: “I am the Way.” The Way—but only for the one who believes; and you must begin to walk it. In the second part, Christ says: “I am the Truth.” That is the zenith. The beginning is the Way. Knowledge, light—these are the Way. Now, knowledge does not come from only one world. Some people have only studied the physical world. In the human body, the area near the eyebrows, the lower part of the forehead, corresponds to the physical world. The middle part of the forehead is the spiritual world. And the upper part is the Divine world. The mind in the lower area corresponds to the physical world; the mind in the middle area corresponds to the spiritual world; and the mind in the upper area corresponds to the Divine world. A person also has three kinds of feelings: feelings of the physical world, the spiritual world, and the Divine world. When a person is properly developed, when all three of these worlds are properly represented, there is a certain proportion in the head. There are defined relationships between the parts of the head. You draw a horizontal line from the ear canal. a – discernment, b – mercy, c – reverence, d – steadfastness. And from that line, a vertical is drawn upward, until it reaches the top of the head. This vertical line shows how the faculties are represented in the human head. In the whole of humanity, over the course of one century, the head rises upward by one-tenth of a millimeter. On the other hand, the head also develops forward (the skull). The physical world has physical matter and physical forces that must be studied. The spiritual world also has spiritual matter and spiritual forces that must be studied. And the Divine world has Divine matter and Divine forces, which likewise must be studied. The Hindus call it Akasha. And the Bulgarians have the word kasha—meaning something mixed up and unclear. Sometimes you find yourself in a contradiction—your leg starts hurting. You don’t understand the laws of physical matter. Other times, you want to heal someone, but you don’t know how. There is a way to heal. People apply compresses, do massages with oil or alcohol, place dough with wax, with bran, etc. But all illnesses come from the loss of physical warmth in the body. That’s when sicknesses arise. There are three main causes of illness. Some illnesses come from people's actions in the physical world; others come from the emotional world; still others arise from human thoughts. All nervous disorders that people suffer from are due to thoughts that are not in harmony. I don’t want to dwell on painful topics. But since you've advanced far enough, you’re like closed lakes—you have no outlet. You walk around, you want to do something. This accumulated energy within you must be released outward. At first, people were taught: “You must guard yourselves from the world.” But there’s nothing to guard against in the world. If anyone needs protection, it’s the world that must be guarded from us, not the other way around. Yet today, they say the opposite. No—the world needs to be protected from us. They say, “Beware of the devil.” No—it’s the devil who should beware of us! If you need to be cautious of the devil, then you are fearful. But if the devil needs to be cautious of you, then he is weak. If you must protect yourself from him, it means he is stronger than you. But if he must protect himself from you, then he is weaker than you. We are stronger than the devil. Keep that in mind! It’s just that the devil happens to be more skilled in some areas: he is a master of lies. When he comes, he builds a little contraption, like a spider spinning a web to catch a fly. But it’s through trickery, not strength. Now, I don’t want to talk too much about the devil, because we shouldn’t offend. Do you know how much of a headache he already has? He’s cooked up such a mess that he doesn’t know what to do. He thinks everyone else is to blame and tells you, “You're responsible for the mess you made.” But he's wrong. He got himself tangled up in this confusion, and now he’s trying to place the blame elsewhere. Let’s leave the devil aside now. He’s doing his job quite well. In fact, there’s one quality of his I actually admire: he’s incredibly diligent. There’s no being more persistent than he is. If you throw him out the front door, he comes in through the chimney. If you drive him out of the chimney, he slips in through the tiniest crack. You can chase him away a hundred times—he’ll still come back. He’ll greet you with, “Good day, how are you?” He’s very polite. And he’s very weak. He’ll flatter you endlessly. Anyone who flatters too much is very small. He’ll set you ablaze from all four sides—you’ll burn. Because he wants something from you. When he shows up, he’ll say, “You’re a genius! There’s no one like you in the whole world. I’ve never seen such a being!” But once he’s done with you, he’ll say, “I’ve never seen a bigger fool than you.” He’ll get you to do something questionable, then say: “It’s nothing, just try your best. Build a church for people—take from here and there, gather from this one and that one, and build the church. Even if you’ve stolen, it’s no big deal—after all, you’re building a church! People will become better.” But once the church is built, he’ll stir up lawyers and judges to come after you and squeeze you tight. Then he’ll make you bitter and whisper, “People just don’t understand the good you’ve done.” That’s how he works. When the devil makes a mistake, he thinks he’s done something good. And when he does something good, he thinks it was a mistake. And when he praises someone, he later says, “For that praise, I’m going to teach them a lesson.” Just to redeem himself, he’ll “rub your nose in it,” thinking he’s done you a great favor. That’s how he sees things. Just don’t go telling him that. So I say: You must develop your physical forces. A person has plenty to develop in their body even into old age. If you were to follow the laws of nature, you would live very naturally. Today, the upper limit is considered 120 years. There are 12 zodiac signs—10 years per sign, totaling 120 years. But people rarely complete the full circle. Some live only a month, some a year, 10, 20, 30, 50, 60, 70, 80. By the time they reach 80, they start thinking they're already old and say they should head off to the next world, feeling there’s nothing left for them to do in the physical realm. So I say: You must always have something to engage with. First, bring the forces of your body into a natural state. Second, don’t lose the strength of your heart—don’t lose your sensitivity. Let even the smallest gain you achieve bring you joy. Then, don’t lose your good thoughts. When a good thought comes to you, rejoice in it. If you feel a little stronger, or experience a pleasant feeling, or have a beautiful thought—rejoice! Rejoice in your thoughts, your feelings, and your actions. Because when you enter the next world, your thoughts, feelings, and deeds will go with you. In that world, you’ll see that the physical world will be closed off to you, but you’ll carry with you its images. The real, tangible world will close, but its pictures will remain. Sometimes you become troubled, as if you have nothing to do on Earth. For example, an actor can perform many tasks, can speak about many things. But a member of the audience, who goes to the theater, buys a ticket, sits down, and watches how the actor plays their role. Or an opera is being performed. The opera represents the world. It’s something like that. It’s for the world. By “the world” I mean people […]. And it serves an educational purpose. They try to portray life in the opera or in the drama. They represent life, though not exactly as it is in reality. Still, the performance has an educational effect on the audience. Religious people who don’t understand the broader plan God has, think that everything done in the world is sinful. But sin exists everywhere—in the world, among spiritual people, and even among the angels. It is something individual. Anyone can make a mistake. And you should be glad that you can make a mistake. That shows you are free. When you sing, you can make a mistake. You can hit a note that’s a half tone off. Whether ascending or descending, you can hit the wrong tone. But that’s not such a big deal. One mistake is not really a mistake—it’s just a contrast. Every mistake is simply a stimulus to help you understand things more clearly. So I say: among all of you there must arise an inner connection of mutual respect and honor. Each one of you must respect the others, and honor in them that which God has given them. In life, honor the body of a person, which God has given them; honor the heart, which God has given them; honor their mind. In the new culture, people must be honored. And do not interfere too much in trying to correct others. That is not right. If anything is to be corrected, begin by correcting yourself. There are so many things that need correction. Have you ever observed? Let’s suppose you are a cashier at a bank. Today, 100–200 people have passed through your hands. How many times might you lose your composure? Or you are at the post office, selling stamps. Or you are a grocer handing out sugar. How many times might you lose your balance? Or you might be a lawyer, a teacher, a mother. As a mother, how many times might you lose your composure! The child does not in the least put themselves in your position. It demands, insists. It may cry ten times and will rouse you. It does not care at all that you may be tired. Religious and spiritual people are more sensitive, and for them, suffering is more intense. So sensitivity must develop in proportion; one should not develop their sensitivity too much. If sensitivity has become overly developed, one must learn how to guard their heart. Many sufferings come from excessive sensitivity. For example, someone didn’t look at you kindly. And you say that they have become cold. But let us return to the question: warm and cold. Coolness is pleasant, but cold, too, has its role. However, many illnesses are due to cold. You can do an experiment. Let’s say you’ve caught a chill, you've lost the warmth of your body, and afterwards, you curl up. Then they apply warm compresses, rub you down, and when the warm compresses are applied, it feels pleasant. What is the philosophy behind that pleasant feeling? When you have inflammation on the outside, it feels warm outwardly—but what if it's cold inside? In the spaces between the molecules within the body, cold exists. And therefore, when heat is applied so it can penetrate that space, it is to restore the warmth the body naturally has. And once this space is filled with warmth, the compress feels pleasant. Once all the ice melts and turns to water, you say: “I don’t need the compress anymore. That’s enough.” If the temperature continues to rise, the reverse happens. So, at times, a person’s feelings can freeze over. Then you feel great discomfort. In such cases, you must apply warmth. When we speak of love, we must understand that through the law of Love, through the law of Affection, we impart the normal warmth that the body requires. You must love—otherwise, you will lose your warmth. And once you lose the warmth of your spiritual body, you cannot maintain a good disposition of the heart. The mind also has its own warmth. As long as the mind possesses the light it ought to have, it also maintains normal warmth. When that light diminishes, its warmth will also decrease. Every thought that is right carries light; every feeling that is right carries inner warmth. This warmth is called “peace,” “joy,” and many other names. But I say: it is warmth. I use the word “warmth,” because it is a word that is easily understood. This is the value of comprehensible words. If you go into a theater and say: “Love,” people will say: “This one’s lost a screw.” But if you shout: “Fire!”—everyone immediately understands the meaning. The word “fire” is a powerful force. We don’t have a word for love that is as strong as the word “fire.” When someone says “love,” people reply: “Love is nonsense, it’s child’s play.” But if you tell someone “suffering, torment,” they begin to tremble. When the word “torment” is spoken, you understand it right away. Suffering is only a shadow of love, merely a shadow of that warmth. Why do you suffer? You suffer so that you don’t lose the warmth of your spiritual body. Every suffering restores the inner warmth. Without suffering, people would become cold, they would freeze, they would become rigid. You want not to suffer. In order not to suffer, you must leave the physical world. But you’re not yet ready to go to the other world. They wouldn’t accept you into the school there. Not even as servants would they take you. Well, perhaps as servants. In the Varna region, a 60-year-old sister once dreamed that she went to the other world. She didn’t know how to read. At a table sat 24 elders dressed in white robes. There were books on the table, and they were writing. She asked: “What are you doing here?” She wanted to know what they were doing. They replied: “Grandma, do you know how to read?” – “I don’t.” “Then here, you will carry water.” Meaning she would start from A, B. “You will not interfere in the work we are doing here—you will begin learning the alphabet.” The physical, spiritual, and mental worlds are interconnected. In the new culture, there will be balance. Now, the spiritual person must become more serious. Seriousness does not depend on one’s muscles. Rather, the spiritual world must draw the attention of the mind. One must see the beauty of the spiritual world. The physical world has its own beauty too. And the Divine world has its beauty as well. These three worlds form a unified whole. If you lack the beauty of the physical body, something will be missing in your spiritual body. If you lack the beauty of the spiritual body, something will be missing in your mental body. True health must be present in the body, in the feelings, and in the thoughts. Then we say: luminous thoughts, warm feelings, and strong actions. These are the things you will need. You want to live. But what does that really mean? The more souls you connect with, the more human beings you come to know deeply, the better. If you do not establish a connection with human minds, you will not experience good inner disposition. If you do not connect with human hearts, you also will not experience harmony. And likewise, if you don’t connect with human bodies. You’ll notice that when you draw near to certain people, you come to love them because warmth emanates from their bodies, and these people are pleasant to be around. But there are also people who are very poor. They go around trying to help others, but they themselves are in need. A person who wants to help God, who wants to help others, must be rich—in body, in heart, and in mind! And whoever is not yet rich must work in order to become rich. Scripture says: “Lay up for yourselves treasures.” Through our physical body, we enter into communion with the people on Earth. We must enter into communion with them. And through the spiritual body, we enter into connection with their souls—that is, through our heart. If our heart is not developed, we will not be able to commune with the souls of others. And if our mind is not in the proper state, we will not be able to connect with the spirits of others. By “spirits” I mean the highest state—pure, advanced, perfected souls. By “spirit,” I mean a soul that has completed its evolution. By “soul,” I mean a soul that is in service to humanity. By “spirit,” I mean a soul that outlines the future of humanity. It is the spirit that sketches the future. It is the soul that realizes what the spirit has outlined. And it is the mind and the heart that apply what has already been sketched. When we speak of music, we must understand that there are different methods. You, the elder sisters—do you still sing? The younger ones should sing. There are certain times when people cannot sing—for example, when they are eating or when they are sleeping. Once, someone was accused of being a terrible drunkard, and another replied: “That’s a mistake—I know him to be a sober man: when he sleeps, he doesn’t drink at all.” Now, these are fundamental things you must keep in mind. They are part of your present self-cultivation. You must work. There are other things that will gradually be revealed to you. To each of you, according to the degree of your development—if you are ready—it will be revealed. These are inner, spiritual attainments that are meant specifically for you. Whatever you attain, you must guard it. Do not go around bragging about it, because it could be stolen from you. You may have seen something in the spiritual world and then go around telling others. And someone will say: “What you saw—such things don’t exist.” Don’t talk about it. You think the whole world knows these things. It doesn’t. The song “Fir-Fyur-Fen” is a song for the mind. “Mahar Benu” is a song for the heart, and “Davai, Davai” is for the body. Each of these songs has a particular construction—there’s a distinct structure to them. In “Fir-Fyur-Fen”, for instance, it begins with a prime, followed by a fourth. Then it moves up by a second, another second, and then a third. What does a third mean in music? The third gives softness or tenderness to a tone. The third follows the feminine line. The fourth follows the masculine line—it is powerful. When someone is ill, you prescribe a fourth. Then come the fifths. Fifths and thirds are similar in nature. A third produces a sixth, and a second, when raised, produces a seventh. The philosophy of music is a very subtle and demanding discipline. To sing, it’s not enough to activate your musical center—which is in the forehead—you must also awaken a range of feelings that are connected to music. If your feelings aren’t engaged, you can’t truly sing. When you do awaken those inner feelings and sing properly, you’ll immediately feel a gentle warmth beneath the sternum, a sense of inner ease, and you become joyful. “Fir-Fyur-Fen” begins on D (Re). But if you were able to sing in a higher voice—spanning two and a half octaves—I would recommend starting the song on G (Sol). Here, we begin on D. A bassist might start from low G, others from middle G, and some might even sing from high G. (Here the song was sung first starting from middle G, then again from low G, and finally as notated—from D.) D signifies movement. When you rise in the morning, do a musical exercise. Prepare a small personal repertoire—something of your own. Take a word, and compose a melody around it. The songs we’ve already studied are simply models. Use them as a foundation to create new ones. Every song has its time. Perhaps not all of you will become violinists, pianists, flutists, or guitarists—but all of you can sing. And it would be a pity if you didn’t. God has given everyone a voice. Not to sing would be a neglect of that gift. The voice organ—the larynx—is the most refined instrument a person has. Just think how capricious a violin can be—sometimes it squeaks so much that you can’t draw a single clear tone from it. (The Master plays a few notes on the violin, then sings the words “strength, perception, thought,” and everyone joins in, repeating the phrase with variations.) You may never become great stage performers, but you must learn to sing. When you sing something once, the second time it will come out more beautifully. In the word “strength” (Bulgarian: сила), the syllable la is particularly resonant—it conveys divine energy. The a sound carries a sacred burden—a divine idea that fills you with joy, even when carrying life’s hardships. You might also sing: “The Way, the Truth, the Life!” (The Master sings this several times. “Did you remember the melody?” he asks. “It can be written down in musical notation.” “The Good Prayer” 6:15 a.m. (We did the morning exercises on the meadow) 13th lecture of the General Esoteric Class, held by the Master on December 27, 1939, Sofia – Izgrev. Translated by Nev

SELF-IMPROVEMENT "The Good Prayer” "I will rejoice" I will read the 2nd chapter of the Gospel of Matthew* I will speak on self-improvement. In chapter 2 from the Gospel of Matthew, the word "birth" is to be emphasized. The birth is a great act in nature that brings great consequences in its wake. When a man is born, when a thought is born, when a feeling is born, when a deed is born, it determines certain events. Outside of that context, it is an ordinary process and we would not deal with ordinary things, because they are worn out, they are the bran in life. So whether people would go to heaven, to paradise or would they be outside of paradise, would they go to hell - that is not the important thing. It is irrelevant for me whether a man would be rich or poor. It's important to be intelligent, fair and good-hearted. One can be intelligent, fair and good-hearted at any place. If one goes to heaven, heaven would be heaven because of them. If one goes to hell, they would transform it to a paradise. What is the purpose of self-improvement? It is a process - a process of how to enter paradise. Let us create a paradise within ourselves. The word ‘hell’ is a human concept. Hell is not what people think it is. Many educated people live in hell - professors, scientists, doctors, you name it. And yet in hell, they get married and have children. According to the modern people's concept - hell is only a place of fire. But the fire is a great blessing in life. Fire plays an important role in the creation of the world . And in our times it still has a great significance. Evil comes, when people do not know how to use the fire so they cause suffering to themselves because of that. Evil comes when a person does not know how to use the food. When a person does not know how to use the light, the air which nature provides to them in abundance.. If we notice, the whole nature is a result of self-improvement. When we consciously work on our self-improvement, we become able to correctly manage all the blessed resources that nature has given to us. . We are currently entering the era of self-improvement. People talk about self-improvement, but they do not know what self-improvement is. The word ‘self-improvement’ (Bulg. ‘samovazpitaniye’) comes from the (Bulgarian) word 'pitaya' (Eng. ‘to feed') meaning to nourish ourselves, or to nourish a thought or a feeling, a deed regarding a concept in the world . The (Bulgarian) word ‘pita’ (Eng. enquiery) comes from ‘pitam’ (Eng. 'quiry, enquiery') Sometimes several words with several meanings originate from the same root. You cannot feed (nourish yourself) properly if you do not love food. When a person feeds themselves, they should ponder on what kind of food and how much of it they need. To love and to be devoted means to be connected. Love exists only in a rational world. And devotion exists only in a rational world. The love outside the rational world won't manifest itself. Other mechanical laws exist there. When people are not cultured, this means that they are not in the rational world. It is not easy for a person to self - improve oneself. But since we live in three worlds at the same time – we live in the physical world, where actions are born, we live in the mental world, where thoughts are born, we live in the spiritual world, where feelings are born. - Knowing that, people need to self-improve themselves in the three worlds. I will not explain that now and that is the reason that sometimes you find some things very strange. You would say that being a clairvoyant would help with self-improvement . What does it mean to be a clairvoyant? A person who sees far and clear. How can we know who is a clairvoyant? When we test them and see how far and how clear they could see. There is no need to tell me that someone is a great musician, that they can play. I am an authority by myself. Listening to him, I would know whether they could play or not. I have to hear them. When I hear them, I am my own authority. Then I would have a clear idea. Now I say, I eat. I have to eat. I am not interested in how the others would eat. That's their own business. When I eat, I would know the nature of eating. One should eat to understand what eating is ! Now I am asking, how do you know it? I don't know, but I heard it and I have a perception. I can recognise that this person plays well, I like it. Nothing more. No other evidence is needed. So I am saying, in the same way the clairvoyant sees. The clairvoyant can see far away, they can see clearly. How does one see? There is more light. With little light, one can see little; with much light, one can see more. When the moon rises, you can see little. When the sun rises, you can see more. I am saying that those people who have more light - can see farther. Those who have less light - can see closer. Now you often say, ‘May a clairvoyant be born that way?’ If you have eyes, if you are not blind, you can turn into a clairvoyant. If you have ears, you can hear. If you have a sense of smell, you can smell the flowers. Every person has a sense of smell, they can smell. Some people have a much nicer aroma than the carnations, some have a much nicer aroma than the roses. Some people have such a bad scent that it resembles a Scotch thistle. If you approach a materialistic person, a materialistic scent would emanate from them. If a person is spiritual, a spiritual scent would emanate from them. If a person is intelligent, an intelligent scent would emanate from them. Now you may ask how these things happen. Develop your sense of smell, develop your hearing, develop your sight, and you shall understand. I am talking to you about things that, when you witness them, you shall perceive them. Then they will become clear to you. Now, no matter how I explain them to you, until you witness them, you cannot understand them. It is like explaining the light to a blind person; no matter how much I explain it to him, he is unable to understand it and would say, ‘This matter is very obscure.’ Nowadays, people often do not want to self improve themselves. They would count on inherited qualities. But the inherited qualities stem from self-improvement. Whatever the father and the mother has obtained through self-improvement, they would pass it on to their children. Whatever the children have attained through self-improvement, they would pass it on to the next generations. People constantly influence each other and pass things to others. The religious people would pass it on to others too. If you come upon a religious person, a desire would arise in you, he would pass on the power that has radiated from him. If you befriend scholars, they would inspire you to learn. So, whoever you befriend, that is what you become. Many people want to become saints while being merchants. That can never happen. Should you want the saint to become a merchant - that won't be possible. These are two impossible things. It’s like a saint leaving his wealth behind and starting to graze grass. When the saint wants to become a merchant, it is still like leaving good food behind and heading to graze grass. It is time to transform the entire life . This cannot happen in any other way except the process of self-improvement. Love cannot become accessible to one unless they develop a desire to change their entire life. How would you know if someone has transformed their life and has acquired love? - When you put them to the test. To find out what would come out of a grain of wheat, you must plant it in the ground. Otherwise it will not reveal what it is. How would you find out what will come out of the seeds of the pears, apples, plums unless you plant them? Once you plant them, they will turn into trees and will bear fruit after time and through their fruits you will get to know them. To know the fruit, you need to love it. That is why an important role in the process of raising others and self-improvement, play love and devotion. Unless you have love and devotion, you cannot improve yourself. Everyone has had love and devotion. But the quantity of love and devotion has decreased. Something has been lost on the way. From the love only traces of the thought of it has left and from the devotion - only traces from the feeling of it. The traces from the love and devotion could be compared to the bones of the dead people. You would put the bones of your close ones in a bag and would say that those are sacred bones. The bones of everyone who hasn’t been raised with love and devotion, would rest in a bag. Such a person we consider to be dead. Everyone who has been raised with love and devotion, we consider to have transitioned from death to life i.e has entered the state of immortality. Since all people wish to be happy, and happiness cannot exist where death is present, we must avoid everything that causes dying. Sometimes a small desire in a person can trip them up and lead one to the field of death. One day I witnessed several children playing with a duck. They were jumping and playing around, and the duck was swirling among them. I wondered how come the duck was not running away, but was staying still. I approached them to see that they had strung corn on a thin string. The bird had swallowed the corn greedily, but the end of the string had remained in the hands of one of the boys, and they were pulling it. I found this joke cruel and decided to set the duck free from the hands of the naughty boys. I asked them, ‘How much do you want for the duck ? I want to buy it from you. ’ I wanted to help the duck, to correct their mistake. They said, ‘If you buy us sugar cubes, we'll let it go.’ ‘How much?’ ‘Twenty coins for sugar.’ Twenty coins was a lot of money back then. I said, ‘That's cheap.’ I bought sugar and cut the rope. The duck swallowed the rope and walked away. I said to the duck, ‘Don't eat corn on a string again.’ I whispered to it, ‘Don't eat corn on a string again.’ The duck nodded its head slightly. How can one distinguish between good and evil in the world? The actual good and the actual evil are invisible. That which is visible on earth are the shadows of good and the shadows of evil. It is interesting that the shadows of evil are positive, while the evil itself is negative. It casts positive shadows. Take a thief who wants to steal from a cash register, they would think, "If I take two or three hundred thousand Bulgarian levs, you could go abroad and become a learned man, provide for my family and would help the poor. Also, this money does not belong to the owner of the cash register, but to God.’ Thinking that way, one gets overwhelmed by the positive shadows of evil. Once they commit the theft, they get caught, get convicted and imprisoned maybe for ten to fifteen years in an austere dungeon. The shadow of the good is negative, but the good itself is positive. When one decides to steal from a cash register, the shadows of the good appear immediately, they are negative and start causing fear in the person, ‘Don't do it! You will go to prison, you will become ill, you will lose the favour of the Lord.’ Whoever keeps this warning in mind, they will get saved, will enter the field of good where everything is positive. Beware of those who say big promises . Wherever there are big promises, evil is there. Wherever there is a little promise, there is goodness. The goodness says: ‘Choose poverty, death, instead of wealthy and posh life, that is the only way to benefit from the grace of God . Evil says: ‘The glory, greatness, everything in the world should be preferred in front of poverty and infamy. Why would you be poor and suffer all your life? In the last century the great American preacher Moody used to hold open space revival meetings in England. One day, a wealthy English woman, a noblewoman, was passing by on a phaeton and decided to stop and hear what this empty-head preacher was talking about. Moody interrupted his sermon and said to the congregation, ‘I am selling the soul of a certain lady to God. What does the world give for this soul? Here is what Christ gives for it.’ He explained what the world gives and what Christ gives for it. When he said what Christ gives for it, the lady got out of her carriage and became a Christian. Today everyone is selling their soul and looking to find out what each one gives. Why do you walk with heads down? The evil treads upon you. How does the evel tramples on you - with illnesses, poverty? What is bad about sickness and poverty? Lift your heads up and rejoice in the illness or poverty. What are you deprived of when ill or poor? Everyone carries a valuable treasure within themselves. People have eyes, ears, nose, mouth, heart, lungs, stomach and so on...What are you deprived of when ill or poor? Everyone carries a valuable treasure within themselves. People have eyes, ears, nose, mouth, heart, lungs, stomach and so on…All this costs billions and people think they are poor. People have souls and a spirit which also costs billions. Should a person with this valuable treasure consider themselves poor? Should a person having all the methods to cure oneself, be considered sick when they can heal themselves? Years ago, a rich man from Sofia, who suffered from an incurable disease, came to me and said, ‘I have heard that you can cure.. If you cure me, I will give you a lot of money.’ I said, ‘How much do you think you can pay? Five, ten thousand is not enough.’ When one wants to cure themself, they have to be ready to let go of all of their possessions. Besides that, after they get well, they should devote their life to God, to serve Him. If one could promise that, I will agree to heal them. Why should a person not give everything to the One who has given them everything? But this gentleman started thinking and he is still contemplating on my offer. If he finds a doctor better than God, who can heal him physically, mentally and emotionally, he can go to him. God can cure all the disabilities and illnesses in humans. In other words, love can cure all internal and external illnesses and disabilities in people. It can heal, uplift and resurrect people. Some people, since not knowing the power of Love, may ask why they should love or think of love. People should think of love and should love others, because they cannot live without others. Love and devotion give an impulse, a stimulus in people. You are interested in a person only because you love them. We are interested in bread in the fruit trees, because you love them. When love disappears, our interest in things would fade away too and the conditions of self-development and improvement would go away with them. You may say that you do not have a relationship with the plants. That is not true. The fruit trees represent the energies of higher beings with which you have special conditions. You cannot live without them. They awaken various impulses to do good. They awaken in your mind beautiful thoughts of higher nature and in your heart - noble feelings and desires. When Eve ate the fruit of that tree in which were hidden latent lower energies, they invoked respective impulses in her- vanity and pride. She believed she was able to transform life, same as God. As she ate the fruit, she wished to be glorified and the whole world to know her, even the next generations. But that was not the case. Eve became the reason for the fall of humanity and for Christ's crucifixion. At the time of Christ, Eve was on earth and wept bitterly. She realised her mistake and regretted it. Eve realised that she deceived herself in her thoughts and desires. Her sin was in the lack of love. Eve ate without love. She loved two people with different love. Love is one and indivisible. Because when there is a two-sided love, it is not love. If you think you love two people and the love for one is different from your love for the other, you are on the wrong path. There is no difference in love. When you love a person or an animal, it is the same love. The difference lies in the fact that a person appreciates the love towards them, while an animal does not value the love or values it less. You do not feed a person the same food as an animal. You have two different phenomena. When you feed a person good food, they can become a poet, an artist, a musician, a sculptor, a philosopher. An animal will be an animal. It cannot become a doctor or a poet; it will remain an animal. It will thank you and say, ‘I cannot use this food.’ Do not assume that the plants and the animals are ignorant but rather be grateful that we can benefit from their energies. In the Divine world they are conscious beings, as humans are, but on the Earth, they perform a duty of a lower nature. On earth they live collectively. On the Earth, the living beings are shadows of a reality which exists in another world. Humans are also shadows of the real person who has not manifested on the earth yet. Until the shadows of the humans become reality, they will keep transforming their forms. When the shadow becomes the smallest, that means that they are closest to reality. The bigger the shadow, the further from the reality the person is. When the suffering increases, then the blessings increase too. When the suffering and blessings increase, then the person gets closer to the reality. Since you know that, take advantage of the sufferings and the blessings as soon as they come. What does the student do at the school? They study, they work, solve mathematical tasks,. They study for four to five hours, they work and their efforts, their labour and work eventually bring success. It is not easy to become a scholar, a musician, an artist, or a sculptor. It requires many years to explore the libraries, to work with the bow on the strings of the violin, with the brush on the canvas or with a hammer. The violinist must create an invisible violin that penetrates his own one. Only that way the violinist can become a virtuoso. This invisible violin will have the property of attracting the fingers precisely to the notes where they are. Sometimes I watch violinists play. The bow moves across the strings, but it takes twenty years to learn how to draw the bow properly, sometimes even thirty years. You know how delicate the nuances are, sometimes there is a slight adjustment that changes the tone. It takes a violinist twenty to thirty years to learn to play the right notes with his right hand and to take the right positions. Therefore until you connect with the Divine within yourselves and allow the Divine to permeate the physical body, you cannot live well. Outside of the Divine, we cannot live well. By not being aware of that, we fear the Divine, we think of Him as a monster. One of the Jewish prophets had complained. He said, ‘Lord, You are standing on my path like a bear before me.’ It is his misconception. It is not possible for your creator to stand on your path and chase you. This is how prophet Jeremiah used to think, he used to be a great patriot; he used to love his people. He used to think that the Lord put the Jewish people to great suffering. They made so many mistakes, which had to be redeemed. The Jewish people had to learn obedience. The conscious world wanted them to pay attention and be reasonable, to be fair and to be good. As all others, the Jewish people also needed to learn how to be reasonable, fair and good. One of the ancient teachers of Wisdom sent one of his disciples out into the world to study. The disciple wanted to become famous quickly, so he decided to cure the sick people. He opened the eyes of the blind, the ears of the deaf, and the crippled walked again. Indeed, he soon became famous, but he also encountered great surprises. All those he had healed, began to beat him and chase him away from their kingdom. They thought to themselves, "This man will want money for healing us." To get rid of him, we must chase him away." The disciple was forced to flee and returned to his teacher to complain that instead of gratitude, everyone responded with sinister ingratitude. What was the reason for the contradiction he encountered? The teacher listened to him and then replied: ‘The mistake is yours. Before opening the eyes of the blind, you should have taught them to love the light; before opening the ears of the deaf, you should have taught them to love sound; before healing people's feet, you should have taught them to love movement and to know how to walk’ Should you give light and knowledge to someone who hasn't given up their crimes? Should you educate someone who isn't ready for a high culture? What are modern people doing with their technical inventions? Today, the aeroplanes, steamships, and submarines are used more for destruction rather than for bringing something good to culture. What culture is this? Nowadays, most people strive for great things, for great achievements. Everyone wants big houses, palaces and mansions. Why do you need big houses? A day will come when the houses will be small, simple, with walls as thin as a spider's web. If it is a question of big houses, here, the Earth is the biggest house, with a big roof – the vault of heaven. What else do you want? Isn't it better to take a seat and craft a magnetic house that weighs only a hundred grams? When you get up, you will pick your house and take it with you. If you want two rooms, you will spread them out somewhere and immediately find shelter. One room will weigh a hundred grams, two rooms – two hundred grams, and so on. It is important to master the art of making magnetic rooms. Once you master this art, you can rent them out . When working on self-improvement, keep in mind the first and foremost task – to develop love for God within yourself. Until you develop this feeling, you will always be exposed to great suffering and trials. Why, when eating bread, a person does not think about the source from which it comes? By thinking about this, a person connects with that category of solar beings who send their energy to create bread. Different beings send different energies from the Sun to specific places. There are beings on the Sun who are particularly interested in Bulgaria. They allocate a special budget for Bulgaria: how much wheat, how much fruit to send. They determine exactly how many children should be born each year, how many children to be born, how many people to get married and how many to die. At the same time, they are also interested in how the goods people receive have been used. You might say that the Sun is a fiery body and nothing more. But besides being a fiery body, the Sun is also a confederation of bright, intelligent beings. How do humans know that the Sun is a fiery body? From scientists, whom they regard as authorities. Religious people consider Moses, Buddha, Mohammed, and Christ to be authorities. When talking about the creation of the world, they say that Moses wrote about this subject. According to him, God created the world in six days. Theologians argue about this question – how is it possible to create the world in six days. Some would say that these six days are Divine six days, and others would say that they are 24 hours long days, like our days. In the future, when humans become masters of one's own mind, of one's own heart and of one's own will, then humans shall attain a clear idea of the creation of the world. Until then, humans shall accept things as hypotheses. One day, when humans learn to serve their mind, heart and soul, then they will go to the Sun themselves and see for themselves how the world was created. Today, humans live on a relatively small planet – the Earth, and cannot take it in fully, so what would their situation be if they lived on the Sun, which is 1.5 million times larger than the Earth? One day the Sun would be inhabited like the Earth and would be illuminated by another sun, larger than that one. In the same way that the ants cannot comprehend the idea of what the Earth, on which they live, is, thus we cannot imagine what the Sun is and how one can live on it. For the ants, the Earth is the largest planet in the world. For them, the Earth is something divine. It is said in Scripture: ‘I returned to the promised land; and I entered there with the sons of God.’ The ‘promised land’ refers to the Earth, in which there is no shortage of anything. Upon entering there, humans are freed from fear and all hardships. The Promised Land represents the favourable conditions in life. What does a human be terrified of? The darkness. There is a dark zone around the Earth where all negative human thoughts, desires and actions hover. When a human gets close to them, he shudders. When exalted beings pass through this zone, they raise their staffs like Moses and part it, opening a free path for themselves. Those who have knowledge, pass through this zone effortlessly; those who have no knowledge, get lost in it. The bridge connecting the dark zone with the light zone is very narrow, like a thread. The righteous person passes over it easily. In this respect, they are like acrobats. The sinner, however, when they come to it, hesitate, their world turns upside down, and they fall into the abyss. That is why it is said that when a human being departs for the other world, they must renounce everything earthly, everything personal, and carry nothing with oneself. Only that way can one safely pass through the dark zone. Knowing human nature, God has placed the dark zone as a boundary between this world and the other, so that no theft can take place. On Earth, you can steal as much as you want, but in the promised land, no theft or crime is allowed. There, you can only take your bright thoughts and desires with you. There, everything is immortal. When you come to your mortal thoughts and desires, you will leave them on Earth. A man must be born again. This means to accept the idea of Christ, to allow the Divine in oneself. Christ is the Divine principle that connects all souls. He cannot come to Earth a second time. Why? Because He already has experience of human love. However, Christ manifests Himself everywhere in the world. You will meet Him in every pure heart, in every bright mind and in every exalted soul. Is this possible? Just as the Sun is reflected in thousands of mirrors, so Christ manifests Himself in thousands of souls. He manifests Himself through the human's thoughts, feelings and actions. Just as the sunlight enters through our eyes, in the same way the Divine light penetrates the human souls. Some religious people quote verses from what Moses once said, what the prophets and apostles said. It is true that we learn from them, but today they also learn from contemporary Christians. We learn from what God has revealed to them, but they also learn from what God has revealed to us. Christ brought Love into the world, but despite this, He suffered. In this way, He learned what God's Love is. He realised that there is no betrayal in God's Love – it is eternal and boundless. Christ trusted God to the end, and that is why He was resurrected on the third day. If there was anything that made Him great, it was His Love for God. He did not doubt it for a moment. Therefore, whoever trusts in God's Love, will rise. Whoever does not trust in it will fall into the abyss. Live on Earth, enjoy the blessings of life, but do not set yourself the goal of taking these blessings to the other world. When the time comes for you to depart for the other world, you must have renounced everything earthly. In the other world, there are numerous and more valuable blessings than those on Earth. Do not take with you things that rot and decay, but take your good, bright and noble thoughts, feelings and deeds, and thank God for them. Give thanks for everything He has given you. Be grateful for the sufferings and joys you have experienced on Earth. Everything will turn out for the best. Let us come back to the question of self-improvement. In order to improve oneself, one must absorb knowledge from everywhere. Whatever environment you enter, you will learn something. If you come among the poor and suffering ones, you will learn one thing; if you come among the healthy and cheerful people, you will learn another thing; if you come among musicians, scientists, philosophers, you will gain something from them. People learn from both experiences - from joys as well as from sufferings. The suffering is a method for purifying the human heart. Just as water in nature is purified through filtering and evaporation, so suffering submits the human heart to the same ordeal until it is purified. So the heart is purified through both joy and suffering. When you rejoice, you shall share your joy with your close one. When you suffer, you shall keep your suffering to yourself. If you do so, you will gain in both cases. If you do the opposite – keeping your joy to yourself and sharing your suffering and sorrow with your close one – you would lose in both cases. Those who do not understand this law, seek ways to place their suffering on the shoulders of others. This is not right. You will give your suffering to God and your joy to your neighbour. That is why it is said in Scripture: ‘Cast your burden upon the Lord.’ Only God is able to assess human suffering and give it its due. To share your sorrow with God and your joy with people means to improve yourself in a new way. So, while you are on Earth, take advantage of the conditions it offers you. When you go to Heaven, you will enjoy the conditions there. If you do not use the earthly conditions wisely, you will not be able to use the heavenly ones either. Be content with what you have now. All humans suffer from abundance, not from scarcity. Give away the excess to relieve yourselves. You are travellers, visitors on the Earth. Everyone carries a heavier backpack than they could handle. Take the excess load off your back and leave only as much as you could carry with joy and ease. 2 August, 10 a.m., Sofia – Izgrev ________________________ *Gospel of Matthew, Ch. 2 The Magi Visit the Messiah 1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: 6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’” 7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” 9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. The Escape to Egypt 13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” 14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” 16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: 18 “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” The Return to Nazareth 19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.” 21 So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.

SMALL OPPORTUNITIES Gospel of Mark, Chapter 4 The Parable of the Sower 4 Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. 2 He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: 3 “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.” 9 Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” 10 When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. 11 He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables 12 so that, “‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’[a]” 13 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? 14 The farmer sows the word. 15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 20 Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.” A Lamp on a Stand 21 He said to them, “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand? 22 For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.” 24 “Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. 25 Whoever has, will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.” The Parable of the Growing Seed 26 He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28 All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.” The Parable of the Mustard Seed 30 Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. 32 Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.” 33 With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. 34 He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything. Jesus Calms the Storm 35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” 39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still! ”Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. 40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” 41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” - * - There are two kinds of opportunities: small and large. A child does not need philosophical books, but a primer; a philosopher needs philosophical books. So the primer is for children, and the philosophical book is for the philosopher. It does not matter how old a person is: whether they are a child or an adult – what matters is that they participate in life. A bird even, no matter how small, once it lives, enters the theater of great life. It is a privilege to live. It does not matter what place a person occupies – first or last. When they go to a concert, some people take the first seats and others the last. However, both groups enjoy the concert equally. The first seat is not always the best. A famous person is not always noble. Not every philosopher is noble: many philosophers have gained knowledge from children and thus have become philosophers. Many people became scientists after studying the life of certain plants, butterflies, insects, and beetles. You hear people being called doctors of botany, zoology, or mineralogy. This means that plants, animals, or minerals have earned them a doctorate. Should there were no minerals, plants, or animals, there would be no doctors in these fields. Should there were no pain, there would be no doctors of medicine. When a person gets sick and his face turns yellow, the doctor looks for the cause of their illness and prescribes various medications. What is wrong with yellowing of the eyes? When they see a person with a yellow, gaunt face, they say that he looks like a saint. The color yellow symbolizes wisdom, but the color of a saint's face is particular one, unlike that of a sick person. They would say about somebody else that their pulse is weak and slow. People are strange! When they see someone being beaten, they want them to be beaten less, but when it comes to the heartbeat, they want it to beat faster, not to slow down its normal pace. You should enjoy the small opportunities that exist in the world, not the big ones. In humans, just like in mammals, the desire of the mammoth remains: to be big, to inspire fear and awe in those around them. It used to be enough for a mammoth to pass by an animal in order to inspire fear in it. Where is the mammoth today, to which all animals made way to pass? The small animals that were afraid of it, still inhabit the Earth today, while it has become extinct. Today, one of the large animals - the whale, still lives, but it is also on the way to extinction. People want to be great like angels, without being aware of the difficult tasks the angels have to solve. A girl wants to be beautiful, without knowing what tasks the beauty has been assigned. If she is beautiful and unreasonable, beauty will bring such poison into her that she will not be able to free herself from it for years. If you want to be a great person, accept beauty to see how you will cope with it. Beauty without wisdom is unfortunate. Whoever passes by a beautiful person, will want to be as beautiful as them and will envy them. It is not easy for a person to deal with the thoughts and desires of those around them. Those who want to keep their peace must choose outer ugliness and inner beauty. In today's world, ugliness is preferable to beauty, ignorance to scholarship, poverty to wealth. It is better to be beautiful, learned, and rich, but only if one can use these blessings wisely. If one cannot use them for the good of humanity, it is better not to have them. Today, all people are afraid of bombs – one of humanity's cultural inventions. The bombs used by the military are terrible, but equally terrible are the bombs of the religious people. With their feelings, they are able to kill a person. People, when faced with contradictions, wonder why they exist and whether life without contradictions is possible. It is possible without contradictions, but it requires a balanced life. Many contradictions are due to the accumulation of excess energy in the human brain. Finding no outlet, it puts pressure on certain brain centers and causes a person to behave improperly. People do not know the laws by which excess energy can be transformed. Why should a person accumulate in their brain explosive energies that destroy, kill, and poison the human organism? Some of the energies that are explosive are those of anger, anxiety, and worry. One of the causes of death in life is vanity. When the black adept saw Eve in the Garden of Eden, he started telling her about great opportunities. He told her that if she would eat the fruit of the forbidden tree, she would become like God: learned, strong, beautiful – the whole world would talk about her and worship her. This evoked Eve's vanity. She started to crave these qualities and ate from the forbidden fruit, then she offered some to Adam. This is how death was brought into life. Look for small opportunities and trust in them. As long as the young woman and man count on small opportunities, they are on the safe shore of life. If they strive for big opportunities, they fall into the waves of the sea and begin to drown. Before they get married, young people are free, depending only on what they have within themselves. At some point, their parents, friends, and acquaintances begin to urge them to get married, to find happiness. Once they become convinced that marriage will bring them happiness, they are off on the road to great opportunities, and that's where they get stuck. The young man finds a beautiful young woman and starts being poetic to her: "You're an angel, a goddess; if you marry me, you'll save me. I will take care of you, a speck of dust will not fall on your head." She would listen to him, happy to have found an admirer. When they got married, they would forget everything. He doubts her, she doubts him, and they attribute things to each other that they have never thought of earlier. They would call each other names that you could not find in any dictionary. She was no longer an angel, but he was no better than her. And this would not happen among savages, but among civilized people. Marriage is not a bad thing, but there is something unstable in humans and it creates contradictions. Majority of people would ask each other, ‘Are you married?’ If someone is not married, they would say, ‘ Since you are not married, you do not know anything.’ Ignorance is preferable to this knowledge. When someone would complain about their spouse, I would advise them to love them. ‘How can I love them?’ "You should love her. Love is your salvation. As you got married to her, you must love her. Why didn't you think before you got married? If you had come to me earlier, I would have told you: don't marry a girl who cannot take the place of the two ribs in your body. Marriage is an operation that only a wise and experienced doctor can perform. If the girl is able to fill the void in your chest, take the place of the two ribs, she would be the one for you. If she is unable to fill that space, to fill the void, she would cause you the greatest unhappiness. Such a marriage is nothing less than the most dangerous operation in human life, leading to death. I will translate this idea into clear language. Do not accept a thought that cannot fit into your consciousness, that cannot accomplish a reasonable task. Do not accept a feeling that cannot fit into your heart, that cannot accomplish something noble. Do not introduce into your will any action that cannot manifest itself outwardly in a way that uplifts your soul. The unreasonable marriage of people is nothing more than their unreasonable thoughts, feelings, and actions, which poison their organism and lead them to death. A marriage in which a person wastes their energy unnecessarily, which destroys their life, is not a genuine one. That is why Christ says, "The person who has been deemed worthy of the future life neither marries nor is given in marriage." Those who get married and is given in marriage, signs his own death warrant. There are times in life when an older unmarried person regrets not being married. Why didn't they marry when they were young and had the opportunity to do so? They want to get marry now, when they have lost all opportunities. Those who understand the deep meaning of marriage know that they got married from the moment they came down to Earth. Every person is a combination of Spirit and flesh. This means that Spirit and flesh are in a married relationship with each other. The flesh has the Spirit so firmly in its bonds that it has no intention of setting it free. Every day it invents new ways to bind it more tightly, so that it will remain its servant forever. The Spirit, on the other hand, seeks various ways to satisfy the flesh, to divert its attention away from itself, in order to free itself from it. In this sense, neither the flesh is free, nor is the Spirit free. Until the relationship between the Spirit and the flesh is properly resolved, man cannot resolve the relationship between man and woman. Therefore, he cannot resolve the question of marriage either. The Spirit created the great diversity in the world to distract the flesh from itself: to give it something to enjoy, so that it would not disturb it from the inside. The flesh, on the other hand, invented all kinds of knots to bind the Spirit more tightly, so as not to let it escape. When listening to talk about the Spirit and the flesh, many wonder why they exist, why such a relationship exists between them. No one can answer these questions. The answer lies somewhere far away, at the beginning of the Genesis. Why does water flow downhill? – Because there is a slope. To some extent, this is true, but there is another reason. Why does steam rise? Water obeys certain laws, and steam obeys other laws, contrary to the first ones. Sheep graze on grass, and wolves feed on meat; they like to eat sheep. Why is that? – There are reasons for that too. The wolf is more intelligent than the sheep, but in terms of morality, the sheep is more stable than the wolf. The distinctive quality of the wolf is attachment. No matter how bad and cruel it is, it becomes attached like a dog. Once it becomes attached to someone, it can sacrifice itself for that person. The wolf has good qualities, but something bad has been implanted in it. It is precisely this bad thing that makes it a wolf. When the bad implant is removed, its good qualities come to the fore. On the same basis, I would say: some people are bad because they have been implanted with something bad. Others are good because they have been implanted with something good. Bad people have been implanted with a devilish graft, and good people with a divine graft. The graft of bad people is made from the blood of Cain, and the graft of good people is made from the blood of Adam's second son, Abel. All people today carry a little of Abel's blood within them—from the good graft. Knowing the law of grafting, you should not be wrong about people or yourself. Whatever graft you have been grafted with, that is what you are. If you are good, be careful not to break the good graft on top, allowing the bad foundation to come out. If you are bad, try to break the bad graft on top so that the good, which is the foundation of your life, would remain. So good people are grafted with a good graft, but under the roots of this good, lies evil. Bad people are grafted with a bad graft, but beneath the roots of this evil lies the good that is the foundation of their life. These are contrasts that exist not only in life, but also in Nature. Whether people believe this or not, is another question. It is important what the facts would show. Some people would live well in their youth, believe in God, but in their old age they would let their hairs down and would start living a bad life. Others would do the opposite: they would live a leisurely life in their youth, but in their old age, they would straighten up and start looking for God. Some would become discouraged by life and would ask why they have come to Earth. Do not ask why you are on Earth, but consider it a privilege: some angels who hold high positions on Earth would gladly trade places with you. They want to come to Earth to see how people live. Angels work tirelessly, constantly traveling through space. They descend to Earth, visit all the planets, and carry out the orders given to them from higher places. They constantly do the will of God. Sometimes they travel in groups, and sometimes individually. Regardless of what is said about angels, you would have said that no one has seen them. That signifies nothing. Whether you have seen them or not, they do exist. Can flies, mosquitoes, and ants see humans? They do not see them, but humans do exist. Trees do not see humans either, but they sense that something outside them, would occasionally uproot or cuts them down. The only Being that reveals itself directly to humans through its Love is God. When looking at a fly, some wonder what purpose it may have. The fly is intelligent and musical. When it lands on a person's nose, eyebrows, or mouth, it educates them, forcing them to think. When a lady scolds her maid, the fly would land on her face, eyes, nose, mouth, and would bite her until she stops scolding. The lady would wave her hand to get rid of the fly, and thus her attention would be diverted from the maid. Where would the flies go? They would go to fruit and food. So there are good things where flies go. In that case, it's better if there are fruits, although there will be flies, rather than no fruits. If there are no fruits, there won't be any flies. Where good things can be found, there are flies. Where there are nice and tasty things, there are always flies. They are not the source of nice and tasty things, nor of the good things in life, but only accompany them. So where Love is present, there are bound to be flies. Look at things in a broad sense in order to understand the purpose of all things. Whoever has come to Earth must learn, first about themselves, and then about their fellows. The human body is not yet complete. Everyone must know what he or she is missing. You could rarely meet people with well-formed heads, with the right forehead, nose, and mouth. The center of harmony is missing in some people, in others – the centre of order, in third ones – the centr of time, in the fourth ones – the centre of music, and so on. Some people want to be religious, but they are unable to do so. Why? – They have not developed selfless love within themselves. To be devout means to show absolute selflessness. The devout person is like a spring from which something constantly flows out. They serve all beings and enjoy doing so. They expect nothing from anyone and are ready to rush and help everyone. They rejoice in everything they encounter on their way: a stone, a tree, a flower, an animal, a person. If a mosquito lands on their hand, they do not kill it, but blow it away so that it goes elsewhere. Mosquitoes and bedbugs do not bite good people: sometimes they only attack them to suck a little clean blood. They do not attack bad people either, whose blood is unclean and poisonous: they could sniff them from afar and flee away from them. So, if you get bitten by a lot of bedbugs, you are either very good or very bad. So, you should know that all beings, big and small, are meant to do a particular job. Humans are given a certain job too and they are supposed to do it properly. The better they do it, the greater the blessing they will receive. However, all people are dissatisfied with the work they have been assigned and constantly complain: women complain about being a woman; men complain about being a man; children complain about being a child. You should rejoice that each person has been been assigned a specific duty that no one else is able to perform. A young girl got married, but she ran into something bad—her mother-in-law was very quick-tempered. The daughter-in-law constantly complained about her mother-in-law and wondered what to do, how to deal with her. A friend of hers, who also had a quick-tempered mother-in-law, advised her to ignore every offensive, harsh word spoken by her mother-in-law. Once the daughter-in-law learned to ignore that, her mother-in-law stopped arguing with her. By frequently ignoring the offences, she gained patience, and her mother-in-law became fond of her. Therefore, when a daughter-in-law complains about her mother-in-law, the fault lies with the daughter-in-law. When the mother-in-law complains about the daughter-in-law, the fault lies with the mother-in-law. Whoever complains about someone else is to blame for the bad relationship—there is something wrong with them that needs to be corrected. When people argue and criticize each other, they think they can influence and teach each other. Don't be fooled, no one can teach anybody else. Each person remains as they are. They express what is inherent in them. A wolf will always be a wolf, a bear will always be a bear, a tiger will always be a tiger, a snake will always be a snake, and so on. In my opinion, to discipline a person means to give them the opportunity to express the Divine that is inherent in them. Should you want to instill in a person, through education, what Nature did not instill in them from the beginning, you will achieve nothing. The task of education is to awaken the good that is inherent in a person and to count on it, but not to introduce something from outside. A person should know themselves, know what is inherent in them, and never judge themselves. To judge yourself is to judge the Divine within yourself. Goodness is the Divine principle in the human being. People are good by nature. If there is anything bad, it is the grafts that they carry from past existences. They must cultivate them, not the good ones. What does the evil in people represent? – The habit of eating more than they need. By eating more, they eat away part of other people's share. The story goes that one man ate a meal prepared for 72 children in a single sitting. Another story goes that a man has eaten a whole 12 kg lamb, two kilograms of halva, and a large loaf of bread in one meal. Being wealthy and having possessions does not consist of big things or eating a lot. You should strive for small opportunities. Those who want to develop must remain in the background and not always strive to be at the forefront. The last place is preferable to the first. Speaking of the first place, that right belongs to the mountain. A person cannot be a high mountain. They can be a small peak, but there is only one high mountain, and it has its own purpose: all the snow and ice to stay always on it. The biggest storms and earthquakes happen there. It endures all of this still maintaining its magnificence. Therefore, do not take on more work than you can handle. Why do you need millions and billions of bucks? People need small things, not big things. If the small does not satisfy him, the big can never satisfy him either. Speaking of wealth - all of Nature is at man's disposal. Since Nature is at our disposal, what greater wealth can we expect? The Earth has carried humans on its back for decades without asking anything in return. People have enjoyed food, water, air, and light without being asked for anything in return. Why should he not rejoice and be grateful for the blessings that are given in abundance to them ? The violinist plays his violin and knows it well, but people live together for years and do not know each other. Those who do not know how to play , would push the violin here and there and would say, "It's just a piece of wood." It is not a piece of wood, it is a violin. This is how all people who do not have the benefit of light would behave: they would not see what is hidden in their fellow human beings. Great wealth is hidden in the human soul. If you know how to reach it, you will benefit from it; if you don't know, it will remain hidden from you forever. A person is like a violin that anyone can play. When? When it is played with love. The more a violin is played, the longer it lives, the more refined it becomes, and the more active life is hidden within it. A violin, on which eminent masters and virtuosos have played, is healing: when a sick person touches it, it is enough to be instantly healed. It is distinctive for its high vibrations, that is why it sounds delightful and harmoniously. Appreciate the body you have been given, just as a violinist appreciates and protects his violin. He does not leave it in the hands of the ignorant, to prevent them from demagnetising it. There is no greater creation on Earth than the human body. Man has a stomach – an organ for digesting food, which contains more than ten million cells; they act as intelligent servants and do their job without complaint. He has lungs, formed by more than 20 million cells, which perform another service – they take in air and purify it. He also has a brain, composed of about 3 billion 600 million cells, which participate in his mental activity. Through his stomach, lungs, and brain, man gets in contact with all worlds – the physical, the spiritual, and the mental. Thus, he enriches his knowledge, gains more experience, and is able to develop properly. Work consciously on yourself in order to benefit from the grace of Intelligent Nature. It has an educational effect on humans. How ? – The way the parents handle their children. If a child is crying, they take them out to the garden to distract them. By seeing the ripe fruit in the garden, it would stop crying, turn its gaze to the fruit, would smile and reach out to pick one. Do not deprive people of the fruits of the Divine garden so that it may educate them. When they got angry, Nature would show them its fruits and people would transform their state of mind. The world is beautiful. Should anyone say the contrary, they must be deceiving themselves. There is no world more beautiful than the one we live at present. You should rejoice and be grateful that God has sent you to Earth to learn and gain experience. It is said in Scripture that God created man in His own image and likeness and placed him in the Garden of Eden to learn. Even today, the Earth is still a paradise – it depends on humans to perceive it as paradise or hell. Earth is the only place where a person can live, learn, work, and apply what they have learned. And after all this, they want to leave Earth as an unclean place and go to Heaven. They do not know Earth, but want to go to Heaven. In order to benefit from the conditions on Earth, man must change their views on life. New views, new morals, and new raising are needed for humanity. People are divided into different nations and determine the qualities of each nation themselves. What should a Bulgarian be like, what qualities should they possess? – A Bulgarian is one who is a channel for the Divine energy; a Bulgarian is one who helps to uplift all of humanity, as well as their homeland, in physical, spiritual, and mental terms. All nations are Sons of God. No one has the right to persecute and mistreat their brother. The older brother can guide the younger one, but not torment him. If one of the brothers does not behave well, the others may advise them on how to live and say to them, "Brother, do not stain the name of our Father." The older brothers should serve as an example to the younger ones. People need role models, not theory. The world is full of theories on how to play music, but that is not enough. It is important for a person to know how to play music correctly. The science lies in playing music, not in the theory itself. Theory comes from science, from constant playing music. Whoever produces pure and harmonious tones, they should be able to create the theory. Many people want to leave Earth prematurely. Why? Because they are dissatisfied with life and with those around them. Why are they dissatisfied? Because they have not been raised seeing at least one good trait in their loved ones. One day, Christ was walking with Peter past some fields. Peter saw a dead dog on the ground and, as they passed by, said, "Master, how bad this dog smells!" Christ replied, "Look at the white teeth this dog has." Peter focused on the negative aspect of the dog, while Christ focused on the positive. Another day, Christ and Peter would walk together, talking. Christ saw a coin on the ground and told Peter to pick it up. "Teacher, we don't need this coin. Who will bend down to pick it up?" Christ bent down and picked up the coin. After a while, they met a man on the road who was selling cherries. Christ figured out he could trade the coin for cherries. Then he took the cherries and continued his way, occasionally dropping a cherry on the ground. Peter bent down, picked up the cherry, and ate it. Then Christ said to him: "Peter, you value the good that comes from the coin, but you do not value the coin itself." The mind and heart are coins that people do not value. They value the goods that come from the coins. You should value the goods, but value even more the sources from which they come. You should rejoice and be grateful for the bodies that have been given to you as instruments to serve you. You should rejoice in everything that God has created. As you study the organisms of living beings, you should see how intelligence works. They are different in their level of development. The human body is beautiful, but the future body will be different from the present one: it will be more beautiful, more slender, with greater symmetry between its parts. Be thankful that you live in a rational world where God manifests Himself. Each object, each creature you encounter on your path—a stone, a tree, a flower, a bird, an animal, a person—conveys something to you. Rivers, air, and light also convey something to you. Knowing this, you should take advantage of everything and be grateful for everything. People who think this way are healthy, cheerful, young, and enjoy life. There won't be any diseases in the future. Then doctors will only deal with healthy people: they'll check them out, telling them they're healthy, and only get paid when they tell someone they're healthy. Today, lack of love is the cause of disease. If people accept Love and apply it, 99% of diseases will disappear. Only one percent of them will remain available for scientific research. You should love Nature. You should love everything that God has created. You should love the beautiful world in which you are immersed. You will say that you cannot love everything. What does an actor do on stage? They play different roles, and they play the roles with love. If they plays with love on stage and is considered a genius, why shouldn't they apply Love in their life? A person's outer life should correspond to their inner life. A black man turned to Christ and became a zealous follower of Christianity. Someone said to him one day, "You are very black." "My face is black, indeed, but my soul is white, bright." A person is not able to turn to God without having a bright soul. You should rejoice that your souls are bright. If you are black on the outside, be thankful that your souls are bright. Every person has the conditions to be saved, but they should not expect others to save them. Yet every person has a specific purpose. How will we fulfill our purpose? By doing God's will. Those who are able to fulfill God's will, stand higher than all nobles and scholars, than all angels and archangels. The power of the human soul lies in fulfilling God's will. You should look outside and say to yourself, "There is one Master in the world. He shows His kindness to all beings." Turn to Him and say, "Father, thank You for everything You have given me." You should turn your mind, heart, and soul to your Father and thank Him for sending you to Earth. Thank Him for accepting you again—like the prodigal son who realized his situation and wanted to be accepted as a servant, not as a son. Once upon a time, an English millionaire went down in his basement, where his treasures were kept, to count his gold and indulge it. By accident, the basement door got locked from the outside, and he remained in the basement with his money. No one knew where he was and he had no way of telling anyone to come and unlock the door. As death approached, he wrote on a piece of paper: "If someone would bring me a piece of bread, I would give them half of my wealth." Why did this millionaire die? Because he was not ready to part with all his wealth. Even on his deathbed, he was not ready to sacrifice all his wealth. Remember: one word of Divine Love is worth more than everything a person possesses. You should be prepared to give everything for one word of Divine Love. 27th lecture by the Master, held on September 20, 1942, 10:00 a.m., Sofia – Izgrev Преведено от Елеонора Петкова

Getting to Know Reflection on the most precious thing that Love gives. People nowadays are very pensive, but their thoughts are most varied; they do not think about the same things. The elderly people say, "What is to be done? Our legs cannot hold us anymore, we are going to die, and we have to give an account of our lives." So the elderly are disturbed by death." Adults who have children say, "What is to be done with these children? Life is expensive, money is needed to get them into school, some care and good conditions are needed for their upbringing." Young maidens and lads think how to catch their prey more firmly, so as not to drop it. The maiden thinks how to hold the lad firmly, how to tie him up better. The lad thinks about how to throw the net, to catch the maiden securely, so as not to drop her. What children think, I will not speak of them. There is one thing necessary for a man: to know what to confess and how to confess it. That is exactly what very few people know. You will say that it is easy to kneel down, put one's head under the epitrachelion and confess, and the confessor need only listen. If a hungry man comes to your house, what will you do with him? You are a priest, in the broad sense of the word: you will take out your epitrachelion and tell him to kneel down, so that you can read a prayer or two to him. You will read prayers to him, but he will say to you, "Brother, I have not eaten for three days, I am hungry." It is good to read him a prayer or two, but what are you going to do after that? You will still take the epitrachelion off your head. Are you ready to feed him then? A hungry man needs bread, not prayers. What is the most valuable thing that Love gives? When you go to Love, it will send you to Wisdom to get acquainted with it and to acquire the knowledge it carries within itself. Wisdom will send you to Truth, which will give you freedom - the most precious thing for the human soul. There are no things in life more precious than knowledge and freedom. They open the way everywhere. Whoever has acquired life, knowledge and freedom has met three friends from Heaven - Love, Wisdom and Truth. Whoever has made these friends is a man without infirmities and weaknesses. He enjoys the precious gifts of his friends. Love gives him life, Wisdom gives him knowledge, and Truth gives him freedom. To possess these gifts is to live among luminous, wise and free beings. Whoever has these gifts, and does not make any use of them, makes his own life hard and meaningless. A wise man, a good fortune teller, came to the house of a man who was considered pious. The pious man did not understand what kind of person had entered his house, because the wise man was modestly dressed, like an ordinary person. After sitting for a while, the wise man said: “Give me your Bible, so that I can predict something for you.” He took the Bible and wrote with his finger on the outside cover, the word love. This word is meaningful, but the wise man was drawing attention to something else. How can a person write with his finger on a book and the writing be read unless the book is dusty? Then the wise man asked the host: “Do you read the Bible?” – “To tell you the truth, I have not read it for more than ten years.” The wise man replied: “You possess some treasure that you do not know how to use. If you had used it, you would have understood the meaning of the word I wrote on the cover of the Bible.” Many read the Bible, talk about God, but few know Love, Wisdom and Truth. Can anyone say that he has read and is reading the Word of God if he has not become acquainted with Love, Wisdom and Truth? For him the Word of God is a closed book. John wept for a long time, seeing before him a book sealed with seven seals. He could not open the book, but even if he did open it, he would not be able to read. To open a book is to make the words in it come to life, to make the lines, words, and letters move, to have some result from the reading. Finally, an angel came to John and said, “There is one who is able to open the book and make its lines move.” - “Who is he?” – “This is the Lamb, the Lamb of God – Love.” The Lamb of God is the fire that comes out of Love. It opens the books, makes the word move and reads. However, it has been said: “Love brings life.” Everyone seeks a lavish life, to be rich, to have money. It is not bad for a person to have money, but he must have the right attitude towards it, to know how to use it. Some rich people use their wealth freely, they openly say how much money they have. They are brave, they do not hide any part of their wealth. Others are cowardly, they do not dare to use their wealth and say that they have nothing. They prefer to be considered poor than to admit that they are rich. And the religious people act in the same way: some are brave, they openly profess their conviction and faith. Others are cowardly, they do not speak out, lest someone take their wealth away from them. However, the state creates laws that persecute the rich, especially those who have become rich illegally. At one time, the Turks persecuted the Bulgarian chorbaji (members of the rural elite in the Ottoman empire), who became very rich. Every 45-50 years, they declared a great persecution against them, until they completely ruined them. Having robbed them of everything, they left the chorbaji free. Do beekeepers not do the same with their bees? When they see that a hive has become rich, they come with their smokers, smoke the bees, take their honey and leave them 10-12 kilos for the winter. If the hive has collected about 30-40 kilos, they take 30 kilos for themselves, and leave 10 kilos for the bees. Whoever can take honey from the bees is a smart person. Today's beekeepers are more humane towards bees than the ones in the past. In the past, beekeepers killed bees and thus took their honey. Today's beekeepers are careful about the life of bees. They take the smoker like a priest's censer and start burning incense. The bees get scared, dizzy, huddle around the queen, and the beekeeper works freely: he takes out honey, puts in new frames, and says: "Be grateful, I am putting in new frames for you, so you have something to work with." Having taken out as much honey as he wants, he closes the hives and lets the bees collect honey again. He acts with them in an evangelical manner: he shares the good that they have, divides it between himself and them. Reflecting calmly, the beekeeper says to himself: "Bees make honey, but they take nectar and pollen from flowers, so not everything is theirs. On the same basis, I also have the right to take honey from the bees." Every man is a hive with thousands of bees inside, working for his well-being. One day God, his Master, will come to him to see what kind of honey he has made and to take some for himself. How do you want your Master to come to you: in the old way, to drown the bees in water, or in the new way, with a censer in his hand, just to make them dizzy? Neither in the old way nor in the new, modern way. You must wait for your Master with love and voluntarily give Him your honey. He knows how much to take for Himself and how much to leave for you. Why do beekeepers act violently towards bees? – Because the bee is selfish: when it makes honey, it only has itself in mind. As soon as someone approaches the hive, it greets him with a buzz, asking him: "What do you want? You have no business with us. Go away soon, or I will sting you." If the man does not understand its language, it stings him. To educate the bee, the beekeeper nowadays goes with his censer and smokes the bee. When it gets dizzy, it already backs down. Learn to give voluntarily so that you do not need to be smoked. What is essential in human life? – The satisfaction of man's natural needs. Man is a traveller who has come to Earth to learn and work. While travelling, he will always stop at a house where he will be welcomed well. He will be given warm water to wash his feet and to change his clothes. Then he will be served some bread, some warm meal for him to eat. Finally, he will be offered a bed to rest. Early in the morning he will rise, give thanks, and continue on his way. As a man treats his body, so should he treat his mind, his heart and his soul. They also need rest. Having worked during the day, they must rest in the evening, freeing themselves from all worries and anxieties. It is natural for someone, who has children but no sheep to give him milk, to be worried and anxious. But should a shepherd, who has hundreds of sheep at his disposal, be anxious? It is natural for a gypsy, who does not know where he will be at dawn and at dusk, to be anxious. But for someone, who has connected with God and enjoys His blessings every moment, it is not natural to be anxious. New times are coming, new people are needed in the world. Christ gives the parable of the five wise and five foolish virgins who were waiting for the bridegroom. The first five were ready, their censers were full of oil; the second five were not ready, and when the bridegroom came, they went to look for oil for their censers, but the door was locked behind them and they were left outside. The world needs people who are ready, whose censers are full of oil and who await the coming of Love. Bulgarians have a custom of lighting a lamp in the evening. Why are lamps needed? They are lit mainly for the deceased, so that they may have light in the other world. Many of those who have departed for the other world find themselves in darkness, persecuted and tormented by their enemies – evil spirits. In order not to suffer either in this world or in the other one, a person must have a lamp that constantly burns and lights up. Therefore, whoever suffers does not have a lamp. Everyone must carry within himself the lamp of Wisdom, filled with the oil of Truth and lit by the fire of Love. Once you light this lamp, it constantly gives off light. In every home where such a lamp shines, Divine blessings flow incessantly. When people get bored with earthly life, they want to go to the other world, to prosper there. Only the one, whose lamp is constantly lit, can enjoy the benefits of the other world. The one whose lamp is not lit, when he goes to the other world, will be bored on the third day. Why? - There is nothing to do. There is a lot of work there, but he is not ready, he does not know what to do. Whatever job is given to him, he shrugs his shoulders, he cannot do anything. Imagine entering an orchestra where 50-60 violinists play, all with musical education, their violins merge into one. You listen, wondering what to do. You have a violin, but you do not know how to play like them. As soon as you take the first bar, you immediately start making mistakes. You see the musicians' fingers moving on the violins, but you do not understand what they are playing. And your ear is not developed, you cannot distinguish the tones. No matter how beautiful this music is, you will get bored and will want to go back home. Such is the situation of every person who is not prepared to play in a symphony orchestra. Whether he is on Earth or in the other world, his situation is the same. If he is on Earth, he will want to return home, to play for many more years until he is accepted into the orchestra. If he is in the other world, he will want to come down to Earth, to use the conditions that were once given to him. The invisible world is harmonious, no dissonances are allowed there. On Earth, people speak loudly, shout, and scream. For the invisible world, their speech is a storm and thunder. They say of someone that he speaks softly, they cannot hear him from afar. No matter how softly one speaks on Earth, in the other world it is perceived as thunder. If you enter the company of angels, you will only see their mouths moving, but you will not hear anything. People have no idea about the invisible world and the beings who live there. That is why they talk about Love, they want to acquire it, without knowing where it comes from and how it is acquired. Love descends from the sublime worlds. No one can acquire it if they have not first learned to give. First of all, you do not have a suitable vessel to pour Love into. If you go to the intelligent world, you can take as much love as you want, but you must have a vessel. Where will you put Love if you have not yet prepared a vessel for yourself on Earth? You will say that you will take a car to carry it. This is not allowed. Each person will bring his own vessel, in which they will put as much as they can carry - no more, no less. Knowing this, you will guard against the delusions of thinking that you can be very good, that you have a lot of love within you. Having come to Earth, a person is precisely determined how good he can be or how much love he can carry in his heart. There are times in life when a person cannot show his kindness, no matter how much he wants to. Imagine that a guest came to the house of a young woman - a young, beautiful girl. She has traveled for several days, she is tired, hungry and thirsty. According to custom, the hosts should welcome her kindly. If the husband welcomes her well and looks at her kindly, gives her water to wash herself, prepares breakfast for her, the wife will be dissatisfied, her heart will sink, she will start to get jealous. You will say that the fault lies with the wife: she should rise high, not give in to jealousy. The fault is not only with the wife. When does a man get jealous? – When he remains in last place. In order for jealousy not to arise, a man must give his wife the first place: he should let her serve the young girl. When she serves, the wife will know what kind of girl has entered her house. If she is good, sensible and fair, the wife will see an angel in her face and will welcome her well. Then she will give way to her husband: to welcome her well, to serve her as he can. When the wife gives her husband the right to serve the young girl, the latter will accept his service and bless him. The woman will kiss her and accept her as a sister. Such should be the relations between sensible men and women, between sensible people. Modern people suffer, they are disappointed in love because they have misplaced things. Everything should be in its place. Today, many mothers kiss their children on the face, on the mouth, on the feet. Some mothers especially like to kiss their children's feet. After bathing them, they start swaddling them and kissing their hands and feet. This is not correct. The mother should kiss her child on the forehead, on the cheeks, on the mouth, while the father should kiss the feet. The man and the woman have confused their work and duties, that is why they suffer. The man should kiss the feet of his child, while the woman should kiss on the face. Why? Since man is made of dust taken from the earth, he must go upwards from below; since woman is made from man's rib, she must go downwards from above. Therefore, when people are jealous, it shows that they live in a world of disorder. There is something that is lacking in them, which is why they are afraid that someone might replace them, that is, take away the place they have occupied. Who can replace the capable professor of mathematics? – No one is able to replace him, because he solves even the most difficult problems. Who can take the place of the prominent and capable violinist in the orchestra? – If someone can replace him, he will be either more capable than him or equal to him. If he is more capable, rejoice, because you will learn from him. Should one be embarrassed in this situation? A capable and gifted person will always leave something to humanity. However, the ordinary scientist, professor, or musician should have the patience and humility to work until he reaches a higher position and worthily take the place of the capable and gifted person. Therefore, you should study and work diligently to acquire Love, and then you will give it to others. As long as you take something from Love, you are learning from it. As soon as you can pass on something from it, you are in the position of a first-class scholar and musician. You will love and realise that there is much to learn. You will study and understand the laws of human thought, of the human heart and of the human soul. If you do not understand them, you will enter into the disharmony of life. And then the disharmony that you will encounter will be created first by your beloved and by the children you have given birth to. You will regret getting married, having so many children. This means finding yourself in the position of the fish that spawns 300,000 eggs – caviar from which it gains nothing. What fish knows its children? Where do its children go? – In some mouth. Does it make sense for a person to give birth like a fish to many children whom he does not know, nor are they known to him? If it is a question of fulfilling one's desires, is it not better to give birth to a few bright thoughts and feelings with which to surround oneself, than to give birth to a few children alien to one's mind, one's heart, and one's soul. Bright thoughts, desires, and actions make a person powerful, ready for great feats. What will one do in today's times if, like the fish, one gives birth to three hundred thousand children? Today, hundreds of thousands of leva are needed for one child to receive an education. How many billions will be needed for three hundred thousand children? It is a fallacy to feed many children. The many children represent countless human desires. One child is enough, it is important to raise and educate them, so that they become a good citizen both on Earth and in Heaven. If you place many mirrors in front of one image, it will multiply. From one you will get thousands. These are the many desires of man. They are nothing but the reflection of a single desire of man in many mirrors. What is this desire? The desire of the human soul to serve God and merge with Him. The only desire of man is to find Love, to know it and to serve it. Until he has realised his desire, he will see it in many mirrors, he will be divided and will live in delusion. People nowadays talk about Love and look for it where it cannot be found. If you want to find Love, look for it everywhere – in flowers, trees, wellsprings, midges, beetles, and gradually move towards greater dimensions – people. Look for it among humble people. A proud person does not give room to Love within himself. Among all insects, the mosquito is haughty. It lands on a person in order to conduct scientific research on his blood. The bee, on the other hand, comes out to fight him with its stinger. Having taken out its stinger and stuck it somewhere in his body, it cannot pull it out and dies. In this respect, the wasp is smarter than the bee. It also stings, but it does not stick its stinger deep, so it can use it many times. The bee has not yet learned how to fight. It does not know how to properly apply love. This shows that evil and good manifest themselves in parallel in the organic world. The bee gives honey, but at the same time stings badly. This is how all people act - men and women, boys and girls: on the one hand they give honey, and on the other - they sting. When a young girl or a young boy enters a home, the parents are afraid that their daughter or their son's mind will be confused. Either of these is possible. They can confuse the mind of the daughter or the son, but they can also bring something good into them - it depends on which side they will turn - the light side or the dark side. What do good and evil represent? – Good is the young maiden, and evil is the young lad. When good enters a home, it turns the minds of the family members and they begin to give to the poor, to those suffering. Whoever observes them from the outside says: “This is not how one can live, one will soon be left on the road.” When evil enters a home, it begins to rob. In this case, the hosts must manifest the good in themselves and begin to educate the evil. Therefore, if good (i.e. the young maiden) comes to your home, she will correct your son. If evil (i.e. the young lad) comes to your home, your daughter will educate him. The good in man is obliged to bring something into the evil, to uplift it. Evil seeks good everywhere. Wherever a person finds himself – together with evil or with good, he must always be aware that there is good in the world. Which kind of young lad was Christ? – Of those who give way only to Love and Good. As long as a person, man or woman, boy or girl, loves his father and mother more than the world, he has a filial relationship to them and to God. If he gives priority to his love for the world at the expense of the love for his parents, he has already committed the primordial sin. How can a person love the world more than those who gave birth to him and give him all the blessings of life? The world gives nothing, it only takes, it draws the vital juices of beings. What would you say about such a home that exhausts the last strength of its neighbour? A young lad or a young maiden, when they get married, they should beware of such a home. This means connecting with the world, with the evil in it, and not with the good. Connect with the good, and educate the evil. Many people ask what the New Teaching is about. The New Teaching is nothing more than introducing a person to Love. Once he becomes acquainted with Love, it will introduce him to Wisdom, and the latter to Truth. And if a person acquires life from Love, knowledge and light from Wisdom, and freedom from Truth, he is on the right path. If life gives him the opportunity to move, movement – the opportunity to learn, and learning – the opportunity to work and be released from limitations, he is on the right path. The one who cannot get acquainted with the principles of life – Love, Wisdom and Truth, is condemned to suffering. He cries, laments, cannot find a way out in his life. It is good for a man to cry, but only if his tears bring blessing to him; otherwise they are harmful both to him and to those around him. There are tears that are poisonous; there are tears that burn where they fall: they are like the acids used in chemistry. What did the tears that Christ shed for the Jewish people bring? With these tears He wanted to tell them: "You do not accept the Teaching of Love, but you will go through great suffering and bitterness. After that, God's blessing will come upon you." Every man must do the will of God, so that the blessing may be poured over him, as the spring and autumn rains pour over the sown wheat. Beware not to bring tears to the eyes of Christ by not doing the will of God. You are blessed, if the eyes of Christ are filled with tears of joy by you doing the will of God. Therefore, when you cry, when you think, when you feel or when you act, first you should be happy with yourself, with the tears you shed. People are often ashamed of Love. Why? Love is a lighted candle. Should you hide the lighted candle and be ashamed of it? When you light your candle, you will place it in a visible place, so that it may illuminate the path of all who have gone astray. When you light your fire, you will place it in such a location that all people may warm themselves up. The Fire of Love does not burn human hearts, but it uplifts and renews them. Love that burns human hearts is not true. Knowledge that makes a person proud is not true; knowledge that expands the human mind and humbles a person is true. The distinguishing quality of the one who loves, knows and is free, is humility. He knows what he is doing, what he is thinking, therefore he is not irritated about anything. This is the man of the New Teaching. A happy man is one who can meet a disciple of the New Teaching and serve him. The new man does not speak for himself, but you will recognise him by his actions. If you recognise him, he will smile at you. Even if you do not recognise him, he will smile at you either way. The new man understands the Word of God and applies it. This gives him a special inner beauty. He is also beautiful on the outside: his head is well-shaped, his facial features are beautiful. His forehead, nose, mouth, eyebrows are correct and beautiful. Life and energy emanate from every cell of his body. Whoever wants to gain God's blessing must open his heart to Divine love and light, just as grains of wheat and fruit seeds open to receive the sunlight and warmth. Every grain, every seed that opens to the sunlight and warmth grows and bears fruit; every grain and every seed that does not open, does not grow, is deprived of life. The question arises, how does one open oneself to the light and warmth of the Divine Sun? – Same as opening one's suitcases. What do you do when you go abroad or return from there? As soon as you get to the border, some customs officials stop you to examine your suitcases, to see what you are carrying. As you open your suitcases, so you will open your hearts – and what is meant for Earth will remain on Earth; what is meant for Heaven, you will take with you as the eternal capital of your soul. The earthly remains on Earth, and the heavenly – in Heaven. If the earthly goes to Heaven, and the heavenly remains on Earth, man impedes himself. Should he ask himself what is needed for Earth and what for Heaven? One must know that there is one thing that is equally needed for Earth and Heaven. This is the service of God and the love of God. Therefore, do not ask whom we should love. There is One, Who loves us, and we should love that One. Where will we find Him? – Either in our mother, or in our father, or in our brother, or in our sister, and finally – in our friend. Many prominent women of high social standing love dogs and lead them on leashes, walk them in the streets. They spend hours with them: they bathe them, clean them, feel happy with them like children. You will say that this is not natural. Are there not many poor children and orphans, instead of having to take care of dogs, spending money on them? That is true, but they have not met a child who could do what the little puppy has done. It opened the heart of a lady and she loved it. You will say that the animal is more stupid than man. And that is true, but there are animals that sometimes show greater intelligence than man. What about the donkey of the prophet Balaam? It is said that it saw the angel before its master saw him. And when he beat the donkey to go forward, it spoke and drew his attention to the vision of an angel standing before them. Nowadays, all the people, like Balaam, have set off somewhere with their donkey. I will not tell them that they must return. Let them continue on their way, but they have to listen carefully to what the angel will tell them. Whatever he tells them, they must convey it exactly to the one to whom they have set out. The Word of God must spread throughout the world, and with it – the blessings of God. Therefore, do not say that you are poor, that you have nothing, that you are unwell, because you are not telling the truth. You live in a world where God is the master, He distributes His blessings abundantly. There is nothing left for you to do but open your minds, hearts and souls wide to receive God's blessings. Open your ears to hear the words that He will speak to you, so that you can deliver them in time to where they are needed. Only in this way will you become acquainted with the angels - the servants of Love; with the cherubim and seraphim, who stand closest to God, and with all the sublime beings who work to implement the Divine order in the world. When talking about knowing God, we must keep in mind three of His qualities. He is all-loving, all-wise, and true. Love is a force that never changes under any circumstances. Everything can change, but Love never does. What is Wisdom? – What brings light and knowledge and never changes. What is Truth? – What brings freedom to the human soul and what can always be relied upon. Whoever carries Love, Wisdom and Truth within himself and even enters hell, the fire will not burn him, the ugliness will not frighten him and the limitation will not encompass him. The door of hell will open and close before him, so that he may freely enter and exit. Life cannot be manifested without love, knowledge cannot be acquired without light, and truth cannot be applied without freedom. The one who has become acquainted with Love will be resurrected; the one who has become acquainted with Wisdom will be clothed with the most beautiful garment – the garment of light; the one who has become acquainted with Truth will gain freedom: to go wherever he wants, to preach the Word of God. I wish this morning that your eyes would be opened and that everyone would see their own angel who guides them. For each person, an angel is assigned to take care of him; the angels agree among themselves, they do not want to know who is greater among them. They know that everyone is the bearer of God's Love and is the preacher of God's Word. The only thing that can bring a man closer to God is Love; the only thing that brings a man closer to God is Wisdom; the only thing that brings a man closer to God is Truth. Once he comes to the Source of life, a man begins to learn to go where he wants, to do whatever he sees fit. He enjoys the trust of the beings of the rational world. Where there is Love, there life manifests itself in its fullness; where there is Wisdom, there knowledge manifests itself in its true light; where there is Truth, there freedom manifests itself as the soul desires it. It is already time to get acquainted with Love, Wisdom and Truth. If you get acquainted today, you will rejuvenate. If you leave it for another life, you will achieve nothing. In the other life you will also be the same as you are today. The present determines the future. For many, it seems impossible to get acquainted with Love, Wisdom and Truth. If you eat, you can become acquainted with the Love that gives birth to life; if you know how to read, you can also become acquainted with the Wisdom that brings knowledge. If you have eyes to observe things, you will see beauty everywhere: in people, in animals, and in plants. It is enough to cleanse a person externally and internally to see his Divine face, illuminated by beauty, light and love. That is why God looks favourably on all living beings, from the smallest to the largest ones. When Love visits the beetles, a buzzing sound is heard among them; when it visits the trees, a rustling sound is heard in the leaves and branches. The one who does not know the action of Love says that a noise is made in Nature. This is not noise, but the manifestation of the joys of living beings at the visit that Love has paid them. There is no being in the world that does not enjoy warmth and light; there is no being that does not seek Love in order to enjoy its warm and bright rays. One day Alexander the Great wanted to see Diogenes, a Greek philosopher about whom he had heard interesting things. He found him somewhere outside, in the open, in a barrel. After talking with him, Alexander the Great asked him, "What can I do for you?" – “I do not want anything. I am just asking you to move away, not to block my sun, I want it to shine freely on me.” How many people today would have the courage of Diogenes to answer Alexander the Great like that? Then Alexander the Great said: "If I were not who I am today, I would wish to be in Diogenes' place." If you ask a lover the same question that was asked of Diogenes, he would answer that he does not need any favor, except that no one should stand in front of the Sun and prevent the sun's rays from shining on him. Everyone must free themselves from the thought that they are great, that they can be masters, that they can command others. Even a small child strives for greatness. They want to grow up, to become masters, to command. Before becoming a master, one must have been a servant. First you will be a servant, and finally a master. Only a wise, loving, truthful person can be a master. A true master is one who does no evil to anyone. Which is preferable: to ride or be ridden, to give or take, to be smart or stupid, to be strong or weak? When a person does evil, stupidity and powerlessness are in place; when he does good, intelligence, knowledge, and strength are in place. Act in such a way as to reveal the One who lives in your souls. In other words: reveal yourselves as you are. What is man? – He is such as was originally created. It is said of man that he was created in the image and likeness of God. So he can manifest himself as his Creator. What greater good can you expect? Put Love in your heart, Wisdom in your mind, and Truth in your soul, so that you may manifest God, so that everyone around you may rejoice. It is easy to talk about Love, Wisdom, Truth, but until one reaches them, one passes through more accessible areas. In this regard, we distinguish several categories of human manifestations: movement, life, and love – the first category. If you do not move, you cannot manifest life; if you do not live, you cannot love and be loved. The manifestation of Love is life, and the manifestation of Life is movement. Life is the most beautiful music and the most melodious song that a good musician and singer can perform. Wisdom, knowledge and light – this is the second category of manifestations. If you do not have light, you cannot learn and acquire knowledge, you cannot become wise. Seek good and wise people, so that you may learn from them. How will you become a violinist if you do not listen to good, famous masters? A true master violinist is one who loves his violin. When he plays, his etheric double enters the violin and he places each finger in its designated place. There is an inner affinity between him and his violin. The tones that come out of the violin are pure and soft. They are also distinguished by great power and clarity. This applies not only to music, but also to singing and movements. In everything you do, you must put love and affection. Then the movements and gymnastic exercises will make you strong, so that you can help others. Every exercise done with love and affection brings such strength into you that you can save even a drowning person. Every raising of the hand represents the bringing forth of the book of your life. Everyone can read from this book. The life line on the hand encloses the area of Venus - the area of love, which runs down the thumb. It is placed opposite all the fingers, which shows that it is in harmony with them. The four fingers are the four strings of the violin. If you take away a person’s thumb, he loses the foundation of life. If the life line is poorly developed, the person's love is also weak. In addition to the life line, there are two more important lines on the hand: the mind line and the heart line. In general, the hand is a witness to the entire human life. You can read his story from it: how he lived, what thoughts and feelings moved him. Anyone who knows how to read a hand, even just the thumb, can understand a person's past and present life. Some people hide their thumb between their other fingers. Do not hide your thumb, but hold it up and say, "Lord, thank You for showing me the way of Love. As You show Your Love to me, so will I show my love to You." So when you are discouraged or feeling unwell, look at your thumb, grab it and rejoice in all that you have been given. All the cells in you should thank and rejoice that they are alive and enjoying the blessings of life. Open your hearts to God so that He can see what is in them and help you. He knows everything, but you must be ready to open yourself to His light. Be pure-hearted and sincere. Do not hide anything from God and do not criticise yourself. A person must be free. There is no greater good than freedom of thought, of feelings and of actions. There is no greater good than knowledge: to know yourself, to know your neighbor, and also to be known by them. Christ says: "This is eternal life, that I may know you, the only true God, and Christ whom you have sent." Getting to know God in all His manifestations – this is the new life that is already coming into the world. See God everywhere – in the stones, in the waters, in the plants, in the stars, in the animals, in the people and say: “Blessed is the Lord, Who manifests Himself everywhere and speaks to us through all living beings. Blessed is His Name now, always and throughout all ages.” A young man stopped at a spring to drink water. An old woman approached him, tired and out of breath. “Grandma, where are you coming from?” the young man asked her. “From afar, my son; I am very tired, my head has suffered a lot.” “Sit down, grandma, let us talk.” The old woman sat down by the spring and told her story. – “What is your name, grandma? I want to get to know you.” Instead of saying her name, the old woman took off the mask from her face and quickly walked away with the words: “Young man, if you do not want to grow old, seek God, so that you may see and know Him.” The young man was greatly surprised: instead of the image of the grandmother, he saw a young, beautiful girl. He remembered her face, but he also remembered her words. 24th talk by the Master, given on August 30, 1942, 5:00 a.m., Sofia – Izgrev Преведено от Николай Николаев

THE MEANING OF LIFE Gospel of John 14:1–17 Reflection People often ask, "Does life have meaning?" – Life has meaning for those who understand it. A life that is understood brings joy; a life misunderstood brings sorrow and suffering; and a life poorly lived brings torment. When faced with hardships and pain, people begin to seek God. They have been seeking Him since time immemorial. And to this day, they continue to search. Believers think they have found Him and know Him. But a knowing that does not produce transformation in a person is merely external knowing—like the outer plaster of a house. Someone might paint the outside of their house white with lime and think they themselves have become white. This outer knowledge is like preparing a corpse: dressing it in new clothes, adorning it with rings and decorations, covering it with flowers—and then burying it in the ground. They say, “That’s how it should be.” But only the bones remain of the dead. Likewise, when a grain of wheat is planted in the earth, only the husk remains—but after a time, it grows and bears fruit. If, after a time, the dead do not rise and bear fruit, then they have misunderstood life and misunderstood God. Why is death allowed? – To test people’s faith. Through death, one sees to what extent a person has come to know God and truly believes in Him. If they have known Him, they will rise and bear fruit. If not, only dry bones will remain of them. Scientists divide the year into four seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Now we are in the autumn equinox. Spring corresponds to childhood, summer to adolescence, autumn to maturity, and winter to old age. Winter prepares the conditions for childhood; childhood—for adolescence; adolescence—for maturity; and maturity—for old age. These four stages form one yearly cycle. Since autumn is approaching, we are entering the season of maturity, which brings the fruits of life. Old age makes use of these fruits—but it must use them wisely. If an elder’s hair has turned gray, it shows that they have gained something. There is a kind of static white color, like the whitewash used on houses, made from limestone. But there is also a white that symbolizes purity. In this sense, old age, the white color, and purity are synonyms. They are degrees within one and the same scale—one Divine idea. Many think they have grown old. But this is a mistaken notion. To think that you are old is to deceive yourself. One is old only when one has become wise. If you have not become wiser, are you truly old? "My legs have grown weak; they no longer hold me." – If your legs have weakened in old age, it shows that either you did not live rightly in youth or you misunderstood life. An elder has more inner light and thus no longer concerns themselves with the outer world. They live in their own light—reviewing their life, reflecting on how they lived and how they used the opportunities given to them. They examine their thoughts to see what remains of all the thoughts that have passed through their mind. Right thinking is the material from which the spiritual and Divine body of the human being is built. Useless thoughts must be cast out. Only those that can serve as building material should remain. The elder must understand the quality of that material and place it where it belongs. Once they’ve set it in its place, they should not move it again—nor should they regret what has been done. And what do we see in life? An elder may regret that they never married. Curiously, he was the reason his mother and father married—and now he regrets not marrying himself? If he was skilled enough to help others marry, he himself is already “married” in essence. One who is a master of deception—uses it themselves. But the point is not to speak about deception; what matters is to attain Truth—that all-powerful principle that delivers a person from every affliction. Truth resolves all disputes, overcomes all difficulties and weaknesses, and frees the soul from bondage and limitation, from ignorance and violence. Truth even frees a person from death. But when you speak the truth in front of people who neither understand nor love it, they grow weary of it. To expose people’s faults and weaknesses is not the truth. Truth reveals the path to Love. One who seeks out the faults of others ends up falling into them themselves. One who focuses on others’ mistakes becomes entangled in them. Someone may speak against drinking—but drinks themselves. And when others see him carrying a small bottle of brandy, they ask, “What’s in the bottle?” He says, “Oh, it’s some kind of remedy.” Unable to uphold his own conviction not to drink alcohol, he resorts to lying. Someone else might say, “You can’t live without wine.” But in truth—you can’t live without water, not without wine. And if wine were truly necessary, why not drink sweet wine instead? Grape juice is preferable. Once it ferments and turns into wine, it produces toxins that are harmful to the body. The yeast or leaven that forms wine is nothing more than tiny beings—ferments—that multiply in the juice and leave behind their waste. What can be expected from people who nourish themselves with the waste of ferments? Sweet wine is of Divine origin, while fermented wine is of human origin. When we compare sweet wine with fermented wine, this doesn’t mean that all people will give up wine. We are examining the issue scientifically, not from a moral point of view. No matter what you say to a wolf against eating sheep, it will still attack and eat them. It is convinced it cannot live without sheep and tries to convince the sheep that once it enters the wolf, its condition will improve. The wolf says: "While I eat you, you’ll suffer a little, but after that, you’ll be well—you’ll enter paradise. I will nourish you, I will care for you. If you stay alone in life, you will face great hardships." The mistake is not in the wolf, but in the sheep that believes in its teaching. When the sheep renounces the wolf’s teaching, it will preserve its skin. Then the wolf will never attack it. A young man once promised a young woman that if she agreed to marry him, he would make her a princess: she would have a beautiful house, two or three maids, ride in a carriage, be dressed in silk, and adorned with jewels. She gave in to his promises and married him. Imagine her surprise when, instead of the golden palaces she expected, she herself had to become a maid. He had no job, so both of them had to go work in other people’s houses just to survive. Why did the young man have to lie to her? If she was not born a princess, how could she expect him to make her one? If a man or woman marries so that one can live off the other, they commit a crime—against themselves and their soul. God has given people all the blessings of life. He sends food, water, air, and light—and after all this, husband and wife say to each other: "Do you know that I feed you?" This is the first lie they use. No one feeds anyone. A person is a servant of the Divine. Through them, the Divine expresses itself. A person is a conduit for the blessings that come from above. The better a conduit they are, the greater the blessing they will receive. A person must think rightly, so they can transmit Divine thoughts correctly. Should you go around telling people they are bad? By nature, the human being is good—but they don’t act according to the goodness embedded in them. That is why they are responsible. If the wicked acted according to their wickedness, no one would hold them accountable. In that sense, the wolf is not responsible for its actions. When hungry, it says to the sheep: "I’m starving. I’ll die of hunger. One of us must sacrifice: either you or me. God created both of us—He must care for both. But since I have no food at this moment, as the stronger one, I will attack and ask you to sacrifice yourself for me." One of the Indian sages once meditated on the actions of Brahma. Near a tree hung a cradle where the baby of a poor widow was sleeping. She had left the child briefly to finish some task. In that moment, a cobra approached the cradle. The Hindu sage began to ponder: "The cobra might bite the child. What should I do in this case? If I kill the cobra, I’ll save the child—but do I have the right to interfere in God’s affairs? God created both the child and the cobra. Therefore, He cares for them both." While he debated what to do, the cobra raised its head and bit the child, who immediately died. Years later, the sage died and appeared before the Lord to account for his deeds. The Lord asked him: "Why didn’t you kill the cobra to save the widow’s child? You thought that intervening would mean interfering with My plan. You thought that by letting the cobra bite the child, you were fulfilling My Will. But wouldn’t you have fulfilled My Will if you had killed the cobra? Since you failed to understand My Will, I will send you back to Earth to learn the laws and to know how to act. Couldn’t you have said to the cobra: 'Bite me instead of the child?' At least then you would have fulfilled the law of sacrifice." Some people appear peace-loving—but only when faced with evil. One may refrain from resisting evil, but that does not make them peace-loving. How can you be peace-loving toward evil if it tries to dominate you? And how can you be peace-loving toward good if it, too, seeks to dominate you? Whoever lets both good and evil impose upon them—who allows violence from either side—is responsible in both cases. Both good and evil must be expressed through the law of Love. Even evil can speak gently, just like good. If it wants to correct someone’s behavior, it can do so softly, in a calm and peaceful voice. Someone might say they cannot speak gently because they are in pain. But pain and suffering often stem more from fear than from what is actually afflicting you. If your pain is truly great, place your hands on the affected area, focus your thought, and say: "This is eternal life: to know You, the One True God, and Christ, whom You have sent." When the pain hears you speak of eternal life, it will be frightened and leave you. You might say, “Only the doctor can help me.” If you believe that, then go to the doctor. The doctor may indeed help you—they have acquired the skill to heal—but ideally, they should also preach the hygiene of health. In one respect, the doctor is a great moralist. They understand the causes of illness. If someone complains of leg pain, the doctor may say: "Your legs hurt because you kick too much. Stop kicking and the pain will go away." – “My mouth hurts; I have sores inside.” “Stop speaking twisted, distorted things, and the sores will disappear.” – “I’ve gone deaf; I can’t hear well.” “Stop listening to bad words and your hearing will return.” – “My eyes have grown weak.” “Love the Truth, and your eyes will be strengthened.” When people fall in love with Truth, they enter the real world, where things are eternal and true. As long as they live in the unreal, in the transient world, they dwell in the shadow of Truth. Strive for reality, that you may gain true life, true knowledge, and true freedom. What should those in the autumn of life do? – They should gather their fruits. Will they keep them for themselves, or will they share them with others? Look at what a spring does: it waters plants and animals, even small insects and beetles, yet it continues on its way with the goal of flowing into the sea—there to give something of itself. A person should not be satisfied with doing a single good deed. They must do many good deeds and never miss an opportunity to do good. To speak about goodness is not the same as doing good. To speak about Truth and to apply it—these are two different things. To fear people and to fear God—these are also two very different things. The latter is natural; the former is unnatural. People fear death and often ask: "Where will I go when I die?" – There’s nowhere to go. Where does the grain go when it leaves the granary? – Into the ground. When it grows and bears fruit, it returns again to the granary. Where does the grain feel better—in the granary or in the soil? In the granary, it is calm: no moisture, no rain, no contradictions. But in the soil, the grain is exposed to great contradictions—and yet it is there that it grows and develops. The Divine life expresses itself through contradictions. So, whoever seeks happiness—let them enter the Divine granary. There, the conditions of life are easy. The only downside is that you will be pressed down—the space is tight, and everyone is piled on top of one another. Whoever wants spaciousness should go into the Divine field. There, suffering and contradictions await: you’ll cry, you’ll shout—until you make peace. But at least you will grow, develop, and bear fruit. This shows that the person is walking the right path of life. One who wants to learn will leave the granary and be sown in the Divine field to receive God’s blessing. People today suffer and complain about life—but they don’t realize that their suffering stems from not understanding things. They’ve mixed things up, and since they don’t know where to place them, they suffer. The place for wheat in winter is in the granary, and in spring—on the field. If you sow wheat in the winter, it won’t yield anything. The same applies to the Word: If it is not applied in the right place, it cannot bring peace to the soul, nor light to the mind, nor joy to the heart. We say that this Word is missing something. Every word spoken out of place and out of time causes suffering and discouragement. Why must you tell someone they’re not good? Everything created by God is good—therefore, the person is also good, though at the moment they’re not acting according to that goodness. Like a musician who, in a given moment, does not play well— He has a fine violin, quality strings, a good bow, a skilled teacher, diligent classmates—and yet something still fails to satisfy the teacher. Can he not practice more and learn the lesson well? To live is a great art. One must learn how to live rightly, according to the demands of this art. If you do not live well—why would God love you? Why does a young man love a young woman? – For her eyes, her nose, her eyebrows, her lips, or her figure? He will find something beautiful in her to love. And why does the young woman love the young man? – For something beautiful in him. If he is ill, he seeks a doctor—he’s not interested in young women, nor are they interested in him. If a person does not love Love, Wisdom, and Truth, then God will not love them either. If they do not love Life, Knowledge, and Freedom—no one can love them. If they do not love Movement, Learning, and Work—no one can love them. Why won’t anyone love them? – Because they are incapable of doing anything. Let us rejoice that we can move, that we can go to the mountain, visit a pure spring, meet a friend. Let us rejoice that we can learn, that we acquire knowledge. Let us rejoice that we can work, that we can connect with our neighbors. Speaking of work—some think that there is only work here on Earth. Not true. A person works both in this world and in the next. Whoever goes to the next world must have already created something—must carry their work with them, so that it may be known what new task to assign them. Each person represents something of themselves: One might express a fruit, another—a spring, a third—a musical phrase that can be sung or played. Whatever form a person embodies, it’s important that it be beautiful—so it draws the attention of the beings from the higher world. Angels love beautiful souls. If your soul is not dressed in beautiful garments, how will you appear in the angelic world? There, they do not accept naked souls—each must be clothed. Some religious people think that when they arrive in the next world, Christ will clothe them. No—each person must clothe their own mind, heart, soul, and spirit in garments made from the finest and most beautiful material. To think that Christ will clothe you—that is, save you—is a misunderstanding. Only the one who is ready to work will be saved. When they arrive in the other world, they must bring something. Fruit is expected of every person. What did the prodigal son bring with him when he returned to his father? He had left his father's house out of pride, not wanting to be guided by anyone. He imagined himself to be great and capable of managing on his own. He entered the wide world—and got lost in it. When he realized what the world truly was, he returned to his father with a fruit in hand and said: "Father, I lived with you as your son, but I did not understand your love. The idea was born in my mind to leave you, to go into the world and apply what I knew there. But the world consumed me; I entered into it, I defiled myself, I squandered all my wealth—and now I return to you to learn. I do not ask to be received as your son; accept me as one of your lowest servants—to work the fields, to plow and to dig." Then his father kissed him, embraced him, and clothed him in new garments. He was pleased that his son had brought one good fruit: humility. Many people head toward the other world with the hope that angels will greet them with crowns on their heads, guitars in their hands, with singing and music. How the angels will welcome you is their affair. How God will welcome you—that is His affair. For each person, it is already determined how they will be received. But this depends on you, on what you carry within. It is easy to place a crown on someone's head—but first, the person must have prepared something for their crown, for their beautiful garment. Without love and affection, there is no salvation. Without love, no garment can be woven. Love and affection are powerful forces through which the Spirit of God works. The garment of immortality is beautiful—but it must be woven with love and with affection. Today everyone awaits the coming of Christ. They say that only Christ can set the world right. Two thousand years ago, Christ was on Earth—but He did not fix the world. Even now, He will not fix it. Why? Because people expect the correction and salvation of the world to happen in a magical way, without any effort on their part. When Christ returns to Earth, He will turn things upside down. Those who relied on their strength will become weak, and the weak—will become strong. What have people done for the Lord that they expect salvation from Him? Some will say, “But we know the Lord.” That is not enough. They know Him only to the extent that their interests are satisfied. The present world is full of bees that sting. And if they sting—they cannot work. Such bees are the guards of the hive. From whom are they guarding it? From thieves and robbers. They fear someone will come and steal their honey. In my view, true workers are those who give their honey willingly. They work for God and are not afraid of anything. It’s easy to draw honey from bees—but how many people, like the bees, have gathered the nectar of Love, Wisdom, and Truth and stored it in their souls? How many have stored the juices of knowledge, freedom, and movement in their souls? Whoever has not stored something valuable in their soul constantly complains that their soul is empty. If your soul is empty—open it to Love, to Wisdom, and to Truth. Love will bring life and movement; Wisdom—knowledge and light; and Truth—freedom. Love will instill compassion in your soul—so that you may help your neighbor as you would yourself. Some say they want to become Sons of God. Only one who is a conduit of God's Love can be a Son of God. He can be a disciple and a teacher; he can be both a mother and a father. Until a person becomes a conduit for Divine Love, they can accomplish nothing. Whatever they acquire, they will soon lose. Christ says: “As the Father has loved Me, so I have loved you.” Whoever loves gains knowledge and helps others. People often ask: “What is the meaning of human life?” The answer is simple: A person lives to cultivate right and pure thought, to ennoble their heart, and to strengthen their will. Right and pure thought removes all worry and anxiety. Why should one be troubled by what happens in the world? God reigns in the world. What is there to fear? Believe in life, not in its shadows. Believe in both joys and sorrows, as carriers of Divine blessings. Suffering is the fruit from the roots of life, while joy is the fruit of its branches. The human soul is the garden in which these fruits ripen. From time to time, God looks upon these fruits—and rejoices. And people, too, rejoice in the fruits that ripen in their souls. When they look at one another, they rejoice in what each has cultivated. It’s enough to look at someone’s beautiful ear to know they are wise. A beautiful mouth speaks of love in the person; beautiful eyes—of the Truth working within them; a beautiful nose—of intelligence; a beautiful beard—of strong will; a beautiful forehead—of the abilities the person has developed. What kind of person is one who has been bent over by the burdens of life? The world needs people who are healthy, vigorous, and ready to work. This is what the new religion demands. What kind of religion is it that cannot rejuvenate a person? What kind of old age is it that cannot draw from the resources of maturity, youth, and childhood? The elder must carry within them the blessings of all ages—and pass them on to the young. The blessings of human life must be transmitted from one person to another, to create movement. Since you are entering the age of maturity, take the blessings of your stage—your fruits—and bring them as an offering upon the altar of God, that He may rejoice that there are people who, even under the hardest conditions of life, can still serve Him. All of Heaven and Earth rejoices in those who serve God with love. “As the Father has loved Me, so I have loved you,” says Christ. Let each of you say: “As the Father knows me, so I know Him. As He fulfills our desires, so may we fulfill His Will.” 26th Lecture by the Master, given on September 20, 1942, 5:00 a.m., Sofia – Izgrev

The Good Life Оригиналент текст: https://slovoto.info/%D0%B4%D0%BE%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%8F%D1%82-%D0%B6%D0%B8%D0%B2%D0%BE%D1%82-3/ [Status: in review] The good life is like the morning dew, like the morning dawn, like the rising Sun. The good life is the life of Love. What does life represent? In order to understand life, one must be in the position of one who is coming out of prison, not one who is entering prison. The first has acquired experiences that give one the possibility to understand things. To understand life, you must be like children who are ready to learn and perceive, not like the old and slow-moving grandfather. Some think they are already old and cannot learn. If so, let them define what old age is. A person is not old whose hair has turned white or whose legs are weak and do not support his body. White hair is the winter snow that covers the earth. There is no more beautiful blanket than the snow with which Nature covers the plants so they can spend their winter in peaceful sleep. Therefore, when your head turns white, you will sleep, that is, you will go to the other world to learn, and when you return in the morning, you will tell people what you have learned. The whitening of hair is nothing other than a disguise, just as actors disguise themselves on stage. When you watch how actors perform, you wish to be in their place. You think that glory and honors await you. From your point of view life on stage is glamorous, but ask any artist and they will tell you what torments they go through. The person performs, but their expression is not natural; they are playing a role that is not according to their own will. The life of people is acting. If you cannot play the role well that has been given to you, you are not a true actor. Someone plays the role of a hero, but when he comes out on stage to fight, another, stronger actor comes out and knocks him to the ground. What kind of hero is he then? Another plays the role of a scholar, but more educated actors arrive and immediately defeat him. What kind of scholar is he? Two young Englishmen created a humorous performance to mock Christianity. They agreed beforehand on which role each one of them would play. The first would play the role of an nonbeliever, trying to prove to the other that God does not exist. The second would play the role of a believer, to convince his friend that God does exist. The nonbeliever came out first and proceeded to convince his friend that nothing exists beyond the visible world, that the world is only matter, that spirit is some kind of illusion, etc. The believer listened to all the arguments of nonbelief but remained faithful to his inner conviction. Then the believer began to speak: "Are you not ashamed and embarrassed not to believe in your Creator? Can a flower grow in a meadow without the sun? Science does not allow the growth and development of flowers without solar warmth and light. Can a person become strong without air, without light and without food? Whoever accepts that one can live without air, food, and water, he is the greatest ignoramus in the world. Do you know what awaits you in the other world? There they will burn you in eternal fire, they will keep you hungry and thirsty for years." When he heard his friend speak so convincingly, finally the nonbeliever bowed his head and quietly left the stage. The next day he met his friend and told him: "Do you know what happened to me? When I heard you speak about hell, about eternal fire, I became frightened, I couldn't sleep all night. I believed in God and decided to become a Christian." “That’strange! I myself don't know how I influenced you. Can you also preach to me so that I too may believe in the existence of God?" It is an art to preach to a person in such a way as to persuade them. Thus bread, water, air, and light preach to people today. They convince him that God exists and sends blessings to all humanity. Bread and water bring life into man; air gives him the possibility to speak, and light makes him think. Bread, air, water, and light represent real magnitudes, without which life does not manifest. You will say that what is “real” is everything that the human mind can grasp and understand. That which the mind cannot grasp and understand is “not real.” We cannot grasp the Sun and Earth with our mind, but this does not mean they are not real. In order for us to grasp and understand them, they are placed far from us, so we see them as small. In this form they become visible and understood to us. Small, microscopic things, on the other hand, are magnified to become visible. Therefore, in order to grasp things, a person enters the experimental world, where everything is put to the test. First you test the warmth of bodies, to see if you can withstand it. Then you test their coldness. You will say that you have faith, there is no need to use experience. According to me, people have not yet come to true faith. They have beliefs, they do not yet have faith. Only now are people studying faith, the kind of faith that excludes contradictions. The first Christians were practically godless. Some of them believed in many deities, others were idol worshipers. What can be expected from a god made by man? A deity that cannot bring light into the mind, warmth into the heart, and strength into the soul is no deity at all. Only that being can you call God, Who helps people under all conditions. The One Who lifts people up and strengthens animals and plants is the One we call God. What do angels represent? To have an idea of angels, you must return to that epoch, to see the world as it was originally created. Then both plants, animals, and humans were not like the present ones. After the Fall, all forms became distorted, which is why today people have no true idea of either themselves or the world around them. The first animals occupied the place of humans, and humans were even higher. After the Fall, humans took the place of animals, and animals descended lower. In all animals are imprisoned human souls, lagging in their development. When humans rise to the level where they were, the animals will also rise, and with them the imprisoned human souls. You may hear a beetle buzzing and you say that this is a beetle, a small creature. It is not so. When it buzzes, it draws your attention to its origin. "I am a beetle,” it says, “but I come from Brahma, I have a Divine origin." Present-day people pass for intelligent and cultured, and when someone dies, they immediately put on black clothes and cry that they have lost him. When you eat apples, the tree does not cry for its children, but rejoices that they enter the beautiful human world. But people cry for their dead. When you ask the apple tree where its children are, it says: "They entered the womb of man, to visit the good chamber of his mind and the good chamber of his heart." Indeed, when a person eats an apple, he carries it in his thought and says, "I ate a tasty apple." Remember: the life invested in all forms is one and the same. It only flows into them and is used differently. Life is indivisible and unified—that is why we call it Divine. All sweet, tasty, beautiful, and moral things come from the Divine world. Ugly, immoral things hide their origin in the human world. All things come from the same place, but as they pass through unclean places, they too become unclean. As long as the mind and heart of a person are unclean and distorted, Divine things will always accept impurities that will stain them. When a person enters a society, the first thing is that they are put to the test, so their intentions may be understood. If the person is elevated, moral, and carries within some ideal, they are immediately suspected of wanting to impose themselves on others, to hypnotize them. Animals also hypnotize each other; you can see the results of hypnosis. The snake can hypnotize with its gaze both humans and animals and they will freeze in place. Cats hypnotize each other and the hypnotized one remains in one place. However, you cannot say the same about a person who carries within himself a high ideal or a great idea. In order to make pronouncements about something, you must have right thought. Which thought is right? – The thought that brings light, warmth, and strength. Right thought and right feeling liberate; they lift the burden from tired shoulders. They free you from the grip of poverty. Wealth and poverty are inner states. Think of yourself as poor, and poor you will be; think of yourself as rich, and rich you will become. It is in your hands whether you live in lack or in abundance. God has given you a nose to sense things from afar, to discover treasure and use it wisely. With your nose you can find good people in the world. From them emanates an aroma that attracts people, just as flowers attract bees. If your nose is damaged and you cannot perceive smells, the fault is yours. "I prayed a lot." In this situation your prayer is pointless. You have given the essential to your servant, and then you will pray for him to give you some alms. No, you will catch your servant, you will shake him and tell him: "The wealth you dispose of today is mine. I gave it to you to test you. If you are thirsty for money, I will give you as much as you want, but I do not allow you to blackmail me." The master must be reasonable, strong, and just, not to let servants use him and dispose of him. What would be the situation of an ordinary person if they became rich, what would they do with their wealth? They would buy a beautiful house with a large, landscaped yard, with fruit trees and beautiful flowers. Then they would dress their children and spouse in silk; they would buy them golden ornaments and jewelry with precious stones. After that they would buy a car to drive wherever they wish. This is an extreme. Some people fall into another extreme. They dress in old, torn clothes, and thus want to present themselves as saints. Sainthood is neither in rich and expensive clothes, nor in torn ones. The poor person does not believe in rich saints, but the rich person also does not believe in saints who dress in torn clothes. The world cannot be fixed with such saints. The mind does not manifest through expensive clothes and shoes nor through torn ones. The world needs people rich in mind, in heart, and in soul. It is said: "Blessed are the poor in spirit." This does not mean that the poor one is weak, poor, or feeble. On the contrary, he is strong in spirit, in consciousness, and in understanding. It is also said: "Blessed are the meek." The meek one is not weak and soft. He is strong through his meekness and thus imposes himself on evil, on injustice in the world. The meek one does not boast, does not speak about himself, but applies his strength. The devil is allowed in the world precisely for this—to make people strong. Through him they test their strength. When they come out to duel with him, if he knocks them down to the ground, they continue to train until finally they defeat him and put him on the ground. When the devil begins to fear people and flee from them, then they will understand what it means to be a meek, poor, pure-hearted person. An acquaintance of mine told me the following experience. He said, "A few months ago I fell ill with a stomach disorder that drove me to half-madness. Sometimes I had the desire to kill myself, so heavy was my condition. Before I fell ill, I had the following dream: I found myself alone in my room and a black man came to me with a knife in his hand. He grabbed me, knocked me to the ground, and stabbed me with his knife in the stomach. In the morning I woke up with great pains in my stomach. I lay down and was sick for four whole months. During this time the black man visited me every night and fought with me. He always won. My illness did not leave me. I wondered how to help myself. I couldn’t find help from any direction. However, in my struggle with the black man something in me was getting stronger—my spirit was strengthening, although my body was still weak. “Every night, when the black man knocked me down to the ground, I said to myself, I will teach you, I will give you a good lesson, if only you dare to come another time. He visited me regularly. Finally I decided to fight to the end. The black man came, I jumped from my bed and saw that I had a knife in my hand. I threw myself upon him with all my strength, broke his knife, and when he was disarmed, he fled. He ran and I ran after him until I chased him away. “At one point he entered a house, from where two small black people came out—his children. I struck them too with my knife and cut them to pieces. After this victory I calmed down, lay down, and fell into a deep, healthy sleep. I woke up the next morning healthy once again, without pains in my stomach." People suffer because they are afraid of disease, of poverty, and of death. Throw fear outside and do not be afraid of anything. You will say that it is God's will for a person to die. It is said in Scripture that God does not consent to the death of the sinner. Therefore you will fight with death. It is a different case if you voluntarily wish to die. True sacrifice is a voluntary act. Only that sheep sacrifices itself which voluntarily puts its head under the knife of its master. If the rich person voluntarily sacrifices his wealth, this sacrifice is blessed, it brings a certain good. If you give away your wealth, give it with disposition and love. Then the wealth of the whole world will be in your hands. Do not think that by giving away his wealth, a person will become poor. As long as you do everything with love, poverty is excluded. What does giving away wealth mean? It is as if you have two large barrels, full of water, and you give away water to the thirsty. You will empty one barrel, then you will fill the other. The spring is close to you—you will fill and empty the barrels and never become poor. All of you should prepare two barrels at each of your homes, to fill them and empty them and give to those who need. Some are afraid to give away their goods, lest they become poor. Is what has been given to you yours? Nothing is yours. The thoughts, feelings, and wealth that you dispose of today are foreign. This is the wealth of advanced beings who lived before you. When they departed for the other world, they left their wealth on Earth, for future generations to benefit from it. Therefore every thought, every feeling that you dispose of today belongs to elevated beings who live in the Divine world. As you have received them generously, so you will give them away. If you say, "We don't know how," then you will learn. Strive for knowledge that builds, not that which destroys. Strive for knowledge that rejuvenates—when you swallow one of its pills, you will feel refreshed. There are mediines that will cause the wrinkles on the face to immediately disappear, the whitened hair to become blond, brown, or black. "Is this possible?" It is possible, this can be tried. Give away your wealth and goods reasonably, to those who need them. A rich American woman, a millionaire, fell in love with a prominent American bishop and wished to marry him. American bishops have the right to marry, but some of them dedicate themselves to serving God. She wrote a letter to the bishop with the following content: "I give at your disposal my heart, my hand, and all my wealth." He replied to her: "I respect your feelings and disposition, but I advise you to give your heart to God, your hand to the one who loves you, and your wealth to the poor." Why will you give your heart to one who has no right to it? Why will you give your hand to one who does not love you? Why will you give your wealth to one who has no need of it? Help those who love you and who need you. Help those weaker than you—the plants and animals that work for you. They will do for you what you cannot do, and you will do for them what they cannot do for themselves. Heroes are needed for life, not people with ordinary beliefs and convictions. A true person is one who possesses three qualities: a bright mind that thinks right; a loving heart that has right relations with all living beings; and a strong, wide soul that embraces the entire Universe. He thanks even the smallest beings for the services they do him: when his horse carries the load, he caresses it, strokes it, thanks it for the service it has done him. You will say that this is a horse, it does not understand caressing and gratitude. Its form is horse-like, but its consciousness is not horse-like. What remains of a person after their death? Only bones. The head is emptied, heart, lungs, and stomach decay. Can bones be called a human being? A true human being is one whose mind is full of light, whose heart is filled with warmth, and whose soul is filled with strength. Such a one lives eternally. Love, Wisdom, and Truth are paths that determine the person’s life. At the same time they define what it means to be human. A true human being is one who thinks, loves, and acts by the inner impulse of his soul. This means that God lives in within you. If you do not see God within yourself, you cannot see Him anywhere. Once you see Him within, you will see Him in others, and throughout all of Nature. If you ask water, air, and light where God is, they will answer: "When you accept us inside yourself, through us will manifest the One Whom you seek." Therefore, you will find God in everything that enters into you and in everything that comes out of you. This is the real, that is, the Divine, through which He manifests. See God also in all beings, small and large, whom you encounter. How should you look at your servant who works for you with disposition? He is a messenger, a servant of God. He does not determine how much you should pay him, but leaves it to your good will. You will say he is stupid and does not protect his interests. This person has an idea; he is not stupid. In antiquity, in the Christian era, one of the zealous Christians walked through the streets shouting that someone was strangling him. People passed by and paid no attention to him. A mother stopped to ask him why he was shouting. "I am hungry, hunger torments me." She fed him and then asked him, "Do you want to become my slave?" "I do." "I buy you for a thousand drachmas." "I agree." She took him to her home, pleased that she had bought him cheaply. She had two daughters, and she instructed the slave to educate them. As a good Christian he taught them in the spirit of Christ's love and made two good Christian women out of them. After ten years he told his mistress, "Since I have finished my work in your house, from today I want to be free. I return to you the thousand drachmas with which you bought me, and I am already free." This saint became a slave to save the two daughters of his mistress. Ask yourself how many souls you have turned to God. To how many people have you given an example of love for God, of humanity? If the scholar, professor, or teacher cannot pass his knowledge to two souls or cannot enlighten them, what is their scholarship? If the mother cannot teach her sons and daughters to love God, what is her love? A true mother is one who can acquaint her children with Love; a true father is one who can acquaint his children with Wisdom; a true brother is one who can acquaint his sister with Truth. So Love has a relationship to the mother; Wisdom is related to the father; and Truth is related to the brother. Who needs Love? The one who has not yet acquired it. The rich person does not need wealth; the poor person needs it. The weak one needs the help of the strong one. A saint imagined that he had achieved everything, that he had risen very high and had no more work on Earth, so he went to the other world. As soon as he entered there, he met an angel and began to tell him what he had done on Earth. The angel told him, "Since you have finished your work on Earth, you will stay here to rest in complete silence. Here everyone is busy, no one is free to talk with you." The saint sat without work and in silence for some time and began to think, What should I do here? I have no work, I spend time only in silence, now I am bored. At this time one of the inhabitants of other world approached him and told him, "Go down to Earth, among the people who need help. Tell them how you have worked, what you have achieved, and what you have seen in this world. Tell them that the beings in this world live in love and harmony among themselves, that all work for the common good; here there is no evil, there are no crimes." Indeed, one look of Love, one sweet word of Wisdom, and one noble act of Truth are worth more than all the wealth of the world. If Love enters your hearts, all your desires will be fulfilled. To every one of your thoughts, to every one of your feelings and desires will immediately rush beautiful, bright Beings of Love, to offer you their services. If you want to study, they will immediately give you conditions for learning; if you want clothes, food, they will provide that too; if you want to walk, they will take you wherever you want. You will say that these are illusory things. It is possible that human life is full of illusions. You look at some merchant: he sits for whole hours in his shop, waits for clients, hoping to earn a hundred leva. Is this not an illusion? What will he sell and what will he earn? There is something valuable that he acquires: he learns patience and courtesy. Actually only Love, Wisdom, and Truth can serve people, can provide them with what they desire. If he seeks the goods of life, Love will provide them to him; if he seeks light and knowledge, Wisdom will serve him; if he seeks freedom, Truth will give it to him. A scholar who does not know the laws of the three great principles of life cannot pass on his knowledge. Knowledge passed on according to the laws of these principles—according to the laws of Love, Wisdom, and Truth—is imprinted in the brain of man. With this knowledge he enters the realm of immortality. The three principles, united in one, give birth to life and movement, knowledge and freedom. All together they give conditions for people to work. Whoever wants to work must have passed through the Divine and angelic worlds and then come down to Earth. True work is accompanied by Love. One of the distinctive qualities of Love is freedom. Whoever loves gives freedom to his beloved. Thus God acts. Loving us, He withdraws into Himself and gives us freedom to manifest ourselves both in love and in knowledge, and in our movements, as we understand. If we manifest correctly, He rejoices and is glad in us. He does not need candle-burning, sacrifices, or alms. One thing He wants from us: Whatever we do, let it be done with Love. Every sacrifice, every alms given without Love has no truth or power. Every candle lit without Love burns and goes out; if lit with love, it burns eternally. Life that does not go out is true: it is the life of Love. Where Love is, there God is present. Rejoice when you love, because God manifests through you. It does not matter what you love—stone, tree, animal, or person. If you love an apple, you will know that it is a path through which Divine power enters you. Love is the path along which we walk to become mighty, with a bright mind, with a warm heart and with a strong will. Present-day people create laws themselves and are afraid of them themselves. In the future laws will be written in human hearts. When a person wants to manifest in something, they will look into their heart to see what is written there. If the word love is written, they will act according to the law of Love. If wisdom is written, they will act according to the law of Wisdom. Then people will be judged for the good they do, not for evil. Destiny will not be prison or punishment, but reward, which will last more or fewer years – according to the good that has been done: for little good, little reward; for great good, great reward. If someone does you good, tell them: "Thank you for the good you did me – and I will answer you with the same." Put good as the foundation of your life and walk in the path of Love. – "Where is this path?" – Where there is right thought, right feeling, right action. – "Where is the path of Love?" – Where there are good relations – relations of harmony and melody, of music and song. What would you say about a house where everyone is a general? If the mother has four general children and a general husband, she must necessarily take the place of a soldier who will carry out all commands. It is not easy for this mother – to be commanded by five generals. If she performs her service well, she will be recognized as a heroine. When she goes to the other world, they will open the door to paradise directly for her. I wish you to be good soldiers, to carry out the commands of the five generals with love. Only thus will you be registered as citizens of the Kingdom of God. Whoever can pass through all sufferings – through fire, through slander and persecution, through insults and bitterness, without moving a muscle on his face, he can be called a true hero. He is a person with a bright mind, with inner peace, with a strong and mighty spirit. Wherever he passes, he hears the song of elevated beings: "Great is the Lord! Great are His works!" Blessed are the loving. Blessed are those who love. Blessed are those who serve Truth. Turn your dwellings into temples of Love. Turn coal into diamonds, to adorn yourselves with them. The 25th lecture by the Master, given on August 30, 1942, 10:00 AM, Sofia – Izgrev Преведено от Борис Митов Редактирано от Ненси Крамптон Прегледано от Невенка Димитрова

LOVE AND AFFECTION “The Good Prayer” Psalm 91 “Prayer of the Kingdom” “In the beginning was the Word” I will read the third chapter of the Gospel of John, about Nicodemus, a man who, in the time of Christ, was interested in the new things. “The Sun Rises” It is a pleasant thing when a person can truly rest. Sometimes listeners cannot really listen, because they are tired. Many things occupy their minds, though not all of them are important. Yet some matters are very important. For example, your knee begins to ache. You sit listening to the lecture, but at the same time another “lecture” is taking place in your knee—and its content is quite absorbing. Or you have a headache. A headache is simply a dispute in the head—an argument, a settling of accounts. Brothers and sisters inside the head cannot come to an agreement, so they begin to quarrel. I can see them: one standing on one bank, the other on the opposite bank, and the two of them arguing back and forth. It is like two village women quarreling: one on one side, the other on the other. One keeps talking and talking, while the other remains silent. The first goes on speaking until finally she says, “Say something, woman, or I will burst!” What could she say? You meet someone and they say to you: “You are ignorant.” “And you are ignorant. Ignorant… simple… uncultured… still green, not yet ripe…” Then the accusations continue: “You are not spiritual… you have not yet become divine…” In the chapter we read, it says that Nicodemus was interested in what is new. Christ says: “A person cannot enter the new life unless they are born again.” Now notice the first thing: one who is born does not remain silent. As soon as a child is born, it begins to sing. When it sings, everyone listens. The newborn always begins with a song, and everyone rejoices. For this song the father and mother celebrate the child’s arrival, because it has “begun to sing.” People have even told me, “How beautifully this child sings!” And I say, “It comes from the Divine world above—how could it not sing? It has listened to the beautiful songs of the angels; when it comes here, it continues to sing.” They call it “a little angel.” And truly, it is an angel. But that is the poetry of the father and mother—they see it that way. Someone who is not a parent will say, “That is just a noisy racket.” For the parents it is a song; for those who are not parents it is a clatter. They say, “How can they stand it?” So I say: life is difficult to understand without love and affection. Anyone who tries to understand life without love finds that all people sound like noise—like rattling and clattering—because no one seems able to speak sweetly. And yet speech must be sweet. Among the old Bulgarians there were wise elders. A man might have several sons and several daughters-in-law—some older, some younger. Yet the father-in-law often prefers the youngest daughter-in-law. She is plump, round-faced, with small brown eyes, neat and lively. He says to the grandmother: “Tell the young daughter-in-law to knead the bread.” He does not ask the older one—he wants the young one to knead it. Why the young one? The older one already knows what she will do; everything about her is known. But the younger one has not yet made mistakes. One wants to see what the new will bring. So the young daughter-in-law kneads the bread—and indeed, the bread she bakes tastes better. Sometimes, when she bakes the bread, if someone in the house is ill, they even recover. But when the older one bakes the bread, people sometimes fall ill. Then the Bulgarians say that one is fortunate and the other is not. And I say: in the same way, the new life in a person always brings something better. The old repeats what it already knows, but the new carries freshness, strength, and blessing. And so, if someone wants peace and quiet, it may be better that she does not knead bread or cook—let her rest. If they ask her to carry water, she may stumble and break her leg. If they ask her to sweep the yard, she still complains: “Why must I always be the one to sweep the yard?” So I say, the same question stands before us now: a person must be born again. What are the qualities of one who is born? Such a person must know three things: one who is born of God thinks rightly, feels rightly, and acts rightly. In human life three things play an important role: movement, learning, and work. Movement expresses the human will—how a person walks through life. Learning is the second stage. And work is the highest expression of a person on earth. A person moves, learns, and works. Whoever cannot move cannot learn. Whoever cannot learn cannot work. The mind must be nourished, the heart must be nourished, and the soul must also be nourished. A person who does not nourish the mind cannot receive enlightenment. One who does not nourish the heart cannot become noble. And one who does not nourish the soul cannot become strong. When the soul is nourished, a person becomes strong. When the heart is nourished, a person becomes noble. When the mind is nourished, a person becomes enlightened. So I say: enlightenment does not come merely from reading books. A person is born with these possibilities. Sometimes you stumble and say, “I am getting old.” At times your leg aches; at other times your arms or your back hurt. But this is not old age. When your legs ache, they are telling you: “You must become good.” When your heart aches, it is telling you: “You must become noble.” When your head aches, it is telling you: “You must become wise.” And what do people do? They go from one doctor to another, looking for medicine to cure them. But when you become enlightened, the headache disappears. When you ennoble yourself, the pain in the heart disappears. When you nourish your soul, you become strong and everything begins to move forward. Yet because we do not understand this, we simply complain: “My legs hurt.” They hurt because they need nourishment. “My heart hurts.” It hurts because it too must be nourished. When the mind is not nourished, illness appears. What are these new influences people talk about? You might say that lactic acid has accumulated in the brain, or that certain toxins have gathered in the venous blood, or that the muscles have weakened. But there are questions that can be resolved quite simply. Suppose you pass through a village and the dogs begin to bark at you. After passing that way several times, you start throwing stones at them. Then the dog begins chasing you. Now tell me—does a cultured person throw stones? Of course not. The dog is simply asking where you are going, and you answer by throwing stones at it, saying, “That’s none of your business.” If you were truly cultured, you would explain where you are going. But instead you insist: “It’s none of your business where I go. I go wherever I please.” When a dog barks at you, throw it a little bread instead. Sometimes they understand very well. If you toss it ordinary bread, or a bagel, or a fine white roll—it knows the difference. When you give it the better bread, its eyes brighten and it looks at you happily. And the next time it sees you, it wonders: “Won’t there be more of that good bread?” Now if a dog can show gratitude for a little piece of bread, why should a human being not show gratitude for the good thoughts and the kind words another person can offer? I observe modern “cultured” people everywhere. The newspapers are extremely uncultured—they do not write properly. Then I read certain essays that people call “very logical.” Yet they are not logical at all; the ideas are not arranged as they should be. It is like preparing a dish: I may give it a beautiful color, but if the butter is spoiled and the flour is bitter, what good is that? The dish may look very appealing, yet it is unhealthy. Another dish may not look as attractive, yet it is wholesome. Someone asks me, “Tell me about the other world.” Yet they are not the least bit interested in the other world. The other world is this world, and this world is the other world. I belong to this world; you belong to the other. But when you speak from the other world, you become me and I become you. I speak to you from the physical world, while you are in the spiritual world. When you speak from the spiritual world, you become me, and I become you. What is the difference between us? I am in the physical world and you are in the spiritual world. When I rise into the spiritual world, you descend here. In one case I am below on the physical plane, while you are above in the spiritual world learning. And when you learn in the spiritual world, then it is I who have learned, and you who have descended. Thus, in the spiritual world there is a kind of movement: going out of the house and coming back in again. When you enter the house, that is this world. When you go outside, that is the other world. The physical world is a limited world; the spiritual world is unlimited. And the limited always exists within the unlimited. Where, then, is the physical world in relation to the spiritual world? Is it outside it? No. The physical world exists within the spiritual world. Sometimes we say of someone: “That is an intelligent person.” But where does that intelligence reside? In the head, above. Human beings live in different centers within themselves. The head itself is divided into regions, and reason has its own specific place in the brain. When we speak of a person’s virtue, we say that they live “higher,” not in the lower regions. What we call the solar plexus is not in the head. When we say that someone lives on the physical plane, we mean that they live in the whole body: they feel their hands, their legs—there is a sense of comfort and vitality throughout the body. When you live in the body, you are on the physical plane. When you live in the heart, you are in the spiritual world. When you live in the mind, you are in the Divine world. If a person lives mainly in the physical world, they give priority to the body. Others give priority to the spiritual world and say, “We have noble feelings.” Still others give priority to the mind. Yet the human being is formed only when the three are united: human thought, human feeling, and the human soul—or the will. Suppose you have a thought. If you cannot choose your food wisely, what kind of thought do you truly have? Take the duck, which people consider so foolish. Even it knows how to choose which grains to peck. Give it a coffee bean—it may swallow it, but it soon spits it out. Give it a bean—it tests whether it is edible or not. Give it a kernel of corn, and it swallows it immediately. Yet many people—give them something unsuitable, and they swallow it without discernment, and afterward they suffer inside. Now I will give you an example. We once had a friend who loved to lecture about spiritualism and communication with the other world. He was eager to prove that spirits exist and that one can communicate with them. One time he gave a lecture in Pleven, and quite a large audience gathered. Afterward he felt very pleased with himself. But a man from the audience approached him and said, “I want to tell you something in private.” My friend wondered what this man wished to say. The man leaned close and whispered: “You are a great vagabond.” (The word comes from French—it means a wanderer who misleads people.) “My friend told me, ‘That cut me deeply.’” But why did you listen to him at all? You could simply have said: “I am not inclined to listen right now. Come another day and tell me.” Never allow words without substance to enter your mind. Now I ask you: what is truly offensive when someone calls another person a pig? Can a person become a pig merely because they are called one? We must understand where the offense really lies. The pig seeks the answer to everything with its nose. Wherever it goes, it keeps rooting and digging. Take a pig under a pear tree: it eats the pears that have fallen, and then it begins to dig in the ground, wondering why there are no more pears. It imagines that perhaps it can dig some up. Well then, someone among you may act in the following way: things are not going well for you, and you want to know why. So you begin digging into your past. But if you keep rummaging through your past, you will never make progress. No digging! To dig in order to sow wheat or corn—that I understand. But do not dig into your past. If things become buried, it simply means the conditions are not favorable. And how often does it happen that when we begin rummaging through our thoughts, we end up forgetting what we were looking for? You dig and dig, yet nothing comes to light. If we keep turning back to the past—asking whether we were spiritual or not—we gain nothing. There is a whole vocabulary that needs correction. We do not even know whether the first pig that God created was like the pigs we see today. Do you think the first pig looked the same as those now? An Italian painter once wished to paint the face of Christ. He began searching for a suitable model. At last he found a young man, invited him to his studio, and painted the image of Christ. The painter was pleased with the result and paid the young man generously. Ten years later the painter decided to paint Judas. Again he searched for a model and found a man whose appearance suited the role. He painted Judas. When the portrait was finished, the man said to him: “Sir, ten years ago you painted Christ—and now you are painting Judas Iscariot. I am the same person.” I say this: for someone to resemble Judas Iscariot, they must not have lived well. Ten years earlier he had lived a life that reflected something of Christ; ten years later he was living the life of Judas—a coarse and degraded life. I say that the thoughts, desires, and actions that pass through us shape the outward form of our life. What must it look like when God sees you spending the whole day dissatisfied, angry, and severe? Why is that? You say, “I’m not in the mood.” But what gives you reason to be angry? Things must have a sound basis. You are angry—why? Because you were not paid as much as you expected for your work? Perhaps the person you worked for is not wealthy and has given you what they can. Perhaps they are even sincere and truly appreciate your effort. Some people love to own paintings. Sometimes a painting is worth five or six thousand; sometimes ten thousand, a hundred thousand, even two hundred thousand. In America, during the last century, an exhibition was held. A European painter displayed several of his works. When he was offered very little money for one of them, he became angry and slashed the painting in two with a knife. When the Americans heard that he had cut the painting in half, they offered him twice as much for it. Wealthy collectors began bidding for it. The painter said: “I should have cut it sooner.” But things do not always happen this way. Such comparisons do not always help a person improve. Let me give you another example to show that cutting up a painting does not always help. Two friends once lived together. One of them married and decided to teach his beloved a lesson—that she must listen to him, and that only in this way could they live well together. Soon after the wedding a cat passed by, and he tore it apart. The young bride thought to herself: “I am lost! If he can tear a cat apart like that, what might he do to me?” And so they lived very well for ten years. Later the other friend married, but he and his wife could not live peacefully—they quarreled constantly. He asked his friend: “How is it that you live so well together?” “I will tell you the secret,” the first replied. “I tore the cat apart. That cat helped me. From that moment on, my beloved listened.” So the other friend went home that evening. A cat passed by, and he tore it apart as well. But his bride said to him: “You are too late.” You cannot go to the village square to dance when you are already old. If people see you then, they will only laugh. In old age you cannot dance the way the young do. If you did not learn to dance properly when you were young, what will you do later in life? In this present life you should know that God is watching you—and you should feel a sense of reverence before Him. When anger arises, you must regain yourself at the very first moment of anger. It is told in Genesis that when Cain became dissatisfied with his brother, he began thinking how he might kill him. The Lord asked him: “Why are you so downcast? Where is your brother?” Cain replied: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” And the Lord said: “Your brother’s blood cries out.” Whenever you make a mistake, something within you says: “What you are doing is not good.” Musicians always love the violin that produces a beautiful tone. Every painter loves good paints, good canvases, and fine brushes. Everyone appreciates a tailor who sews well. We always prefer well-written works, good food prepared with care—everywhere we value what is well made. And yet we ourselves are not prepared. You say: “It is not worth living beautifully.” But there is nothing better than to nourish the mind with bright thoughts. There is nothing better than to nourish the heart with noble feelings. And there is no greater state than to nourish the soul as it should be nourished. When you enter the invisible world, God will ask you only two words: “How did you live?” That is all He will ask. He will not wait for explanations. The moment He asks the question, your whole life will appear before you like a film. You will not need to tell anything—your life itself will speak. You will see everything: every gesture, every hidden act you believed no one had seen. Everything will come to light. What will you say then? God will send you back to correct the film. “This was not made as it should have been.” A dish needs a little salt, a little pepper. Without salt it cannot be good; without pepper it lacks flavor. But half a kilogram of salt in a dish, or a hundred grams of pepper—that is too much. Only a pinch is needed—taken with three fingers, not a whole handful. So when you arrive in heaven, God will ask you again: “How did you pass your life on earth?” What will you say then? Things will appear that you never even dreamed of. Many times a person does something and later forgets it. A priest once told me: “I sit and preach to people, but sometimes a harmful thought comes into my mind: why did I become a priest, going around sprinkling holy water here and there for a few coins? Why didn’t I become a merchant and make money instead? Sometimes I even think of becoming a judge—condemn someone and take twenty or thirty thousand leva.” I told him: “Drive that devil away. If you had twenty or thirty thousand leva, would your food taste any sweeter? If you were a merchant—or anything else—would you really be any better off?” Everything rests in those bright thoughts we acquire each day, in those luminous feelings, and in those radiant deeds. These are the great joys of life; they are the eternal blessings that glorify the human being. Every bright deed honors you—it is the one that loves you and walks beside you. A bright thought accompanies you as well. When you depart for the other world, these come as witnesses. Those that appear against you are not the ones that love you. Bright thoughts and bright feelings—these are a person’s true wealth. They are one’s culture; they are one’s strength. That is why Christ said: “Unless one is born of water and of Spirit…” And again: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” I see God’s Love every day. The world as it is made—the rising of the sun, the shining of the stars, the growth of plants, the flowing of rivers, the blowing of the wind—all this, for me, is the manifestation of God’s Love. That gentle breeze that caresses the head and the face; that quiet light which enters the eyes; those beautiful fruits that quench hunger; the water that quenches thirst—everywhere I see God’s blessings. Yet sometimes we forget and ask: “Where is the Lord?” A Bulgarian priest once told me: “I was very quick-tempered.” He was a noble priest, but quick to anger—he could flare up in an instant. Through this lack of restraint he created many troubles for himself. Once the first bishop of Varna arrived, accompanied by a deacon. During the service the deacon made a small mistake. Immediately, there in the altar, the priest slapped him, saying: “That is not how the service is done!” Later that same deacon became a bishop and returned to the very diocese where the priest was serving. For twenty years he made the priest’s life difficult. So I say: never allow yourself to strike a deacon in the altar. Learn not to complain. Sometimes you say: “God has forgotten me.” That is not true. It is not God who has forgotten you—you have forgotten Him. You place your own mistake upon the Lord. The only One in the world who never forgets is God. Sometimes, when you forget Him, He simply remains silent. Therefore I say: learn to be sincere. You are rich, yet I see people lack self-restraint. A traveler walks along the road, reaches a spring, and immediately bends down to drink. Do not hurry. Wait ten or fifteen minutes. Look at the water, wash your hands, and then drink. Rejoice in the water—there is no need to rush. Or you pass by a garden. First find the owner of the garden. Speak with them a little, and then say: “May I taste the fruit from your garden?” But often you enter the garden without asking anyone. There must be relationship. First meet the one who tends the garden; first become acquainted. Or when you enter a library, find the best book and read it. The food that leaves strength within you, that awakens warm feelings, that provides nourishment for thought—this is the good food. “Unless you are born again of water and Spirit…” Every morning when a person rises, they should awaken the radiant image of God within themselves. Each morning they should awaken a warm feeling in the heart. Each morning they should imagine the finest nourishment that God sends for their soul. When you rise today, rejoice that the Lord has prepared for you three blessings: a beautiful thought, a beautiful feeling, and a beautiful nourishment for your soul. Rejoice in these three gifts. Yet often, in that very moment, you forget and think of other matters. But when the bright thought comes, when the bright feeling comes, when the bright deed comes into your soul—then think of other things, and life will come into order. A person who cannot love has come too late. A person who cannot cherish love has come too late. “This is eternal life: to know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” 15th Lecture by the Master August 9, 1942 — Sunday, 5:00 a.m. Sofia, Izgrev

PERMANENT GRATITUDE Reflection on the verse "God is Love" (I John, 4:8) What is man? If we speak of the spiritual man, it is characteristic of him that he questions everything but no one questions him. Man is interested in many things, but they are not all equally important, many of them are minor. The only thing that interests man is what his welfare depends on. It is determined by his kindness. It is a blessing for man to be good. A good man is not worried, nor is he disturbed. Whoever gets worried and disturbed is not a true man. He is the choppy waters constantly crashing into the shores; he is a rock that is gradually being destroyed; he is the withered leaf that falls from the tree and begins to rot; he is the ashes from the hearth. People wonder where to put their dirty water, the pieces of the broken rock, the withered leaves, and the ashes from the hearth, so as not to disturb them. Different names are given to all things that disturb man. When you read the Old Testament, you will find many places where lepers are mentioned. Today we use this word more often for a leper mentally, because physically this disease is not as common as in the past. Whatever garment the leper puts on, he is still a leper; the garment does him no good. Whatever idea he puts on, whatever feeling he puts into his heart, they do him no good. Leprosy is nothing but the ingratitude of man. He has to get rid of it and become grateful. Why is man ungrateful? - Because he is missing something. When he looks around, he sees that he does not have new shoes, a new garment, a new hat, some book - and he becomes ungrateful. Gratitude should get into the human soul as a necessity, not just for a moment but forever. Rejoice that the ingratitude is not permanent, but it visits man periodically and opens the way for gratitude. A hero is one who is always grateful. The ungrateful one is like the coal that formed thousands of years ago from trees that were buried by layers of earth. They have charred partially or completely. We burn them and use them as fuel. With the use of coal, mankind has encountered great hardships and trials. Coal has formed from giant pre-historic trees with great ambitions and longings. God imprisoned these beings in the earth so that they would not make a great noise and disturbance. However, people let them loose out of ignorance and today they cause more mischief and hardships than in the past. People think that they gain something by taking the coal out of the ground and burning it. No, the coal was taken out of the ground prematurely. They had to be taken out later - in the Age of Love, when the beings who are imprisoned in them will have an opportunity to correct their mistakes. Now, not only are they not being helped, but we are turning them into ashes. They must return to their original life. Which things are valuable: the living ones or those that can come to life and be useful? A train is valuable when it is moving, when it is puffing under the pressure of water. Then it carries passengers, merchandise, and it travels a certain distance. A steamer is valuable when it is moving. The driver drives the train, the captain drives the steamer, and they are made to do some work. A man is also valuable when he moves. He can move physically, emotionally and mentally. It is not important in which world the movement takes place, it is important that things move. Movement animates them and makes them alive. If movement ceases in all worlds, death occurs everywhere. Just as a machine is guided by someone, so a person must have a captain to guide them. The captain of man's machine is his mind according to some, or his spirit according to others. He handles all difficulties, adversities and discontent. I wish that this very morning you deal with the discontent according to the law of love: to say that it is sitting on someone else's chair and to offer your own chair. The place where it sits is honourable - it is earmarked for contentment. So far discontent and ingratitude have been masters in human life; from now on they will become servants, while contentment and gratitude will become masters. This does not mean that you should take hold of ingratitude and shake it. If you do so, it means that you apply ingratitude. On the contrary, you will thank ingratitude for giving you valuable lessons in life, and you will deal with it according to the law of gratitude. There are many examples of this, but if a person is not ready to deal with dissatisfaction and ingratitude internally, these examples cannot benefit him. There are many tricks that one can use, but one must be ready for them too. They tell the following story about a magician. He took twelve knives and threw them one by one at a board from a distance of five or six meters. In front of the board stood a woman with her arms stretched out at her sides. The magician threw the first knife at her right ear, the second one at her left ear, the third one above her head, the fourth one at her neck, on either side, the fifth and sixth ones on either side of her legs, and so on. Thus he threw twelve knives, but so successfully that none of them touched the live body. He was skillful, but the woman had no less merit. The knives were thrown around her one after another without a muscle of her face or body twitching. They were both distinguished with great self-possession. Can you not do so with ingratitude? Place it in front of a board and throw knives all around it, without touching it, without hurting it. This is an art - to liquidate something without upsetting, offending or hurting it. A prominent Greek sculptor and a prominent artist decided to make something precious to present to the world. The sculptor crafted a bunch of grapes so naturally that he fooled the birds. As they approached it, they tried to peck, but immediately backed away - their beaks hitting the stone. The artist, on the other hand, painted a beautiful maiden covered with a thin veil. When the sculptor came, he wished to see the beautiful maiden and approached the painting with the intention of lifting the veil. When he put his hand to the veil, he was deceived - it was painted. He was content to watch the beautiful maiden through the veil. What have the two masters achieved with their art? The first one deceived the birds, the second one deceived the man. The sculptor's bunch of grapes lacks substance. The birds landed and returned deceived, but the sculptor was also deceived by his friend's painting: he thought he would see the beautiful maiden behind the veil. A great craftsman will be the one who can remove ingratitude from behind the veil and put gratitude in its place. Nowadays all people say that they should love each other. Everybody talks about Love, but their paintings are similar to the bunch of grapes that the sculptor made and to the artist's veil. Birds will land on the grapes and return without having a taste of it. People will come to the veil, behind which the beautiful maiden is hiding, but they will not see her either. Love comes only from one place, not from many places. As long as it comes from many places, people will talk about it, but in the end they will all die. Now, when one person falls in love with you, you have to die. If you fall in love with them, they have to die. If you fall in love with a chicken, it dies; you fall in love with an apple or a pear, it dies; you fall in love with money, it also dies. Whatever a man loves, it must surely die. When death enters into love, it shows that life is not understood as it should be. In ancient times, one of the Masters of Love sent two of his disciples into the world to learn and preach. They sang and preached to the people. One disciple cheered the people with his song, the second one not only cheered them but opened their hearts and disposed them to giving, to good relations with their neighbours. From his song the sick were healed, the sorrowful forgot their sorrow. Now you also sing many songs, you sing that you can love and be loved, become servants of God. I wish that as you sing, so you may manifest yourselves. What is the use of serving if you are not satisfied with life? Dissatisfaction shows that you do not understand the deep meaning of serving. If the young man does not serve his beloved and if the maiden does not serve her beloved, love cannot manifest between them. Love without serving is not true love. The first quality of love is giving. You cannot call love something that gives nothing of itself. You cannot call love something that does not appreciate the manifestations of the soul. Love and affection are eternal principles of Being. Love comes from God and brings His life to all beings: to grow and develop, to rejoice and be merry. Everyone expects this life, but it cannot manifest without Love and without gratitude. Gratitude brings immortality, while ingratitude brings death. It is not required much from man to be immortal. As long as he is always content and grateful, he has already acquired immortality. Someone has robbed you: be grateful that he has robbed you; someone has said bad words about you - be grateful; you have fallen ill - be grateful. These are shadows of life through which you will inevitably pass. If the weather is rainy or windy - be grateful; whether you have new clothes or not - be grateful. Be grateful for everything: for the small and for the great good. Someone has called you an animal - be grateful again. There is something bad in the word animal. The bad thing lies in its ingratitude. Animals appear meek, resigned to their situation, but in fact they are extremely dissatisfied and ungrateful. Try approaching an animal when it is eating. It will immediately express that it is dissatisfied with you - it does not want to be disturbed. Animals observe this rule towards each other, being careful not to disturb each other when they eat. If an ox approaches another ox, the first one will immediately point its horns at it and say, "Can you not see that I am eating? Why are you disturbing me?" Even to this day the animals have not yet understood the life they carry within them, but neither have humans fully understood it. People often stumble by themselves. Everyone wants to know what others think of him. If he is religious, he wants to know what his relatives think, whether he loves Christ and what his love is. If he is secular, he wants to know whether his acquaintances think of him as a scholar, a great man. If you want to know what your love is, see what the animals have to say about you. A dog comes around you, wagging its tail. It is hungry, it wants you to give it some bread. If you look at it and give nothing, it already has a certain opinion of your love. It says: "This person has no heart, he does not understand my situation." But if you give the dog some bread, it understands that you have love. The more bread you give, the greater your love is. Young maidens and lads write letters in which they pour out their love. What kind of love is that which is written in black ink? True love should be written in rays of light, not in black ink. This is how love letters will be written in the future. When you open a love letter, you have to clothe yourself with rays of light and shine. Moreover, if the letter mentions apples and pears, you will receive them in reality. Whatever is mentioned in the letter, you will have it in front of you. It is not a matter of having whole baskets of apples and pears. You may have one apple, but it should correspond to reality. People still wonder if they can see God and Christ. It depends on them. When they take ingratitude out of themselves and bring gratitude into their hearts, they will see both God and Christ. How? In the manifestations of Love. It is said that God is Love. Therefore open your heart wide - let the Divine warmth enter into it, so that to experience the Divine joy and gladness. Open your mind wide - let the Divine light enter into it, so that to make your way straight. Open your soul wide - let the Divine power enter into it, so that to make you courageous and resolute. Warmth, light, and strength - this is the God you seek. He lives in our minds, hearts and souls. Knowing this, look with reverence at your soul as the dwelling place of God; look at your mind as a sacred altar, and at your heart as a sacred chamber. Be grateful for the mind, the heart and the soul that have been given to you. And be grateful for the poverty and the diseases that have also been given to you. Diseases, sufferings, poverty are the manifestations of God who takes you in His arms and puts your love to test. You are angry, you are discontented, because you do not know that through them you are being shown a new path to Love. You will be grateful for everything: if you are sick, you will be grateful; if you are healthy, you will be grateful again; when you are dying, you will be grateful; and when you are born, you will be grateful again. Nowadays, when someone is born, everyone is grateful; when someone dies, everyone mourns. When death comes, say, ‘I am grateful that the time has come to die.’ Is there anything scary about death? If you die to get out of prison, you gain your freedom. It is more scary when you are born in prison. Be grateful in either case. A hero is one who is grateful both when he dies and when he is born. Man is tested both through death and through life. Unless he passes through both states, he cannot understand Love and Affection. When the lad and the maiden fall in love, they have to give something of themselves, to give up something, to learn to serve each other. If a man thinks only of himself, he forgets that he has to serve others. If God serves all beings, then man must also follow His example. Christ says: “My Father is working, and I will work.” People want to become masters without having served others. This is impossible. Only the one, who has learned to serve, can be a master. Nowadays, people are learning to serve. Even the greatest Master Who created the world serves, let alone the one who has created nothing. That is why every man must desire within to become a servant, to serve Love. Work is service, yet many are not satisfied with their work. They say, "This work does not suit us, it is not for us." Socrates was a sweeper in Athens. When he was asked why he was sweeping, he replied, ‘I am learning to work so that I can sweep away everything impure from myself.’ He wanted to show that one can be grateful for everything. At the same time, he proved that a man can be grateful even with a bad woman, so he married Xanthippe, who was known for her bad character. Whatever she did to him, he was always grateful. She would grab him by the hair, shake his head, but he would calmly reply, ‘Thank you for shaking my head so that I can think better.’ When she patted him on the back, he would say, ‘Thank you for shaking the dust off my clothes.’ Through Xanthippa he developed a great philosophy of life and said to himself, ‘Thanks to Xanthippa I have become a philosopher.’ Ingratitude must be turned into gratitude. If one cannot do that, one cannot achieve anything else. There is no greater thing in life than to be grateful. Gratitude opens the way to Love. Do you think that the one who loves you can do you harm? Evil is due to ingratitude. It is said of the grateful and the loving man that no eye has seen and no ear has heard what God has prepared for them. People nowadays talk about love, they love each other, but in spite of that they constantly quarrel. Why? Because they do not love God in man, but love themselves. Someone loves a person and immediately enters into him. As soon as he enters into him, he first loves himself in his beloved and begins to praise and admire him. In fact, he loves himself. When he comes out of him, he already sees his faults and wonders how he loved him. As long as the beloved ones enter into each other, they love each other, but they begin to impose on each other who is to serve whom. If one backs down and accepts to become a servant, they live somewhat well, in agreement. However, if no one backs down, they go out and start a wasr between them. Therefore, when you meet a man, get to love the God in him, not the man, and say, "Lord, I am ready to serve You because You have brought life into me. Then you will hear the still small voice of the Lord, "Enter into the Kingdom of love and be blessed." This means that God rejoices in man, and man rejoices and has inner peace. People nowadays fall in love and fall out of love. Why does this happen? Because every man enters into his beloved alone, without God. Therefore I say, when you get to love someone, enter into him together with the Lord, do not enter alone. When someone gets to love you, he must also enter into you together with the Lord. Whoever enters into man alone, without the Lord, does not bring Love. If you enter a house without love, you bring misery to that house. The world that is being created now is a world of Love. If you enter this world, Love must be your companion. Whatever you think, whatever you feel, everything must be dictated by Love. Whatever you do, everything must be written by the hand of Love. This may seem strange to you - it means nothing. Strange things are pleasant. If someone sings a song to you and you do not want to hear it a second time, it shows that it was not sung with love. If they sing it to you with love, you will want to hear it a second and a third time. If a song does not grow like the tree and ripen like the fruit, it is not true, i.e. it does not bring Love. If a thought does not grow and ripen, it is not a right thought. The right thought is capital on which man can always rely. If someone says that he is old and cannot achieve anything, he is not thinking right. The right thought implies eternal life. Man lives forever by taking off his old garment and putting on a new one. It is said in Scripture: “And Abraham was gathered to his fathers.” It does not say that Abraham grew old and went back to the old people. Christ says, ‘Unless you become like little children, you cannot enter the Kingdom of God.’ So in the other world there is no talk of old age. There are wise men there, not old men. This verse can be translated in this sense: if gratitude does not enter your heart, you cannot enter the Kingdom of God. Gratitude leads to love. Without gratitude you cannot find the way to Love. Learn to be grateful for everything. When you are insulted and when you are praised, be equally grateful. It is not a matter of being grateful mechanically, but consciously, turning bitterness into sweetness. Every man is at the front, his superior orders him and he has to obey. How long will this obedience continue? – Until one comes to that inner discipline within himself, until he gains complete self-control to become the master of himself. People nowadays suffer because they do not understand what is going on in the world. They understand it externally, but they have not yet understood it internally. The world is well ordered externally. The external order is good: there are houses, factories, workshops, railways, steamships, aeroplanes everywhere. There are vehicles everywhere. Externally, life is made easier, but it is time now to put order internally, to put the inner life of people in order. The Divine brings inner order in all people, in all homes, societies and nations. Inner order will make people joyful and cheerful. Every face will be smiling. And then however much bread you put on the table, you will not apologize that it is little, but you will be grateful for it too. As much fruit as you put on the table, you will also be grateful for it; you will not say that someone gave you only one cherry, but you will also be grateful for it. If you have only one apple, be grateful for that too. If you are not grateful for the small thing, it will also be taken away from you. A saint left for Heaven to meet the Lord, to give Him an account of his deeds. On his way, he met a rich man who asked where he was going. - “To the Lord.” - “Please tell Him that I am fed up with wealth, I want to get rid of it. If He does not set me free, I will go down to the bottom of hell and perish.” Further on, the saint saw a naked man buried in the sand. ’What are you doing here?" he asked the man. - "What am I doing? I am lying and lamenting my situation. I have had enough of this poverty. You are a holy man; please tell the Lord to deliver me from this poverty and this nakedness." The holy man went to the Lord, finished his business, and on his way back went the same way again. First he saw the poor man, and then the rich man. He said to the poor man, "God counsels you to be grateful for the poverty and nakedness in which you find yourself. Only through gratitude will you be free from poverty.” ‘That is impossible!’ replied the poor man. - ‘If you cannot be grateful for poverty, it will never leave you.’ Then the holy man passed by the rich man and said to him, ‘To be free from wealth, God advises you to grumble, to show dissatisfaction at being rich.’ - ‘That is impossible!’ replied the rich man. - ‘If it is impossible, you will carry your wealth and will moan under its weight.’ So, the one who is grateful for all that is given to him is rich. The one who cannot be grateful and constantly moans, is poor. Gratitude rests on three things: kindness, prudence, and justice. Where there is goodness, prudence and justice, there is Love. Where goodness, prudence and justice are absent, there is no love. The human, temporary order of things is there. Therefore it is said in Scripture, "Always be grateful." You will say that the time has not come for the Divine order yet. Not only has it come, but most people are late, they have to step up their pace. Many people ask what to believe in, which creed is the most right one. That is not the point. Everyone should ask himself whether he is grateful for all that he has been given. If all people are grateful for what God has given them, they will understand each other. Their creed is right, they believe in the same God. If people are constantly grateful, many things will be given to them and many secrets will be revealed to them. But if they hold only an ingratitude in their heart, they trip themselves up. Be grateful for everything, so that you may be given what your soul needs. Whether the hairs fall from your head or they do not fall, be grateful either way. Every hair is a law. When you connect with these laws, you must apply them. If you do not apply them, nothing is achieved. Someone takes a hair from his beloved, enjoys it, keeps it as a memento. When he is disappointed with them, he throws the hair away. In order to avoid disappointment, he has to apply the law which is related to the hair. Put kindness, prudence, and justice in your soul in order to apply God's laws. God's hairs are the laws of Being, they are the rays of the Sun, for which you must constantly be grateful. Every ray must be used wisely. There are special rays of God's Love that nourish and develop the mind. There are special rays of God's Love that nourish the heart and make it powerful. There are special rays of God's Love that nourish the soul. Since today is Friday - the day of Love - I wish that the rays of God's Love nourish your mind, heart and soul not only for one day, but for eternity. I wish that you are constantly grateful for these rays. Serve the Lord with love, serve Him with wisdom, serve Him with truth, so that you may have life, light and freedom within you. 22nd talk given by the Master on August 28, 1942, 5:00 pm, Sofia - Izgrev Преведено от Николай Николаев

STABLE CONNECTIONS Reflection If modern people were asked whether they were satisfied with life, what would they answer? All people want to be healthy, cheerful, and beautiful, to be well dressed and to have nice homes. Do you think that if you had these things, your life would be good? Many people do not think about this topic; they want to have everything and nothing else interests them. What then about the little beetles and crickets that hide in their holes and are content with that? What about the trees that stay buried in the ground for years? Not only that, but one day a man comes along, swings his axe, and cuts them down one by one. After all that, you put them in the fire to burn. You will say that this is God's work. Burning trees, picking flowers—that is not God's work. Does God allow discontent, doubt, and suspicion? Does He make people angry, unwilling to work and study? Few people give an account of their lives and actions, and they constantly think that if they are not well in this world, they will be well at least in the other world. They imagine the other world to be like this one. The old Bulgarians had a special idea of that world. They thought that when one of their relatives went to the other world, all their acquaintances from Earth would meet them there. Therefore, when one of their relatives, a peasant or a citizen, died, all their acquaintances who had deceased relatives would line up at the deceased's place to send many greetings to their relatives. They did not think about how that deceased person would convey their greetings. First if all, the dead person does not know where hell or heaven is located, he does not know the language of the other world, yet they believe that he will bring greetings from Earth. Just as on Earth one must walk, see, hear, understand, think, and feel, so in the other world one must possess these faculties. If a person cannot walk, in which world will he be? If he does not see, hear, think, and feel, in which world is he? You will say that these things are trifles. They are not trifles. Moreover, you should know that God is also concerned with trifles. What a person never thinks about, God thinks about it. Most people think that money drives life. Is that really true? Can money buy life? Not even millions can buy life. When death comes, money is powerless. Food, water, air, and light give more to man than money. They lift him up, renew him, and rejuvenate him. This cannot be achieved with money. The value of money depends on the light. If there is no light, money is not visible. If it is not visible, it has no value. However, when the light comes, money becomes visible; when it is visible, it becomes valuable. What is valuable is that which makes a person happy internally and externally. You will say that one cannot do without money. I agree: one cannot do without money, one cannot do without bread, but what is the thing that one cannot do without even for a moment? Can one do without air, without light, without water? If there is no light, one cannot move freely. What if he is slightly impaired visually or if he cannot see at all? Some people think that eyes are needed only for the Earth, and not for the other world. But one needs to see there too. What kind of eyes he will use is a different matter. It is important that in the other world one also needs light to see where he is going. When one goes to the other world, the first thing is to see how one moves—in a straight line or in a curved line. While he is on Earth, a person strives to walk in a straight line. However, another force makes him meander, move in a curved line. Moreover, it is important how a person steps. It is correct to step first on the toes, and then on the heel. Whoever does not observe this law steps first on the heel, then on the toes. Thus, he makes a great noise, shaking the floor on which he steps, and expends a great deal of energy. Nature does not like people who make a lot of noise around them and spend their energy in vain. Life is not all about storms, nor all about thunder. If it is only about thunder, people will get scared and hide away in mouse holes. Many people are afraid of thunder, they burn candles, they pray, not suspecting that thunder has a rejuvenating effect. When Nature cries and gets angry, that is when she renews things. The rain is Nature's weeping, and the storms and thunder are Nature's anger. Why does Nature cry? Because her children do not understand her. When she gets angry and sees that they do not understand her again, she cries a little and moves away from them, saying, "I will visit you later." But the issues are not resolved with shouting, nor with discontent, nor with doubt and suspicion, nor with weeping. Some years ago, the newspapers wrote about an interesting case that happened at the market in Sofia. A peasant from a nearby village brought a vat of pure, fresh cow butter to sell. Two well-dressed citizens approached him and asked him how much he wanted for the butter. “Such-and-such,” said the peasant. They gave him 50 leva and added: "There are three of us in this deal. The third one is the village priest. He is a good man, he will pay the rest of the money. Here, take this envelope on which the address of the priest is written, and you will get your money." They put 50 leva in the envelope for the priest and wrote a letter to him, asking him to welcome the villager and read him a prayer because he was a little mentally disturbed. When the priest was given the letter, he read it, took the money, and brought the peasant to the church to read a prayer to him. He put the epitrachelion on the villager’s head and began to read. The peasant bowed, knelt down, and listened to what the priest was chanting on. The prayer went on for 15 or 20 minutes, until finally the peasant called from under the epitrachelion, "Father, this is not getting resolved with just reading." Hearing that the peasant was saying odd things, the priest continued to read more prayers. The peasant spoke again, "Father, prayers do not help here; you must cough up the cash." Some people want to resolve important issues with prayers. What happens then? They read prayers one after another, but in the end the issues remain unresolved. Life needs good and reasonable people. There is no reason to read a prayer for 50 or a hundred leva. That is a temptation. If there was no money in the letter, the priest would not read prayers and would not make a fool of himself. Many people like the priest read prayers to a person, hoping their work goes well. For example, someone buys a lottery ticket and, if he is not a believer, he relies on luck to win something; if he is a believer, he prays to God to win, promising that he will give some part of the prize to the poor. Years ago, an acquaintance came to me asking me to tell him which ticket would win at least 500,000 leva. If he won, he promised, he would donate 50 thousand leva to the Brotherhood. I told him that if the Brotherhood needed money, they would take that winning ticket, they would not count on him. "But, I am a poor man,” he said, “just trying to improve my situation." "You are poor, but today you are better off than if you got rich. Wealth will blind you and you will abandon your service to God." People these days are strange. They have great riches, but they do not value them. The brain, the heart, the body, which have been given to them, cannot be bought with any money. They are worth billions. After all this, somebody says, "What is man worth? He was made of dust, to dust he will return." This is not correct. You do not know what kind of dust man is made of; you do not know what elements are in that dust and how they are combined. Man is expensive. His organism is complex. Some people are dissatisfied, they want to be beautiful. It is good for man to be beautiful, but beauty is dangerous. Only the smart, the kind, the loving one can be beautiful. The one who learns, the one who loves the Truth, only he can be beautiful. If one does not have these qualities, he cannot be beautiful. It is interesting that one is unhappy with ugliness but does its job. He loves Truth and Love but does not act according to their laws. Everyone wants to be loved, and yet when he finds someone to love him, he abuses them. Love is light. What do you take from it? You open yourself to the light and let it freely enter inside you. Whatever it gives you, you are satisfied with it. Should you then ask the one who loves you to give you everything he has? Intelligent beings enter inside you through the bright rays of the sun, and they bring you something valuable. Each being is represented by a special color—blue, red, yellow, green, orange, and so on. Accept their colors and be grateful for them. Do not expect angels to come and bring you the blessings of life. Whatever they bring you, some small or great blessing, be content with it. Angels are creatures of thought. They cannot stay with you for hours and keep you busy. They pass by you as the light does. They move at the speed of light, no one can reach them, nor can they stop for simple conversations. Whoever has bright and lofty thoughts can follow the angels with his thought. Have any of you had the experience of having sent a bright thought into the angelic world, which came back after a while? Many thoughts, feelings, and actions of people cripple them. Whoever wants to get rid of them, let them look in the mirror. Everything is written on the face. Take the brush like artists and erase everything that hinders you. Then draw such lines that will convey the beauty and love that your soul aspires to. The true man is an artist, a sculptor, a musician. He works on himself to recreate that original image, of which it is said in Genesis, "And God made man in His own image." Why do humans have eyes? So as to express the sublime thought of God. Through them he is to perceive that thought and learn from it. Whoever cannot perceive this thought is constantly encountering bitter occasions and getting discouraged. Both bitter and sweet things are in their right place. Nature also makes use of them. When she heals a person, she gives them bitter pills. Bitterness sets things right. If someone cannot swallow the bitter pill directly, Nature covers it with something sweet on top. This is what doctors do with children. There are two kinds of life: one is sweet outside, bitter inside; the other is sweet inside, bitter outside. Whether it is bitter on the outside or the inside, bitterness is inevitable. Life on Earth is sweet on the outside, bitter on the inside. The birth of a child represents the sweet shell of life. The death of man represents the inner bitterness of life. There is a life that is sweet both outside and inside. This is the Divine life in which Love reigns. The first condition is light. Whoever lives in light, their life is sweet both externally and internally. Man is made of light. Why not live in his own environment? Light leads to good, darkness to evil. What came first in the world: good or evil? Good is the manifested reality of things, and evil is the shadow of that reality. Therefore, good has come earlier. Good represents the branches of the tree, and evil represents the roots. They suck the nutrient juices from the ground and send them into the stem and branches. The sweet, delicious fruits are born on the branches. There is such a relationship between good and evil, as there is between the roots and branches of a tree. They help each other. People often associate bad deeds with evil. In fact, they are not identical. Evil enters people's bad deeds and crimes to manifest them outwardly, but it differs from them. Good also enters people’s bad deeds to correct them, but it is only a condition for them. Evil is the oxygen of bad deeds and mistakes; it amplifies their manifestations. When good enters among them, the combustion ceases. It opposes evil as nitrogen regulates the violent action of oxygen in the air, and man can breathe freely. What is better: to live with fire or without fire? Fire itself burns, scorches, and ruins, but its results are good. One thing is required of man—to think straight. Put your mind to work and move forward. You will say that you want to see God. Whoever has bright thoughts, feelings, and deeds can always see Him. Life is built on the Good. So, the Good is the foundation of life. God sees the Good that is being done and is constantly writing. Man's future life is determined by what is written in His book. Man's credit is determined by what is written. If nothing is written in the book, or if there is no light in what is written, the man's credit is taken away. There may be very little written, but there is light in it. It is this light that defines man's life. You will know a little, but you will apply it well and correctly. What will you do if you see two ants fighting over a crumb? One says that it saw the crumb first, and the other says the same. You are the judge. How will you settle the dispute? Which of the two ants will you give the right to? The one who saw the crumb first? No, the judge's pockets must be full of crumbs, and wherever he finds some shortage he must give. Should men quarrel over a crumb, and accuse God of unjust distribution of goods? Which man is good? Can you call that man good, if after he visits your cattle begin to die one after another? Is that a good man if after his coming to your home the fruit trees begin to wither? This man has something egoistic in him. He is not sincere to the hosts whose house he enters. In this respect, he is like that maiden who gives the appearance of not wanting to marry, while at the same time she is secretly looking at the young man she is interested in. What will this young man give her if he is not useful to himself? Whoever is not useful to himself cannot be useful to others. To be useful to oneself and to one's neighbor, that means to be content with life. If he is content with life, he is ready to serve God. God first set the example of service. He served people, raised them up to grow, and thus taught them to serve too. Nevertheless, when a person is made to serve, they are dissatisfied, and wish to be treated as the master. A person's unwillingness to serve is the cause of his suffering. He wants to be happy, to be rich, to enjoy the abundance of life, but to have others work for him. The sheep has made its wool, others have washed, spun, and woven it, but a person puts on the finished garments and walks before others. You see someone wearing new clothes, a silk shirt, a white tie, with silver or gold buttons— walking along, without looking at anyone. Why is he wearing a tie? The tie has some significance which the person may not know what it is. The ring on the hand of the young maiden or the young lad also has some significance. It is a symbol of bonding. It is good for a person to understand the meaning of things as symbols that hide deeper significance. What is more important for a man: to be well dressed or to be healthy? Health is above all. Man's health depends on the light of Divine thought. Where there is light, there are goods; as soon as the light disappears, the goods also disappear. Where there is warmth, there is life; as soon as the warmth disappears, death comes. Where there is strength, there is health; when the strength disappears, sickness comes. When a person is healthy, he enjoys all the benefits of life. Light, warmth, and strength are means, ways through which the sublime beings manifest themselves and send gifts to men. They give money to one person and a grain of wheat to another. The wise man rejoices at the grain of wheat more than the money. The grain of wheat multiplies and feeds the whole world. If there is wheat, money can buy as much as you want; if there is no wheat, money is worth nothing. Wheat is eaten, but money is not eaten. Money gives nothing of itself, but wheat gives everything, that is why it has become so small. The wheat knows where its strength is. If you cultivate it, you can become a rich man within ten years. It is a small grain of wheat, but it feeds the whole world. Every bright thought, every bright feeling, and every bright deed are like small grains of wheat. They are small but all-powerful. They bring good to the whole world. When you go to the other world, you will be asked, ‘Are you carrying at least one of the fruits of your mind, heart, and will?’ Even the smallest fruits are valued there. If you bring them big things, they will not pay attention to them: big things are not important to them. Someone will say that he wants to become a big, great man. Which man is great? The one who has great opportunities to do good. It is predefined how great a man can be. Man grows gradually as a child, then he comes to a certain age and the growth stops; then he gets smaller again. So, man starts with being small; in the middle of his life he is big, he has grown; and finally he gets small again. These are phases of the same life. In what lies the value of life? In the ability to attract good things to oneself. This life is valuable and useful. Which mind is useful? The one that attracts Divine thoughts. Which heart is useful? The one that attracts Divine feelings. Which will is useful? The one that attracts Divine actions. If there is no attraction in life, man can achieve nothing, nor can he do anything useful. Do what rational beings do. You always want to be cheerful. This is not necessary. Cheerfulness implies a clear sky, a clear horizon. If you are cheerful and joyful every day, the sky will always be bright, clear, and there will be drought. If you are sorrowful every day, the sky will always be cloudy, and it will rain all the time. One should know when his sky should be clear and when it should be cloudy. Strive for bright thoughts, feelings, and actions so that you yourself may be satisfied with your life. Do not expect people to like you and be pleased with you. You must be satisfied with yourself. Only the one who is satisfied with himself carries music in his soul. He is satisfied with his singing; he understands which tones are pure and which are not. As long as he understands both his own and others' mistakes, he is a true musician. For him not only singing is music, but also thinking, feeling, and speaking are music. Strive to see music everywhere and apply it. Unless you turn your life into music, you cannot get in touch with Nature and benefit directly from her blessings. Before man can connect with Nature, he must have connected with his Creator, he must know Him. A person may live for decades on Earth and yet not know Him. One may state as an excuse that one has not seen Him. This is impossible. How can you not know the air and light in which you are immersed? God is Spirit, God is light. Therefore, He is everywhere and in everything, you cannot do anything but know Him. Scientists look for Him in the sky, in the stars, in great things. They do not suspect that He is hiding in small, microscopic things. You will find Him in great things as well as in small ones—you must know how to search. Some seek Him in the shadows of things, but He is also not there. He is in real things, not in their shadows. Reality is what helps to build your mind, your heart, and your soul. Reality is what expands your mind, heart, and soul. Reality is what makes a person content and happy. So, to be content, always accept Divine thoughts with good disposition. They are the essential thing in human life, because they are eternal. Avoid temporary things and strive for the eternal ones. For example, money is temporary, light is eternal. Man needs mainly bread, water, air, and light, not money. Money comes last, it is created as a result of natural activities. Money is the servant of eternal things. Therefore, pay no attention to money as a goal in human life. Man also needs Love. If you have Love, money will follow naturally. The one who has no money, has little Love. The one who has love will always find a Napoleon coin in his pocket. Love brings life, and life is connected to gold. That is why gold is precious. Strive for the Divine life, that it may pass through you and leave you the precious things it carries within it. Work on yourself to acquire the qualities of gold. The joy of God is manifested light. The delight of the human soul is also manifested light. “God delights, and the human soul rejoices,” as it is said in the Scriptures. This is life eternal, that I may know Thee, the only true God and Christ, whom Thou hast sent. —21st lecture given by the Master on August 26, 1942, 5:00 a.m., Sofia - Izgrev Преведена от Николай Николов Редактирана от Ненси Кромптон Прегледана от Невенка Димитрова

The Secret Chamber Reflection What is the difference between the healthy and the sick, between the wise and the foolish, between the strong and the weak? There is something that distinguishes them. What is the distinguishing quality of a capable and gifted student? He studies well and never repeats a grade. It is not enough for a student to progress from one grade to another and, upon finishing school, to forget everything. What kind of student is he who acquires knowledge throughout the year and forgets it during the vacation? What kind of student is he who has forgotten the knowledge and experiences he acquired in his past existences? It is as if a person carries in his mind the thought that he once was well educated or rich. Thought alone does not feed a person. His striving towards getting rich has a definite place in the brain, above the temples. The more a person strives towards getting rich, the more this center develops. Often people get cancer because of their great greed for money and wealth. The cells in their limbs become individualized, grow, become independent, and do not listen to their master. When they get sick, they turn to doctors for help. The doctors perform surgeries, cut out the cancer, remove the tumor, but after that the patient still departs to the other world. Why? The cells do not want to obey their master. A man needs several essential things: eyes, ears, nose, mouth, hands, and feet, through which he enters into communication with the external world. In order to achieve this, he must be in a special state. Otherwise, he will look, listen, smell, speak, eat, and move, but mechanically. It is time already to free oneself from mechanical life. Mechanical life implies movement by inertia, in which consciousness does not participate. Anger and anxiety over losing something valuable create in a man a state of inertia, and once he succumbs to this state, it is difficult to return to his original position. Having lost something valuable, a man loses his self-control and surrenders to worry and anxiety. If he becomes angry, he loses his inner peace, which he cannot restore for a long time. Anger is useful as energy when it is under the influence of the mind, the heart, and the will. If they cannot regulate it, anger acts destructively. It is a flood that causes great damage. Whatever it encounters on its way, it carries it along with itself. If this flood can be controlled, it does useful work—watering gardens, trees, flowers. One thing is required of a human being: to be brave and resolute in doing good. Whether angry, or calm and peaceful, one must be brave. In the first case, one must be brave enough to control one’s anger, while in the second, brave enough to demonstrate goodness. When things go well for a person, he is brave. When he encounters contradictions along his way, he becomes frightened and retreats. Why does he retreat? God is present in contradictions too. Through them He tests people. Why should they not be brave and solve the problem hidden within the contradiction, but retreat instead? Fear implies some weakness. As soon as a person notices any fear within himself, he must work to deal with it and overcome it. If he does not free himself from fear, he resorts to lying—either white or black lies. Children usually lie. When they have done something wrong that leads to punishment, they resort to lying to avoid being punished. The lives of many people are built upon the white lie. When they cannot keep their promise, they resort to the white lie. When they become frightened, they again use the white lie. When they want to achieve something prematurely, again the white lie comes to the surface. Why must a lad tell a maiden that he is dying for her? Will he actually die for her? He will not. Moreover, has he ever died before, to know what death is? Then why speak words that will not come true? Avoid lies, whether white or black. The Japanese have a custom: at the eve of a New Year they visit everyone they are indebted to and pay off their debts. The New Year must find them without debts. A young man, the son of a wealthy family, had large debts that he needed to repay. He went to one of his creditors—a well-known banker—to settle his debt and said to the banker: “I owe you a large sum, but since I cannot repay it, according to tradition I will perform hara-kiri, I will commit suicide in front of you. I cannot bear the shame of owing such a large amount.” The banker became worried and told the young man: “Don’t commit hara-kiri, I am ready to forgive your entire debt. Do not kill yourself.” Upon hearing these words, the young man thanked him and started to leave. “Wait, stay for a cup of coffee” added the banker. “I can’t, I’m in a hurry: I still need to go to several other places to commit hara-kiri.” The Japanese man goes around all his bankers to perform hara-kiri. People often use a folk custom in order to arrange their personal affairs. They apply again the white lie. Some use it out of fear, while others use it out of weakness. The strong one frightens the weak one. The first advances, the second retreats. If you realize you are strong, advance; if you realize you are weak, retreat. In other words, if you are strong, solve your task yourself; if you are weak, do not make mistakes that are hard to resolve, but let others solve your task. Whoever cannot solve their task themselves, let them seek help from one, two, or three people, until finally it is resolved properly. One of the great tasks given for resolution is the task of serving God. It is as easy as it is difficult. Few have resolved it correctly. A person can serve God both with love and without love, but the results are different. Thus, he serves both good and evil, regarding them as forces which mutually assist each other. A person is strong only to the extent that he gives conditions for the good and the love within him to manifest. If he wishes to preserve his strength, he must never stop doing good. Never delay the time for doing good. Once you have decided to do good, do not delay. Even if robbers are chasing you and guards are pursuing you, you can still turn aside and do a small, good deed. Imagine that someone is chasing you to kill you. At that moment you see on your path a dying horse, fallen from extreme exhaustion, weakness, and thirst. If you can stop for a moment, find water, and give it to the dying horse, you are ready at any moment to do good; you love goodness and are connected with it. Do good with love and do not be afraid. The rich man fears doing good lest he becomes poor. There is no case in life where someone has done good and become poor. It is impossible to do good without love. Anything done without love is evil. Conversely: anything done with love is good. Whoever finds himself in the realm of evil, must strive to commit the least evil. Upon entering the realm of Good and Love, one must strive to accomplish the greatest good. What is the greatest good a person can do? If one can give a piece of bread and a glass of water to a dying person and support them, that is the greatest good at that moment. This dying person has spent forty days fasting; if he fasts one more day, he will certainly die. If you give him a little bread and water at that moment, you have done the greatest good for him. You might say that money is important, that without money one cannot live. Before death, money is worth nothing. In this case, bread and water are preferable. For the discouraged, a kind word is worth more than any money. For the discouraged, the sick, the dying, a good and compassionate person is a rope by which they are saved. He transmits something of himself to them. A person cannot transmit something of themselves to others if they do not carry it in their mind, in their heart, and in their soul. For example, a believer can pass on some of their faith to others, without even speaking of it. However, a nonbeliever, no matter how much they preach about faith, will achieve nothing. Their words will pass and go past people’s ears, without touching them. Faith occupies a special place in the human head. It is enough to look at a person’s head to recognize whether they are a believer or not. Faith has different manifestations. It is not the same whether a person believes in God, in his neighbor, or in himself. Whatever and whomever a person believes in, this is imprinted on his face. It is said in Scripture: “I have drawn you with My love.” This means that Love has threads with which it draws or binds a person. The power of Love determines also the strength of human faith. If Love is manifested in its fullness, then faith is steadfast and uninterrupted. It acts both in calm and in difficult times; it accompanies a person everywhere—both in this world and in the other world. With faith and love, a person is well received both in this world and in the other world. He has good friends everywhere, who will meet him with joy. Without faith and without love, he feels lonely everywhere, like a stranger away from his homeland. He has eyes and does not see, he has ears and does not hear; he carries within himself only the awareness that he is alone, abandoned by everyone. Knowing this, do not ask why you must love. You will love people on Earth in order to see the external world. You will love the intelligent beings in the invisible world in order to see through them the world in which they live. When talking about love between people, they ask themselves whether one can love a bad person. Can a good and a bad person be friends? How can the bad person be corrected? By placing him between two good people. Unless he is placed among good people, he can never improve. If you look at the (Bulgarian) letter "zh" (Ж), you will see that it represents nothing else but a friendship between two bad and one good, righteous person. Thus the strength of the righteous or the good person is tested. This means that bad people oppress the good one. How will he free himself from them? By loving them. They have turned their backs to him and look outward, toward the external world. Therefore, Christ says to love your enemy. The letter "zh" (Ж) also shows the position of a bad person between two good people. In one case the straight line in the letter "zh" (Ж) shows the position of the good person between two bad ones. In another case, the straight line shows the position of the bad person between two good people. Thus, they help and influence each other. Knowing this, do not let bad people join together. Place good people among them, to reduce the power of evil. Therefore, do not reconcile evil with good, but through good the power of evil should be weakened. If this is achieved, good and evil will become parallel and will fulfil God’s will. Don’t think that a good person can do everything he desires all by himself. Can he give life to the dead? Can he make people rich and happy? The task of the good one is to fulfill his duties—nothing more. If he does that, he has fulfilled his purpose—to soften the blows of evil. Can you love another’s child as much as its mother and father love it? You may say, “I want to help him, to lift him up.” If you want to help him, you must love him more than his parents do. If you love him as much as they do, you are not needed. Moreover, you must love his parents as well. If you don’t love them, your love is selfish. This is how you love a hen too: you feed her, care for her, so you can take her eggs. It is difficult nowadays for a person to show completely selfless love. If this is impossible, he must at least be fair. To be fair, good, and loving, a person must possess a high level of awareness, he must have risen above the ordinary conditions of life. Beware of the common consciousness that creates anxieties, worries, and contradictions. While living in this consciousness, a person often falls into delusions. In a poor American village they appointed a preacher, about whom it immediately became known that his hair was combed straight back, with a parting in the middle. The villagers did not like to comb their hair this way and immediately spoke out against him. They said they did not want such a preacher. Whilst they were preparing their protest in writing, the preacher had already arrived in the village. What was their surprise when they saw that his head was completely bald. He had no hair at all, and they had been deceived, yielding to false rumors. What is wrong if someone combs his hair straight back with a parting? It is better to have a parting than no parting at all. Just as hair is combed straight back with a parting, so thoughts must have a parting. How do they paint Christ; how did He comb His hair, with a parting or not? The letter “zh” (Ж) represents a man’s hair combed with a parting. On the left side of the head is evil; on the right, good; and in the middle, the person himself, who benefits from the forces of good and evil. And so, remember that a good, righteous person is situated between two bad people, as if in prison. What should he do? He should pray. This is how good people prayed when Apostle Peter was put in prison. In answer to their prayer, an Angel came down from heaven, pushed open the prison door and went in to Peter. He touched the chains and they fell from his feet. Then he said to Him: “Go out and never return to prison again.” Is this fair? For the weak it is fair: once someone comes from outside to free him, he must not return to prison. Whoever is under the influence of evil is in its prison; whoever is under the influence of good is in the prison of good. Which of the two prisons is better? In the prison of evil they will beat you several times a day, and in the prison of good they will feed you regularly with clean, healthy food, will take you for walks, and in the evening will bring you back to prison, to rest. As they do not understand life, many people worry about little things. The mother worries about her children and her husband, the man worries about his wife, the children worry about their parents. Scholars worry that someday the Sun might stop shining and that life will cease. This is strange! Why would you fear that the Sun will go out? In order for it to shine and burn, someone has lit it. The One who lit it takes care of it; He knows why He lit it. He who lit it is higher than the Sun. This is God, Who is Light that never goes out or darkens. Knowing this, strive to deal with worry. “How can we not worry when we are hungry, when we haven’t eaten for several days?” What should a hungry and tired traveler do? Imagine that a traveler passes through a village: he has fasted three or four days, he has no bread, no money in his pocket. If he is reasonable, he will easily deal with his situation. There are two ways to do this: external and internal. If he works externally, he will enter someone’s home to rest. He will begin to tell something from his life, thereby making the host well-disposed to give him something to eat as well. If he works internally, he will seek some good trait in the character of the hosts, through which he will open their hearts. He must penetrate the secret little chamber of their souls, where God lives, and connect with them. If he thinks well of them, they will surely welcome him kindly and feed him. If he thinks ill of them, he will provoke evil and instead of receiving him well, they will rob him. In every person lives both good and evil—it depends on you which one you will awaken in him. Good and evil must be tested in order to know which one is stronger in you. If evil is stronger, you will work on the good, at least to balance them. In the beginning the good is weak, and the evil strong; in the end evil is weak, and good is strong. Love, however, is equally strong both in the beginning and in the end. The more good increases, the greater the conditions for the manifestation of Love. If good does not start with its weak side and gradually strengthen, Love will never manifest itself. One of the main laws of Love is that it gives everything and takes everything. This does not mean that you should desire the whole world to be yours, nor should you wish for all blessings to be yours. Give your loved ones the opportunity to share in your blessings, so they may become your friends. Give your love to your loved ones, so you may be loved and respected by them. If you do not give your loved ones the opportunity to share in your knowledge, in your goodness, in the blessings and love you have, you can achieve nothing. If you are a singer, do not sing only for yourself, but sing for the sick, for the discouraged, and for the despairing. Sing them a song, say to them a sweet, encouraging word. Say to the sick and to the discouraged: “As surely as the Sun rises, so too will your affairs be set right.” Today everyone is asking who will win the current war [World War II]. To ask such a question means to ask who will win: the river or the rock? The river must follow its path, to flow into the sea. The rock may deflect the water, but only to direct it where it is needed. If it meets no obstacles, the river must follow its way—to flow where it is needed. If it deviates from its path, it will circle around and again go where it is expected. A person has come to Earth to fulfill God’s will. A maiden and a lad marry in order to learn to love the Lord mutually. If they do not learn to love the Lord, their marriage is pointless. If you have a friend, your task toward him is this: to teach him to love the Lord. And he has the same task toward you. All people must love the Lord and realize that He is Love. When Love enters human minds, hearts, and souls, the world will be set right. Where Love is, there is order and harmony; there is music, there is art. Whoever plays (an instrument) with love, can regulate the weather: if it is dry, he will bring rain; if it is a storm, he will calm it. When playing for a sick person, he lifts him from his bed. You may ask, “How does this happen?” That is not my concern. This art is from the Divine world. Whoever acquires this art immediately becomes musical—their musical sense is revealed. No one has the right to abuse this art. Ordinary love brings ordinary achievements, while Divine love brings extraordinary achievements. Apply Divine Love, learn from it, so that you may have extraordinary results. When all people become good, beautiful, strong, and loving, the world will be set right. It is time now for people to leave human love and enter Divine love. Someone says that he cannot tolerate people. Why can’t he tolerate them? Because their love is limited: they give to one person, but not to another; they smile at one and welcome them well, but are strict toward another and do not welcome them into their home. Expand yourselves, open your hearts to God’s Love, so that you may tolerate all people and love them. Teach each other to love the Lord, so that He may love you too. One of the qualities of Great Love is its ability to turn sour fruits into sweet ones, sick people into healthy ones, and bad people into good ones. Whoever has learned to love God, will teach their loved ones how to love. If one has not learned this art himself, he cannot pass it on to others. Moses gave the Jews several commandments, showing them how to love God, but they did not learn this art. God sent His Son to teach them, yet they did not wish to follow Him and crucified Him. Now it is also said to you: accept Divine Love as truth, as beauty, as knowledge, so that you may be useful to yourselves and to your loved ones. All people are called to be workers in God’s vineyard. When a person works with love, they fulfill God’s will. They help without speaking. Fire shows from afar that it is burning. Bread speaks for itself. When it enters the stomach, it reveals its strength. The same applies to Love. It does not need preaching. It is enough to perceive it, to understand that it carries life within itself. It renews, rejuvenates, and uplifts a person. Strive towards Love, so that you may rejuvenate and resurrect. This is eternal life, to know Thee, the only true God and Christ, whom Thou hast sent. —20th lecture with the Master, held on August 19, 1942, at 5:00 a.m., Sofia – Izgrev Преведена от Росица Трайкова Редактирана от Ненси Кромптон Прегледана от Невенка Димитрова

At Dawn It is said in Scripture that the life of the righteous is like the dawn. Often the questions arise: What is the foundation of life? What is the foundation of the world? Before one can answer these, the more important question is about human life itself. What is it based upon? – Human life is guided by three important principles: the mind, the heart, and the will. When a person reaches these, he goes further and asks: What is the soul? Does it exist or not? The soul is everywhere, yet it is so small and so great that it cannot be measured by anything. And what is life? – Even to this question, there is no easy answer. Only the one who knows the higher spiritual mathematics can understand life. The same applies to the world. It is built from a multitude of numbers, arranged in harmonious combinations. You might ask: Is the world made of even or odd numbers? To answer that would be fortune-telling. What, then, is the present life of people? – Fortune-telling. Most people live as if they are waiting for someone to come and divine their fate. They live from day to day: they rise in the morning and say, “Let us see what will happen to us today.” This is what the young maiden or the young lad does. They look for an old fortune-teller to cast beans, lay out cards, or read the coffee grounds to tell them what will happen in the near or distant future. If you ask these fortune-tellers what they actually see in the beans or coffee, even they themselves do not know; sometimes they just guess something by chance. There are fortune-tellers who can divine for others but not for themselves. Two fortune-tellers may meet and tell each other’s fortunes, yet neither can see for themselves. In the Varna region, there was once a woman who could foretell the future of others. People from all around flocked to her and left satisfied with her predictions. She made much money from this. Yet, interestingly, though she foretold for everyone else, she could not foresee anything for herself. One night robbers attacked her and took everything she had earned. She was left poor again, just as she had been before becoming known as a fortune teller. As they live, people say they want to be educated, to enlighten their minds, and to ennoble their hearts. In truth, they do not know what they want. The first task of a person is to use the opportunities and conditions for the expression of mind and heart, and afterwards to seek the enlightenment of the mind and the ennobling of the heart. Once expressed, the mind will naturally seek conditions to be enlightened, and the heart will naturally seek conditions to be ennobled. The task of a person is first to establish his relation to the Divine within himself, to his soul, and to rely upon it. Do not rely on the capital people possess, on how they think, how good or strong they are. Rely only on what you yourself have, what you carry in your own mind and in your own heart. You will say that one must rely only on God. That is another matter. For in order to rely on Him, above all you must know Him, must understand Him as a Reality that exists both within and beyond you. He is in the small and in the great within man, and likewise in the small and in the great outside of man. Therefore, when we say one must rely on the Divine within, we mean God as a Reality in which there is no change. Only after that may one partly rely also on people. Human life requires a firm foundation, where everything is set in its proper place. In such a position, one will have a clear conception of death and life, of birth and rebirth. Today many speak superficially of death, and you hear someone say: “It’s time to die.” Where did such a thought come from? Why does the young person not think or speak of death? When a child is about to be born, all say: “A child will be born in this home.” But what does birth mean? In its wider sense, birth has many manifestations. It is not only birth when a human being comes into the world. If a person comes to visit your home, that too is a kind of birth. While he is within your home, within your conditions, he is limited. Once he leaves your house, for you he has “died,” but for himself he has been “born” – freed from the limiting conditions of your home. Thus, the concepts of birth and death are relative. A person is born when leaving limiting conditions in which he has lived for nine months. Then he enters other limiting conditions of life. Later he leaves the Earth – he “dies,” that is, he departs for the other world, where he is again born. So man is continually being born into one set of conditions while dying to another. This shows that dying and being born are repeated processes in life. When speaking of free and limited people, we call free those who have no houses – that is, who live outside their bodies. You will say: “But those are the dead.” Yes, we call the dead free. Limited, on the other hand, are those who live in small, confined houses. The human body is a little house in which the spirit and soul dwell for a time. You may say that the real purpose of life is to create a family: to marry, to have a wife or husband and children. But for how long can one have a wife or husband? Has there ever been a case where a man and woman have spent together an entire life of one hundred years – marrying at age twenty, living together one hundred years, and departing together at one hundred and twenty? I have never seen such a case. In reality, husband and wife live together at most forty or fifty years, and then one departs before the other. Is that which lasts only forty or fifty years truly real? Sometimes a marriage lasts only a year or two, and they part. That which is real is eternal. Whoever does not understand the meaning of marriage wishes to marry quickly, to enter into a new life. That is easy work. But one must know that marriage is service. Anyone can become a servant, but the important thing is that when you bargain to serve somewhere, you are not dismissed prematurely without being paid. When your wage is reduced, that shows something is out of the natural order of things. If your wage is increased, then all is in order. When a maiden and a youth marry, they pay dearly for it. They give each other a hundred kisses a day. Each kiss is pure gold—real currency. But the longer they live together, the fewer the kisses become. By the second or third year, they scarcely give one kiss a day; and by the tenth year—perhaps one kiss a year. Thus their wages are reduced to a minimum. When the “wage” between husband and wife in the home diminishes, their life gradually worsens, losing all poetry. Many of today’s people do not even know how to kiss. That is nothing but deception. Many people do not know how to shake hands properly. They extend only one, two, or three fingers. But you should shake hands with your whole hand, so the person knows he can rely on you. Modern people deny the existence of the soul, but in fact, their striving for expression is nothing other than the striving of the soul to manifest itself. The soul reveals itself through the mind, the heart, and the will. The mind reveals itself through the eyes, the heart—through the nose, and the will—through the mouth. Look at what the lion does when it seizes its prey. It grasps it with its paws and brings it to its mouth to tear it apart. Thus, the mouth is the expression of the will. Some want to know whether they have will or not. That is not the important thing. The important thing is for a person to have a strong will. The larger the mouth, the stronger the will. But how large should the mouth be?—That is a question you must study for yourselves. Every person has a mouth, nose, eyes, brows, ears, yet few know their exact dimensions. No one has measured them precisely to know the size of their own features. Ask a farmer how large his field is—he will tell you exactly. Ask him about his house and its dimensions—he knows them too. But ask him about his head, and he can say nothing. He does not know how long it is, nor how wide. Human suffering arises from the fact that the things they use are not well-constructed; they do not correspond to the precise measures Nature has ordained. Today’s houses are very beautiful. More beautiful and more comfortable houses humanity has not known, and yet they are unhygienic. The light does not fall properly, and thus most people are nervous and irritable. The reflection of light from the walls and ceilings is not harmonious. Not only that, but the beds and their coverings are unhygienic as well. The same applies to the clothing people wear. It does not meet Nature’s requirements, therefore people must design garments that accord with Nature. As for food, there too is disharmony. The chief element of nourishment—wheat—is ground with stones. This strips away its nutritive substances, its essential oils, leaving only bran. In the future, wheat will not be ground dry. In general, one of the causes of human suffering lies in the predominance of straight lines and sharp angles in their lives. Through the distortion of life, man has also deformed his own features. Rarely will you find a perfectly formed head. For this reason, light is not received equally by all people. It does not fall at the same angle, and therefore people hold different views on religious as well as social questions. You cannot find two people who have the same understanding of Love. If two good painters were to set about painting the same person, each aiming to capture the essential traits, their works would differ: each would render differently the features that impressed him most. In the end, you would have two different portraits of one and the same person. To paint truly, the artist must follow the path of Nature: to depict the characteristic features of the person as Nature has placed them, without exaggeration or diminishment. No one can surpass Nature in her work. The task of man is to imitate Nature, but not to compete with her. What is a human being? – A gathering of billions of little souls, or beings, who have agreed, in the name of God’s Love, to enter into a person and to work for him, to give him expression as a human being. They have sacrificed their lives for him, becoming his servants; yet, not understanding this, he says: “What is the body?” – Nothing but a machine. Some religious people look upon the body as a hindrance to man’s spiritual life and say: “We don’t need the body; we can be free of it. For us, the important thing is the soul, which is pliant, mobile, omnipresent.” However great the soul may be, it is simultaneously present in all the cells of the organism. The soul can contract and expand according to need. The small cells create the great body. Looking at his body, someone may ask with what body he will return in the future. It is not important with what body one will come to Earth. What matters is with how many souls he will come, that is, with what number. If he comes with fewer souls than those that now inhabit his body, he will never enter Paradise. It has been shown that wicked and criminal people are lacking something: in each life the little souls abandon them one by one, and they begin to resemble empty beehives. The bees are gone, but the hives remain. When the souls realize that someone does not fulfill the Will of God, they say: “This person will not mend; let us leave him, let him learn his lesson.” Then a person feels that something has vanished from him, and he is left alone. This state of loneliness frightens him; he feels inwardly abandoned, impoverished. While the little souls dwell within him, he is joyful and cheerful; but once they leave, he grows sorrowful, begins to complain about life, until one day he departs altogether. When left alone in life, a person begins to seek God, to pray. He asks where God is and wishes to find Him outside himself. Without Love and without affection, a person cannot enter into communion with God. To think that one can live without Love and without affection means to have a materialistic understanding of life. If all the cells individually, as well as all the members of the human organism, could not love, then man himself could not love. Love is a quality of the soul. Thus man loves through the cells of his mind, of his heart; man loves through his soul and through his spirit. The more virtues a person has, the stronger his love is. The greater his mind, his heart, his soul, and his spirit, the stronger is his love. A home in which the people do not quarrel is a home of Love. Such a home may be called hygienic. And what will you say of a home in which people quarrel constantly? You will say that they pray to God three times a day. I read the inscriptions and see that they quarrel and complain about life three times a day. They pray for bread, for clothes, for houses, for money. Rarely do I see inscriptions that show that a household fulfills the Will of God, that the people in that home serve God. There is nothing greater in human life than service. Whom can a person serve? – The Perfect One. Whom can a disciple listen to? – His Teacher. For the disciple to be absolutely obedient, the Teacher must be a genius. The genius teacher is distinguished by great perseverance and decisiveness. When Mohammed was preaching his teaching, at last he reached great discouragement and resolved to flee from people. He could no longer endure the slanders and persecution raised against him. He stopped at one place to rest and fell into deep thought. At that moment he saw an ant carrying a load very heavy for it, trying to bring it into the anthill. Mohammed counted how many times the ant lifted the load from the ground and dropped it again. At last it succeeded in raising it and carrying it into the anthill. Seeing the great perseverance of the ant, Mohammed said to himself: “Strange thing—an ant shows such perseverance and courage. It can lift and drop its burden ninety-nine times with the hope that on the hundredth it will succeed, while I became discouraged after only the first attempts. I will return among the people and apply the perseverance of the ant. On the hundredth time I too will succeed in my work.” Small though the ant is, you may learn even from it. A person longs for one thing—to be secure. If he does not obtain his desire, he becomes discouraged. But why should a person think of security when, from the very moment of his coming to Earth, he is already secured? He who sent him to Earth has secured him. Believe in the One who lives within your mind and within your heart. He will arrange your affairs as they should be. As long as you love Him, He will care for you. If you cease to love Him, He will leave you. Whoever renounces Love imagines himself to be a deity. He wants to play the role of a great man. But to be great, you must carry a great burden. The great person resolves great questions. He must keep in mind the good of all humanity. Each person must carry something not only for himself, but also for his neighbor. The world needs the living bread. He who thinks also for his neighbor is a good person. He gives way to the Divine within himself; thus he attracts people. He who thinks only of himself repels people; no one relies on him. Whoever cannot receive the Divine Light into his mind achieves nothing. Man has come to Earth to be educated, to attain three things: first, to acquire the art of walking and moving rightly; second, to learn, in order to gain knowledge and experience; and third, to learn to work. To work means to apply everything one has learned. It is enough to look in the mirror to see whether one’s eyes are clear or clouded. Clear, bright eyes show that a person has cultivated within themselves right thoughts, right feelings, and right actions. When one does not think, feel, or act rightly, the eyes become dull, clouded with moisture. Once, the Earth itself was filled with moisture, but God spoke a single word, and the waters were gathered into seas and oceans, and the sky cleared. Likewise, our mental world must become clear: the clouds must be removed, and the horizon revealed—pure and bright. The stars of the heavens symbolize human beings. The Sun and the Moon represent the two systems on which people rely. The Sun stands for the learned, the Moon for the religious. It is said in Scripture that the Sun and the Moon will grow dark. This means that science and religion will come down from the place they now occupy. A new life, new paths, new conditions are coming into the world. Today the whole world, all nations, are fighting for some idea. But is this idea rightly placed? If a stonemason breaks stones in order to build a house, then the breaking of the stones is in place. If a woodcutter fells trees in order to use them in the building of a house, then the cutting is in place. But if the stonemason and the woodcutter work without any higher purpose in mind, then their work is not in place. To cut down forests indiscriminately means to bring upon yourselves the greatest misfortunes. To avoid suffering, cultivate the soil and strengthen vegetation. Many human illnesses arise from weakened “vegetation” in the organism. The vitality of growth in the brain, the lungs, and the stomach has declined, and so people fall ill with nervous disorders or with afflictions of the lungs and stomach. When this inner vegetation is strong, one enjoys long life. Plants know the laws of long life better than people. There are trees that live for hundreds, even thousands of years, while no human has yet reached a thousand. In the Old Testament we have only one example of a man who lived the longest—and even he reached only 900 years. The life of the righteous is like the dawn of day. Associate with righteous and good people, that the dawn of the new life may rise within you as well. A Bulgarian proverb says: “With whom you keep company, such you become.” If you keep company with the sick, you will become sick; with the healthy, you will become healthy; with the wise, you will become wise; with the strong, you will become strong. Therefore, if the world is to be renewed in a single day, people must keep company with Love—that is, with God. Life on Earth is temporary. Man is like a tenant: it depends on him whether he will remain longer or shorter in the house he has rented. If his relations with the landlord are good, he will remain longer; if he ruins those relations, the landlord will drive him out. If one wishes to prolong life, one must have love for oneself and for one’s neighbor. What kind of love?—Love that resurrects. If a young man, with a bright mind and heart, says to a dying maiden that he loves her, she will revive, recover, and rise from her bed. She had been ready to die because she believed no one loved her. But the moment she is convinced that someone does, she awakens to new life and regains her health. Modern people die from lack of love, and they are quickened to life by love. Thus a person lives as long as there is someone to love them. If love ceases, they die. You must be convinced that there is One who loves you unfailingly. Who is He?—He is the One, the Eternal, who never abandons anyone, who judges no one, who casts upon no one a crooked glance, who speaks no bitter word to anyone. If He meets one who has erred, He says: “You are a good child—something noble will come of you.” The angels may not approve of him, but God approves of all. He smiles upon them and grants them His blessing. Thanks to His gaze and His smile directed toward you, you are joyful and glad. If you doubt Him, your joy departs. The moment you are encouraged in life, joy returns to visit you once more. Every person must work upon themselves, to form the image of the true human being. As a model of the true human being we are given Christ. He said: “I came not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” By His life He proved that He had not come to fulfill His own will. Had He wished, He could have prayed and twelve legions of angels would have come to His aid. One angel alone could overcome 150,000 men. In one night they could have subdued the whole of humanity. But this was not Christ’s purpose. He came to test the love of humankind and to manifest the Love of God. And the love of humankind—He still feels it upon His back even to this day. Scripture tells us that Christ met Saul on his horse and struck him with His light, so that he was blinded. Christ asked him: “Saul, why do you persecute Me?”—“Who are You, Lord?”—“I am Jesus, whom you crucified. I tell you, it is hard for you to kick against the goads.” From that moment Saul turned to Christ and became one of His zealous disciples. He understood that the sacrifice Christ made for the whole of humanity deserved to be answered with sacrifice in return. Today people think that to sacrifice oneself for Christ means to abandon one’s wife, one’s children, and one’s home. It is not so. When a man loves Christ and comes to know Him, he will love his wife and children all the more. Likewise the wife, when she loves Christ, will love her husband and children all the more. The same applies to children: when they love Christ, they will love their parents. When people love Christ, they will love also their homeland, becoming true patriots. This is what it means to know Christ. In knowing and loving Him, people will be ready to share their blessings with those in need, just as a postman delivers letters to their rightful recipients. Today I would have you make the following experiment: when you leave this hall, spend five or six hours in complete inner peace. Whatever may happen to you during the day, do not perceive any contradiction, any disharmony. Imagine that you are living in the world of the angels. Whoever speaks to you, listen as though you were hearing music. If your husband or your children are angry or upset, hear them out and say to yourself: “How beautifully they speak!” Be deaf and blind to the faults of others. Only thus will you come to understand the Love of Christ. For Christ lives in the souls of human beings. Scripture says: “God does not delight in the death of the sinner.” Why not? Because He lives in that soul also. He is concerned with life, not with death. Therefore, if one dies in order to live, death has meaning; but if one lives only in order to die, then neither life has meaning, nor death. The first thing required of man is to give thanks to God for the head that has been given to him. Once he knows who has given him his head, he must hold it upright, not bowed down. Conscious of such a blessing, one must say: “I thank You for the Divine Light I receive through my head. I thank You for the Love I receive through my heart. I am ready to apply the Light and the Love I receive, not only toward people, but even toward the smallest beings. I am ready to make way for the ant and hasten to its aid.” One day I was observing how two ants were quarreling over a crumb of bread. I asked them: “Why are you fighting?” One of them replied: “I was the first to find this crumb; she wants to take half of it, but I will not give it.” At that moment, I took many crumbs out of my pocket and scattered them. The dispute was immediately resolved. There was abundant food for both ants. Thus, abundance resolves questions. One kilogram of water does not settle a dispute, for all people are thirsty; but an abundant quantity of water resolves all disputes and contradictions. A little love does not resolve problems, but great Love does. To carry great Love within yourself means that after working diligently all day, you can return in the evening refreshed, filled with strength and life. The Bulgarian, when making his earthen pitchers, provides two openings: a large one through which the jug is filled, and a small side opening through which the water is poured out. Thus he receives much, but gives little. The line of the side opening is beautiful, yet it should be twice as wide as it is now. Remember the following law: the more you give, the more you receive; the less you give, the less you receive. The more you think, the more knowledge you acquire; the less you think, the less knowledge you acquire. The more you work, the more you gain; the less you work, the less you gain. These are processes of Love. You cannot act as you please and still benefit from Love. A maiden or youth who quarrels with father, mother, brothers, and sisters cannot live well with each other either. Whatever promises the youth may give to the maiden, he will not fulfill them. It is impossible to be angry and resentful toward one’s parents, yet live well with one’s beloved. Such a maiden and such a youth may serve as overseers, but not as husband and wife in a family. Today God watches what we are doing and marvels at our minds. Present-day Christians think they can enter the Kingdom of God by an easy path. There is no easy path to the Kingdom of God. Whoever wants to enter must be ready to walk the path of Christ. He came into the world, brought God’s Love, and sacrificed Himself for humanity—for which He was crucified. The Roman soldiers mocked Him the whole night, yet He endured it all with love and great self-mastery. He knew that one day those same blows would fall upon their own backs. The Roman soldiers determined the number of blows that future humanity would have to bear. Today everyone is concerned with who will triumph in the present war. When the war is over, you will see who has prevailed. I say: blessed is that nation which first applies God’s Love, God’s Justice, God’s Wisdom, and Truth. The old must be erased, and the new must come—bringing the conditions for victory. True victory will come through Love, which excludes all injustice. The world needs a new order, reasonableness, and justice. Injustice must disappear from every home and every state, and be replaced with the order of Justice and Love. The life of the righteous is as the dawn. Scripture says: “God is Love.” Therefore, seek the resolution of questions in Love, not outside of it. When Love comes among people, it will set right all that is confused. It brings the new life, which will be revealed through the mind, heart, and soul of humankind. Open your minds, your hearts, and your souls to the One who speaks to you every moment through all living beings. Listen to what He tells you and fulfill His will. Open yourselves to Love. You may say that love is only for the young. Not so. Love is for all: for young and old, for the married and unmarried. Only one who bears Love within can truly marry. The one who loves is healthy, wise, and good. Therefore, do not marry the sick, the ignorant, or the wicked. A maiden who loves puts her love into every action. When she cooks, she pours her love into the food. Whoever eats from it, if sick, becomes well; if discontent, becomes content. If someone says he has love in his heart, ask him to cook. From his food you will know what his love is like. As long as one gives way to Love within, one disposes of all its possibilities. Once Love is lost, all possibilities that come with it are lost as well. Life is precious chiefly because of the Love it carries. That Love will resurrect all who have been slain or have died. They will rise again, reappearing on Earth as radiant young men and women, and all will cry out with one voice: “Forward with Love!” Blessed is he who is born of Love. Joseph was born of a loving mother and received the blessing of Love. Yet before that, he passed through two great trials. He had a dream which he told his brothers. They resented him and resolved to kill him, but instead sold him to wealthy traders going to Egypt. From them, Potiphar, captain of the guard, bought him. Potiphar’s wife fell in love with Joseph. To free himself from her, he fled, leaving his garment in her hands. Accused falsely by his master’s wife, Joseph was cast into prison. He preferred prison to sinning against his master. From there he was released after interpreting Pharaoh’s dream and rose to high rank beside him. When famine struck Canaan, his brothers came to him for grain and bowed before him—thus Joseph’s dream was fulfilled. Then he revealed himself as their brother and forgave their wrongdoing. The life of Joseph shows the path all must walk. To receive God’s blessing, one must pass through trials and difficulties. One must overcome them and then come to Love. Love without trials is not true. God’s Love comes after great trials and sufferings. Great blessings, opportunities, and conditions are given to humanity, but they do not know how to use them. God waits patiently for all to awaken and return to Him. These are difficult times. Whoever wishes may live in Love. You all have experiences that must be used. Nature does not like repetition. It does not allow mistakes to be repeated. A mistake made once is in its place—one learns from it. But the same mistake must not be made twice. —19th lecture by the Master, given on August 16, 1942, 10:00 a.m., Sofia – Izgrev

The Strong Ones Reflection Imagine that you have drawn a circle on the board with a diameter. The center of the circle, marked as one, represents the force that has created the world. The number two denotes the circle itself—the boundary of the world. The number three represents the diameter, that is, the force that has given content to the world. And the human being passes through these same numbers: through the one that has created their world; through the two that has set its limits; and through the three that has given it content and meaning. As students of life, you wish to learn, but at the same time you also wish to become teachers. Today, one does not become a teacher easily. In the past, to become a teacher, it was enough to complete four or five grades, at earlier times, even a first-grade level of education was considered sufficient. Now, to become an elementary teacher, one must complete secondary school. To become a high school teacher, one must graduate from a university. Someone may wish to become a professor; for that, it is necessary not only to complete secondary school and university, but also to specialize in a particular field of knowledge. Another person may wish to become strong, to become learned, or to develop spiritually. How can this be achieved? One must work diligently in a given field and only then realize that aspiration. To attain any true standing, a person must feel love and devotion toward what they seek to acquire. What is the difference between the concepts of Love and Affection? By Love we understand that which constantly gives and never takes. By Affection we understand that which always takes and gives nothing. God manifests in the human being through His attributes: He constantly gives and constantly takes. For some, this is not clear. They cannot imagine how God can both give continuously and take continuously. But the fact that some do not understand certain things does not mean they do not exist. Many things remain beyond human understanding, yet they still take place. How, for example, would you explain the process of human thought? Even the most learned cannot fully explain it, yet thought flows and follows its course. Whether we understand this process or not does not stop the movement of thought. In order to understand how thoughts arise and by what laws they move, a person must first become master of their own thoughts. When we come to thought composed of the numbers 1, 2, and 3, we say that it is dynamic. Every thought that creates a world around itself, that brings content into it, is dynamic. Every thought that creates nothing, that sets no limits, and that does not bring content or meaning into the human being, is weak. You may object that you think well. One who thinks well also sings well. And conversely: one who does not sing well cannot think well. The weak do not think well. One who is neither strong nor разумен does not think well either. The strong person has good thoughts, good feelings, and good actions. Someone may say that for decades they have followed the Divine teaching and still have not become strong or good. But how do they know this? For years the seed has been sown in the soil, and outwardly it appears unchanged; yet it has been working—and continues to work even now. A person lives and exists thanks to water, air, and light. By opening and closing the mouth, air enters and leaves; in this way, water is also received. By opening the eyes, one receives light and benefits from it. Therefore, from the creation of the human being until today, the same elements have sustained life, and outwardly the human being appears unchanged—but the difference between the primitive human and the modern human is great. Today, all people are seeking a proper solution to social questions. One of these is marriage. Everyone wants to know what the right way to resolve it is. Who should marry? Only the one who is intelligent, good, and healthy. Such a person will create a healthy and good generation. If you are not intelligent, good, and healthy, it is better not to marry. There is no reason to marry and bring forth a weak generation. The world needs intelligent, good, and healthy people. Every young woman and every young man who wishes to marry should meet these conditions. Only then should they marry. What is the Divine Will in this matter? The Divine Will is clear: only the intelligent, the good, and the healthy should marry. God created the first human beings intelligent, good, and healthy, and allowed them to marry. Those who are not intelligent, good, and healthy are not meant to marry. A person “marries” at every moment without understanding the meaning of marriage. Every bite of bread that one puts into the mouth is nothing but a form of marriage. If a person chews the bread properly and the stomach digests it well, strength develops within them. In this sense, the strength that is gained represents the “child” born from the marriage between the person and the bread. Only the one who is intelligent, good, and healthy can unite with the bread in such a way as to become strong. This shows that their mental, respiratory, and digestive systems are well developed. If even one of these systems does not function properly, a person may eat, but the bread will not be properly utilized, and the necessary strength will not develop. One may eat, but digestion will not take place correctly. What meaning, then, does such nourishment have? It has meaning for a person to “marry”—that is, to unite with the bread—but to use it well. Remember: everything has value when it takes place at the right time. Then it is used wisely and brings good results. If you marry, marry at the right time. If you give birth, give birth at the right time. What kind of child is it that is born in the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, or eighth month? And what kind of woman assists a mother who carries her child only one or two months? Do not become the mother of such a child. Do not assist in the birth of a premature child. Have the patience to wait for the ninth month. It is not easy to assist such a mother; even harder is it to give birth under such conditions. Such birth is a result of the old life, where there are illnesses, misunderstandings, and contradictions. The old life is like a muddy torrent that must run its course. The new life brings pure, crystal-clear water. It flows from Divine Love, which constantly gives, and from Affection, which takes everything. It is said of God that He gives everything and takes everything—but this is not true of the human being. A person cannot give everything, nor can they take everything. Can you demand everything from the one who loves you? What have you given in return, that you should ask for everything? Have you given them a mind? Have you given them a heart? Have you given them life? If you have given nothing, by what right do you ask for everything? The mother and father have brought the child into the world and have given something of themselves; therefore, they have the right to ask something of the child. But what right do others have in relation to that child? Someone plants a grain of wheat in the soil and believes they have the right to everything it produces. The earth is the mother of the grain, yet the person considers themselves its father. But are they truly its father? A bird may also bury a grain of wheat in the soil without calling itself its father or claiming any rights over it. A pig, rooting in the ground, may bury grains of wheat, corn, or seeds of pine, without being their father. It buries them without claiming ownership. What is meant by the words father, mother, and son? The father gives, the mother receives and works upon what is given, and the son carries it into action. The son brings joy to his father and to his mother. The same relationship should exist between us and God. He is our Father, and we are His children. God rejoices, and we are to be joyful. Rejoicing belongs to God, while joy belongs to the human being. We are to rejoice in the works of God within our mind, our heart, and our soul—to rejoice that the mind studies, that the heart receives. Let us rejoice in everything that has been given to us, in all that has been placed within us. — Should we love? — Of course you should; and the more beings you love, the better it is for you. Who has loved all people, all of humanity? — Only Christ. He came to Earth, loved all people, and through His love paid all their debts. You may say that you too should love all people. But in order to love them, you must die for them—and then be resurrected for them. To love all, one must first be born of God, then die for them, and finally rise again for them. Everyone is born, but not everyone is ready to die. Why? Because they are not born of God. One who is not ready to die cannot be resurrected. Many people die out of necessity, and therefore cannot be resurrected—that is, they cannot grow. They wait for new light and warmth to come into the world, and only then expect to be raised. Let us return to the numbers 1, 2, and 3. What do they signify? Much is contained in them, but only for the one who understands their inner meaning. For such a person, these numbers carry разумност, goodness, and strength. When will the war end? — When you apply the numbers 1, 2, and 3 in your life. They resolve all questions. When Love and Affection begin to work together, the world will be set right. When will we be freed from suffering and illness? — When both you and your sufferings, and even your illnesses, come to love God. Within Love are hidden both faith and hope. Do not admit illness into yourself before it has turned toward God. Instead, you allow it to turn toward you and torment you. Every such illness is an uninvited guest. How can you love an uninvited guest, and how can it love you? Be vigilant toward suffering and illness, and until they set their relationship right with the First Cause, do not receive them into your home. The same is required of the human being. No one has the right to love unless they have first loved God. Love implies an inner receptivity to what is. How can you eat a fruit if you have not been given the right to do so? If you do not have love within you, you have no right to eat the fruits of the trees. The first humans ate of the forbidden fruit and brought misfortune upon themselves and upon all humanity. To eat of the forbidden fruit means to partake without Love. Therefore, if you wish to receive Divine Love and apply it, follow the path of Christ. He came to Earth and undertook the task of loving all people. He paid dearly for this, but His effort was successful. This does not mean that Christ will come a second time to make the same attempt. If He were to come again, the same fate would await Him. Should you desire that? Today, all humanity must be ready to sacrifice for Christ, who was the first to sacrifice Himself and to prove that He loves all people. A person can sacrifice only for the One who has sacrificed for them. A mother who has sacrificed for her child has the right to expect something from it. However, she has no right to expect anything from чужди children. On the same principle, a person may expect something only from those thoughts they themselves have brought forth. But what can they expect from thoughts that have not arisen from their own mind? Such thoughts have nothing to do with them. Many ask whether God exists or not. Some believe in His existence, others do not—but neither have reverence for God. They fear people, they fear animals, but not God. It is not fear that is required, but reverence—to honor Him and to align oneself with His will. Guard yourselves, lest you fall into the position of the slanderer—the devil—who continually spoke against the name of God and for this was cast out of heaven. Whoever dares to speak against their Creator follows the path of that slanderer and signs their own judgment. Do not speak ill even of people, for whom God cares as His children. In general, do not give way to slander, to criticism, or to reviling, lest you lose the place that has been appointed to you in heaven. Today, what is required of all people is a vigilant consciousness—to know what they speak and what they do. When you come to Divine matters, do not leave them for others to carry out. Each person must fulfill the work that has been entrusted to them. If they do not, they will pay dearly. Divine work should be left in the hands of the one who can take it up as their own. It is not something to be traded, nor can it be used to secure one’s material position. It is carried out freely and with Love. Whatever task you undertake, first turn to God and see whether He approves of it or not. Whether a person is born, marries, or dies, they must first seek God’s approval. Without His approval, life turns into hell. Whatever work you do, seek His approval. Only with Him can you rely on success. Without Him, even the good turns into evil; with Him, even evil is transformed into good. Observe the following rules in your life: eat pure food, drink pure water, breathe clean air, live in a healthy home. Before going to bed, wash your hands and feet. Never go to sleep without washing them. If you feel unwell, do not look for the cause outside yourself; do something to restore your balance. Wash your face, hands, and feet with warm water. If the discomfort does not pass, bathe or take a walk in the fresh air. Do not criticize one another, saying that this person is not good, or that one is not good. Among those who seek God, there are no bad people—only people who are in the process of ripening. Before a fruit ripens, it passes through many stages: as a bud, as a blossom, as a young fruit—still green, sour, or astringent. Time is needed for it to ripen, to become sweet, and ready to be eaten. If this is so, then rejoice that the conditions exist for the fruit to ripen, and that you may benefit from it. Rejoice that the conditions exist for you to become intelligent, good, and strong. Who makes a person intelligent? — God. Therefore, expect that He will give you the conditions needed to acquire what is necessary. Open your hearts to the Lord, without fear and without hesitation. — “We are not ready yet.” — It depends on you to become ready. Clean your house; air it well. He will enter and give you His blessing. Receive Divine Love into your home, so that you may partake of its gifts. It brings precious things—food, light, warmth, and air. It makes a person intelligent, good, and strong. It gives meaning to life and brings people closer together. It removes barriers and contradictions between them. Without Love, nothing can be achieved. Whatever efforts you make, if Love is far from you, your life will turn into hell. Open yourselves to Love, so that you may enter paradise—the realm of immortality. Many wish to be good without having acquired right thought. This is impossible. First, a person must think. Their thought must pass through the mind, then through the heart, and finally through the body. When it reaches and permeates the body as a living force, we say that the person carries light in their mind. Receive Love in your mind, Affection in your heart, and strength in your soul, so that you may become intelligent, good, and strong. Apply your разумност, your goodness, and your strength to help both yourself and your fellow human beings. If you know that someone close to you is ill, do not treat them with medicines; rather, let ten or so people visit them, and let each of you send the thought that they will recover. If the person receives your thought and believes in it, they will rise from their bed. Thought is a powerful force—it heals and uplifts the human being. A person needs several things: beauty, goodness, and mercy; bread, water, air, and light. To acquire these, one must think. Whether they wish to or not, they must think. By thinking rightly, they will become both good and strong. This is required of all people. One who does not become intelligent, good, and strong will suffer in their own mind. Now is the time for all of us to become intelligent, good, and strong. There is no better time than the present. Each person must work for themselves—to become intelligent, good, and strong. Each will fulfill the work that has been assigned to them. To each has been given a portion of God’s field, and each must work and think in order to complete their task well. No force in the world can prevent you from doing your work. If you have been hindered until now, the cause lies in your own weakness. No one can obstruct the strong. One day, the spiders heard that an elephant would pass through their kingdom, and they decided to stop him, not to allow him to pass among them and disturb them. They began weaving webs across his path to entangle him. All the spiders in the kingdom gathered and set to work, spinning their webs day and night. When their barrier was ready, the elephant arrived. He passed through the spiders’ fortress without the slightest hindrance. When they asked him what he had felt, he calmly waved his tail and said, “I felt nothing.” The elephant comes into the world; it will pass through the kingdom of the spiders, but nothing will remain of their webs. All the spiders will ask what it has felt, and it will calmly reply, “I felt nothing.” The elephant represents Love. Love comes into the world. It passes through all obstacles and goes on its way, untouched. Place Love in your mind, Affection in your heart, and strength in your body, so that you may benefit from the blessings of life. Strive to manifest the strength, the goodness, and the разумност that God has placed within you. This applies only to the one who is ready to serve Love. Whoever is not ready to serve Love may remain with the old life. But whoever has received Love, Affection, and strength within themselves should begin to work at once. Let no one ask how to work. Do you need to tell a painter how to paint? Once they have canvas, paints, and brushes, they know what to do. Begin to paint without asking how. The times are intense; they do not wait for much theorizing. Let each person try to compose a melody to the following words: “Love—be good! Affection—be strong!” Sing the words: I can love and be good. I can show affection and be strong. Whoever wishes to acquire Love should try to compose a melody to these words, to close the old notebook of their life and open a new one. Let them write in this new notebook the words: “I can love and be good. I can show affection and be strong.” Then let each one say within themselves: “Lord, I am ready to do everything for Your sake, because You have loved me.” This is eternal life: to know You, the one true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent. 17th Lecture by the Master Delivered August 12, 1942, 5:00 a.m. Sofia – Izgrev

HEIRS OF THE EARTH Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5) Sometimes a person loses the meaning of life and does not know the reason for it. In youth, they are idealists, but in old age, they become materialists. If we constantly cut the branches of a tree, its roots grow excessively and dig deep into the ground. So when the branches do not have the conditions to develop, the roots develop instead. The same law applies to human beings. When a person does not have the conditions to develop spiritually, he develops materially. The roots in him develop at the expense of the branches. However, a person, like a tree, must develop properly – both his roots and branches must grow equally, i.e. they must develop both materially and spiritually. That is why we strive for a science that would give meaning to our lives. We strive for a science that simultaneously strengthens our faith, hope, and love. Many people wonder what a human being is in relation to the universe. Indeed, a human being is a microscopic creature in relation to the universe, but for the person, the universe represents the material side. People must explore it. For them, the Universe is a practical training. A person is a small being and yet billions of cells, i.e., billions of tiny creatures, form their body and live for that person. The human stomach alone is made up of ten million cells. So the human stomach is a large factory in which ten million workers participate. Those who do not understand the meaning of their work and do not appreciate it would say that eating is a simple task. It is not a simple task! Ten million workers participate in the lunch you have eaten. If you pay one dollar per worker, you have to pay ten million dollars for one lunch. Who can pay ten million for one lunch? Even if you pay one cent per worker, it is still a lot. This is the price for one single lunch. How many times a day does a person eat? Work it out and calculate how much annually the work of the stomach would costs. Then calculate how many workers you have in your brain, in your lungs – and calculate how much their work costs. Apply the science of mathematics to find out what a human being is and how much they cost to Nature. Only then will you understand whether you have the right to despair. A person despairs from two situations in life: from poverty and from abundance. In the first case, they buy tickets that do not win; in the second case, they buy tickets that win, and they end up with such abundance that it discourages them: they do not know how to deal with it to find satisfaction. Those who do not win are not satisfied – they strive for wealth. And they can win. How? Either by purchasing all the tickets, or by possessing extensive knowledge to understand the science of lucky numbers and select a ticket that wins. Who is truly rich? Rich is the one whose mind, heart, and soul manifest themselves correctly. You may ask yourself whether the soul really exists. For me, this question has been resolved. I witness the manifestations of the soul in every moment. It manifests itself through the human body, which is the instrument through which it functions. I converse with it and find that it conceals a great history within itself. It carries great knowledge within itself and remembers everything. Only the enlightened acknowledges the existence of the soul, because they engage in conversation with it at every moment. So those who ask whether God exists, whether the soul exists, whether there is Love in the world, determine their own place. They place themselves in the category of either the simple-minded, or those who want to study, or among the true sages. For sages, these questions are settled. Can a person figure out the questions about the soul and spirit, good and evil? – Sure. For someone who's in tune with the Primary Cause of things, anything's possible. There are things that are impossible for them, but they never think about those. For example, they never would think about bringing the Sun and the Moon together in one place to throw a big feast. In the same way that the Earth can visit the Sun or the Moon, so can also they visit it. There are people who are "lunar types," but that does not mean that they come from the Moon. The Moon has a strong influence on them, and at night they get out of bed and climb onto the roofs: they walk freely without falling. This is an issue that has nothing to do with impossible things. Some people want to be rich without thinking about the consequences that come with along with wealth. If being rich makes you unhappy, why do you need it? This wealth should be orderly. What is the point of climbing Mount Everest and suffocating there? Humans are not suited to high altitudes. To climb this peak, they must carry pure oxygen with them to maintain their breathing. Once upon a time, people thought, same like fish do, that there was no life outside of water. But later, even some fish realised that it was possible to live outside of water, and they grew into birds. In the future, people will realise that it is possible to live at high altitudes with extremely diluted oxygen. Same as fish use the oxygen from the water, humans will one day be able to take in from the air the element they need to breathe. The body of future humans will be more delicate than it is now, and they'll live in the ether. Then they will travel freely from Earth to the Moon, because the space between these planets is filled with ether, to which humans will be adapted to live. However, the current human cannot go to the Moon, they are not suited for it – their lungs cannot yet absorb the ether. Those who have developed lungs adapted to the ether can travel freely to the Moon. According to the esotericists, such people exist on Earth. They travel not only to the Moon, but to other planets too. However, it is impossible to prove scientifically how it happens. It is not necessary to prove the Truth. It does not need proof. Only material things need to be proven. Does light need to be proven? If you prove the number of vibrations of red, yellow, or blue light, this does not prove light itself. Vibrations are vehicles of light, but light itself is not vibration. A person uses a car as a vehicle, but the car itself is not the person. The car is one thing, and the person is another; the vibrations of light are one thing, and light is quite another; the vibrations of a musical tone are one thing, but music has nothing to do with vibrations. Sound is transmitted through vibrations in the air, but neither sound nor vibrations represent the actual music. The interaction between God and the human soul is proof of God's existence and His manifestations such as Love, Wisdom, and Truth. To abide in God and Lord to abide in you - this is a proof of His existence. It is said that God is Love. Therefore, Love is God's relationship with us. Love, on the other hand, represents human's relationship with God. Few people understand these relationships, so they love without knowing whom they love. Someone loves a person without this. Person knowing who actually loves them. Someone says that this or that person loves them – Petko, Stoyan, Dragan. A person cannot love. Can a liter of water satisfy your thirst for your entire life? Can a precious stone adorn you? Therefore, a person cannot satisfy your soul's need to be loved, nor can a person love only one person. If God does not abide in a person, his fellow man cannot love him. Can a cat love a person for who they are? No, it loves them for the bread they give it. When they stop feeding the cat, it stops visiting them—it no longer loves them. Everyone talks about Love, but only a few realize it as a great power, as a great virtue. It gives meaning to life and brings harmony to it. Without love, life is death, and without devotion, life is hell. When a person no longer loves, they die; when they no longer love, they descend into hell. God said to the first man, "On the day you eat of the forbidden fruit, you shall die." This means: on the day you transgress the law of Love, you shall die. Death implies a person's separation from Love. When talking about Love, people see it on the one hand as a manifestation in the individual life of man, and on the other - as a manifestation of collective life. Authors, various writers, novelists, and philosophers examine the questions of life from this perspective. For example, Victor Hugo resolves the internal contradictions in the individual life of man. Tolstoy, on the other hand, resolves a major social issue – the cause of wars, major disputes and misunderstandings between nations. Both of them are right, in terms of their views, in their novels 'Les Misérables' and 'War and Peace' respectively. And the modern people, same as Tolstoy, wonder what is the reason for the existence of evil in the world. What do soldiers do when they cross a bridge? – In order not to destroy it, they do not walk in rhythm, but walk randomly one or two or three at a time. Based on this law of physics, I say: evil exists because of the rhythmical acts of evil. When soldiers walk rhythmically across a bridge, they destroy it. When many people walk rhythmically in the direction of evil, they create great disasters in the world: earthquakes, floods, etc. In order for evil to cease, for disasters to end, people must renounce the rhythm of their distorted minds and hearts, their consensus on evil acts. They must unite in mind, heart, and will in doing good, in order to turn the Earth into a paradise and to transform their lives into music and singing. It is not enough for a person to seek the cause of evil; he must also be prepared to give it up. If he does not give up his greed, he cannot enter into the Divine order of things. If the worker bee cannot leave the bee community, it will gain nothing. There will be a queen bee that will give orders, and it thus will remain forever a worker in its queen's hive. There is order and cleanliness in the hive, but this order is not perfect. If the bee aspires to something sublime, it must leave the hive. In the life of bees, polygamy is allowed, which cannot be the ideal in a sublime world. Their system has outlived its time. Every conscious bee is looking for new conditions to achieve a new, sublime life. What is the ideal structure of life? – The application of Love and Devotion. No perfection can exist without Love and Devotion. When Love and Devotion are applied in life In the future, people will not fear death. They will not die, but will pass from one world to another. People die today for the sole reason that they have not harmonized love and devotion within themselves. Those who have not harmonized them cannot implement them properly. I listened to a young woman complaining about her situation. She said that she had married two years ago, and that she and her husband had been in love for seven years before their marriage. She did not know what had happened between them, but he had fallen in love with another woman and said to her, "Forgive me, I do not love you now as I did before. If you love me, sacrifice yourself for me, let me be free." Because his wife loved him, though with difficulty, she left him free: she did not leave him, but she did not interfere in his love. This woman is wise. She understands that she cannot interfere in the life of the heart, but she wants to know the reason for the new situation she got into. It's very simple. When does a person love someone? When they sacrifice themselves for that person. Therefore, this woman once sacrificed herself for him in the past, and today he thanks her with his love. By loving this woman, he will show greater love to his wife, but only if she leaves him free. He will appreciate the sacrifice she made for him and would thank her. The same applies to the woman too. The task of the world of higher consciousness is to free people from the delusions they carry from the past and to bring a new, higher morality into their lives. Why should people doubt each other? Should a man doubt his wife, thinking that she is looking for other men? Should a woman doubt her husband? Why shouldn't a man look at women as his daughters and sisters and love them in such a manner? Why shouldn't a woman look at men as her sons and brothers and love them in such a manner? A father loves his daughters, a mother loves her sons. Is there anything sinful in this love? The family was created precisely for this purpose—to regulate the relationship between a man and a woman, to raise it to a higher level. Do not think that if a man loves a woman, he is committing a sin. There are no sins in Love. It is impossible to love and commit sins. Those who love do not commit sins; those who do not love - they commit sins. This applies equally to men and women. Rejoice when people love each other. Do you not rejoice when a father loves his daughters and a mother loves her sons? There is no higher love on Earth than that of a mother and a father. Today, most people do not comprehend Love, but rather discuss it, attributing qualities to it which it does not possess. This is the love of insects, which we do not deal with. It is only now that people are getting into the love of the heart. They read novels, fall in love, and think they are aware of this love. But they do not know it yet. If this love is not yet grasped, how much more unaware are people of the great Love of God. Some will say that they know God, that He is close to us. Sometimes God is close to us, sometimes He is far away. When we love Him, He is far from us. When we do not love Him, He is close to us: He teaches us, He elevates us. How? Through suffering. When a woman complains about her husband, you know that he is close to her, watching her every step so that she does not make a mistake. When he is far from her, she is satisfied with him and knows that he loves her. She has faith in him and lets him freely express himself. The concepts of close and far are relative. Intelligent beings that move at the speed of light go to the Sun in eight minutes and return in eight minutes. They are close to us. To an ordinary person it takes one or two hours to go to the city and back. So, he is far away from you. In the future, men and women will live far away from each other. If the woman is on the Sun, the man will be on Earth. Then they will switch places: the man will go up to the Sun, and the woman will come down to Earth. Adam made a mistake by calling the woman from the other world where she used to live. He took her with him, but eventually both ended up out of Paradise. In order to love each other, people must dwell within each other. In this state, they will not quarrel or be angry. If the woman becomes angry, the man will dwell within her; if the man becomes angry, the woman will dwell within him. And so they will not quarrel; they will not be visible to each other. Can a person argue with themselves? The inner side of life represents heaven, and the outer side represents earth. Those who want to maintain harmony must constantly go inward and outward, that means to move between heaven and earth as being the poles of life. Those who comprehend Love are not concerned that someone may take it away from them. Love represents the vast ocean of life. Who can take away the water from this sea and dry it up? The water of Love is unlimited. Those who love never compromise Love. Those who want to be loved must become like children. Everyone enjoys children, everyone carries them in their arms. Can you carry a man or a woman on your back? Therefore, to be loved, a woman must give up her desire to be carried on a man's back. And a man should give up his wish for his wife to carry him on her back. Only then can he be loved. Christ says, "The meek shall inherit the earth." Who is meek? – One who bears within Love and Devotion. They see people as souls, do not doubt them, do not torment them, do not cause them suffering: if they are women, they never doubt their husbands, do not allow a single bad thought about them; if they are men, they do not doubt their wives and do not allow a single bad thought about them. The meek are aware of Love and Devotion and have faith in their manifestations. When we talk about Love, we do not mean the free love that people allow. Love is superior to freedom. It stems from Truth, and at the same time it bears both Truth and Wisdom. You will say that no one loves you. That is not true. Not a single living creature in the world is left unloved. One thing is required of a person: to perceive Love through their mind, heart, and soul. Those who do not perceive Love in this way are unable to recognize it. Just as you recognize air, so must you recognize Love. And then you will not say that your husband or wife does not love you, but you will know that by sending you to Earth, God already loves you. He has not sent you among men and women, but among brothers and sisters, so you can show them what Love is. Do not expect people to love you, but you give love yourself. Be heroes in manifesting Love, be bearers of the new in the world. 16th lecture by the Master, held on August 9, 1942, 10:00 a.m., Sofia – Izgrev Преведена от Елеонора Петкова Прегледана от Невенка Димитрова

Precious Virtues A sensible and happy life depends on simple things. Every person wants to be happy, but what happiness consists of - they do not know. To say that you should be happy is like saying that you should walk. It is an art to know how to walk. If you walk properly, you will be healthy; if you do not walk properly, you will create various painful conditions. It is clear by the way one is walking, whether one is clever, whether one has more or less light in one's mind; the walk also determines one's solidity. In general, a person's specific features are shown in the way one walks. Every movement, conscious or unconscious, determines one's character. The body is the expression of the human soul. It is enough to study one's body in order to know his inner life, the hidden forces within him. A person thinks that by being silent, no one knows what he carries within himself. They are mistaken: one does not have to speak to be known. Their face, head, hands and feet, as well as their whole body, all speak about them. To one who knows how to read, all is apparent. They know how to read, but they also knows how to be silent. Contemporary people are afraid of each other. If someone has a bad opinion of you, you are closed off to them. If you are asked who is a good person, you will judge their goodness by their actions. You will say that the grocer is honest because he sells honestly. When he measures his goods, he weighs them accurately. Moreover, he says, "These goods are of first and these are of second quality. Whatever he says, it proves to be true. The scholar, however, reads from a person's face whether he is honest or not. He says, "If a person's father and mother were honest, the person will be honest too; if they were intelligent and good, the person will be intelligent and good as well; if they were healthy, the person will be also healthy." On a person's face and head, is written the life of not only their parents but also of dozens of generations before them. Everything has its origin in a source far back in time. Looking at the electric lamps you would say that the electrical energy comes from water. However, a true scientist knows that this light does not come directly from water, but from a far more distant source – the Sun, which is only a reservoir of this energy. Beyond the Sun lies the root cause of everything. Therefore, after every action or manifestation, something else would follow. For example, after eating comes rest, and after rest comes work. Then again comes eating, rest, work. What is the meaning of life? - In life, a person strives to acquire something. If one does not acquire something new every day, they feel that they are not living. Clerks and workers strive to increase their salaries. Everyone wants enough bread to satisfy their hunger and provide building material for their body. Just as a certain amount of material as bricks, stones, beams, sand is needed to build a house——the human body needs both externally and internally construction material in the same way. If this material is not enough, they complain that something is missing. Every person experiences some kind of deficiency in their life and strives to obtain it. Deficiency, the lack of something, makes a person dissatisfied. They know that something is missing, but they have no clear idea of what exactly is it. Why? Because as soon as they acquire something, another deficiency comes up. People struggle to satisfy their lack throughout all life, and yet they cannot satisfy it – something is not enough. Christ says, “One thing you lack.” What is that one thing? You will say that you want Love. What is Love? Can you eat it or drink it? It cannot be consumed, but it brings everything that can be eaten and drunk. Love is not happiness by itself, but it brings happiness; it is not strong, but it makes people strong; it is not light and warmth itself, but it brings light and warmth. What is Love, really? It turns out that Love is nothing, yet it brings everything. By the word ‘nothing’, we understand that Love is not limited, it owes nothing to anyone, and yet it can do everything. Love is not obligated to anyone, but it obligates everyone. When it brings food to a person, it requires [ND1] them to eat; when it makes them sensible, it requires them to show their wisdom; when it gives them light and warmth, it demands that they apply it where needed. While a young woman is with her parents, she is free from obligations. Once she falls in love with a young man and marries him, she is obliged to take care of the household, her beloved, and her children. A newborn child needs its mother's care. It wants to eat, but does not know where to get food or how to eat. The mother gives her child wholesome food and sees to be delivered on time. Just as a child learns from its mother, in the same way every person must have a teacher , in order to become good, intelligent, strong, and healthy and to show them in what way to acquire these qualities. All people want to be healthy, but they don't know how to fulfil their wish. If you tell them they need to breathe deeply in order to be healthy, they won't believe you and will begin to philosophize. They want to be told something else. Why? Because they think that breathing happens by itself. It is true that every person breathes, but they do it improperly. All illnesses and ailments are due to improper breathing. Modern people breathe only with the upper part of their lungs, and this is insufficient. In breathing, the mind, heart, and will shall be involved. If they do not take part in breathing, a person does not utilize the air properly: he breathes it in and exhales it mechanically. A person shall breathe consciously. People's health depends on the amount of air, light, and warmth they receive from the outside world. Light gives space to human thought. Breathing gives space to their feelings, and warmth brings expansion to both feelings and thoughts. What kind of breathing is it that cannot liberate a person from their unhappiness? Some people breathe, receive light and warmth and yet are unhappy. Why are they unhappy? Because their shoes are old and their clothes are worn and discolored. Know this: there are no new things in the world, but there are no old things either. The sun that rises and sets is neither old nor new: it has existed since the world has been created. Is it new then? And yet, we say that a new day is coming when the sun will rise again, with new light. So for some people the sun is new, and for others it is old. Every newborn child is a new person. But how many times has that child been born and died! How many times has it been a scholar, a famous person! It has come in a small form, but within it is hidden a great scholar or a great philosopher. People often complain about their lives, cannot bear suffering, and look for someone else to blame. In this respect, they resemble small children who cause themselves distress and unable to understand this, blame external circumstances. A child was eating watermelon and playing with the seeds, put a seed in his ear and couldn't get it out. Then he started crying that his ear hurt. The seed expanded and caused great pain. The mother wondered what was causing this. She called an experienced old woman to examine him. The old woman touched the outside of the ear and noticed a swelling. She asked the child if he had put something in his ear. Only then did he remember that he had put a seed in his ear that he couldn't get out. The old woman took a hook, carefully inserted it into his ear, and removed the seed. This is what older people do too: they put a thought, a feeling, or an action where it doesn't belong, and then wonder why they suffer. One must put everything in its place to avoid suffering. If you are a grocer, you will weigh the goods accurately: if you measure less than you should, you will be caught and lose people's trust. You will say that you did not notice this or that your servant made the mistake. Do not hide the truth! Be alert to your actions, and if you consciously make mistakes, admit it and start to improve yourself. You will say that you live well. Rejoice if you truly live well; but if your life is not pure enough, be grateful for the conditions and beings as you go through life, for they help you purify yourself. Human life on earth is like murky water that passes through the layers of the earth and gets purified. The layers through which this life passes are his mind, his heart, and his soul. As it passes through them, human life is purified and emerges as a pure spring, whose water benefits all living beings – plants, animals and humans. The purer the spring, the greater the joy of intelligent beings is. If the source is impure, they would say, "This life is not good, it needs to be further purified." They would say that someone's thoughts are not pure; about another, they would say that their feelings and desires are not pure. This shows that some people's minds, hearts, and wills, being filters of life, have not done their job well. Just as people feed on the fruits of trees, there are beings much lower and higher than humans who also feed on human thoughts and desires. Just as the fruits of trees become part of the human organism, so too do the thoughts, feelings, and actions of humans become part of the organisms of other beings. Therefore, the value of a person is determined by the fruits they offer to other beings. This is why we say that a person is responsible for their actions. God has assigned all people to work as co-workers for His cause. Once a person comes to Earth, they take on a responsibility that must be carried out accurately and conscientiously. Each person is an official whose work is audited at every moment. In the morning, when the sun rises, they take up their duties; they work throughout the day, and in the evening a special commission comes to audit their work. Thus, there is an audit every day, every week, every month, and every year. And finally, when all the work is completed, there is another audit. The final audit determines whether the person has been a good or a poor steward of their responsibilities. A person’s head and face show what kind of steward they were in their past lives, while their future portrait will show what they have accomplished in their present life. Whatever work a person undertakes must be done well. In this respect, one must be like a musician — every note must be pure and clear, with no discord and no ambiguity. What is required of a good musician? – To produce clean, clear, distinct tones. Each tone must have a specific shape, size, and weight. At the same time, the tone must have order, volume and life within it. If the musician's tone lacks these qualities, his music is no longer appealing. Which girls and boys attract people? – The beautiful ones. If they are not beautiful, no one is interested in them. Excessive beauty is dangerous, but excessive ugliness is also dangerous. What elevates a person is beauty; what lowers them is ugliness. You might say that the ugly will one day become beautiful, and the beautiful will become ugly. This is not the order. The ugly must become beautiful, and the beautiful must become good. The good must become just, and the just must become reasonable. These are the stages through which a person passes in their development. Beauty provides the external conditions of life. If you are beautiful, all people are ready to serve you. Beauty is like gold, which does not oxidize. Those who understand the properties of gold can utilize it the same way as the physical gold - to improve their material life; but they can also utilize it as organic gold to improve their inner spiritual life. Many diseases are due to the absence of organic gold in the blood. Weakness and anaemia are due to insufficient iron in the blood. When a person's thinking is rigid, it indicates that they have little phosphorus in their blood. These are abstract things that cannot be seen. People speak about thought, but nobody can see it. They say that someone thinks correctly, but there is a reason for that. Only those who are loved are able to think correctly. If nobody loves a person, they cannot think correctly. A mother compels her child to think through her love. The more she loves the child, the better they think. Initially, the child was in a dormant state, and gradually their thinking became active. When the mind manifests itself, the heart also manifests itself and becomes exalted. The heart, in turn, enables the body and its energy to manifest too. Therefore the mind, heart, and will are interconnected. The mind is connected to the heart, and the heart is connected to the body, i.e., to the strength of the person. Rationality is related to the mother. It represents the manifestation of the Divine Spirit in the person, which compels him to think. When a child responds to its mother's love, its mind wakes up and the child begins to think. When the mind, heart, and soul in a person wake up, they begin to live consciously. That means that a person moves in three directions—length, width, and height, or depth. Conscious living implies eating, drinking water, breathing, and absorbing light consciously. Many people eat, drink, and breathe without paying attention to these processes. In doing so, they make little use of the conditions. Breathing becomes meaningful when thought, feelings, and will are involved. Breathing, without a concentration of thought, does not contribute anything. As you breathe, you should slowly take in the air and slowly let it out. The way the air enters, the same way it should exit. Even breathe for five minutes, but think only of Divine, sublime things, not being distracted by ordinary matters. When hungry, one gains something valuable from eating by doing it with love and enjoyment. You should eat little, but with love: this brings more benefit than eating a big meal without love. Everything which is done with love, multiplies; everything which is not done with love, loses its value. Be content with little. If you have a single grain of wheat or a single matchstick, be content with that as well. One grain of wheat can produce 30, 60, or 100 grains. With a single matchstick, you can light a large fire to warm yourself and cook food for many people. "What should I do with a single grain of wheat?" – Plant it in the ground. "What should I do with a matchstick?" – Light a fire. Those who think reasonably, would put the matchstick in a place where the fire lights easily. To help the fire burn, they would fan it: this brings in more air and intensifies the burning. Fanning the fire corresponds to directing one's thoughts to where something valuable can be gained. Put your thoughts and feelings into whatever exercises you do, in order to benefit from them. In every exercise lies a certain blessing. To see the results, perform the physical as well as the breathing exercises, with faith and love. The results are great when you work with love and faith. Discard any doubts and keep working. Any doubt in thought, feeling, or will would lead to suffering. The effect of the doubt on the person resembles the air that the doctor inadvertently lets in when injecting blood into the patient. Upon entering of air in the blood, the patient is exposed to great discomfort. Similarly, I say: if doubt creeps into a person, they are exposed to great difficulties and suffering. Doubt is one of the dangerous parasites that multiplies rapidly: in 24 hours it is capable of poisoning a person's blood – and then one has to make great efforts to purify their blood again. Therefore, every exercise should be performed consciously. When you raise one hand, it indicates that you are accepting something; when you lower it, you are giving something. One hand assists the mind, and the other assists the heart. Through the fingers of the hand, a person perceives God's blessings. The thumb is associated with the will, with the Divine world. A person who's had the thumbs of both hands cut off becomes weak-willed. In ancient times, when someone was extremely stubborn, they wanted to punish them by cutting off their thumbs, and the person became weak-willed. The other four fingers are related to the angelic world. The index finger is associated with personal feelings, the middle finger with justice, the ring finger with a sense of beauty and elegance, and the little finger with honesty. Conscious work on oneself means to strive for beautiful things. Beauty lies in the Divine principle, and ugliness lies in the human principle. Do not engage with the human affairst, with people's mistakes. Everyone should correct their own mistakes. They are temporary appearances of things. You meet a bad person. Do not say that he is bad, but find the reasons that make them behave that way. Their role is this: they are placed in a position to frighten people. Once they accomplish their task, they will no longer act in a bad manner. You should pray for yourself and for the others. How should we pray? When you get up in the morning, gently stroke your forehead and say, “Lord, bless my forehead and the capacities hidden within it.” If you are not thinking appropriately, gently stroke your nose and direct your thoughts back to God. If your eyes see things wrongly, gently stroke them too. If you don't eat properly and don't speak properly, you should pray for your mouth and gently stroke it. If you don't perceive the sounds clearly, you should gently stroke your ears and pray for them. Then you should gently stroke your hands and feet, for serving you well. Express gratitude for the limbs that have been given for your service. They are your servants, and you are their masters. You depend on them. What will happen to you if your eyes, ears, mouth, nose, hands, and feet refuse to serve you? You will find yourself in a position of being completely disabled. You should be kind to yourself, i.e., to all your body parts in order to evolve properly. People are not allowed to be rude to themselves. If your nose itches, do not scratch it harshly, but stroke it gently with your hand and then wash it with warm water. If a person is hard on themselves, they will be even harder on others. A person must have high morals, which they must apply first to themselves and then to their fellows. Learn through yourself, and then apply what you have learned to your fellows. What do the worldly people do? They visit various thermal spas where they are treated by staying in the water for half an hour to relieve pain in their hands and feet. They take care of their feet, their hands, their whole body. Should a person wait until their feet are sore to take care of them? Be attentive to your limbs before they start aching. Treat your mind and heart well so that you can make use of the conditions invested in them. It is determined for each person how much and what they should achieve through their mind and heart. Work on yourself with love so that you can benefit from its powers. Love is the only energy that gives without taking anything. It has no expectations of anyone. While Love is working within you, take advantage of it, but be careful not to lose it. It abandons the person when they try to keep it only for themselves. It is like water that cannot be suppressed. Should you suppress it, it would destroy the banks, flood you, and continue on its way. Rejoice in the Love that gives life and light to all. Be grateful that it comes to everyone and provides for every living being according to their needs. Light and warmth come to Earth thanks to Love. All goodness comes to Earth thanks to Love. It is said that God is Love. Therefore, thank God for everything He provides for you. If you wish to be healthy and live well, work with Love. Let Love guide your life. Avoid any relationship with people who do not serve Love. Do not befriend people who have nothing to do with Love. Do not form relationships with people who are loveless. What did Eve achieve from her relationship with the black adept. She gained nothing, not only that, but she lost her happiness and freedom for thousands of years. Whoever associates with lovelessness, enters the realm of death; whoever associates with Love enters the realm of eternal life. Gaining favourable conditions for the development of your mind, your heart, and your soul means to achieve eternal life. This requires gratitude for everything you have been given. If there is something wrong with you, do not seek to blame others, but rather correct yourself. The fault lies in your past, in one of your grandfathers or great-grandfathers who did not live well. Correct your mistake to help your grandfather or great-grandfather as well. Many people despair of their lives, and would say that they have grown old and can no longer achieve anything. Stop thinking about being old. Is a person old at the age of 60, 70, or more? A person's age is determined by the time they have spent serving Love. If someone is 70 years old but has devoted themselves to serve Love for the past 20 years, they are actually 20 years old. If they have turned to God two years ago, they are only a two-year-old child. Why should they not feel like a child, why should they not be ready to listen to adults and learn? Everyone enjoys children, everyone loves them. A child brings something new and everyone wants a piece of it. Everyone loves a good person because they can enjoy their fruits. A person is not a dry tree, but a living tree that bears fruit. Every tree that does not bear fruit shall be cut down and thrown into the fire. You should improve yourself so that not only to bear fruits, but also to ensure that your fruits are of good quality. May all who taste your fruits be grateful and wish to pick them again. You should strive to resemble fruitful trees with good thoughts and feelings: may everyone look for you and desire your fruits. Religious people await the arrival of the Spirit. What will the Spirit discover within them? It only visits those who bear fruit. When Moses led the Jews out of Egypt, God gave them laws to follow. In order to benefit from God's blessings, they had to learn the law of sacrifice. Without sacrifice, a person cannot achieve anything valuable. The Jews did not know this law. They were not ready for any sacrifice, so they had to start with material sacrifice first. Someone gets up in the morning and thinks about what to do. If there is no work to be done, let them water the flowers and trees. "I don't have trees and flowers in my garden." – Go to another garden, to a fellow's garden, and water that one. Afterwards you should feed the birds, offering them crumbs, especially in wintertime when the ground is covered with snow. When you learn to make small sacrifices, you will then join learned people in order to acquire knowledge. Furthermore, sacrifices are required. People of sacrifice and Love are true scholars. You should help those who are smaller and weaker than you, so that you may also benefit from their services. When you clear the trees of caterpillars, they will thank you and give you their fruit. You will say that this is not your job. Anything wrong that a person sees, must be corrected, especially if it is within their power to do so. You should sing when you get up in the morning. "The one who sings, has no evil thoughts," says the Bulgarian proverb. Today, everyone wants to get younger, but they don't know what to do or how to become young. Love rejuvenates people. It creates, builds life, and renews it; it brings harmony everywhere. Pay attention to the little things. That is what Love does. It does not neglect anyone. You meet a person who is hunched over. Do not criticize them, do not mock them, but rather find out the reason for their hunching over. If their burden is physical, take some of it off and make it easier for them; if their burden is emotional, say a few kind, encouraging words to cheer them up; if their burden is mental, send them some bright thoughts to lift them up. Send good thoughts to your loved ones so that they may send them back to you. Good and exalted beings—people and angels—work in the world with their thoughts and feelings and uplift all of humanity. Be bearers of goodness and beauty in the world so that you may enjoy God's blessings. The rejuvenation and nobility of man lies in this. This is eternal life, to know You, the One True God, and Christ, Whom You have sent. 14th lecture by the Master, held on August 5, 1942, 5:00 a.m., Sofia – Izgrev Преведено от Елеонора Петкова Проверено то Невенка Димитрова

Abode of Bliss Gospel of John, chapter 3 Reflection Unless one is born again, cannot see the kingdom of God. One born again is one born of Love, made alive in Wisdom and resurrected in Truth. This is the man who now comes forth from God and goes into the world to manifest the power of God, to manifest the power of good, the power of righteousness, and the power of understanding. This is the man who brings the knowledge of love and the power of mercy. This is the man who brings the light of Wisdom. He opens the eyes of the blind. This is the man who brings Truth and freedom. This is the man who brings the life of immortality. Build your home from the threads of Love, weave it from the threads of Wisdom, adorn it with the threads of Truth. Then set a table in your home and invite Love to visit, invite Wisdom to visit, invite Truth to visit. Arise and serve them, that you may learn how to live. Stop worrying about the little things - out of them gems are created. Stop worrying about muddy water - it fertilizes life. Stop worrying about the darkness that limits life. Darkness and light are friends of love. Knowledge and ignorance are friends of Wisdom. Bondage and freedom are friends of truth. Darkness is the Old Testament, light is the New Testament. The one born of the flesh is the man of the Old Covenant, the one born of the Spirit is the new man - the person of Love. Any person who worries about biting flies cannot understand the world. He who harnesses the biting flies to work - to plough the earth, understands life. Make cattle, cows, horses out of the biting flies and put a samar to them: let them also work, help life. Do not think what will become of them and what is their fate. Let them work. Better work than biting; better eating than kicking; better talking than gloating. Make the biting flies sing. Make the biting flies play the dance, as young maidens and young men. Let the biting flies become the disciples of good men. Let the biting flies become students of life. Let the biting flies forget their past discontent and not be proud of making the oxen run away from them. For when the weak chases the strong, he becomes ridiculous; when the weak kicks the strong, his legs are dislocated; when the weak wrestles with the strong, his arms are crippled; when the weak argues with the strong, he becomes stupid. Do not try to defeat the Almighty. Do not try to outwit the wise. Do not try to restrain the free. Become a servant of Love! Become a disciple of Wisdom! Become a servant of Truth! Better love than hate; better knowledge than ignorance; better freedom than slavery. Biting flies created lovelessness, ignorance and slavery. What does it cost you to give up a biting fly? There is no weaker creature than the biting fly. What hinders you from defeating it? Don't fool yourself into thinking that the biting fly is strong. God will blow the whistle and all the biting flies will begin to play the dance. God will blow the whistle and all the biting flies will begin to sing in chorus. God will blow the whistle and all the biting flies will pick up the banner of freedom and fly it around the world. Become the chief of the biting flies and lead them forward as a standard-bearer: to sing, to play, to jump and say that this is the new life in the world. Thank You, Lord, for the Love You have sent into the world! Thank You, Lord, for the Wisdom You have sent into the world! Thank You, Lord, for the Truth You have sent into the world! They will bring us into the abode of bliss. The 12th Lecture by the Master, held at the Seven Rila Lakes on July 3, 1942, 5:00 p.m.

Self-improvement "The Good Prayer” "I will rejoice" I will read the second chapter of the Gospel of Matthew.* I will speak on self-improvement. In chapter 2 from the Gospel of Matthew, the keyword "birth" is emphasized. Birth is a great act in nature that brings great consequences in its wake. When a person is born, when a thought is born, when a feeling is born, when a deed is born, then certain events can unfold. Outside of that context, it is an ordinary process and we will not deal with ordinary things, because they are worn out, they are like the dried-out husk of the wheat, the bran, which is thrown away. So, whether people would go to Heaven or to hell is not the important thing. It is irrelevant for me whether a man is rich or poor. It's important to be intelligent, fair, and good-hearted in any conditions and in any place. If an intelligent, fair, and good-hearted person goes to Heaven, then it is heavenly because of them. If the same person goes to hell, it will be experienced as a paradise. What is the purpose of self-improvement? It is a process by which one learns how to enter paradise. Let us create a paradise within ourselves. The word ‘hell’ is a human concept. Hell is not what people think it is. Many educated people live in hell—professors, scientists, doctors, you name it. And yet in hell, they get married and have children. According to the present-day concept, hell is only a place of fire. But fire is a great blessing in life. Fire plays an important role in the creation of the world. And in our times it still has a great significance. Evil comes when people do not know how to use the fire, and they cause suffering because of that. Evil comes when a person does not know how to use food properly or when a person does not know how to use the air and light which nature provides to them in abundance. We can observe that all of nature is a result of self-improvement. When we consciously work on our self-improvement, we become able to correctly manage all the blessed resources that nature has given to us. We are currently entering the era of self-improvement. People talk about self-improvement, but they do not know what self-improvement is. The word “self-improvement” (Bulg. samovazpitaniye) comes from the root word pitaya (Eng. “to feed'”), meaning to nourish ourselves, or to nourish a thought or a feeling, or to support a deed regarding a concept in the world. The (Bulgarian) word pita (Eng. ”enquiry”) comes from pitam (Eng. “query, enquiry”). Sometimes several words with several meanings originate from the same root. You cannot feed (nourish yourself) properly if you do not love food. When a person feeds themselves, they should ponder on what kind of food is best for them and how much of it they need. To love and to be devoted means to be connected with intelligent beings. Love and devotion can exist only in a rational world. Outside the rational world there are different, mechanical laws and Love cannot exist there. When people are not intelligent, this means that they are not in the rational world. It is not easy for a person to improve on their own. But since we live in three worlds at the same time—the physical world, where actions are born; the mental world, where thoughts are born; and the spiritual world, where feelings are born. Knowing this, people need to self-improve themselves in the three worlds. This is the reason that sometimes you find some “ordinary” things to be very strange. You would say that being a clairvoyant would help with self-improvement. What does it mean to be a clairvoyant? A person who sees far and sees clearly. How can we know who is a clairvoyant? When we test them and see how far and how clearly they can see. There is no need to tell me that someone is a great musician. I am an authority when it comes to music, and by listening to them play, I can tell whether they are great. When I hear them, I am my own authority. How do I know whether they are a great musician? I don't know, but I listen to the musician and I have a perception. I can recognize that this person plays well, and I like it. No other evidence is needed. So, I am saying that in the same way, the clairvoyant sees. The clairvoyant can see far away, they can see clearly. How does one see? There is more light. With little light, one can see little; with much light, one can see more. When the moon rises, you can see little. When the sun rises, you can see more. I am saying that these people who have more internal light can see farther. Those who have less light can only see what is closer. You may ask, “Can a clairvoyant be born that way?” If you have eyes, if you are not blind, you can turn into a clairvoyant. If you have ears, you can hear and be a clairaudient. If you have a sense of smell, you can smell the flowers. Some people have a much nicer aroma than the carnationsor roses. Some people have such a bad scent that it resembles a Scotch thistle. If you approach a materialistic person, you may notice a materialistic scent that emanates from them. If a person is spiritual, a spiritual scent emanates from them. If a person is intelligent, an intelligent scent emanates from them. You may ask how these things happen. Develop your sense of smell, develop your hearing, develop your sight, and you will understand. I am talking to you about things that, when you witness them, you shall perceive them. Then they will become clear to you. Yet no matter how well I explain them to you, until you witness them, you cannot understand them. It is like explaining the light to a blind person; no matter how well I explain it to him, he would be unable to understand it and say, “This matter is very obscure.” Nowadays, people often do not want to improve themselves. They instead count on inherited qualities. Yet, inherited qualities stem from self-improvement. Whatever the father and the mother have obtained through self-improvement, they pass on to their children. Whatever the children have attained through self-improvement, they also pass on to following generations. People constantly influence each other and pass qualities to others. Religious people pass their faith onto others too. If you come upon a religious person, a desire would arise in you to inherit the power that radiates from them. If you befriend scholars, they will inspire you to learn. So, whoever you befriend, you improve by learning about their qualities. Many people want to become saints while being merchants. That can never happen. Should you want the saint to become a merchant, that also won't be possible. These are two impossible things. The saint who wants to become a merchant is like a man who leaves true wealth behind and starts to graze grass. It is time to transform your entire life. This cannot happen in any other way except the process of self-improvement. Love cannot become accessible to one unless they develop a desire to change their entire life. How would you know if someone has transformed their life and has acquired love? You need to put them to the test. To find out what would come out of a grain of wheat, you must plant it in the ground. Otherwise, it will not reveal what it is. How would you find out what would come out of the seeds of pears, apples, and plums unless you plant them? Once you plant them, they will turn into trees and in time will bear fruit and through their fruits you will get to know them. To know the fruit, you need to love it. That is why love and devotion play an important role in the process of self-improvement and in raising others. Unless you have love and devotion, you cannot improve yourself. Everyone has experienced love and devotion. But the quantity of love and devotion has decreased. Something has been lost along the way. Only traces of the thought of love remain, and only traces of the feeling of devotion can be found. The traces from love and devotion could be compared to the bones of dead people. You would put the bones of your close ones in a bag and say those are sacred bones. The bones of everyone who hasn’t been raised with love and devotion would rest in a bag. Such a person we would consider to be dead. Everyone who has been raised with love and devotion we consider to have transitioned from death to life, that is, they have entered the state of immortality. Since all people wish to be happy, and happiness cannot exist where death is present, we must avoid everything that causes dying. Sometimes a small desire in a person can trip them up and lead them to the field of death. One day I witnessed several children playing with a duck. They were jumping and playing on the lawn, and the duck was swirling among them. I wondered why the duck was not running away, but was staying close by. I approached them to see that the children had strung corn on a thin string. The bird had swallowed the corn greedily, but the end of the string had remained in the hands of one of the boys, and they were pulling it. I found this joke to be cruel and decided to set the duck free from the hands of the naughty boys. I asked them, “How much do you want for the duck? I want to buy it from you.” I wanted to help the duck, to correct their mistake. They said, “If you buy us sugar cubes, we'll let it go.” “How much?” “Twenty coins for sugar.” Twenty coins was a lot of money back then. Still, I said, “That's cheap.” I bought sugar for them and cut the rope. The duck swallowed the rope and walked away. I whispered to the duck, “Don't eat corn on a string again.” The duck nodded its head slightly. How can one distinguish between good and evil in the world? The actual good and the actual evil are invisible. That which is visible on earth are the shadows of good and the shadows of evil. It is interesting that the shadows of evil are positive, while the evil itself is negative. It casts positive shadows. Take a thief who wants to steal from a cash register. They would think, “If I take two or three hundred thousand Bulgarian levs, I could go abroad and become a learned man, provide for my family, and help the poor. Also, this money does not belong to the owner of the cash register, but to God.” Thinking that way, one could get overwhelmed by the positive shadows of evil. If the person commits the theft, they could get caught, convicted, and imprisoned for maybe ten to fifteen years in an austere dungeon. The shadow of the good is negative, but the good itself is positive. When one decides to steal from a cash register, the shadow of the good appears immediately, and starts to cause fear in the person. “Don't do it! You will go to prison, you will become ill, you will lose the favor of the Lord.” Whoever keeps this warning in mind, they will be saved and will enter the field of good where everything is positive. Beware of those who make big promises. Wherever there are big promises, evil is there. Wherever there is a little promise, there is goodness. The goodness says, ‘Choose poverty, death, instead of wealth and a posh life, that is the only way to benefit from the grace of God.” Evil says: “Glory, greatness, everything in the world should be preferred before poverty and infamy. Why would you be poor and suffer all your life?” In the last century the great American evangelist preacher D. L. Moody used to hold open space revival meetings in England. One day, a wealthy Englishnoblewoman was passing by in a carriage and decided to stop and hear what this “windbag” preacher was talking about. Moody interrupted his sermon and said to the congregation, “I am selling the soul of a certain lady to God. What does the world offer for this soul? Here is what Christ gives for it.” He explained what the world gives and what Christ gives for it. When he declared what Christ gives for a soul, the lady got out of her carriage and became a Christian. Today everyone is selling their soul and looking to find out what they can get. Why do you walk with your heads down? Evil treads upon you. How does evil trample on you, with illnesses or poverty? What is so bad about sickness and poverty? Lift your heads up and rejoice in the illness or poverty. What are you deprived of when ill or poor? Everyone carries a valuable treasure within themselves. People have eyes, ears, a nose, a mouth, a heart, lungs, a stomach and so on. ll this is worth billions and yet people think they are poor. People have souls and a spirit which also are worth billions. Should a person with this valuable treasure consider themselves poor? Should a person having all the methods to cure oneself be considered sick when they can heal themselves? Years ago, a rich man from Sofia, who suffered from an incurable disease, came to me and said, “I have heard that you can heal. If you cure me, I will give you a lot of money.” I said, “How much do you think you can pay? Five, ten thousand is not enough.” When a person wants to cure himself or herself, they have to be ready to let go of all their possessions. Besides that, after they get well, they should devote their life to God, to serve Him. If one could promise that, I will agree to heal them. Why should a person not give everything to the One who has given them everything? The gentleman who wanted to be cured started thinking and he is still contemplating my offer. If he finds a doctor better than God, who can heal him physically, mentally, and emotionally, he can go to him. God can cure all the disabilities and illnesses in humans. In other words, love can cure all internal and external illnesses and disabilities in people. It can heal, uplift, and resurrect people. Some people, not knowing the power of Love, may ask why they should love or think of love. People should think of love and should love others because they cannot live without others. Love and devotion give an impulse, a stimulus in people. You are interested in a person only because you love them. We are interested in bread or infruit trees, because we love them. When love disappears, our interest in things fades away too and the conditions of self-development and improvement fade away with them. You may say that you do not have a relationship with plants. That is not true. Fruit trees represent the energies of higher beings with which you have special conditions. You cannot live without them. They awaken various impulses to do good. They awaken beautiful thoughts of higher nature in your mind and noble feelings and desires in your heart. When Eve ate the fruit of the tree in Eden, in which were hidden latent lower energies, they evoked lower impulses within her—vanity and pride. She believed she was able to transform life, same as God. As she ate the fruit, she wished to be glorified and wanted the whole world to know her, even the next generations. But that was not the case. Eve became the reason for the fall of humanity and for Christ's crucifixion. When Christ was with his disciples, Eve was also on Earth and wept bitterly. She realized her mistake and regretted it. Eve realized that she deceived herself in her thoughts and desires. Her sin was in the lack of love. Eve ate the fruit without love. She loved two people with different love. Love is one and indivisible. When there is a two-sided love, it is not Love. If you think you love two people and the love for one is different from your love for the other, you are on the wrong path. There is no difference in real Love. When you love a person or an animal, it is the same love. The difference lies in the fact that a person appreciates the love towards them, while an animal does not value the love or values it less. You do not feed a person the same food as an animal. You have two different phenomena. When you feed a person good food, they can become a poet, an artist, a musician, a sculptor, a philosopher. An animal cannot become a doctor or a poet; it will remain an animal. It will thank you and say, “I cannot use this food.” Do not assume that the plants and the animals are ignorant but instead be grateful that we can benefit from their energies. In the Divine world they are conscious beings, as humans are, but here on Earth they perform a duty of a lower nature. On Earth they live collectively. On Earth, the living beings are shadows of a reality that exists in another world. And the human being, too, is but a shadow of the true human—who has not yet fully manifested on Earth. Until the shadows of the humans become reality, they will keep transforming their forms. When the shadow becomes smaller and smaller, that means that the human is closer to reality. The bigger the shadow, the further from reality the person is. When suffering increases, then the blessings increase too. When the suffering and blessings increase, then the person gets closer to reality. Since you know that, take advantage of the sufferings and the blessings as soon as they come. What does the student do at school? They study, they work, and they solve mathematical tasks, They study for four to five hours, they work and their efforts, their labor and work, eventually bring success. It is not easy to become a scholar, a musician, an artist, or a sculptor. It requires many years to explore the libraries, to work with the bow on the strings of the violin, with the brush on the canvas, or with a hammer. The violinist must create an invisible violin that penetrates his own instrument. Only that way can the violinist can become a virtuoso. This invisible violin will have the property of attracting the fingers precisely to the places where they will form the notes that are needed. Sometimes I watch violinists play. The bow moves across the strings, but it takes twenty years to learn how to draw the bow properly, sometimes even thirty years. You know how delicate the nuances are; sometimes there is a slight adjustment that changes the tone. It takes a violinist twenty to thirty years to learn to play the right notes with his right hand and to take the right positions. Therefore until you connect with the Divine within yourselves and allow the Divine to permeate the physical body, you cannot live well. Outside of the Divine, we cannot live well. By not being aware of that, we fear the Divine, we think of Him as a monster. One of the Jewish prophets complained, saying, “Lord, You are standing in my path like a bear before me.” It was his misconception. It is not possible for your creator to stand in your path and chase you. This is how the prophet Jeremiah used to think; he used to be a great patriot and love his people. He used to think that the Lord gave the Jewish people great suffering. They made so many mistakes that had to be redeemed. The Jewish people had to learn obedience. The conscious world wanted them to pay attention and be reasonable, to be fair and to be good. Like all other peole, the Jewish people also needed to learn how to be reasonable, fair, and good. One of the ancient teachers of Wisdom sent one of his disciples out into the world to study. The disciple wanted to become famous quickly, so he decided to cure sick people. He opened the eyes of the blind, the ears of the deaf, and cured the crippled so they walked again. Indeed, he soon became famous, but he also encountered great surprises. All those whom he had healed began to beat him and chase him away from their kingdom. They thought to themselves, "This man will want money for healing us. To get rid of him, we must chase him away." The disciple was forced to flee and returned to his teacher to complain that, instead of gratitude, everyone responded with sinister ingratitude. What was the reason for the contradiction he encountered? The teacher listened to him and then replied: “The mistake is yours. Before opening the eyes of the blind, you should have taught them to love the light; before opening the ears of the deaf, you should have taught them to love sound; before healing people's feet, you should have taught them to love movement and to know how to walk.” Should you give light and knowledge to someone who hasn't given up their crimes? Should you educate someone who isn't ready for a high culture? What are modern people doing with their technical inventions? Today, all the airplanes, steamships, and submarines are used more for destruction than for bringing something good to culture. What culture is this? Nowadays, most people strive for great things, for great achievements. Everyone wants big houses, palaces and mansions. Why do you need big houses? A day will come when all houses will be small, simple, with walls as thin as a spider's web. If it is a question of big houses, here, the Earth is the biggest house of all, with a big roof – the vault of heaven. What else do you want? Isn't it better to take a seat and craft a magnetic house that weighs only a hundred grams? When you get up, you will pick up your home and take it with you. If you want two rooms, you will spread them out somewhere and immediately find shelter. One room will weigh a hundred grams, two rooms will weigh two hundred grams, and so on. It is important to master the art of making magnetic rooms. Once you master this art, you can rent them out. When working on self-improvement, keep in mind the first and foremost task: to develop love for God within yourself. Until you develop this feeling, you will always be exposed to great suffering and trials. Why, when eating bread, does a person not think about the source from which it comes? By thinking about this, a person connects with that category of solar beings who send their energy to create bread. Different beings send different energies from the Sun to specific places. There are beings on the Sun who are particularly interested in Bulgaria. They allocate a special budget for Bulgaria: how much wheat, how much fruit to send. They determine exactly how many children should be born each year, how many people get married and how many die. At the same time, they are also interested in how the goods people receive have been used. You might say that the Sun is a fiery body and nothing more. But besides being a fiery body, the Sun is also a confederation of bright, intelligent beings. How do humans know that the Sun is a fiery body? From scientists, whom they regard as authorities. Religious people consider Moses, Buddha, Mohammed, and Christ to be authorities. When talking about the creation of the world, they say that Moses wrote about this subject. According to him, God created the world in six days. Theologians argue about this question – how is it possible to create the world in six days? Some would say that these six days are six Divine days, and others would say that they are 24-hour-long days, like our days. In the future, when humans become masters of their own minds, hearts, and will-powers, then humans shall attain a clear idea of the creation of the world. Until then, humans shall accept things as hypotheses. One day, when humans learn to serve their mind, heart, and soul, then they will go to the Sun themselves and see how the world was created. Today, humans live on a relatively small planet— the Earth—and cannot take it in fully, so what would their situation be if they lived on the Sun, which is 1.5 million times larger than the Earth? One day the Sun will be inhabited like the Earth and would be illuminated by another sun, larger than that one. In the same way that ants cannot comprehend the idea of what the Earth, on which they live, is like, thus we cannot imagine what the Sun is like and how one can live on it. For ants, the Earth is the largest planet imaginable. For them, the Earth is something divine. It is said in Scripture, “I returned to the promised land; and I entered there with the sons of God.” The “promised land” refers to the Earth, in which there is no shortage of anything. Upon entering there, humans are freed from fear and all hardships. The Promised Land represents the favorable conditions in life. What is a human terrified of? The darkness. There is a dark zone around the Earth where all negative human thoughts, desires, and actions hover. When a human gets close to them, he shudders. When exalted beings pass through this zone, they raise their staffs like Moses and part it, opening a free path for themselves. Those who have knowledge pass through this zone effortlessly; those who have no knowledge get lost in it. The bridge connecting the dark zone with the light zone is very narrow, like a thread. The righteous person passes over it easily. In this respect, they are like acrobats. The sinners, however, when they come to it, hesitate, their world turns upside down, and they fall into the abyss. That is why it is said that when a human being departs for the other world, they must renounce everything earthly, everything personal, and carry nothing with them. Only that way can one safely pass through the dark zone. Knowing human nature, God has placed the dark zone as a boundary between this world and the other, so that no theft can take place. On Earth, you can steal as much as you want, but in the promised land, no theft or crime is allowed. There, you can only take your bright thoughts and desires with you. There, everything is immortal. When it comes to your material and mortal thoughts and desires, you will leave them on Earth. A man must be born again. This means to accept the idea of Christ, to allow the Divine in oneself. Christ is the Divine principle that connects all souls. He cannot come to Earth a second time. Why? Because He already has experience of human love. However, Christ manifests Himself everywhere in the world. You will meet Him in every pure heart, in every bright mind, and in every exalted soul. Is this possible? Just as the Sun is reflected in thousands of mirrors, so Christ manifests Himself in thousands of souls. He manifests Himself through a human's thoughts, feelings, and actions. Just as the sunlight enters through our eyes, in the same way the Divine light penetrates human souls. Some religious people quote verses from Moses, from the prophets and apostles. It is true that we learn from them, but today we also learn from contemporary Christians. We learn what God has revealed to them, but they also learn from what God has revealed to us. Christ brought Love into the world, but despite this, He suffered. In this way, He learned what God's Love is. He realized that there is no betrayal in God's Love—it is eternal and boundless. Christ trusted God to the end, and that is why He was resurrected on the third day. If there was anything that made Him great, it was His Love for God. He did not doubt it for a moment. Therefore, whoever trusts in God's Love, will rise. Whoever does not trust in it will fall into the abyss. Live on Earth, enjoy the blessings of life, but do not set yourself the goal of taking these blessings to the other world. When the time comes for you to depart for the other world, you must have renounced everything earthly. In the other world, there are numerous and more valuable blessings than those on Earth. Do not take with you things that rot and decay, but take your good, bright, and noble thoughts, feelings, and deeds, and thank God for them. Give thanks for everything He has given you. Be grateful for the sufferings and joys you have experienced on Earth. Everything will turn out for the best. Let us come back to the question of self-improvement. In order to improve oneself, one must absorb knowledge from everywhere. Whatever environment you enter, you will learn something. If you come among the poor and suffering ones, you will learn one thing; if you come among healthy and cheerful people, you will learn another thing; if you come among musicians, scientists, or philosophers, you will gain something from them. People learn from both experiences— from joys as well as sorrows. Suffering is a method for purifying the human heart. Just as water in nature is purified through filtering and evaporation, so suffering submits the human heart to the same ordeal until it is purified. So the heart is purified through both joy and suffering. When you rejoice, you shall share your joy with your close one. When you suffer, you shall keep your suffering to yourself. If you do so, you will gain in both cases. If you do the opposite —keeping your joy to yourself and sharing your suffering and sorrow with your close one—you would lose in both cases. Those who do not understand this law, seek ways to place their suffering on the shoulders of others. This is not right. You will give your suffering to God and your joy to your neighbor. That is why it is said in Scripture: “Cast your burden upon the Lord.” Only God is able to assess human suffering and give it its due. To share your sorrow with God and your joy with people means to improve yourself in a new way. So, while you are on Earth, take advantage of the conditions it offers you. When you go to Heaven, you will enjoy the conditions there. If you do not use the earthly conditions wisely, you will not be able to use the heavenly ones either. Be content with what you have now. All humans suffer from abundance, not from scarcity. Give away the excess to relieve yourselves. You are travelers, visitors on the Earth. Everyone carries a heavier backpack than they can handle. Take the excess load off your back and leave only as much as you could carry with joy and ease. 2 August, 10 a.m., Sofia— Izgrev *Gospel of Matthew, Ch. 2 The Magi Visit the Messiah 1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: 6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’” 7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” 9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. The Escape to Egypt 13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” 14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” 16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: 18 “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” The Return to Nazareth 19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.” 21 So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.

Beauty of Life Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 12 Reflection "For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother, sister, and mother." (Matthew 12:50) In a life well-lived and thoughtful, Love is beauty. In a life pure and kind, Wisdom is beauty. In a life bright and virtuous, Truth is beauty. Sustain the beauty of Love, Preserve the purity of Wisdom, Keep the brilliance of Truth— and you will always be joyful and blessed, for God abides in them. Love, through its beauty, fills the entire Divine world. Wisdom, through its purity, penetrates all of Being. Truth, through its light, upholds the freedom of all beings in the Divine world. Cherish Love. Seek Wisdom. Embrace Truth. Let them be lanterns for your soul, for through them, God reveals Himself to those who seek Him. Call to God through Love. Reach for Him through Wisdom. Draw near Him through Truth. Only then will you hear the gentle voice of His Spirit— speaking to your spirit, speaking to your soul, speaking to your mind, and speaking to your heart. The kindness of God always abides in His Love, in His Wisdom, in His Truth. Through them, His infinite kindness is revealed. Serve the Lord with Love, serve Him with Wisdom, serve Him with Truth— and you shall have life, light, and freedom. May the beauty of Love, the purity of Wisdom, and the light of Truth abide in you! Abide in them, so they may also abide in you. They are the new life that God is sending into the world. The Spirit of God desires mercy, not sacrifice. 11th lecture by the Master, given at the Seven Rila Lakes on July 2, 1942, 5:00 a.m. Преведена от Невенка Димитрова Редактирана от Елеонора Петкова

The New Culture Today, people torment one another. Their means of transport—ships and vessels—sink. The current war is the most dreadful in humanity's history. Such a war has never occurred before. Never have so many soldiers been mobilized. Tens of millions are fighting ferociously. All wars and misunderstandings among people stem from the disobedience of the first humans. If Adam and Eve had listened and fulfilled God's commandment, none of this would be happening today. The world became morally corrupted due to the disobedience of first Eve, then Adam. They now witness the misfortunes and sufferings of humanity. They see the consequences of disobedience. Thus, Eve learned the following truth: when the faucet on the upper floor is opened, the entire building floods with water. It is time for the old to pass away and for new people to come—people of brotherhood who consider the good of their neighbor as their own. What will happen to the wicked? They will be replaced by good people. What about the weak? They will be given conditions to become strong. They must become strong in order to manifest Love. So far, only the weak have expressed Love, and thus all have been miserable. Those who are weak, though they carry Love, fear they might spill all its warmth and light—they are afraid that both they and the world might burn. The strong will release all the warmth and light of Love to illuminate all humanity. What harm is there if the world is filled with more light and warmth? Better a blazing flame and brightness than smoke and soot. Today, the world gives off more smoke and fumes than it radiates light. Yet Love is entering the world. Its light and warmth are not mechanical forces, but organic—they purify all things. To pass through the light and warmth of Love means to undergo sufferings that cleanse and renew. Love is the bearer of life. Today, Goodness, Reasonableness, and Justice are at war—as elements of the Great Love, Wisdom, and Truth. God has placed His power in their hands. Whoever applies them will benefit from light, knowledge, and freedom and will learn. Whoever does not apply them will keep the book closed and gain nothing from its light. They will be forced to go to the fields to plow and dig. Many ask why Adam and Eve sinned. For two reasons: on one hand, they desired to become like God; on the other, they wanted to taste the forbidden fruit and satisfy their hunger. They thought this would make them strong like God and thus separated from Him. Man is strong only as long as he is connected to the First Cause, the Whole. The hand is strong while connected to the body. Once separated, it can do nothing. Man's strength lies in his connection with Love. Only the loving, wise, and truth-loving one achieves his desires and becomes a citizen of the Kingdom of God. Modern people, especially religious people, speak of the other world, of angels, but do not realize that no one can enter there without love, knowledge, and freedom. You will say you already possess these. But these are still human attributes. With merely human attributes, no one is accepted into that world. Nothing unclean is allowed there. You may say Christ redeemed you with His blood. But Christ's blood is nothing but the Word revealed through Love, Wisdom, and Truth in their fullness. In them, there is no suffering, hardship, loss, or deprivation. A person suffers when they distance themselves from Love. Then they lose health, emotions, thoughts, and wealth. People suffer because they do not fulfill the law of Love. The first humans broke this law, and thus people suffer to this day. They were tested through the forbidden fruit to see how much they value freedom and how they understand Love. Even now people value outer wealth more than inner wealth. In truth, man is elevated through his mind, heart, soul, and spirit—not through forbidden thoughts, feelings, and desires. In obedience and fulfillment of God’s commandments lies man’s strength. So, the first sin stems from the disobedience of the first humans. Eve sinned through her heart, and Adam through his mind. Through this path, they introduced a foreign element into life. That element will be cast out through suffering. Scripture says: "The heel of the woman will crush the serpent's head." The heel, the sole of the foot, represents goodness. So, goodness will crush the mind of the serpent. The woman's foot will be stronger than the serpent's head. Rejoice, for the time has come to rectify humanity, to receive the light and warmth of Love. The time has come to settle accounts with the old order. The new order means the creation of a new world where Love will reign. In the old order, Love was present only to comfort the suffering. It would say: "Be heroes to bear your given trials." It tells the weak and the sick: "Rise from your bed, take your weapon, and march forward!" The sick need not comfort and distraction, but strength and impulse. Why did Christ come to Earth two thousand years ago? To prepare the conditions for the coming of the Kingdom of God on Earth among people of Love. The new order will last thousands of Divine, not human, years. That is why it is said: "Their kingdom is forever and ever." The righteous will be revived, will gain strength and power, will resurrect, and will conquer death. Blessed are the righteous and the saints. What is a saint? He carries light for all humanity. He is born pure and bright, has not followed the path of the ordinary man, has not fallen and risen. He is strong because he is connected to God. Blessed are those who await resurrection. They are preparing to emerge from their cocoons. The resurrected one is a strong person. In the future, even the wild beasts will recognize that a new era has come. All plants, animals, and people will rejoice in the new order. All will be friends with each other. Earth will be transformed into a paradise. Many ask how much time is left before reaching the shore. The shore is already in sight. Spring is near. Migratory birds are arriving and heralding the spring. Today, humanity is living through the last days of winter. Work for the quicker arrival of spring. Let us all say with one heart: "The Kingdom of God on Earth is near." This is eternal life: to know You, the one true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent. —Tenth lecture by the Master, given at the Seven Rila Lakes, July 1, 1942, 7:00 a.m. Преведена от Невенка Димитрова Редактирана от Ненси Крамптон

“Beauty and Kindness,” July 1, 1942. Gospel of John, Chapter 18 For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to My voice. (v. 37) Beautiful and kind is Love. Beautiful and kind is Wisdom. Beautiful and kind is Truth. Through them, God reveals Himself to the world. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and in Truth. —Ninth lecture by the Master, given at the Seven Rila Lakes on July 1, 1942, at 5:00 a.m. Преведена от Невенка Димитрова Радактирана от Ненси Кромптон

The New World The soul is a temple of Truth, the mind is a sanctuary of Wisdom, the heart is an altar of Love. God created the world of light for the eyes, the world of sound for the ears, the world of fragrance for the nose, the world of speech for the mouth, work for the hands, movement for the feet, and the body to be a dwelling place for the soul. The old human being was created for life and movement. The new human being is created for Love and for Knowledge. Therefore, the human moves from life to Love; from Love to God. Only in this way can a person come to know that God is everything in the world. We do not speak of the world of darkness in which people wander, but of the world of Light, which opens their eyes to a new knowledge of God. We speak of the world of Light in which people are resurrected. God is the eternal beauty of life. God is the eternal fulfillment of Love. God is the eternal expression of beauty—the foundation of Goodness. In the new world that God is creating, all people are united into one whole, to live in Love. True are the words of the apostle Paul: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard what God has prepared for those who love Him.” God created the Universe for souls to live in it and rejoice in the Divine Glory with which He has clothed them. Christ says: “And the glory which You gave Me, I have given them, that they may be one, even as We are one” (John 17:22). When reading the Gospel, some religious people wish for the great truths of life to be revealed to them. But how can something be revealed to a person who keeps their eyes closed? As long as their eyes are shut, they see nothing. But once they open them, they will see everything that is shown to them. What can someone understand about light if their eyes are closed? No matter how much they are spoken to, they will not comprehend. To learn and acquire knowledge, one must open both eyes and ears to the light. Light carries sound, and sound carries the Word. What can you say to a person whose ears are shut? Whoever has eyes and ears but does not open them is condemned to suffering. What is suffering for the human soul? It is the condition for growth and development. Through suffering, the soul expands and matures. Its thoughts, feelings, and gifts blossom. It becomes a flower that spreads its fragrance afar, bears fruit that soon ripens. A soul that does not suffer remains a closed bud forever. Nourish your soul with the ripe fruits of your life so that it may grow, develop, and be continually liberated. The fruits of the soul are fruits of paradise—what every being longs for. Only now are human beings beginning to prepare for entry into the real life—a life full of beauty and inner sweetness. This real life is what we call the Divine Life. A life without sweetness becomes bitterness. A life without fragrance turns to stench. A life devoid of beauty descends into ugliness. Today, a new world is being created—one that requires new conditions, new foundations that will become flesh and blood within the human being. This is what we call reality in life. It is in this reality that the human soul will be expressed in its full beauty and grandeur. When a dirty shirt is being washed, should one cry? When wheat is sown in the earth, should one weep? When the wheat is being threshed, should one mourn? When a stone is struck to carve out a beautiful statue, should there be lament? “And I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, that the love with which You have loved Me may be in them, and I in them” (John 17:26). The old human being studies life; the new one studies Love. Be, then, new human beings—so that you may study Love. —Seventh Lecture by the Master, held at the Seven Rila Lakes on June 28, 1942, 5:00 a.m. Преведена от Невенка Димитрова Редактирана от Ненси Кромптон

The New Path Reflection Everyone asks: What is the right path for achieving our desires? The only right path is the path of Love. Someone may want to become a painter. They can become one instantly, but only if they enter the realm of art, where the minds of all painters are united. If they do not enter this realm and do not connect with the consciousness of other artists, they will still paint, but will never create a single valuable painting. If you want to become a musician, you must enter the realm of music; if you want to become a poet, you must enter the realm of poetry; if you want to become a philosopher, you must enter the realm of philosophy. Until one enters an environment that corresponds to their aspirations, they may play music, write poetry, or philosophize, but they will not become a true musician, poet, or philosopher. Once a person steps into a harmonious environment, they achieve their goals easily and with little effort. Every harmonious environment leads to Love. That is why we say, the only true path for realizing human aspirations is the path of Love. This path is neither new nor old; it is neither difficult nor easy. It is simply beautiful. Whether it is hard or easy depends on the person. How do most people express their love? When they fall in love with someone, they put a bridle and saddle on them and say, “Giddy up!” This is the difficult path of love, because it enslaves. But there are others who, when they love someone, set them free. They remove the bridle and saddle and release them. This is the easy path of Love. Some love and enslave. Others love and liberate the enslaved. What is the condition of modern people? They are constantly being set free. They are immersed in the world of Love, surrounded by intelligent beings who love them and continually help liberate them. Every time you emerge from a hardship, it means someone has helped to free you. Enslavement happens in two ways: Either we enslave ourselves or others enslave us. It is enough simply to love someone and wish to possess them—to keep them only for yourself—and you have already enslaved yourself. In this way, a person resembles that sea bird that dives into the water from afar to catch its prey—but instead of catching the fish, it drowns in the water. Why? Because the fish was too big, and the bird couldn’t carry it. Until one attains the Love that liberates, they must pass through a great school. A young, beautiful maiden once came before God with a plea—to receive something that would bring her glory in the world. God heard her request and turned her into a cornel-wood stick. A teacher found this stick and took it to discipline unruly students. As he lifted and brought it down upon the backs of the disobedient children, the beautiful maiden grew dissatisfied with the role she had been given and returned to God to complain. God said to her: "Now I will make you a hazel wand." A talented conductor discovered the hazel wand and took it to serve as his baton. Soon, the conductor became renowned across the world, his achievements celebrated everywhere. This brought joy to the maiden’s heart, and she thanked God for turning her into a hazel wand. So long as people act as cornel sticks—used to strike the disobedient—they will always be dissatisfied with their lives. But when they become hazel wands, placed in the hands of noble conductors, they will be uplifted and find fulfillment in life. At first, a person may be like the cornel-wood stick, placed in the teacher’s hand to correct and discipline. Later, they become the hazel wand, wielded by the gifted conductor, through whom they are glorified. And those very students who were once disciplined with the cornel stick become obedient, refined, and join the orchestra of the good conductor, who now leads them with the hazel wand. Thus, the path that is walked gains a great and noble meaning. Intelligent Nature educates its children in many different ways—through various methods, according to the degree of their development—until it finally leads them to the path of Truth and Freedom, of Wisdom and Light. One day, when you have walked this path, you will rejoice and say to yourselves, “How unreasonable we were! To live amid such abundant conditions and yet to complain!” When the soul enters the path of Love, it begins to rejoice in these abundant conditions and possibilities. Love is the path of constant renewal and rejuvenation—a path of eternal upliftment. What would you say of the singer who receives ovations, flowers, and gifts from all sides? She is on the ascent. But then someone younger, more beautiful, and more talented arrives and takes her place. The first singer becomes dissatisfied with her situation because she is descending from the peak she once reached. This is the human way of seeing things. The path of rising and falling is inevitable, but in order to benefit from both, one must understand them. Ascent brings joy and expansion. Descent brings suffering, but also depth—matching the height that was once reached. If there is no descent, a person will merely rejoice but remain stagnant in their development. They will not go lower, but neither can they rise higher. The first singer should rejoice in the success of the younger one, so as not to dry up the wellsprings of her own talent. Only in this way does she prepare the conditions for a greater blossoming of her gifts and abilities. A person cannot be truly happy until they wish happiness for all others. Modern humanity stands at the threshold of a new path—only now is it beginning to form a connection with Divine Love. What is needed today is prudence. Why? Because only the prudent, the kind, and the just can become bearers of Love. What does it mean to be a bearer of Love? It means to love and to be loved. To love and to be loved both require a measure of prudence. Some say that Love doesn’t see people’s faults—as if Love were blind. But no, Love has many eyes. It sees everything, but it judges no one. How could it not see that one person is small and another large? But should it pretend that a small vessel holds as much water as a large one? If you pour a kilogram of water into a small bottle, it will fill up at once, and if you pour any more it will overflow. Each person must know themselves, how much spiritual wealth they can hold. What matters is to use well the wealth that is given to you, not to chase after great possessions. Love is the treasure the human soul longs for. So, it is not how much you acquire that matters, but how you use it, for your own good and for the good of your neighbor. And what do some people do with Love, how do they treat it? As they would fruit from a tree. Someone picks and bites into an apple and if they don’t like it, they immediately spit it out. That’s not right: Before picking the apple, stop, look at it, see if you’ll enjoy it. If so, then you may take it. Many people do the same with Love: they approach one person, then another, and take something from each person, and if they don’t like what they’ve received, they discard it. This is why so many people are disappointed in love. These are the ways of human love. But a new path opens before humanity—the path of Divine Love. Whoever enters this path becomes healthy, wise, and good. The distinguishing quality of this Love is that it always brings the conditions for growth. Sixth lecture from the Master held at the Seven Rila Lakes, on June 27th, 1942, 5 a.m. 6-та беседа от Учителя, държана при Седемте рилски езера на 27 юни 1942 г., 5:00 ч. Преведено от Невенка Димитрова Редактирана от Ненси Кромптон

The One and Indivisible Reflection. "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." (Matthew, verse 4) – Who are they comforting? – Those who mourn. He who has never mourned, cannot be comforted. "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth." (v. 5) – Why will the meek inherit the earth? – Because only to the meek you can give something that he will not appropriate, ruin, or corrupt. "Blessed are those who are hungry and thirsty for righteousness, for they will be satiated." (– 6th st.) – He who is not hungry and thirsty for righteousness cannot be healthy. "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy." (Matthew, v. 7) – If you want mercy, be merciful. He who is not merciful cannot be shown mercy. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” (v. 8) – In other words: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see love, in its glory and majesty. He who is not pure in heart, cannot see love. If he does not see love, he walks in darkness and always stumbles. Modern people stumble because they do not see love. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called Sons of God.” (v. 9) – What should a peacemaker be like? – Strong. The weak cannot be a peacemaker. He wants peace, but is afraid of being blackmailed. However, the strong brings peace, therefore he will be called the Son of God. “Blessed are those persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Mathew, verse 10) – Whatever kingdom you desire, you will be persecuted for it. To get the grain of wheat out of the ear, you must chase it with horses to the threshing floor. The horses that trample the grain represent the contradictions in the mental and heart worlds. The grain must go through many contradictions in order for good grain to come out of it. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (v. 3) – Who is the poor in spirit? – He who does not put his spirit into earthly affairs. Do not harness your spirit into earthly affairs like the farmer who harnesses an ox to his cart and makes it plough. In this situation, just as the ox cannot be free, so the spirit cannot be the master of the kingdom of heaven. Be, therefore, poor in spirit, in order to be outside the limitations of the material world. The poor in spirit wants nothing from the material world, and therefore is free from its bonds. – Is it possible to live without material goods? – While living on earth, a person needs material goods, but he should not get associated with them. Who has brought any material goods with him to the other world? No one has brought anything. You cannot take even a hair into the other world. A young man married a girl who was constantly adorned with gold coins. When he looked at the gold coins, he thought they were made of pure gold, and was glad that he had secured himself. What came out of it in the end? The gold coins were fake. Earthly life is full of fake gold coins. Do not marry a girl who adorns herself with fake gold coins, no matter how beautiful she is. Keep in mind the thought: only what follows you is real. If money follows you, it is alive, it is a real quantity; if it does not follow you, it is fake, unreal, and cannot be relied on. Not only the maiden should wear gold coins, but also the young man. And when he meets his beloved, he should hang three gold coins around her neck: one from love, the second from wisdom, and the third from truth. If he does not hang the three gold coins around her neck, their affairs will not go well. When you preach to someone, you should also hang the three gold coins around his neck. What do the three gold coins mean? – The three virtues: love, wisdom, and truth. Thanks to them, intelligent beings created the the eyes, ears, and the mouth of the man. Because they love us, love created our mouth, wisdom created our ears, and truth created our eyes. Who created our nose? – God. He created it so that we could receive the fragrance of flowers. The sons of wisdom created our hands and feet. Those of you who have come to the mountain may think that they are alone, that there is no one around them. They are mistaken, there are many creatures around them: the sun, the air, the waters, the stones. You would say that they are not alive, they do not understand anything. Whoever thinks so, lives in the illusions of life. Everything that surrounds you is alive. But, to convince yourself of this, you must go through the illusions, to see that they do not have the content that you put into them. Before the child comes to the wisdom of life, to the true light, he must go through several schools. He first enters primary school, where teachers teach him the letters; then he is taught to spell, to form whole words and sentences. Having learned to read, write and count, the child enters junior high school, then high school and finally university. When the science of the earth is finished, only then does nature come to life for man, and he looks at it as something living and intelligent. Only now can he pass on his knowledge to other people. He who does not know the alphabet cannot write; he who does not know the words, cannot speak; he who does not understand the laws of life, does not have the right attitude towards things, cannot solve their problems. Not understanding the laws of life and not knowing what connections and relationships exist between souls, many complain that no one loves them. They do not suspect that all intelligent beings love them. There is no intelligent being in the world who does not love you. Every moment they bring you some gift, quietly place it before you and leave unnoticed. A person must be awake, to accept the gifts of love in time. If he gets carried away somewhere, undeveloped beings will immediately come around him who will take the gifts for themselves. Knowing this, be awake, to free yourself from the unreasonable beings around you, to receive the gifts of love and to use them correctly. How will you free yourself from these beings? - By putting them to sleep. Once they fall asleep, you are free and will easily cope with the benefits that are given to you. When they wake up, you can give them whatever you want. What is the reason that a person sometimes feels his heart empty, as if there is nothing? – Ants that eat everything, and mice that gnaw everything. They are interested in external things and attack them. If you want to know whether a person has such creatures in him, look at him, notice where he looks when you talk to him. If he looks to the right and left, he is looking for something to eat, as well as a way to more easily get to what tempts him. You will know that these creatures have attacked him. He speaks, but from time to time he interrupts his thought. However, whatever you see in your interlocutor, you must be silent, as the stones that are present with you are silent. And they listen, but they are silent. There are many listeners around you – the stones, the wind, the sun, etc. There are at least 12,000 listeners here. To have so many listeners is to be present at the largest gathering in the world. However, they can gather in one hazelnut tree, but they can also occupy the entire space. The same can be said about man. He is both small and large. As a spirit, he can occupy a large space; as a man who has come to earth in the flesh, he can shrink. When he is photographed, a man becomes small, barely visible. And so, a man lives in space as a spirit, and on earth - as flesh. In both cases, he is immersed in the love of bright, intelligent beings. The ether, as well as the higher worlds, are inhabited by beings who have a certain relationship to us. What is the relationship of air to water, in density, such is the relationship of ether to air. There are layers rarer than ether. In relation to them, the ether is a dense, dense mass. Light slides along its surface as if on a plane. What is the reason for the descent of light to the earth? - Some tension or impulse. Just as compressed air tends to expand and occupy a large space, so does a bright angelic thought tend to expand, occupy a large volume and do a certain job. We perceive this thought as light and use it. The light that we receive is nothing but a gift from love. So, a person is sustained and lives thanks to the love of the intelligent world. He who does not understand the manifestations of love falls into great contradictions. He looks for a person to love him, and having found one, he begins to limit him, wants to keep him only for himself. Thus he gets tangled up and loses love. Do not think that if someone loves you and others, you will lose their love. The more people you love, the more your love expands. If two houses face east, have the same number of large windows, they will be equally warmed by the sun, i.e., they will receive the same amount of light. The same applies to love. Remember: God’s love is the same for all beings, perfect or imperfect. God’s love is eternal and unchanging. One is loved more because he has opened himself more to the light and love and receives more. Another has closed himself off, therefore he receives less – it is up to him to receive more. When he opens himself up, he will receive more light and warmth. In fact, God loves both equally. If they open themselves equally, they will receive equally. Free yourself from the delusion of thinking that God, by loving all beings, diminishes His love for you. The love of God, or of any being, is specific for you. Whoever He loves, along with you, no matter how much He loves him, no one can take away His love for you – it is yours and specific. The right thing is, when you love and are loved, to rejoice. Rejoice in the manifestations of love for one or for all. Love is one and indivisible. The only thing that is not divided is love. The love of every person, of every living being is your love. Love has the same attitude towards one and all. He who loves an ox, loves a man too. When a young man falls in love, he becomes soft, gentle towards animals. If before that he used to gore the ox with his goad, when he falls in love, he stops goring it. He knows that the ox is also a living being that needs love, just like his beloved. Why humans got beaten up? – For two reasons: either because of their lack of love or because of their love for other people. A father sent his wayward son to school and said to his teacher: My son is very stubborn and wayward. When he does something wrong, do not beat him, but record how many mistakes he has made and how many rods he has received, so that when I come to you, put the rods on my back. Then he turned to his son and said: Son, be careful, so that fewer rods are loaded on my back. Here the father endures beatings and sufferings out of love for his son. Because he loves him, he does not want to be beaten. When his son is beaten, the father would suffer more, so he prefers to be beaten instead of his son. He voluntarily accepts the sufferings and punishments. There are cases when your love for someone causes you suffering without him wanting them. A young man fell in love with a beautiful girl who did not love him back. To test the power of his love, the girl said: I will love you if you take out your mother's heart and bring it to me in a box. The boy fulfilled her wish. He took out his mother's heart, put it in a box and ran to his beloved with joy that he would now have her love. In his haste, he stumbled and hit his foot hard. Right away, the heart asked anxiously: Son, 'Did you hurt yourself ?' What is the cause of suffering in human life? - The desire of people to share love. No matter how hard you try, love remains one and indivisible. Whoever tries to share it exposes himself to suffering and contradictions. Therefore, love causes suffering to those who want to divide it and do not understand that it is indivisible. Love brings joy to those who understand it and know that it is one and indivisible. Whoever does not understand love, attributes to it qualities that are completely different from its nature. They play the role of sediments that she puts to work and, in the end, something valuable comes out of them. Love also carries lovelessness within itself and puts it to work. Speaking of misunderstanding love, we come to the prophets and see that they did not understand it completely either. They addressed the Jews with the words: "God will cast you out from His presence forever." However, it did not turn out that way. It was enough for them to repent in order God to forgive them. This shows that the prophets did not always understand God's Love. Many ask themselves why they suffer if God loves them. It is very natural. As long as a person resists love, resists God, he is exposed to suffering. Then, he attributes to love qualities that it does not possess. Love has many qualities, but in all its manifestations, it remains one and indivisible. The manifestations of love are countless, the forms through which it manifests itself are diverse, but behind all this stands the one and indivisible Love of God. The farmer can plant the grain of wheat in different ways, but the result will be the same – the grain of wheat will grow and bear fruit. Whatever the manifestations of love, they are equally valuable. Some of them bear fruit immediately, and others – after a longer or shorter time. – This is eternal life, to know You, the Only True God, and Christ, whom You have sent. 2. Sermon by the Master, given at the seven Rila lakes on June 22, 5 p.m., 1942 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Matthew, ch. 5 Introduction to the Sermon on the Mount Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them. The Beatitudes He said: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who are hungry and thirsty for righteousness, for they will be satiated. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Salt and Light 13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. 14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. The Fulfillment of the Law 17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. Murder 21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. 23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift. 25 “Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. 26 Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny. Adultery 27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. Divorce 31“It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery. Oaths 33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ 34 But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. Eye for Eye 38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ 39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. 40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. 41 If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. Love for Enemies 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Translated by Eleonora Petkova

Application of the Living Numbers Reflection As you study the living numbers, you will come to see that each number has its application in life. At the foundation of each number lies a word—a word that carries meaning and essence corresponding to that number. In other words, every number relates to something. For example: ● At the foundation of number 1 is the positive word "yes" ("да - da"). ● At the foundation of number 2 is the negative word "no" ("не - ne"). ● At the foundation of number 3 is the word "agreement" ("съгласие - suglasie"). ● At the foundation of number 4 is the word "work" ("работа - rabota") ● At the foundation of number 5 are the words "forward with love” ("напред с любов – napred s lyubov"). When you arrive at things that pertain to you personally, you must think and determine the direction of your movement. If your thought is aligned with the Divine, you will take the correct direction and say “yes.” If other choices interfere, you will say “no.” The negative word "no" indicates that a person should not deviate from the path they are walking. If you have made a promise to serve God, you affirm that promise with the word “yes.” If, in a moment, another desire arises that tries to pull you away from that service, you reject it with a “no.” No matter how much others try to sway you from your promise to serve God, you must remain independent and unwavering. When one remains unwavering in their allegiance to the First Cause, they abide in the realm of the Divine. But the moment they rely on others, they fall into the limitations of the human world.” The one who dwells in the Divine is firm like a rock. No one can move them from the place where they have been appointed. Only the One who placed them there can remove them. In other words, only God can move you. If anyone else tries to replace you, you must say: “No, I shall not move from this place.” In serving God, you must be affirmative, always saying “yes.” When the human influence comes to distract you, say “no.” Following the positive word “yes” comes the person's agreement to carry out what God has ordained. Thus, the one who has affirmed in the positive is in agreement with all that God has set forth. Once that agreement is made, the person begins to work for God. And at last, they are inspired in their labor by the thought that they move forward with love. All people strive for love, but in the end, they remain disappointed. Why? Because they get entangled in human love, which more often destroys than builds. Divine love is positive and constructive. When someone enters that love, they awaken to the truth that only God loves unconditionally and nurtures true growth. He sends sunlight and warmth to all living beings. He provides bread to humankind. Christ says, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven.” This means that bread comes from above—from sunlight and warmth. So then, if you say “yes” in your soul to something, do not turn away from your word. God told Adam not to eat from the fruit of the forbidden tree, and Adam said “yes”; he promised to obey God’s command. But when the tempter came and persuaded him to eat, he did not repeat his word given before God and he turned away. Jonah, on the other hand, wanted to go west to Spain, but God told him not to go there—instead, He told him to go to Nineveh to preach repentance to its people. Jonah did not obey God and went to Spain, where, as a punishment, he was cast into the sea. There, he was swallowed by a whale. Jonah prayed while he was facing death alone in darkness, and after three days the whale spat him out onto the shore. This is why, when God tells you to move forward, do so without hesitation. Even if there are difficulties—go forward. If you turn back, the trials and dangers will be greater than if you had pressed ahead in obedience to God’s command. Whatever trials lie ahead, you will overcome them. But if you turn back, the difficulties grow larger and harder to overcome. Jonah emerged from the belly of the whale only after he resolved in his heart to fulfill the command of the Lord. He declared his willingness to obey. If you will not listen, death shall consume you; but if you incline your ear, death itself shall release you—just as the great whale released Jonah upon the shore. God created man on the sixth day—a day of intense work, a day of creating the new human being. Our task today is to tune in and notice what God is bringing to life within us. A new kind of human is being created, one who reflects God’s image and carries the essence of a renewed life. “This is eternal life: to know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” Lecture by the Master Beinsa Douno, given at the Seven Rila Lakes, June 26, 1942, 5:00 a.m. Преведена от Невенка Димитрова Редактирана от Ненси Кромптон

The Living Numbers Reflection. Numbers are often talked about as numerical values, yet they also have living qualities. The living numbers are divided into categories: from 1 to 10 are numbers that represent the Divine world; from 10 to 100 represent the angelic world; from 100 to 1,000 show the human world; from 1,000 to 10,000 are of the animal world; from 10,000 to 100,000 are of the plant world; and from 100,000 to 1,000,000 stand for the mineral world. Let's think about the living numbers and their meaning in life. By calling them "living numbers," we understand that these numbers can serve human beings. The numbers matter not only when they determine a numerical value but also when they determine the direction of things. The unit may appear to the right, left, up, or down from the person. If it's to the right, it symbolizes sunrise, to the left means sunset, up equals the zenith, and down means midnight. The four directions of the physical world—sunrise, sunset, zenith, and midnight—are not only mechanical points or positions, but they also represent processes, phases, and states through which consciousness evolves. From this point of view, if we say that someone went left, we mean they went toward the sunset. I'll read chapter 1 from The Genesis, The Bible. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” In verse number 1 God created the heaven and earth, the first step to the right. “The earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the abyss, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the water.” In verse 2 the earth was formless and empty— that is the first step to the left. “And God said 'Let there be Light!'—and there was light.” In verse 3 the light appeared. This is the first step upward, to the zenith of the sun. In this state of consciousness, a person realizes they are created in the image and likeness of God. “And God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness.” In verse 4, people realize that the light is a good thing. This number represents that people need to serve. Four is the number of being of service. “And God called the light ‘day,’ and the darkness he called ‘night.’ And there was evening, and there was morning—in day one.” In the human consciousness there is light and there is darkness—day and night. The day means virginity and youth, and the night means calmness and old age. In verse 5, the first virgin was born, the youth. The day gives conditions for activities and energy; the night gives conditions for rest, it brings peace and darkness. Night also means old age, that is, the people reconcile all contradictions. Old age is the final limit of contradictions. Therefore, in order to reconcile with the contradictions in life, one must grow old. There is a period of time between youth and old age. Therefore, in order to reconcile contradictions, one must necessarily pass a shorter or longer period of time. Accepting, coping with, or solving contradictions does not happen all of a sudden. What do the verses mean to you? What do they have to do with your current life? If you know how God created and cultivated the heaven and earth, you will know how to create your external and inner world. This knowledge lies in the living numbers. Pythagoras revealed to his disciples the meaning of the living numbers from 1 to 4 and you have also found the meaning of the number five, because times are intense. Be content with what has been revealed to you so far and what is to be revealed in the future. What has been revealed to you today represents the path in which God's blessings come. You must study this path and follow it. Day and night, light and darkness. The darkness is associated with scary things: snakes, tigers, lions, earthquakes, and death. Light and darkness are processes that occur in the consciousness. If you consider them only as external, mechanical processes, they lose their meaning. Also, death and life processes are not only external and mechanical, but also internal and conscious processes. When a person dies, it is not a mechanical process, but organic. The person’s remains are planted in the earth, and after some time will grow up, that is, he will rise again. If you do not die, you can't resurrect. Death and resurrection are two processes that occur in a person’s consciousness. Only the one who is dead can rise again; the one who is not dead cannot rise. To die means to go through the worst contradictions and then to rise again. Jonas spent three days inside a whale's stomach and then rose again. When God sent him to Nineveh to preach, he gave up—he found it difficult and scary. But when he had spent three days inside the whale, he found out that there was something more terrible than the task that God had assigned him. Jonas's ingestion by the whale was not an ordinary death, but a transition from light to darkness. It's like falling down a cliff. The opposite process is ascension, coming out to light, or resurrection. It is said in the Scriptures: “When you eat the fruits of the forbidden tree, you will die.” God ordered Adam not to eat of the fruit of the forbidden tree, but he disobeyed. God commanded Jonas to go to Nineveh to preach, but Jonas also failed to fulfil his assignment. Both lost the good conditions of life and entered into death. Adam left heaven and Jonas entered the whale's stomach. They both transitioned from light to darkness, from life to death. Adam and Eve lost Eden, their paradise, because of an apple. The apple may have been beautiful, but it had poison in it. Whoever eats the forbidden fruit will surely die. In order to be saved, a person needs to vomit up the poison. Adam disobeyed God's command and went into hiding. For a long time, God was looking for him in Paradise, but Adam kept quiet. For the first time, he used silence. Finally God found him and asked, “Adam, why are you hiding?” “I was afraid, Lord, in front of Your Face.” The conversation between Adam and God is the soul's conversation with its Creator. Adam, coming out of Paradise, represents the beginning of human life, and his return to Paradise means the end of this life. Once a man enters Paradise again, sufferings cease for him, and he enters a new life of happiness and joy. The Paradise of the Earth is located in the poles of the North and South Pole—the world of men is at the North Pole and the world of women is at the South Pole. So, Adam's paradise is on the North Pole, and Eve's paradise is on the South Pole. The North Pole also represents the mental world, and the South Pole represents the spiritual one. These are symbols by which we clarify some ideas. When speaking of heaven, the concept of hell and of sin comes to mind, as a contrast. You don't have to think and talk about it much. Why? Because the clean towel, when passed through several hands, becomes messy. Then you have to wash it. Sin is not easy to clean. It is a kind of mud that originated in the distant past. Only Providence is able to remove its stain. Only Providence is able to make something valuable out of it. A person must have great knowledge in order to liberate the mind from the stains of this mud called sin. If you say an insulting word to someone, or if you look at them askance, you must make great efforts to release your mind from the darkness that overshadowed them. To cope with sin, one must elevate one's mind and enter the new life. It is now time for people to step out of their present condition, give up their old understandings, the criticism and judgment that is hindering them rather than enlightening them. Explore the world that God has created, without criticizing it. The task of man is to learn and apply what he has learned, to understand the meaning of his life and purpose as a human being. This is eternal life, to know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent. A lecture given by the Master, held at the Seven Rila Lakes, June 25, 1942, 5:00 pm. Преведена от Елеонора Петкова Редактирана от Невенка Димитрова, Ненси Кромптон

The Cosmic Love What does human life represent? – In one respect, human life represents a collection of several lives, i.e., a collection of past existences, good or bad. This is the reason why a person carries within themselves strengths, abilities, desires, and talents – the result of the distant past. Some of them must be developed, while others must be corrected. People are born, grow up, marry, and die without knowing why this happens. Some think that all that happens in their lives is the result of the Divine order and arrangement. In fact, few processes are carried out by the power of the Divine laws. For example, marriage is a human process. It is in the human course of things to get married. When they get married, people ruin their relationships. When the fields are harvested, the grain is stored in the granary and the straw in the hay loft. Most of it goes to the hay loft, and less - in the granary. In this case, the hayloft symbolizes the human, and the granary symbolizes the Divine. In the Divine world, marriage is also mentioned, but it is radically different from this one on earth. That is why it is said in the Scripture: "He who is worthy of the future life neither marries nor is given in marriage. " What is the reason for broken relationships between people? – selfish love. They talk about love, about harmonious relationships, but they only think about themselves; they want everyone to love them. To love someone means to purify them. Love manifests itself in an absolutely pure environment. It does not manifest itself in an impure environment. When one comes to inner love, the first condition for its manifestation is purity. Without purity, one cannot receive any of the blessings of love. Everyone knows external love, but few know the innermost love. Who can write a love letter, cast a loving glance, or say a sweet word? Only the pure of heart can cast a loving glance. And only the pure can perceive a loving glance. The impure is blind to the loving glance and deaf for the loving word. The pure person is not afraid of anything—they are courageous and decisive. Many people want to know what sort of thing is love . Don't rush ; you can't understand it immediately. Sow it in the ground, as you would sow wheat, and as it grows, blossoms, and bears fruit, then you shall understand what it is. Explore the manifestations of love consciously and peacefully, so that you do not fall into a false belief. Someone loves you, and you enjoy their love. This love is not their own; it comes from some exalted being who visits the person periodically. While this being is present in them, they love you. Once it abandons them, their love ceases. As you do not grasp the manifestations of love, you suffer, you get distressed, you are dissatisfied with them. The loss of love is illusionary. After some time, the exalted being will visit them again, and they will once more show their love for you. Therefore, never think that love has ceased. It is continuous, passing from one person to another, aiming to give something to everyone, to uplift everyone. Rejoice when love visits you. Rejoice when you are loved. Some people regret that they were loved or that they have loved someone. Whoever you have loved or whoever loved you, do not regret it. More or less, love always gives something from within. If an ordinary person has loved you, you have become ordinary; if someone mentally gifted has loved you, you have become talented; if a genius has loved you, you have become a genius. Since all people have certain strengths, talents, and abilities, this proves that someone has loved them. Love transforms both the one who loves and the one who is loved. Love cures all disabilities: it does not tolerate the blind, the deaf, the mute, the lame, the stupid, or the ignorant. Whatever weaknesses and shortcomings it notices in a person, it corrects everything. Love requires one thing—a complete trust. If you doubt it, it closes itself off to you and gives nothing. It is said in the Scripture: "This is eternal life, to know You, the One True God." The key to immortality lies in knowing God. Knowing things implies experiencing them. When you experience and know a person, the exchange between you and them is proper. Knowing God implies knowing the Supreme cosmic Love. Once you know Him, you love Him, you see His presence everywhere and in everything. Nature comes alive for you, and you become one with it. Love is a collective, not an individual act. When a person loves, all people, all angels and archangels – the whole heaven, do love along with them. The person rejoices because he has become a conduit of love. Whatever benefit he receives from love, he passes it on to others. The light of love is great. Great is its fire and warmth. Whatever obstacles it encounters on its path, it burns and destroys them. Whoever is surrounded by the fire of love, nothing can affect them - they live in complete safety. Rejoice when the eye of love watches over you. There is no creature that the eye of love does not watch over and think about. Whoever wants to receive more than the rest - creates misfortune for themselves. Everything thrives and flows in love. What we call Providence is nothing but the watchful eye of love. Until the manifestations of Great Love come, one takes various forms in order to learn about even the smallest of its manifestations. Only that way, one will gain a complete and clear understanding of the Whole and its manifestations through love. How will you show your love for the poor? – By feeding them. – For the ignorant? – By teaching them. – For the sick? – By helping them get well. How will two exalted beings show their love for each other? They do not have the needs of the hungry, the ignorant, or the sick. As waters flow into each other, so the souls of exalted beings who love each other intertwine. The water from the rivers flows into the seas and oceans; part of the ocean and sea water evaporates, goes into the air, from where it descends again to the earth as water and again goes back to the oceans. Just as there is circulation between the waters, so there is a circular overflow between the souls of exalted beings. Love is a power that is given freely, without violence or compulsion. Those who receive it must understand and appreciate it. If a person cannot appreciate the love that is given to them, love leaves them without losing anything. It immediately goes to another place where it is appreciated, and there it is beneficial. In order to understand and appreciate Great Love, a person must come to the unity of life, to perceive all manifestations as a whole, indivisible Beginning. Then two people who love, will love a third; the three will love a fourth; the four will love a fifth, and so on. It is said in Scripture: "I will remove from you your heart of stone and will give you a new one." This verse refers to love. When love enters a person, it gradually replaces the old, coarse garment with a new one made of soft, fine fabric. The heart of stone is replaced by a heart of flesh that is responsive to human suffering and hardship. When it touches a stone, the person who loves, helps both the stone and everyone who comes into contact with it. Love spreads its benefit on everything. If someone in a state of despair touches this stone, their despair would immediately disappear. They perceive a trace of the love of the one who initially has touched the stone. The human race is only now advancing towards Cosmic Love. Only just now humankind is entering actual life—the life of Supreme, cosmic Love. 8. Lecture by the Master Beinsa Douno, held at the Seven Rila Lakes on June 28, 10 a.m., 1942. Преведена от Елеонора Петкова Редактирана от Роси Трайкова